Christmas of 2022 was unusual for many congregations, we had a blizzard that closed roads and forced many churches to suspend their Christmas Day services. The second thing that was unusual was that Christmas Day and the Lord’s Day coincided, something that only happens every few years.
For our culture Christmas (without the Christ) is the high holy day of the year. On Christmas even the shops are closed, family is a focus (which in itself is good), the pagan myths are brought out and of course there is the worship of self through materialism. For our culture Christmas is paramount.
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For Christians, it is not wrong to remember the Incarnation, but our high holy day, a New Testament ordinance, is the Lord’s Day. It is the day we remember the Resurrection. It is the day we express our dependence upon the Lord, and that our lives revolve around Him. It is His day through which we honour and worship Him in a special way. It is the day on which the church gathers. Every Sunday, including when it is Christmas Day, we do not neglect to meet together (Heb 10:25). This is because Christians believe God’s will for the church is set forth in the New Testament. We do not get to choose how to live and worship, He does. 

I love the Lord’s Day (Sunday). In the midst of the busyness of life, it is an anchor in the storm, a gift from the Lord to pause for worship, rest and family. As a Christian it is at the centre of my week and schedule; that which everything else revolves around. On it we declare Christ in a unique way and benefit from all its blessings.

Summertime, vacations, etc, even business travel, can throw our weekly rythme off, but I’d encourage you to build the Lord’s Day into all of your travels, whether they be for pleasure or business. This is what I do. I hope in sharing these that they may help you spend a profitable Lord’s Day this summer, or any time.

1. Travel (work, pleasure, education)
   1. I research and structure into my time away a visit to a likeminded local church of in the morning, and if I can find one, in the evening too (I’ve likewise profited from meeting Christians at mid-week meetings too when time allows). The whole day takes on a tenor of rest. It is an amazing gift to meet with Christians outside of your home church, which reminds us that our church is not an island. Such visits can inspire us with ideas of what might be possible at our church from the good ideas we see at others.. In ideal situations, as nice as it is to visit, it also causes us to appreciate our home church.
2. Camping or Canoeing
   1. I still try to find a local church if the campsite is not too remote
   2. Sometimes campgrounds will hold, or Christians will organize, a worship service
   3. If these options are not possible (like when canoeing remotely) I always hold personal or family worship, including songs, Scripture, Bible study, listening to a recorded sermon, reading a sermon or devotional, etc.

*If travelling with non-Christians I always let them know my values about worship and rest ahead of time so this accommodation can be built in and avoid any unnecessary awkwardness. It can be a great Gospel opportunity, that Jesus’ Resurrection and His word are so important that they are worth pausing to honour.
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If one has the inclination, the Lord’s Day will always be profitable, even when you’re away. So have a safe and happy summer, and don’t forget to pack Jesus when you go.

The highest church building in England is that of Brentor, Devon. Build atop a large Tor on the edge of Dartmoor the church rises hundreds of feet above the village below. Until a new church was built in the village in the 1800s worshippers literally had to “go up” to the house of the Lord.
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Such was the case in ancient Israel with the Temple. The Temple Mount actually sits atop Mount Moriah which itself is overshadowed by higher hills around it. It is a sort of hill within a ring of hills. It is this image of having to ascend from the valley below to the Temple that the pilgrim had in mind in Psalm 122:1 when he said:

I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go up to the house of the LORD!’

Under the Old Covenant the Temple was the centre of the sacrificial system for making atonement for sins and the presence of the LORD on earth. His public worship, as prescribed by countless commandments, was therefore centred around the Temple where the Israelites were “to go up” to benefit from these two primary functions. Though under the New Covenant the function of the Temple has been replaced by the Cross and the Holy Spirit, “to go up” is still relevant for it refers to the act of Christians gathering together for public worship.

Whilst Christians are to worship the Lord through every aspect of their lives, and can also do so privately, to gather together for the public worship of the Lord on His appointed day is a chief form among them all. To enter into His presence, sing His praises, hear from His Word, have the ordinances (baptism and communion) administered and fellowship with other believers; these are all reasons to attend public worship (duty) and do so with gladness (delight). “To go up” means the process can be demanding of us in some way, but that any ardours melt away when we consider the end of our worship, the LORD, and when are efforts, or rather our faith in this means of grace, is rewarded with untold spiritual blessings. The Lord and not the location or building, the pastor or the people, is the object of this act of worship and the reason for going. He is the centre and spring of all of our gladness along with our desire to go. If we love Him, we’ll love “to go up.”
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The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,
Chris

Even in our day and age when people don’t keep their commitments as much as they used to (or ought to); when we have a big appointment—a really big appointment—all other appointments become second place to that big appointment. Time centres around it.

As a Christian my entire week’s structure revolves around the worship of our Triune God each Lord’s Day (Sunday). Each week is spent in expectation of this big appointment as I prepare to worship my Lord, and each new week is grounded in the rest it affords. Failing ill health or a grave emergency, I never miss this appointment with my God and my brothers and sisters in Christ; vacation, family, work, nothing. It is my number one weekly priority which governs all others.

Hebrews 10:25 says as much,
Do not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

The Lord’s Day is our big appointment, the Divinely appointed day for rest and worship and family. It is a passion of mine to encourage others to order their lives accordingly and receives its blessings.
Church tradition tells of John, the apostle, being bed ridden in his old age (he live until his late 80s or early 90s) and yet his desire to worship His Lord and be with his people was such that he requested to be brought to worship on a stretcher! I’ve know many dear saints who’ve done likewise, whose great desire it was to make this big appointment.

Our statement of faith expresses this sentiment: We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day, and that, in a special sense, it is divinely appointed day for worship and spiritual exercise.

The evangelical Anglican and abolitionist, William Wilberforce, summarized what my own experience has testified to be true: I can truly declare that to me the Sabbath has been invaluable.
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The Lord’s Day is my big appointment, is it yours?

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,
Pastor Chris