With many people, Sunday night is an off night. There are those who, although they regard the day as a religious holiday, attend no church at all ; while there are churchgoers who, for some reason, do not care to attend the evening services. Believing that it is desecrating the day to attend the movies, theaters, and other places of amusement, these conscientious objectors remain at home or pay a friendly visit to a neighbor. Should such persons be approached in a proper manner, they might gladly accept an invitation to listen to a lecture at some other church on that night. Should their attention be called to an advertisement in a newspaper, or to an attractive announcement of special meetings at an Adventist church every Sunday night, in all probability they would gladly attend. What they hear that first night may prove to be an impetus to their continued attendance.
This, of course, calls for a well-prepared program and a careful preparation of the message to be presented. A soul-inspiring song service should precede the lecture or sermon. It might be well to have one or two special selections by the choir, but arrange your music so as to allow the congregation to take part in most of the singing. "This part of the service is to be carefully conducted; for it is the praise of God in song. The singing is not always to be done by a few. As often as possible, let the entire congregation join."—Gospel Workers, pp. 357, 358.
The minister should bear in mind that he is speaking to a mixed audience and not to a Seventh-day Adventist congregation. Therefore he should avoid saying anything which might needlessly offend ; yet at the same time he must "preach the Word."
A golden opportunity is offered to us on Sunday nights for the presentation of those salient points of doctrine which have made us the people we are—an opportunity which we should not carelessly pass by, but should use to the very best advantage. Evangelistic meetings should be held in our churches, especially those in the large cities and other densely populated centers. Church members should be trained and encouraged to build up large congregations, mostly of unbelievers, for Sunday night meetings. Let them begin to labor with the unconverted members of their own family, and then with close relatives, friends, and acquaintances.
Such a program is carried out in many of the English-speaking churches in the Inter-American Division Conference. In those places Sunday is devoted exclusively to missionary activities. Besides going from house to house with the open Bible during the day, churches, halls, and other places of worship are lighted for preaching services or Bible study in the evening, and the bells ring out calling the people to worship. As a result the ordained ministers are kept busy going from church to church, baptizing new believers. Says the messenger of the Lord:
"Whenever it is possible, let religious services be held on Sunday. Make these meetings intensely interesting. Sing genuine revival hymns, and speak with power and assurance of the Saviour's love. Speak on temperance and on true religious experience. You will thus learn much about how to work, and will reach many souls."—Testimonies, Vol. IX, P. 233.
"Sunday is a child of the Papacy. . . . In no case are God's people to pay it homage. . . . We can use Sunday as a day in which to carry forward work that will tell on the side of Christ. We are to do our best, working with all meekness and lowliness."—Id., p. 235.
There are those in our ranks .who believe that a time is coming, and that in the very near future, when the people of the world will lose all interest in things pertaining to their eternal salvation to the extent that they will not listen to a program of a religious nature over the radio, and will cease to attend church services. We might be confronted with such an unfortunate change; but until such changes do come, let us use every available means provided to extend the preaching of the cross of Christ.
The good to be derived from Sunday night evangelistic meetings is manifold. When adequate preparation is made and the meetings are conducted properly, we can reach a large number of souls not of our faith with the saving truths for this time. It was just a few Sunday nights ago that four persons took their stand for the truth at our Capitol Avenue Church here in Indianapolis. One of them is the wife of a mail carrier ; another, a backslider of many years; and they, with others, are now attending Sabbath services as well as Sunday and Wednesday night meetings. They will be baptized soon and thus our membership will be increased as a result of Sunday night meetings.
Through Sunday night meetings we can break down prejudice and make friends. The enemy of truth is constantly misrepresenting us and our work to conscientious souls, but sometimes these misrepresentations arouse such an interest that a desire is created in hearts to know the truth of the matter. Many cannot attend Sabbath services, for that day is usually their busiest day; but they would gladly attend a Sunday night meeting. After attending one or two nights their opinion is changed completely for the better. The enemy may misrepresent us and our work to the civil authorities, but we are told:
"When we devote Sunday to missionary work, the whip will be taken out of the hands of the arbitrary zealots who would be well pleased to humiliate Seventh-day Adventists. When they see that we employ ourselves on Sunday in visiting the people and opening the Scriptures to them, they will know that it is useless for them to try to hinder our work by making Sunday Taws."--/V., pp. 232, 233.
There should be no black outs in our churches on Sunday nights. Some time ago it was reported that the black outs in London during the early stage of this present war were responsible for a large toll of human life. Black outs in our city churches on Sunday nights may be the cause of the loss of many precious souls which might have been won for the Master if the lights, spiritual and physical, had been kept burning. Light should shine in the churches on Sunday nights, and services should be conducted regularly.
Three regular meetings each week in the house of God are none too many. The prime object of the Sabbath service is to worship and praise our God according to the commandment, and to become better informed in things pertaining to our eternal salvation. Sunday night meetings, which should be evangelistic in nature, are primarily for the unconverted and those who know not the truth for this time. In the midweek prayer and praise service the spiritual strength of the believers is renewed as they listen to, and take part in, the prayers and testimonies of those of like faith. Let us train our membership to meet as often as possible for worship and praise.
