The Lord's Day

Sunday, September 18, 2011

(Let us not forsake) the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:25).

Today is Sunday - the Lord’s Day. It was called the “Lord’s Day” in the early church because it was the day when Jesus rose from the dead and showed Himself to his disciples. It was the Lord’s Day because our Lord showed openly that He had defeated sin and death through His death on the cross.

We still celebrate the Lord’s Day today, centuries later. His death and resurrection, His victory is still ours through faith and we need to be reminded of it constantly. It is a privilege to be able to worship our God for the salvation He has won for us on this day. But oh, how easy it is to take this privilege for granted! We think of it as unnecessary or as unimportant compared to other events in our busy lives. This is true in Africa, just as it is in the states. It is common to find women bringing their children to church, but often the husband is busy working to put food on the table. Sometimes both parents are absent, and the children are left to get themselves to church on Sunday morning. How sad this is to see! The Lord reminds us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). How many distractions there are in this world! How easy to loose sight of the importance and need we have to gather with fellow Christians to encourage one another and be b

uilt up by the Word of God on the Lord’s Day!

Pastor Lengutai translates for me at our service this morning at Pastor Jeremiah's church.

There were only a few who gathered with us this morning at Pastor Jeremiah’s church. Students were away to school, and others were gone, unable to watch video services or “Skype” in for church as we do back home. Russ did a presentation for the children on the account of Jonah, and I was asked to preach. Pastor Nathan Lengutai translated for me as we heard Paul’s words of comfort found in Romans 5:1-5. We pray for the Lord’s blessing on this small church, that they may continue to grow in knowledge and understanding of God’s work for us, and in their witness to one another and to the world!

Following church we were invited to Pastor Jeremiah’s home for a lunch of rice, soup, bananas and soda with Pastor Lengutai, Evangelist Tangeza and his family. We discussed the coming Pastoral Conference and other topics, and then said our goodbyes. Pastor Jeremiah then took us to the bus station to catch a bus back to Moshi. It was not a comfortable ride. We were crammed in like sardines, with even the isles filled with people. Our luggage was strapped to the top of the bus with everyone elses, but we didn’t have any more room. It was a good thing it was only a two hour trip which we paid only about $2 a ticket for! Boy, were we glad to get off that bus! There was also the typical ridicule by the public of the “white men” - which gets a little old after a while....

We checked into our new hotel in Moshi and rested up for a while, getting ready for the next day. We ended the day with a treat - real pizza at a little Italian restaurant we found behind our hotel. It wasn’t Pizza Hut, but it was good! Tomorrow we have some meetings scheduled and we are considering moving to a new hotel just down the street, because we found a better deal. I’ll explain tomorrow. For now, blessings to you all on this Lord’s Day. Thanks be to Him for His grace and mercy!

In Christ,

Nathanael