Join us this Sunday (May 28th....) in remembering the Sabbath and keeping it Holy.
“ Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.” Exodus 20:8-11
Jubilee may have started in the time of Joshua ending roughly 600BC at the exile. In 1300 AD Pope Boniface reinstated the Jubilee for the Christian pilgrims to travel to Rome.
This Sunday, we are celebrating our own community Jubilee Sunday at Parma Greece. Every 50 days we will be reminded to make it a special Sunday. On this day we will conduct no church business. On this day let us honor the Sabbath. For this one day this week, let us focus on the true meaning of this day,….a day of renewal and of reflection.
On this day, we encourage you to close your iPads, cell phones, turn off the TV’s, put aside our chores, the e-mail, and focus on God for refreshment, devotion, time of reflection, and time with others. A day to turn off the computers and spend time with our families and our friends. Not just taking the time to physically rest. But taking the time to do whatever things you do to reflect, refresh, and re-energize your faith.
What to do? There is no right or wrong. It’s whatever works for you. Here are a few ideas:
- Take a breath, praise the Lord, be thankful
- Spend some time reading your Bible, a quiet time
- Turn off all the electronics in your life for today
- Go for a long walk with someone you care about
- Light a candle in a dark room and contemplate the light
- Spend some time in a garden, think about the world around you
- Fill a bird feeder, sit back and just watch
- Start a journal
- Spend some time laughing with others