1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,800 Hey there, this is Gem Wade, part of the core team here at Springs Church. We just want 2 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,720 to say thank you so much for joining us and listening to our podcast. We are praying that 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:18,080 it encourages you and it inspires you. And if you'd like to find out more about Springs 4 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:21,080 Church, please visit our website springschurch.co.uk. Here's today's message. 5 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:30,560 I'm afraid there isn't going to be a live straight-on message. I'm just taking days 6 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,600 to prepare. So I'm confused that God wants to say something. So I thank you that you're 7 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,800 with us, thank you that you want to speak to us and I pray that as we listen to your 8 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,800 word, Lord, that you give us hearts to hear what you want to say and for us to put into 9 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:46,280 practice. In Jesus' name, Amen. We are continuing our series today at just 10 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:52,280 about one o'clock, the only important clock today, trust me. That's my phone. We're going 11 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:56,280 to continue our series today on the 10th of Mammon's and we're going to be talking about 12 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:00,280 Sabbath. I'm not going to start by reading the scripture, I'm going to start with a story, 13 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,280 a true story about Onesford Matt who, Pete has already mentioned, 14 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:12,280 Anyone who knew Matt before we got together, 15 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:18,280 we were together for nine years now, eight years now, I remember, a while. If you knew 16 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:22,280 before that, in his younger days, because he didn't always have the grey hair, he was 17 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:28,280 younger at some point, he used to be a bit of a workaholic. He worked for a long time 18 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:36,280 for a global marketing firm and he was very successful at that company. He was a bit of 19 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:42,280 a ticket, actually. He was awarded employee of the year in his mid-20s, which is no mean 20 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:46,280 thing, there are thousands of employees in this company, it's absolutely enormous, they're 21 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:52,280 a bit much of the best one, like me, if it was a little swat. But his working pattern 22 00:01:52,280 --> 00:02:00,280 to achieve these kind of heights was not healthy. He was under a lot of pressure and it still, 23 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:04,280 actually even now, the pressure affects his sleep, but even back then it was even worse 24 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,280 and often he'd wake up at two, three in the morning thinking about work, so we'd just 25 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:14,280 go downstairs and start. Three in the morning, that's normal, isn't it? So his laptop would 26 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:18,280 be open and he figured, oh, I'm not thinking about it, let's just crack on. So his working 27 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:22,280 day would start at three a.m. and then he'd just carry on all the way through till silly 28 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:28,280 o'clock. But because he was so bored and because he worked so hard, he got lots of promotions 29 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:34,280 very quickly. And he was soon handed the management of a particularly challenging client for this 30 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:38,280 marketing company, a global brand, who were very lucrative to their business, they paid 31 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:44,280 a lot of money to Matt's company to look after them, and Matt was in charge of that client. 32 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:49,280 And they were very demanding, very difficult, and also based near London, so he was up and 33 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:55,280 down about twice several times a week trying to keep his company sweet. Also around the 34 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,280 same time, Matt was stepping up in leadership of a new church plant in Birmingham called 35 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:05,280 Gallery Church, and they wanted to release their new pastor Andy to earn employment a 36 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:10,280 few days a week so he could serve the community and serve the church. To do that, you have 37 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,280 lots and lots of legal things that need to be in place, lots of employment admin and 38 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:18,280 taxi stuff you have to do. So Matt was tasked with the job of sorting that out, because 39 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,280 he's good at that kind of stuff. He does it for Springs too, that's what he does now. 40 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:26,280 He loves Excel basically, he's a bit of a dork really, he's really good at that kind 41 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:33,280 of stuff. Also around this time, he started dating me. Yeah, he'd never had a long term 42 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:40,280 girlfriend before, insert Matt's embassies on, by choice. He knows I'm telling this story, 43 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,280 but he said you had to tell them I chose not to have, I have options indeed, I just didn't 44 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:50,280 want a long term girlfriend. Yeah, okay. And then I came along and he couldn't resist. 45 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:57,280 So he delved into the depths of Matt.com and nothing had come of it. And then we met and 46 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,280 we started going out and bearing in mind I also had brought with me a one year old son 47 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,280 and a divorce, so it wasn't the easiest of girlfriends to choose to be honest, for more 48 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:11,280 reasons than one, which he was yet to find out. Also around this time, all this is still 49 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:17,280 going on, Matt's sister Emily became pregnant with our niece Holly, but the pregnancy was 50 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:25,280 not straightforward. And Emily and her husband Mark found out that the baby had a major issue 51 00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:30,280 with the kidneys. One of them wasn't growing and the other kidney wasn't really working. 52 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:38,280 And they were told basically to expect the worst. And it's a miraculous story because 53 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:42,280 Holly's fine, she just has one kidney, it works fine, but she's perfectly fine. I'm sure 54 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:47,280 they'll meet her one day. She's eight now. But at the time they didn't know. So now Matt 55 00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:51,280 and his family, they're pretty tight. There's not many of them. There's hundreds of them 56 00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:56,280 for me. There's gazillions. I've got so many cousins. I think I'm 267 now. True story. 57 00:04:56,280 --> 00:05:01,280 From Gorlough. But Matt's family are not like that. There's not that many of them, 58 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:08,280 so they are close. And so Emily's news was really carried by them all. So Matt was happily 59 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:13,280 supporting his parents and Emily and also having her own grief at the potential of losing 60 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:21,280 his only niece before she was even born. A lot was going on in his little life. Matt's 61 00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:27,280 solution to coping with it all was to work even harder. Believe it or not, to get up 62 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:33,280 even earlier, to make himself even more available to those around him. And therefore he saw 63 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:39,280 he was spreading himself way too thin. It doesn't take a genius to work out what happened 64 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:47,280 next. Matt was my bird outing. I won't go into all the gory details for you, but I can 65 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:52,280 assure you Matt was good for nothing. He spoke to his boss who could see for themselves that 66 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:58,280 he was not the Matt they thought he was and they gave him a better month off on a paid 67 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:04,280 sabbatical to try and get him to have his head back in the game. And Matt was forced 68 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:11,280 to rest. You know, God literally made him lie down in green pastures, as the song says. 69 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:18,280 He literally led him beside quiet quarters and he gradually restored his soul. And he 70 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:23,280 is a different person to who he was back then. That was, like I say, nine years ago and he 71 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:30,280 learned an awful lot about the importance of resting, of switching off, of knowing when 72 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:40,280 to stop. And despite what Peter just said, when to say no. I can't. I haven't got the 73 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:48,280 capacity. He's a better husband for it by far. He's a better father for it. He's a better 74 00:06:48,280 --> 00:06:54,280 manager for it and he's a better employee for it. Now Matt's story isn't unique. There 75 00:06:54,280 --> 00:07:00,280 will be people across this room that have experienced similar things in their own life. 76 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:05,280 And in fact I think there's something about the pace of modern life that impacts all of 77 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:11,280 us at various times. Anxiety levels across the nation have never been higher. The pace 78 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:17,280 of modern life, it does not lead to the restoration of our souls. It actually leads to implosion 79 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:23,280 within our souls if we don't watch it. Because there's something about the speed at which 80 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:28,280 we live our lives that is not conducive to human flourishing. Many of us are surviving 81 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:34,280 but we are not thriving. Since afternoon we're going to be looking at the Sabbath day and 82 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:39,280 what God says about taking a rest. To see if we can understand how we as creatures are 83 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:46,280 supposed to work and function and thrive as a species by looking to the one who created 84 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:51,280 us to the one who designed us. And when we do that, what we do, what we find is that 85 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:59,280 our creator is very keen on his creation resting regularly. We can see this when we look at 86 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:05,280 how God created the world after six days of creating the skies and the land and the animals 87 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:10,280 and the people. This is what the Bible says that God did. This is Genesis 2. It says, 88 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:16,280 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day 89 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:21,280 God had finished the work he had been doing. So on the seventh day he rested from all his 90 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:26,280 work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made him holy. Because on him he rested from 91 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:33,280 the work of creating that he had done. Now that word rested in Hebrew is the word Shabbat. 92 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:36,280 You might have heard it before. You've heard a sermon on the Sabbath, you've heard of 93 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:41,280 the word Shabbat. But if you haven't let me tell you what it means. It means to stop. 94 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:48,280 So that word Sabbath, Shabbat means to stop, to cease. Now I find this interesting because 95 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:52,280 God wasn't tired from his creation because God doesn't slumber or sleep. So God doesn't 96 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:59,280 get tired. Yet he modeled the art and the practice of stopping and resting for all his 97 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:05,280 creations to copy. And then he blessed that day, he said, and he made it holy. Holy means 98 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:13,280 he made it special, he set it apart. He made it a priority for all his creations to rest. 99 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:19,280 So he literally wove Sabbath rest into the rhythms of creation. And that's the first 100 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:25,280 point to make. Sabbath rest is a rhythm of creation. That word rhythm I found really 101 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,280 illuminating. I'm thinking about this. And we can understand it a bit more. If you think 102 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:32,280 about the set of drawings and Adagio's paper, it was splendidly tonight. Because he's done 103 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:36,280 something very important. Because both of my boys are learning the drums, by the way, 104 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:46,280 at school, God help me. And their method is to just... which is not rhythmical, it's 105 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:51,280 noise. And any musician will tell you that when you play an instrument like the drums, 106 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:59,280 what makes it rhythmical is not just the hitting, but the stopping. You hit it, then you bite, 107 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:04,280 then you hit it. Anyway, and that's what creates the rhythm. That waiting in music has a proper 108 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:15,280 name. It's called a rest. So if you want good rhythm, it involves rest. Good rhythm in life 109 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:21,280 comes with good rest. God built it that way. Can you see it? How many of you wish your 110 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:30,280 life had better rhythm? Had some order to it. How many of you wish it wasn't all go, go, 111 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:38,280 go, go, go, go, go, go, all the time? That desire was put there by God. He created us 112 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:44,280 to live rhythmical lives and rhythm involves resting. Technology forms its principle too. 113 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:50,280 When's the last time you turned your phone off, by the way? 1997? But if you have an 114 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,280 app on your phone and you get the Catherine Weed of Death, you know the one, and it just 115 00:10:54,280 --> 00:11:00,280 won't work, you take it to a phone shop and they'll say, turn it off and on again. Give 116 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:08,280 it a second, it needs to rest, and then reboot. Human beings were exactly the same way. I 117 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:12,280 went through a phase of thinking that I could run every single day. I'm a runner. I've preached 118 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:17,280 on this before, I'll bore you with the details. But I am a runner. And I thought, if I can 119 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:22,280 run every single day of the week, I'll get even fitter and even faster and I'll beat 120 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:27,280 all my PBs. So I tried it one week and within days my foot was raging, because it's not 121 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:33,280 very good anyway, and each run felt harder, not easier. Despite doing the same distance 122 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:38,280 and often the same route every single time, I wasn't any faster and I wasn't any fitter. 123 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:44,280 I was worse. So now I make myself have two rest days each week. And as a result, I always 124 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:50,280 run way better and faster and further the day after a rest day, always. That rest day 125 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:54,280 usually is a Sunday for me, not because it's the Sabbath, just because we're really busy 126 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:58,280 on a Sunday. So on Monday morning, I do more 10Ks on a Monday morning than any other day 127 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:02,280 of the week, because I've had a rest day, a day before. My body needs to rest, it's better 128 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:06,280 for it afterwards. And when God created the world, he built rest, like I say, into the 129 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:12,280 rhythm of his work. As his creatures, we need rest, we need sleep. Don't think that you 130 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:18,280 don't, people, you do. I keep telling Matt, Matt, you need sleep. We spend a third of 131 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:24,280 our lives sleeping. Did you know that? You should do. That's how God designed us to be. 132 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,280 Rest is essential for our health. And you all know what happens when you try to fight 133 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:32,280 sleep, don't you? Or sleep is taken from you. Some of you are vile, but sleep is taken 134 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:36,280 from you. You know what you're like, you know how much you need it. You know the torture 135 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,280 that we went through with Danny last year, this many times, two and a half years, that 136 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:46,280 kid woke up every single night, three, four, five times a night, two and a half years. 137 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:51,280 We were walking zombies by the end of it. We had to make a rule up that if we said things 138 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,280 to each other between the hours of midnight and six and they weren't very kind, the other 139 00:12:55,280 --> 00:13:01,280 person was not allowed to bring it up in the morning. Because we were not in control of 140 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:07,280 our thoughts, we were battered, so tired. And when you're tired, you don't flourish. 141 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:11,280 The best doesn't come out of you, the worst comes out of you. I recommend that rule for 142 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:18,280 any parents of a young baby. Feel free to take it, it's kept our marriage intact. 143 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:24,280 Sarah, thank you. God designed us to rest. We can't function effectively without it. 144 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:30,280 Have you ever seen the impact on a day out by a tired child? Or no one can ruin a day 145 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:35,280 out like a tired child. Oh my goodness. Those of you that are children, very much 146 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:38,280 be sure you can remember the days that you planned, where you put your heart and soul. 147 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:46,280 So excited to take them somewhere and they just have a massive tantrum and no racket. 148 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:51,280 Just like our kids need their parents to make sure they nap and make sure they go to bed 149 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:57,280 at a decent time. Our heavenly father knows we as children, sometimes we need God to say 150 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:05,280 stop. You need to have a rest now. You're being disruptive. One of the ways to show 151 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:10,280 him that we trust him is to stop and to rest. And that brings us nicely onto our next point 152 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:14,280 about the purpose of the Sabbath. Sabbath isn't just about having good rhythm for the 153 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:18,280 sake of our health, although that's very important. Choosing to stop and rest is actually a 154 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:23,280 demonstration of our faith in God. And we can learn a lot about the purpose of Sabbath 155 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:27,280 by looking at how the people of Israel screwed it up actually. So we're going to get more, 156 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:31,280 build me more into the Bible now with this one. So that verse in Genesis, it was initially 157 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:37,280 written for a group of people called Israel. They're a nation, a group of people, thousands 158 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:43,280 of years ago. And it was written to explain to them who they were and who their God was. 159 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:48,280 How they got here and what he wanted them to do. It was written how to show them how 160 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:52,280 to live well in the way their God had created them. Now the funny thing with the nation 161 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:57,280 of Israel is that they didn't listen to God. In fact the whole Old Testament is pretty 162 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:02,280 much about how Israel didn't listen to God. Story after story, time and time again, they 163 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:07,280 gave God proverbial little finger and ignored all of his instructions and warnings. Now you 164 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:12,280 might know this particular story well. The Israelites are enslaved in a place called Egypt. 165 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:18,280 And they are literally slaves working for nothing. And God calls a guy called Moses, 166 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:22,280 he says Moses I want you to go to the Nazi Pharaoh who's keeping all the slaves and telling 167 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:27,280 them to let my people go. So Moses goes to Pharaoh and long, long story short, the Pharaoh 168 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:32,280 lets these Israelites go and God leaves them out, using Moses out of Egypt, even parts 169 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:37,280 of the Red Sea for them to walk through and they cross the Red Sea and then they don't 170 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,280 really trust what God's going to do. So they're in the 40 years in the wilderness because 171 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:45,280 again they don't really listen to him, which is a story for another time. Anyway, they're 172 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,280 slaves of Egypt, they're not slaves anymore, they're going to the wilderness. But God says 173 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,280 even though I didn't really want you to stay in the wilderness for 40 years, I'm still 174 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:56,280 going to look after you because I love you, I will provide manna, quail, bread, birds 175 00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:02,280 for you to eat every day, you don't need to worry. But remember, don't gather them up 176 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:07,280 on the Sabbath day. Don't work on the Sabbath day, you have to rest. I'll make sure you 177 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:12,280 have enough food the day before so you can collect enough to last you through the Sabbath 178 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,280 so that you don't have to worry and fret about where your food's going to come from, 179 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:23,280 but you have to rest on the Sabbath. But in Exodus 16, we believe they didn't do it. 180 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:27,280 They didn't rest. They continued to work and tried to collect food on the Sabbath day 181 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:35,280 as well. So why, why did they do that? Well, ultimately, they didn't trust God. They didn't 182 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,280 trust God to provide the food that he said they would need on that day. They thought 183 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:43,280 they were going to go hungry and they needed to depend on themselves because true rest, 184 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:50,280 true stopping is actually a sign of faith and God's ability to provide care for us even 185 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:59,280 if we stop. True rest is saying to God, you're in control, you're the captive of this ship, 186 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:05,280 I'm not and I trust you. And some of us are rubbish at doing that. Absolutely rubbish 187 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:10,280 at doing that. We worry that if we don't keep going, if I don't keep working, if I don't 188 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:14,280 keep striving, if I don't keep pushing on, if I don't answer every email straight away 189 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:18,280 or don't answer every WhatsApp message as soon as it beeps, if we don't say yes to every 190 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:22,280 request made of us, people are like us less, if we're not always available for them, they're 191 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:28,280 only like me anymore, if I let people down, they'll think a bad of me. And actually, what 192 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:32,280 we're doing is missing the point because we can't ultimately trust that God is the one 193 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:38,280 who plans our future. We don't trust that God is the one that opens and closes doors 194 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:45,280 of opportunity. Every promotion you have, he provides it. Not you, he does it. God is 195 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:51,280 the one we ultimately live to serve. God's opinion is the only one that matters. And 196 00:17:51,280 --> 00:18:01,280 he asks us to rest. He asks us to stop. He asks us to trust him to provide and be there 197 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:09,280 for us. He asks us to stop and acknowledge that he's in control and we are not. But like 198 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:13,280 us, the Israelites, because they were just like us, the Israelites, they didn't trust 199 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:20,280 God, they didn't observe the Sabbath. He so wanted them to enjoy. So, God had no choice. 200 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:25,280 And he not only makes the Sabbath a rhythm of his creation, he makes it a rule of his 201 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:33,280 covenant. He writes it into the Ten Commandments that every Israelite has to obey. So this 202 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:37,280 is where it brings us onto the Ten Commandments part. This is what it says, okay? This is 203 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:44,280 in Exodus 20, verse 8 to 11. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you 204 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:48,280 shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your 205 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:54,280 God. On it you shall not do any work neither you nor your son or daughter, nor your male 206 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:58,280 servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner resting in your towns. For in six days the 207 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,280 Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all the sing them, but he rested on 208 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:08,280 the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. He tells 209 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:12,280 them basically, I've given you the chance to do this willingly and you've not done 210 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:19,280 it. So now I'm commanding you, take a day off and you're blessed and he makes the day 211 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:26,280 holy. He blessed it. It becomes a gift of blessing to them. He gives them the Sabbath 212 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:32,280 as a gift, as a blessing, not as a noose around their neck, as a gift with health generating 213 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:38,280 potential. And he makes it holy by taking it away from all the normal days of the week 214 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:44,280 and setting it apart. He adds to the quality of the time I have on earth each week by taking 215 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:49,280 a day of your week away. So addition, life, subtraction. He says I'm taking a day of your 216 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:54,280 week away so that you can see and remember how much I love you and how much I take care 217 00:19:54,280 --> 00:20:00,280 of you and how much you can trust me. Taking a day away so you can see that you're dependent 218 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:07,280 on me. But we're just not good at that as humans. We're not good at depending on God. 219 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:15,280 For two reasons, anxiety and ego. We worry that he won't provide for us so we work harder, 220 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:20,280 anxiety. Or we think we finally can do it on our own and we don't need to do it in the 221 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:26,280 morning, ego. But God wants to show us that we can trust him and we can't do it ourselves. 222 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:33,280 We need him. So stopping the striving, stopping the constant work and toiling and resting 223 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:38,280 in God ultimately reminds us that he's in control and he loves us and that we can depend 224 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:44,280 on him. So we both rest into the rhythm of creation but if you want to function well 225 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:51,280 you need to rest. And he made a rule, a commandment for our own good. All the Ten Commandments 226 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:56,280 were for Israel's own good. If they wouldn't listen to their bodies, God would make them 227 00:20:56,280 --> 00:21:03,280 rest while assuming the Interlord. But Sabbath wasn't only a rhythm of creation or a rule 228 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:10,280 to demonstrate our faith. Sabbath was also a sign. It goes in Exodus 31.13. Then the 229 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:15,280 Lord said to Moses, Satan, it is your life. You must observe my Sabbath. This will be 230 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:20,280 a sign between me and you for generations to come so that you may know that I am the Lord 231 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:27,280 who makes you holy. That's interesting isn't it, to think that the Sabbath is a sign. A 232 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:32,280 sign points to things they want you to see. That's the function of a sign. So what did 233 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:37,280 God want them to see through the Sabbath? What was yet a sign pointing to? They find 234 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:42,280 the answer to this in Deuteronomy 5.15. He said, remember that you were slaves in Egypt 235 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:45,280 and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and outstretched 236 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:52,280 arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath. The Sabbath was 237 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:59,280 a sign of God's salvation, of his rescue. Every time they were Sabbathed the Israelites 238 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:05,280 were told to remember that God had saved them from Egypt. He provided escape and food for 239 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:10,280 them. To remember that their salvation and their freedom was not because of their own 240 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:16,280 works or effort but by his grace. Now I know what you're thinking because some of you 241 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:20,280 are eyes are slightly glazed over so I'm not going to see it. Lindsay this is a great 242 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:27,280 mystery, there's something right off the peak. But we're not Jewish. We are not lived 243 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:33,280 by the law of the Jews. We're Christians. We follow Jesus and this is irrelevant. Well 244 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:38,280 that's true, we are Christians. So let's look at what Jesus said about the Sabbath. Because 245 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:43,280 Jesus got into trouble a lot on the Sabbath. Jewish people they are available for Sabbath 246 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:48,280 religiously. You can kind of see why. I mean there are so many verses about it in the Old 247 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:53,280 Testament it was drilled into them to the point that actually it became a proper kind 248 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:58,280 of religious observance by the time that Jesus had walked on the earth. It had evolved as 249 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:04,280 traditions often do into a strict observance of the day of rest when nothing could happen. 250 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:14,280 Nothing at all could happen. It was based on ritual and religion not relationship with 251 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:19,280 God. And we read in Matthew 12 that on one Sabbath day Jesus is walking through some 252 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:23,280 fields with his disciples and they're hungry so they start picking some grains at the ears 253 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:28,280 of corn and putting the shells off them and eating what was inside them. Some of the religious 254 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:32,280 people see them and they're outraged because they say that's harvesting, you're harvesting 255 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:36,280 on the Sabbath, you're picking corn and you're taking the shell. That's work, you're 256 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:42,280 working on the Sabbath and they try to kill you. All these reasons that I don't know 257 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:50,280 how Jesus ended up on the cross. Later that same day Jesus is in the synagogue and a guy 258 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:56,280 comes in who's got this kind of with a triple cam, something wrong with his hand and you 259 00:23:56,280 --> 00:24:01,280 can see there are just people in the background thinking he's not, he better not, don't you 260 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,280 know what I mean? I think he better not, I think he better not. And then Jesus, I love 261 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:10,280 it, I think honestly if you had the chance to live on, because he reaches out and he 262 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:15,280 heals this man and he makes his hand better. And when they start going, what, you can't 263 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:20,280 heal this, it's the Sabbath, do anything on the Sabbath, Jesus turns to them and basically 264 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:27,280 says, I hope you're translating to modern day language, screw you all, I'm the Lord 265 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:32,280 of the Sabbath, I mean he didn't say that, I'm paraphrasing it but I'm putting my own 266 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:39,280 spin on it, but he says I am the Lord of the Sabbath. In other words the Sabbath was a 267 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:48,280 sign pointing to Jesus, which very much offends the people listening to him. But Jesus embodied 268 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:57,280 everything the Sabbath represented, Jesus is our rest, Jesus is our provider, Jesus 269 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:03,280 is the one that we can trust. And the Sabbath meant to show us that I'm weak, someone else 270 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:10,280 needs to strengthen me, I'm guilty, someone else needs to pay my debt, I am enslaved, 271 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:17,280 someone else needs to free me and that someone is Jesus, he's the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus 272 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:23,280 did away with the rule of the Sabbath, I'm going to say that again, Jesus did away with 273 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:28,280 the rule of the Sabbath to want to restore the rhythm of life resting in him. In other 274 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:32,280 words, instead of the Sabbath becoming about the same day every week that you have to observe 275 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:37,280 it, you don't observe it, you go to hell. Jesus said no, you're missing the point, the 276 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:42,280 point of Sabbath was to create a rhythm of resting where you realise that God loves you 277 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:47,280 and provides for you and I am the Lord of the Sabbath. You don't need to observe it 278 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:53,280 as a rule anymore, you need to enjoy it as a relationship. Now the question we often 279 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:58,280 hear then about the Sabbath is this, are we still supposed to keep the Sabbath day 280 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:03,280 as a rule? That's a fair question, if throughout the Bible as Christians should we keep the 281 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:08,280 Sabbath day? Well I won't go into the internet for you, for starters, Sabbath day isn't 282 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,280 a Sunday anyway, even though we do church on a Sunday, Sabbath is a Saturday for the 283 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:16,280 Jews, Friday night is Saturday night. But actually rather than maybe in my opinion, 284 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:22,280 we can read all about it, if you read Romans 14, Paul, the apostle Paul says basically 285 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:30,280 no you don't, no. Which some of you are thinking, what? But that is what Paul teaches, we no 286 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:36,280 longer have to keep the Sabbath as a rule. In Romans 14 Paul teaches that the sign of 287 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:41,280 the Sabbath simply pointed to Jesus and that of one particular day of Sabbath rest it is 288 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:46,280 absolutely fine, it's up to you. Doesn't matter which day and it's okay if you want 289 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:53,280 to but you don't have to. It's not wrong to do it but it's not essential either. What 290 00:26:53,280 --> 00:27:01,280 matters though, what is essential is who we find our rest in, not when we find it. Which 291 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:08,280 is good news if you work sheeps or knights. The rule of the covenant is over, okay, this 292 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:13,280 Ten Commandment you must observe the Sabbath day, that rule is over because of Jesus but 293 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:17,280 the rhythm of Sabbath rest is still something that we all need to submit to because with 294 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:22,280 our rest can't function as we've got intended. So you're not going to get into trouble if 295 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:29,280 you work on a Sunday or a Saturday but the rhythm is still in place, you are still built 296 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:34,280 to function optimally with rest and if you don't rest in Jesus and submit to his purpose 297 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:41,280 and plan for your life you are going to break. You're going to burn out like that, did you? 298 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:47,280 So let's get practical and bring you into land. How do we find rest in Jesus in this 299 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:52,280 crazy hectic modern world? How do we do it? And how whenever I hear that phrase, let's 300 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:58,280 get practical, I'm like, let's get practical, practical. That was my hot squad cheese by 301 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:04,280 the way, in case you haven't done aerobics. Let's get practical. Number one, think daily 302 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:11,280 rest, not weekly rest. My own personal tactic to finding daily times of Sabbath rest is 303 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:17,280 to do it first thing in the morning. And it's been interesting in this last three weeks 304 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:22,280 because Pete had a challenge out at the start that he was going to wake up early in the 305 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:26,280 morning and go on Zoom and open it for everyone to join and pray with him and people have 306 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:30,280 been and I've done it too several times but there are times when my laptop has been right 307 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:36,280 next to me on the sofa and I'm perfectly chosen to put my audio on because I am jealous 308 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:41,280 for that quiet time in the morning and sometimes I don't want to share it with people, not 309 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,280 that any of you are praying lovely prayers and you spy me, I don't want to share it with 310 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:49,280 you, I don't want to hear from you, I want to hear from you today. Sometimes I hear from 311 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:54,280 God for other people so it's a good thing to do but there are times when I just want 312 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:58,280 to be in the presence of the Lord at home and I find resting in the Lord early in the 313 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:02,280 morning is a really good time to do it and I know people can find millions of reasons 314 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:08,280 not to. My challenge would be change your life hacks so they can get it. Switch your 315 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:15,280 laptop off a bit earlier than the night before, maybe don't play that third PS5 game, go 316 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:19,280 to bed a bit earlier so you can wake up earlier and spend time resting in the presence of 317 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:25,280 God. I remember Tony Campo speaking about his own prayer life about 15 years ago, he 318 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:30,280 said his prayer life used to be get up and get open your journal and it's released off 319 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:34,280 all these things that you need God to do. Dear Lord, Sister Mary is ill in the hospital, 320 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:42,280 God's up in heaven going really? I didn't know that, which hospital? And he said that 321 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:47,280 changed because God only knows what we need before we ask of him and his prayer life changed 322 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:52,280 from that to he would wake in the morning and he would be going prayer, he would say 323 00:29:52,280 --> 00:30:02,280 goodbye and say the name Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, over and over again and gradually he'd feel 324 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:08,280 the presence of the Lord come and rid him of the filth and the mess and fill him with 325 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:14,280 peace and grief and rest. Now some of you are thinking if I did that I'd just fall back 326 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:21,280 to sleep. I tried it once and it didn't work so I have to get out of here. But the principle 327 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:27,280 is still the same, finding those times of rest often works well to do it first thing 328 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:31,280 in the morning, that is the model that Jesus followed. But that isn't the rule, the point 329 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:35,280 is whenever you do it, whether it's late at night, whether it's when the kids are napping, 330 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:40,280 whether it's on your commute back from work, on the train, whatever it is, it's finding 331 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:45,280 that time of resting, it won't happen by chance, it just won't happen by chance, it has to 332 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:50,280 be something you plan for and prioritise every day. You have to make resting in the presence 333 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:58,280 of Jesus over with it on your life and that takes effort. So number two, find a mind that's 334 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:07,280 at rest. Don't think that using Netflix or Instagram is a replacement for switching off, 335 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:14,280 it isn't. You may have a feature on the sofa and you might not be physically moving around 336 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:18,280 but if you spend that time racing two hours each night trawling through social feeds I 337 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:26,280 guarantee your mind will not be rested afterwards. It's not true rest and it won't work. So 338 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:33,280 what's wrong with social media and other Netflix? We regularly binge on people on that platform 339 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:37,280 but sometimes you just have to get off social media for a little while because it just builds 340 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:43,280 your head for days, turn off Netflix for a few hours, it just distractions. We kill ourselves 341 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:48,280 like that's our release for us, it's how we get our hair done, it's how we relax but actually 342 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:52,280 it just adds to the volume in our thoughts sometimes and I am the worst for this, I spend 343 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:57,280 so much time flipping through Facebook to avoid doing other things. Destructing ourselves 344 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:05,280 though not the same as resting in Jesus is not. Number three, don't let the storms stop 345 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:11,280 you from stopping. Some of you have got such busy lives, I know that you do. You're caring 346 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:17,280 for elderly or poorly relatives, you're carrying financial burdens for your family, you've 347 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:21,280 got incredibly stressful jobs, some of you are supporting your kids who are really struggling 348 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:25,280 with their life or some of you are advising for very difficult exams. How do you find 349 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:31,280 rest in those circumstances? I think sometimes we can make the excuse that there's just too 350 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:39,280 much going on right now. I'm too busy to stop, my mum is too ill, my husband is too depressed, 351 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:45,280 my kids are too rebellious, my job is too stressful, I can't afford to rest, I'll find 352 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:52,280 time to rest when this is all sorted and everything is calmed down. Wrong. There's a story in 353 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:59,280 several of the gospels actually where Jesus is on a boat and there's a huge storm, like 354 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:04,280 a proper storm and this boat is about to sink and the disciples are pooing their pants thinking 355 00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:16,280 they're going to die and Jesus is asleep. Asleep in the storm. Why? Because he trusted God. 356 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:22,280 He understood that God was in control, no storm is too great for our Heavenly Father 357 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:26,280 to deal with, he understood that everything we need is provided for by God so therefore 358 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:32,280 peace and rest is available in him regardless of the circumstances that we're in. That's 359 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:38,280 what being rooted in him does for us too. The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything 360 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:46,280 I need, he makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores 361 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:55,280 my soul. So let's bring it into land. Sabbath is not a specific day of the week, Sabbath 362 00:33:55,280 --> 00:34:01,280 is a rhythm of rest in Jesus. It doesn't have to be pinned down to one day, it's a daily 363 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:06,280 rhythm where we are led by to lead us beside quiet waters to show us how to lie down in 364 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:12,280 the patches of his presence and find restoration and refreshment for our soul in him. And if 365 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:17,280 you're not having periods and resting by still waters then you're not letting God shepherd 366 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:23,280 you. You will have busy seasons, Jesus did too, sometimes he worked all day and all night 367 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:28,280 but they must be punctuated with rest. That's why Jesus often took himself away very early 368 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:34,280 in the morning, he often sets into the quiet places to pray and be with his Father. So 369 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:38,280 he says, Ben do you want to come back up? And I've got one little challenge for you 370 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:44,280 before we sing together. Because I want you to look at your life and ask yourself, when 371 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:55,280 am I stopping each day to rest in him? Do I even know what that looks like? How is Sabbath 372 00:34:55,280 --> 00:35:05,280 part of the rhythm of my life? How aware am I of my need and my dependence on him? When 373 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:10,280 was the last time I stopped to acknowledge his provision? When was the last time I asked 374 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:17,280 God to lead me beside these metaphoric quiet waters to restore my soul? At the start of 375 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:21,280 the service room praying and I had a picture of me praying of one of those old silent TV 376 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:25,280 sets. You know I used to turn them off and the light would kind of slash them and a white 377 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:30,280 colourful line would appear in the centre of the screen before it went blank. I saw this 378 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:36,280 picture of someone just turning the telly off and it would go off. And the challenge 379 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:41,280 I felt the Lord say was that someone must need to find me a switch. Someone must need 380 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:46,280 to look at our lives and think, at what point do I need to just say enough? Turn off the 381 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:53,280 noise. I want to be with Jesus. I want him to restore my soul. To give me the rest that 382 00:35:53,280 --> 00:36:01,280 I need in his presence. So as the band plays, let's take a few moments just to reflect on 383 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:16,280 what needs to change for each of us to create that space for us to stop. Just switch off. 384 00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:47,280 Lord I thank you that your heart for us is to rest in your presence. Your heart for us 385 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:53,280 is that no matter what's happening around us to know the peace of God. Keeping us rooted 386 00:36:53,280 --> 00:37:02,280 and established in your love. Father I pray in your grace I want you to teach us how to rest. 387 00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:12,280 God our shepherd will you teach us how to lie down in green pastures and lay beside 388 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:34,280 quiet waters so that you can restore our soul. We crave your peace Lord. And for some people 389 00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:38,280 here today, this might be the first time that you ever considered that Jesus is actually 390 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:45,280 a living person that he comes and keeps us resting. He's not just a blonde haired, blue 391 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:50,280 eyed white man in a Sunday school story we were giving years ago. He's a living entity. 392 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:57,280 He's alive. That's what he's all about. He's a person that calls us to rest in him. To 393 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:03,280 enjoy his presence. He died on a cross two thousand years ago to pay the price for our 394 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:08,280 mistakes and then he rose again from the grave and now he's come alive in our hearts. All 395 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:14,280 we need to do, all we need to do is ask him to find his place in the throne in our lives 396 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:20,280 so that we can rest and become rooted in him. So I'm going to say a really simple very quick 397 00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:26,280 little prayer and if you want to ask him to come and show you what rest looks like for 398 00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:31,280 the first time to encounter him as a real person why don't you just pray this word in 399 00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:41,280 your heart for me. Thank you Jesus that you love me. Thank you Jesus that you died for 400 00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:56,280 me. All the ways I've screwed up. I ask you to forgive me. Make me whole. I ask you to 401 00:38:56,280 --> 00:39:05,280 come into my heart and fill my life with your rest and your peace and your purpose. In Jesus 402 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:13,280 name. Amen. I'd like you to do something very brave. If you have prayed that prayer with 403 00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:17,280 me, everyone else is going to be staring at their feet but if you've prayed that prayer 404 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:21,280 I'm going to look out on their congregation. I'd like you to look at me because I'd like 405 00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:25,280 to give you a Bible before you go and just help you to understand a little bit more about 406 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:44,280 what you've just done. So if that's you, just have a look at me now. Thank you Lord. Thank 407 00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:48,280 you for speaking to us Father and as we worship you we pray that you help us to put you in 408 00:39:48,280 --> 00:40:00,280 your rightful place and we praise you on your name. Amen. Thanks again for listening. To 409 00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:04,280 hear more of our messages make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and our podcast channel 410 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:07,280 for past preachers. If you feel like you've got something out of today's message, why 411 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:11,280 not share it with your friends and spread the good news of Jesus. We are praying for 412 00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:16,280 you, we love you so please if you need anything at all check out springschurch.co.uk. God 413 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:18,280 bless.