Memory Verse:  Isaiah 66:23

Reading #1: Genesis 2:1-3

Questions: Do you think God rested because He was tired or was He doing something bigger with this 7th day?  How does this institution of the Sabbath day of rest and its being consecrated as holy possibly answer those who say each day of creation was actually just a figure of speech for a much longer period of time?

Reading #2: John 9

Questions: What did Jesus do that was unheard of since the creation of the world?  How are verses 3-5 an explanation for why Jesus healed the man born blind?  What is the sad irony behind the Pharisees’ condemnation of Jesus for healing on the Sabbath?

Reading #3: Acts 13

Questions: According to verse 27, what would happen every Sabbath?  After the reading of the law and the prophets, what word of encouragement did Paul give to the Jews in Antioch in verses 16-41?  In verses 42-43, how did the Jews respond to Paul’s message? How did the attitude of the Jews change on the next Sabbath when “almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord,” including many Gentiles?  What message did Paul have for them?  How did the Gentiles respond to Paul’s message?

Reading #4: Colossians 2:6-23

Questions: What reason does Paul give in verse 17 for not letting people judge you for what you eat or drink, or how you celebrate or observe the Sabbath?  How does his reasoning also answer the legal demands of circumcision and baptism in verses 8-14? How do verses 13-15 answer the inability of self-made religion to stop the indulgence of the flesh in verse 23?

Psalms and Hymns 

All Things Bright and Beautiful  “The purple headed mountain, the river running by, the sunset, and the morning that brighten up the sky All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful; the Lord God made them all.”

When Morning Gilds the Skies  “Sing, sun and stars of space, sing, ye that see His face, sing, Jesus Christ be praised!”

Praying Under the Same Sky

China, Columbia, Croatia