A LifeGuide® Bible Study

SABBATH

The Gift of Rest

8 STUDIES FOR INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS

Lynne M. Baab

With Notes for Leaders

An imprint of InterVarsity Press

Downers Grove, Illinois

InterVarsity Press

P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426

World Wide Web: www.ivpress.com

E-mail: email@ivpress.com

©2007 by Lynne M. Baab

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.

InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept., InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at www.intervarsity.org.

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Cover image: Kirsten Pott

ISBN 978-0-8308-6296-2

Contents

Getting the Most Out of Sabbath

1 An Invitation to Relax in Abundance

Genesis 1:1–2:3

2 Choosing to Stop Working

Exodus 16:1–30

3 Finding Refreshment in God’s Creation

Exodus 20:1–21

4 Discovering Sabbath Delight

Isaiah 58

5 A Gift for Us

Mark 2:23–28

6 We Are Valuable

Matthew 12:9–14

7 Freed from Bondage

Luke 13:10–17

8 The Gift of Grace

Ephesians 2:1–10

Leader’s Notes

Getting the Most Out of Sabbath

Sabbath is not an everyday term in our culture. What is the sabbath? A weekly day of rest and worship. A day to rejoice in abundance. A day to practice thankfulness. A day to slow down, take a deep breath, step aside from work and worries, and let the world go on without us, knowing that God is caring for everyone and everything.

In the midst of the stress of juggling and multitasking, keeping the sabbath brings simplicity and a sense of God’s peace. More people of all ages are finding the sabbath to be a gift from God that brings a renewed awareness of who God is and who we are as God’s beloved children.

The sabbath was one of the distinctive marks of God’s people in the Bible. The other nations labored seven days a week, but the Jews rested from work one day out of seven. On that day, they remembered that God created the world and rested on the seventh day. They also remembered that God freed them from slavery in Egypt. The day of rest was a sign of God’s goodness to them as Creator and Redeemer.

Jesus observed the sabbath day. Several Gospel stories show him worshiping in the synagogue. Early followers of Jesus kept the Jewish sabbath on Saturday and celebrated Christ’s resurrection on Sundays, ...