1. Introduction: 5 Minutes
Where did you go on your last vacation?
Leader note: Focus on the more positive aspects of vacation – the relaxation, the chance to get to see new places, the time away from daily hassles and routines. You may want to save your story for last just in case you need it to create the atmosphere of rest.
2. Observation: 15 Minutes
Read Genesis 1, 2:1-4. What did God do in each of the six days? What did he rest from on the seventh day?
Leader note: Your group may want to debate whether Creation actually occurred in six literal days or if it is merely a figurative reference to time. Simply state hat though those are valid differences of opinions, today’s study is focused not on that greater issue but rather on the accomplishment of the work and the rest that followed. Further studies on Creation are something you can always choose to study later.
Leader note: As you look at the facts of each day, talk about all that was encompassed in that part of creation. This just expands the realm of the work involved – God did a LOT in His six days, we could never work this hard or accomplish so much. It helps to understand the bigger concept of the work He did and continues today.
Commentary:
First day:
He separated the dark from the light, creating night and day.
Second day:
He separated the waters of the heavens and earth can called the space “sky”.
Third day:
He made the waters come together, leaving dry areas, and called them “sea” and “land”.
He produced all of the seed-bearing trees and vegetation on the land.
Fourth day:
He made the solar system to govern this day and night: he placed the sun, moon, and stars in the sky.
Fifth day:
He made all the fish and creatures in the sea and the birds of the air, commanding them to multiply. He created all fish and birds that create fish and birds of the same kind.
Sixth Day:
He made livestock, small animals, and wild animals – all animals that produce animals of the same kind
He created human beings in his image to reign over all of the fish in the sea, the livestock, birds, wild animals, and small animals on the earth.
He created human beings as male and female and told them to multiply and fill the earth and govern over the animals and fish.
Seventh day:
He rested from all of his work
He blessed the seventh day and called it holy because he rested from all of his work.
3. Understanding: 20 Minutes
What are some different ways in which people fill up their seven days each week?
Leader note: We live in the busiest time in history. We do more because we have access to more. Before there were cars, a trip to the market could be most of what was accomplished in one day. Before the advancement in technology, getting one note or letter written and delivered could take days, but now it takes seconds and allows time for more opportunities and tasks to fill the day. It will create a lively discussion if you talk about why we are busier now than ever and then list specific tasks, opportunities, appointments and activities that fill each day. Include driving distances, kids’ activities, sports and physical fitness regimens, TV time, socializing, business meetings, travel, meaningful and meaningless time fillers.
4. Application: 20 Minutes
What are all of the things you do in a typical week?
Leader note: To answer this, you might want to have your group list out their activities for that specific day, and maybe the day before. And if they can, maybe even the day before that or took at what is on their calendar for tomorrow. Remind them to include mealtimes, sleeping, doctor’s appointments, hair appointments, nail appointments, kid’s sports, movies or TV time, work, driving time, pet time, cleaning, Bible studies, working in classrooms, volunteer work, and so on. It is also interesting to split the time into weekday and weekend times as tasks tend to vary drastically during those times.
Leader tip: Most people will be surprised by how much they actually do every day. The list can contain more than fifty activities per day, and with most people trying to sleep between six and eight hours per day, that leaves only sixteen to eighteen hours to accomplish those fifty-plus tasks. If you consider those things accomplished while “multitasking,” it is truly incredible what can be achieved in one day.
The definition of Sabbath is “ceasing”. What would it look like to cease from those activities in your life, one day per week?
Leader tip: Now take a minute to consider what would happen if one out of every seven days was dedicated to resting, taking a break from “all of the work” you do. To take a break from everything you normally do. What would happen to your physical and mental health? What would you “do” instead of al all of the work?
The Sabbath can “just be a day of rest.” How does this view of the Sabbath differ from your previous thoughts?
Leader Note: People have a tendency to think of the Sabbath as a day for God. They think that if they are to observe the Sabbath, God is asking them to spend an entire day worshiping, contemplating him, and praying. God gave us the Sabbath for us, just as he took a full day of rest after creating the universe (something our busyness will never outdo), he has instructed us to take a day off from “all of the work”. Talk about what “resting” looks like to you. It will be different for almost everyone. We want to avoid defining rest for everyone because once we assign rules – what you can and can’t do – we start looking like the Pharisees from Jesus’ day, where they had hundreds of laws about how many steps you could take, how much weight you could carry – before it was considered work. This is a heart issue – not a legal issue. It is about trusting in provision from God, in His working in your life.
Leader note: Choose one day in the next seven where you commit to “rest”. You may want to assign “accountability” partners and have them check up on one another and see how the “rest” time is going. What is challenging? How can they pray for each other as they continue to try to rest?
PRAY: As you end your time together you can pray in the pairs you have selected to hold each other accountable, or you can pray as a group. Pray that you will experience the rest that God has intended for each of you. You may want to read Psalm 23 out loud to the group and sit for a minute with the thoughts that psalm provokes, and what it would look like in your life. Ask God to show you rest, to give you rest, to meet you in your time of rest.
5. Live it out: How will you look different to your friends, family and coworkers if you begin to “rest”? How might it affect them?