How do we observe the Sabbath if there is no church?

reddogs · Apr 4, 2020

The answer that struck me, is we must gather in small groups, even if just 2 or 3 even if its just the family. God knew it would come to this, and told us so. He gave us words of encouragement and hope for these times. If we are held back, we need to look for ways to bring the joy and blessing of the Sabbath, even if you have to connect with what God has provided in the technology we have today, and join together in that way and sing praises and pray and study His Word connected with your brothers and sisters in Christ and allow for "God's appointed opportunities for giving the early and the latter rain".

"All heaven is keeping the Sabbath, but not in a listless, do-nothing way. On this day every energy of the soul should be awake, for are we not to meet with God and with Christ our Saviour? We may behold Him by faith. He is longing to refresh and bless every soul." 6T 362.1

BobRyan · Apr 4, 2020

reddogs said:
The answer that struck me, is we must gather in small groups, even if just 2 or 3 even if its just the family.

Indeed "Just the family" in my home ... but more than that -- setup viceo conferencing meetings (for example via "ZOOM") so the church still comes together for Sabbath School and Churcn service.

reddogs · Apr 4, 2020

BobRyan said:
Indeed "Just the family" in my home ... but more than that -- setup viceo conferencing meetings (for example via "ZOOM") so the church still comes together for Sabbath School and Church service.

Here is some that one of my fellow moderators came up with..
For group gatherings in a video conference setting, the following softwares are presently available.

1. Zoom / https://zoom.us
Zoom presently is available for free for up to a 40-minute limit for groups of up to 100 people. For one-on-one meetings, it's free for an unlimited time. But the expense is not high for a monthly subscription. Check it out. It allows screen sharing, audio and video for each participant on an elective basis (can be muted or turned off, as desired), and it can record the meeting. Zoom seems to be widely compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices, even those running somewhat older OSes.

2. Webex / https://www.webex.com
Webex is a favorite among some corporate users and online education providers. It offers nearly the same features as Zoom, but seems to require a lesser internet bandwidth to do so. It is similarly available at present, during the COVID-19 crisis, for free for limited use. It seem less device-compatible, requiring newer installations of an OS. It does, of course, offer compatibility with most modern devices.

3. Open Meetings / https://openmeetings.apache.org/index.html
Apache's Open Meetings is entirely free, but being an open-source software with volunteer developers, it is not entirely bug-free. It does have a fairly rich feature set, despite this, which requires Java to run. It offers various combinations of audio/video as well as whiteboard, etc. and the moderator can can control these individually for each participant. For those on super-low budgets, it's worth a try.

4. EZ Talks / https://www.eztalks.com/pricing#meetings
EZ Talks has a similar deal to the first two right now, offering up to 40 minutes of meeting time for free. After that, it is a nominal fee for monthly subscription that allows unlimited time, albeit with some limitations on traffic and server storage space, presumably for recorded sessions.

Gary K · Apr 4, 2020

How do we observe Sabbath without church attendance? I guess to me this is a strange question. I can purposely enter God's presence wherever I am. I can, and do, discuss God, His word, and His love with others outside of church on a very regular basis. To me, that is the meaning of worship for it is bowing of self to His truths, His nature, and His love to express with others, no matter where we are, our appreciation and gratitude to Him for His love for us taught throughout the Bible.

The old hymn, In the Garden, expresses the idea of worship as well as I've ever seen or heard it described.

Dave-W · Apr 6, 2020

Observing the Sabbath is more than just attending a service or 2. It is about setting time aside to the Lord. It is 25 hours of unplugging from the world and resting.

And our congregation is doing a virtual service on You Tube streaming.

reddogs · Apr 7, 2020

Gary K said:
How do we observe Sabbath without church attendance? I guess to me this is a strange question. I can purposely enter God's presence wherever I am. I can, and do, discuss God, His word, and His love with others outside of church on a very regular basis. To me, that is the meaning of worship for it is bowing of self to His truths, His nature, and His love to express with others, no matter where we are, our appreciation and gratitude to Him for His love for us taught throughout the Bible.

The old hymn, In the Garden, expresses the idea of worship as well as I've ever seen or heard it described.

Well, we can do all that anytime, but my question is how do you spend the Sabbath, even without others gathered, as it says together with you...

reddogs · Apr 7, 2020

Dave-W said:
Observing the Sabbath is more than just attending a service or 2. It is about setting time aside to the Lord. It is 25 hours of unplugging from the world and resting.

And our congregation is doing a virtual service on You Tube streaming.

So the question that comes then is what do you do in that time...

Dave-W · Apr 7, 2020

reddogs said:
So the question that comes then is what do you do in that time...

For me personally:

2 weeks ago I gave the sermon. (previously scheduled)
Last week I did the worship music.
This coming Shabbat I will Sing the worship section (note to self: get the lyrics to the IT guy) and read the Hebrew Prophets scripture reading of the day.

reddogs · Apr 7, 2020

Dave-W said:
For me personally:

2 weeks ago I gave the sermon. (previously scheduled)
Last week I did the worship music.
This coming Shabbat I will Sing the worship section (note to self: get the lyrics to the IT guy) and read the Hebrew Prophets scripture reading of the day.

You are my brother for sure..I gave the sermon 2 weeks or so ago on the Resurrection and the Life...told them not to be afraid and put their trust in God, and now it just feels they are so far away..

Dave-W · Apr 7, 2020

Amen. Mine was on the importance of personally hearing and being led by the Lord. I told them that even if they were not consciously aware of it most have heard HIM at certain points in their walk with HIM.

Gary K · Apr 8, 2020

reddogs said:
So the question that comes then is what do you do in that time...

Spend it with my best Friend. Isn't that the purpose of church? To go where we know God is to meet with us?

My experience is most likely much different than most people's. I have rarely experienced friendship within the organized church. The vast majority of friendships I have had in my life come from outside organized religion. I have learned far more of love, acceptance, and kindness outside the church than within it. Just my experience.

reddogs · Apr 9, 2020

Gary K said:
Spend it with my best Friend. Isn't that the purpose of church? To go where we know God is to meet with us?

My experience is most likely much different than most people's. I have rarely experienced friendship within the organized church. The vast majority of friendships I have had in my life come from outside organized religion. I have learned far more of love, acceptance, and kindness outside the church than within it. Just my experience.

Well, since back in the day, my family has always gone to churches with Hispanic congregations in the Caribbean or Florida area, and even in Washington DC area, there was many Latin churches. The church there, my mother knew everyone in the church congregation or they were invited to dinner on Sabbath. So Sabbath was always much interaction, greeting, meeting, or eating with members. I guess that's what I have grown accustomed to, and the missing element I keep looking to see if we get back, or have to wait till heaven.

Gary K · Apr 9, 2020

reddogs said:
Well, since back in the day, my family has always gone to churches with Hispanic congregations in the Caribbean or Florida area, and even in Washington DC area, there was many Latin churches. The church there, my mother knew everyone in the church congregation or they were invited to dinner on Sabbath. So Sabbath was always much interaction, greeting, meeting, or eating with members. I guess that's what I have grown accustomed to, and the missing element I keep looking to see if we get back, or have to wait till heaven.

I hope you realize what a blessing it is to have a supportive family and a supportive church family.

reddogs · Apr 9, 2020

Gary K said:
I hope you realize what a blessing it is to have a supportive family and a supportive church family.

I am beginning to realize it.

charsan · Apr 9, 2020

reddogs said:
Here is some that one of my fellow moderators came up with..
For group gatherings in a video conference setting, the following softwares are presently available.

1. Zoom / https://zoom.us
Zoom presently is available for free for up to a 40-minute limit for groups of up to 100 people. For one-on-one meetings, it's free for an unlimited time. But the expense is not high for a monthly subscription. Check it out. It allows screen sharing, audio and video for each participant on an elective basis (can be muted or turned off, as desired), and it can record the meeting. Zoom seems to be widely compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices, even those running somewhat older OSes.

2. Webex / https://www.webex.com
Webex is a favorite among some corporate users and online education providers. It offers nearly the same features as Zoom, but seems to require a lesser internet bandwidth to do so. It is similarly available at present, during the COVID-19 crisis, for free for limited use. It seem less device-compatible, requiring newer installations of an OS. It does, of course, offer compatibility with most modern devices.

3. Open Meetings / https://openmeetings.apache.org/index.html
Apache's Open Meetings is entirely free, but being an open-source software with volunteer developers, it is not entirely bug-free. It does have a fairly rich feature set, despite this, which requires Java to run. It offers various combinations of audio/video as well as whiteboard, etc. and the moderator can can control these individually for each participant. For those on super-low budgets, it's worth a try.

4. EZ Talks / https://www.eztalks.com/pricing#meetings
EZ Talks has a similar deal to the first two right now, offering up to 40 minutes of meeting time for free. After that, it is a nominal fee for monthly subscription that allows unlimited time, albeit with some limitations on traffic and server storage space, presumably for recorded sessions.

I want to say thank you, this will help.

How do we observe the Sabbath if there is no church?

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