Biblical / Doctrinal Reasons

   On the eve of the cross at the Last Supper, Jesus took bread and the fruit of the vine and commanded his disciples to partake of them in remembrance of him (I Corinthians 11:24-25).  The disciples partook of this communion when they came together (11:17, 18, 20, 33, 34).  They were to remember Jesus whenever they did this (11:26).  These meetings together (and thus the time of the whenever) is not named in this chapter but is evidently referred to in reference to their weekly contribution for the poor in chapter 16, verse 2: On the first day of every week.  Why would a contribution be tied to the first day of every week (Sunday)?  The Greek word Akata translated every is in all the Greek texts of this Scripture.  Why is this day mentioned and not some other?

   The first day of the week had no special significance to Jews, Greeks, or Romans.  The only reason why Paul would specify this day is because the believers were already coming together on this day and / or the day had special significance to Christians.  That significance is seen in the four gospels when the texts emphasize Jesus is resurrected on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1-2, Luke 24:1, John 20:1).  In contrast to the weekly Sabbath (Saturday) of the Old Testament, Jesus claims the first day of the week as the day of the new creation, even as the first day of the week was the first day of the old creation (Genesis 1:5).  Specifically, the first day of the week is tied to the Lords supper in the account of the congregation at Troas when the apostle Paul met with them on the first day of the week when they came together to break bread, a term used for an ordinary meal (like Acts 27:35) and the specially signified communal meal (Acts 20:7).  While the Jerusalem church met daily in their homes and fellowshipped in breaking bread there for the purpose of satisfying hunger (Acts 2:46), the only reference to the time of breaking bread for the communion is the assembly on the first day of the week.

   In New Testament times, Pentecost was always celebrated fifty days after Passover Sabbath (Leviticus 23:15-16).  This means that in Acts 2, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the first preaching of the gospel, the baptism of three thousand converts, and the beginnings of Christian worship were on the first day of the week.  Some sixty years later, by the time of the writing of Revelation, the Lord's day was another name for the first day of the week (Rev. 1:10).  This possessive adjective (Lord's) only occurs two times in Scripture, once in the Lord's supper (I Corinthians 11:20), and again here in the Lord's day.  The word designates something that belongs uniquely to the Lord.  Both the Lord's supper and the Lord's day belong uniquely to the Lord, and they belong together: No Lord's day without the Lord's supper, and no Lord's supper without the Lord's day.  Since every organization or association must have meetings if it is to exist, the church in the New Testament, too, had regular meetings that believers were not to forsake (Hebrews 10:25).  All the biblical evidence points to the first day of the week as that day of Christian assembly.

Historical Reasons

   The unanimous record of the second century church is that the believers met weekly on the first day of the week to worship and partake of communion.  This is confirmed by all the church fathers like Ignatius, Justin Martyr, the Epistle of Barnabas, The Didache (The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles), and Papias who all wrote from A.D. 110 to 150.  The churches did not meet normally on the Sabbath (Saturday) or any other day.  It was not until approximately one hundred fifty years later after the death of the last apostle that Cyprian of Carthage (ca. 200-258) began to advocate daily communion.

Summary

   We want to be biblical in every aspect of our lives.  We want to teach and practice only what the early Christians of the first century taught and practiced.  Weekly communion is biblical, doctrinal and historical.  The Churches of Christ stand on the solid, non-divisive ground of New Testament Christianity when we teach and practice weekly communion on Sundays.

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