Sabbath Activities
   

Principles of Sabbath (Saturday) Keeping

• (1) The Sabbath is a day to cease from our labors, Genesis 2.
• (2) Heavy food preparation is to be done on the day before (Friday) Sabbath, no baking or normal cooking on the Sabbath, Exodus 16:23.
• (3) We are not to do any servile work on the Sabbath, this includes our family, servants, animals and strangers who are living with us, Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.
• (4) The Sabbath is an holy convocation (gathering) with others in worship, Leviticus 23. 
• (5) The Sabbath should be a day of delight and rejoicing, a day in which we forsake our normal weekly thoughts and think Godly thoughts, Isaiah 56, 58.
• (6) We are not to do unnecessary work on the Sabbath, Jeremiah 17.
• (7) We are not to buy or sell on the Sabbath, Nehemiah 13.
• (8)  Singing is a part of Sabbath worship, Ephesians 5:19-20, Colossians 3:16, Psalms 33:1-3, 92:1-4, 95:1-7, 96:1-3, and 98:1-9.

In deciding what are appropriate Sabbath activities just consider how Jesus kept the Sabbath:

• He assembled with others in the synagogue.
• He read from the scriptures.
• He healed the sick.
• He shared meals.
• He took walks with friends.
• He inspired hope in others.
• He stayed in contact with the Father.

Here are a few things you might engage in on the Sabbath:

• Fellowship with fellow believers.
• Study the word. 
• Pray.
• Meditate.
• Sing songs of praise.
• Do family activities. (Sabbath activities should be God centered rather than self-centered. Take a Sabbath drive and/or walk, no buying or selling.)
• Teach your children. (Play family Bible games, read the Bible, listen to family Bible Studies, answer and ask Bible questions)
• Comfort the lonely. 

Staying at home is not a Biblical rule, In Exodus 16:29, God said, "abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." This referred to going outside the camp to gather food and wood. It is not a prohibition against leaving one's home on the Sabbath.

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