Sunday Night services are awesome! They are completely different than our Sunday morning services are provide a completely different atmosphere, sermon, music and experience. If you have never been part of the Sunday night services but are a faithful member of Southern Hills, listen up. Over the next few minutes I’m going to give you my best pitch on why you should come and be part of Sunday Nights at Southern Hills.
Relaxed Atmosphere
As much as I love seeing the crowds, seekers getting saved, and new believers being baptized on Sunday mornings; there is just something so special about our Sunday evening services. It just feels more personal. This is the moment that our church, spread across three different service times, is able to get together, relax, smile, breath, worship, laugh and study in a more intimate setting. There is normally only 25-40% of our morning crowd that chooses to come back on Sunday evenings. This gives us the unique opportunity to just be family. Developing these friendships in this smaller setting has helped our church remain strong at its core while we have grown exponentially in our morning services. When speaking of Sunday nights our church members will often use the word “family” to describe the feeling of being there.
Expository Preaching
I make no apology for being a topical preacher. Many of our sermon series on Sunday morning are topical in nature as to allow a new person to easily jump right into the middle of a series without feeling lost. We deal with simple truths like purpose in life and joy through in the midst of difficulty. We develop accessible sermons series like Mythbusters and Mountaintops. We call for simple decisions like salvation, baptism and dedication. Though I will always exegete the text and expose the scriptures for what they are saying every time I stand to preach I am not considered by many an expository preacher on Sunday mornings.
However, on Sunday evening we take the opportunity to dive deep into the books of the Bible. Verse by verse we plow through the text finding nuggets of truth and life changing messages. Thus far I have had the opportunity of preaching through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, I & II Samuel, I Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Matthew, Acts, I Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I & II Thessalonians, I & II Timothy, Titus, Philemon, James, and Revelation.
There is nothing like studying an entire book of the Bible! There is nothing that grows a Christian more than getting to know his Bible. Therefore, on Sunday night we really get DEEP into the text. I like to serve the milk on Sunday morning and the meat later that night.
Informed Core Members
We recently did a survey in our church of those who attend both Sunday evening and Sunday morning services. Many of those who come to both said in varying ways that Sunday night is the time to find out what is really going on at Southern Hills. One core member wrote, “If you want to know the heartbeat of SHBC, Sunday Night is a good place to start.” I think this is well said. On Sunday evenings I am able to take special time to talk about important issues in our church such as the future land and building project we are undertaking. Certain things that would not interest the casual attender or uninterested member can be dealt with in detail without worrying about time constraints or casual misunderstandings. The core members of our church need to know what is going on with the staff, deacons, direction, calendar, goals, missionaries, and future of our church. This is the perfect time to deal with all of these things. I am certain there are members of our church who would like to be more involved. They must realize that the Sunday night service will provide what they are looking for.
If you are a member of Southern Hills or are considering membership, I want to encourage each of you to come this Sunday night as we begin a brand new series through the book of Hebrews. We are entitling it: Becoming a Better You. Come and see for yourself what the fuss is all about.
What are your thoughts about Sunday evening services? If you come, what is your favorite thing about Sunday Nights? If you do not come, what is it that is holding you back? I’d love your comments below:
4 Comments
Zeb Greenfield
July 5, 2013 at 10:58 amI appreciate reading your thoughts on the subject. You make some very good points on why to have a Sunday evening service. Thanks for your insight.
God bless!
Joshua Teis
July 5, 2013 at 12:04 pmThanks Zeb. Truthfully this post is meant to be a help to our members. I desire that we as a church understand why we currently have a Sunday night service. We may not always. If we are able to fulfill these purposes in a better way then we might make that change. But for now, Sunday night services are very useful. This so not meant to encourage other churches to get or retain their Sunday night service. Whatever works best for each individual church is what they ought to have in that church. Thankful for to have fellow pastors like you as good friends. Later.
Anonymous
October 23, 2013 at 10:46 amI just turned 50. I had been to Sunday evening services ALL of those 50 years until recently when we walked away from IFB situations to just “Christians.” The places we go do have Sunday night meetings, but we have chosen to stay home. WOW, what a WONDERFUL time to spend with family and with no scheduled activity. It has been such a blessing to stay home. Perhaps, if we were able to attend somewhere where we would not be judged for staying home occasionally, that would work for us, too. It’s just that there are so many do’s and don’ts…. “he that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin” can be a catch-all. ‘
After my 50 years of experience, another thing that really jumps off the page to me is that “professional” ministry people have an ENTIRELY different outlook on life than the average … or above-average lay person in the church. Ministry people GUARD their time with their families. After all, if you lose your family… you have lost your profession! Ministry people control the scheduling strings of the church… and why not use that control to help out their own personal family schedule? However, the average Joe is required … or guilt-tripped into spending HIS only day off at the whim of the church schedule… or they are backslidden. Monday-Friday working 40-60 hours, then Saturday on bus ministries, and a good portion of Sunday in ministering… NO SABBATH whatsoever!.. However, the professional ministry (I’m talking Pastors, here… NOT Christian educators… they are the bottom of the totem pole… the lowest of the low on the Christianity ladder……. “just” teachers… taken care of poorer than anyone in the entire Christian organization), the professional ministry people take an ENTIRE day off during the week….
I suppose I sound bitter. ha ha . 50 years. 50 years of working toward being accepted…. Guess what. I can’t work for God’s acceptance. Nothing I can do will manipulate His acceptance of me….. because it is based on the Lord Jesus… not me.
I won’t belong to or comment or read those critical blogs that you were talking about… I also will not tell you my name for the same reason. I don’t want the ministry I have been involved in for 30 years to be hurt. It would do no good for anyone to see my name. However, I would like to know if there is any way to spread more of what you are saying about stopping the criticism… the judging by Christian leaders who don’t like someone reading from a certain version of the Bible or listening to a different type of music that blesses their soul without condemnation!
Some of the old-time preachers boast, “I HAVEN’T CHANGED ALL THESE YEARS AND I’M NOT GOING TO CHANGE NOW!” I’ve heard it with my own ears. It may have been their greatest strength at one point, but it is also their greatest weakness!
1/2 Century of Confusion… still loving God.
Eric
March 25, 2018 at 11:44 amDear Josh, we attended PCC in those same years as you did and i could not agree with you more! Although i am still an old fashioned Bible believing KJV southern gospel music and conservative dress Baptist i always remember Pastor Schettler telling us we separate over doctrine not methods! Also i have always been i still am and probably always will be an IFB but i currently Pastor and many will ” flip out” at this but a Ind Congregational Church and we are as Independent as a IFB CHURCH. we use the KJV, we preach the gospel we seek to see lost souls saved and the only difference well we have a C in our church name instead of a B. God is NOT going to ask you in Heaven what name we associated with. Although I am a IFB i am going to be there with many many other Christians with other titles and PTL for that!
In reference to the brother before me concerning Sunday Nights and services. Wow! Right on! I could not agree more! PTL for those that want to have Sunday nights but for us who Pastor bi vocational, work 60 hours a week and raise a family we desperately need time for our children, family and wives. After over 15 years in ministry my wife and I decided that Sunday nights were our night to connect as husband and wife and as a family! When else would we? Could we? We work 6 days a week and every other minute is for the Church. Maybe it is time the Church put importance again or some sort of balance on home life and gave people time on a Sunday to do family! There is NO time for rest or family if your leaving church at 12 going to eat or cooking and then 3 hours later dressing again traveling back to for another almost 2 hour service. The pastor usually unless bi vocational takes Monday off and rests but the rest of us go right back to our40 plus hour a week jobs and that’s daunting! We need to really re evaluate Sunday night services i believe its hurting families we need balance! Also i never ever write on a blog but felt led to do so on this one. We as IFB need to wake up the enemy is Islam and a society that is post Christian and modern the enemy is NOT other IFB churches and pastors with other methods not doctrine but methods and the core to all this is the family unit so let’s rebuild families and focus on that instead of rules and traditions regarding church times and amounts of services and then we will see God do something! On a personal note a church i was Asst Pastor at for 3 years and grew tremendously never had a Sunday night service. The Church had 3 other services used the KJV, the people loved God and the Pastor was so faithful and a staunch KJV IFB but not 1 Sunday night service but guess what God Blessed that Church and it has been a Baptist Church since 1794! Some say oh no Sunday nights well you will risk God blessing your Church well seems to me a CHURCH that has been Baptist and stood for the truth and preached HIS word for over 220 years has done it without a Sunday night service, so others of us could as well. In those 224 years that Church has always had a strong focus on the family and look here it stands today with no Sunday night service but with strong families and a strong church that has lasted! Lets as IFB reevaluate our own traditions! We blast Catholics and others for having traditions but we often do it ourselves and don’t even realize it! Thank you Josh for leading and speaking about our need as the IFB movement and what we need to do in this century and beyond if the Lord tarries. GOD BLESS.