Ladies, my heart overflows.  I have worked through lots of baggage in regards to the worship of God over the past few years.  While I realize that we will never worship our King perfectly while in our flawed and sinful state, my heart is to know His heart as much as I can.

I’ve desired to learn more about the Sabbath that God instituted, not just the Sunday worship meetings that we normally call the “Sabbath” nowadays.  I believe that Jesus is our Sabbath rest, and we are not required to “keep the Sabbath” in a traditional sense.  At the same time, the Lord instituted the Sabbath Day for us, and He always knows what is best.  He set the Sabbath apart, and made it holy.

The pictured table runner, lazy susan, and tea towel can be found at Mary & Martha.

We don’t celebrate most traditional church holidays any more, and I found that in my heart I still had the desire to celebrate.  As Christ followers, we should celebrate Him on a daily basis.  But I wasn’t quite sure how to do this.  We started to remember Jesus and His fulfillment through the Biblical feasts a little over one year ago, and I thought, “Why not do this with the Sabbath as well?”  The Sabbath, just like the Feasts, is a picture of the perfect rest we have in Jesus after all.

And so, I began to study.  I thought I would compile several resources for y’all here in case you would like to worship the Lord this way, too.  So far, we enjoy a Sabbath meal on Friday evening, and I also add in several “special” items or activities to drive the point home that the day is set apart, or different.  This mirrors the idea that as Christ followers, we are to look different than the rest of the world.  We don’t really carry the celebration over into Saturday morning thus far, but we will see how the Lord leads us in the future. According to the Lord in Genesis, days begin and end at sundown, which is why we begin our Saturday celebration on Friday evening.

This special time will very well look different from family to family.  Please feel free to take my ideas as they stand, or change them to make them your own.

To get started, I designed a free Sabbath Christian Celebration Printable Pack.  I use these items to decorate our home on Friday.  I picked up 8 x 10 $4.00 frames from Walmart to display the verses in.

Download your free Printable Pack here!

I see Friday as a “Preparation Day,” and we aim to get a lot of house cleaning done in the morning.  Friday is typically our “Home Blessing” Day anyhow, and so we really haven’t made any changes in that aspect.

As I said before, my goal for the evening is to make the evening special, and to make Jesus the center of it all.  We prepare a meal, such as roast beef or a turkey breast as the main course.  I also have a couple of candles on hand and a special dish cloth to cover our bread.  These items aren’t at all necessary, but I have taken a few ideas from the Jewish faith.  My hope is that this time is peaceful, and not solemn.

I set the table with the verses found in the above Printable Pack front and center.  Whenever it is time for the meal, which is around night fall during this time of the year, I light the candles and say the blessing found in the Printable Pack.  To us, one candle signifies creation, and the other redemption.  Since the Sabbath Day is connected to the time of creation, we thought this would work well.

The prayers are as follows:

A few of the other symbols we include are:

Goblet of Grape Juice – This goblet signifies life, and more importantly, Jesus’ sacrifice for us.  We usually drink grape juice with our meal as a way to remember Him.

Two Loaves of Bread – Traditionally, challah bread is used during this meal, but we have yet to do so.  We hope to bake our own challah soon!  In Leviticus 24:5-9, there is a law that loaves of bread are to be placed on the alter before the Lord.  This was done on the Sabbath (vs. 8), as an everlasting sign between God and His people.

Two loaves of bread appear on the table, which is symbolic of the double portion of manna which God provided while the children of Israel were wandering through the wilderness on the day prior to the Sabbath.  We cover the bread with a special cloth, which is symbolic of the dew that was around the camp of the Isarelites. Once the dew evaporated, manna laid in it’s place.  We eat this bread to remember how God always provides.  When we eat this bread, we should remember God’s provision of His Son.  Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:48)

While there are many, many other customs that can be incorporated into the Sabbath meal, this is what we are sticking to for now.

After the meal, we usually present our children with a restful gift.  This is a small reminder of the wonderful gift God has given to us.  On our first Sabbath celebration, everyone received new pajamas and a Sabbath play set from Kid Kraft.  On subsequent Sabbaths, we have given items such as a family book or game.

To drive home the point of the holiness of the day, we usually purchase special treats only to be consumed on the Sabbath.  At the moment, it is hot chocolate and popcorn with a special topping.  This is a simple reminder that the day is different than the rest.  As Christians, we are to be different, or set apart, from the world.

When Sunday morning dawns, we read about Jesus’ resurrection and enjoy some candy.  I usually leave this out on the table as a surprise as the children wake up. I change up how I do this each week, so the children are surprised. I use a special basket, the above Bible verse, and a “He has risen!” plaque that I purchased off of Etsy to decorate the table.

Also, I would like to share a teaching about the Sabbath that I’ve found helpful. We in no means observe the Sabbath in this way at this point, but this in depth study definitely is something to learn and pray about while searching the Scriptures for yourself.

This has been such a fun and meaningful way for us to celebrate the Lord together in our home as a family each and every week. I hope that this post has been an encouragement to you.