February 2016

Our Stake (Arlington Texas) is studying one scripture a month this year. To help families to integrate the scripture into their homes in meaningful ways, for each scripture we will share the following:

free printables of the scripture for display in the home
family home evening lessons for all types of families
ideas for memorizing the scripture
the accompanying challenge

The Scripture for February is Isaiah 58:13-14.

The accompanying challenge is to find one way you can improve Sabbath observance and worship, either personally or in your family.

To help you complete this challenge, print out this Sabbath Day Plan from the Church website.

Printables

Family Home Evening Ideas

Of course, ice cream sundaes are the obvious choice for Family Night treat for any lesson on the Sabbath! Now that you’ve got that in hand, let’s explore some ideas for FHE lessons for different types of families.

The Church’s Family Home Evening Resource Guide has an entire section on the Sabbath Day with lessons for all types of families.

With Children:

This lesson from A Bushel and a Peck was designed for Activities Days, but works equally well for FHE.

Family Home Evening in a Snap shares this simple FHE for families with even very small children.

A Year of Family Home Evening shares this lesson that includes a finger fun printable from The Friend.

With Teens:

John Hilton III created this talk/lesson on the Sabbath on how to keep the Sabbath holy shared by the Red-Headed Hostess.

Watch the John Bytheway Sabbath video on YouTube

Discussion Questions:

What blessings of the Sabbath are important to you?
What activities help you feel the spirit of the Sabbath most?
How hard is it for you to avoid activities and events that interfere with covenant Sabbath-keeping? Which are the hardest?

Adults:

Watch these videos from the October 2015 training:

The Sabbath as a Delight

Sabbath Observance in the Home

Discussion questions:

Why is a simple list of do’s and do not’s insufficient for a full Sabbath experience?
How does the Lord’s view of the Sabbath differ from the world’s view, and why is that important?
How can we be more purposeful in our observance of the Sabbath?
Think of a time when you had a Sabbath that truly felt like a delight. What made that Sabbath different from a typical Sabbath?

Memorizing Helps

Because this is a Scripture Mastery passage, the Church has a memorizing help page for it here.

Looking for ideas for keeping the Sabbath?

A Virtuous Womans shares a list of 100 ways here.

This fun Sabbath box idea from Two Penny Blue Mom could be adapted for any family.

Sugardoodle has an entire section on Sabbath Day observance that includes lesson helps, printables, FHE lessons and even sharing time ideas, along with links to loads of resources.

Here is a list of 56 ideas for the Sabbath from LDS.net that work for all ages.