October 6, 2021

​Creation Sabbath

Sometimes we need a reminder about Sabbath.

Timothy G. Standish

Creation Sabbath is October 24. The General Conference specially chose this Sabbath for worshiping our Creator in a wholistic integration of worship order, music, preaching, fellowship, and witnessing, all connected by the indivisible free gifts of creation and salvation.

Creation Sabbath is also an opportunity to share the everlasting gospel of Revelation 14:6, 7 with our communities. On this day we look back to the original creation as well as celebrating the coming new creation, in which the Creator’s righteous judgment restores God’s now sin-broken handiwork.

What resources are available for your church to celebrate Creation Sabbath on October 24? Every Adventist congregation has a pastor highly trained in the everlasting gospel, and every congregation is populated with students of the most reliable earthly resource about creation: God’s Word, the Bible.

Creation itself clearly testifies to the Creator’s “eternal power and divine nature” (Rom. 1:20). One way to celebrate Creation Sabbath is simply to step out into the creation and appreciate the wonderful beauty of what still remains, even after thousands of years of sin. Why not organize a community hike with friends and neighbors? We can also remember those who can’t do this, taking them flowers or other reminders of nature’s pervasive splendor.

Every Adventist school educates its students about creation; Adventist teachers have immense reserves of knowledge and wisdom to share. Adventist school libraries abound with resources, such as the astonishing Illustra Media documentaries illustrating how life works. Why not, weather permitting, organize an evening showing of a beautiful film about the creation under the stars, and invite the community to enjoy it with us?

Sabbath schools can feature presentations about design in nature, Jesus’ teaching about creation, or simply allow children to enjoy a pet. In Australia, Margaret McKay has seized on the opportunity Creation Sabbath provides to have her children’s Sabbath school class—made up of Adventists and other Christians—lead out in the divine service, telling through Scripture, music, prayer, and preaching about the creation and the Creator’s love.

Creation Sabbath programs may be as simple as reading texts about creation from Genesis to Revelation, an act of worship that any reader can be part of. This special Sabbath also provides an opportunity to enjoy the talents of artists and musicians, whose gifts reflect a bit of the creativity expressed in creation.

The possibilities for celebrating Creation Sabbath are almost endless. More resources can be found at creationsabbath.net, an official General Conference Web site, with tips, suggestions, and other materials. October 24 is a high Sabbath when every Seventh-day Adventist, every Christian, everyone who seeks truth and beauty, can rejoice at what our Creator has done, anticipate what is to come, and be still in the moment, knowing that He is God (Ps. 46:10).


Timothy G. Standish, Ph.D., is a senior scientist at the Geoscience Research Institute.

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