1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000 You can have all of me 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:08,000 Every single little piece 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:14,000 You can have it all 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:16,000 Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,000 To get connected or to give online, 6 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:22,000 go to hcv.church or give.htv.church. 7 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,000 If at any point during this message 8 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:26,000 you feel called to make a change in your life, 9 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:30,000 text change me to 970-00. 10 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,000 Thank you and enjoy the message. 11 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:34,000 Hey, good morning everyone. 12 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,000 So good to see you. 13 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,000 Man, I tell you it felt so good just to stand outside 14 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,000 and allow the sun to sit on your face. 15 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,000 Welcome to HCV, if you're joining us from home. 16 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,000 Thank you for welcoming us into your space. 17 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,000 Tomorrow is Memorial Day 18 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,000 and of course it's the start of summer. 19 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,000 Right, a time to get outside. 20 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,000 Yeah, connect with others. 21 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,000 The warm months of our calendar year. 22 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:03,000 It's also the season I look forward to most here at HCV 23 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,000 because June means Summer Jams. 24 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,000 That's right, next week 25 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,000 Summer Jams kicks off with the Goo Goo Dolls. 26 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,000 So spread the word, invite your friends. 27 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,000 Iris is the song of the week 28 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,000 and it's a great opportunity to just plug people 29 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,000 into our community of faith. 30 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,000 Also to remind you that next Sunday 31 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,000 Jess and I will be sharing about our time in Kenya 32 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,000 4 o'clock right here in the main auditorium. 33 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,000 I want to encourage you to be a part of that 34 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:34,000 because I tell you that trip was as much for you 35 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,000 as it was for us 36 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,000 and we just are believing and have a new vision 37 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,000 that God wants us to impact 38 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,000 not just the tri-state area 39 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,000 but the world. 40 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,000 So this morning we'll be wrapping up our May series 41 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,000 Move Your Body, Change Your Life 42 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,000 a month of discussing how God desires 43 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,000 that we prioritize our physical health 44 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,000 and I just want to say this has been a great series thus far. 45 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,000 Would you agree with that or not? 46 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,000 Okay, one way that I know that it's a great series 47 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,000 is because I see you doing the stuff, right? 48 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,000 I see you changing the way you eat, exercising 49 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,000 actually putting into practice 50 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,000 what I spend hours during the week preparing 51 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,000 and challenging you to do. 52 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,000 So Rudy kicked it off by discussing the importance 53 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,000 of physical health and why we should make it a priority. 54 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,000 In week two, I challenge you to be active 55 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,000 and to start moving your body every day. 56 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,000 Last Sunday we looked at the food 57 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,000 that we put into our bodies discussing 58 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:39,000 the positive and negative effects of real versus fake food. 59 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,000 How many of you by show of hands 60 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,000 changed one thing about what you eat this past week? 61 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,000 Alright, pretty good, about 20% of you, alright. 62 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,000 The other 80, keep eating your fake food, alright. 63 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:52,000 Go for it. 64 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,000 It's all good. 65 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,000 So if you missed any of those talks, 66 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,000 I want to encourage you to go to our YouTube channel, 67 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,000 subscribe and listen in because they are all there. 68 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,000 So the year was 1879. 69 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:12,000 Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan invented the light bulb 70 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,000 forever changing the sleep patterns of humanity. 71 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,000 Before the light bulb, people typically slept 72 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,000 more than 10 hours per night. 73 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,000 But over the next century, the average decreased 74 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,000 to where it was below eight hours. 75 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:33,000 And it's even less if you look at today. 76 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,000 The shift is an example of how artificial light, light bulbs, 77 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:43,000 can affect the body's circadian rhythm or the internal clock. 78 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,000 See, before the light bulb, the people's sleep patterns 79 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,000 were largely dictated by natural light, 80 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,000 by the sun rising and the sun setting, 81 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,000 with people napping during the day and sleeping at night. 82 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,000 In the evenings, they would be getting so much sleep 83 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,000 that quite often they would wake up in the middle of the night 84 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:05,000 to read, to hang out and chat, or to have sex, right? 85 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,000 The light bulb then changed all that 86 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,000 and allowed for later bedtimes, 87 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:14,000 which meant people no longer woke up in the middle of the night 88 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,000 with their two sleep periods, 89 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:21,000 but it would become one uninterrupted eight-hour stretch, 90 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,000 which we know is not true. 91 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:28,000 See, Edison believed that sleep was a sign of laziness, 92 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,000 and his ideas, combined with the Industrial Revolution, 93 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:37,000 led to a culture that prioritizes work over sleep. 94 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:42,000 Edison saw no problem as he watched the natural rhythms of sleep 95 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:44,000 irrevocably changed, 96 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,000 and for a reason that was never quite clear, 97 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,000 Edison thought that sleep was actually bad for you. 98 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:51,000 He said this, 99 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,000 the person who sleeps eight or ten hours a night 100 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,000 is never fully asleep and never fully awoke. 101 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:58,000 He wrote, 102 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:04,000 he has or she has only different degrees of dose through 24 hours. 103 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:09,000 Extra sleep made a person unhealthy and inefficient. 104 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,000 Is this true? 105 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,000 No, absolutely not. 106 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:18,000 Studies have linked depression, cardiovascular disease, 107 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,000 diabetes, obesity, and even cancer 108 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,000 to over exposure of light at night. 109 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,000 Researchers know this, 110 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:32,000 in part from study in nurses who have spent years working the graveyard shift. 111 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:36,000 One study of 120,000 nurses, 112 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,000 that's a lot of people, 113 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:44,000 found that those who worked night shift were most likely to develop breast cancer. 114 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,000 Another survey, or excuse me, study, 115 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:51,000 found that nurses who worked at least three night shifts a month 116 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:53,000 for 15 years straight 117 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:58,000 had a 35% greater chance of developing colon cancer. 118 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:00,000 And see friends, it's not just cancer. 119 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,000 Just last week, straight from the headlines, 120 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,000 the New York Times reported on Thursday night 121 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:13,000 a 25-year-old London trader named Aidan Dumick died of a heart attack 122 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,000 while at an industry event. 123 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,000 Dumick, who was playing a game of soccer just before he died, 124 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,000 was reportedly an active amateur hockey player 125 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:25,000 and had been working for the bank since 2021. 126 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:32,000 Dumick's death came just a few weeks after a 35-year-old New York investment banker, 127 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:37,000 Leo Loukianis, died of acute coronary artery thrombosis. 128 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:43,000 He had been looking to leave his 100-hour-a-week job. 129 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:48,000 Loukianis, a former Green Beret, had worked at the bank's Manhattan headquarters. 130 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:55,000 He had been working on a $2 billion merger of two small banks when he died. 131 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:56,000 Now think about this. 132 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:02,000 This means that this man had been working nearly two and a half, 133 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,000 40-hour work weeks jammed into one. 134 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:17,000 Two log 100 hours of work into one week requires working nearly 16 hours every single day for seven days a week. 135 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,000 Now here's the crazy thing. 136 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,000 This has become a common occurrence in China 137 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:27,000 and many of the Asian communities to the point that they now have given a name for this type of death. 138 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:34,000 The word is Gua Lao Xi, and it means working yourself to death. 139 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:39,000 This term has been created recently to describe something so new 140 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,000 that their languages didn't even have a word for it. 141 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,000 This has become an increasingly common phenomenon in China 142 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:50,000 where people are dropping dead on their jobs 143 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:57,000 as a result of working insane hours under intense pressure with little to no rest. 144 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,000 So let me repeat that one more time. 145 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:06,000 Working insane hours under intense pressure with little to no rest. 146 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,000 Friends, that sounds like everyday life to me, right? 147 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:17,000 So the question this morning, does God have a plan to keep us refreshed? 148 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,000 Does he have a plan? Because if we're going to talk about physical health, 149 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,000 we need to talk about the rest needed for our bodies. 150 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,000 And the answer to that question is yes. 151 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,000 It's called a Sabbath. 152 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:34,000 Okay, the word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word Shabbat, 153 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:39,000 and it literally means to stop. 154 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:43,000 It means to stop working 155 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:48,000 and no longer allow yourself to be controlled by the culture 156 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:52,000 that tells us that we need to work 24-7. 157 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,000 Jesus actually practiced this every single week. 158 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:02,000 He stopped once every seven days to worship and rest with his local community. 159 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:08,000 So once a week for a 24-hour period, God wants us to what? 160 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:12,000 Stop, stop, and do what? 161 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:16,000 Rest and prioritize it and make it a part of our life. 162 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:22,000 Now for our culture, taking one full 24-hour day off, it's radical, right? 163 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:27,000 We're living in a 24-7 world that is always open for business, 164 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:31,000 and we as a culture prioritize work over rest 165 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:37,000 because I believe Edison said rest is laziness. 166 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,000 But friends, if you're in a relationship with Jesus, 167 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:44,000 God has a different outlook, and we should too, 168 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,000 which leads us to our first thought. 169 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:50,000 Sabbath rest is a gift from God. 170 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,000 See, the first time the word Sabbath, 171 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:57,000 it's recorded in the Bible, was actually not in the Ten Commandments. 172 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:02,000 The first time was in Exodus chapter 16, and this is what we read. 173 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:06,000 He told them, this is what the Lord commanded. 174 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,000 Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest. 175 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:15,000 Please notice that word, rest, a holy day set apart for the Lord. 176 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,000 So bake or boil as much as you want today, 177 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,000 and please remember if you look back into the Old Testament, 178 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:27,000 this is the season when God was providing the Israelites with manna from heaven, right? 179 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:31,000 And he's telling them, set it aside what is left for tomorrow. 180 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:35,000 So they put some aside until morning, just as Moses commanded. 181 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:41,000 And in the morning, the leftover food was wholesome and good without maggots or odor. 182 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,000 Now some of you are thinking, well, what happened before? 183 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:49,000 Well, before, when they tried to keep it for more than two days during the work week, 184 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,000 it always went bad. 185 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:57,000 Moses said, eat this food today, for today is a Sabbath day dedicated to the Lord. 186 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:03,000 In other words, if you try to work the day that is dedicated to the Lord, guess what? 187 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,000 God's not going to help you. 188 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,000 You are supposed to be resting. 189 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:12,000 So the verse continues, you may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. 190 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,000 There will be no food on the ground that day. 191 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,000 Some of the people, of course, sounds like our culture, 192 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:21,000 went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found no food. 193 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:28,000 The Lord asked Moses, how long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? 194 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:33,000 They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord's gift to you. 195 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,000 There it is. It's a gift. Rest is a gift. 196 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:41,000 That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. 197 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,000 On the Sabbath day, you must each stay in your place, 198 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:51,000 do not go out and pick up food on the seventh day, so the people did not gather any food on the seventh day. 199 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:55,000 Why did God do this? 200 00:11:55,000 --> 00:12:03,000 Because God wanted us to rest one day, so that we can actually enjoy this life that we've been given. 201 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:08,000 Remember, we're only given one life, which leads us to our next stop. 202 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:12,000 Taking a Sabbath or resting is a commandment. 203 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:18,000 The Sabbath that I'm referring to actually made God's top 10 list. 204 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:22,000 It's the fourth commandment. It tells us to honor the Sabbath. 205 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:28,000 Now, please notice when we read the verse, you'll realize it doesn't say anything about going to church. 206 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,000 It's nowhere in the verse that we're about to read. 207 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:36,000 Now, I believe that we should gather as believers. It's vital for our spiritual growth. 208 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:42,000 The fourth commandment specifically, referencing the Sabbath, focuses on rest. 209 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:46,000 And it's actually the longest commandment. 210 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,000 God spent more time focusing on this commandment. 211 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:54,000 You know why? Because I believe He knew that we would argue with Him. 212 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,000 He knew we would...I don't need to take a day off. 213 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,000 Exodus 20 verses 8 through 11, this is what He writes, 214 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:07,000 Remember to observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 215 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:11,000 That word holy simply means set apart. You set apart a day. 216 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:17,000 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, answering emails, making phone calls, 217 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:23,000 sending texts, repairing cars, welding metal together. 218 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:28,000 But the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. 219 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:33,000 On that day, no one in your household may do any work. 220 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:37,000 In other words, turn your phones off. 221 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:42,000 Stop allowing them to dictate your life. You shouldn't be working. 222 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:48,000 This is a commandment and not only is a commandment, it made God's top ten. 223 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:56,000 It has the same weight as do not lie, do not steal, don't murder, don't covet. 224 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,000 It's in the same list. 225 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,000 Now notice, let's continue. 226 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:06,000 This includes you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock. 227 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,000 I mean, God doesn't even work on when our cows work in. 228 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:14,000 He wants us to take a Sabbath or any foreigners living among you. 229 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:18,000 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything in them. 230 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,000 But on the seventh day, He rested. 231 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:25,000 That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath and said to make it holy. 232 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:26,000 Now think about it. 233 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:30,000 We could have had a ten-day work week. 234 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,000 We could have had a four-day work week. 235 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:37,000 But God mandated that we have a seven-day work week. 236 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:44,000 And then He commanded that one of those days is a day of rest. 237 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,000 Now here's the amazing thing. 238 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:50,000 For followers of Jesus, they actually believe, if you're in a relationship with Jesus, 239 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:55,000 you actually believe that you can violate this commandment but no other one. 240 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,000 That it's okay to skip a day of rest. 241 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:02,000 But remember, we don't keep commandments to be saved. 242 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:07,000 Like we have this free relationship with God, but we do keep the commandments to be blessed. 243 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,000 And here's the reality. 244 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:13,000 There are blessings from God when we follow His commandments. 245 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,000 And there's consequences when we don't. 246 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:21,000 If you commit adultery, there will be consequences. 247 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:26,000 If you lie to someone, there are consequences. 248 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:30,000 If you kill someone, are there consequences? 249 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:31,000 Yes. 250 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:39,000 So why do so many people believe there are no consequences if we don't follow the commandment to rest? 251 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:40,000 Right? Think about it. 252 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:45,000 You heard about what happens and what is happening to people in our culture right now. 253 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:54,000 Two people under the age of 35 have died and literally killed themselves by working too hard. 254 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:55,000 Okay? 255 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,000 This is how our culture believes that we should rest. 256 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,000 And it's not a Sabbath. 257 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:05,000 Work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, oh, I'm burnt out, I need a vacation. 258 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:06,000 Right? 259 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,000 And you take a vacation. 260 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:12,000 One week off, two weeks off, you feel better, you're jumping back in. 261 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:19,000 Work, work, work, work, work, work, oh, man, I'm fried, I don't know what to do, I need a vacation. 262 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:20,000 Right? 263 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,000 And here's the reality. 264 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,000 That's how Americans live. 265 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:28,000 They burn the candle on both ends down to almost nothing. 266 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:31,000 You're fried, you're burnt out, you take a vacation. 267 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:39,000 Then while you're on vacation, you get sick or you're unable to rest because of the pace of life that you've been living. 268 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:40,000 Right? 269 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:41,000 It's just not true. 270 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:42,000 It's not a Sabbath. 271 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:43,000 It's not rest. 272 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:47,000 For me, Monday is my Sabbath. 273 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,000 I typically work all weekend. 274 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:56,000 I try to communicate to the staff, to the leaders, to all of you in our community of faith that I need to rest. 275 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,000 Monday is my day off. 276 00:16:58,000 --> 00:16:59,000 Right? 277 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:19,000 So from now on, when you happen to send me a text or leave me a voice message that says, hey, Chris, I know it's your day off, but then you're going to ask me a question or to go and do something, you know what my response is going to be from now on? 278 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:24,000 Oh, why don't you just ask me to commit adultery? 279 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:28,000 Or to take it another step. 280 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:30,000 Why stop there? 281 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:37,000 Maybe we should stop by the local Chick-fil-A, hold them up at gunpoint, steal all their money because of the richest restaurant in town. 282 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:38,000 Right? 283 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,000 I mean, you asked me to violate one commandment. 284 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,000 Why not violate all of them? 285 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,000 Would you ask me to do that? 286 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,000 Of course not. 287 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:52,000 Pick one, right, of the other nine. 288 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:55,000 And you wouldn't ask anybody to violate that commandment. 289 00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:00,000 We know not to violate or break the other nine commandments. 290 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:05,000 But one rest, Sabbath, it's okay. 291 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,000 You can break it. 292 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:08,000 It's fine. 293 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:09,000 It makes no sense. 294 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,000 True or false? 295 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:15,000 Oh, so some of you believe it's false. 296 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:19,000 That's what you're saying to me. 297 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,000 Which leads us to our next thought. 298 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:26,000 Taking a Sabbath sets an example, Exodus 31. 299 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:30,000 You must keep the Sabbath day for it is a holy day for you. 300 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:36,000 Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death. 301 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:42,000 Now we read that and we think, whoa, slow down, Chris, but here's the reality, including myself. 302 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,000 We're slowly killing ourselves. 303 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:53,000 We're literally working ourselves to death with stress, anxiety, worry, and never taking a break. 304 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:57,000 The scriptures go on, anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. 305 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,000 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, right? 306 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:01,000 It's clear. 307 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:05,000 But the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest. 308 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,000 And what does Sabbath mean again? 309 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:09,000 Stop. 310 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,000 It means stop working. 311 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,000 Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death. 312 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:20,000 The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day observant from generation to generation. 313 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,000 This is a covenant obligation for all time. 314 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,000 Is it a permanent sign for my covenant with the people of Israel? 315 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:32,000 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed. 316 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:41,000 Now think about it, for thousands of years, the Jewish community used the Sabbath as a witness for the rest of the world. 317 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:45,000 No work was done on the Sabbath, or for them it was Saturday. 318 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,000 So no deals were completed. 319 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,000 No work was performed. 320 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:54,000 And then when they were asked why, a Jewish person would respond, that is my Sabbath. 321 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:59,000 We don't work because God commanded us to rest. 322 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:00,000 Right? 323 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:10,000 It was a sign that pointed people to God in that, hey, newsflash, we make more money working six days and resting on the seventh 324 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:16,000 than you would working all seven because God provides and meets my needs. 325 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:17,000 Right? 326 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:23,000 And now notice at the end of those verses it says that God rested and he was refreshed. 327 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:34,000 And I began to think this week, how do we explain a God who never becomes tired suddenly was refreshed? 328 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:35,000 Well, let's go back to creation. 329 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,000 Let's look at Genesis 2, 2 through 3. 330 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:42,000 On the seventh day, God had finished his work of creation. 331 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:52,000 So he rested from all his work and God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation. 332 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:58,000 Now the word used here for rested literally means he breathed in. 333 00:20:58,000 --> 00:20:59,000 He took a breath. 334 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:00,000 Right? 335 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,000 God had been creating for six days. 336 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,000 How did God create the world? 337 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:06,000 What did he do? 338 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,000 He spoke it into existence. 339 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:10,000 How do we speak? 340 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,000 We exhale. 341 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,000 We breathe out. 342 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:20,000 In fact, on the sixth day, not only did God create Adam, but he breathed out. 343 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,000 He breathed out life into him. 344 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,000 So for six days, God had been breathing out. 345 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:32,000 But on the seventh day, he breathed in and was refreshed. 346 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:33,000 Right? 347 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:37,000 I can't make a statement if I could just catch my breath. 348 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:39,000 If I could just breathe, I feel like I'm drowning. 349 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,000 I feel like I'm sinking. 350 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:47,000 Friends, you can breathe if you keep a Sabbath every single week. 351 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:52,000 Now the question should not be, what do I do on the Sabbath then, Chris? 352 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,000 Well, you're telling me to take the Sabbath. 353 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:56,000 What can or what I can't I do? 354 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,000 And the question shouldn't be that. 355 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:00,000 What should you do on the Sabbath? 356 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,000 The question should be, what do I not do on the Sabbath? 357 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:06,000 And what you don't do is you don't do work. 358 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:10,000 You don't do anything related to your vocation or your calling. 359 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,000 You rest from it one day a week. 360 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,000 And it doesn't have to be a specific day for the week. 361 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:17,000 I mean, let's be honest. 362 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,000 Some of us work on weekends. 363 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:20,000 Right? 364 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:24,000 But it has to be another day, which leads us to our next stop. 365 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,000 Taking a Sabbath, it's serious. 366 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:28,000 And God means it. 367 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:30,000 Numbers 15. 368 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:34,000 One day, while the people of Israel in the wilderness, they discovered a man 369 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,000 gathering wood on the Sabbath. 370 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,000 Okay, now think about this. 371 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:39,000 Here you got a guy. 372 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,000 He's out literally gathering sticks. 373 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:43,000 He's picking up sticks. 374 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,000 Maybe he's going to build a fire. 375 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:50,000 The people who found him doing this took him before Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the community. 376 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:55,000 They held him in custody because they did not know what to do with him. 377 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:56,000 Of course, right? 378 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:57,000 He's a stick gatherer. 379 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,000 He's a big threat. 380 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,000 That's supposed to be funny. 381 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:02,000 Okay? 382 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,000 He was gathering sticks, people. 383 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:05,000 Sticks. 384 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:06,000 That's all he was doing. 385 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,000 He didn't murder anyone. 386 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:09,000 He didn't threaten anyone. 387 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:14,000 Then the Lord said to Moses, the man must be put to death. 388 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,000 The whole community must stone him outside the camp. 389 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:22,000 So the whole community took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 390 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:27,000 Some of you are sitting there thinking, why in the world did I read the Old Testament? 391 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,000 Because that is over the top. 392 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:36,000 But we must remember, fast forward to the New Testament, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, Paul tells us, 393 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:40,000 these things happen to them as examples for us. 394 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:44,000 They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. 395 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,000 It's an example. 396 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,000 Those words are written as example. 397 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:51,000 No, we don't get stoned to death if we work seven days a week. 398 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:59,000 But if you continually work and don't prioritize rest, you're going to kill yourself prematurely. 399 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,000 And it's up to God to reveal the truth to you. 400 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:09,000 Just this week, as I was preparing for this talk, I was studying, I was reading, I was praying. 401 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:18,000 I felt the Holy Spirit say to me, Chris, you have not taken an honest Sabbath in 18 years. 402 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:22,000 18 years ago, we planted this church. 403 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,000 We started this church from nothing. 404 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:31,000 And in 18 years, I have not scheduled a day of rest into my calendar. 405 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:39,000 And for 18 years, I've been running the tank empty. 406 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,000 I had to receive God's conviction. 407 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,000 I had to be open to His correction. 408 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:51,000 And I say to you this morning, I needed to repent before God and ask forgiveness. 409 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,000 And why? 410 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,000 Because I want to change and move forward. 411 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:07,000 I want to weekly schedule a time of rest because I now know our final thought this morning, taking a Sabbath is a blessing. 412 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:09,000 It's a blessing. 413 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:14,000 In Mark chapter 2, we read what Jesus says to us about a Sabbath. 414 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:21,000 And please understand, for those of you who want to argue and say, oh, it's an Old Testament commandment, we don't have to follow it. 415 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:26,000 Jesus practiced the Sabbath every single week. 416 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:30,000 Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 417 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:37,000 On the Sabbath day, as Jesus was walking through some grain fields, His disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. 418 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:44,000 But the Pharisees, the religious leaders, said to Jesus, look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath? 419 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:50,000 Remember, it's working that's unlawful, not eating. 420 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:52,000 Jesus' disciples were eating. 421 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,000 Jesus never violated the Jewish laws. 422 00:25:55,000 --> 00:26:03,000 Jesus responded to them and said, haven't you ever read in the scriptures what David did when him and his companions were hungry? 423 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:10,000 He went into the house of God and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. 424 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,000 He also gave some to his companions. 425 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:22,000 Then Jesus said to them, the Sabbath was made to meet the needs of the people and not the people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 426 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:26,000 So the Son of Man is Lord even over the Sabbath. 427 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:32,000 What Jesus is saying to us this morning, I did not make you to serve the Sabbath. 428 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:36,000 In other words, you don't have to follow the rules of the Sabbath. 429 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,000 I created a Sabbath to serve you. 430 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:49,000 I created a Sabbath so that you would be and receive a blessing, not just from God, but to others. 431 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,000 A Sabbath is a blessing, not a burden. 432 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,000 Right? It's just like tithing, the principle of tithing. 433 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,000 People who tithe, and some of you may be thinking, what's a tithe? 434 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:04,000 You give 10% of your income to God. The first 10% goes to God. 435 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:08,000 Those that tithe, cleaning myself, I tithe, our family tithes, 436 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:16,000 we know that 90% with God's blessing will go further and longer than 100% without the blessing of God. 437 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,000 We know it. It's a biblical principle. 438 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:28,000 People who rest one day a week know they can get more done in six days with God's blessing than seven days without his blessing. 439 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,000 It's the same principle. And here's the reality. 440 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:38,000 Okay, living in today's culture, we have to become intentional and trust God with everything, with our entire life. 441 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:43,000 It's not just our bodies that need to rest, our minds need to rest as well. 442 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:48,000 For so many people within our culture, they're worried, they're stressed, they're overwhelmed, 443 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:52,000 because they're not giving their minds time to rest. 444 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,000 Right? Our culture over thinks. 445 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:58,000 We are always trying to solve problems. We over analyze. 446 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,000 We're constantly stimulated with our screens. Right? 447 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,000 I challenged Stephen on the way out. He was saying goodbye to people. 448 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:08,000 Hey, take a Sabbath and play video games. No! 449 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:14,000 Video games stimulate the mind and overwhelm the mind. 450 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:19,000 Don't play video games. Go on a walk on the canal. Right? 451 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,000 Because it's going to help you to think. 452 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:26,000 God gave us a Sabbath as a gift, as a blessing. 453 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:34,000 And the only reason we don't receive this gift, the only reason we don't walk in this blessing, right? 454 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:41,000 The only reason that we work seven days a week is because we don't trust God. 455 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:46,000 That's it. We feel like if we don't do it, it won't get done. 456 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:52,000 And I'm here to tell you, it's good to trust God and to take a day off. 457 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:57,000 And don't just take one day off. Take a day off every single week. 458 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:06,000 And I want you to help me out. Look at your neighbor and say, take a day off. 459 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:14,000 Now look at your other neighbor, the one you really don't like, and tell them to take a day off. 460 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:20,000 Now here's the crazy thing. Listen. When's the last time anyone said that to you? 461 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:28,000 Right? Very rarely. No one really looks at you and tells you to take a day off, which leads to our action steps. 462 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:33,000 How do we experience a healthy Sabbath? Right? Experiencing a healthy Sabbath. 463 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:39,000 Well, the first, what's the first step, friends? That's really lame. 464 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:45,000 What do we do? We stop. Thank you. I told Phoenix, I said, hey Phoenix, I'm not even saying stop anymore. 465 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:52,000 I'm taking this home and when I want you to stop, I'm just going to hold it up. 466 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:56,000 Because you get more from this sign than me screaming at you. Right? 467 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:01,000 He tunes it out real easy, but he'll know that sign. Exodus 20. 468 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:06,000 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest, 469 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:11,000 dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day, no one in your household may do any work. 470 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:19,000 You stop working and take a day off. Sabbath is literally woven into the creation of the universe. 471 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:29,000 Okay? How do I know that? The sun rises and the sun, the tide comes in and the tide goes in six days. 472 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:35,000 God created everything that was made and then on the seventh day he rested. 473 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:42,000 There is a divine design to the days, weeks, and seasons, including you and me. 474 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:47,000 And when we go against the grain, when we go against the fabric of creation, 475 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:53,000 what happens when you rub your finger against the grain of a piece of wood? 476 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:59,000 You can get a splinter and it hurts. And that little splinter gets stuck in your finger 477 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:04,000 and you have to poke at it and gnaw at it. And it's so painful and annoying, friends, 478 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:11,000 when we don't rest, when we don't worship weekly, right? That's what happens to us. 479 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:17,000 It's painful, right? It's so much pain that we don't have to endure. 480 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:22,000 We're not in charge, okay? As much as we want to be in control of everything, we're not. 481 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:28,000 God is. And here's the news flash. Our work on earth, it's never going to be finished. 482 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:35,000 Okay, there's always going to be something to do and Jesus doesn't go into a panic when we take a day off. 483 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:42,000 You know what he does? He celebrates it. He's like, yes, they're enjoying life. 484 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:48,000 Now the traditional Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and ends on sundown on Saturday. 485 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:54,000 The early church fathers actually moved the Sabbath for Christians from Saturday to Sunday 486 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:58,000 to honor Jesus' resurrection from the dead on the first day of the week 487 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:04,000 and for those believers to prepare themselves for the work week that was coming up on Monday morning. 488 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:10,000 Okay, and let me again say, it's not the day that matters. It's the time set aside. 489 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:16,000 How do I know that? Romans 14. In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, 490 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:23,000 while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose 491 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:29,000 is acceptable. Those who worship the Lord on a special day, do it to honor Him. 492 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:36,000 Sabbath simply means stop your work, both paid and unpaid, and then rest. That's it. 493 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:41,000 We are created in God's image and God wants it to do it just like Him. 494 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:48,000 So the first step is we stop. And do you know why I got this? 495 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:53,000 Because I knew that you would remember this stop sign in your mind. 496 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:58,000 And it would make you want to just rest and give up that work. So we stop. 497 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:05,000 Number two, we rest. Genesis 2. On the seventh day, God finished all His work of creation, so He rested. 498 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:09,000 And what did God do when He rested? What did He do? He breathed in. 499 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:16,000 Right? Let's everyone on count of three, we're all going to take a deep breath. One, two, three. 500 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:23,000 It feels so good. Right? Now think about it. When we take a deep breath in stressful situations, 501 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:28,000 when we're getting overwhelmed with anxiety, people encourage you, just slow down and breathe. 502 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:34,000 Slow down and take a deep breath. When we take a deep breath, it calms our racing minds. 503 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,000 It slows the adrenaline that's pumping through our bodies. 504 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:44,000 Many of you know when I was younger, I was a pitcher. And as my kids were playing sports, 505 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:48,000 both baseball and softball, many of them became pitchers. 506 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:55,000 And I taught them, before you deliver the pitch, the most important thing you can do is to breathe. 507 00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:01,000 Take a deep breath, focus on the glove, and then release the ball, telling it where to go. 508 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,000 And some of you are thinking, you really tell the ball where to go? Yeah. 509 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:11,000 Because that's how you control your body. Right? The mind controls the body. Right? 510 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:18,000 So we have to breathe. And for many of us, let me be honest with you, and God convicted me of this, 511 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:24,000 for us to breathe, you need to turn off your phone. You need to just turn it off. 512 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:28,000 You need to not worry about who's calling you or who isn't calling you or who's texting you. 513 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:37,000 And you need to avoid social media, because social media is stressing you out and just keeping your life busy. 514 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:43,000 You're never going to be able to rest with our phones, our devices, and social media. 515 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:49,000 Avoid it, which leads us to our next step. We stop, we rest, we worship. 516 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:56,000 The Bible tells us to take a Sabbath and keep it what? Holy, set apart, Exodus 20, 10. 517 00:34:56,000 --> 00:35:02,000 The seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to God. 518 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:07,000 Now the focus of a biblical Sabbath is worship. Right? 519 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:14,000 Taking time to focus on God and receiving the love of the Father, declaring our love back to Jesus. 520 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:21,000 When we gather at HCV, we worship, we sing, we pray, we receive instruction from the Bible, 521 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:27,000 like I'm doing right now, as a means of growing our relationship with Jesus to become more like Him. 522 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:34,000 Gathering with other believers is vital, right? It's vital. And when we worship together, it grows our spirits. 523 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:41,000 Worship is not three songs that we sing on Sunday before the message. That is not worship. 524 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:47,000 You know what that is? If that's your view of worship, that's Christian karaoke. That's all it is. 525 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:52,000 You're showing up, you're letting the professionals sing, and you're singing along. 526 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:59,000 God doesn't want Christian karaoke. He wants worship. He wants you to get in the presence of God weekly. 527 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:05,000 He's inviting you into His Holy Spirit because when we get closer to His Holy Spirit, it's when we change. 528 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:13,000 And friends, we have to make it a priority. We have to learn to say no to work, no to sports, no to commitments. 529 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:19,000 We have to stop making excuses of why we can't attend our Sunday gatherings. I know your pajamas feel good. 530 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:23,000 I know it feels good to get up and lay in bed and watch our Sunday gatherings, 531 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:31,000 but God wants you here worshiping with us if you can, right? If you're able, be here worshiping with us. 532 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:38,000 But our friends at Hagerstown HealthCare, we love you, and we're glad that you are watching with us this morning. 533 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:45,000 Dallas Willard puts it this way. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life in our day. 534 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:53,000 Can I repeat that? Hurry, no rest, is the great enemy of the spiritual life in our day. 535 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:58,000 When we worship, we are connecting with the Creator of the universe, 536 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:04,000 and we're setting aside time to have our spirits connect with His, come to life, and awaken, 537 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:09,000 so we can receive His love, power, and direction, His healing, and His freedom. 538 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:15,000 The Ten Commandments, let me bring this to you, are actually repeated in the book of Deuteronomy. 539 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:22,000 God gives His laws 40 years after the Exodus to the next generation of Jewish believers, 540 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:29,000 and it's almost word for word, except there's a change or a difference. See if you can catch it. 541 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:30,000 Deuteronomy 5. 542 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:34,000 Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Sounds familiar. 543 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,000 As the Lord your God has commanded you, you have six days each week for your ordinary work, 544 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:42,000 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. All the same. 545 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:47,000 On that day, no one in your household may do any work. Of course you. Your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, 546 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:54,000 your oxen, your donkeys, your livestock. He added even more animals, right? Don't want them working. 547 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:58,000 All your male and female servants must rest as you do. Now look at this part. 548 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:06,000 Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with His strong hand and powerful arm. 549 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:10,000 That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day. 550 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:19,000 There's your difference, right? God's people were slaves working in Egypt for 400 years. 551 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:24,000 Then God set them free. Now think about this. For 400 years, that's four centuries, 552 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:34,000 Pharaoh crushed these people with massive building projects, right? 400 years, never having a day off. 553 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:40,000 They never rested. They never had a day off. They never worshiped God publicly. They never tasted freedom. 554 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:47,000 Slaves existed for one purpose. You know what that purpose was? Work. And that was it. 555 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:53,000 And that had become their identity. If you didn't work, you had no worth. 556 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:57,000 Your work does not determine your worth in God's eyes. Fast forward to today. 557 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:04,000 All you workaholics, they think you have to overwork. We are human beings, not human doings. 558 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:10,000 When our jobs or our titles become the source of our identity, we believe that our work is what gives us worth. 559 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:15,000 And that's a lie. You know what that is? That's slavery and bondage. 560 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:24,000 Just like the Jewish people lived in and God desires to free us from that bondage of work and to worship Him and put Jesus first. 561 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:31,000 We have to learn to live free, including in our own minds. 562 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:38,000 We have to stop working and learn what it means to worship. So we stop, we rest, we worship. 563 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:43,000 And number four, we enjoy. That's our final step. We enjoy. Mark 2, 27. 564 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:49,000 Then Jesus said to them, the Sabbath was made to meet the needs of the people and not the people to meet the crimes of the Sabbath. 565 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:55,000 On the Sabbath rest, we engage. Listen, for all of you who want to know what to do, 566 00:39:55,000 --> 00:40:02,000 on the Sabbath rest, we engage in activities that are life-giving, not life-sucking. 567 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:10,000 Take a hike, go on a bike ride, right? Enjoy creation. Read a book, take a nap. 568 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:16,000 Did everyone see that? Take a nap. All right, now hold on. Hold on, all you that are clapping. 569 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:23,000 I got even more for you, Jeremy. You ready? Now, if you're under 12, earmuffs please, if you're under 12. 570 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:33,000 If you're under 12, plug your ears. In Jewish culture, in Jewish culture, in the Sabbath, they regularly took naps. 571 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:44,000 And those naps included sex with their spouse. So if you're married in the house, even more reason to take a nap on the Sabbath. 572 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:56,000 If you're playing house and you're not married yet, stop having sex and get married. Okay? 573 00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:06,000 So take a nap, draw, for all of you that love art, play with Legos. I've been trying to finish a hippie bus Lego for three years. 574 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:13,000 Now you know I have not taken a Sabbath. Play catch with your son or daughter, go out and play pickleball. 575 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:22,000 A good way to put it is this, listen. If you work with your mind through the week, rest with your hands on your Sabbath. 576 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:27,000 I mean, I mow the grass on my Sabbath and I'm okay with it because you know what I'm doing? I'm worshiping. 577 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:33,000 I have worship music going, I'm praying. It's not stressful for me, it's restful. 578 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:39,000 If you work with your hands during the week, right, if you're constantly working on cars, then feed your mind. 579 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:44,000 Read a book, right? Feed your soul with prayer and meditation. 580 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:49,000 People now in our culture simply use the weekend. You know what the weekends are? Catch up! 581 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:53,000 We got to get everything else done and it's just unpaid work. 582 00:41:53,000 --> 00:42:10,000 Our Sabbath should include rest, worship, and joy. 583 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:27,000 You can do it!