Session 2  - ‘Balance’ Lent Course

 

‘Time to Celebrate!’

 

This session aims to celebrate our life in God and the delights of the created world and to focus our minds on habits and thankfulness, freedom from anxiety and the gift of the present moment.

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WELCOME - welcome back to our second session of our Lent Course, it is good to have you here.

This session considers the theme of Sabbath celebration.

 

OPENING PRAYER -

God of eternity, teach us to pause.

God of creation, teach us to wonder.

God of Sabbath, teach us to rest.

God of delight, teach us to play.

God of the poor, teach us to share in your work of liberation.

God of love, reconciling us through Christ Jesus,

Fill our lives with your perfect peace. Amen

 

ACTION REPLAY - What did you do during the past week as a result of last week’s session?

Did last week’s session change the way in which you kept your own Sabbath?

 

BRAINSTORM - in small groups share your most recent memorable moments from a experience or celebration.

 

ENCOUNTER - Delight, Beauty, Gift

 

Delight. In the account of creation in Genesis 1.1 - 2.3 the phrase ‘God looked…. And it was good’ occurs seven times. The seventh this it is very good.

God is pleased with all that he has made and on the seventh day he paused in order to engage with it and savour it.

 

We rest on the Sabbath because God has first dome the same.

 

In observing a sabbath rhythm we share in God’s sense of celebration, taking time to pause in thankfulness and delight.

 

Beauty. In the Jewish tradition there is an emphasis on beauty during the sabbath.

 

Special food is eaten and tables are laid with candles and the ‘best’ tableware.

There is an emphasis too on quality family time.

 

Gift. Taking time to pause and celebrate forces us to live in the present moment.

 

We recognise that this moment - like the whole of our lives and our salvation through Christ - comes as a gift from God.

 

Freed from the pressures and from anxiety about past. And future, we are able to get in touch with eternity and with the values of the kingdom..

 

We dwell in the present moment, celebrating God’s love, his tenderness and his saving work through Christ.

 

Sabbath attitudes of celebration and thankfulness help us to engage more fully with our everyday lives and with others - to operate at a deeper and more satisfying level.

 

They free us from the lies of the advertising industry that possessions will give us joy and that craving bigger, better or newer things will bring fulfilment.

 

READ - Genesis 1.1 - 2.3

 

TALK ABOUT IT - ‘God looked…. And it was good’. How much of your conversation focuses on the good things in your life rather than the niggles and complaints?

 

What are the benefits of living in the present moment?

 

What one thing do you want to celebrate about your journey of faith in Christ?

 

DO SOMETHING -

 

Make a list of 5 things - the best view, the best sound, the best smell, best taste and best physical sensation.

 

Share your lists.

 

CLOSING PRAYERS

 

 

Preparation for our next session

 

1.       Read Psalm 92:1-5

2.       Make a celebration collage of everything that is good in your life.

3.       Read the story of the woman at Bethany in Mark 14:3-9. What does Jesus’ response to this woman’s gesture tells us about Sabbath attitudes of celebration and living in the present?