Volume 2, No. 2                                                                                February 21, 2002

Reclaiming the Sabbath is off to a flying start at Resurrection, Spring. Thirty members of the congregation are enrolled in the initial ten weeks leadership training process.  We have completed three weeks on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The group is very enthusiastic.  The challenge before them is to discover ways by which these studies may be taken to the other members of the congregation from Sunday School and confirmands to single adults, families and seniors. 

Following is the table of contents of the workbook.  Each week group members receive an outline of the evening's lecture  and study materials to work on during the week.

RECLAIMING THE SABBATH

Resurrection Lutheran Church
Spring, Texas
Leadership Training
     Weekly    Topics

1.  Introduction to the Beatitudes
The Cultural Shift of the 20th Century

2.    The Beatitudes  - Introduction
Creation and the Seventh Day

3.    Beatitude One
The Sabbath and the Old Covenant   

4.    Beatitude Two
The Sabbath and the New Covenant

5.    Beatitude Three
The Sabbath and the Early Church

6.    Beatitude Four
The Sabbath and the Reformation Church

7.    Beatitude Five
God’s Word of Power in Worship

8.    Beatitude Six
The Place of Tradition in Worship

9.    Beatitude Seven
The Sabbath and the Family

10.    Beatitude Eight
Plans for recruitment and training

The foci of our studies are threefold: First we're asking what is going on in the American culture in which we live. Secondly,  we are praying that the Lord of the church will grant us wisdom to reclaim all that He has to teach us about  the Sabbath in our lives. Finally, each class member is using provided materials to do an in-depth study of the Eight Beatitudes, asking particularly what blessing the Lord wants to pour into the life of His child.

In terms of the culture consider the following quote from  an article entitled "Time and Busyness"  by Kerby Anderson at Leadership University's website:  http://www.leaderu.com/index.html 

"It wasn't supposed to be this way. Testimony before a Senate subcommittee in 1967 predicted that "by 1985, people could be working just 22 hours a week or 27 weeks a year or could retire at 38." The major challenge facing people in the 1990s should have been what to do with all the leisure time provided by our technological wizardry.
Instead, technology has been more of an enemy than an ally. "Technology is increasing the heartbeat," says Manhattan architect James Trunzo, who designs automated environments. "We are inundated with information. The mind can't handle it all. The pace is so fast now, I sometimes feel like a gunfighter dodging bullets."

Actually, the problem isn't so much technology as it is the heightened expectations engendered by it. The increased speed and efficiency of appliances, computers, and other machines have enabled us to accomplish much more than was possible in previous decades. But this efficiency has also fostered a desire to take on additional responsibilities and thereby squeeze even more activities into already crammed calendars.

As the pace of our lives has increased, over-commitment and busyness have been elevated to socially desirable standards. Being busy is chic and trendy. Pity the poor person who has an organized life and a livable schedule. Everyone, it seems, is running out of time."

There are, of course, other factors that are leading people away from worship and the hearing of God's Word, to say nothing about the critical importance of taking time for rest, for family and for relationships. Os Guinness in his 1998 book,  Dining with the Devil: The Megachurch Movement Flirts with Modernity 
constructively critiques the church growth movement and the new mega- churches, focusing especially on the use of the new ground of modern insights and techniques. He seeks not to dismiss the church growth movement, but  rather to critique the perils and pitfalls that come from the new ground.  Modernity, he writes,  undermines the churches’ capacity both to demonstrate the integrity and effectiveness of faith and to provide an answer to America’s crisis. . . the overwhelming thrust of modernity has been to replace words with images and reading with viewing. On the other hand, the words that remain have been weakened because they have become technical, specialized and abstract to most people.  So much for Guinness. The question we face is how we can proclaim and share the Word of God in all its richness and how that Word may truly become the means by which we grow in our relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Our second focus is upon an in-depth Bible study of the Sabbath .  We are discovering that the Bible has many, important things to tell us about the created  rhythm of six days work and one day of rest, a rhythm that is now almost completely ignored.  In addition, we are learning the critical importance of gathering for worship and the hearing of God's word so that  our faith  may be strengthened and sustained. Jesus is our Rest.  Without Him, we are without rest and peace in our lives.  Following is a sample from  the Bible study for the fourth  week of Reclaiming the Sabbath:

Jesus preferred the Sabbath as the day for working His miracles or signs.

·    Matthew 12:9-14  - He healed a man’s deformed hand on the Sabbath.

·    Mark 1:21-28 - He cast out a demon on the Sabbath.

·    Luke 13:10-17 - He healed a crippled woman on the Sabbath.

·    Luke 14:1-6 - He healed a sick man on the Sabbath, while dining in the home of a Pharisee.

·    John 5:1 ff. - He healed a paralytic by Bethesda Pool on the Sabbath.

·    John 7:16-24 - Jesus defends His healings by pointing out that, if required, Circumcision was even done on the Sabbath.

·    John 9 (v.14) - Jesus is challenged for healing a blind man on the Sabbath. 

The Sabbath is the day above all others when He works, as does His Father.

·    John 5:16-30 - His Father never stops working, so why should He?

Resurrection will continue the process of Reclaiming the Sabbath through the remainder of this year and to the fall of  2003. In the Spring of 2003 Pastor Steve Sohns will  be on a four months Sabbatical.  When he returns, both pastor and flock look forward to having been renewed and strengthened for  their combined work in the Kingdom.

Plans are developing to produce these Sabbath studies in book form in the near future.  If you would like more information about this entire  process, please drop us a note. You might also want to contact Pastor Steve Sohns at Resurrection, Spring (pastor.steve@churchthatcares.org ).

CrossTies Board meets this month at Resurrection, Spring, Saturday, February 23, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.  Guests are always welcome at the meetings.


Check out our web site @ http://www.crosstiesministries.org/
 
God bless your ministry and your family,

Dr. Al Franzmeier, Executive Director

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