4. Enjoy a night of rest
But once a year, the congregation plans a “Day of Worship and Rest.”
That Sunday begins with an extended morning worship assembly lasting about an hour and 45 minutes. But no Bible classes or other church events are planned that day.
Minister Tim Pyles provided this explanation:
Without classes and other activities that follow, worship loses that ‘rushed feeling’ of having to ‘beat the clock’ and move on to whatever is next. Members are encouraged to use the balance of the day to the glory of God in whatever ways they and their families choose (rest, family time, service, reading and meditation, etc.).
We began doing this out of a realization that our church calendar frequently conspires against already overcommitted members of our church family. We urge people to seek times of Sabbath and stillness before God and maintain margin in their lives, and then we make it virtually impossible for them to actually accomplish this by a relentless whirlwind of services, activities and events.
The Day of Worship and Rest helps us to practice what we preach as a congregation.
The Skyline Church of Christ in Jackson, Tenn., sets aside the last Sunday night of each month for rest.
Member Joel Maners said:
If God can rest, why can’t we?
There is a tremendous value to rest. It always puzzled me as to why it made the Ten Commandments. I probably would have relegated it to the “10 Good Ideas.”It seems that God values the concept of Sabbath more than we do. Sundays often end up being a hectic race to get kids ready for worship, get to ministry meetings, visitation, then do it a again Sunday night.
Instead of the “first day of the week,” I used to call it the “worst day of the week.” The night of rest gives us time to spend with friends or family. It’s a huge blessing. Thank God he made it a commandment. Now, if we could just follow it.
