A special day
key words
biblical reference
Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-13
lesson objective
To understand that God wants us to use our day of rest to praise him.
memory verse
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Mark 12:30-31a, NIV*).
prepare yourself to teach
Today’s world seems far busier and hurried than ever before. Have you ever thought that the days seem to be getting shorter? Our responsibilities seem to fill our calendars and our minds. And, this is not just the case with adults. Teens and children also suffer negative consequences from being so active. School, sport practices, chores, homework and extra classes are only some of the multitude of activities that our preadolescents are doing for the majority of the week.
Of course, it is good to intellectually and physically stimulate our youngsters. But there is always the danger of saturating their lives with activities and not leave time for the most important thing: their relationship with God.
The students need to learn that God established the Sabbath so we could rest and concentrate our attention on him.
Explain to your students that God gives us six days to work and complete our tasks. But, it is our responsibility as God’s children to keep the Sabbath holy and praise the Lord on the seventh day.
biblical commentary
Read Genesis 2:1-3. God is so wise. Even before people started to work, God had already put a day aside for resting and strengthening our walk with him. Our Creator knows that we need a day of rest to renew our energy and strength. But, this does not refer only to our physical strength. We also need to renew our spiritual strength. In many parts of the world, the Sabbath is on Sundays, but in some places it is another day due to the local circumstances. In some places it is from Friday evening through Saturday evening.
Read Matthew 12:1-13. With frequency, the Pharisees accosted Jesus with questions referring to the Sabbath. These men of the law had converted this day, designed for the Lord, into a series of elaborate rituals that needed to be strictly completed. When Jesus healed a man who had a shriveled hand on the Sabbath, the Pharisees criticized him, accusing him of breaking the law of God. They had given priority to their rituals and the law before the needs of humans.
Regardless, Jesus had the correct answer: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).
God established the Sabbath so his children would relax from their daily duties. But, the most important thing we can do is to dedicated time to praise him and strengthen our relationship with him.
introduce the lesson
Three questions
Write on separate pieces of paper each of the following questions. On the backside of the paper, write the number of the question, and then hide them in different parts of the meeting area.
Question 1: What happens when people are too busy?
Question 2: Why do you think people are so busy?
Question 3: Is Sunday different from all the other days? Why?
Let the students find all the questions. Listen to their answers and tell them that today they will learn why a Sabbath day is special.
teach the lesson
Read the Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 20:8-11 and Matthew 12:1-13 passages ahead of time and be prepared to tell the story in your own words.
Explain to your students the details that can confuse them (for example, who were the Pharisees and why was it so important for the Jews to keep the Sabbath). Let the students ask questions if they have any.
You can also ask the class for a couple of volunteers to read the study passages aloud and then talk about them with the whole class.
connect the lesson
Choose some activities to connect with the lesson. These activities can help guide your students by reflecting on how they spend their time on their Sabbath days.
The day of the Lord
Ask the students to read and converse about the situations mentioned Student Activity Sheet #316-A.
Ask them: Do you think that these children are keeping the Sabbath holy?
Listen to their answers before moving on to the next activity.
How do you use the day of the Lord?
What do you do on the Lord’s Day?
Ask the students “What do you do on the Lord’s Day?” Details for discussing this are found in Student Activity Sheet #316-B. Help them write a list of activities that they do on their Sabbath days, indicating how much time they dedicate and the type of activity (Family, school, recreational, etc.).
Then, let them put the letters in order to reveal other activities that glorify God on the day of the Lord. (do good things, worship God, rest)
practice the memory verse
Memory verse practice
Instruct your students about the ways to perform the manual labors suggested in Student Activity Sheet #316-C. Follow these instructions: cut the strip of paper with the Bible verses and cut out the white window in the top right corner. Then, fold the page following the dotted line and glue on the edges. Have them insert the text so that you can read the words through the window. (You may need to trim the sides of the strip of paper with the Bible verses so it will fit.) Lastly, have them repeat the verse, phrase by phrase, while they slide the slip upwards to test that they are saying it correctly.
wrap-up
Pray
Conclude with prayer and challenge them all to honor God by keeping the Sabbath day of the Lord holy.
Encourage
Be sure the children know that you care about them and entrust them into the hands of God.
Invite
Organize everyone into teams to clean the room, put away materials, etc. Share a few things about the next session to attract the students’ interest and to encourage them to invite others to attend.
* Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™