7 Practices for Spiritual Growth | Session 5: Sabbath

Download Sabbath Curriculum Here

Sabbath Outline

• Introduction
  • Sabbath is sewn throughout the entire Bible and a command to all God-believers.
• Sabbath in America
  • American Dream has corrupted our view on rest.
  • There are still businesses that practice one day off a week and they’re successful.
  • What are some businesses that you know of that have a sabbath? Do you believe that Christian/Jewish businesses should close down once a week?Why or why not?
  • The Chariot, They Faced Each Other, The Fiancee
• Oh Busy, Busy Bees
  • Sabbath is every person’s God-given right.
  • American Dream has corrupted sabbath and rest.
  • “Busyness makes you believe that if you aren’t doing something, you’re failing, losing, or worse – sinning.”
  • Busyness has infected both the secular and Christian world.
  • Busyness has become an excuse for not keeping up with people we care about or it’s a lie we tell people we don’t care about.
  • “Rest is not a sin.”
  • Mark 6:31
    • Has busyness ever caused you to miss something or caused a disruption in a relationship? Was it too late when you realized busyness got in the way?
• Science of Sabbath
  • Study from Jolanta Orzeł-Gryglewska
    • “people experiences hallucinations, disturbances in reasoning, paranoia, etc.”
  • Rest is actually helping your body heal and repair itself. Resting isn’t “doing nothing.”
  • Johns Hopkins Study
  • Sara Mednick, PhD study.
  • Have you ever pushed your body so hard that you got physically ill? What were the effects and how long did you have to rest before you were back to normal?
• The Bible on Rest
  • Genesis 2:2-3
  • God initiates the Sabbath has “holy” which literally “set apart” Israel from the rest of the world.
  • Walter Brueggemann quote
    • “…the conduct of Yahweh on the seventh day is in sharp contrast to the world of pharaoh, in which there is no rest but only feverish productivity. The command on Sabbath also looks forward: to a human community, an Israelite community peaceably engaged in neighbor-respecting life that is not madly engaged in production and consumption, but one that knows a limit to such activity and so has at the center of its life an enactment of peaceableness that bespeaks the settled rule of Yahweh. Moreover, as Sabbath became increasingly a distinguishing mark of Jews in the world, this commandment provides a way in which Jewishness can be visibly enacted, in order to exhibit the claim that Jewishness is indeed an alternative way of being in the world; alternative to the exploitative ways of the world that begin in self-serving idolatry and end in destructive covetousness.”
  • Jesus did not cancel the Sabbath.
    • Mark 2:27
    • Jesus was dealing with Pharisees and teachers who legalized the sabbath into oblivion.
  • Hebrews 4:9-10
• Practical Ways of Sabbath
  • See a practical list here.
  • Meditation.
  • Rest.
  • Be Still.
  • Work Smart & Hard.
  • Examine Yourself.
    • When was the last time you allowed yourself to “be still” with the Lord? Did you feel renewed?
    • What are some things that replenish your tank? Are you already doing these on your sabbath?
    • If you aren’t already taking a sabbath once a week, can you start this week? What does it look like for you?