A Sinaite's Liturgy – 2nd Sabbath of August

 

KINDLE THE SABBATH LIGHTS

 

Blessed are You, YHWH our God,

Lord and Master,  Creator of the universe,

Designer of earthly time,

measured in seconds, minutes, hours

according to the movement of Your magnificent heavenly bodies:

 

Your life-nurturing sun rises and sets on our horizon

to usher in times of work and times of rest

for all your creatures and most specially humankind;

 

Your moon guides us through the beginning and end of the monthly cycles,

visible signs on the passing of days and weeks.

 

O YHWH,

Eternal One,  Lord of History,

You have not left humanity without instructions

to navigate our way through the passing of time.

 

We thank You for teaching us by Your own example

how to measure our days in terms of seven,

to separate our six days of work from the Seventh Day,

to keep the Seventh special and holy

by resting  body and mind,

for health, for pleasure,

for special time with family, with  friends,

for study of Your Words of Life.

 

We thank You for not leaving us in ignorance of Your Way,

of a lifestyle that is ideal for all who live in community.

We thank You for teaching us how to care for our health,

for instructions regarding our physical, mental and spiritual welfare.

 

We thank You for Your TORAH, our Tree of Life.

May we continue to live Your Way every day of our lives,

from Sabbath to Sabbath  . . . until we enter Your Sabbath Rest.

 

We thank You, O YHWH,

for making us realize

that even as the earthly Sanctuary in Jerusalem

has been destroyed by human hands,

Your Sanctuary in Time still stands

even as man-made religions have departed from Your true Sabbath.

 

We are privileged to enter Your Sanctuary in Time,

joining with all Sabbath-Keepers who worship You,

YHWH, as the One True God.

 

 

A PSALM OF THANKSGIVING

 

Call out to YHWH, all the earth.

Serve YHWH with gladness, come before Him with joyous song.

Know that YHWH, He is God;

He made us, and we are His, 

His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise;

Give thanks to Him, bless His Name.

For YHWH is good, His kindness endures forever,

and from generation to generation is His faithfulness.

 

 

SABBATH BLESSINGS

 

  Blessed are You, YHWH, our God, Source and Giver of Life, for blessing us with family.

 

We seek Your gracious favor upon each one of us — husbands and wives, widows and widowers, each of our children and their children and generations down the line.

 

We pray for Your providence, protection, and guidance upon all of us.

 

May it be that those of our kin who have not yet accepted You, and recognized You as the One True God, will come to know You, that they will seek You with all their heart and mind and soul, for You have promised that all who do will find You.

 

May they make right and wise choices and find meaning in their endeavors.

 

But most of all,  may they be blessed with the knowledge of You through Your Sinai revelation,  by studying Your Words of Life, by learning how to apply Your Torah which is essential in understanding how to navigate through life in a rapidly changing world.

 

And may we—in this faith community of Sabbath keepers, Torah observers, worshippers of YHWH—-not only study and internalize Your instructions and commandments, but actually apply them as much as we are able to in the times and the culture in which we live, for then and only then will we make even a small difference in our little corner of Your world.

 

Blessed are You, YHWH, God of the families represented here.

 

 As we break bread and drink the fruit of the vine, we thank You for the joy we derive from fellowshipping with like-minded believers in You as the One True God, for the enjoyment of Your daily provisions from Sabbath to Sabbath.

 

We thank You most of all for the extension of life You have graciously allowed us to live, that we might continue to declare Your Name and serve You in as many ways as we are able to, till the end of our days.

 

To LIFE! L’Chaim!

 

 

SABBATH MEAL/TORAH STUDY

HAVDALAH

As we end our Sabbath fellowship, we remember the words of Moshe as he addressed the children of Israel:

 

For this mitzvah which I am giving you today is not too hard for you, nor is it beyond your reach.  It isn’t in the sky, so that you need to ask, ‘Who will go up into the sky for us, bring it to us and make us hear it so that we can obey it?’  Likewise, it isn’t beyond the sea, so that you need to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?’  On the contrary, the word is very close to you—in your mouth, even in your heart; therefore you can do it!” (Deut. 30:11-14)

 

Dear God of Israel

Whom we have embraced as our God,

O YHWH,

Revelator on Sinai, God of the nations,

You would never give commandments that are impossible to obey,

for You are not an unwise nor unjust God!

You not only gave humankind the unique gift of free will,

but You  also provided Your Way of Life

to teach us how to live in this world You have created.

You have written Your TORAH in the minds and  hearts of humankind

such that even those who have not read it

are able to do good and be good and live rightly

and be other-centered;

except they are missing the knowledge of You,

the One True God.

For all like us who have discovered

Your Way through Your TORAH.

Indeed  ” the word is very close to us”—

We are not born depraved and helpless with an inherited fallen nature.

All we must do is exercise our gift of free will,

make a choice and respond to Your call with full conviction:

YES LORD,  WE CAN . . .DO IT!

 

 

Shabbat shalom!

NSB@S6K