BIBLICAL VIRTUE GROUP

Because I value God's teaching in the Bible, I choose to believe and follow its teachings.

What To Believe

The Sabbath

The Bible teaches that the Sabbath is a sign between God and me. It is holy time, a time to remember His creation and saving work. Therefore, I will make the day special with worship and activities that honor Him.

Definition

The Sabbath related virtues: Holy time, seventh day, 7 literal days.

Our attitude towards the Sabbath is a special sign of our relationship with God. By keeping it the way He wants us to, we show our appreciation for God's creative and recreative power in Jesus. On this special day, we worship God and rest from the routines of the week.

Sabbath means: To gather together, to give testimonies, to praise God, to pray, to worship.
Weekly going to church and meeting with others who want to worship God together and listen to His message for me.
Planning and looking forward all week long to that worship and a special time with God and His people.
Gathering to sing, pray, give testimonies, and study the Bible together.
Listening to what God has to say to me when the preacher gives his sermon.
Recognizing the presense of God by our reverence during the worship service and lesson study.
Joining with others in calling on God to help any worshipers that may bring special problems or needs.

See flipchart

The Seventh Day for Jesus
The Dawn of God's Dear Sabbath, SDAH 40
O Day of Rest and Gladness, SDAH 383
Safely Through Another Week, SDAH 384
Don't Forget the Sabbath, SDAH 388
This is the Day

Student Life Applications

Students "setting aside" their studies to "rest" on the Sabbath
Students putting away whatever tools they use at work, as the sun goes down
A calendar with the seventh days circled in red
Planning special experiences to get close to God;
Planning special ways to start and end the Sabbath such as family traditions or pracitices to make it special;
Learning what activities would not be best to do on Sabbath and why;
Remembering God as our Creator, Redeemer, and renewing our commitment to Him;
Attending Sabbath school and church;
Reading the Bible and studying the Sabbath school lesson;
Playing Bible Games;
Student singing with the family
Student praying with your family
People in national dress walking to church of national architecture
(Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Guam)
People sitting in pews listening to pastor
People sitting on the floor listening to Scriptures being read
Four or five people singing from songbooks
Student playing a keyboard
Choir singing for church service
Listening to a pastor preaching with enthusiasm
Taking a nature walk in the woods, or on the beach and thinking of the creator God
People in Bible study group
Children in Sabbath School
Young people teaching from picture roll at a branch Sabbath School

Bible, E.G. White

The Sabbath Throughout the Bible -- Exodus 31:16 -- "perpetual covenant"
Attempts to Change the Day of Worship -- Daniel 7:25 -- the little horn attempts to "change the times and law"
The Observance of the Sabbath -- Exodus 20:8-10 -- "remember to keep it holy"

Genesis 2:2, 3 God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work.
Isaiah 58:13, 14 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
Isaiah 66:23 From one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
Luke 4:16 As his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

“It is necessary that the people of God assemble to talk of Him, to interchange thoughts and ideas in regard to the truths contained in His word, and to devote a portion of time to appropriate prayer. But these seasons, even upon the Sabbath, should not be made tedious by their length and lack of interest.” 2T 583
“Thus parents can make the Sabbath, as it should be, the most joyful day of the week. They can lead their children to regard it as a delight, the day of days, the holy of the Lord, honorable.” 6T 359
“You have desecrated the Sabbath by bringing your studies into that holy time which was not yours to occupy for your own purposes. God has said: "In it thou shalt not do any work."” 4T 114
“Physicians will frequently be called upon the Sabbath to visit the sick and may be obliged to make it a day of exhausting labor. Such labor to relieve the suffering was pronounced by our Saviour a work of mercy and no violation of the Sabbath.”4T 539

Reinforcing Stories

Luke 15:8,9, the woman (the church) had 10 pieces of silver (law of God, Psalm 199:72), she lost one (the fourth commandment), she used a candle (word of God, Psalm 11:105) to search throughout her house (God's house). through the Bible you can find the lost commandment and rejoice to find it again.

The Children's Hour I, pp. 237, 159, by Arthur S. Maxwell

Student Activities

Links to the Curriculum

Resources

The Children's Hour by Arthur S. Maxwell, R&H, 1945
Great Stories for Kids by Jerry D. Thomas, PPPA, 1999

The beneficent Creator, after the six days of Creation, rested on the seventh-day and instituted the Sabbath for all people as a memorial of Creation. The fourth commandment of God's unchangeable law requires the observance of this seventh-day Sabbath as the day of rest, worship, and ministry in harmony with the teaching and practice of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of delightful communion with God and one another. It is a symbol of our redemption in Christ, a sign of our sanctification, a token of our allegience, and a foretaste of our eternal future in God's kingdom. The Sabbath is God's perpetual sign of His eternal covenant between Him and His people. Joyful observance of this holy time from evening to evening, sunset to sunset is a celebration of God's creative and redemptive acts.---Fundamental Beliefs, 19.

Primary:
Tell or write two ways that show what it means to believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath.
Tell or write about a time when you saw someone show they believed and followed Bible teaching of the Sabbath.
Tell or write about when you showed that you believed and followed the Bible teaching of the Sabbath.
Tell or write about when you saw the hurt and unhappiness when someone didn’t believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath.
How do you think God feels when He sees people who believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath?
How do you feel or act when you follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath?
Tell two ways that you can show you believe the Bible teaching of the Sabbath.
What makes you want to follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath?
What is the opposite of believing and following the Bible teaching of the Sabbath? Who makes us act or believe that way?
Finish the sentence: We can show we believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath when we..........

Middle:
Why does God care if I believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath?
What difference does it make whether I believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath or not?
What effect would it have on my future if I did not believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath?
How would people treat me differently if I did or didn’t believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath?
How would I feel about myself if I did or did not believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath?
Give some reasons why you think it is best to believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath.
Why would someone do differently?
What makes choosing to believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath better than the opposite?
List some ways that a person might believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath without anyone noticing?
List 3 situations where a person could believe the Bible teaching of the Sabbath and show it in his work, home, or at the shopping mall.
Is it possible for a person to get better at believing and following the Bible teaching of the Sabbath? Explain.
Can you think of someone who seems good at believing and following the Bible teaching of the Sabbath? What makes them better at it?
How could you learn to be better at believing and following the Bible teaching of the Sabbath?
How often do you show that you believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath? Think of the last three times and tell me.
Do you like to join in when people believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath? How have you joined in?

High school:
Would you practice believing and following the Bible teaching of the Sabbath if no one were checking on you? Your parents, school, or the law?
What is the alternative to believing and following the Bible teaching of the Sabbath and what do you see as the results of that choice?
Would you recognize it if someone were not fully believing and following the Bible teaching of the Sabbath? How?
Would you keep quiet if someone paid you a lot of money not to believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath?
Are you proud to believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath and willing to tell others how you feel?
If someone in a group spoke out against believing and following the Bible teaching of the Sabbath would you speak up to give the other side?
Are you willing to put some of your money toward helping people believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath, in your city, class, work?
Can you say that believing and following the Bible teaching of the Sabbath has become a habit? How often do you show your belief?
What effect do you think believing and following the Bible teaching of the Sabbath will have on your future life?
Do you see your family believing and following the Bible teaching of the Sabbath? How about your church, city, or nation?
What do you think should be done to promote believing and following the Bible teaching of the Sabbath in your family, friends, church, city, nation?
Does it make much difference if they believe and follow the Bible teaching of the Sabbath or not?