WEBVTT 00:00:03.679 --> 00:00:06.799 Hey all, Pastor Jon here. Thanks for tuning 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:09.980 in to the weekly sermon podcast. We pray this 00:00:09.980 --> 00:00:12.740 message encourages you, strengthens your faith, 00:00:12.900 --> 00:00:15.359 and helps you to take your next step with Jesus. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:18.359 If this content blesses you and you'd like to 00:00:18.359 --> 00:00:20.500 be a part of helping us continue to bring the 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:22.960 gospel to life, we'd love for you to consider 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:26.079 supporting the ministry of village. Your generosity 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:28.579 makes it possible for us to keep creating and 00:00:28.579 --> 00:00:31.670 sharing resources like this podcast. You can 00:00:31.670 --> 00:00:35.729 give safely and easily by visiting sacvillage 00:00:35.729 --> 00:00:39.390 .org slash give, or by heading to our website 00:00:39.390 --> 00:00:43.350 at sacvillage .org. Thanks again for listening. 00:00:43.890 --> 00:00:54.469 Now let's dive into this week's message. If you 00:00:54.469 --> 00:00:56.929 have your Bibles, go ahead and turn to Genesis 00:00:56.929 --> 00:01:00.670 chapter 2. Genesis is the first book in the Bible, 00:01:00.710 --> 00:01:02.170 so if you're not familiar with the layout of 00:01:02.170 --> 00:01:04.689 the Bible, just go to that first book. Genesis 00:01:04.689 --> 00:01:06.769 chapter two, that's the big number, two, and 00:01:06.769 --> 00:01:08.370 then we're gonna start in the little number one. 00:01:08.650 --> 00:01:15.010 Genesis chapter two and verse one. And you might 00:01:15.010 --> 00:01:16.549 think, well, OK, so we're hitting the new year 00:01:16.549 --> 00:01:19.049 here. Let's go ahead and have a sermon that lays 00:01:19.049 --> 00:01:21.590 out the groundwork and tells us all the things 00:01:21.590 --> 00:01:23.590 that we need to be doing and how we need to shape 00:01:23.590 --> 00:01:26.250 up this year and all the goals that we have. 00:01:26.349 --> 00:01:27.870 And I think today is going to be a little bit 00:01:27.870 --> 00:01:30.170 different. The title of my sermon today is When 00:01:30.170 --> 00:01:34.790 the Work is Finished. Genesis chapter 2, beginning 00:01:34.790 --> 00:01:38.170 in verse 1. So the heavens and the earth and 00:01:38.170 --> 00:01:42.459 everything and them were completed. On the seventh 00:01:42.459 --> 00:01:45.599 day, God had completed his work that he had done, 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:49.500 and he rested on the seventh day from all his 00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:53.120 work that he had done. God blessed the seventh 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:57.680 day and declared it holy, for on it he rested 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:03.260 from all his work of creation. This is God's 00:02:03.260 --> 00:02:08.560 word. For many of us, stepping into a new year, 00:02:08.740 --> 00:02:11.939 we kind of import all kinds of assumptions and 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:14.840 perspectives into it. Something like this might 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:17.919 sound familiar to you. This year, success will 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:21.879 depend on me, on my effort, on my consistency, 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:26.580 on my discipline, on my endurance. And maybe 00:02:26.580 --> 00:02:28.439 for some of you, rarely do you say that out loud, 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:33.469 but we surely live like it is true. We stack 00:02:33.469 --> 00:02:37.030 good responsibilities on top of good responsibilities. 00:02:37.449 --> 00:02:40.250 And sometimes, even when we're exhausted, we 00:02:40.250 --> 00:02:43.349 push through because stopping can feel like we're 00:02:43.349 --> 00:02:46.569 lazy or feel like failure or irresponsibility. 00:02:47.610 --> 00:02:49.629 And we think, man, if I stop, things are gonna 00:02:49.629 --> 00:02:53.849 fall apart. If I stop, people might be disappointed 00:02:53.849 --> 00:02:59.210 in me. And so we keep going, we keep going. A 00:02:59.210 --> 00:03:04.219 few years ago, who founded and was running a 00:03:04.219 --> 00:03:06.539 global media company called the Huffington Post. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:09.439 She told a story about a moment that changed 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:13.210 her life. At the time, she was doing what our 00:03:13.210 --> 00:03:16.849 culture celebrates, especially for women in our 00:03:16.849 --> 00:03:19.810 culture. She was successful. She was traveling 00:03:19.810 --> 00:03:23.409 constantly. She was sleeping very, very little. 00:03:23.490 --> 00:03:26.349 She was working nonstop, and she was carrying 00:03:26.349 --> 00:03:30.229 enormous responsibility to found this global 00:03:30.229 --> 00:03:34.389 media company. And by every external measurement, 00:03:34.909 --> 00:03:38.650 she was successful. She had made it. She was 00:03:38.650 --> 00:03:42.110 dominating. And then one day her body gave out. 00:03:43.590 --> 00:03:46.830 She collapsed from exhaustion. She passed out 00:03:46.830 --> 00:03:49.530 and hit her head. And when she came to, she woke 00:03:49.530 --> 00:03:54.409 up in a pool of blood. And later on, when she 00:03:54.409 --> 00:03:57.870 reflected on that moment, she said the most unsettling 00:03:57.870 --> 00:04:03.349 part wasn't the collapse. It was what she realized 00:04:03.349 --> 00:04:08.180 in the recovery. While she was recovering from 00:04:08.180 --> 00:04:13.800 her fall, the company kept running. Stories were 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:17.600 written and published. The world didn't fall 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:23.120 apart all without her. The machine didn't need 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:26.759 her the way that she thought it did. And it shook 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:30.839 her. It wasn't just the exhaustion of it, but 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:34.240 it was this lie that she had been living under, 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:37.310 which is, If I stop, everything will unravel. 00:04:39.170 --> 00:04:41.649 And whether we admit it or not, many of us are 00:04:41.649 --> 00:04:44.649 carrying that same assumption into the new year. 00:04:46.129 --> 00:04:48.250 But scripture tells a very different story about 00:04:48.250 --> 00:04:51.670 how God intends his people to live. The Bible 00:04:51.670 --> 00:04:55.269 doesn't open with urgency or anxious busyness, 00:04:55.569 --> 00:04:58.589 but with order and intention that leads to rest. 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.980 The first rest in scripture comes after completion. 00:05:04.459 --> 00:05:06.660 And that's where I want us to begin this year, 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:09.120 not with everything we have to do or everything 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:11.959 that we need to do, but with what God has already 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:15.459 finished. Today we're gonna talk about Sabbath. 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:20.959 Not as laziness or self -indulgent, or as another 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:23.980 spiritual discipline to feel really bad at when 00:05:23.980 --> 00:05:31.819 you fail. But as a gospel practice. A way of 00:05:31.819 --> 00:05:35.759 trusting that the world, our families, our finances, 00:05:36.459 --> 00:05:39.699 the church and our lives are held together by 00:05:39.699 --> 00:05:44.879 God, not by us. So let me say this right at the 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:49.480 outset. Refusing Sabbath is not a scheduling 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:55.639 issue. It's a trust issue. And so let's go back 00:05:55.639 --> 00:05:57.480 to the very beginning and listen to what God 00:05:57.480 --> 00:06:01.069 tells us about rest and about himself. If you're 00:06:01.069 --> 00:06:02.910 taking notes, I got three points today. Number 00:06:02.910 --> 00:06:06.250 one, God rested because the work was finished. 00:06:09.389 --> 00:06:13.290 The word Sabbath simply means to stop. It comes 00:06:13.290 --> 00:06:16.029 from a Hebrew word that means to cease or to 00:06:16.029 --> 00:06:20.850 rest or to bring something to an end. And in 00:06:20.850 --> 00:06:23.529 Genesis chapter one, God creates the world. He 00:06:23.529 --> 00:06:26.410 brings something out of nothing. He orders chaos. 00:06:26.649 --> 00:06:30.360 He establishes life, he establishes light and 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:34.360 oceans and waters and land and time and purpose, 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:37.899 all of that in creative work. And God's work 00:06:37.899 --> 00:06:43.259 is not the same as our work, amen. That work 00:06:43.259 --> 00:06:47.879 only God can do. And when he gets to Genesis 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:51.019 chapter two, it tells us that God arrested. And 00:06:51.019 --> 00:06:53.779 it's not saying that God had to stop because 00:06:53.779 --> 00:06:58.709 God got tired, is it? Scripture's clear as day, 00:06:58.970 --> 00:07:01.470 right? God does not grow weary. Listen to what 00:07:01.470 --> 00:07:04.250 Isaiah wrote. The Lord is the everlasting God, 00:07:04.449 --> 00:07:07.930 the creator of the whole earth. He never becomes 00:07:07.930 --> 00:07:11.550 faint or weary. There is no limit to his understanding. 00:07:12.670 --> 00:07:16.009 God doesn't need recovery time. He doesn't need 00:07:16.009 --> 00:07:22.290 to recharge. So why does God rest? Well, Genesis 00:07:22.290 --> 00:07:25.790 two starts with, so the heavens and earth. and 00:07:25.790 --> 00:07:31.589 everything in them were completed. God rests 00:07:31.589 --> 00:07:37.370 because his creative work is complete. Nothing 00:07:37.370 --> 00:07:43.170 missing, nothing fragile, nothing left undone. 00:07:44.629 --> 00:07:47.250 And what does God do next? He blesses the seventh 00:07:47.250 --> 00:07:51.730 day and he makes it holy. Literally time itself 00:07:51.730 --> 00:07:57.720 became holy. Not because he needs rest why because 00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:03.459 we do But what do I mean God's God's rest is 00:08:03.459 --> 00:08:07.560 not a model of exertion that leads to exhaustion 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:12.339 Therefore we need rest, but God's model is a 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:17.000 model or a declaration of sovereignty By resting 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:20.279 God is saying the world is now ordered it is 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:23.480 sustained by my power It does not depend on my 00:08:23.480 --> 00:08:30.360 constant exertion. It is done And in doing so 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:33.200 God is teaching his creatures something about 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:38.120 reality Human beings are created after God's 00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:41.600 work is finished which means for every single 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:45.299 one of us On the very first day of our existence, 00:08:45.460 --> 00:08:48.940 we enter a world that is already being held together 00:08:48.940 --> 00:08:52.820 by God. I know some of us like to think the world 00:08:52.820 --> 00:08:56.399 depends on us, yeah? Guess what? The day you 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:02.440 arrived, it was going just fine. We do not begin 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:05.100 our life with responsibility. We begin our life 00:09:05.100 --> 00:09:10.580 with dependence. And that's why Sabbath is built 00:09:10.580 --> 00:09:15.409 into creation. Not as a reward for finishing 00:09:15.409 --> 00:09:18.570 all our work, but as a boundary that reminds 00:09:18.570 --> 00:09:25.710 us that we are not God. Our work is always ongoing 00:09:25.710 --> 00:09:28.830 and our to -do lists are never complete. Our 00:09:28.830 --> 00:09:32.330 responsibilities are real, but our abilities 00:09:32.330 --> 00:09:39.350 are limited. And Sabbath teaches us to stop, 00:09:40.049 --> 00:09:43.690 not because everything is done, but because everything 00:09:43.690 --> 00:09:50.090 is not ours to carry. God rests to show that 00:09:50.090 --> 00:09:53.750 ultimate responsibility for sustaining all things 00:09:53.750 --> 00:09:59.090 belongs to him. And when he invites his people 00:09:59.090 --> 00:10:01.889 into Sabbath, he's not saying only if your work 00:10:01.889 --> 00:10:07.049 is finished. He is saying remember whose work 00:10:07.049 --> 00:10:12.200 ultimately matters. Sabbath is not about accomplishing 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:15.840 less so much as it is about trusting more from 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:19.039 the very beginning God builds a rhythm into creation 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:23.679 and says you may work faithfully But you may 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:26.539 not work as though everything depends on you 00:10:26.539 --> 00:10:29.860 You may work faithfully and we ought to work 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:32.740 faithfully, but you may not work as though everything 00:10:32.740 --> 00:10:39.220 depends on you Number two we struggle with Sabbath 00:10:39.529 --> 00:10:46.169 because we don't trust. After the opening chapters 00:10:46.169 --> 00:10:48.590 of the Bible, the story kind of quickly moves 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:54.210 from creation into brokenness. Human beings stop 00:10:54.210 --> 00:10:58.269 trusting God. Sin enters the world and over time, 00:10:58.669 --> 00:11:01.830 God begins the long work of rescuing and restoring 00:11:01.830 --> 00:11:06.039 his people. And one moment in that story happens 00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:08.879 in the book of Genesis. God's people, Israel, 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:12.159 have been living as slaves in Egypt for generations. 00:11:12.740 --> 00:11:14.580 And they have no control over their time. They 00:11:14.580 --> 00:11:17.539 have no control over their labor. They have no 00:11:17.539 --> 00:11:20.299 control over their bodies. Every day is defined 00:11:20.299 --> 00:11:24.440 by production. Production, what can they produce? 00:11:26.539 --> 00:11:29.320 And then God does something miraculous. He delivers 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:31.779 them from their slavery. He leads them out of 00:11:31.779 --> 00:11:34.440 slavery and through the Red Sea and into the 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:36.899 wilderness on the way to the land that he promised 00:11:36.899 --> 00:11:41.759 them. But freedom and deliverance of the people 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:46.179 don't immediately erase their fear. They are 00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:49.440 no longer enslaved, but they are not yet settled 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:54.720 and at rest. They are free, but not free from 00:11:54.720 --> 00:12:00.200 anxiety. I think you probably know this, but 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:02.620 anxiety has a way of exposing what we really 00:12:02.620 --> 00:12:09.120 trust. They look around the wilderness that God 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:11.360 has brought them out to, and they ask a very 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:13.360 human question. I'm thinking I'm probably gonna 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:15.100 be the first one to ask it while I'm out there. 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:17.299 I'm like, thanks a lot, God, for leading us out 00:12:17.299 --> 00:12:20.980 of slavery. I'm not gonna question the route 00:12:20.980 --> 00:12:23.879 you took through the wilderness. You could have 00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:28.299 gone a little more flourishing, a little more 00:12:28.299 --> 00:12:29.980 plant life, a little more something, but thanks 00:12:29.980 --> 00:12:32.080 for taking us to the wilderness. Now the question 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:33.799 is, how are we going to survive out here, God? 00:12:35.139 --> 00:12:36.980 It's great that you brought us out of slavery, 00:12:37.019 --> 00:12:39.279 but how are we going to survive? And the people 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:41.840 begin to ask these questions. They begin to grumble. 00:12:41.980 --> 00:12:44.840 They begin to worry about food. They imagine 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:50.799 the worst. You brought us out here to die. And 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:55.059 how does God respond to all of this? But Exodus, 00:12:55.059 --> 00:13:01.279 God responds with grace. He tells them he himself 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:05.360 will provide food every day. He will make sure 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:08.039 they are fed. He will take care of their daily 00:13:08.039 --> 00:13:12.460 need. Each morning they're to wake up and to 00:13:12.460 --> 00:13:15.500 go and find a mysterious substance on the ground. 00:13:16.460 --> 00:13:19.200 They actually don't know what it is. And so they 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:23.340 see it and they call it, what is it? What is 00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:26.559 it? That's manna, right? Manna, meaning what 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:36.120 is it? I told about one of my sons. He collects 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:41.879 things. And one time I walked in and zipped open 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:45.320 a bag that he had. And I won't say which son, 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:49.600 but I zipped open a bag and I'm like, oh my gosh, 00:13:49.700 --> 00:13:53.899 what is it? What is it? And it turns out he was 00:13:53.899 --> 00:14:00.639 the caps from those applesauce pouches, you know, 00:14:00.940 --> 00:14:03.139 you twist the cap off and he decided he was just 00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:07.940 going to save like 300 of them in a bag. I remember 00:14:07.940 --> 00:14:17.700 going, what is it? There's this mysterious substance 00:14:17.700 --> 00:14:19.759 on the ground. They don't know what to call it. 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:23.139 They call it. manna, literally what is it? And 00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:25.259 God gives them these very specific instructions 00:14:25.259 --> 00:14:28.220 about what to do. They are to gather only what 00:14:28.220 --> 00:14:32.860 they need to eat for that day. They go out in 00:14:32.860 --> 00:14:36.320 the morning and gather. No stockpiling, no hoarding, 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:41.639 no safety net, no chucking a little manna away 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:44.879 in their 401K. Like just go out for what you 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:50.059 need today. And then God adds one more instruction. 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:52.960 On top of that, on the sixth day, they are to 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:57.639 go and gather twice as much what they need today 00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:01.279 and one more portion, because the seventh day, 00:15:01.340 --> 00:15:05.159 there will be no manna. He will provide the seventh 00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:08.700 day manna on the sixth day, because that day, 00:15:08.779 --> 00:15:11.559 the seventh day is a day of rest, a Sabbath. 00:15:13.329 --> 00:15:15.529 And here's one detail to think about. This is 00:15:15.529 --> 00:15:17.529 before the 10 commandments. This is before the 00:15:17.529 --> 00:15:21.590 law on Mount Sinai is given, before Sabbath is 00:15:21.590 --> 00:15:24.610 given as a command. God is teaching them Sabbath 00:15:24.610 --> 00:15:32.090 as a trust, not merely rule keeping. And how 00:15:32.090 --> 00:15:36.490 do you think the people respond? How do you think 00:15:36.490 --> 00:15:41.509 they respond? How would you respond? The people 00:15:41.509 --> 00:15:47.789 struggle a little bit. Some gather extra manna, 00:15:47.990 --> 00:15:51.850 afraid that God won't provide tomorrows. Others 00:15:51.850 --> 00:15:54.309 go out on the Sabbath anyway, even though there's 00:15:54.309 --> 00:15:57.889 no manna out there, just in case. And the text, 00:15:57.909 --> 00:16:01.389 the scripture tells us that the extra manna that 00:16:01.389 --> 00:16:04.710 they gathered, what was more than what they needed 00:16:04.710 --> 00:16:11.909 for the day spoils. It rots. Why? Because hoarded 00:16:11.909 --> 00:16:18.909 provision is a form of unbelief. The wilderness 00:16:18.909 --> 00:16:23.669 reveals something that God's people are struggling 00:16:23.669 --> 00:16:29.429 and we struggle to rest because we're afraid. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:34.480 afraid that if we stop, things will fall apart, 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:39.139 afraid that if we don't stay ahead of everything, 00:16:39.299 --> 00:16:43.600 that we'll just fall behind. And so they gather 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:47.659 and they keep gathering. And I think that story 00:16:47.659 --> 00:16:52.379 out of the life of God's people in Israel sounds 00:16:52.379 --> 00:16:56.279 uncomfortably familiar to our lives. Sure, we 00:16:56.279 --> 00:17:02.990 don't hoard manna, but we hoard stuff. Just in 00:17:02.990 --> 00:17:09.369 case. If you wanna make a lot of money, go into 00:17:09.369 --> 00:17:13.670 the self -storage business. Dude, folks buy storage 00:17:13.670 --> 00:17:15.890 units and they put their junk in there and they 00:17:15.890 --> 00:17:18.970 just pay it forever. Forever and ever, and then 00:17:18.970 --> 00:17:22.730 their kids have to deal with it. We were stuffed 00:17:22.730 --> 00:17:26.490 just in case. Our spaces are stuffed full of 00:17:26.490 --> 00:17:31.529 things. We hoard money, savings that moves from 00:17:31.529 --> 00:17:35.089 wisdom, which is good. Saving money is good. 00:17:35.490 --> 00:17:38.390 Having a form of wisdom, a plan is good, but 00:17:38.390 --> 00:17:42.170 we move from savings that is wisdom to fear -driven 00:17:42.170 --> 00:17:50.329 control. Speaking of control, we hoard that too. 00:17:51.549 --> 00:17:55.029 We hold tightly to outcomes and decisions. They 00:17:55.029 --> 00:17:59.579 have to go. the way that we want them to. We 00:17:59.579 --> 00:18:01.900 hoard time, we guard it so tightly that we can't 00:18:01.900 --> 00:18:04.799 be generous with it. We hoard our margins, we 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:08.140 fill every gap to avoid any sort of stillness. 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:12.420 And these are all good things that God has provided, 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:16.420 all things that God has given to us to enjoy, 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:18.859 but these are all things that at times we put 00:18:18.859 --> 00:18:21.880 our trust and our hope in them for stability 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:25.220 and security, and they always fail. They always 00:18:25.220 --> 00:18:30.400 rot. And this is where Sabbath confronts us. 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:35.200 Sabbath asks the question, do you trust God to 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:41.450 provide if you stop? And Sabbath is difficult. 00:18:41.609 --> 00:18:43.670 If you step back and you look at our culture 00:18:43.670 --> 00:18:50.849 at the moment or before today, sociologists will 00:18:50.849 --> 00:18:53.289 say, there used to be a time where if you ask 00:18:53.289 --> 00:18:55.750 someone who are you, they would name their family 00:18:55.750 --> 00:18:59.430 or the place of origin or their faith, but modern 00:18:59.430 --> 00:19:02.670 people instinctively answer who they are with 00:19:02.670 --> 00:19:13.250 what they do. We work and our work becomes the 00:19:13.250 --> 00:19:17.269 location of our worth. The rest feels threatening 00:19:17.269 --> 00:19:21.829 and our resistance to the Sabbath reveals ultimately 00:19:21.829 --> 00:19:25.849 that it's not a time problem. It's not a scheduling 00:19:25.849 --> 00:19:32.410 problem, but it's an identity problem. Every 00:19:32.410 --> 00:19:35.250 time we ignore Sabbath, we are making a quiet 00:19:35.250 --> 00:19:39.059 confession. If I don't hold this together, No 00:19:39.059 --> 00:19:44.359 one will. If I stop, I'll be a disappointment, 00:19:44.859 --> 00:19:50.240 a failure. And the wilderness exposes what creation 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:52.779 has already taught us, that we were never meant 00:19:52.779 --> 00:19:56.500 to carry the world. And God is patient with his 00:19:56.500 --> 00:19:59.039 people here, not harsh with them. He does not 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:01.720 abandon them. He keeps providing, but he keeps 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:06.869 inviting them to trust him. Will we believe God 00:20:06.869 --> 00:20:11.869 is who he says he is? There's another observation 00:20:11.869 --> 00:20:15.609 that anthropologists make. When cultures remove 00:20:15.609 --> 00:20:18.849 intentional rhythms of rest, rest doesn't just 00:20:18.849 --> 00:20:24.789 disappear. It changes form. Instead of planned 00:20:24.789 --> 00:20:28.990 stops, intentional rest, people experience unplanned 00:20:28.990 --> 00:20:34.569 collapse, like Ariana Huffington. Instead of 00:20:34.569 --> 00:20:38.170 Sabbath, they crash. And we see it everywhere, 00:20:38.450 --> 00:20:42.130 burnout cycles and emotional numbness. Some people 00:20:42.130 --> 00:20:45.109 escape, try to get away as quick as possible 00:20:45.109 --> 00:20:50.089 from anything. We see exertion that leads to 00:20:50.089 --> 00:20:53.210 exhaustion, that leads to binge watching and 00:20:53.210 --> 00:20:58.829 eating that actually doesn't restore. Because 00:20:58.829 --> 00:21:02.779 rest was never meant to be imposed on you. It 00:21:02.779 --> 00:21:07.380 was meant to be received by you. And when we 00:21:07.380 --> 00:21:10.599 refuse God's gracious interruptions, our bodies 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:15.700 and our souls will eventually force one. Which 00:21:15.700 --> 00:21:19.000 is why so many of us don't really rest, we just 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:23.440 recover enough to keep going. But collapse is 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:28.759 not the same as Sabbath. And survival, not the 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:34.079 same as trust. And that's why Sabbath can't just 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:38.359 be about managing our energy. It has to be about 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:42.480 trusting God. So if you're taking notes, the 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:44.420 final point I'll have you write down is Jesus 00:21:44.420 --> 00:21:50.579 gives the rest we could never earn. Up to this 00:21:50.579 --> 00:21:52.900 point, the story has been exposing something 00:21:52.900 --> 00:21:56.039 about us. Creation shows us what Sabbath is. 00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:59.859 The wilderness shows us why we resist it. but 00:21:59.859 --> 00:22:03.140 neither creation nor the wilderness can finally 00:22:03.140 --> 00:22:06.160 give us rest. They all point forward to something 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:08.579 because the deepest problem is that we don't 00:22:08.579 --> 00:22:11.099 know how to trust and that's where Jesus enters 00:22:11.099 --> 00:22:15.420 the story. When Jesus begins his public ministry, 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:18.240 one of the things that immediately causes tension 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:22.880 in his ministry is over the Sabbath. He heals 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:25.940 on the Sabbath. He allows his disciples to pick 00:22:25.940 --> 00:22:29.730 grain and eat it on the Sabbath. Jesus refuses 00:22:29.730 --> 00:22:33.289 to treat Sabbath as a sort of performance metric. 00:22:35.089 --> 00:22:37.289 And when he's confronted about it, how does Jesus 00:22:37.289 --> 00:22:39.730 respond? Well, in Mark chapter two, he says, 00:22:40.069 --> 00:22:43.910 the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the 00:22:43.910 --> 00:22:48.750 Sabbath. So the son of man is Lord, even of the 00:22:48.750 --> 00:22:53.589 Sabbath. In other words, Sabbath was never meant 00:22:53.589 --> 00:22:57.789 to crush people under legalism. that says you're 00:22:57.789 --> 00:23:01.029 only faithful if you stop the right way for the 00:23:01.029 --> 00:23:03.069 right length of time on the right day of the 00:23:03.069 --> 00:23:05.309 week with the right restrictions. Otherwise, 00:23:05.410 --> 00:23:10.109 God is disappointed in you. Sabbath was given 00:23:10.109 --> 00:23:14.369 not as a test to pass, but as a gift to receive 00:23:14.369 --> 00:23:17.930 an invitation to trust that God is at work even 00:23:17.930 --> 00:23:24.630 when we stop. And Jesus doesn't just interpret 00:23:24.630 --> 00:23:28.569 the purpose of Sabbath. He goes on to claim authority 00:23:28.569 --> 00:23:36.309 over it. He says, I am Lord of rest. You might 00:23:36.309 --> 00:23:43.910 even say, I am Lord of the finished work. So 00:23:43.910 --> 00:23:48.190 how does Jesus actually give rest? Well, it's 00:23:48.190 --> 00:23:52.109 not by texting us a link to the newest iPhone 00:23:52.109 --> 00:23:56.960 app that helps us schedule better, right? It's 00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:59.559 not even about giving us a repeatable rhythm 00:23:59.559 --> 00:24:02.180 that we're supposed to all religiously follow. 00:24:03.940 --> 00:24:06.079 But he does something that we could never do 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:11.319 ourselves. Jesus willingly goes to the cross. 00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:15.140 And he bears the weight of sin and failure and 00:24:15.140 --> 00:24:18.299 brokenness and fear, everything that keeps us 00:24:18.299 --> 00:24:20.779 striving, everything that keeps us proving, everything 00:24:20.779 --> 00:24:24.160 that keeps us exalting ourselves and exhausting 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:27.400 ourselves. he goes to pay for it at the cross. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:32.619 And as he breathes his last breath, his last 00:24:32.619 --> 00:24:39.240 words are, it is finished. And that word finished, 00:24:39.240 --> 00:24:40.920 man, it sounds familiar, doesn't it? It draws 00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:43.710 us all the way back to Genesis. Chapter two, 00:24:43.829 --> 00:24:47.750 it's the same idea as Genesis. God rested because 00:24:47.750 --> 00:24:50.529 creation was finished, finished. Jesus rests 00:24:50.529 --> 00:24:53.950 because redemption is finished. Nothing is left 00:24:53.950 --> 00:24:56.930 undone. Sin has been dealt with. The debt has 00:24:56.930 --> 00:25:00.829 been paid in full. The work that truly matters 00:25:00.829 --> 00:25:07.670 has been fully and complete. It's done. Which 00:25:07.670 --> 00:25:10.529 means Sabbath is not something we strive to keep 00:25:10.529 --> 00:25:13.859 in order to please God. But Sabbath becomes something 00:25:13.859 --> 00:25:17.079 we practice because we trust that God is already 00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:21.720 pleased with us in Christ Jesus. And this is 00:25:21.720 --> 00:25:24.339 the shift that the gospel makes. Jesus doesn't 00:25:24.339 --> 00:25:28.980 say, try really hard to rest. Anyone ever tried 00:25:28.980 --> 00:25:34.720 that? I tried last night. I was like, trying 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:36.460 really hard to sleep. And I'm like, the more 00:25:36.460 --> 00:25:41.859 I try, the harder it is. He doesn't say try harder 00:25:41.859 --> 00:25:45.380 to rest. He says, come to me all you who are 00:25:45.380 --> 00:25:51.299 weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:58.559 Rest is not something you achieve. Rest is something 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:07.240 you receive. But if we refuse to receive the 00:26:07.240 --> 00:26:10.750 rhythm of rest, that God is providing, we don't 00:26:10.750 --> 00:26:15.690 just end up tired. We actually end up living 00:26:15.690 --> 00:26:20.950 as though the work is not finished. As though 00:26:20.950 --> 00:26:24.410 our efforts still has to secure what Christ has 00:26:24.410 --> 00:26:29.029 already accomplished. But when we practice Sabbath, 00:26:30.170 --> 00:26:34.190 when we stop, when we cease, when we trust, We 00:26:34.190 --> 00:26:37.089 are making a confession. We are actually living 00:26:37.089 --> 00:26:42.130 a confessional life when we Sabbath. Our life 00:26:42.130 --> 00:26:44.690 becomes a message. And what is that message? 00:26:44.769 --> 00:26:47.970 We're saying the world is not held together by 00:26:47.970 --> 00:26:52.349 me. My worth is not proven by my productivity. 00:26:52.869 --> 00:26:59.049 God is God and I am not. And Sabbath becomes 00:26:59.049 --> 00:27:06.049 an act of worship then. A weekly reminder, a 00:27:06.049 --> 00:27:09.470 daily reminder, a monthly reminder that grace, 00:27:09.890 --> 00:27:13.750 not productivity and exhaustion, is what sustains 00:27:13.750 --> 00:27:18.690 God's people. Think about it. A group of people 00:27:18.690 --> 00:27:22.250 in a world that is driven by identity around 00:27:22.250 --> 00:27:26.390 what you produce. A world that is driven around 00:27:26.390 --> 00:27:30.029 identity about what purpose you serve in this 00:27:30.029 --> 00:27:33.259 world. and how much you can produce a peculiar 00:27:33.259 --> 00:27:37.619 people who set that aside and practice a regular 00:27:37.619 --> 00:27:42.900 rhythm of Sabbath who say, the world is not held 00:27:42.900 --> 00:27:48.339 together by me. My worth is not in what I produce. 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:51.619 Hey, it's really great. It's awesome if I can 00:27:51.619 --> 00:27:55.259 bring home the bacon, but that's not my worth. 00:27:55.440 --> 00:28:02.480 That's all that is. Sabbath is not laziness. 00:28:03.460 --> 00:28:07.559 It's not indulgent. Sabbath is not a luxury. 00:28:08.619 --> 00:28:14.099 And Sabbath is not an optional self care. Sabbath 00:28:14.099 --> 00:28:20.099 is a lived declaration of the gospel. Because 00:28:20.099 --> 00:28:24.019 Jesus has finished the work, we are finally free 00:28:24.019 --> 00:28:29.319 to rest. And so here's the invitation. Again, 00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:33.519 not another command or checklist or some spiritual 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:35.680 goal for you to fail out in the first two months 00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:42.660 of the year. It's an invitation to trust, to 00:28:42.660 --> 00:28:48.720 practice Sabbath rest. Not perfectly, not rigidly, 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:54.220 but intentionally. To choose a regular rhythm 00:28:54.220 --> 00:28:57.849 of Sabbath rest where you stop working, you stop 00:28:57.849 --> 00:29:01.289 proving, you stop producing, and you let your 00:29:01.289 --> 00:29:07.150 life confess God is God. The world is held together 00:29:07.150 --> 00:29:11.750 by him, Christ's work is finished, and I am not 00:29:11.750 --> 00:29:17.069 indispensable. Sabbath is resistance to the lie 00:29:17.069 --> 00:29:20.230 that everything depends on you. I'll tell you 00:29:20.230 --> 00:29:26.079 from my own personal life. this idea of intentional 00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:30.779 resting in the truth that God is in control and 00:29:30.779 --> 00:29:34.779 he can handle the operations of the world and 00:29:34.779 --> 00:29:37.220 all the things that I think are important. It's 00:29:37.220 --> 00:29:40.599 a very difficult journey to walk in, but it's 00:29:40.599 --> 00:29:43.640 one that I'm so grateful that the Lord has graciously 00:29:43.640 --> 00:29:49.440 invited me into. For years, Not only is it that 00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:52.180 it's the pressure, the external pressure of schedules 00:29:52.180 --> 00:29:54.279 and all the expectations have, but there's an 00:29:54.279 --> 00:29:57.140 internal sinfulness, an internal bent toward 00:29:57.140 --> 00:30:00.460 myself that caused me to want to always be the 00:30:00.460 --> 00:30:06.259 savior. Savior complex. And so if someone would 00:30:06.259 --> 00:30:09.119 call or someone would text and it's a time of 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:11.420 Sabbath, it's a time of intentional rest, I could 00:30:11.420 --> 00:30:13.799 not resist responding to it. I could not resist 00:30:13.799 --> 00:30:16.180 getting out into the car and going and figuring 00:30:16.180 --> 00:30:18.200 out how to help because my worth was wrapped 00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:24.359 up in saving. I was trying to save others by, 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:27.779 and that was how I was gonna save myself. That's 00:30:27.779 --> 00:30:31.019 how I was gonna have worth and value. I was always 00:30:31.019 --> 00:30:33.460 going to be available, always respond, always 00:30:33.460 --> 00:30:38.740 be there, never let anyone down. And I'll tell 00:30:38.740 --> 00:30:44.680 you, that's crushing. I am a human creation by 00:30:44.680 --> 00:30:48.980 the hand of God, not designed to do that. Right? 00:30:50.240 --> 00:30:53.299 Not designed to do that. If you ever take your 00:30:53.299 --> 00:30:55.960 garlic press and try to hammer a nail in, it's 00:30:55.960 --> 00:30:57.759 not designed to do that. I've done that before. 00:30:58.450 --> 00:31:01.769 It breaks the garlic press. You know what I'm 00:31:01.769 --> 00:31:07.950 talking about? I am a human designed with a purpose, 00:31:09.230 --> 00:31:11.589 designed with a baked in, built in rhythm that 00:31:11.589 --> 00:31:14.369 I'm supposed to honor. A rhythm that was given 00:31:14.369 --> 00:31:19.029 to me by God, a rhythm that is grace. And when 00:31:19.029 --> 00:31:22.349 I resist that, when I say, no, no, no, I've got 00:31:22.349 --> 00:31:24.869 this, they need me. And the hardest part is, 00:31:24.920 --> 00:31:27.619 As I get two days off a week, and usually one 00:31:27.619 --> 00:31:30.140 of those I try to be intentional about, and I 00:31:30.140 --> 00:31:31.640 switch it back and forth. I'm not rigid about 00:31:31.640 --> 00:31:34.799 it. I just try to have half of a day that's set 00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:37.160 aside intentionally, or a whole day, or part 00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:43.680 of it. But you know how it is. People don't know 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:45.500 that, and I'm not trying to impose that on anyone, 00:31:45.539 --> 00:31:48.420 but they'll text you, they'll call, they'll leave 00:31:48.420 --> 00:31:54.869 a message, and I have to leave it and go. The 00:31:54.869 --> 00:31:58.349 world is not sustained by me and I can't fix 00:31:58.349 --> 00:32:02.509 every problem. And maybe by me leaving it there, 00:32:02.529 --> 00:32:04.789 the Lord will open up some other door or maybe 00:32:04.789 --> 00:32:06.990 someone else will. They'll reach out to someone 00:32:06.990 --> 00:32:08.950 else who actually has the word they need to hear, 00:32:09.109 --> 00:32:14.369 not me, but I need to be intentional and honor 00:32:14.369 --> 00:32:20.849 God as God. Remembering Christ's work is finished. 00:32:23.600 --> 00:32:28.019 Sabbath rest is resistance to the lie that everything 00:32:28.019 --> 00:32:34.480 depends on you. And as you step into 2026, I 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:38.700 want you to hear this. Friends, if you are in 00:32:38.700 --> 00:32:45.579 Christ, you do not need to earn rest this year. 00:32:47.500 --> 00:32:52.910 You don't, you don't need to earn rest. You don't 00:32:52.910 --> 00:32:59.529 need to deserve it this year And you don't need 00:32:59.529 --> 00:33:05.109 to finish everything else first Is Jesus has 00:33:05.109 --> 00:33:08.190 really already said the truest thing that can 00:33:08.190 --> 00:33:13.609 ever be said over your life It is finished And 00:33:13.609 --> 00:33:17.230 God has designed you in a way to respect and 00:33:17.230 --> 00:33:21.109 honor the reality of who he's made you as a human 00:33:21.109 --> 00:33:25.509 creation in his order. God did not need to rest. 00:33:26.849 --> 00:33:31.450 God did not need to end his work, but he used 00:33:31.450 --> 00:33:34.789 it as an example for us to show us about reality. 00:33:36.269 --> 00:33:40.269 And so you're free. You are free to stop. You 00:33:40.269 --> 00:33:44.670 are free to trust, and you are free to rest in 00:33:44.670 --> 00:33:45.569 2026.