“Is it okay to get a haircut on the Sabbath?” asked Rick.
Rick was a young adult preparing for baptism when he asked Francisco, one of his baptism coaches, the question.
Francisco didn’t want Rick to think of the Sabbath as a long list of rules to keep, like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day — see Matt. 12:1–8. He also didn’t want Rick to think of the Sabbath as a clear Bible truth you can ignore, like the Sadducees of Jesus’ day — see Matt. 22:23. He breathed a quick prayer to God and sensed the Holy Spirit giving him the answer.
“Rick, if you had a friend coming to visit for the whole day, would you get a haircut?” asked Francisco.
“No, I’d wait till later,” Rick smiled. “I get it. The Sabbath is about a relationship with Jesus, not a list of things you can’t do.”
According to the creation story, the seventh-day Sabbath begins at Friday sunset and ends at Saturday sunset — see Gen. 1. How can we learn to look forward to Friday sunset more than Saturday sunset?
Our family decided to focus on three Bible principles of Sabbath-keeping — rest, sanctified and blessed — and divided the Sabbath day into three parts. These ideas came from the creation story, found in Gen. 2:1–3, and the fourth commandment, found in Exod. 20:8–11.
From Friday sunset to bedtime, we focus on rest. As Jesus’ giant “stop sign" is sinking in the west, we put away our to-do lists, gather for family worship, sing, read the Bible, share what we’re grateful for and go to bed early.
Sabbath morning until lunch, we focus on sanctified time. In John 17:17, Jesus said we are sanctified through His word, the Bible, so we gather with other believers, just like Jesus did, to study the Bible, worship together and listen for God’s voice.
From Sabbath afternoon until sunset, we focus on blessing. We enjoy God’s creation and follow Jesus’ example of bringing hope and healing to those in need — see Matt. 12:1–13.
For many families, the challenge is not whether the Sabbath matters, but how to make it a day everyone looks forward to. Having a simple plan can help turn Sabbath from something we keep into something we truly celebrate.
We have put together a list of more than 100 ideas for enjoying the Sabbath based on these three principles. The full list is available below to help you plan your own Sabbath experiences.
As this Sabbath approaches, what is your plan — and who could you invite to share its blessings with you?
Fellowship With God’s People
(Heb. 10:25; Acts 13:44)
- Attend Sabbath School to study the Bible together.
- Worship God at church.
- Invite a friend over for fellowship at lunch.
- Attend vespers or an afternoon meeting.
- Get a group together to act out a Bible story.
- Spend some time really communicating with your spouse, parents or children.
- Have a biblical picnic, using Middle Eastern food.
- Study a chapter in the Bible with other believers.
- Do a puzzle of a nature scene with your family.
- Take flowers to a friend.
- Hike or bike along a trail with others.
- Record a Bible story with a group of friends.
- Join a church choir or start one.
- Go to a camp meeting.
- Get together and sing songs with some friends.
- Invite visitors home for lunch and get acquainted.
- Bring someone who can’t drive to Sabbath School and church.
- Write to someone, thanking them for their contribution to your spiritual growth.
- Visit a new Adventist and give them something that has helped you grow spiritually.
- Celebrate the Sabbath with someone who is keeping it for the first time.
- Make friends with a church member you don’t know very well.
- Invite several families over for a mini-potluck at your home.
- Stay for fellowship dinner if the church has one and meet someone you don’t know.
- Sit in a different part of the church sanctuary for worship and greet someone sitting nearby when you have an opportunity.
- Invite someone to pray with you.
- Make a point to memorize everyone’s name in the church and call them by their names.
Enjoying God’s Creation
(Gen. 2:1–3; Exod. 20:8–11; Rev. 14:6–7; Psalm 19)
- Take a walk through a park or along a river or lake.
- Take your lunch and go to a park.
- Collect leaves or pine cones.
- Visit the zoo.
- Take a walk in the rain.
- Measure 1 square foot of ground in nature and list everything you find in the square.
- Walk down a country road and identify 25 nature objects God created.
- Do some bird-watching.
- Take pictures of flowers, trees, birds or animals.
- Hike or bike along a trail with others.
- Pick some wildflowers and press them.
- Draw some animal pictures or nature scenes.
- Describe your favorite sunset.
- Feed the ducks in a park.
- Go to the mountains and breathe some fresh air.
- Walk along a deserted stretch of beach and talk to God.
- Build Solomon’s temple in the sand.
- Go rock hunting.
- Look out the window and describe what you see.
- Hike a new hiking trail.
- Work on a Pathfinder nature honor.
- End the Sabbath in nature singing “Day is Dying in the West."
- Study a parable of Jesus in a place similar to where He told it.
- While hiking in nature, collect nature objects to tell your group about at the end of the hike.
- Go somewhere in nature alone for one hour and jot down what you see and hear. Share your observations with a friend.
- Visit a county, state or national park you have never been to.
- Find a beautiful landscape to paint or draw, regardless of your artistic ability.
Outreach, Service and Evangelism
(Acts 18:4; Matt. 12:12; Mark 3:1–6)
- Pass out literature in your neighborhood.
- Cheer up a patient at the hospital.
- Meet the people in your neighborhood and give them literature.
- Pray for someone you don’t really like.
- Visit a nursing home, ask the nurses who doesn’t get many visitors and then visit that person.
- Call the jail to see if you can visit a prisoner and talk to them about Jesus.
- Phone a friend you haven’t talked to in a long time and tell him/her something new you have learned about God in the Bible.
- Email everyone in your address book with a Bible verse.
- Write a letter to a friend, telling them three things you are thankful for.
- Tell a Bible story to children in your neighborhood.
- Attend a Branch Sabbath School or organize one.
- Encourage someone who is discouraged.
- Go to a public place and watch people. Remind yourself “Jesus died for each of these people and doesn’t want even one to perish."
- Have a puppet show with homemade Bible people.
- Visit a friend and invite them to church next Sabbath.
- Ask a church leader how you can get more involved in witnessing.
- Take a plant to a sick person.
- Write a note of appreciation to a teacher or pastor.
- Imagine yourself being sent as a missionary to a remote tribe to be the first one to tell them about Jesus. Practice what you would say and do.
- Visit a shut-in or invalid.
- Send a note of encouragement to a young person you know.
- Write to someone asking for forgiveness.
- Phone a friend and tell them what God is doing in your life.
- Ask a church leader for the name and address of someone who would like Bible studies. Then go visit them with some Bible study guides.
- Distribute food and clothing in a low-income neighborhood.
- Collect food and clothing to distribute.
- Try singing and street preaching with a group of friends.
- Invite the neighborhood kids over for a children’s story hour.
- Help with health screening.
- Take a prayer walk through a neighborhood.
- Work on a Pathfinder outreach honor.
- Take a map and pray for people to accept Jesus in various countries.
- Write out your personal testimony.
- Picket by a busy road with signs that say things like, “Jesus loves you."
- Talk with family or friends about your dream mission trip and how it could become a reality.
- Go through the church directory and contact people you haven’t seen at church in a while.
- Ask God to give you love for the lost.
- Prepare for a Bible study and pray God will lead you to someone to study with.
- Plan out how you would explain the Three Angels’ Messages in Rev. 14 to a teenager in simple words.
Study and Worship
(Luke 4:16–27, 13:10; Acts 13:14–44, 16:13)
- Read a biography on the life of a great Christian.
- Play a Bible game.
- Memorize a text or short chapter in the Bible.
- Write a letter to God.
- Sing some songs.
- Attend Sabbath School and study the Bible.
- Worship God at church.
- Read a spiritual magazine (Gleaner, Insight, Adventist Review, etc.).
- Get a group together to act out a Bible story.
- Listen to Christian music.
- Write a booklet on the love of Jesus and illustrate.
- Make up a Bible acrostic.
- Pick a topic and, using a concordance, see what the Bible says about.
- Read a mission story and find the mission field on a map.
- Calculate how soon you could memorize your favorite book in the Bible by taking one text a day.
- Play spiritual songs on the piano, guitar or another instrument.
- Study a chapter in the Bible with other believers.
- Write out a parable.
- Read a story from the book of John, close your eyes and meditate on it for 15 minutes, imagining you were there.
- Make a list of thank-yous to Jesus.
- Make up a tune for a Bible text.
- Plan a family worship for your family.
- Record a Bible story with a group of friends.
- Write a poem with a Bible lesson.
- Make up a mime with a Bible lesson.
- Rewrite a Bible text in your own words.
- Using a good set of Bible study guides, chain reference your Bible. List the topic and first text in the back of your Bible; then list the following reference in the margin beside the verse that comes before it.
- Discover your spiritual gifts and make a plan of action to put them into practice during the coming month.
- Build Solomon’s temple in the sand.
- Make a list of specific prayer requests and talk to Jesus about each one.
- Write an article entitled “How I became a Christian."
- Read the story of the lost son in Luke 15. Picture the scenes in your mind.
- Write a modern version of the prodigal son story, using names and places familiar to you.
- Sign up for a Bible correspondence course.
- Draw a picture of what you think your home in heaven might look like.
- Write out your own thoughts on how to be saved.
- Add to this list.
- Plan your Sabbath activities for the next seven Sabbaths.
- Study a parable of Jesus in a place similar to where He told it.
- Read a book of the Bible in one sitting.
- Memorize seven Bible verses.
- Study next week’s Sabbath School lesson.
- Read a good book and tell someone about it.
- Make a “Top 10” list of things God has done for you during the past week.
- Prepare a devotional talk or sermon.
- Write a psalm or study one of David’s.
- Make a prayer list or pray through a prayer list.
- Listen to Sabbath music.
- Make a list of some of the best Sabbaths you have ever experienced.
- Join a church choir or start one.
- Play Bible charades, acting out Bible stories for others to guess.
- Write an inspiring poem or song.
- Surrender your past, present and future to God.
