For many reasons, you may find yourself with no fellowship, meaning you and your family will observe Sabbath at home. We’ve had the opportunity to be a part of several fellowships; however, as of now, it’s just us – at home. So, what do we do? Here’s a peek inside our home on (most) Sabbath days.
How to Observe Sabbath at Home When You Don’t Have a Fellowship
Prepare.
As for any appointed time, we need to prepare for it. This looks like a number of different ways for our large family. The kids will do what we call “Shabbat prep cleaning,” I’ll prepare the meal for the evening and whatever we are planning to have the next day, and if I’m really on top of things – we’ll plan a Scripture lesson.
Have a nice meal.
If there’s one thing all appointed times have in common, it’s feasting on good food – and Sabbath is no exception. After all these years, I’ve navigated more toward easy foods that don’t require reheating or a lot of dishes. (I plan to make a post of easy Shabbat meals so hang tight for that.) Regardless if you want to go big or keep it small, make an effort to have a meal as a family.
Blow the shofar.
Of course, this isn’t mandatory, but every Sabbath Bryan blows the shofar and the kids raise a joyful noise with their mouths. This basically kicks off our Sabbath days and has become quite the tradition for our family.
Listen to praise and worship music.
We love turning on some praise and worship music and singing along. We have several playlists that we’ve created over the years that have a wide variety of Hebrew music:
Observe Sabbath at home by reading Scripture.
What we read typically depends on what’s going on in our family’s lives. If there is a character trait that one (or more) of our kids is struggling with, we’ll read about that. If there is something in particular we’ve been studying (like Abba’s calendar), we will read about that. Other times, Bryan will pick up where he left off with reading the Scriptures from beginning to end.
Watch a teaching.
At the beginning of our journey, we relied heavily on other Torah teachers. Although we don’t do this as much anymore, there’s nothing wrong with incorporating this into your Sabbath day. Just be mindful of who you’re watching and what they are teaching as there are a lot of “teachers” out there attempting to bring the Word of Yah.
The two primary teachers we followed were Passion for Truth (Jim Staley) and MTOI (Steve Berkson).
Do activities with the children.
Depending on the ages of your children, the activities can vary. We’ve done a combination of biblical Hebrew language learning lessons, coloring pages, arts and crafts, or let them watch something on TV. One Torah for All has amazing children’s parsha lessons and comes in three different levels of difficulty. It’s also awesome for adults who are beginning their Hebrew journey.
Other Ideas
In addition to the ones mentioned above, you can also do other things such as visiting widows and orphans, donating your time at a local shelter, or inviting others over to fellowship with you. We’ve always opened our doors to family and friends who know we’re on this Torah Pursuant walk, but sadly, slim to none have taken us up on the offer.
You can also watch Torah-related documentaries. The Way is by far our favorite and sometimes we will watch it just to refresh ourselves on the basics of coming to this Truth. They also have The Christmas Question (available on DVD) and a new book called The Truth Reformation 2.0.
Final Thoughts
You can easily observe Sabbath at home even if you don’t have a fellowship. It may seem lonely at first, but always be in prayer for YHVH to send you the right people or that you be the right people for others. We can also rest assured knowing that one day we will all be together with our Messiah and Father in the shamayim! HalleluYah!