Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] A series of seven on this next Sunday. And this one is an interesting one.
[00:00:07] If I were to say one word to you this morning, I'm curious to know what emotion comes out immediately. So I'm going to give you one word, and without thinking, let's pretend this is like a psychological evaluation, all right? Without thinking, you snap out the first word or a couple of words that come to. To mind when I say my word. All right, you ready? Ready to play the game? All right, here's your word. You say the first thing that comes to mind. All right, here's the word. Vacation.
[00:00:39] Somebody said bible school. That's funny.
[00:00:44] I say vacation, you say bible school, you couldn't play. You get a gold star for that. I mean, like, oh, you're the most spiritual one in our congregation. What did the rest of us say? What did you say? What's the first word?
[00:01:01] What?
[00:01:03] Mexico? Yes. Son, you clearly have kids, all right? So all of these things come to mind. So I wrote something like, no work, rest, relaxation, refreshment, refocusing on what's important.
[00:01:21] That word, interestingly enough, that small word holds a great deal of emotion for us. Right when we had four kids, all under the age of eight, we were in desperate need of a vacation. It was our first time away. Somebody had offered to watch our kids for us, and we took a cruise. And when we went on this cruise, we did all the traveling, all the setup and everything. We finally got down there. And if you've done this before, you have to wait in this big arena with all the cattle getting prodded around from here to there for there you're this channel moving along. Finally, you get on the ship and it's like, fantastic. Let's look at everything and find our cabin, make sure our luggage is in there. And so we looked at each other and said, well, what do you want to do? What should we do? And then Beth said, well, why don't we just have a nap? And I said, okay, that sounds good. We'll have a nap. So we had a little nap, and we set the alarm so that we would wake up for dinner time. And then we woke up for dinner, and we went out and we had dinner, and then we looked at each other and we said, what should we do tonight? There's shows going on, and we can still explore the ship. And we thought, well, why don't we have a nap? Why don't we go to bed early, and then tomorrow we'll be more fresh to go. And so we said, yeah, great idea. So we went in and we went to bed early. And then we woke up the next morning and we did an excursion. And this excursion was to an island. And this island, the minute you walked onto this island, you just took the skiff to the island and then you get off. And then on the beach there were all these palm trees and they had hammocks on all the palm trees. And we looked at and we just went, be nice if we just had a little nap on those hammocks. So we laid on the hammocks and we took a nap and our whole day went away because we had, when you say vacation to anyone who has kids under eight, nap. Whoever said that, yeah, I would agree with you. It was best vacation ever.
[00:03:11] We had a chance to celebrate our first time away, our first chance to recoup, and our choice was to have a nap.
[00:03:22] This is our opportunity to celebrate seven years. We'll never get this again. Who knows what we're going to be in another seven or another 49 years? Who knows? Seven. Seven.
[00:03:30] Last week we talked about seven being a demonstration of power in scripture. When you see the number seven constantly you get undergirded with this idea that there's some sort of power being shown here.
[00:03:43] But today we're going to be looking at seven in a little different way. When you see the number seven in scripture, a lot of times it's connected to this idea of celebration.
[00:03:54] Every time there's a seven, there seems to be some aspect of celebration also attached to it. And it comes from the very first seven this world ever came across the 7th day. So take your bibles, if you would, and turn to Genesis two, verse one. It's on the overhead if you want to follow it there, if you're using your media or whatever. Genesis two, verse one. Here's what it says. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hosts of them. And on the 7th day, God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the 7th day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the 7th day and made it Kadosh holy, because on it God rested from the work that he had done in creation.
[00:04:47] Get this, God blessed a day.
[00:04:51] He didn't bless a family, he didn't bless children, which he has done in scripture. He blessed a day. He made it holy. Hebrew word Kadosh set apart different from all the other days.
[00:05:05] On the 7th day, the first 7th day of this world, God did something that we've never seen him do before or do since God rested.
[00:05:15] My question to you now, is why.
[00:05:19] Why did God rest?
[00:05:22] We talked about last week. God's power. He can expel it constantly. Twenty four seven. And he has never reduced one iota of power. He doesn't need to rest to refresh his batteries. God never sleeps. God never slumbers. Unlike those of us that have kids under the age of eight, four at one time and need rest, God does not. There's no need of him to rest. He does not need to nap. Instead, he chose to bless a day, set it apart, and he chooses to rest.
[00:05:57] Sabbath came from the 7th day principle.
[00:06:01] Resting on the Sabbath is not finding a hammock on a beach somewhere and passing out. Resting is something different. Although if you need to do that on the Sabbath, feel free to do so.
[00:06:13] But the resting that God is talking about here is not a resting like I need a nap. Instead, it's a day to enjoy and celebrate something that has happened in the previous six days.
[00:06:28] When you see this example given to us in scripture, in the book of Genesis, chapter two, what was God celebrating on the 7th day? What had he done the previous six days?
[00:06:39] He created everything that we see around us. On the 7th day, he took a break and he did something different.
[00:06:48] God celebrated what he had done, the works of his hands.
[00:06:53] Can you imagine how it makes God feel if we were to celebrate the works of God's hands every seven days?
[00:07:02] If you do something for your children, or if you do something for your parents, or if you do something for a loved one, and every seven days they were to call you and say, listen, I know you did this for me like five years ago, but it's number seven. And I got to tell you, every seven days, I'm just reminded how incredible you are and how gracious you have been to me. How would that make you feel? I mean, yeah, you'd be thinking, okay, give it a rest already. Right?
[00:07:33] It's been years, but for us, we experienced not the creative aspect of God in the six days of creation. None of us were there then, but we do see his work all around us constantly.
[00:07:47] And the principle of Sabbath is to take a break and give him thanks.
[00:07:55] In fact, in scripture, even when you're going through trials and tribulations, the Bible says, don't forget to give him thanks. My daughter called me this morning. She didn't call me, she texted me and she said, daddy, she's in church and she's texting me from church. Don't judge her. She's texting me. Don't do it either. She's texting me from church and she said, daddy, I saw a terrible accident on my way to church today. A car flipped over several times. There were many people stopping and helping and it scared me. I wanted to stop but it wasn't safe because there were so many cars on the side of the road and I kept on going through and I said, hannah, you did the right thing. There's nothing wrong. There's nothing wrong. I said, don't forget that you can pray for that family and maybe that does them more good than any. They have plenty of help at the time.
[00:08:46] And then I stopped texting her and I thought to myself, God, thank you for watching over my daughter. 2 seconds earlier. She would have been in the middle of that every seven days. There's some principle about the Sabbath that I think we are to get, that we are to understand it's in our dna to stop and thank God that he has been gracious, that he has been generous, that he has been good to us.
[00:09:17] Even in the middle of trials and tribulations, there's still blessings to be found. And when we take the break and we thank him for it, it readjusts our heart to where it needs to be.
[00:09:30] God gave us creation so that it could reveal to us his masterpiece. And then he gives us the 7th day so that we can say, God, you are magnificent. In fact, this is a truth all the way through scripture. It's not just in the Old Testament. Look in the book of Romans, chapter one. Romans, chapter one and verse 19 says this, for what can be known about God is plain to them, plain to the world around us, because God has showed it to them for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and his divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since what church?
[00:10:10] Ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made so that all people are without excuse, we are meant to look at the world around us and go, wow, God is creative, God is generous, God is good. And if we get sun and 50 degrees in February, I'm thanking God for that moment, aren't you?
[00:10:34] God has given us creation so that we could realize his greatness. It's to demonstrate his colorful, creative and generous character. Everything in creation works for our benefit. You plant something, it grows. Usually that works because that is the way that God has created it to work.
[00:10:54] The overwhelming nature of creation is outstanding. Every one of us, like I mentioned last week, if you were to do the math, every one of us is moving right now 67,000 mph through space. So if you think you're slow and it's hard to get out of bed. Just keep remembering you're currently moving at 67,000 mph.
[00:11:17] If we traveled at the speed of light, that's 186,000 miles/second it would take us approximately 100,000 years to get the end of our galaxy.
[00:11:28] And scientists believe there's probably 100 billion more galaxies around us.
[00:11:35] John Piper says he imagines God to have said, watch this. And then he speaks galaxies into existence.
[00:11:46] And if you go all the way out there, that's one thing, but going all the way in here is another thing, or the depths of the sea, which we haven't explored Fully.
[00:11:56] The inner part of us is outstanding too. Right now you have red blood cells coursing through 60,000 miles of blood vessels in you. Do you know how far 60,000 miles of blood vessels is that gets you around the earth two and a half times.
[00:12:13] Just in you, you have enough blood vessels to stretch around the earth two and a half times.
[00:12:20] God is a master creator, and he has given us a blueprint to follow where we are meant to stop and give him thanks that he deserves on a regular basis.
[00:12:31] So I take you to Exodus. In Exodus 20 and verse eight, God reminds us again the importance of the Sabbath.
[00:12:39] In fact, this is where God gives us the ten commandments. And number four is, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Here's what he says in Exodus 20, verse eight. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall do labor and do all your work. But the 7th is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work. You, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, the sojourner within your gates, in a tree, in a boat, in a float. It doesn't matter. You're not allowed to do any work.
[00:13:12] For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. And then he rested on the 7th day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy kadosh different from all the rest of the days. We are meant to look at creation. In other words, the evidence that we have to celebrate Sabbath comes from our example of God at creation. He worked six days and he took a rest on the 7th day.
[00:13:44] We are meant to look at creation and it is meant to elicit a response from us, a response of worship. We are meant to look at this and say, this is my father's world.
[00:13:56] God wanted Adam to know something about him on his first seven days.
[00:14:03] It's interesting to me. This is a constant drumbeat in the Bible from beginning to end. Here's another one. Psalm 146 five. Blessed is he whose help is in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them and keeps faith forever. The Bible constantly points to creation and says, this is the God you're serving. This is the God you trust. You can trust him to be powerful. You can celebrate. This is the same God.
[00:14:34] Jonathan Edwards said this. God delights in creation because creation displays his glory. And the glory of God is God's chief end in all his works.
[00:14:45] The 7th day is meant for celebration.
[00:14:49] What did Adam do the first day he was alive?
[00:14:57] He did nothing.
[00:15:02] Adam's first day alive was God's 7th day. And what did God do on the 7th day?
[00:15:08] Rested. What did Adam do on the 7th day?
[00:15:12] And what else do you think he did on the 7th day, his first day of life? He looks around him and he goes, what is this magnificence I see around me? And he got a chance to know God on his first day, God's 7th day. And he got a chance to relate to God, to build a relationship with God. And God took a day off to spend with his prime piece of creation, humanity. In fact, God created all of this. And then he looks at Adam and Eve and he says, all of this is for you. Enjoy.
[00:15:47] Adam's first day with God was a day to rest and marvel over what he had done, to look around and celebrate God's creativity and his generosity. So Sabbath is a day of celebration.
[00:16:00] It's a day of celebration meant to be celebrated a certain way. We have days of celebration as well, don't we? Like your birthday. What do you do on your birthday? That's like celebration. You have a cake with candles in it, right? You have gifts that people love you and they give you, right? Day of celebration. Do you celebrate a birthday like you celebrate Christmas? That's a day of celebration. Christmas. You put a tree up. Lights. I hate lights. All of these lights.
[00:16:26] Put your galoshes on and shovel snow. Anniversary. What do you do for your anniversary? Another special day. You celebrate it a special way. You don't celebrate an anniversary by putting a Christmas tree up.
[00:16:40] Every celebration is done differently. Graduations are done differently. You know, it's a graduation celebration because they're wearing a funny hat and they get a diploma in their hands.
[00:16:51] Every celebration is celebrated differently. And Sabbath is a day to be celebrated differently than other days.
[00:16:59] It's rest with purpose. We stop, we refresh and we delight on this day. Why would I say that?
[00:17:08] Let's stop and talk about the first one. Stopping and resting on the 7th day. This is ceasing work on purpose. God did not need to cease his work. God could have kept on going, but he did. He stopped on purpose. And I think it was to enjoy his creation with his greatest treasure. Adam.
[00:17:30] When you get busy, you run the risk of missing God.
[00:17:35] Satan loves your busyness.
[00:17:38] Satan will give you a lot of reasons to stay busy. Satan will throw money your way as long as it keeps you busy. Because if he can keep you busy, he can keep you from celebrating God.
[00:17:51] People who are busy have a very hard time setting time apart to celebrate their God. We were told that cell phones and all these things would make our lives easier. Instead, they have made our lives more busy.
[00:18:06] I take you the story of Mary and Martha. You remember this story.
[00:18:10] Jesus visits Mary and Martha. They had a brother, Lazarus. He's dead. He rose from the dead. You remember this family.
[00:18:17] They were kind of well off family. They had a house. Not told about their parents, but they had a house that Jesus would stay in. Looks like on a regular basis, Jesus is with Mary and Martha. One day, one special day, he comes over. He doesn't come over all the time. This is a rare occasion. He's sitting down. Martha is what?
[00:18:38] Busy.
[00:18:39] Jesus is coming. Let's clean the house. Come on, Mary, get off your duff. Let's clean the house. Let's vacuum. Let's put the best china out. We got to kill an animal. There is no grocery store. So let's get busy. Let's do what we need to do.
[00:18:53] So Martha's busy working away. Working away. And the work doesn't get done.
[00:18:59] Jesus shows up, comes in the house. He sits down, he's talking. Martha's trying to get the last minute stuff done. Mary has helped her. Don't think that Mary hasn't helped. Mary has helped her. She's no lazy person.
[00:19:11] But when Jesus shows up, what does Mary do?
[00:19:14] She stops.
[00:19:17] She just stops.
[00:19:19] And when we're introduced to the story, Martha's busy in the kitchen and Mary's sitting at Jesus'feet just enjoying Jesus.
[00:19:28] And as any busy person knows, if you're working and your sister's sitting on her duff, what's the problem? You are going to have, right? You're going to have Jesus. Listen, Mary is a lazy so and so. Could you tell her to come in here and help finish because I'd like to sit at your feet too. And Jesus response is very interesting to Martha. Luke ten, verse 41. But the Lord answered her. Martha, Martha. You are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. I'm sure Mary worked that day, busy as a bee. But when it came time to celebrate Jesus, she stopped. She sat, she enjoyed.
[00:20:16] She may not get this chance again.
[00:20:19] Busyness distracts us. We've never been more busy on this planet than we are right now. In fact, we identify ourselves by our busyness. When you go to a party and you're introduced. Hey, Craig, this is Jim. Jim, this is Craig. Oh, hi, Jim. Nice to meet you, Jim. What's the next question that comes out of your mouth? What do you do?
[00:20:43] Our identity is found in our busyness.
[00:20:47] That is crazy.
[00:20:53] The world is selling us so many ways in which to find our identity, and we buy it because we're so used to it. We have been identifying ourselves with all these different things for so long. And one of the things is, what do you do for a living? Because that's your identity. That's why nobody calls me Pastor Craig. Well, some people do. I don't get identified by my job, no more than I would come to you and say, oh, yeah, plumber Larry, nice to meet you.
[00:21:19] We're identified not by our busyness, but not by our works, but we're identified by the one who loves us.
[00:21:29] Work alone will not get you where you need to go.
[00:21:32] Load 16 tons, and what do you get?
[00:21:36] Another day older and deeper in debt. Celebrating God's generosity, attributes, faithfulness, and kindness will get you where you need to go a lot faster. And that flips it all on its head. Because the bottom line is, if you take time to celebrate God and take a break, buy the McDonald's tagline. Don't you need a break today? Don't go to McDonald's. Come to church.
[00:22:03] Celebrate God. In fact, Jesus told us we were created this way. Did you know this in mark two, verse 27? Then Jesus said to them, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Do you know what that means? Work is good, but rest is better. Rest on this day. Rest.
[00:22:25] This is not being lazy on purpose. I mean, sorry. This is not being lazy without purpose.
[00:22:31] This is taking a break on purpose centered around God's faithfulness and focusing on that.
[00:22:38] Here's an easy to understand phrase for you. We rest because it reveals our faith and celebrates. We are not in bondage any longer to the drives of this world.
[00:22:49] Did you know work can drive you into bondage.
[00:22:52] Did you know in scripture that's true as well?
[00:22:56] Deuteronomy 515 listen to this. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Don't forget it.
[00:23:04] And remember that the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the. What? Church?
[00:23:14] The Sabbath day. The Sabbath day was to remind them they were in bondage under work, under the oppression of Egypt. And it was such a bondage.
[00:23:24] The sin of Egypt was to work harder and work harder. And if it gets too hard and you're not producing enough, we'll take what you need away and we'll give you straw. Make bricks out of straw. Work harder.
[00:23:36] The mantra of Egypt is, your work will save you.
[00:23:40] The mantra of the gospel is, rest in the work that Jesus has done and then grasp moments to celebrate him.
[00:23:54] I grew up with tons of people that just worked for the weekend. They worked so they could take a break. Celebrating God is our antidote to Egypt's bondage.
[00:24:04] Celebrating God is our antidote to Egypt's bondage. It's a good phrase. I should have put that up there. Number two, refresh on the day. That means rest on purpose. This is not an idea of just, like, taking a day off and not doing anything, but it's with purpose. Exodus 30 117. The Sabbath is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth. And on the 7th day he rested and was refreshed again, pointing back another verse, pointing back to creation. Observing the 7th day is a true meaning of your life. It brings it back into focus. It is your opportunity to refresh yourself in the joy of the Lord.
[00:24:45] Sabbath is meant to refresh our souls on what really brings meaning to life. Not more work, not more money, not a more secure future in our bank account, but a deeper trust and focus on who God is.
[00:25:00] Did you know even the 7th year for the land was meant as a day of rest? Did you know that every seven years you are not to till your soil so that the soil could be refreshed?
[00:25:15] Even the way that God created the earth functioned on this rhythm of seven, so that on the 7th year nobody tilled their soil, even the earth needed to be refreshed.
[00:25:28] 7th day is meant to stop and rest. It's meant to refresh, and it's also meant for delight.
[00:25:34] This means to enjoy something on purpose.
[00:25:39] Isaiah 53, verse 13. This is one of my favorite verses on the Sabbath. Here's what it says if you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, if you stop doing what you want to do on the Sabbath, stop doing it, and you call the Sabbath a delight.
[00:25:58] And the holy day of the Lord is honorable. If you honor it, not going about on your own ways or seeking your own pleasure or talking idly, then you shall delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth.
[00:26:14] Sabbath exists to disrupt the daily routine of our lives so that we can learn to delight in the Lord.
[00:26:24] Today we're admired. If we work harder and we work constantly, people are rewarded for working, working.
[00:26:32] But in God's world, there's always a time for rest.
[00:26:37] I love the fact that Adam watched God do nothing on the first day he was alive.
[00:26:44] Adam watched God do nothing.
[00:26:48] Just be with him.
[00:26:51] There was a lot to do, a lot of animals to name. Oh, boy.
[00:26:56] There's a lot of work to do. And maybe God during that day said, okay, Adam, I'm going to lay out some stuff I want you to do, but we're not doing it today. We're not starting today. Here's some stuff I need you to do. I need you to start naming the animals.
[00:27:09] And Adam starts looking around going, you got to be kidding me. I just got here. That's a big job.
[00:27:16] And God said, well, you're the only guy in the payroll right now. You're the only guy on the planet.
[00:27:22] I want you to add your creativity to what I've already created. Like that big neck thing over there with the big legs and. Yeah, call that something. That's your job. What am I going to call it? Giraffe. Yeah, that's good. We'll take that.
[00:27:37] But not today.
[00:27:39] Not today, Adam. We're just going to take a break today. Let's do it tomorrow. Today, let's just be together.
[00:27:47] And I love the fact that God, on the first day Adam was born, did the most essential thing. And it wasn't just more work. It was to get to know Adam and Adam get to know God.
[00:27:59] When I get to heaven, I'm going to wonder how that first day looked.
[00:28:04] God delighted in the works of his hands, and God wanted somebody to enjoy it with him.
[00:28:11] Why do we rest today? Or should we rest today? I want you to know, first of all, the fourth word, the fourth commandment has been completed in Jesus Christ.
[00:28:21] Jesus says, I am the fulfillment of the Sabbath.
[00:28:27] But for followers of Jesus, there remains a principle that rests in the attributes of God that is meant to carry us through our lives. And that is what Mary and Martha experienced. We cannot get so busy, so essential in the work that we do that we forget to take a moment and celebrate God. Man wasn't made for the Sabbath. Sabbath was made for us. We are meant to enjoy God.
[00:28:56] Israel rested because God did the work. For their benefit. Israel took a break because God did all the work. We, church, are meant to take a break as well because Jesus did all the work. When Jesus died on the cross, he said three words. The last three words he said, what was it? It is finished. What did he mean by that? He didn't mean his life was over. What he meant was the work is done.
[00:29:27] When God finished the work at creation, he gave them Sabbath so that they could focus on it. Focus on it. Focus on it. And when we get together on our day to celebrate God, we focus on the work that God has done through Jesus Christ.
[00:29:44] He has accomplished everything needed for us to rest in him. So we stop from normal routines, we refresh in God. We delight in God's best through Jesus Christ. And listen, church, our rest demonstrates our faith.
[00:30:03] Listen, I'll say it one more time. Our rest demonstrates our faith. What do I mean by that? Simply this.
[00:30:10] When you rest and delight in God, you declare, I understand no matter how hard I work, God gives all good things to me.
[00:30:22] I understand no matter how much pressure is on me, God is the one who can sustain me through it all.
[00:30:29] I understand no matter how much emotional stress has impacted my life over the last six days, my best place to be is in the presence of God and take a break to focus, to rest in the work that he has done through Jesus Christ. Celebrate that. You want to know why we sing on Sundays? It's not to fill in the gaps. We sing on Sundays because we celebrate God. It is essential for us to stop, to rest, to refresh and to delight in God.
[00:31:09] This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Celebration with purpose on the Sabbath identified Israel as a people of God and celebration with purpose for those of us who trust in Jesus Christ identifies our faith in God as well. I don't need to work seven days a week for my future to be secure. I work and I work hard.
[00:31:35] But when I have a chance to celebrate Jesus, pull away from the table, sit at his feet and enjoy God observing. The 7th day purpose is not legislated, but it is still encouraged. Here's a verse in Colossians two, verse 16. For those of us that have reason to celebrate Jesus Christ, who has fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies.
[00:32:02] Colossians two, verse 16 says this. Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you for questions of food, what you're going to eat or what you're going to drink, or with regard to what festivals or new moon, or even don't let anyone pass judgment, what you do on Sabbath.
[00:32:16] For these are a shadow of things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. What that means is we are not legislated to do this on the 7th day, the 6th day, the third day, the fourth day. It doesn't matter. But the need in us is to stop.
[00:32:33] We are created in with our very dna to stop, rest, refresh and celebrate our God in Jesus Christ.
[00:32:43] Remember, we fight against the lie. Work brings freedom.
[00:32:51] That is the mantra of this world. It was the mantra of Egypt. Work harder.
[00:32:57] God rescues them from Egypt and he says, now work hard, but take a break and enjoy me. Egypt's cry is to work harder. God's invitation for us and for the Old Testament is rest and celebrate me.
[00:33:14] What if I can't find a day, Craig? What if I can't come to church on Sunday? What if I have to work on Sunday? Can I choose any? Yes. Yes, that's the whole point. It doesn't have to be Sunday, Saturday, Tuesday.
[00:33:27] But you are built with a need that if you start neglecting your moments to celebrate God, busyness will bring you into bondage. It will capture your heart, it will lead you astray, it will bring you money, fame, glory, whatever Satan wants you to have so that you, for God's sake, don't take a moment to worship him.
[00:33:50] How do we celebrate God? What if we can't find today? Listen, turn off the phone, stretch out on the couch, take a nap. It's not a bad thing.
[00:34:02] Find a stream, go fishing, find a moment to spend with your family. Do something different and make a big focus of that moment. Whether it's a half day or a full day, whatever you want to do, take that moment, spend it with your family and focus them and focus your heart on the goodness and the greatness of God. That is the meaning of Sabbath.
[00:34:30] Get with your kids, wrestle for a little bit, get alone with God, do some devotion, spend some time in prayer. Just be for a day and stop the bondage to work.
[00:34:42] Intentionally focus. Celebrate on what God is doing. I have found a new way to celebrate the Sabbath. I have found these moments that I do something I detest in life and I have redeemed it. You want to know what it is?
[00:35:01] I have been going to the gym and I am doing treadmill stuff. I hate the treadmill.
[00:35:08] I'm debating whether or not when Jesus said the flames of Gehenna, if he actually meant the wheels of the treadmill. I think hell might be full of treadmills. Like you're going to do treadmill all day, every day for the rest of eternity? Could be I have found a way to redeem it. I get on my treadmill, I turn it on. I turn that little tv screen off. Everything is meant as a distraction. Turn off the tv screen. I turn off my headphones, I close my eyes and I just pray.
[00:35:38] Now, don't look at me and say, oh, Craig, you're so holy. I am not. I should pray way more than I do.
[00:35:44] But I have found it is one of the most refreshing times for me now. Never done it before. It's brand new for me. And I walk on the treadmill and I pray and all I do is pray for you.
[00:35:55] I go through the congregation and I see your faces and I pray for you on the treadmill, on doing the thing I hate most of all in the world.
[00:36:04] I pray for you.
[00:36:06] Listen, your life is different from my life. Find a moment.
[00:36:12] Snippets of Sabbath, a day of Sabbath, a half a day of Sabath. But you have to stop and remember, Sabbath was not. You are not made for the Sabbath. The Sabbath is made for you. Take a moment and celebrate God.
[00:36:29] So what? Just two things. Celebrating the Sabbath holds great potential to center our lives. The principle of the Sabbath still applies. Rest, relax. Redirect your attention to creator, to your creator. You don't have to work constantly for your physical security.
[00:36:47] Resist your natural instinct to work. Substitute rest just one day.
[00:36:55] The practice of Sabbath is still useful for us because it's our ongoing admission to the world that Jesus is still the center of our lives.
[00:37:04] All your neighbors know you're at church right now.
[00:37:09] Some of your family members wonder why you tithe.
[00:37:13] They don't understand why church is so important to you, why you would just blow away a free day.
[00:37:23] I want you to know that we center this whole experience for you every Sunday around one thing. Stopping, resting, refocusing, refreshing and celebrating Jesus Christ. This is our Sabbath.
[00:37:39] John Calvin says it this way. Sabbath is our high tower we climb up into so that we can survey the condition of our lives. I love that statement. It's our high tower we climb up into so that we can survey the condition of our lives and the outflow of Sabbath. You'll find the right rhythms.
[00:38:00] Jesus agreed. Sabbath can help us find the center.
[00:38:04] Number two. Sabbath reminds us there's always a reason to celebrate in church. Family. We need to be reminded of that, don't we? No matter what happens in our world, Sabbath is our opportunity. It reminds us, no matter what happens, there's always reasons to celebrate celebrations. Remember, they're always unique. Birthdays, anniversary, they're done different ways. This celebration is also unique. It has a purpose. It's meant to be celebrated certain ways. But the end product is your mind and your heart focused on Jesus Christ.
[00:38:41] Remember, Satan is the thief of joy.
[00:38:44] But the Bible tells us to rejoice always. And again I say rejoice.
[00:38:52] Celebration path is simple. Stop normal activity. Rest in what Jesus has accomplished. Restore your life back to what is really keeping you going. And it's not your work, it's him. And you can trust him.
[00:39:09] This is what we're doing at VC east for the 7th year. We're determined to set this year apart, do some things a little differently to celebrate the fact that God has been our greatest center for the past seven years. What he's done through us and in us is incredible. The journey has not always been easy, nor will it be for the next seven.
[00:39:31] But we need to take a moment and celebrate the fact that he is still with us and he still blesses us.
[00:39:39] And so I would ask you to join with me and read this final verse. It's a psalm written for the Sabbath. Psalms are written for singing. This one I won't make you sing, but it's a song meant to be sung on the Sabbath. And so I'd ask you to read it with me. You ready? Here we go. Our song for the Sabbath. Here we go. It is good to give thanks to the Lord. To sing praises to your name almost high, to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night. To the music of the loot and the harp, to the melody of the lear. For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work. At the works of your hands I sing for joy a song for the Sabbath.
[00:40:29] Feel weary and worn out.
[00:40:32] Your answer may be as close as Sunday.
[00:40:37] May God's Sabbath moments refresh you in the Lord.
[00:40:42] We're going to sing a song. We're not doing communion today. We're going to bring our kids up.
[00:40:48] We're going to celebrate them. And you're going to have a chance to bid on them. We'll close in prayer after that. But I'm going to pray. And the band is going to come up. And my challenge to you is we always talk about next steps. Talking about Sabbath is not something that people do a whole lot. It's not even something that we talk about a whole lot in church. But I am convinced the principle of the Sabbath, we're not going to judge you by not doing something every seven days. Maybe you got to work 14 days in a row. That's not the point. The point is you need to stop, you need to refocus, you need to refresh. And for God's sakes, we all need to delight in our father.
[00:41:28] And so if God has spoken to you in some way and challenged you in some way to do this, this is your moment to respond to that. I'm going to pray. Would you just join with me as I pray?
[00:41:41] Father God, I am grateful for seven years. I'm grateful for what you've done in us and through us over this past seven year period. I'm grateful, Father, that we get to take a few weeks and celebrate you for a while because of what you have done in us and through us. What you're going to do in us and through us. There are new folks with us. They're just starting the journey with us. I'm so grateful for them. They're here on such just a great moment.
[00:42:13] I pray, father, that you'll bring many more, that we would be able to do more for your kingdom, that you would find in us a place that if you were to walk through the doors physically this morning, you'd see nothing more than a bunch of people just ridiculously glad and excited about what you're doing in us and through us.
[00:42:35] We don't deserve it.
[00:42:37] But you continue to be very close to each one of us, even when we're not looking like Hannah on the highway, even when we're not paying attention.
[00:42:49] You are good to us.
[00:42:53] I pray for the family that had the accident. May you intervene for them, and even in that tragedy, show them your praise.
[00:43:02] Because one thing I've learned from you is you love to take what's broken and make it stronger than it was before.
[00:43:09] May you do that with each one of us. And may you do that with our church now and into the future. I pray. We delight in you, and it's in your name we pray. Amen.
