Sabbath Gift – Lauren F Winner

“We could call [a] problem with the current Sabbath vogue the fallacy of the direct object. Whom is the contemporary Sabbath designed to honor? Whom does it benefit?…In observing the Sabbath, one is both giving a gift to God and imitating Him.”

From: Lauren F. Winner, Mudhouse Sabbath

 

Worship – William Temple

Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God.  It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness,  Nourishment of mind by His truth,  Purifying of imagination by His beauty,  Opening of the heart to His love,  And submission of will to his purpose.  And all this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of human expressions of which we are capable.

From: William Temple

Forget – Abraham Joshua Heschel

To worship God means to forget the self; an extremely difficult, though possible, act. What takes place in a moment of prayer may be described as a shift of the center of living–from self-consciousness to self-surrender.

From: Abrahma Joshua Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom


Disruption – Glynn Young

Perhaps … the Sabbath is mean to be—a disruption.  Perhaps God deliberately inserted a day meant for rest—rest—because he had to make it sacred for him if we were to observe it as a day of rest for us.  We need a day of rest for our physical and emotional well-being … We need a day of rest for our spiritual well-being, a time to reflect, pray, fast, and talk with God and with our families about God.  We need a day of rest to instruct and encourage one another….  We need a day of rest to welcome God’s blessing for ourselves, for our churches, for our communities, and for our nations.  We need a day of rest to define ourselves as the people of God … Observing the Sabbath would mean upset and disruption. But that is what God intended it to be – a disruption of those hectic, crazy schedules.
See the full article at – http://www.thehighcalling.org/faith/disruption-sabbath#.VMJGBP54qHc

Worship – Evelyn Underhill

As the genuine religious impulse becomes dominant, adoration more and more takes charge. “I come to seek God because I need Him,” may be an adequate formula for prayer. “I come to adore His splendour, and fling myself and all that I have at His feet,” is the only possible formula for worship.

From: Evelyn Underhill, Worship,  p 9