Resting in Christ - Discussion Starters

Resting or Resisting. Jesus during His life on earth kept the commandments of God, including the Sabbath commandment. Does this mean that the Sabbath has remained unchanged?
Photo by Curtis Hall
What is the root meaning of the Sabbath as presented by God in Scripture? Do you believe the seventh day is the Sabbath, created by God for eternity? If so, what are some ways that observance of the “Sabbath rest” has been especially rewarding to you?
The light yoke. Did you rest last Sabbath? Did you take a refreshing visit to the mountains or a walk on a quiet beach? Are there other ways, even if confined to home, to enjoy rest and relief from a sinful world on the Sabbath Day? Why were some of the early Christians so easily drawn from worship commemorating Creation to a day representing the sun? What about you? In what ways do you demonstrate your loyalty to the Creation-Day Sabbath?
Unrest over a rest day. How important is the seventh-day as Sabbath? Why is Creation Week marking the first Sabbath on the planet so full of meaning to us today? Is it a fair statement that Christians who choose not to keep the Sabbath day are relying on God’s everlasting love to love them anyway? What do you think of that concept? To make up for their years of paying little or no attention to the Sabbath, what did the children of Israel choose to do? How would you like to have been on the Pharisee committee to define acceptable conduct on the Sabbath? How can a detailed description of what we can do on Sabbath tend to lead us astray?
Jesus and Sabbath rigidity. Jesus created a world that runs on a complex set of physical laws at work in the universe and yet when it comes to worship and praise, doesn’t it seem He wants us to enjoy true freedom in Him? What is the lesson behind the report of David and his companions who ate consecrated bread? What does that story have to do with resting on the Sabbath? What are some examples of arduous activity (work) that in most cases would perfectly acceptable for a Christian to do on Sabbath? Or are we more tempted these days to lay aside all of the requirements of the fourth commandment? What would Jesus say to us if He had the sermon on this topic at our church next Sabbath?
Healing on the Sabbath. “Oh, yes,” the pastor of another church said to me, “you are right about the Sabbath – up to the crucifixion of Jesus. That’s when it changed to honor His resurrection.” Half the Bible (Old Testament) on the 7th day as Sabbath, the other half (New Testament) on the 1st day as the “Lord’s Day.” Hard to accept that if you study God’s Word. But in Jesus’ day there was no such disagreement about which day was the true Sabbath. They just didn’t want to see the “sin” of healing on the Sabbath. “Sin” like healing the withered hand of an old man. What Jewish law(s) did Jesus follow when he healed the man? Which ones did he violate? Can we become legalistic even today about seventh-day Sabbath keeping?
No abolishing of Sabbath. If Jesus’ last few days on earth marked the abolishing of the seventh day as Sabbath, why is there no sign of such in the Bible? If the tradition over four thousand years to honor the seventh day as Sabbath was about to end, wouldn’t the topic be discussed or predicted by gospel writers? Instead, what message of the Sabbath is conveyed through the New Testament. Do you look to Jesus as the guardian of the Sabbath and the precious few (now 19 million) who place saving power on our willingness to respect God in every way, including Sabbath.

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Resting in Christ – Discussion Starters

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