Series: Replenish
Topic: The Sabbath
Main Idea: God has supplied us a taste of heaven / By giving us rest one day in seven.

1. If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? What would you like to do there?

This week we begin a new series entitled Replenish. The reason for this series? It’s obvious! We live in a draining, demanding world! The 24-hour news cycle, social media, pressure created by responsibilities of work or home life has caused “burnout” to be a key affliction of our day and age. But this is not life as it was intended. This is not the way of Jesus. He has promised “life abundantly” (John 10:10), and we believe that by following His ways and following His word we can experience that abundant life. In this two-week series, we’ll look at how to regain the rest and replenishment that the Bible talks about. We begin this first week with the focus of “replenishing” our physical selves. (Next week, we’ll talk about “replenishing” our spiritual selves.)

2. Read Genesis 2:1-3. What does this passage teach us about the significance and the uniqueness of the “seventh” day of creation?

3. Read Exodus 20:8-11. What information does this tell us about the institution of the “sabbath” day of rest?

4. In what ways does our culture pressure us into a “24/7” demand for accomplishment, achievement and work? How have you felt this personally?

5. What are the negative effects of such pressure? How have you experienced this yourself?

6. Think about the fact that God Himself took a “rest” at the end of creating the world. What does that tell us about our need for regular times of rest? Why do you think it is so hard for many people to enter into a regular time of rest?

7. How good are you, personally, at taking a regular (even weekly) time of “rest”? Explain.

8. If you were to implement a once-a-week “sabbath” like the Israelites did (either a total break from work, including checking work-related email, text messages, etc. or a break from household chores, like cleaning, shopping, etc.), what sacrifices would you have to make? What fears or anxieties would come up?

9. If you were to implement such a “sabbath,” what do you think you would learn about God and yourself from such an experience? How do you think it would impact your faith?

10. This weekend, we issued a challenge: for one month, find a 24-hour uninterrupted period where you can “sabbath,” taking a break from the regular work activities you do during the seven days of the week. Talk about this challenge with your group. What would get in the way of taking this challenge for you personally? How can you get past those things? What would you have to do differently the other six days to make this a reality? What things would you imagine doing on your “sabbath” day? Can you find yourself getting to a point where you would actually enjoy and look forward to such a break? Close your time by praying for God’s wisdom and direction for each of you individually in this area.

Purpose: Introduce topic and get everyone talking.

1. If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? What would you like to do there?

This is a “lighter” question intended to get the conversation going.

Purpose: Observe the passage and interact with the text

This week we begin a new series entitled Replenish. The reason for this series? It’s obvious! We live in a draining, demanding world! The 24-hour news cycle, social media, pressure created by responsibilities of work or home life has caused “burnout” to be a key affliction of our day and age. But this is not life as it was intended. This is not the way of Jesus. He has promised “life abundantly” (John 10:10), and we believe that by following His ways and following His word we can experience that abundant life. In this two-week series, we’ll look at how to regain the rest and replenishment that the Bible talks about. We begin this first week with the focus of “replenishing” our physical selves. (Next week, we’ll talk about “replenishing” our spiritual selves.)

2. Read Genesis 2:1-3. What does this passage teach us about the significance and the uniqueness of the “seventh” day of creation?

– First, we note that there are a few unique things about the seventh day that makes it stand out from the other six days (though you may not know this unless you read Genesis chapter 1). First of all, it’s the only day of creation that doesn’t include the phrases, “And God said…”, “and it was good” or “and it was evening and morning.” In addition, it’s the only day of creation to have its number (“seventh”) repeated three times.

– In addition to that, we learn from this passage that the seventh day is the day that God finished all of his creative work (John 5:17 tells us that God is still “working,” but the impression we get from Scripture is that he is no longer “creating”). God is now “resting” (v. 2).

– We also learn from this passage that God has uniquely set aside the seventh day as a special day; it is the only day of creation that God “blesses” and makes “holy.”

3. Read Exodus 20:8-11. What information does this tell us about the institution of the “sabbath” day of rest?

– The Israelites are to “remember” the sabbath day, and keep it “holy.” Note that to “remember” something in ancient Israel is not just to keep it in mind, it’s to do something about it – in the same way we might today “remember” our wedding anniversary.

– They are to cease from all work.

– This ceasing is to extend to everyone in their household, the “foreigners” (non-Jews) living among them, and even their animals (this means that in an agricultural society, which is what Israel was, they were not to use their animals for farming purposes).

– Further, the reason for this rest is rooted in the creation account itself (Genesis 2:1-3). God rested, so they are to rest.

Make sure to read the transition between questions 3 and 4! It contains very important information about the practice of sabbath for us today.

Purpose: Connect observations in God’s Word with observations in our world today.

4. In what ways does our culture pressure us into a “24/7” demand for accomplishment, achievement and work? How have you felt this personally?

6. Think about the fact that God Himself took a “rest” at the end of creating the world. What does that tell us about our need for regular times of rest? Why do you think it’s so hard for many people to enter into a regular time of rest?

The advent of the smartphone has made it possible to not only be connected at all times, but even to do work at all times. There’s this understanding – and, indeed, expectation – many businesses have that their employee is “on call” most waking hours and can be contacted and should respond whenever necessary. Often, this is accompanied by a fear people have that if they don’t respond, they’ll be labeled as a bad employee. This has led to increased levels of tiredness, burnout and the like. What Genesis 2 especially teaches us is that God has “hardwired” into this world periods of rest…and as people made in His image, we ourselves are hardwired to rest. Work is good, and it is important – but so is rest.

Purpose: Internalize God’s Word and apply the truth to your personal life.

7. How good are you, personally, at taking a regular (even weekly) time of “rest”? Explain.

9. If you were to implement such a “sabbath,” what do you think you would learn about God and yourself from such an experience? How do you think it would impact your faith?

Though many people in your group probably have one or two regular days off, probably many would admit that they’re never too far from work – a quick answer of an email before church on Sunday; looking something up on Saturday for a coworker; preparing a report Sunday night for a Monday morning meeting. To actually have an uninterrupted, 24-hour day per week time where we are completely and 100% detached from work is fairly rare these days. Even people who may not have a job outside of the house would admit that it’s hard not to try and “squeeze” an errand into a weekend day. There is virtue in unplugging once a week, though it doesn’t come without costs – fear, anxiety, worry, etc. But in sitting in these fears, we learn lessons about the fact that God is in charge and not us. This can increase our faith in the long run, and is one of the very positive reasons to practice this.

We would also note that some people don’t really have a problem with rest – but they do have a problem with working! We observe that Exodus 20:8-11 commands work. God Himself worked for six days, and we are to as well. Work is not bad, it’s good. The Bible also warns against sloth. But work is not to be our everything – one of the things that taking a sabbath teaches us.

Purpose: Imagine what your world would look like if the truths from the passage were lived out.

10. This weekend, we issued a challenge: for one month, find a 24-hour uninterrupted period where you can “sabbath,” taking a break from the regular work activities you do during the seven days of the week. Talk about this challenge with your group. What would get in the way of taking this challenge for you personally? How can you get past those things? What would you have to do differently the other six days to make this a reality? What things would you imagine doing on your “sabbath” day? Can you find yourself getting to a point where you would actually enjoy and look forward to such a break? Close your time by praying for God’s wisdom and direction for each of you individually in this area.

This is not to be a legalistic exercise. The sabbath was given to us as a time to enjoy; this is what Jesus makes clear in Mark 2:27 when he says that “the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.” Also, some people may be in positions where it is impossible for them to find a 24-hour period of no work – perhaps they’re working two jobs to make ends meet. They may have to find other periods of rest throughout the week to take off (that may or may not add up to 24 hours). The sabbath is supposed to be fun, not a burden, and emphasize that during your time!