Jesus heals on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-36)
What is the Sabbath?The word Sabbath in Hebrew is shabbat, and it means to stop, cease or be done.
One of Jesus's most famous sayings that speaks of the sabbath can be found in Matthew 11:28-30. "“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Eugene Peterson's version in the Message Translation is beautiful and striking: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Taking some time regularly in the form of a sabbath (a day, or a half day, or even an hour or two!) can help remind us that the world doesn't depend on us to be God, that we can rest in God's presence as a child of God. A Sabbath can be filled with things that bring you joy and life, that remind you a fresh of the goodness and love of God. Kids talkSermons4kids has a great kids talk on this topic here here
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Small group resourcePracticing the Way is a 4 part series produced by John Mark Comer, teaching about the sabbath. This mall group resource can be found on Youtube and provides some great material for churches to use in their settings to bring small groups together over this spiritual practice.
Discussion questions: adultsComing out of John Mark Comer's Sabbath resource, he asks:
Bible ProjectRead: Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
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