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Making the Sabbath a Delight

Making the Sabbath a Delight

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doing family history

Purpose

Find ways to make the Sabbath “a delight” by choosing activities that help you to worship the Lord and strengthen your relationship with Him (see Isaiah 58:13).

Description

With a group of friends, brainstorm simple games that would be appropriate for the Sabbath. Make a list on a board or a paper, or write all of your ideas down on slips of paper you can collect together. Possible game ideas may be a scripture chase, Bible story charades, or a hymn-guessing game.

Choose a game to teach each other or play together. Add more games to your list as you think of them. Talk about how the games are different from those you play during the week and how they can help set the Sabbath apart as a day to draw closer to the Lord.

More Ideas

  • Sabbath guessing game—On separate cards, write activities that are appropriate for the Sabbath, such as singing hymns, reading scriptures, attending church, doing family history, visiting others, and gathering with family. Participants take turns choosing a card and, with a time limit (3–5 minutes), drawing a picture to help others guess the activity on the card. Remember, no words. Pictures only!

  • Sabbath videos—As a group, look through videos in the LDS Media Library. Invite the group to choose videos that are particularly appropriate for the Sabbath that they could share with their families or friends. They could share the videos in person or on social media.

  • Family home evening—As a group, help each other prepare to teach a family home evening lesson about the Sabbath day. You could look on LDS.org for ideas. Invite participants to give the lessons in their own families if appropriate.

  • Serve others—Invite group members to decide on something the group can do to serve others on the Sabbath—for example, visit a care center or take a treat to a new neighbor. Then put your plan into action.

  • Preparation relay race—Divide into teams. Give the teams a series of tasks that represent something they can do before the Sabbath to prepare. For example, folding a pile of shirts could represent preparing clothing; tossing several coins into a container from a distance could represent shopping; putting canned food in a bucket could represent preparing meals ahead of time. The first team to complete all the tasks wins. Afterward, discuss why it is important to prepare for the Sabbath and what blessings it brings.

Discussion

Encourage participants to talk about what they are learning. Discussions can take place before, during, or after the activity. You could ask questions like the following:

  • Why do you think how we spend our Sabbath days is important?

  • When have you experienced blessings because you made the choice to honor the Sabbath?

  • What feelings or impressions do you have about God giving the Sabbath day to us as a gift?

  • How can you apply what you are learning in your life?

Related Resources

Sabbath Day Lesson

Other