In the early church, Sunday was often referred to as the "eighth day of creation."

Now we know that God took six days to create all that is, and in Genesis 2:2, we learn that on the seventh day, God rested. "By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so, on the seventh day He rested from all His work.”

So, God established that there would be seven days of the week, and according to Him, the first day of the week is Sunday (not Monday) and the last day of the week is Saturday (not Sunday).

Sunday was the first day of creation.

Now, the reason the early church considered Sunday the eighth day of creation, as well as the first, is because it was on a Sunday our Lord rose from the dead. They realized that while God rested on the seventh day, that didn't mean He was done creating. They recognized that on Easter Sunday, God did a new thing when He raised Jesus Christ from the dead. He created light from darkness again when He breathed life into the lifeless body of Jesus on that first Easter Sunday. Thus, "the eighth day of creation."

But that also implied something else. Since God did a new thing on Sunday, the eighth day of creation, then maybe God does a new thing every Sunday, every eighth day of creation! They understood Sunday as a day of new beginnings, a day of starting over, a day when God brought the dead back to life.

And that's not a bad way of thinking about Sunday. Regardless of the week we have had, God can create again, can do a new thing among us and within us, again. Just as He raised His Son from the dead, on the eighth day of creation, so can He raise us.

I encourage you to be faithful to the worship of our resurrected Lord, on the eighth day of creation, so that God might make you new again.

I would also remind you that tomorrow (the last day of the week), we are going on a prayer walk to the schools our children from College Church attend. We will meet at the church at 10:00 and from 10:00 until 11:45, we will travel, in this order, to 1) Grace Christian Academy, 2) Kankakee High School, 3) Hope Christian Academy, 4) Bishop McNamara, 5) Bradley West, and 6) Bradley Central. It is a profoundly meaningful and powerful time of intercession for teachers, parents, and children.

See you Sunday, on a day our Lord creates again!

Pastor Mark