Note to parents:

I’m working off an assumption in this Family Worship that the early Church was right to shift Sabbath to the Lord’s Day (i.e. from Saturday to Sunday) in the light of Jesus’ resurrection. Passages to consider would include: Rev.1:10; Lk.24:1-7; Acts 20:7; I Cor.16:2. It’s also worth bearing in mind the witness of the Church in the immediately post-Apostolic era, which universally suggests the Church ‘no longer [kept] the Sabbath, but lives in accordance with the Lord’s Day, on which our life also arose through Him ... in order that we might be found to be disciples of Jesus Christ’ (Letter of Ignatius to the Magnesians, end of first century). We’ll come back to this later.

As a family, design a great ‘Sabbath’... and then keep it. As you do so remember the following key points:

Keeping one day set apart is an ancient Biblical command. In fact, it is woven into the very fabric of creation itself (Gen.2:1-3).

It is set apart for God’s purposes. You could probably have a great conversation about the differences between our culture’s idea of a ‘day-off’ and a Sabbath (or the difference between a holiday and a Festival). Listing out God’s purposes and making sure they are covered would be an important part of this family worship.

You have to work hard for 6 days if you’re going to keep the Sabbath (as a day of rest) properly.

and just for interest: Sundays are always Feast Days in the Church – even during Lent!

While you’re planning your great Sabbath, have these questions as part of the exercise:

What does keeping the Sabbath teach us about work and rest?

What does it teach us about the New Creation?

How does keeping the Sabbath help you to grow as a Christian?

What happens if you don’t keep the Sabbath?

What about people who have to work on Sundays?

Why is the Sabbath ‘good news’ for us?

If you want to read Like 6:1-11, a great conversation would be about why the Pharisees have got the Sabbath so wrong... They’ve forgotten what it is about. It is supposed to be pointing us to the rest and wholeness and joy of the New Creation. When you forget why God’s Law is what it is, it gets miserable very quickly.

here is short video from ‘the Bible Project’ that help put keeping Sabbath in a bigger perspective (it also touches on why we celebrate it on a Sunday now). You can watch it here.