Sunday Snippet

Emi taught our lesson this week from the Gospel Principles manual chapter 24 "The Sabbath Day".

We began by reading and discussing Exodus 20:8-11. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it."
It was mentioned that we should not focus on what we cannot do on the sabbath but on what we can do.
Joy, Amy, Mary and Nicole read from the manual the section on "Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy"
In a revelation given to Joseph Smith in 1831, the Lord commanded the Saints to go to the house of prayer and offer up their sacraments, rest from their labours, and pay their devotions to the Most High( see D&C 59: 9-12)
He asks us to rest from daily work. Our prophets have told us that we should not shop, hunt, fish, attend sports events or participate in similar activities on the sabbath.
President Kimball cautioned that if we lounge about doing nothing we are not keeping the day holy.
The Sabbath is a time to attend church, perform church service, visit extended family members, and the sick and house bound, also to visit with our friends in the gospel. It is a day to listen to uplifting music, to read the scriptures and church magazines and to write letters to loved ones and missionaries. It is a time to appreciate nature and the beauty of the world.
The Sabbath is a state of mind.
In deciding what activities we could engage in on the sabbath we could ask: Will it uplift and inspire me? Does it show respect for the Lord? Does it direct my thoughts to Him?
If we are required to work on the Sabbath we should still maintain the spirit of the Sabbath in our hearts as much as possible.
"If we honour the Sabbath Day, we may receive great spiritual and temporal blessings. the Lord has said that if we keep the Sabbath day with thanksgiving and cheerful hearts, we will be full of joy. He has promised: D&C 59 :16 "Verily I say, that in as much as ye do this, the fullness of the earth is yours..."
Thank you Emi for this wonderful lesson.

In five minute music we listened to Ave Maria by Caccini played by David Stanhope