New York, USA
Jamaica
Peru
Idaho, USA
India
Belgium
Kenya
Arkansas, USA
South Africa
England
Nigeria
Ohio, USA
Jesus said, “I will build My Church…” There is a single organization that teaches the entire truth of the Bible, and is called to live by “every word of God.” Do you know how to find it? Christ said it would:
It can seem difficult to know where you fit. You look around and everyone appears to know what their role is before, during and after Sabbath services.
Adult men are busy setting up the room and focusing on other duties. The same goes for adult women, who typically prepare meals and administer Bible lessons for children in the congregation. Conversations are often focused on topics that may only interest other adults.
Ministers also have important roles from preaching to counseling individuals, all of which keep them busy. Younger children stay occupied by working on their Bible lessons and playing with other kids their age.
You may also find it challenging to connect with messages as they seem geared toward baptized members.
Overall, teens can naturally feel like they do not have a place at Sabbath services. So what exactly is your role in God’s Church? We are not talking just about reading Ambassador Youth or attending camp once a year. Rather, how is this your Church (not just your parents’) every single week? How can you be involved in what is happening?
Every other thing you are a part of appears to have a well-defined place for you. You have a purpose for being at school. You know where you fit on your sports team or other extracurricular clubs. You know your place in band or choir.
God’s Church is no different. Whether you are part of a small or large congregation, there is a place for you. By examining seven parts of weekly Sabbath services, you can get more out of this observance.
The place to begin examining how you fit at Sabbath services is the Sabbath command itself. In Exodus 20:8, God opens the fourth commandment with, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
The period from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset is considered holy. Physically speaking, that chunk of time looks like any other day. However, when God reveals that something is holy, He is making a clear distinction between it and everything else. God sanctifies—sets apart—anything He refers to as holy for His unique purpose.
When He says we are to keep the Sabbath holy, part of the meaning here is that we should focus on His purpose. It is time to draw closer to God and focus on things that are holy.
Certainly, that applies to more than time and things. God is working with people, and the Bible says that His people are to be holy: “Because it is written, Be you holy; for I am holy” (I Pet. 1:16). That is easy to understand with baptized members because they have the Holy Spirit in them.
But this includes unbaptized children of members too. I Corinthians 7:14 shows when a member is baptized, his or her children are special: “…else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.”
Read the last four words of that verse again. The God who made the entire universe—who said that He Himself is holy—also considers you holy through the faith of your parent(s). He had you in mind when He called them into the Church!
Being holy means you have special favor with God. You have unique access to His truth, something God only offers to those He calls.
Holy people fit together with holy time. In other words, God says you fit in at His Sabbath services.
Leviticus 23:3 adds more to the Sabbath command: “Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.”
Each week, God says there is a “convocation.” This word simply means assembly. God tells us we should gather together during the day of rest. One important reason for this is fellowship.
The term fellowship is mentioned often at services and throughout our literature. But just what is it? In basic terms, fellowship is talking with others of like mind—developing friendships with them.
You may wonder, why is spending time with others commanded by God? Why not simply attend services, hear ministers preach and go home?
The answer is twofold.
First, God has always wanted it that way. This can be seen in the book of Acts, that brethren in the first-century Church “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (2:42). From the very beginning, members in God’s Church spent time together.
Second, fellowship draws people closer to one another and to God. The more time you spend listening and talking about important elements in each other’s lives, the more you get to know your fellow brethren. And it says in I John 1:3, “that you also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
Grasp the meaning here: This verse equates spending time with brethren to spending time with the Father and Jesus Christ!
We fellowship with one another before and after Sabbath services. Because the Sabbath is holy time, we should not just talk about whatever random topics come to mind. While it is fine to make small talk to get the ball rolling, conversations should also include deeper things such as lessons you have learned, your goals, or trials you may be facing in school.
This aspect of services affords you a unique opportunity to speak with the elderly. They have many years of wisdom and experience and you can learn much from them. Even just listening to their stories is fascinating. Make it a point every Sabbath to spend time with them.
If you are unsure how to approach the elderly (or any adult) in your congregation, one trick is to break the ice by simply asking questions. You can start with a simple question such as “How are you doing today?” or “How was your week?”
When they answer, be sure to listen. Most of the time, their answers will provide material for another question. Here is an example for how such a conversation may develop.
“Hi, Mr. McGillicuddy [you should always refer to adults and the elderly as “Mr.” and “Mrs.”], how was your week?” He answers: “My week went fine, I was able to complete some things I was hoping to do for a long time.”
What do you say next?
If you were listening, Mr. McGillicuddy just gave you at least three more questions you could ask. As a follow-up, you could respond, “Great! What are some of those things?” “What was your favorite of all those things you accomplished?” Or, “How long had you been waiting to complete those things?” As he proceeds to tell you about what he did, you can keep him talking about his experiences with follow-up questions. Of course, it is also fine to add your own comments or share what you accomplished during your week as well.
You may now be thinking, Wait a minute. Aren’t we supposed to avoid worldly topics on the Sabbath? All of that has nothing to do with God or the Bible.
Keep in mind that there is a natural flow to every conversation. Keeping the Sabbath holy does not mean that every single topic discussed must be religious. It is the intent that counts. In this case, the intent is to get to know more about and learn from the other person. Asking simple questions will help you “mine” the other person’s mind and draw out helpful lessons, even if it involves many different topics.
If you struggle with this, pray before you fellowship. Ask God to guide your conversations and He will!
Fellowship is not a one-way street. You will also have opportunities to talk. You can interject from time to time or answer questions yourself. But adults may naturally do most of the talking because they have lived longer and have more experience from which to speak.
Strive to always fellowship with others, especially the elderly, as many of them do not have anyone to talk to during the week.
Another aspect of how God wants us to spend our time at Sabbath services is praising Him by singing. This fulfills verses like Psalm 95:2: “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms.”
The song leader helps us praise God together through each hymn. The lyrics in these songs turn our attention to God’s Word. These short excerpts throughout services set us up to make the most out of what we will hear. They bring us together as one voice.
Moreover, there is something very powerful about all of us singing the same words at the same time. If you have ever sung hymns at the Feast of Tabernacles, you know what this means—you can almost feel the floor vibrating.
The words, if you pay attention, are very inspiring and even emotional at times.
Do not be shy to sing out. It is a fitting time to do so, within balance. Imagine how God feels hearing entire congregations around the planet joyfully singing His words on the Sabbath!
This part of services can help you memorize Scripture, which is crucial when fighting wrong thoughts or tuning out the wrong kinds of music during the week.
A third aspect of what takes place every Sabbath at services are prayers. Praying to God should be a daily habit for you, not just during holy time. Prayers at Sabbath services are not boring, mumbled, repetitive prayers as can be heard in worldly religious ceremonies. Rather, prayers in God’s Church are to be dynamic, and you should pay attention to what is being said.
At services, the men giving opening and closing prayers talk to God on your behalf. You can glean tips about how to pray by listening closely.
Each time you bow your head during these prayers, picture yourself coming before the throne of God in heaven. Think of the words spoken as if you are the one saying them to God.
The fourth element of Sabbath services is the messages given by ministers. These are the spiritual meat of the day. God tells His faithful ministers to “preach the word” (II Tim. 4:2).
Ministers work hard to prepare sermons and sermonettes. Whether you are watching videos from Headquarters or hearing live preaching from your local minister, God guides and inspires these messages so they include the lessons that we need to hear. They show you how to please your Maker and receive His blessings. They include the words and scriptures that prepare you for eternal life.
A personal experience may prove helpful. When I was in high school, one of my favorite classes was geometry. Early in the school year, I made it a point to read each chapter of the textbook prior to when the teacher would cover it in class.
This primed me to better understand the teacher’s instructions during class. It gave me such an edge that the teacher herself was puzzled by my ability to breeze through a final exam in only a few minutes—so much so that she had me redo it!
The exercise also made an otherwise tedious subject very interesting.
Clearly, we cannot apply this exactly to Sabbath services because there is no way to know ahead of time what ministers will cover on a given Sabbath. But you can review your notes from the week before, prior to services. It will make you more interested in the messages. They will make more sense and God will see your sincere effort and help you understand.
Writing notes with the intention of reviewing them will help you write them more effectively. To learn more about this, read the Ambassador Youth article “Words to Remember – How to Take Effective Notes”.
One tip from the article is to keep your notes organized. For example, you may wish to leave the first page in your notebook blank to use as a table of contents. In it, you can list each message by date, speaker, title and page number. This will help you know exactly where to find your notes from any given Sabbath.
Whatever method you choose, strive to use your notes and learn from them well beyond the Sabbath they are recorded.
A fifth aspect of Sabbath services is the announcements. This part helps you be aware of Churchwide events, prayer requests, upcoming socials, Ambassador Youth Camp and other updates.
If there are prayer requests, make it a goal to write a nice note on the card that will be sent by the congregation to the person asking for prayers. Though you may not even know the member, the note will mean a lot. It could even give recipients the encouragement needed to get through the difficult times they are facing.
At home, you may also ask your parents to print you a copy of the Announcement Bulletin or share the weekly Announcement Bulletin email with you. You can then take portions of prayer requests to the Father in prayer. You can also pray about other announcements such as an upcoming social or advancements in God’s Work.
Depending on your congregation’s circumstances, the shared meal could be simple snacks or a full potluck. Regardless of its size, this portion of meeting with your congregation is an opportunity to enjoy tasty foods and continue in each other’s company.
Even those outside God’s Church know that if you want to get to know someone better, sharing a meal is an effective way to do so. The meal following a Sabbath service is the ultimate “fellowship driver,” with the additional bonus of giving you a chance to try out different types of foods.
Usually all households are encouraged to bring something to share. That means your parents will likely bring something too! Ask your parents if you can help prepare the food they will bring. This will make the meal experience that much more rewarding. There is a certain satisfaction that comes when you get involved in something everyone gets to enjoy.
Delicious as the food may be, however, remember to exercise moderation and good manners.
The final aspect we will expand on is service. As a matter of tradition (II Thes. 2:15), we refer to our weekly gathering on the Sabbath as “services.”
The plural form of the word highlights a special aspect of the Sabbath: All the opportunities available to serve others—to practice the way of give (Acts 20:35). We should always be serving at Sabbath services. How fitting!
As it states in Philippians 2: “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who…took upon Him the form of a servant” (vs. 4-7).
Why so much emphasis on serving? Why should we seek to serve?
Simply put, Christians are qualifying to one day become part of God’s Family. We follow the example of Jesus, the only God-Being to ever have walked the face of the Earth in the flesh. He “came not to be ministered unto [not to be served], but to minister [serve]” (Mark 10:45). One verse prior, Christ told His disciples that “whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all” (vs. 44).
In the world, this attitude of willful servitude is often considered insanity. People do not like to serve because human nature would rather be served.
God’s Way is different. Each aspect of the Sabbath meeting itself provides an opportunity for service.
As a teen, you should want to be someone who loves to serve others. A great way to do so is to not wait to be told how to serve but look for and find ways to serve. Once you identify an area of need, offer your help! Here are some ideas:
A note on the last bullet point: When asked “How are you?” make it a habit to respond joyfully and vibrantly with something like “I am doing well, thanks. And you?” This simple habit can be infectious and help everyone you greet want to speak with you.
Avoid ho-hum answers such as “I’m okay, I guess,” or “Not too bad.” These kinds of answers turn others off. Negative greetings come across as complaining, which can make people uncomfortable.
If you master the art of a graceful, positive greeting, you will be able to serve by simply making others feel welcome.
The more we appreciate something, the more we are inclined to keep it, use it and care for it.
Sabbath services are no different. The deeper you understand them, the more you appreciate and see what God is doing for you.
Understand that God made you, and He made the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). He knows what is best for you. What is even more exciting is that what is being offered to your parents is also being offered to you. This is your Church as much as it is theirs.
Each Sabbath service is similar, yet unique. While they always have a similar structure, the messages are different, the food you enjoy is different, conversations are different. You are different because each week you learn and grow more as you get more involved.
Now you know the why behind each of the seven main aspects of services. Be sure to participate wholeheartedly in them. Enjoy and never take for granted this very special time God has designed for you to learn to worship Him in the most fitting way.
You are an important part of it, each and every week.
