How Important is the Sabbath?

How important is the Sabbath to you? Why is the Sabbath important to you? Who is the Sabbath important to? The Holy Bible answers all of these crucial questions concerning the Sabbath.

In Exodus 20:8-11, the Bible says "…Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…" Why are we to remember the Sabbath day? Let us look at the beginning to see what it says. Genesis chapter 1 and chapter 2:2, 3 says "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters…"

I encourage you to read all of Genesis chapters one and two. But for the sake of time consider this: "And the evening and the morning were the first day." Gen. 1:5

"And God made...And the evening and the morning were the second day." Gen. 1:7, 8.

"And the earth brought forth...And the evening and the morning were the third day." Gen. 1:12, 13.

"And God made...And the evening and the morning were the fourth day." Gen. 1:16-19.

"And God said...And the evening and the morning were the fifth day." Gen.1:20-23.

"And God said…And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." Gen.1:26-31.

"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Gen. 2:2, 3.

Let me educate you on the following words: Remember, Blessed, Sanctified, and the Sabbath. The word remember means to recall to the mind, think of again, to retain in the memory. The word blessed means worthy of worship, holy, enjoying, happiness, and fortunate. The word sanctified means to set apart for sacred use, consecrate, to make holy, purify. The word Sabbath means the seventh day of the week, which we know to be Saturday. It is observed as the day of rest and worship by Jews and some Christians. (Based on the American Heritage Dictionary, the days of the week are Sunday, meaning the first day of the week; Monday, the second day of the week; Tuesday, meaning the third day of the week; Wednesday, the fourth day of the week; Friday, the sixth day of the week; and Saturday, the seventh day of the week.)

This brings us back to our opening statement: remember the Sabbath to keep it holy; Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work... Why are we not to do any work? Because God rested from his work, and so should we. Also he said it is a sign between me and them. Ezekiel 20:12.

If the Lord God established this in his commandments in the beginning and he did not change it, we should not change it. Look at what the Bible says in Exodus 31:16: "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, [for] a perpetual covenant."  "Perpetual" means lasting for an eternity, lasting for an indefinitely long time.

My brothers and sister the clear evidence is before you: the Sabbath is important and God wants you to sense its importance. Now, grab your Bibles and search the scriptures to see whether the things I've revealed to you are true. Acts 17:11.

By Elder Maurice Clinton Mason

Baptism: Welcome to Our Newest Member!

We baptized a lovely candidate last Sabbath and now welcome her to our membership. She is now a full-fledged member of South Brooklyn, enjoying all of the privileges of membership.

Being a young woman, we take extra concern for her well-being. It's obvious that there are evil forces throughout that would love to quench her young fire. We, on the other hand, will do our best to protect the tender soul placed into our care.

By God's grace, she will grow into a mighty woman of God, bringing many more individuals to a face-to-face decision with Jesus, just as she did. Please take a moment to watch the video of her baptism. Join us in celebrating with her.

God bless you, as you bless others.
Elder Scott Hampton

Baby Dedications at South Brooklyn

We take our responsibilities seriously at South Brooklyn. Very seriously. We don't want there to be an opportunity where we did not get our work done successfully.

One of our most important works is to dedicate children back to God, much the way Hannah did Samuel, or Elizabeth did for John (the Baptist). While we are responsible for the dedication and the charge to the parents to do right, the ultimate training comes from the parents, themselves. We do offer extended support and resources to the parents, so they are not left totally alone.

We recently had our first baby dedication for the year and look forward to following up with the families in the near future. Please join us in congratulating them and offering the Christ-like support that they will need in order to train their children in righteousness. Children don't come with instruction manuals, but the Bible does provide a roadmap for life.

Photos from the dedication are provided below and can be seen on our Flickr page.








God bless you, as you bless others.
Elder Scott Hampton