3: Sabbath, A Day of Freedom - Teaching Plan

Key Thought: The Sabbath was used by Jesus to heal the sick and a day to benefit those in need. The Sabbath has many practical benefits.

July 20, 2019

1. Have a volunteer read Exodus 16:16-18.

Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
What can we learn from this gathering process of the manna that God set up?
Personal Application: How do fellowship meals and Dorcas centers help the church in following this procedure? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: One of your relatives states: “How does the church play a role in this period of time in helping people in need when there are social welfare programs and help given through governmental programs? Has the government taken over a church responsibility, or is there a need for both?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Exodus 20:8-11.

Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
What are some positive reasons that Sabbath rest is a blessing to mankind?
Personal Application: In what ways should Sabbath-keeping make us better, kinder, compassionate, and more caring people? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: One of your friends states, “What is the difference between being legalistic in Sabbath-keeping and the freedom from the law that Paul talks about? What is the difference between a rule and a principle?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Matthew 12:9-13.

Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
Do we excuse ourselves too much when we do things we shouldn’t on the Sabbath?
Personal Application: Have you ever helped someone on the Sabbath that someone in the church might consider breaking the rule of law? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “What good things do you Adventists do for others on the Sabbath? Do you just have potluck and go home and nap on Sabbath, or do you do hospital visits, see shut-ins, help others?” How would you reply to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Leviticus 25:1-7.

Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
How does Sabbath-keeping affect the way we live the other six days of the week?
Personal Application: How could we incorporate the seventh year resting of land for the poor into our lives today? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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I have been pondering this question all week. God asks those who have been delivered by his power out of the bondage and slavery to sin (which is transgression of the law of love) to remember (or mark) the Sabbath. (Exodus 20:2; Exodus 20:8.) The commandment in Exodus 20:11 directly cites the creation story. The whole point of that story is that God made a physical place for mankind with the objective that mankind would be one with him (that is, be made in his image) and the Sabbath, that is, a place in time, was to be a key part of that objective. God stopped his work to devote a whole day of uninterrupted time with the man and woman he had created. He does the same now for each one of us and asks that we act as does he and rest from our work to have uninterrupted time with him. From this we see that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

So the time is set aside with the objective of becoming like the One who has delivered us from the deceptions and lies of Satan that keep us in bondage and slavery. So the question is: How is this objective accomplished? The Sabbath commandment in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 tells us to keep (or strongly guard) the time because we were once the Devil’s slaves and God delivered us by his power (Deuteronomy 5:15).

In Micah 6:4, the Lord reminds us, “I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of slaves.” He then asks rhetorical questions about how we should respond to this liberation. And the prophet answers, “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does Jehovah require of you but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8.) God is showing us the Way, the Truth and the Life by example and we guard the Sabbath time to do the works our Heavenly Father has shown us through his son Jesus. (John 5:19,20; John 14:12.) We guard the Sabbath as a precious time to consider how to provoke each other to love and good works as we draw near to God and assemble together as the body of Christ. (Hebrews 10:19-25, especially 22, 25 and 26.)

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3: Sabbath, A Day of Freedom – Teaching Plan — 7 Comments

Paul Blanke on July 20, 2019 at 1:39 am said:

I may have ask this question else where, I think it is pertinent enough to ask, how do we keep the Sabbath holy? I hope there are opinions available from some on this list.

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- Maurice Ashton on July 20, 2019 at 2:05 am said:
  
  I think that most of us who are older grew up with the notion that holiness meant sitting around quietly in our best clothes doing nothing but reading our Bibles, singing hymns and praying. While all of those "activities are to be commended, it is also worth thinking about a more active form of holiness. We have been preconditioned into thinking that there is something especially holy about the monastic, contemplative life. I like the notion that holiness is something that is lived in the thick of human interaction, where we can bring glory to God. A person isolated in a cloister with a bible and a hymnbook is not holy; he merely alone.
  
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- Richard Ferguson on July 20, 2019 at 8:51 pm said:
  
  I have been pondering this question all week. God asks those who have been delivered by his power out of the bondage and slavery to sin (which is transgression of the law of love) to remember (or mark) the Sabbath. (Exodus 20:2; Exodus 20:8.) The commandment in Exodus 20:11 directly cites the creation story. The whole point of that story is that God made a physical place for mankind with the objective that mankind would be one with him (that is, be made in his image) and the Sabbath, that is, a place in time, was to be a key part of that objective. God stopped his work to devote a whole day of uninterrupted time with the man and woman he had created. He does the same now for each one of us and asks that we act as does he and rest from our work to have uninterrupted time with him. From this we see that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
  
  So the time is set aside with the objective of becoming like the One who has delivered us from the deceptions and lies of Satan that keep us in bondage and slavery. So the question is: How is this objective accomplished? The Sabbath commandment in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 tells us to keep (or strongly guard) the time because we were once the Devil’s slaves and God delivered us by his power (Deuteronomy 5:15).
  
  In Micah 6:4, the Lord reminds us, “I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of slaves.” He then asks rhetorical questions about how we should respond to this liberation. And the prophet answers, “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does Jehovah require of you but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8.) God is showing us the Way, the Truth and the Life by example and we guard the Sabbath time to do the works our Heavenly Father has shown us through his son Jesus. (John 5:19,20; John 14:12.) We guard the Sabbath as a precious time to consider how to provoke each other to love and good works as we draw near to God and assemble together as the body of Christ. (Hebrews 10:19-25, especially 22, 25 and 26.)
  
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- Richard Ferguson on July 20, 2019 at 9:19 pm said:
  
  My family decided to visit a different church this Sabbath in the area in which we are staying. When we got there, we found out that the church was doing a health expo during the town's apricot harvest festival. That was the church service, so we opted to stay and help.
  
  We had a great blessing being part of the expo and got meet many interesting people and introduce them to God's health principles. The expo offered a free lunch to anyone who walked in off the street and we partook as well. It was another opportunity to talk with people who did the expo.
  
  This Sabbath was an time to mingle with people as one desiring their good.
  
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Kalo on July 20, 2019 at 1:48 am said:

Happy Sabbath
I would like to say thank you for the week lessons.Sabbath the day of freedom my self I knew the significance of how to keep Sabbath,as a day recommend by God.
And how to contribute and sharing the principles with one ☝ another.
Thank you so much.
God bless you.

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Elma Daniels on July 20, 2019 at 3:45 am said:

The Sabbath is for me such a freedom from the demands of the week.What a blessing. God created for us.

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Paul Blanke on July 20, 2019 at 6:41 pm said:

I spent much of this Sabbath listening to a sermon from the camp meeting at Soquel central California, about the faith of Abraham, Genesis 22. Do we have this kind of faith? Sometimes I doubt it. "God will provide", was the name that Abraham called it. I ask myself, do I have this kind of faith? It is a gift of God, Ephesians 2:8.

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3: Sabbath, A Day of Freedom – Teaching Plan