“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
spoken by Jesus
Okay, despite yet another poor attempt at alliteration, this post’s title is an apt one. I need your help! I need a answer to the Sabbath Survey Question.
In under 5 days, my YL team is running the Friday night programme at the youth group.
Our subject: The Sabbath Day
The scriptures are black and white on this subject (provided you don’t use a red-letter bible): Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Why do we keep Sunday’s special?
The obvious answer is ‘Because God told us to’. Correct. Full marks. With distinction.
The theology students among you might add something to do with ‘the promised rest’ etc. etc. Others might suggest physical and mental benefits. Still others might talk about ‘giving God the best hours of the week’. Or what about the example God set during the creation week? Or remembering and celebrating Christ’s resurrection?
All of the above are splendid reasons to keep Sundays holy and for God. But I would like to see some practical, personal, real, living blessings which stir believers on to keep one day in seven aside for the Lord.
The survey question could be worded in any number of ways:
“What do you gain from keeping Sunday special?”
“How has God blessed your Sundays?”
“What makes your Sundays different from week days?”
Or simply… “Why do you keep the Sabbath?”
Here are a few answers I have received to date:
- Sundays are a great opportunity to meet with other believers- in all shapes, sizes and ages- to worship together and spend time discussing our Christian lives.
- Resting my thoughts upon Jesus for a whole 24 hours helps me to tackle Monday mornings with a fresh mind.
- Sundays are the days when I do all those things I avoid, or don’t have time for, during the rest of the week… like reading my bible!
I’m making this urgent appeal for more answers! Let me know what makes your Sundays special! And let me know some time soon please! The comments box is simply waiting to be filled!
What a great subject!I have been searching for truth after I saw this quoted from "The Catholic Extension Magazine 180 Wabash Ave, Illinois Under the Blessing of Pope Pius XII. Dear Sir regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sabbath, I wish to draw your attention to facts:
ReplyDelete1. The protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the cfontrary observe Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.
2. We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith.
Besides the Bible we have the living church the authority of the Church as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church instituted by Christ to teach and guide men throughlife, has teh right to change the Ceremonial lawesof the Old testament and hence, we accept her change of teh Sabbath to Sunday. We frankly say 'yes, the lawes, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, teh lawes concerning mixed marriages, teh regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws.
3. We also say that of all the Prostestants, the Seventh-Day Adventists are the only group that reason correctly and are consistent with their teachings. It is always somewhat laughable to see the prostestant Churches in the pulpit and legislature, demand the observance of Sundays of which there is nothing in the Bible. With best wishes Peter R Tramer, Editor" end quote." I am a seeker so have been studying this.Anyone can google 'who changed the sabbath' you will find it quite clear n plain that man-made changes has altered our knowledge of what God wanted. Because of these statements, I am studying with SDA church at the moment but there are great sites on United Church of God "Is the Sabbath relevant today" speaking about Sabbath being wrongly celebrated on the 1st day instead of the 7th day. I believe Youth will be the generation that rises up and takes the Gospel of Jesus to the entire world! Thank you for this subject!
Hey. Thanks for your comments.
ReplyDeleteI certainly believe that the Bible is my ultimate guide and law- it is the bottom line. Psalm 19 says that "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul..." Paul told Timothy to avoid "the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called 'knowledge'" and instead encouraged him to "devote" himself to reading the scriptures. In Acts we are told that the folks who lived in Berea didn't agree with Paul just because he was an important church leader- but they "searched the scriptures daily to see if these things were so."
I do agree that it was a human decision to change the 'Christian' day of worship and rest from a Saturday to a Sunday. That said- is it not a wonderful thing to be able to go to church and celebrate the day on which Jesus rose from the dead every single week! As far as I can work out, the bible says that one day in seven should be special/holy to God. To paraphrase: 'Work six days, rest one day.' I don't think the Lord commands which specific day it needs to be.
In 1 Corinthians, we are told that love is more important than knowledge. Even if we have differences of opinion on non-essential matters, we should still love one another and try not to be a 'stumbling block' to our neighbour's faith...
Regardless of which day of the week we worship on, surely the great thing is that we have a Saviour to worship! Jesus Christ died to take away the punishment we deserve for our sins! Praise the LORD on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well!
Thanks for your reply. I have known about Jesus most of my life and ‘religion’, and I hate religion. It is has caused more wars, death and heartache than anything else in the world. What I have been searching for is a relationship with God and Jesus through the Holy Spirit and it has only been from reading the Bible and finding out how important God’s Law of Love is that has made a difference to my entire life.
ReplyDeleteI have two sons 22 & 24 and two small girls 8 & 6 and I truly want them to know the truth, not tradition. And from my discoveries I have found that it DOES make a difference which day we rest. Even medical people have put our findings that our heart rate slows down on Saturday which is pretty cool!
Sir, I am only a simple farm chick but when God himself writes 10 laws down with his own finger that should be something to make us sit up and take note! The rest of the Bible is inspired by God, written by man in 3 languages over 1300 years, but the Law of Love is written throughout the Bible to the very last page as God says ‘if you love me you will keep my commandments’.
He didn’t mean the handwritten ‘laws of how to live 101’ that Moses wrote – it was definitely nailed to the cross, but the tablets of stone were not, and are still applicable until the very last day we live on this earth. In fact I believe the fourth commandment in many religions has been deleted, and that freaks me out because whatever God has said in the Bible comes true and He said :
“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 5:18-20)
Sir, why not try this out ... ask anyone who believes in the Bible – do you lie, steal, murder, commit adultery, covert, disrespect your parents, have idols, use God’s name in vein, have other God’s before him? They would all say they try NOT to do those things. But then ask ‘do they keep the Sabbath Day’ and watch how it causes upset, aggression & rebellion! Could I suggest that this might be the ONE commandment that satan does NOT want us to live by?
That is why I was thrilled to see your blog, as you are a leader of a youth group I was excited you were looking for the truth. Jesus even summed up by saying: Love the Lord your God with all your heart & Love one another as you love yourself. 'How' to Love the Lord your God is the first four commandments, and 'how' to love your neighbour is the next 6 commandments written by finger of God.
It is hard to change from the man-made Sunday but my business grew after I stopped working on Saturday, our family has a family day and they have all given their hearts to God. It is truly a Blessed day! So it takes courage. A friend's parents are ministers of Sunday keeping church but she is now attending a Sabbath keeping church and her life is flourishing. Check these out if you want:
http://www.pacinst.com/efh/chapter12/fourth.html
http://www.cogwriter.com/sabbath.htm
http://www.keyway.ca/htm2003/20030321.htm
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to The Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; for in six days The Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore The Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:8-11 RSV)
Thanks again for the chat. Ann-Louise xx
Hey.
ReplyDeleteSome interesting things you've said there.
I would like to correct you on your description of me as a 'youth group leader'! I certainly am not a 'leader'! Just one of the gang who takes part now and again!
As I said above, I regard the Sabbath ("Day of Rest") as not being tied down to a Saturday or Sunday in particular. It is an interesting topic to discuss, but that isn't really why I wrote this post. I do want to try to steer the thoughts back towards specific things we find great about the day we dedicate to God each week.
Someone kindly shared this blessing with me earlier today:
Sundays are a great chance to get out of your everyday bubble- where you might only normally mix with your peer group. They give you an opportunity to meet with all sorts of different people in a Church context. You don't have to worry about having nothing in common because, in Christ, you are all brothers and sisters regardless of age, gender or occupation!