WEBVTT 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:03.149 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.209 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.870 --> 00:00:08.750 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:11.169 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.330 --> 00:00:14.150 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:16.469 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am in 00:00:16.469 --> 00:00:18.809 the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:22.329 us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:25.030 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:30.780 sermon. God Bless. Father in heaven we come before 00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:34.880 you and we ask God for you to work for you to 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.700 speak and I pray that we would be those who can 00:00:38.700 --> 00:00:42.359 can having been with you and tasted of the things 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:46.439 of God and heard from your word say that your 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:50.600 law is is Sweeter than honey and to be more desired 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:53.320 than gold and silver and that it is our joy to 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:58.299 walk in your ways to delight in your paths God, 00:00:58.380 --> 00:01:02.439 to follow the ways of our Lord Jesus. And now 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:03.979 may the words of my mouth and the meditations 00:01:03.979 --> 00:01:08.079 of our hearts be pleasing in your sight. Or we 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:13.200 think of how you tell us that the grass withers 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:17.819 and the flowers, they fade. Things of this world 00:01:17.819 --> 00:01:20.359 are passing, but the word of the Lord stands 00:01:20.359 --> 00:01:24.560 forever. So God, speak to us, we pray now. Amen. 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:27.959 All right. I want to suggest to you that we keep 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:30.980 time in all kinds of ways. It's not a hard suggestion. 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:32.659 This is something you can get behind easily. 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:37.200 Many of us keep our time by the rhythms of the 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:40.620 school year. Messiah students graduating. There's 00:01:40.620 --> 00:01:45.920 fewer people this week. So many of you educators, 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:49.079 you are understandably tired. and you have been 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:51.599 running the Great Marathon, it is like the 25th 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:55.920 mile. Just keep going, okay? It is soon to be 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:58.519 here. The end of the school year is just around 00:01:58.519 --> 00:02:01.459 the corner, which also means summer break is 00:02:01.459 --> 00:02:04.159 soon here, which for you mothers may induce a 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:05.739 little bit of anxiety. And for your children, 00:02:05.780 --> 00:02:07.819 you're jumping up and down. You're like, yes, 00:02:08.300 --> 00:02:13.659 sleeping in. And what most of all, no homework. 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:17.919 Many of us keep time, of course, with sports. 00:02:18.300 --> 00:02:22.539 maybe Penn State games, maybe Hershey Bears season. 00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:28.199 More likely, your own children going from volleyball 00:02:28.199 --> 00:02:30.360 to basketball to soccer to baseball to swimming 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:34.360 to... And you can think of other seasons that 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:38.759 we observe. I know for some of you and others 00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:41.740 beyond who I'm looking at, theater season. It's 00:02:41.740 --> 00:02:44.780 a whole season and you've given your life to 00:02:44.780 --> 00:02:47.780 this, to devoting yourself to learning your parts, 00:02:48.340 --> 00:02:51.379 your words, you're blocking all of that. I know 00:02:51.379 --> 00:02:53.759 quite a few of you have been involved in various 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:58.139 plays. All of us in a way, what I'm suggesting 00:02:58.139 --> 00:03:01.520 to you is we keep time to one degree or another 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:03.960 around days and weeks and months and years or 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:07.879 as Ezekiel and Hosea and the chronicler and Paul 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:10.819 writing in Colossians chapter two says, festivals 00:03:10.819 --> 00:03:14.580 and new moons and Sabbaths, right? We keep time. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:19.139 We keep our time by our birthdays, by our years, 00:03:19.259 --> 00:03:22.319 by our decades. I find that as I get older, the 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:24.860 birthday each year doesn't matter as much, but 00:03:24.860 --> 00:03:27.000 the fifth one seems to kind of get me a little 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:29.159 bit. Maybe some of you are to the point where 00:03:29.159 --> 00:03:31.199 you're like, it's not the fifth one, it's the 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:36.099 tenths, you know, that you kind of mark. We keep 00:03:36.099 --> 00:03:38.800 time by the jobs we've had, the children we've 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:42.210 born. We keep time, of course, around civic holidays 00:03:42.210 --> 00:03:45.469 like Memorial Day and Independence Day and Veterans 00:03:45.469 --> 00:03:50.830 Day and Juneteenth. Much of the church keeps 00:03:50.830 --> 00:03:54.069 time by the great works of God. Christmas, the 00:03:54.069 --> 00:03:58.729 birth of Christ, Easter, Pentecost. And today 00:03:58.729 --> 00:04:05.469 is Mother's Day. Mother's Day was first celebrated 00:04:05.469 --> 00:04:12.629 on May 10th. Not this May 10th May 10th 118 years 00:04:12.629 --> 00:04:17.310 ago in 1908 It was actually recognized though 00:04:17.310 --> 00:04:22.089 six years later by President Woodrow Wilson in 00:04:22.089 --> 00:04:27.730 1914 and The first day that it was recognized 00:04:27.730 --> 00:04:34.319 was a Sunday that was again May 10th What happened 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:37.540 was that Anna Jarvis had established it initially 00:04:37.540 --> 00:04:41.319 in honor of her mother. Her mother had passed 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:44.420 away two years prior in 1905, and her mother 00:04:44.420 --> 00:04:47.160 was a remarkable woman. She also bore the same 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:51.000 name, Anna Jarvis. And her mother had born 12 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.680 children, almost all of whom had died of various 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:58.079 diseases, diphtheria, I read, and others. But 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:00.339 Anna Jarvis's mother, who was also Anna Jarvis, 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:03.029 this gets a little confusing maybe, had begun, 00:05:03.050 --> 00:05:05.470 particularly right before and after the Civil 00:05:05.470 --> 00:05:10.290 War, women's work clubs and women's work days. 00:05:10.329 --> 00:05:12.870 And these existed for the blessing of their neighbors. 00:05:13.490 --> 00:05:15.550 She knew the pain of childbearing. She knew the 00:05:15.550 --> 00:05:18.189 pain of child loss. And she saw the plight of 00:05:18.189 --> 00:05:20.750 so many women around her and sought to love them 00:05:20.750 --> 00:05:23.529 and care for them and also to gather them together 00:05:23.529 --> 00:05:26.939 to love and serve one another. And actually one 00:05:26.939 --> 00:05:28.860 thing I read which I thought was lovely is that 00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:32.779 so this was the she lived in West Virginia and 00:05:32.779 --> 00:05:35.879 One of the commitments of these clubs was that 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:39.860 they cared for Union and Confederates the exact 00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:44.160 same They said we are going to love all of our 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:47.339 neighbors in these acts We're not going to discriminate 00:05:47.339 --> 00:05:50.620 on who gets our care. We're going to love our 00:05:50.620 --> 00:05:53.810 neighbors as ourselves And so her daughter started 00:05:53.810 --> 00:05:58.009 this day that we remember today, May 10th, 2026, 00:05:58.889 --> 00:06:00.870 in her honor and in her remembrance. And one 00:06:00.870 --> 00:06:02.990 of the things that she did actually from the 00:06:02.990 --> 00:06:07.110 get -go was she said a white carnation is the 00:06:07.110 --> 00:06:09.810 symbol of this day because her mother worked 00:06:09.810 --> 00:06:13.550 towards the peace and care of others. So a white 00:06:13.550 --> 00:06:17.759 flower would symbolize this day. Just out of 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:19.399 interest this actually isn't even my nose one 00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:21.560 of things that I read is that she sort of detested 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:24.339 The card industry that was that came up around 00:06:24.339 --> 00:06:27.220 her day, but then in her older age She didn't 00:06:27.220 --> 00:06:29.579 have much money and you know who paid her nursing 00:06:29.579 --> 00:06:33.339 home bills The card companies that made so much 00:06:33.339 --> 00:06:36.199 off of Mother's Day Anyway, that's not in my 00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:38.639 that I don't know what that has to do with What 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:40.399 necessarily what I'm talking about today, but 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:42.459 today is a day of remembrance, right? It's a 00:06:42.459 --> 00:06:44.439 day of remembering and it's a day actually of 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:47.439 celebrating peace and efforts towards peace and 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:51.459 a day of remembering those who bless others and 00:06:51.459 --> 00:06:53.800 who give of themselves for the well -being of 00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:57.079 those about them in a way we could say even Mother's 00:06:57.079 --> 00:07:01.180 Day is inappropriately a kind of Sabbath and 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:03.720 while I don't think that as I kind of talk about 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:07.579 Sabbath observance, I don't think that Many of 00:07:07.579 --> 00:07:11.399 you have serious quibbles with days to remember 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:13.220 the general idea that we have certain days that 00:07:13.220 --> 00:07:15.100 we remember certain things in there and that 00:07:15.100 --> 00:07:17.639 we celebrate them and we observe them you don't 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:19.100 probably push back on the idea of Mother's Day 00:07:19.100 --> 00:07:22.240 too much if you do it all or Celebrating your 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:24.759 anniversary if you do don't tell your spouse 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:28.379 or maybe the establishment of days that remember 00:07:28.379 --> 00:07:32.540 help us remember like the birthing of our nation 00:07:32.540 --> 00:07:35.180 and the history of our nation you probably don't 00:07:35.180 --> 00:07:37.540 have a lot of Problem with that kind of thing. 00:07:37.540 --> 00:07:39.019 You probably don't have a lot of problem with 00:07:39.019 --> 00:07:40.959 Christians celebrating the birth of Christ or 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:45.699 his crucifixion and resurrection But there are 00:07:45.699 --> 00:07:47.800 a lot of people that have a lot of quibbles around 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:50.019 the idea that right there in the middle of the 00:07:50.019 --> 00:07:52.660 Ten Commandments near the middle of the Ten Commandments 00:07:52.660 --> 00:07:56.399 We are told no, it's not just that we are told 00:07:56.399 --> 00:08:00.500 it is a moral command It is part of the moral 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:04.060 law that we believe is actually in nature itself 00:08:05.039 --> 00:08:10.139 that God gives us a rhythm to life, a day to 00:08:10.139 --> 00:08:13.360 observe. One day in seven, honor the Sabbath 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:16.620 day, keep it holy. Truth is there's been a lot 00:08:16.620 --> 00:08:18.199 written about the Sabbath. One of the things 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:20.220 I told Melissa is that I'm kind of nervous about 00:08:20.220 --> 00:08:22.459 this sermon because there is so much that could 00:08:22.459 --> 00:08:25.480 be said. There's so much that could be read. 00:08:28.459 --> 00:08:31.439 From the Didache in the early church to John 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:34.200 Mark Comer today from John Calvin to Wendell 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:37.779 Berry's wonderful Sabbath poems From Martin Luther 00:08:37.779 --> 00:08:40.059 who wrote about the Sabbath to Dan Allender who's 00:08:40.059 --> 00:08:43.080 written about the Sabbath. There's just a lot 00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:46.980 But I also want to suggest to you that as you 00:08:46.980 --> 00:08:49.519 read the Ten Commandments it may be the commandment 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:52.539 the singular commandment that you kind of go, 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:54.440 wow, okay, I understand how they're all, they're 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:56.700 all summed up by love God and love your neighbor, 00:08:56.700 --> 00:08:59.759 but what about this one? You're like, don't have 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:02.539 other gods. Don't make idols. Don't take his 00:09:02.539 --> 00:09:04.440 name in vain. I understand how that, like, I'm 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:06.000 not always sure how do you apply that, but I 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:09.100 understand that that relates to loving God. You 00:09:09.100 --> 00:09:12.299 go on the other side, you go, uh, you know, don't 00:09:12.299 --> 00:09:15.460 lie and murder and covet and adultery. You're 00:09:15.460 --> 00:09:19.740 like applying it. Interesting. The fact that 00:09:19.740 --> 00:09:22.019 it has to do with loving our neighbors. I think 00:09:22.019 --> 00:09:24.179 it's a given right but then right here you have 00:09:24.179 --> 00:09:28.519 this one in seven day rest What does it have 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:31.700 to do with God and neighbor and us and all that? 00:09:32.179 --> 00:09:34.460 Well, like I've said that there's a lot more 00:09:34.460 --> 00:09:36.840 that could be said than I have time unless y 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:40.360 'all want to just skip brunch Y 'all settle in 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:43.259 no, okay So this morning what I'd like to do 00:09:43.259 --> 00:09:46.279 is I'd like us to consider the commandment here 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:48.559 With sort of just basic some basic questions 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:55.149 what? How and why okay, what what is this commandment? 00:09:56.289 --> 00:10:02.769 Well What are we told to do well It's kind of 00:10:02.769 --> 00:10:05.049 simple verse 8 you have your Bible open it just 00:10:05.049 --> 00:10:10.090 says this remember the Sabbath day Keep it holy 00:10:10.090 --> 00:10:13.190 So it says it says to keep it holy, but it says 00:10:13.190 --> 00:10:15.070 keep it holy that word is actually just one word 00:10:15.070 --> 00:10:18.730 to keep it holy remember Sabbath day Keep it 00:10:18.730 --> 00:10:22.370 holy Sabbath you may know this but it comes from 00:10:22.370 --> 00:10:25.730 the it's just the Hebrew word that means cease 00:10:25.730 --> 00:10:38.210 Rest Stop So we're supposed to remember Ceasing 00:10:38.210 --> 00:10:43.690 What this assumes is that ceasing and resting 00:10:43.690 --> 00:10:46.909 had already happened there already been a pattern 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:50.120 And it had at least two ways we know that it 00:10:50.120 --> 00:10:54.059 had been a pattern already. One way that ceasing 00:10:54.059 --> 00:10:57.159 one day in seven had already happened was through 00:10:57.159 --> 00:10:59.519 the story of the gift of manna. And it's just 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:01.679 a few chapters earlier in the book of Exodus, 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:03.539 you'll remember that God's people were brought 00:11:03.539 --> 00:11:05.399 out from slavery and brought and they're in the 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:06.899 wilderness, they're being brought to Sinai where 00:11:06.899 --> 00:11:09.120 they would receive the covenant and the law and 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:11.700 all this. And they don't have food and God provides 00:11:11.700 --> 00:11:14.389 for them. And He provides for them this manna 00:11:14.389 --> 00:11:16.309 and they are to gather it up in a way you could 00:11:16.309 --> 00:11:18.409 say that God was working and they were working. 00:11:18.850 --> 00:11:21.289 But then God says on the sixth day gather enough 00:11:21.289 --> 00:11:23.549 for the seventh day because I'm going to rest 00:11:23.549 --> 00:11:26.549 from providing it and you're going to rest from 00:11:26.549 --> 00:11:32.250 gathering it. You could say both God's provision 00:11:32.250 --> 00:11:35.889 and their gathering ceased. God's work and their 00:11:35.889 --> 00:11:38.350 work, they took a break. But remembering goes 00:11:38.350 --> 00:11:40.289 back further. It certainly goes back further 00:11:40.289 --> 00:11:46.289 for those who observe the Holy Scriptures. We're 00:11:46.289 --> 00:11:47.929 going to come back around to this a little bit. 00:11:48.230 --> 00:11:51.210 But they're to remember that God not only saved 00:11:51.210 --> 00:11:53.570 them, but the God who redeemed them out from 00:11:53.570 --> 00:11:56.549 slavery was also the God who made all things. 00:11:57.389 --> 00:12:00.990 And he himself finished his work of creation 00:12:00.990 --> 00:12:03.730 and he ceased from doing it. And he observed 00:12:03.730 --> 00:12:07.830 a time of just stopping, resting. Delighting 00:12:07.830 --> 00:12:11.309 in what he made So so we're called to remember 00:12:11.309 --> 00:12:13.669 and we're specifically called to remember by 00:12:13.669 --> 00:12:17.210 ceasing We're called to remember God's creation 00:12:17.210 --> 00:12:21.129 and his preservation his creation and his redemption 00:12:21.129 --> 00:12:25.230 But here's what I want to suggest to you so when 00:12:25.230 --> 00:12:27.250 I say remember something primarily probably what 00:12:27.250 --> 00:12:31.750 you're thinking is I'm going to think about it 00:12:31.750 --> 00:12:35.669 Imagine with me the newly married couple one 00:12:35.669 --> 00:12:39.149 year into their marriage. Their first anniversary. 00:12:39.889 --> 00:12:41.850 They wake up in the morning, husband doesn't 00:12:41.850 --> 00:12:44.590 say much to his wife, has his coffee, heads off 00:12:44.590 --> 00:12:48.230 to work. They both come home, they make dinner, 00:12:48.330 --> 00:12:50.750 they go on a walk, they watch the next episode 00:12:50.750 --> 00:12:54.230 of The Office, because who doesn't? They get 00:12:54.230 --> 00:12:56.730 ready for bed and lying there in bed he turns 00:12:56.730 --> 00:12:59.149 over to his wife and looks at her and he's attentive 00:12:59.149 --> 00:13:02.090 enough to see that her eyes are swelling up. 00:13:02.830 --> 00:13:06.610 They're becoming red. They're gathering water. 00:13:07.950 --> 00:13:15.690 And he says, what's wrong? What's wrong? Well, 00:13:17.289 --> 00:13:19.929 I thought you would remember that today is our 00:13:19.929 --> 00:13:27.590 anniversary. I did. Where are my flowers? Where 00:13:27.590 --> 00:13:31.600 is my card? Why don't we go out to dinner? Why 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:35.360 didn't she buy me something? And his response 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:37.580 is, honey, I was remembering all day long. I 00:13:37.580 --> 00:13:39.980 was thinking about just how wonderful it was 00:13:39.980 --> 00:13:45.100 when we said our I do's. Isn't that what remembering 00:13:45.100 --> 00:13:51.100 is anyway? What's going to be her response? No, 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:58.340 no, that is not how we remember. So we're called 00:13:58.340 --> 00:14:02.960 to remember Sabbath. And Sabbath is a ceasing, 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:08.419 it's a resting. But the second thing that we 00:14:08.419 --> 00:14:11.679 are told when we come to this what, and this 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:13.519 will begin to lead us into the how a little bit, 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:18.860 okay, is that we're to keep it holy. We're to 00:14:18.860 --> 00:14:21.679 kadeshit, we're to consecrate it. What does this 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:26.360 mean? Because it's not just a mental exercise, 00:14:26.379 --> 00:14:33.990 right? Just sit here and think. This word to 00:14:33.990 --> 00:14:39.950 make holy means to set something apart for God's 00:14:39.950 --> 00:14:43.330 use, particularly for God's use in worship. Okay. 00:14:43.649 --> 00:14:45.830 Specifically for God's use in worship. It's very 00:14:45.830 --> 00:14:48.049 easy. I just did a quick word study of this word 00:14:48.049 --> 00:14:51.789 in the book of Exodus. It comes up 24 times. 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:54.860 And one of those probably isn't for necessarily 00:14:54.860 --> 00:14:57.919 the sake of worship. All the rest could be possibly. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:00.960 Maybe there's two that maybe aren't. Every single 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:03.500 use of this word, Kadesh, after this command, 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:07.039 all 19 of them that come in the second half of 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.940 Exodus have to do with consecrating something, 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:13.379 setting it aside, making it holy, Kadeshing it 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:17.700 for the use of worship in the place of God's 00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:23.210 worship. So utensils are Kadesh for the tabernacle 00:15:23.210 --> 00:15:28.830 and the gowns that the priests were supposed 00:15:28.830 --> 00:15:32.269 to wear and things like that. But I share that 00:15:32.269 --> 00:15:36.690 to say that the what here is there is a ceasing 00:15:36.690 --> 00:15:38.909 from our normal life, but it's a ceasing that 00:15:38.909 --> 00:15:45.610 is God word. It's a God word ceasing. Years ago, 00:15:45.629 --> 00:15:47.350 there was somebody here at our church. I'm not 00:15:47.350 --> 00:15:48.669 going to say their name, even though I don't 00:15:48.669 --> 00:15:49.690 think many of you would know them because it 00:15:49.690 --> 00:15:52.159 was a little while ago. Let's call their name 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:56.259 Peter, just for illustration sake. So Peter hadn't 00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:58.580 been in worship for a little while, maybe had 00:15:58.580 --> 00:16:00.700 come here and there, but mostly had been absent. 00:16:01.340 --> 00:16:05.799 And I saw Peter and I said, hey, I haven't seen 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:08.379 you around a little while. What's going on? And 00:16:08.379 --> 00:16:13.080 Peter replies, I just needed a Sabbath. And by 00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:15.399 which that was implied, what I needed was a break. 00:16:16.179 --> 00:16:20.029 And that break needed to include worship. I needed 00:16:20.029 --> 00:16:22.149 a mental break, maybe a physical break in life. 00:16:22.149 --> 00:16:24.370 I've been overwhelmed and that needed to include 00:16:24.370 --> 00:16:27.269 the gathering together of the saints of God. 00:16:31.909 --> 00:16:35.250 That is not Christian Sabbath thing. Okay. If 00:16:35.250 --> 00:16:38.090 you just be like really frank, we are commanded 00:16:38.090 --> 00:16:40.730 to gather together to make it our habit to be 00:16:40.730 --> 00:16:44.289 with the Lord's people. And this command specifically 00:16:44.289 --> 00:16:47.470 is setting aside time a day. It is for rest. 00:16:47.529 --> 00:16:48.690 We're going to get into a little bit of that. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:53.120 with all the time that we have. But this is a 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:56.779 God -word ceasing. And it is a God -word ceasing 00:16:56.779 --> 00:16:59.340 that at least includes gathering together with 00:16:59.340 --> 00:17:02.399 God's people, consecrating ourselves in the place 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:05.920 of worship. There have never been faithful, God 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:08.920 -loving, commandment -honoring Christians who 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:14.299 have taken it to mean ceasing from that. In fact, 00:17:14.460 --> 00:17:17.299 when God's people have done that, And when we 00:17:17.299 --> 00:17:20.119 have used the day for our own pleasure, as the 00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:25.299 scriptures tell us, it invites God's correction. 00:17:26.299 --> 00:17:29.039 So what is this command? This command is to remember, 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:32.019 and that is an act of remembering that is primarily 00:17:32.019 --> 00:17:34.380 oriented Godward. How do we live our life in 00:17:34.380 --> 00:17:36.680 a restful way, ceasing from our normal way of 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:40.779 being in the world towards God? Okay, so the 00:17:40.779 --> 00:17:43.559 next thing is how. Look with me down at verses 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:46.950 nine and 10 now, okay? So verse eight said, remember 00:17:46.950 --> 00:17:49.410 the Sabbath day, keep it holy. Verse nine, six 00:17:49.410 --> 00:17:52.210 days you shall labor and do all your work, but 00:17:52.210 --> 00:17:54.170 the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your 00:17:54.170 --> 00:17:56.730 God on it. You shall not do any work, you or 00:17:56.730 --> 00:17:59.109 your son or your daughter, your male servant 00:17:59.109 --> 00:18:02.549 or your female servant or your livestock or the 00:18:02.549 --> 00:18:06.450 sojourner who is within your gates. Okay. The 00:18:06.450 --> 00:18:08.069 first thing that you will notice when we ask 00:18:08.069 --> 00:18:11.130 this question, how, how do we observe Sabbath 00:18:11.130 --> 00:18:14.670 and keep it holy is the first thing is labor. 00:18:15.650 --> 00:18:19.230 Isn't that interesting? The first way that we 00:18:19.230 --> 00:18:22.029 apply this in a way is you work. It says six 00:18:22.029 --> 00:18:25.609 days you may, it doesn't say may, does it? It 00:18:25.609 --> 00:18:30.430 says you shall work. Six days work. In the Bible, 00:18:30.549 --> 00:18:35.730 to image God is to be a worker, to be a creator, 00:18:36.569 --> 00:18:40.450 to be active and moving things and shaping things, 00:18:41.329 --> 00:18:46.319 nurturing children, teaching. Writing laws, all 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:48.559 the various things that we use our mind and our 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:53.259 bodies for to bless this world. We can say a 00:18:53.259 --> 00:18:56.099 lot of what it means to be made into God's image. 00:18:56.380 --> 00:18:58.160 There's a lot that's been written about that. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:02.420 But the first six days, the sixth day in which 00:19:02.420 --> 00:19:05.740 humankind were made, male and female, in God's 00:19:05.740 --> 00:19:10.779 image was the sixth workday of God. So at least 00:19:10.779 --> 00:19:12.279 we can say that part of being made in the image 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:16.759 of God is laboring and finding laboring to be 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:20.259 actually part of what we are made for Just a 00:19:20.259 --> 00:19:22.779 year and a half ago in a in the peer review journal 00:19:22.779 --> 00:19:25.680 frontiers in public health There was an article 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:27.700 that was published and this is the name of the 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:31.519 article unemployment and mental health a global 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:33.819 study of unemployment's influence on diverse 00:19:33.819 --> 00:19:36.720 mental disorders So this is what I found wild 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:41.670 about this study is that this study studied 201 00:19:41.670 --> 00:19:48.190 countries from the year 1970 to 2020. It was 00:19:48.190 --> 00:19:51.150 a 50 -year long study around mental health and 00:19:51.150 --> 00:19:57.430 unemployment. And the results are not that surprising. 00:19:58.450 --> 00:20:01.069 What is the mental health of somebody who is 00:20:01.069 --> 00:20:05.329 not working? Well, greater anxiety and greater 00:20:05.329 --> 00:20:10.440 depression. Of course, but also there's correlations 00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:12.720 with eating disorder and with drug use. And then 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:14.319 the thing that I actually was somewhat surprised 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:16.880 by is that there's actually a correlation between 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:21.019 bipolar disease and unemployment over this 50 00:20:21.019 --> 00:20:22.779 year study. That was one of the things that they 00:20:22.779 --> 00:20:25.019 found. The bottom line is that you were actually 00:20:25.019 --> 00:20:28.420 made to work. You were. Part of being made in 00:20:28.420 --> 00:20:32.720 the image of God is labor six days. This is one 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:34.759 of the hows. How do we observe this commandment? 00:20:34.839 --> 00:20:36.940 We devote ourselves to the work we've been given 00:20:36.940 --> 00:20:44.500 to do. But we also know that all work and no 00:20:44.500 --> 00:20:51.140 play makes Jack a dull boy and often Jill a widow. 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:56.019 So just after we're told to work, the how of 00:20:56.019 --> 00:20:57.680 applying this commandment is devote yourself 00:20:57.680 --> 00:20:59.799 to the work that God's given you to do. But we're 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:05.440 also told So we have to rest. It's kind of wild 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:07.859 that what the Bible says is that you are not 00:21:07.859 --> 00:21:15.039 just made to be productive in your life. The 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:16.980 Sabbath thing is not a very productive thing, 00:21:16.980 --> 00:21:19.319 but it's a very necessary thing. I read this 00:21:19.319 --> 00:21:22.019 week that Bill Gates, when asked why he didn't 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:25.019 believe in God, he said this, just in terms of 00:21:25.019 --> 00:21:27.720 allocation of time resources, religion is not 00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:30.759 very efficient. there's a lot more I would be 00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:34.559 doing on Sunday mornings. The thing that's probably 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:36.200 most indicting about that is that there's a lot 00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:38.099 more that Christians would be doing on Sunday 00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:40.660 mornings than gathering together to worship the 00:21:40.660 --> 00:21:45.119 Lord. But probably many of you are aware of the 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:48.480 various social experiments of the French Revolution. 00:21:49.960 --> 00:21:53.640 Much of them was pushing religion aside, as you 00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:56.779 are likely aware. And so part of that was pushing 00:21:56.779 --> 00:22:00.380 aside this Judeo kind of Christian pattern, which 00:22:00.380 --> 00:22:02.220 we do actually believe is rooted in the scriptures, 00:22:02.279 --> 00:22:04.680 even though it's become an international reality 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:08.920 of the seven day work and rest pattern, the six 00:22:08.920 --> 00:22:12.000 days of work and the day of rest. And so the 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:14.480 French Revolution moved that into a 10 day work 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:20.059 week. What happened? I mean, the economy plummeted. 00:22:21.949 --> 00:22:26.329 Suicides rates skyrocketed Productivity went 00:22:26.329 --> 00:22:29.849 down and they had to stop it. It did not work 00:22:29.849 --> 00:22:34.250 The truth is that as much as you were made to 00:22:34.250 --> 00:22:39.970 work you were also made to rest What I also read 00:22:39.970 --> 00:22:41.710 this week is that assert there's a certain amount 00:22:41.710 --> 00:22:44.650 of work hours in a week that once you hit them 00:22:44.650 --> 00:22:47.049 your Productivity either stagnates or it actually 00:22:47.049 --> 00:22:53.150 goes down Does anybody know that number? 50. 00:22:54.450 --> 00:22:58.450 Which is more or less six days of work. You know, 00:22:58.470 --> 00:23:00.470 if you consider that for the great majority of 00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:02.569 the world, you couldn't work once the sun went 00:23:02.569 --> 00:23:09.869 down. World history. One study found that there 00:23:09.869 --> 00:23:13.009 was zero difference in productivity between workers 00:23:13.009 --> 00:23:16.029 who logged 70 hours and those who logged 55. 00:23:16.980 --> 00:23:20.539 Zero difference in productivity. So work and 00:23:20.539 --> 00:23:24.500 rest. Work to the glory of God, rest to the glory 00:23:24.500 --> 00:23:28.799 of God. But also my guess is you were also saying, 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:32.480 but how do I apply this? Maybe you're thinking 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:35.319 of the Pharisees, right? Who got so mad at Jesus 00:23:35.319 --> 00:23:37.559 all the time because he's healing on the Sabbath. 00:23:38.579 --> 00:23:41.200 Or the story that we read in Mark chapter two, 00:23:41.420 --> 00:23:45.730 where his disciples plucked a grain. right? And 00:23:45.730 --> 00:23:49.009 they ate it on the Sabbath. Now, Jesus knew that 00:23:49.009 --> 00:23:50.930 that wasn't part of the command, but what the 00:23:50.930 --> 00:23:54.230 Pharisees did is that they layered on command 00:23:54.230 --> 00:23:57.410 after command so that you wouldn't work on the 00:23:57.410 --> 00:24:00.650 Sabbath. And they actually had 39 different commands 00:24:00.650 --> 00:24:02.450 applying this, and one of them is, don't even 00:24:02.450 --> 00:24:06.269 pluck grains because you're working. Maybe you've 00:24:06.269 --> 00:24:08.609 heard that in the Qumran community, probably 00:24:08.609 --> 00:24:10.490 many of you have heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls. 00:24:10.490 --> 00:24:14.049 Those were from the Qumran community. The Qumran 00:24:14.049 --> 00:24:16.309 community took it even farther than the Pharisees. 00:24:16.309 --> 00:24:19.450 They were the really devout ones. And so you 00:24:19.450 --> 00:24:22.609 couldn't carry your child around on the Sabbath. 00:24:23.170 --> 00:24:26.029 You couldn't help an animal who went into labor 00:24:26.029 --> 00:24:30.009 on the Sabbath. Maybe some of you have read Laura 00:24:30.009 --> 00:24:35.650 Ingalls Wilder's books. Remember Alfonso saying 00:24:35.650 --> 00:24:37.809 Sunday was not a day for working or playing. 00:24:37.829 --> 00:24:40.450 It was a day for going to church and sitting 00:24:40.450 --> 00:24:45.099 still. And you might remember how the characters 00:24:45.099 --> 00:24:48.119 in that book just thought of the Sabbath as a 00:24:48.119 --> 00:24:51.420 burden and not a delight Because all it was for 00:24:51.420 --> 00:24:55.099 was reciting the catechism So, how do we apply 00:24:55.099 --> 00:24:59.980 this? Isaiah 58 tells us that we are to call 00:24:59.980 --> 00:25:04.319 the Sabbath a delight How do we make the Sabbath 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:08.039 a delight What I want to suggest to you is that 00:25:08.039 --> 00:25:11.140 beyond this pattern of work and rest that we're 00:25:11.140 --> 00:25:15.069 called to And beyond it being primarily focused 00:25:15.069 --> 00:25:18.150 and firstly focused in worship because it is 00:25:18.150 --> 00:25:22.369 a day set apart as holy, consecrated, kadeshed 00:25:22.369 --> 00:25:27.410 to the Lord. It is the Christian holy day, which 00:25:27.410 --> 00:25:31.890 is to say it is the Christian holiday. Okay. 00:25:33.069 --> 00:25:37.890 This is the Christian holiday. And actually, 00:25:37.950 --> 00:25:40.410 if you get, if you, if you look back with me 00:25:40.410 --> 00:25:42.430 at verse 10, what it says say, but the seventh 00:25:42.430 --> 00:25:44.470 day is a Sabbath to Lord your God on it. You 00:25:44.470 --> 00:25:47.750 shall not do any work. You or your son or your 00:25:47.750 --> 00:25:49.829 daughter, your male servant, your female servant, 00:25:50.329 --> 00:25:54.089 your livestock, the sojourner who is within your 00:25:54.089 --> 00:25:59.289 gates. It is for all of the laborers to have 00:25:59.289 --> 00:26:05.410 a day off. Have a holiday. Why did Labor Day 00:26:05.410 --> 00:26:09.549 begin? Right? What do we do with like July 4th? 00:26:09.549 --> 00:26:14.230 We all take a break and we celebrate what's happened 00:26:14.230 --> 00:26:17.450 Harold McMillan the British Prime Minister in 00:26:17.450 --> 00:26:19.829 the mid part of the 20th century He called the 00:26:19.829 --> 00:26:22.869 fourth commandment the first and greatest workers 00:26:22.869 --> 00:26:27.750 protection act in history This is a labor movement 00:26:27.750 --> 00:26:31.849 act way before the Industrial Revolution Invited 00:26:31.849 --> 00:26:34.670 us to ask questions about labor union rights 00:26:34.670 --> 00:26:38.500 This is the beginning of it This is a holiday. 00:26:38.579 --> 00:26:43.319 It's a break. Yes, work. Amen. Yes, rest and 00:26:43.319 --> 00:26:47.759 mark your rest by worship. Amen. Do not neglect 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:50.200 the gathering together of saints on this holy 00:26:50.200 --> 00:26:52.920 day, but make your Sabbath. I want, this is the 00:26:52.920 --> 00:26:54.339 question I would love for y 'all to talk about 00:26:54.339 --> 00:26:57.220 around your lunch tables, okay? How can we make 00:26:57.220 --> 00:26:59.519 the Sabbath or the day that we set aside for 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:03.259 God a little more like a holiday? Should we eat 00:27:03.259 --> 00:27:09.009 ice cream? Yes, we should, you know? Should we 00:27:09.009 --> 00:27:11.349 reserve maybe the best bottles of wine for Sundays? 00:27:11.769 --> 00:27:15.349 Amen, right? What do we need to do to say this 00:27:15.349 --> 00:27:19.829 is a holy holiday? This is a day to celebrate 00:27:19.829 --> 00:27:22.150 God's work of creation, His work of redemption. 00:27:23.890 --> 00:27:26.410 Eat your favorite food on this day. Reserve it 00:27:26.410 --> 00:27:29.210 for this day. Delight yourself in the goodness 00:27:29.210 --> 00:27:32.650 of creation on this day. Okay, so some of the 00:27:32.650 --> 00:27:35.730 what, some of the how. Now the why, okay? Let 00:27:35.730 --> 00:27:39.029 me get to this a little bit. Well, why? Think 00:27:39.029 --> 00:27:43.630 with me. Why do you keep the time that you do? 00:27:48.150 --> 00:27:54.750 Why do we keep time around sports? Maybe we're 00:27:54.750 --> 00:27:57.089 building a certain kind of culture around that. 00:27:57.490 --> 00:28:01.839 We're demonstrating our loves through that. The 00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:04.200 things that we think define us and make us who 00:28:04.200 --> 00:28:09.980 we are. Why do we observe Independence Day or 00:28:09.980 --> 00:28:14.480 Juneteenth? Why do we think it's important to 00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:19.859 gather together on these days? Why do we do these 00:28:19.859 --> 00:28:24.740 things? I would suggest that we are telling certain 00:28:24.740 --> 00:28:28.319 stories that make us who we are. We're telling 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:30.599 about our past and how we've gotten to where 00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:33.019 we are, but we're also desiring to be a certain 00:28:33.019 --> 00:28:35.440 kind of person in the world and people in the 00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:40.460 world. We're marking our lives not just by our 00:28:40.460 --> 00:28:43.819 time, but we use our time based on what we love 00:28:43.819 --> 00:28:45.799 and what we cherish and who we desire to be, 00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:50.029 what we aspire towards. How you mark your time 00:28:50.029 --> 00:28:54.910 says an immense amount about your heart, immense 00:28:54.910 --> 00:28:57.890 amount about your heart, what you dwell on and 00:28:57.890 --> 00:29:01.509 what you desire. So verse six, or sorry, not 00:29:01.509 --> 00:29:05.910 verse six, verse 11. For in six days the Lord 00:29:05.910 --> 00:29:08.390 made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is 00:29:08.390 --> 00:29:12.410 in them and arrested on the seventh day. Therefore 00:29:12.410 --> 00:29:15.490 the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it 00:29:15.490 --> 00:29:19.390 holy. But a lot of you also know that actually 00:29:19.390 --> 00:29:21.349 the Ten Commandments aren't just found in the 00:29:21.349 --> 00:29:23.730 book of Exodus, in Exodus chapter 20, but they 00:29:23.730 --> 00:29:27.490 are also found in the book of Deuteronomy and 00:29:27.490 --> 00:29:31.029 chapter five of Deuteronomy. And when we get 00:29:31.029 --> 00:29:34.549 to chapter five of Deuteronomy, this is sort 00:29:34.549 --> 00:29:38.650 of the why. Verse 15 of chapter five, it says, 00:29:39.069 --> 00:29:42.289 you shall remember that you were a slave in the 00:29:42.289 --> 00:29:45.779 land of Egypt. And the Lord your God brought 00:29:45.779 --> 00:29:47.920 you out from there with a mighty hand and with 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:50.700 outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God 00:29:50.700 --> 00:29:56.420 commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Why do 00:29:56.420 --> 00:30:03.400 we keep, why keep one day in seven? Well, one 00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:05.740 of the things the Bible doesn't say is it's good 00:30:05.740 --> 00:30:08.099 for your mental health. It's good for you to 00:30:08.099 --> 00:30:10.849 work six days and have a break. You're less likely 00:30:10.849 --> 00:30:13.269 to live into anxiety and depression. You're less 00:30:13.269 --> 00:30:15.309 likely to have bipolar disease these kinds of 00:30:15.309 --> 00:30:21.490 things And you know, it doesn't say your Your 00:30:21.490 --> 00:30:24.349 productivity more or less flat lines in the 50s 00:30:24.349 --> 00:30:30.430 anyway, so just take a break The Bible doesn't 00:30:30.430 --> 00:30:34.730 present it to you as practical but as theological 00:30:35.990 --> 00:30:38.509 Which I would suggest to you it has to do with 00:30:38.509 --> 00:30:40.150 our relationship with God which has to do with 00:30:40.150 --> 00:30:47.349 our relationship with our heart our loves Why 00:30:47.349 --> 00:30:53.650 Why do this Because the Creator God loves you 00:30:53.650 --> 00:30:57.950 like the one who made all things He put a pattern 00:30:57.950 --> 00:31:00.750 into the world that reflects him and he desires 00:31:00.750 --> 00:31:05.450 for you to live into his image Reflecting because 00:31:05.450 --> 00:31:11.250 he loves you But he also redeemed you Right Deuteronomy 00:31:11.250 --> 00:31:15.069 says it was because you were once a slave Which 00:31:15.069 --> 00:31:17.569 is to say your identity was in the fact that 00:31:17.569 --> 00:31:22.410 you worked and you worked incessantly and that 00:31:22.410 --> 00:31:25.869 was all that was who you were and That is no 00:31:25.869 --> 00:31:29.829 longer who you are You are not a slave any longer 00:31:29.829 --> 00:31:34.329 freed person Your identity is not bound up in 00:31:34.329 --> 00:31:36.910 just what you accomplish and what you do and 00:31:36.910 --> 00:31:39.930 all of your productivity. I freed you from that. 00:31:41.230 --> 00:31:43.930 Your life is oriented around what I have done 00:31:43.930 --> 00:31:48.230 and what I've done for you. Why were they told 00:31:48.230 --> 00:31:51.670 to observe this commandment? Because they were 00:31:51.670 --> 00:31:55.869 defined now by their relationship with this God, 00:31:55.890 --> 00:32:00.130 this Creator, and this Redeemer. He's the one 00:32:00.130 --> 00:32:03.869 that shaped their life, made them who they are. 00:32:07.210 --> 00:32:13.490 No doubt, some of you may think that this is 00:32:13.490 --> 00:32:15.690 the one of the Ten Commandments that changed 00:32:15.690 --> 00:32:19.730 when Jesus came. We can keep the rest of them. 00:32:19.730 --> 00:32:21.609 It's probably good to not encourage people to 00:32:21.609 --> 00:32:25.490 murder. Coveting we know is bad, but you're like, 00:32:25.509 --> 00:32:27.710 I don't know about this. The fourth commandment, 00:32:27.730 --> 00:32:31.829 I don't know about this. Or maybe you think it 00:32:31.829 --> 00:32:35.430 went away altogether. Probably many of you know 00:32:35.430 --> 00:32:38.329 that early, early on, actually, as soon as we 00:32:38.329 --> 00:32:42.150 know, sort of in the book of Acts, the community 00:32:42.150 --> 00:32:44.849 around Jesus shifted when they gathered together. 00:32:45.309 --> 00:32:47.009 And actually in the New Testament multiple times, 00:32:47.009 --> 00:32:50.829 it's called the Lord's Day. They shift this idea 00:32:50.829 --> 00:32:53.369 of Sabbath to a day called the Lord's Day. In 00:32:53.369 --> 00:32:55.950 fact, B .B. Warfield, the great 19th century 00:32:55.950 --> 00:32:59.029 Princeton theologian said, Christ took the Sabbath 00:32:59.029 --> 00:33:04.769 into the grave with him, and he brought the Lord's 00:33:04.769 --> 00:33:08.230 Day out of the grave with him on that resurrection 00:33:08.230 --> 00:33:13.609 morn. Why do we believe that this pattern is 00:33:13.609 --> 00:33:15.509 still a good pattern and something actually to 00:33:15.509 --> 00:33:18.109 be delighted in and to be sought after? We should 00:33:18.109 --> 00:33:20.490 actually seek to work and to rest and to obey 00:33:20.490 --> 00:33:24.569 this commandment. Part of it is that we worship 00:33:24.569 --> 00:33:27.250 the Creator God. The one who spoke the world 00:33:27.250 --> 00:33:29.250 into being and he lives into this pattern. Part 00:33:29.250 --> 00:33:31.430 of it's because he brought us out from slavery 00:33:31.430 --> 00:33:33.809 where we just find our identity and the things 00:33:33.809 --> 00:33:38.210 that we do, the work that we accomplish. He's 00:33:38.210 --> 00:33:40.869 brought us out from that. But most of all, because 00:33:40.869 --> 00:33:44.049 he has invited us into the rest that was accomplished 00:33:44.049 --> 00:33:48.109 on the cross and the resurrection. Where Jesus 00:33:48.109 --> 00:33:53.460 says himself on the cross, it is finished. Jesus 00:33:53.460 --> 00:33:55.900 gives us a whole new meaning to work and to rest. 00:33:55.920 --> 00:33:58.319 He comes into the world to finish the work of 00:33:58.319 --> 00:34:01.460 the Father. And because His work is finished, 00:34:01.460 --> 00:34:03.660 we actually are invited to enter into His rest, 00:34:03.720 --> 00:34:07.900 that is everlasting, as Hebrews tells us. On 00:34:07.900 --> 00:34:11.119 the basis of His love, we are not defined by 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:14.440 what we do, but by what He has done. On the basis 00:34:14.440 --> 00:34:18.380 of His work, we can find rest for our weary souls. 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:23.239 On the basis of His work, were brought from slavery 00:34:23.239 --> 00:34:29.300 to freedom, from death to life. The great why 00:34:29.300 --> 00:34:31.659 of why we do this is because Christ rose from 00:34:31.659 --> 00:34:36.079 the dead. If you want a reason to have a holiday, 00:34:36.280 --> 00:34:38.960 a holy day, for Christians, there is no better 00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:43.039 reason, right? Every Sunday isn't Easter in a 00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:46.320 way. Every Sunday, gosh, wouldn't it be great 00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:48.539 if every Sunday y 'all all made cakes and we 00:34:48.539 --> 00:34:52.579 all toasted? Part of what I'm saying is do that 00:34:52.579 --> 00:34:56.179 in your life. Ask the Lord, how do I do that? 00:34:56.179 --> 00:34:58.159 How do I celebrate a little bit more the reality 00:34:58.159 --> 00:35:02.460 that I was brought from slavery to sin to new 00:35:02.460 --> 00:35:09.420 life in Christ? What, how, why? Why do we do 00:35:09.420 --> 00:35:17.659 all this timekeeping? If you think back on Mother's 00:35:17.659 --> 00:35:21.820 Day, if you think of Mother's Day today, I love 00:35:21.820 --> 00:35:24.619 that that woman was so persistent, Anna Jarvis, 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:29.179 that it got the attention of the president and 00:35:29.179 --> 00:35:31.800 that she wanted to mark it with a white flower 00:35:31.800 --> 00:35:35.500 that marked peace. Cause she said, this is a 00:35:35.500 --> 00:35:38.679 necessary thing to celebrate. We must celebrate 00:35:38.679 --> 00:35:42.460 those who pursue peace, nurture others in wellbeing 00:35:42.460 --> 00:35:45.780 and well living. I mean, I don't know how you 00:35:45.780 --> 00:35:47.579 can't hear that story and say, yes, that is a 00:35:47.579 --> 00:35:54.269 good thing. Enter into the rest of Christ. Work 00:35:54.269 --> 00:36:00.489 hard, but rest well. Jesus has accomplished it. 00:36:00.530 --> 00:36:03.710 You don't have to keep treading. He invites you 00:36:03.710 --> 00:36:08.090 into his rest. Let's just collectively say, let's 00:36:08.090 --> 00:36:11.250 love and delight in the law of the Lord and meditate 00:36:11.250 --> 00:36:14.809 on it and put it on and seek to live for him. 00:36:15.230 --> 00:36:18.590 As we think about how do we rest one day in seven, 00:36:18.750 --> 00:36:21.500 let me pray for us. We're thankful for the pattern 00:36:21.500 --> 00:36:24.000 of life that you've given us, God. We know that 00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:26.480 applying it is so tricky, but I pray that you'd 00:36:26.480 --> 00:36:30.500 give us creativity and grace, that we would follow 00:36:30.500 --> 00:36:33.159 in the way of Christ, who healed so often on 00:36:33.159 --> 00:36:36.059 the Sabbath, because it was a day of recreation, 00:36:37.139 --> 00:36:41.440 a day of healing, a day of grace. God, I pray 00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:44.000 that we would be those who desire to meet with 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:47.710 you on this holy day. Um, that we find our life 00:36:47.710 --> 00:36:51.989 in you that, that, that calling, um, the Lord's 00:36:51.989 --> 00:36:53.949 day, a holiday would not be something that makes 00:36:53.949 --> 00:36:57.110 us scratch our heads or question or be, be disgruntled 00:36:57.110 --> 00:36:58.789 about, but it's something that we desire and 00:36:58.789 --> 00:37:02.929 pursue. Um, that your work on the cross and the 00:37:02.929 --> 00:37:05.289 empty grave would mark our lives just as the 00:37:05.289 --> 00:37:08.289 many other days that we observe mark them. God, 00:37:08.329 --> 00:37:13.170 would this be our reality, our being that we 00:37:13.170 --> 00:37:16.179 were made in the image? of the true God who made 00:37:16.179 --> 00:37:19.980 all things, that we were brought out of slavery 00:37:19.980 --> 00:37:23.039 to yourself, that we were brought from death 00:37:23.039 --> 00:37:25.440 to life in the cross and resurrection of Christ. 00:37:26.179 --> 00:37:29.079 Whose name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening 00:37:29.079 --> 00:37:31.860 to Second City Sermons podcast. We hope this 00:37:31.860 --> 00:37:33.840 sermon has encouraged you to worship God and 00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:36.679 to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please consider 00:37:36.679 --> 00:37:39.099 subscribing to this podcast and joining us in 00:37:39.099 --> 00:37:42.260 person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us 00:37:42.260 --> 00:37:45.619 online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Instagram, 00:37:45.920 --> 00:37:48.300 Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. 00:37:48.699 --> 00:37:49.239 God bless.