An average Sunday for a Christian would be very different from that of an atheist. Where as Christians attend mass religiously every Sunday, atheists do not as they do not share the same beliefs as Christians do, or for that matter any other religion, they do not believe in ‘any’ religion and some atheists may even take it as far as opposing religions. So while Catholics attend mass every Sunday and keep there Sabbath holy by not working, and receiving holy communion, atheists do not do that and are free to play sport, work, sleep, go shopping, and just carry on with their everyday lives as normal.
Marks gospel, in many ways explains why Catholics must attend mass every Sunday. This is because, one of the main messages from marks gospel was that we should keep the Sabbath holy, and this involves going to church to worship on Sundays. ‘The Sabbath was made for man, the man not for the Sabbath’, was also another of the main messages marks gospel sends, this means that although Christians try generally not to do work the rule is not put in place to do harm to us, as Jesus showed when he healed the man with the withered hand, (Mark 15:42-47), so therefore to keep the Sabbath holy we must attend mass every Sunday as although the Sabbath was created for us, and it cannot always be helped if we have to work, we can still attend mass and it is important to do so in order to honour Jesus rising from the dead.
The salvation army use Mark’s gospel to explain to people what they are doing and to try and convince them to follow their good work and become a Christian. They use endless accounts from this gospel, as it is the one which best conveys Jesus’ teachings and all the good things he has done to help others. It also shows that you that you can be forgiven by god for whatever you have done in the, past and becoming a Christian enables you to turn your life around.
Jesus’ teachings in Marks gospel follows Jesus when he was a Jew and how he regularly attended the synagogue, it also show that when he performed his many miraculous actions when he was surrounded by numerous ‘believers’, this is why it is important to worship in a community. Without Jesus’ followers many of his actions would not have been possible, and so worshiping the Sabbath as a community show we have ‘faith’ in the lord.
For Christian followers who attend word-based Sunday services, the service conveys to them how Jesus’ actions are a good example to follow, this is because when accounts of Jesus’ life are read, they speak of how Jesus’ never hurt anyone and always did the right thing, and how he helped so many, regardless of there past or any sins they have committed,
Many Christians believe that the most important thing on Sunday is not to avoid work and go to mass but in actual fact to try and do good work. This is because in marks gospel, Jesus ignores the Pharisees rules and helps anyone in need although this is considered work. This is because he stated,’ God created Sabbath for man, the man not for the Sabbath.’
Overall, Christians do not all worship in the same way, some may think it is alright to do things such as swimming and sport as they do not consider it ‘work’ where as other Christians do. Others believe that it is ok to work as long as you are helping someone or doing good. Some Christians believe that none of this is ok and Sunday should be purely about worship and rest, and more or less follow the rules the Pharisees set thousands of years ago.