Family Guide: Sabbath

Let’s start our time together by doing something a little funny. Find a comfortable way to sit with your hands in your lap. We’re going to make a drum beat together by gently patting our laps at the same time, on the same beat. 

Start the beat and invite your kids to join in. Once everyone is on the same page, keep reading as the family continues the beat. 

As we drum this beat together, we are creating a rhythm. Rhythm is a regular, repeated flow or pattern of something. There is rhythm to music—we can clap along with a song. There is rhythm to a poem—words arranged in a particular way. The beat of our heart is a rhythm. The beep of a microwave is a rhythm. 

Let’s stop the drumming and talk a little more about rhythm. The Bible, while it might just look like words on a page, is one big story that has a rhythm. God starts the rhythm on the very first page. It sounds something like this “Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work… Rest… Rest… Rest”. This rhythm points us to an incredible gift God has given us called Sabbath. Have you ever heard the word “sabbath” before? 

Give space for answers.

Sabbath is a special day set aside each week where we get to rest and experience God’s love. It’s a gift that God has given us to enjoy with him and with the people we love, like our friends and family. People who follow God have been practicing Sabbath for a very long time—all the way back to the ancient times written about in the Bible! It wasn’t an idea people just made up because they thought it was a good plan to get rest. Sabbath is a gift that God gave us. In fact, do you know who was FIRST to practice Sabbath? God! Let’s read about when God created everything in the world, including Sabbath.

Pull out a Bible and read Genesis 1v31–2v3

Later on in the story of the Bible, God gives his people some special rules to help them follow God’s ways in God’s world. Let’s read one of those rules that we find in the Ten Commandments. 

Pull out a Bible and read Exodus 20v8–11

Work through these questions together: 

• What did God do after he created the world?

• What was the commandment we read?

• Why were God’s people commanded to remember the Sabbath? 

• Why do you think God gave us the gift of Sabbath? 

Jesus grew up practicing the Sabbath every week. He lived in a community of people who would pause from their work for a whole day every week to rest and be with God. However, there were very strict rules that had to be followed on the Sabbath. It probably felt impossible to do it right! The Bible tells us that some people became so focused on the rules and doing Sabbath just right, they forgot Sabbath is a gift. Jesus practiced Sabbath in a way that reminded people it was a gift from God, given for us to enjoy.

If we were to read all of the stories in the Bible about Jesus and his followers practicing Sabbath, we might notice it often includes 4 big ideas: stop, rest, celebrate, and pray. First, Sabbath is a day to STOP by putting down all of our work and schoolwork, chores, and distractions. These things aren’t bad: we just want to press pause on them so we can create space to enjoy God and his world. Second, Sabbath is a day to REST, not just our bodies, but our minds and our hearts too! 

Let’s pause here for a moment. If we want to have a whole day where we STOP and we REST, that means we might need to do a little bit of planning and preparing. To really enjoy our special day, we should plan ahead to finish up any work we have to do the day before! Maybe for you that’s homework, or a chore you usually do. With a little planning, we can make sure our Sabbath is a day for joy and rest.

Let’s get back to the four big ideas. Sabbath is a day where we STOP, and REST. Third, Sabbath is a day to CELEBRATE and experience joy. We get to do things that we love to do most, like go on a bike ride or do a puzzle or listen to music. Maybe we read a story or watch a movie that makes us laugh! Finally, Sabbath is a day to PRAY by talking and listening to God. We can have quiet time or go on a prayer walk or read the Bible. We can thank God for his love and presence and kindness to us. 

Does Sabbath sound like something you would want to try? How does hearing about Sabbath make you feel? Does it sound hard or easy? 

Give space for answers.

Trying Sabbath might feel like a really big deal because it means giving up a whole day to try something new. If that sounds kind of hard, that’s okay! We don’t want to make Sabbath about rules: we want to remember it as a gift. Practicing Sabbath is like hosting a party or making dinner or building a fort: it takes a little planning and we’ll get better at it every time we do it. 

As followers of Jesus, we want to follow his example and learn to practice the Sabbath each week. A great place to start is by picking a day this week where we can try it. If this week is already planned, we can plan for a day later this month and stick with it. Let’s start by spending a few minutes thinking about how we could stop, rest, celebrate, and pray on Sabbath. 

Pause here to fill out the below “Sabbath Worksheet” together but stop before you get to the last question. 

Wow, we’ve come up with a lot of good ideas! Remember, we don’t have to do all of these but these are great options to pick from during Sabbath. The last thing we need to plan together is how to start our Sabbath. 

Does your school have a bell to mark the beginning or end of the school day, or does your teacher use a special chime? At school, a bell is a signal that says “it’s time for something new!” Many followers of Jesus like to start Sabbath with a special signal or tradition, too. Those traditions remind us that we are starting something new, and remind everyone, “what we’ve been waiting for is finally here!”

Here are two specific traditions we could use to celebrate the start of our Sabbath day together. Let’s discuss them and pick one to try this week!

Idea 1: Sabbath Candles

We could start our Sabbath by lighting a special candle. Before we light the candle, we can sit around it at the table or at the counter or in the living room. We can read a passage from the Bible like Psalm 23 or the Lord’s Prayer or maybe the verses we read earlier. Or, we can sing a worship song that we love singing together in church. After reading or singing together, one person can light the candle and pray for our Sabbath day, asking God to help us stop, rest, celebrate, and pray together.

Idea 2: Sabbath Meal

Another way we could start Sabbath is by having a special meal. It can be a different special meal each week, but it might be easier to pick one type of meal and stick with it. Some people make pizza for Sabbath dinner. Others have soup and bread or get takeout from their favorite restaurant. If we start Sabbath in the morning, we could make pancakes or waffles with lots of toppings. Let’s pick something that we really enjoy, that feels super special, and isn’t too complicated. 

Circle or write down the Sabbath tradition of your choice on the worksheet and add any details discussed.

Whether on a car ride from church or at dinner later this month or some other time, let’s decide when we want to talk about Sabbath again. And, finally, let’s end by praying together that God would help us to pause each week and enjoy the gift of Sabbath.