Week 32: What’s so special about Sunday?
Do you have chores and responsibilities around the house like cleaning up your room? Your family might save bigger projects in the yard or around the house for a Saturday and attend church together on Sundays. You may even get to do fun things with friends and family on the weekends. This week, we’ll explore how to observe the Lord’s day and keep it holy.
Be ready to read the following passages:
Let’s start it.
Ask family members to describe a normal day in their lives. How is your weekday routine different from a Saturday?
Let’s learn it.
There’s no doubt that your daily routine is quite different from the daily routine of an Israelite in the Old Testament. Yet, similarities can be found in anyone’s day-to-day life. Pick a family member to read Exodus 20:8-11 and see what God has to say in the Ten Commandments about our routines.
God gave the Sabbath as a day of rest for His people. Each Saturday, they were to take a break from their normal routine, rest from their work, and focus on the Lord. The Sabbath was a weekly reminder of how God had provided for them. By following this pattern, they were doing the same thing God had done after creation. Check out what Genesis 2:1-3 says about that.
God rested on the seventh day because He had finished the work of creating the universe. God gave the seventh day a special importance and declared it to be holy. The first word of the Fourth Commandment is “Remember.” He reminded His people that in six days He made everything: the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them. Then He rested. The seventh day was to be different from the other six days. God’s people were to treat the seventh day as holy, just as God had done.
If the Sabbath was the last day of the week – Saturday – why do Christians gather to worship on Sunday, the first day of the week? Check out the clues in Matthew 28:1-7 before you continue. We have the best reason in the world to observe Sunday as a holy day – it was the day Jesus rose from the grave! Each Sunday is an opportunity for followers of Christ to celebrate His resurrection and reflect on what God did by sending His Son to pay the price for our sins.
God’s pattern from creation teaches us the importance of taking a day of physical, mental, and emotional rest from our normal routine. It is a day reserved to reflect on what God has already done and to focus our attention on Christ for the coming week.
Let’s discuss it.
- Describe a normal Sunday for your family. Come up with ways that members of your family can take a break from their usual routines on Sundays in order to focus on the Lord.
- How would it help your body, mind, and emotions to reserve Sunday as a day of rest?
Let’s do it.
Sometimes we fail to recognize how we’re following the world’s pattern rather than God’s. Sunday has become the busiest day of the week at most grocery stores and shopping centers. Many times Christians leave church and rush off to a flurry of chores and activities. Like most things, a day of rest requires sticking to a plan the other six days of the week. If we put off our chores or have too many responsibilities, we simply run out of time to get everything done. What would you have to change during the week in order to take Sunday as a day of rest?
This Sunday, try to plan a family meal after your morning worship service. Intentionally focus your attention on God by discussing what each person learned from the sermon or from his or her Life Group. How has God provided for your family this week? Monday’s chores and responsibilities will still come, but you will be better prepared to face them with a rested body, mind, and spirit!