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We have been in a series, a little like a mini series on rest, live, and work.

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And so if you've been here, again, within the course of a month, you've heard us talk

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about this pattern because we've been preaching on it, but also we,

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it's a part of our regular prayer pattern here at the church.

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We talk about how we want to be transformed in how we think about rest, live, and work

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because we live in a society that has taught us what it thinks resting and living

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and working should look like, and it is very much out of alignment

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with the way we've been designed to do these things.

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We have been created by a loving creator intentionally and with significance,

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and so our world is not designed to value people, and God does.

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And so these patterns, we ask God to continually transform what rest looks like for us,

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what life looks like for us, and what work looks like for us.

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We live in a society that values work first, and it will ask us to give everything

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that we have and then more, and it values how we work and what we do as work.

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And so we are going to talk today about what that looks like from another perspective,

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from what we hope is a healthier and more human-centered in light of God's creation,

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what that looks like for us.

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So a few weeks ago when Greg brought up the early conversation that we had had

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around how this church came into being, we, you know, it is called the house,

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but it was, there were some roots in an earlier conversation about 10 years before

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about what that would look like.

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So he mentioned that I had thought about, this is in 2004, some things had changed

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in our ministry experience, and we were coming up with dreams

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about what could ministry look like for us or in the Quad Cities.

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And so he had shared I had had this idea about a house that would be a place of creativity

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and a place for people to gather, and it could serve the community in a number

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of different ways, but because I had just been to Germany within the year, I was like,

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we're going to call it the house, H-A-U-S, and it's going to be cool.

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And so, but we didn't know that there was actually some interesting roots connected

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to that, and so even though I was feeling very cool about that name, when we did come

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to discuss what, well, and what Greg had thought about it first, and then when he talked

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about it with me, he said, I want to plant this church, it's going to be called the house,

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and I said, do you remember our conversation?

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And so we had connected it back to that idea, and when he, as he said, he looked it up,

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and it was an idea of, like the German or more Northern European idea was that it was built

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on a house that was a place where you lived and worked together.

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So I went to Estonia a number of years ago, so within the first year of planting this church,

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I took a trip that took me to Northern Europe and went to a restaurant called the Hansa House,

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and it was spelled H-A-U-S.

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It was cool, but it was actually a really cool historic sort of experience.

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Like they had set it up to be a replica or in the spirit of what was called the Hansa House,

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which were these regular places of merchants that would, it was a place that they knew

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within a community that they could go to and find other community of other merchants.

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So the, a little history lesson because I really like history, the Hanseatic League was a league

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of merchants within the medieval period that was all,

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like connected all throughout the Baltic region.

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So think about Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Northern Germany, Denmark, Poland,

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like that Northern region around the Baltic Sea developed a network for those that worked together.

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And then they had within these places, these houses that were like, well, if I go to this town,

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I know that there will be a merchant's house there.

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If I go to this town, there will be a merchant's house there.

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And within these houses, there would also be apprentices that were living in these houses,

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learning how to work and developing their skills.

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And so it started roughly in the 11th century as a method of protection.

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Like we need to network ourselves so that our work isn't ruined basically,

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that we protect each other from theft, that we protect each other from, you know,

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injustices within our monetary systems.

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And so it was a system that was designed and a network that developed over time to protect workers

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and that they were networked together so that they could help each other in their work.

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And this lasted like a good 400 years.

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Like it was a really, really foundational part of Northern Europe medieval society.

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So throughout its existence, it developed methods of safety for those traveling with goods.

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It provided support for them.

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It broadened trade throughout the region.

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It benefited those who were working and it did a great deal actually

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to unify the broader merchant community.

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And it also assured that those who were to work as merchants would have work.

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Like it helped continue the kind of work that they did.

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So those that wanted to develop their skills could have connections

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and then there was a good pipeline to a fruitful future for them.

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So kind of tuck that away.

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We're not going to come back to that idea until the very end.

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But I want to jump backwards in history again about 700 years.

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We're just taking a tour of history to the late 5th century, so the late 400s.

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And we're going to go to Italy.

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So here we meet a guy named Benedict.

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Benedict in his time was a monk and he developed what was known as a rule for life.

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So for those living in community with each other, that was what this was for.

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Monks live in community with other monks.

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And so this was a rule, and I'll explain what that is, for life in a community,

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specifically a community of faith.

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So a rule is, it's loosely a schedule and a set of practices.

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It's a relational rhythm of something that a community does together

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that helps create space for us to be with Jesus.

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It's intentional space made.

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Just like we sang today, I will make room for you.

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There's intention behind it.

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So a rule helps create a rhythm to make space for things.

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And to make space for Jesus and to be more like Jesus and to do what he did to,

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as John 10, 10 says, live in a way that is full.

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So in his kingdom and in alignment with our deepest passions and priorities.

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So this is interesting.

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The Latin rule that we translate or the Latin word that we translate or get the word rule

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from was originally used, was originally the word for think of a trellis that vines grow on

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or tomatoes grow on or roses or whatever.

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So in the same way that a vine needs a trellis to lift it off the ground

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so that it can bear the maximum amount of fruit and keep free of predators and diseases.

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We need a rule or a structure, a support structure to help us organize our life

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around abiding and abiding in the vine as John, as Jesus talks about in John 15.

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He uses this great visual of being the vine and abiding.

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And so having a structure to grow on is a really useful idea.

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So it's been said that we can achieve inner peace when our schedule is aligned with our values.

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That sounds very lofty.

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But there's great truth to it.

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A rule of life is simply a tool towards that end.

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Rather than a rigid, legalistic to-do list, it's a life-giving structure for freedom,

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growth, and joy.

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So Benedict's rule was really extensive.

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He wasn't the first to come up with one, but he did create this format in which others followed.

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And like I said, it was extensive.

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He was covering all manner of life and community as those were looking towards

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and trying to seek Jesus in their life.

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But it wasn't burdensome because they were doing it together.

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For those in the Benedictine order, they follow this rule within their days

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and their weeks, moving smoothly through the practices.

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They do it together.

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They do it as one.

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There's strength in unity.

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There's strength in the community doing it together.

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If you would like to know more, I can't recommend this book enough called Benedict's Way.

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It's sort of a breakdown of what that looked like.

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But as I'm talking more about these ideas of structure or intention,

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this is a great book to really accessible.

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So it'll be up here to look at afterwards.

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The gist is though that throughout the day, there's a structure that helps one committed

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to the order to lead a contemplative, dedicated, and balanced life within the framework

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of living in faith in Christ.

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So our pattern of rest, live, and work is a rule.

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Really, it is a structure that you can integrate into your life as a way to have intention

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and make space for Christ in your life.

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They are tools.

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And so at its very basic form, rest, live, and work is a rule of life.

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It is a structure.

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So Benedict's rules were built on the understanding of a community that lived

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and worked together.

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Where have we heard that before?

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There was a united purpose that brought them together in the first place.

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They wished to serve God and grow in the way of Christ.

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But just like the early church, there needed to be some kind of organization

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about how they might spend their time together

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so that they could collectively walk alongside the road together well, finding the life

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and love of Christ dwelling among them, uniting them.

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But they lived in an intentional way to the spirit.

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So I also have up here too, if you want to know more about like how to build a rule of life,

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I'll talk about this more, but I have a copy of a guide up here.

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So Benedict based his rule extensively in scripture.

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I love resources.

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I love information.

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So I also have on my computer, if you want to look at it, pulled up Benedict's rule.

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And you can see how full of scripture it is.

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Everything that he built and brought some form to is highly rooted in scripture.

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So before we go forward much, so before we go forward, much like how we pray when we do our prayer

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for work, let's ask God to shape our understanding today of work both in our hearts and our minds.

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So I'm going to invite us to pray just for a moment.

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Lord, as we go forward from this, I just am asking as we discuss work,

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there's a lot about what our society says work should look like for us.

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And there may be some things even today as we talk about work that we have to wrestle with

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because it feels as though it's the right way when it may not be your way.

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And so I'm asking for help as we talk about work because it is a sensitive topic in all of our lives,

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how we work, the work that we do.

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We have a lot enmeshed in that thinking.

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And so will you untangle our ideas about work and free us up to understand what work looks like

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when you are a central part of that.

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So we pray all this in your name and ask for your transformation today.

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Amen.

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So I will refer a lot to Benedict's rule just because it is a structure that I'm structure,

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trellis framework.

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It's a useful framework today, but we will be going through scriptural pieces that work with the

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support of Benedict's rule.

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So Benedict's rule summarized seems to highlight three basic principles about how a person of faith

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might consider what the work they do looks like.

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So and I'm speaking broadly, like not just our jobs, but the work of our hands, the work of our lives,

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the effort and the energy that we spend.

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Not all of the work we do is at a workplace, is it?

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We do work in various forms.

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And so this is going to encapsulate, I won't define that much after this, but it's going to encapsulate

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sort of the broad form of what work looks like for our lives.

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So one aspect is vocation, what we are called to do, the things that we find ourselves moving towards

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where we spend our energy.

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Secondly, an aspect that's critical is stewardship, taking care of what it is that you have or what

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you produce.

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And lastly, service, accountability and submission to each other.

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These are things that Benedict seems to highlight when he talks about work and he talks about work

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frequently within his rule.

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But these aspects, the calling of the vocation, the stewardship, how you care for it and the service,

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how you serve others through it.

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What he also points out is that work stands as a constant reminder that we are not alone in this

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world.

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There are others to think of, there are things to get done and there is a kingdom way culture to build.

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Work can turn us outward if we allow it to, it can help us engage and extend our hands to others.

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Work can be a means of experiencing God.

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God is not outside of our work.

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We all have work that we are about.

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Some of you work for pay in a career or a job.

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Some of you are working for a job for now.

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Mowing the lawn, babysitting, retail between jobs, I've done them for sure.

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I will probably do them again.

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Some of you are working for spending money and completing chores at home.

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But not all work is paid, isn't it?

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Though we tend to often categorize work as that, the thing you get paid for.

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Some work is just simply keeping the house clean and that creates peace in the house.

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Some work is keeping the lawnmowed which creates peace in the neighborhood.

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Some work is regular, some is occasional, working to paint a room in a new house, working on a

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project that you won't be done for another 10 years.

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Work is all around it whether we're clocked in or not.

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Work is all around us whether we're clocked in or not.

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In the course of a week, we dedicate between occupations that includes school as well.

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For those who are in school, that is your job.

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So we clock in well past 50% of our time to labor in some way in the course of a week,

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which is a lot of time.

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Benedict offers to us a way to not only find balance but meaning.

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So let's talk about those three pieces.

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Vocation.

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Vocation is starting with the one that I think has the most complexities but is also

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the most regular way we understand work, which is the jobs we have and adjacently the work

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we do both in those jobs and outside of them at home or in our communities.

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I believe that none of us are without appointment or without some kind of calling that is meant

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in our lives.

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And often we think of this in terms of like we see people in our lives that were like

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you were called to that.

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We often think of teachers.

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We know that their work is a calling.

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That's an easy one to look at and think, oh, that's a certain kind of person.

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It feels like it has to be, right?

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Or someone in the medical field.

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Pastors often describe their path into ministry as having a moment of calling.

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But gosh, if we have not elevated what that looks like, I think it can be simpler than

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that because if God has taken great care in our creation and designing us with intention,

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not making anything or any of us a copy of each other, and he desires that every part

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of our life be offered in surrender to him, then there is not a part of our lives that

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is overlooked, right?

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There's nothing in our lives that is overlooked by God.

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He has not forgotten something.

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He has not overlooked an aspect that you bring up and he's like, oh, I never thought about

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that.

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That's not a thing.

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And so he desires every part of our life to be in surrender to him.

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And so with that, if that is the case, then I think that that includes, God includes how

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we spend our energies and what our life and him looks like.

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So we have each been given giftings and interests and propensities for certain skills and minds

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and hearts that are unique in their pairing and even life experience that uniquely informs

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us.

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I do not think that those things are random.

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And when you were young, you had an idea of what you wanted to do with those interests

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and gifts.

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When you were young, you didn't think about the bills you're going to need to pay, right?

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We don't work in reality when we're children.

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So that's a great gift though, isn't it?

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Because we can just enjoy things for what they are and we can love spending time doing

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something and put our energies into something.

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But when you were young, you didn't think about the bills you might need to pay.

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You thought about what would bring you joy and what would bring you life.

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There was something instinctual about where you spent your energy and your effort.

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So there are two scriptures that I think about with this.

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So Ephesians 2, 10 says, we are what he has made us.

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We're God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand

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so that we may walk in them.

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Acts 13, 1 and 2.

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This is the early part of the church.

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So they were meeting in Antioch and it says, while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting,

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the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called

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them.

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And so it would appear that the intent in the phrasing of the Greek here is to summon

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or call forward.

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But the way it's described is more like when you were in class and your teacher would call

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you forward to come speak with them or you had a presentation.

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So they would call your name for the thing that you had prepared or for the thing that

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they wanted to talk to you about.

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And so there's a piece to this that insinuates that the Father not only knows your name but

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has called you because it's your time.

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The goodness of that is that the Father knows everyone's name and everyone gets a turn.

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So when we think about how he's designed us, there is a time that he will call you forward

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for something.

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And I think that that is an amazing idea.

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It's not always a big thing, but it is specific to you because he knows you.

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The Father knows you.

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And so I know for some that it does not feel like there's a calling available for you or

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a path to something you feel like you want to do.

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I know that some are in their jobs right now stage that feels really long and that there's

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an aspect to it of needing, it can be discouraging or frustrating.

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But there's an aspect of it that is, part of that is needing to be faithful with where

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you are right now because you have encouragement that God knows your name and will call you

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forward into the thing that you have been designed for.

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Sometimes we're just waiting and that can be hard.

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So it doesn't, and waiting can feel like it's long and so that can be really tricky.

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I also know that life on earth as a human can be really hard and it can be because we've

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been handed work to do that we didn't choose but we need to be about.

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And that takes many forms.

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And I want to promise you that God is not outside of that.

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That there is a calling for you in those things.

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That God identifies your name, He knows your giftedness, He recognizes the things that

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He has put in you to call forward.

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And so if you're finding that that is where you are, hang tight.

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I know that that's a really tough thing to hear.

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But I also think that when people find themselves in places where the work is hard and it's

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not a reflection that they feel of their skills or the gifts or their interests, I think that

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the community is essential at this point.

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I think the community is always essential, but particularly at this point because the

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community finds a way.

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I think that the community is always essential but more so in these experiences because we

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realize that we cannot do it alone.

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So but also the community has connections and is networked in places that you are not.

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And so when you are feeling discouraged or frustrated, you feel like God has forgotten

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your name and what He's created you to do.

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Make your hopes known.

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Tell your community.

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Include them so that they can pray.

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But also there may be an opportunity through somebody that you don't know about because

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the community is meant to be here to care for each other.

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And so these are things that when we are feeling discouraged or frustrated, we tend to isolate.

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We keep quiet.

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We don't talk about these things.

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We just keep them here.

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But one of the aspects that we're going to really hone in on where we're driving towards

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here is that work is meant to be done in community, but also the community is meant to be the

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home from which you do your work.

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That's what life leads us to, right?

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Like the rest live work.

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Like we build the life part.

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We build the community part heading into the work because that's an important aspect of

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the work you do, is the community that you're in, I think.

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And so if you're feeling frustrated, let your community know.

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Lean back into the life aspect at that point.

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I think Cindy Hampton is currently an art teacher at a school because of a connection

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made for her that she didn't even know existed that somebody just happened to think of and

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brought her away.

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And now Cindy gets to be an art teacher, which is amazing.

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So these sorts of things, I think, are great examples of what happens within the community

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in terms of work.

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Moving on.

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So wherever we are right now within our vocation, I do know that the next two pieces offer less

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complexities because we can be mindful of them no matter what kind of job or the work

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we have before us looks like.

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So the next thing is stewardship.

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Taking care of what it is you do have right now or are in the steps of producing in all

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stages, whatever you've been given.

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We need to be good stewards.

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We are called to be good stewards.

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So what is that?

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What is a steward?

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Simply one that cares for something until it's time for it to be returned.

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A steward does not own the thing.

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It is owned by someone else.

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So you're caring for something on behalf of someone else.

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In Jesus' time, the steward was the manager of a household.

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The steward was not the owner of the assets but a responsible administrator of the owner's

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property.

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And that, I think, is a beneficial way of looking at our work.

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Ephesians 4.28 says, for those referring to community and those who are coming out of

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moving away from sin into life in Christ.

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So Ephesians 4.28 says, those who steal must give up stealing.

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That's a good rule.

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But rather, let them labor, doing good work with their own hands, so as to have something

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to share with the needy.

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God's economy is extraordinary and it is built on resources moving hands.

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It is dependent on it.

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Whatever is in your possession right now, hold it lightly because Jesus will need it

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to provide for someone else through you.

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Y'all, the ways I've seen this happen, the ways I've benefited from it, I would say the

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same for all of us, right?

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This has probably brought something, our direction, through someone else that we didn't, it was

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like amazing.

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It was miraculous.

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And that's how God's economy works.

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Contrary to Western and American thought, nothing is ours.

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Guys, nothing is ours.

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Your hard-earned money is not yours.

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It is just in your hands right now.

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But it may not be for long.

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And if that's the case for you, then it is the case for others too.

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Just as much as you may be asked to lovingly care for something until it is time for it

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to go to someone else, someone else is currently being asked to care for something until it

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is ready to come to you.

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God's economy works on things moving.

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And so we are simply stewards.

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And this is referring to all manner of resources, not just money, though in America we think

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about money.

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We think about money all the time.

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But I'm talking about all resources, time, material things that you have, your home and

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the space that it has, your knowledge and ideas that you have, whether it's in the work

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you do or the things that it produces, you are treating it as though it is borrowed.

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That's how we need to treat it, that it is borrowed.

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The tool you borrowed from a neighbor needs to go back as good as how you got it.

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And if you use materials with the tools, you need to replace them.

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The tool you borrowed from a neighbor that needs to go back or the thing that you've

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been asked to do to help someone out, you want to do it as well as if it was yours or

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for you.

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This is the way to approach it.

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In fact, it might be the right approach because I do see some people cut corners when it's

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for themselves.

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Have you ever done that?

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Like it's good enough.

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I'm the only one that's going to see it.

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Right?

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But if you did that for somebody else, you'd feel horrified.

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You'd be like, oh my gosh, I need to do better.

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Do it better.

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Do it as good as that.

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And so hold the things that you have as though you're caring for them for right now and

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they are precious.

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Our behaviors change when we are caring for something that belongs to someone else.

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So whatever you've earned, whatever you produce, whatever is currently your work, we are to

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be good stewards of it.

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We are to be stewards of skills and giftings and even personal resources because they are

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not ours to solely benefit us.

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They have been given to us with the intent to be used as the father desires to care for

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all.

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And lastly, service.

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Accountability and submission to each other.

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Our work is meant to be of service or in service to others.

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Unless the work you do, job or otherwise, is not you living out of your passions, feeling

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called and sent.

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We said that that is real.

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However, whether it is or not and if it's not and you're in an in between stage with

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the work you do, which is real, our work can absolutely still be in service to someone

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else.

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Y'all, I have a hard time keeping up with my yard work.

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True story.

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But what has changed my attitude about my yard work is that it affects the neighborhood.

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And I appreciate when others keep their yards tidy.

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I also notice when others don't.

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And I don't mean it as judgment.

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I just notice it.

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But what I want to say is I live in a neighborhood that is often seen as being a less desirable

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neighborhood because of where it is.

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It's off of 11th Street, which can, in Rock Island, which can generally be thought of

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poorly.

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None of us in our neighborhood have a lot of money for upkeep or large improvements.

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Definitely a lower income neighborhood.

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So our yards can tell bigger stories, but it is also how we care for each other.

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I want to be a good neighbor and add value to the neighborhood for all of us.

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And so I see the work of my lawn or how I keep my weeds or whatever, an extension of

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how I care for my neighbors.

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It is transformed how I look at the work that is in front of me to do.

435
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I own a house.

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The work has to be done.

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But how I frame it in service to my neighborhood and in service to my neighbor, that makes

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me thoughtful in a different way.

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That adds meaning to the work.

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So 1 Peter 4, 8, above all, maintain constant love for one another.

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For love covers a multitude of sins, be hospitable to one another without complaining.

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Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift

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each of you has received.

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This is probably one of the loudest cries of scripture, to serve one another.

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This might also be the thing that turns it around for you in the work that you do.

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What is your opportunity to serve?

447
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Now I understand that service to others may feel fraught.

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Some of you may feel like your work is only and ever endlessly in service to others.

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And you are exhausted.

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This is where evaluating what your pattern of rest in life looks like.

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And those around you may need to help.

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Your community needs to step in.

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These are things that need to be regularly in structured patterns for us.

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If they are not, your current patterns will be disrupted out of demand.

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If you find that you are work, work, work, work, work, I'm serving, I'm serving, I'm

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serving, I'm serving, you will break down at some point.

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Rest will be demanded of you.

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And so if it is not structured in your life, you can't avoid it.

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So it is best when we think about these things to structure it, to plan it, to have it in

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place so that you know and you protect it.

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You steward it well.

462
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You protect it.

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You care for it.

464
00:34:11,380 --> 00:34:17,840
So that this cycle can be a healthy thing for you versus one thing demanding all your

465
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:18,840
attention.

466
00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:22,280
Because as I said, we live in a society where work will be demanded of you and it will not

467
00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:23,560
ask for your rest.

468
00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:26,800
It does not care.

469
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:32,760
But your life and rest with others matter.

470
00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:38,640
And so again, in service to others, don't over serve.

471
00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:42,240
And care for others and you, don't over serve, don't overwork.

472
00:34:42,240 --> 00:34:52,080
So a couple things I want to just say as we head towards closing.

473
00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:53,120
We are not our work.

474
00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:57,040
As God transforms our thinking, we are not our work.

475
00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:00,200
Unsurprisingly, our perspective on work comes from the societies we live in.

476
00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:05,160
We live in a society that associates the work you do with the person that you are.

477
00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:08,240
How many people have ever met somebody and when you meet them, they are like, oh, hi,

478
00:35:08,240 --> 00:35:10,600
what do you do?

479
00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:16,360
That is your society defining you by your work.

480
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:20,320
Or have you ever heard somebody the highest praise it feels like somebody can get is,

481
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:21,960
oh, they are a really hard worker.

482
00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:24,200
They are a really hard worker.

483
00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:31,080
Somebody gets praise for resting in a healthy way because our society does not value that.

484
00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:36,840
But you are not your work and you need rest in life to separate you from your work to

485
00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:39,200
remind you of that.

486
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:43,200
Because we often turn into our work.

487
00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,780
You are also not a machine.

488
00:35:45,780 --> 00:35:46,780
You are not a machine.

489
00:35:46,780 --> 00:35:48,680
You need a break.

490
00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:52,580
And it is not virtuous to be a machine because you are human.

491
00:35:52,580 --> 00:35:53,720
You can't.

492
00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:56,000
So you need a break.

493
00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:59,560
Working the longest or the most is not an award we are giving out.

494
00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:05,120
I have even worked in a Christian setting where someone in upper leadership noted in

495
00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:11,320
a group, a group meeting that they didn't see people working as late as them.

496
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:13,120
I agree, sweetie.

497
00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:15,180
It is appalling.

498
00:36:15,180 --> 00:36:20,600
The culture there was to work the longest or the hardest or the most.

499
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:26,760
That was the sign of you being the most virtuous.

500
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:33,240
Also about work, the work at times will be left unfinished.

501
00:36:33,240 --> 00:36:34,240
And that is okay.

502
00:36:34,240 --> 00:36:36,680
I say that with caution.

503
00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:40,360
Because if you are working on a project and you just decide you are done, please do not

504
00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:45,280
tell your client that your pastor said it didn't have to be finished.

505
00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:48,400
I would appreciate not fielding that.

506
00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:52,560
But there are times when you do have to recognize that pause is important.

507
00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:54,800
I have great trouble with this.

508
00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:57,340
My work, I work a few different jobs.

509
00:36:57,340 --> 00:37:02,280
They are kind of all over the place with schedule and how they function.

510
00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:06,880
There's seasonal highs and lows.

511
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:08,840
I've had to set some parameters.

512
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:14,460
And that has required great intention with how I do that.

513
00:37:14,460 --> 00:37:16,560
So I close my computer at 5 p.m.

514
00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:19,900
I do my best to complete tasks before the weekend.

515
00:37:19,900 --> 00:37:24,680
And I order things in a way that helps me prioritize my week, both for the work I get

516
00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:27,720
paid for and the work I don't.

517
00:37:27,720 --> 00:37:34,000
I no longer work and eat my lunch or a meal.

518
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:39,280
Whereas it's been very easy in the past to just like randomly, oh, it's 2 o'clock.

519
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:40,280
I guess I'm hungry.

520
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:41,480
Well, I'm still working on this thing.

521
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,560
I'll just eat something and just keep working.

522
00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,760
I try to separate those things now.

523
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:53,040
And I also use a meal time as a rest time or even life with others during a day and

524
00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:57,720
not one where I just pick up my phone and disassociate for 30 minutes because that's

525
00:37:57,720 --> 00:37:58,720
not rest, y'all.

526
00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:04,120
But I choose something that will refresh or renew me.

527
00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:08,380
And lastly, rest and live and work is meant to be both large and small scale.

528
00:38:08,380 --> 00:38:10,440
So we talk about rest, live and work as a pattern.

529
00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:15,520
But it is not just meant to be like in the course of a year, take a vacation for one

530
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:20,040
week and then work on and live at the table.

531
00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:29,200
That needs to be happening at macro and micro level, big and in your day.

532
00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:32,080
Not just working an eight hour day without a break.

533
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:33,640
Structure within your day.

534
00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:39,200
A break for rest, a break for life.

535
00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:44,080
You need within your day and not just at the end of an eight hour work day, within it.

536
00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:46,560
These things need to cycle regularly.

537
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:50,760
It's like water running through a stream.

538
00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:56,040
It needs to be moving, moving, moving, moving for it to be not only just a healthy pattern

539
00:38:56,040 --> 00:39:00,880
for you but also so that you don't become a slave to one thing.

540
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:05,480
Because again, the thing you spend the most time doing is the thing you believe you are.

541
00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:07,560
And so keep it in regular rotation.

542
00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:11,920
I know that we don't work in a perfect system and we certainly don't live in a perfect world.

543
00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:16,720
So sometimes things do need to be adjusted but working with the intention of a pattern

544
00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:19,880
is so critical.

545
00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:25,040
So how we see the work we have done before us, how we see that work and how we are to

546
00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:26,040
do it matters.

547
00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:31,280
So as you go into this week, think about how you see your work or the things you believe

548
00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:33,880
to be true about your work.

549
00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:38,880
Do you see your work as an appointment, as something that God has placed you in?

550
00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:42,360
If not, and that may be true, maybe things need to change.

551
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:44,520
Maybe it also doesn't but it's something to consider.

552
00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:48,640
Has God called you forward into the work that you're doing?

553
00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:53,640
And if you are feeling like this needs to change, and I know that some of us have felt

554
00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:55,920
that way before, things need to change.

555
00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:56,960
This isn't sustainable.

556
00:39:56,960 --> 00:39:59,160
This doesn't work for me.

557
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:01,640
How can the community help?

558
00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:03,760
So let us know how to be praying.

559
00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:07,120
Let us also know how we can have our ears open to things that we are broadly networked

560
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:10,360
to that you could be linked to.

561
00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:13,920
As you go into this week, consider how you might steward the things that you are responsible

562
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:14,920
for right now.

563
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:17,080
How are you caring for them?

564
00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:20,080
And as you go into this week, consider how you might be of service to others through

565
00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:24,760
the work you do, how you might consider how the work affects others.

566
00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:28,380
Because we are certainly a bit more like the Hanseatic League, brought it back, than the

567
00:40:28,380 --> 00:40:30,200
monastic house, right?

568
00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:32,120
We are not cloistered away.

569
00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:37,760
Yes, our work is locally rooted here, but there is meant to be a ripple effect, a reaching

570
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:38,760
outward as well.

571
00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:44,560
Our work is networked onto a larger map, a work because it's not just for our own benefit,

572
00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:48,960
but also for the caring of others, caring for things that will move from our care to

573
00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:52,000
others, remembering that we are interconnected.

574
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:54,040
Our work affects others.

575
00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:58,600
Our work has these effects, and we need to remember that.

576
00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:02,520
Because not just our community, but the kingdom of God is interconnected.

577
00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:07,320
And not just in time here, but time forward as well.

578
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:12,520
The work we do here today can also reach forward for the benefit and building up of others

579
00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:17,720
in the kingdom future going, whatever it is.

580
00:41:17,720 --> 00:41:22,240
I think about our kids here at this church a lot.

581
00:41:22,240 --> 00:41:25,520
Our young people are always watching us and taking notes.

582
00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:29,080
They'll remember how their parents or their aunties and uncles or how their church family

583
00:41:29,080 --> 00:41:35,440
led them, either intentionally or by association, and they will carry our patterns of rest and

584
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:41,040
live and work forward.

585
00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:44,720
And so when we steward things here, we are often caring for those things that we are

586
00:41:44,720 --> 00:41:49,040
going to pass on down to them too.

587
00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:55,440
If you feel like you would find value in creating your own rule of life or rule for work, then

588
00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:58,840
I do have that guide up here that I referred to earlier.

589
00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:03,640
There's also a QR code on it that you can just use your phone to get to the link to

590
00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:05,360
the PDF.

591
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:09,520
There is a section, there's a broad rule of life here, but there's also specifically

592
00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:14,860
a section on work at the end.

593
00:42:14,860 --> 00:42:20,520
But really a great place to start with and one that you already know is really being

594
00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:27,280
intentional about this rest, live, work pattern in your life, protecting it, caring for it,

595
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:31,920
being intentional about it.

596
00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:40,600
So as we close this very little, this little tiny series out, let's pray that God will

597
00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:47,640
transform how we see rest, how we view life, and how we view work together.

598
00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:49,740
Let's pray.

599
00:42:49,740 --> 00:42:54,880
Start with today's cap on this series.

600
00:42:54,880 --> 00:43:03,520
We know that the way we talk about these things here at the house are, one doesn't, the cycle

601
00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:08,680
doesn't end, it moves back into the first thing, which is rest.

602
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:16,540
And we move from a place of rest into a place of life, which leads us to meaningful work.

603
00:43:16,540 --> 00:43:21,240
And so we need your transformation on all of that, not just a part of it, but all of

604
00:43:21,240 --> 00:43:22,240
it.

605
00:43:22,240 --> 00:43:33,400
And so as we go into this week, help us build and set a healthy and strong cared for trellis

606
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:36,920
for which our life of faith is built on.

607
00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:49,880
Would you lead us in this, speak to us, and make your heart clear to us on these things.

608
00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:57,480
And help us lean into you and into the community you've given us as a community of faith to

609
00:43:57,480 --> 00:44:03,160
share in these conversations about that and to help each other protect what rest and life

610
00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:05,180
and work look like in each other's lives.

611
00:44:05,180 --> 00:44:14,120
Help us be a network of help to each other if somebody is needing a new job or needing

612
00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:18,120
a new perspective on how to healthy, in a healthy way, move forward with these things.

613
00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:23,240
And so we're asking for your leading, we're asking for your guidance.

614
00:44:23,240 --> 00:44:28,000
And yeah, God, thank you for who you are and how you lead us into these healthy rhythms

615
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:29,000
of life.

616
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:31,000
Pray all this in your name.

617
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:32,000
Amen.

618
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:37,000
Amen.