Sunday Comes First

The Bulletin, 6/17/26

These articles are written to encourage Christians, and to be used by churches for their weekly bulletin.
All I ask is that credit is given with my name and the web address, bible101.substack.com

The scene is Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, December 1903. Wilbur and Orville Wright stand on the precipice of becoming the first human beings to ever achieve powered flight. With their plane all ready for testing, the brothers finally get perfect weather for an attempt on December 13.

There was only one problem: December 13 was a Sunday, and the brothers had long since vowed to not work on Sundays. Though historians debate how personally religious the brothers were, it’s undisputed that they practiced a number of Christian principles that they inherited from their father, a minister, including the Sunday day of rest.

As I read this story for the first time recently, I could not help but be shocked at how times have changed. Now, merely suggesting that families should not skip worship for youth sports is often controversial. Sometimes, camping or a trip to the lake win out over assembling with the saints. Some people take Sundays off from church attendance because they’re “too tired” or “have a busy week ahead.”

How far we have fallen. To the Wrights, ceasing from work on Sunday was such an iron-clad commitment that they passed on the perfect chance to literally invent flight. We can’t be bothered to make Sunday observance more important than little Aiden’s t-ball game. The point isn’t necessarily that we have to cease from all activity on Sunday, but we certainly have no business letting anything take precedence over the worship assembly (Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:24-25).

Think of the message it sends to a family when Dad and Mom don’t prioritize Christ and His church above all else. Think of the example it sets to the lost when they see that God is less important to us than a day on the lake. Think of the message it sends to the church when we look the other way and allow attendance and Lord’s Supper participation that is subject to a Christian’s whims and scattered priorities.

If the Wright Brothers can put off inventing flight for a day, we can put our interests on hold for a day, too. Make Sunday the Lord’s Day in practice and not just in name only.

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