1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,200 Hey everyone, this is Charlie from Encounterchurch Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our 2 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:21,280 podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast you can have an encounter with Jesus that will 3 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:25,920 change your life and now get ready for an inspiring message from our preaching team. 4 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:31,200 A couple of months ago, all parents in our school received a letter from the principal 5 00:00:32,160 --> 00:00:37,200 telling us that if we do email our teacher that we should expect to only receive a response during 6 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:43,040 work hours and that it might take them 48 hours to get back to us, this was to help the teachers 7 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:50,560 maintain a healthy life balance. Apparently teachers deserve a break too. But also it was 8 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:55,520 aligning with this new legislation that came in this year designed to regulate and set limits 9 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:00,000 on out of hours communication between employees and employees. It's called the right to disconnect, 10 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,560 you might have heard of it, and it gives opportunities, employees the right to put 11 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:09,360 reasonable boundaries around their personal time and to be refused to be contacted outside their 12 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:17,120 working hours. Work can call you, you just don't have to answer. This legislation seeks to provide 13 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:23,840 a better work-life balance for employees. Why? Because there are growing concerns about work 14 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:30,640 related mental health, stress, overwork and burnout. There is a growing fear about a great 15 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:35,680 Australian burnout. Thanks to COVID largely gone are the days where you drove to your job, 16 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:41,120 you punched in, you worked your hours, you punched out and you drove home. You used to have to go 17 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:48,880 to work to work. Now you can work from home or the cafe or Bali. Now if you're a nurse or you're 18 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:53,600 a chippy, you probably can't work from Bali, but in many industries these options are becoming 19 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:59,760 increasingly available. Plenty of people I meet living in this community are employed by a company 20 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:05,760 in Melbourne or in Sydney and they work remotely from Adelaide. The benefits of flexibility is 21 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:10,960 amazing, you don't have to live in Melbourne. Or go to a place and punch in for a certain amount of 22 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:17,120 time. You can pick your kids up from school, we can avoid lengthy commutes. But on the flip side, 23 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:23,200 you're also far more available to work and your employers than ever before. Availability creep has 24 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:28,800 become a thing where your personal time is increasingly encroached by work, sometimes in 25 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:34,960 unpaid overtime just to keep the boss happy. Employees are struggling because they're increasingly 26 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:41,200 on, they're on even when they're not at work or working. They're thinking about work, they're doing 27 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:46,560 work. Something in our society is seeing that this just isn't working. That too much work is 28 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:53,600 actually damaging for the human person. And that the benefits of flexible work actually has its limits. 29 00:02:53,920 --> 00:03:00,080 So our work is busier, but then there are all these other kind of pressures in our lives. 30 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:07,360 Relationship and marriage pressures, kid pressures, school pressures, house pressures, money pressures, 31 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:15,040 sport pressures, family pressures, lawn pressures. It's hard work keeping your lawn looking good, 32 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:20,320 let alone anything else. I talked to parents at school and little Johnny has swimming, 33 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,400 basketball, tennis, surf, lifesaving and underwater basketball weaving every weekend. 34 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:30,720 And they look more tired after the weekend than before. We are busier than any culture has ever 35 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:38,080 been. But our rest is also worse. Where we might have once gone to bed when it got dark because 36 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:43,280 there was only so much you can do by candlelight, we can now get home, switch the telly on, 37 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:49,200 settle into the show we are currently binging. And suddenly it's 1am and you have to be up at 6. 38 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,240 Where we would once sit down to a lunch or a cup of tea and that was just all we did, 39 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:59,520 eat the lunch, drink the tea. We now do those things with other things with emails on Netflix or 40 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:06,000 doom scrolling socials. Look I'm a sucker for a podcast or an audiobook. I'm currently feasting 41 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:10,800 on the rest is history podcast because I'm a giant dork. But I'll listen while I'm doing the dishes, 42 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,240 hang up the washing, eating lunch, making coffee, mowing the lawns on my way to work. 43 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:19,840 And sometimes I realise that I've just had these little British voices in my head talking about 44 00:04:19,840 --> 00:04:24,320 the historical Helen of Troy for like the last two hours and I haven't switched off. 45 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,640 Even though I've been doing things that would generally help me to switch off and rest and 46 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:36,000 relax and I'm actually mentally exhausted. When we do this, when we do things to rest, 47 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:42,080 but we don't actually stop either physically or mentally, we are pseudo resting. We are fake 48 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:48,960 resting. We think we're resting without much of the benefits. And we are more tired than we are 49 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:57,360 when we started resting. We are busier and our rest is worse. And the net product is that we are 50 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:03,120 tired. The number one response I get when I ask people how they're doing, if you get past good, 51 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:07,760 which just isn't an answer, the answer I get and the answer that I give 52 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:20,640 is tired or busy. Now it's good to be busy. Work is good. Pressure is a privilege. 53 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:26,080 Nobody gets to be you. No one else gets to be you. Doing the work you're doing, 54 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:33,600 loving the people you're loving. But your work needs to be in balance with your rest. We need 55 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:39,760 space and time to rest in the busyness of our lives to seek joy, to worship God, 56 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:48,240 in the be still and know that I am God kind of way. Otherwise we find ourselves too busy to rest, 57 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:53,760 too busy to seek joy, too busy to worship. I wonder if you've ever felt that at times. 58 00:05:53,760 --> 00:06:05,120 I am just too busy to rest, too busy to seek joy, too busy to worship. I know that I do at times. 59 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:12,640 What an absolute travesty. Life with God was created to be lived and discovered to the full. 60 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:20,320 In a life of work without rest and joy and space to worship, it has a name. It has a name. 61 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:32,160 It's called slavery. It's called slavery. If only there was, you know, a pattern, a rhythm 62 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:38,480 built into the fabric of the universe, a practice as old as creation that could put our work and 63 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:45,520 our rest into balance. Free us from this slavery of business and give us space for rest, space for 64 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:51,280 joy and space for worship. We're starting a new series this week called Make Room. 65 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:57,360 And it's looking at four spiritual practices that can help us to make room for God and what God wants 66 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:02,400 to do in our lives. And today we're looking at the Sabbath as our first spiritual practice that 67 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:09,600 can help us to make room for God. If you're new or you consider, stay for the whole four series, 68 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,880 the whole four weeks, find out what the other three spiritual practices are. 69 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:18,480 In our teaching text today, Jesus is wandering through the grainfields and his disciples are 70 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:24,160 snacking. And this is a problem for the Pharisees, not because they are like anti-snacking. I mean, 71 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:29,680 how could you be? It's because the day on which the disciples were snacking was the Sabbath. 72 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:34,880 The Sabbath is something that God enshrines in creation. In Genesis 1 and 2, God works for six 73 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:39,920 days. And on the seventh, he rests. This is what says in Genesis 2. On the seventh day, God had 74 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:47,200 finished His work of creation. And God blessed the seventh day and declared holy because it 75 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:53,600 was the day he rested from all over his work. Let me read that again. Ok. On the seventh day, 76 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:58,240 God had finished His work of creation. And so he rested from all his work. 77 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:04,080 And God blessed the seventh day and declared Holy because it was the day he rested from all 78 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:10,340 his work of creation. The root word of the Sabbath means to cease or to pause. So the 79 00:08:10,340 --> 00:08:16,060 Sabbath is the one day a week when you cease and pause your work. You stop. You stop. The 80 00:08:16,060 --> 00:08:20,900 Lord made the Sabbath a law when he hands the Ten Commandments to Moses. It comes in 81 00:08:20,900 --> 00:08:26,020 at number four. Exodus 20 says this, Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 82 00:08:26,020 --> 00:08:30,620 You have six days each week for your ordinary work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath day 83 00:08:30,620 --> 00:08:34,840 of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day, no one in your house, no one may 84 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,840 do any work that includes you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, 85 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:45,140 your livestock and any foreigners living among you. Four in six days, the Lord made the heavens, 86 00:08:45,140 --> 00:08:49,520 the earth, the sea and everything in them. But on the seventh day, he rested. And that 87 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:53,960 is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. God gives the Israelite 88 00:08:53,960 --> 00:09:00,600 people a day when they are not to work. Even the servants and the animals get a day off. 89 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:09,580 Why? Because God made everything in six days. He worked hard and then he rested. And are 90 00:09:09,580 --> 00:09:15,380 we better than God? Do we more efficient? Do we work harder? If God needs or chooses 91 00:09:15,380 --> 00:09:22,540 to rest, how much more do you? You are a human and not a machine. But also God gives us the 92 00:09:22,540 --> 00:09:27,140 Sabbath out of love for us so that we can rest and delight and worship him. It is a 93 00:09:27,140 --> 00:09:34,140 grace to us. The Pharisees accused Jesus of dis... and his disciples of breaking the 94 00:09:34,140 --> 00:09:41,620 law of Moses, not because they are anti-snacks, but because picking the heads off the grain, 95 00:09:41,620 --> 00:09:48,660 you could very loosely argue, he's harvesting the grain. And harvesting the grain is working. 96 00:09:48,660 --> 00:09:54,900 And working is a big no-no. This is our Jesus' response. He says, gosh, it missed the point. 97 00:09:54,900 --> 00:10:00,420 The Sabbath was made to meet the demands and the needs of people, not for people to meet 98 00:10:00,420 --> 00:10:05,620 the requirements of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is there because you need it. The Sabbath 99 00:10:05,620 --> 00:10:13,220 doesn't need you. Seven-day Adventists who worship and Sabbath on Saturdays aside, we 100 00:10:13,220 --> 00:10:19,900 have largely dropped the Sabbath practice in Orthodox Christianity in the West. Perhaps 101 00:10:19,900 --> 00:10:25,580 because it's not something we have to do to be saved. We have rightly held to the core 102 00:10:25,580 --> 00:10:32,620 of the Christian faith, which is that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. 103 00:10:32,620 --> 00:10:37,140 Ephesians 2 says this, for it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this 104 00:10:37,140 --> 00:10:43,060 is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast. 105 00:10:43,060 --> 00:10:49,740 Which means we are reconciled to God by trusting in God's action, which is Jesus dying on the 106 00:10:49,740 --> 00:10:56,380 cross for us, and not our own actions, whether we do good or bad things. It does not come 107 00:10:56,380 --> 00:11:00,980 from ourselves. It comes from God, which means that whether we do good things or bad things, 108 00:11:00,980 --> 00:11:05,180 it's irrelevant to our reconciliation with God. God has reconciled us to himself through 109 00:11:05,180 --> 00:11:11,260 Jesus Christ. Our actions do not and actually cannot determine our acceptance by God. God 110 00:11:11,260 --> 00:11:22,860 has already accepted us. It is a gift that we accept through faith. Which means that 111 00:11:22,860 --> 00:11:28,220 whether we Sabbath or not, it makes no difference to whether we are saved, whether we are right 112 00:11:28,220 --> 00:11:34,900 with God, or whether we are reconciled to him. Let me say that again. Whether we Sabbath 113 00:11:34,900 --> 00:11:44,580 or not, it makes no difference to our salvation. You are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, 114 00:11:44,580 --> 00:11:51,420 and this is God's gift to you. To gift given out of the kindness of God, not something 115 00:11:51,420 --> 00:11:59,220 you can or have to work for. I don't know what it is about growing up in the church and hearing 116 00:11:59,220 --> 00:12:04,620 about God at school or in popular culture, but both tends to embed in us this idea that 117 00:12:04,620 --> 00:12:10,020 God is very concerned with you being a good person, and that is the only thing that matters 118 00:12:10,020 --> 00:12:18,740 to him. Like God doesn't know that we suck sometimes. When he finally discovers that 119 00:12:18,740 --> 00:12:25,340 he's shocked, he's mad, he's confused, and worst of all, he's disappointed. But we are 120 00:12:25,340 --> 00:12:33,060 not always good people. Even if our actions on the outside are good, our motivations on 121 00:12:33,060 --> 00:12:39,060 the inside leave a lot to be desired. That's what Jesus is getting out on the Sermon on 122 00:12:39,060 --> 00:12:44,700 the Mount in Matthew 5. You might not have killed a guy, but your heart has surely been 123 00:12:44,700 --> 00:12:49,460 angry with a guy. You might not have cheated on your spouse, but you've probably looked 124 00:12:49,460 --> 00:12:54,700 at someone else with lustful desire. You might not be outwardly generous. You might be outwardly 125 00:12:54,700 --> 00:12:58,500 generous with those who are needy, but are you sure you're not doing it so that you'll 126 00:12:58,500 --> 00:13:03,820 look good? You might pray, you might fast, you might go to church every week of your 127 00:13:03,820 --> 00:13:08,540 life, but are you sure you're not doing that so that other people will think you are a 128 00:13:08,540 --> 00:13:15,460 good person? But Jesus didn't come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people 129 00:13:15,460 --> 00:13:25,860 alive. He came to make you alive to God again. That is the heart of the good news about Jesus. 130 00:13:25,860 --> 00:13:31,020 Those Christians in the West will let the Sabbath go because whether we kept it or not 131 00:13:31,020 --> 00:13:36,460 didn't make us right with God. That is actually exactly the opposite to how the Pharisees 132 00:13:36,460 --> 00:13:41,020 saw it. The Pharisees, the ones who challenged the snacking of Jesus' disciples, that came 133 00:13:41,020 --> 00:13:46,900 from this religious movement, that believed that all of God's promises would come about. 134 00:13:46,900 --> 00:13:53,620 If all of God's people, the Israelites, followed the law perfectly for just one day, they thought 135 00:13:53,620 --> 00:13:59,900 they could be reconciled to God by keeping amongst a host of other things the Sabbath, 136 00:13:59,900 --> 00:14:06,060 which explains why they got so mad about a snack. For them, their behavior resulted in 137 00:14:06,060 --> 00:14:14,860 their salvation. But for us, God's behavior in Jesus Christ has resulted in our salvation. 138 00:14:14,860 --> 00:14:23,100 How often do we as Christians know intellectually that we are saved by grace through faith? 139 00:14:23,100 --> 00:14:29,820 Well, we live like functional Pharisees trying to make our behavior a result in our salvation. 140 00:14:29,820 --> 00:14:36,860 Finally, I go to church. If only I'm nice to people. If only I get my kids baptized. 141 00:14:36,860 --> 00:14:41,220 If only I stopped doing this thing that I'm really ashamed of. If only I do this or I 142 00:14:41,220 --> 00:14:49,020 stop doing that, then God would love me. Then I'll be accepted by God. But let me say it 143 00:14:49,020 --> 00:14:57,580 again. God loves you already. Jesus gave up his life because he loves you. God is under 144 00:14:57,580 --> 00:15:04,860 no allegiance about who you are and what you do. You might be able to convince other people 145 00:15:04,860 --> 00:15:09,020 of a different version of you, but you can neither hide from nor pretend that you are 146 00:15:09,020 --> 00:15:16,060 anything different to God. God sees you. God knows you. God loves you and God accepts you 147 00:15:16,060 --> 00:15:24,420 anyway. That is why it's called good news. We can stop trying to earn God's love. Stop 148 00:15:24,420 --> 00:15:29,300 worrying about whether people are snaking on a Saturday. Stop living like a functional 149 00:15:29,300 --> 00:15:35,860 Pharisee and freely accept the love and grace God has given to us by faith so we can come 150 00:15:35,860 --> 00:15:42,780 alive to the reality of God in our lives and be transformed by the Holy Spirit. So for 151 00:15:42,780 --> 00:15:49,420 whatever reason, we dropped the Sabbath from regular Christian practice. It's called, it's 152 00:15:49,420 --> 00:15:55,660 there to meet our needs and not to reconcile us to God. But we actually dropped it to our 153 00:15:55,660 --> 00:16:01,660 great detriment. This is what AJ Swaboda says, which is an amazing last name. The Sabbath 154 00:16:01,660 --> 00:16:07,060 has largely been forgotten by the church, which has uncritically mimicked the rhythms 155 00:16:07,060 --> 00:16:13,860 of the industrial and success obsessed West. The result, our road weary, exhausted churches 156 00:16:13,860 --> 00:16:17,700 have largely failed to integrate Sabbath into their lives as vital elements of Christian 157 00:16:17,700 --> 00:16:26,420 discipleship. It is not as though we don't love God. We love God deeply. We just don't 158 00:16:26,420 --> 00:16:35,540 know how to sit with God anymore. We have become perhaps the most emotionally exhausted, 159 00:16:35,540 --> 00:16:45,580 psychologically overworked and spiritually malnourished people in history. In the West, 160 00:16:45,580 --> 00:16:52,420 we need freedom from a life that is too busy to rest, too busy to seek joy and too busy 161 00:16:52,420 --> 00:16:59,260 to worship. And yet here we have a tradition, a rhythm, a practice, something embedded into 162 00:16:59,260 --> 00:17:05,020 the foundation of the universe, something God made for us to help us experience life 163 00:17:05,020 --> 00:17:10,500 and life to the full. There might not be a law for us, but it is wisdom. It's called 164 00:17:10,500 --> 00:17:15,980 the Sabbath. The Sabbath is one day where you do not work and you focus instead on worship, 165 00:17:15,980 --> 00:17:21,660 joy and rest. It's a day for worship because God gave it as a day of rest dedicated to 166 00:17:21,660 --> 00:17:26,060 himself. It's a day for joy because when the Lord finished his work, he delighted in it 167 00:17:26,060 --> 00:17:33,900 and he saw that it was very good. It's a day for rest because God himself rested. For the 168 00:17:33,900 --> 00:17:40,140 Hebrew people, their day began at sundown. So Sabbath was sundown Friday night to sundown 169 00:17:40,140 --> 00:17:44,060 Saturday night. But for us, in light of the good news of Jesus, in light of the Sabbath 170 00:17:44,060 --> 00:17:49,900 being made for us and not asked for the Sabbath, means that practicing the Sabbath today looks 171 00:17:49,900 --> 00:17:56,060 like carving out a day, abstaining from work, and instead doing things that bring you joy, 172 00:17:56,060 --> 00:18:01,980 help you to rest and position you to worship. It's as simple as that. One day, you don't 173 00:18:01,980 --> 00:18:06,780 take work calls, you don't check your emails. One day when you can avoid those chores guilt-free. 174 00:18:07,580 --> 00:18:15,100 One day when you can step out of the business and busyness of life and rest, really rest, read, 175 00:18:15,100 --> 00:18:22,140 walk, meditate, nap, feast, pray, catch up with your best friend for coffee, spend time alone, 176 00:18:22,140 --> 00:18:28,300 and don't meet anyone for coffee. Journal deeply, bring out your best coloring and plates, go for 177 00:18:28,300 --> 00:18:34,540 ice cream with the kids down at the beach. It's a day where you make room and you make space, 178 00:18:35,900 --> 00:18:42,700 presence to be present to yourself, your body and to God. It's a day where you make room for rest. 179 00:18:44,300 --> 00:18:49,260 And if you carve out that one day, you can do whatever the other six days require. 180 00:18:50,060 --> 00:18:55,180 You can work hard six days because Sabbath is coming and you're about to rest even harder. 181 00:18:55,180 --> 00:18:59,660 If you carve out that one day, all other six will look different. Walter Bruggeman said this, 182 00:18:59,660 --> 00:19:05,340 people who keep the Sabbath live all seven days differently. I know that for many of us, 183 00:19:05,340 --> 00:19:10,700 we think about a Sabbath day. We think about carving out a day and we're like, that sounds 184 00:19:10,700 --> 00:19:18,700 amazing. And there is absolutely no way I could do that. I'm just too busy. I'm too important. 185 00:19:18,700 --> 00:19:23,980 We need the money. The kids need to get to their underwater basket weaving class. There's just 186 00:19:23,980 --> 00:19:33,260 absolutely no way. I'm too busy. And that might be true. But what I want to put to you today 187 00:19:34,380 --> 00:19:42,620 is that you are actually too busy not to Sabbath. You are too busy not to Sabbath. 188 00:19:43,420 --> 00:19:50,860 You are not a machine. Machines can go and go and go into the night and early in the morning and on 189 00:19:50,860 --> 00:19:59,740 weekends. You are a human being lovingly made in God's own image made by God who worked six 190 00:19:59,740 --> 00:20:05,500 and rested one. You are made to live in a body and a universe that is subject to a rhythm. 191 00:20:06,460 --> 00:20:12,060 And if you go against that rhythm, you go against the grain of the universe. And if you go against 192 00:20:12,060 --> 00:20:21,980 the grain of the universe, you get splinters. You are too busy not to Sabbath. John Mark Homer says 193 00:20:21,980 --> 00:20:26,140 this in the ruthless elimination of Hari, which is a great book. You should absolutely read it. 194 00:20:26,140 --> 00:20:31,660 And got his book Garden City is also amazing on the Sabbath. When you go against the grain of the 195 00:20:31,660 --> 00:20:37,660 universe, you suffer the consequences in your soul. Burnout chronic anxiety, high blood pressure, 196 00:20:37,660 --> 00:20:45,260 a lousy immune system, sick too often, brain fog, spiritual doubt or a sense of disconnect from God. 197 00:20:45,820 --> 00:20:51,020 Emotionally or relationally, just a sense of disconnect from your own soul, isolation, 198 00:20:51,020 --> 00:20:55,660 shallow relationships. You feel like you know all these people, but yet you feel alone. 199 00:20:56,460 --> 00:21:02,940 Can't fight the Sabbath rhythm anymore. Then we can fight gravity or the second law of thermodynamics. 200 00:21:02,940 --> 00:21:08,060 What many find is that if you don't practice Sabbath, then illness or cancer or an accident 201 00:21:08,060 --> 00:21:14,460 will become your Sabbath. Sabbath is coming for you. Machines can keep going and going. 202 00:21:15,900 --> 00:21:21,020 But even then they break down and they need parts replaced or repaired. But that is so much harder 203 00:21:21,020 --> 00:21:27,180 for you. You cannot get a new brain. You cannot get a new body. You are your brain and your body. 204 00:21:27,180 --> 00:21:33,340 You cannot work like in a machine. Expect to stay human. If you try, you will grind to a halt. 205 00:21:33,340 --> 00:21:38,380 Your body will break down. There are far too many implications to explore. But if we're going to 206 00:21:38,380 --> 00:21:43,740 finish church today, I'll have to just be happy with this. This one haunting quote about sleep 207 00:21:43,740 --> 00:21:49,340 from Dr. Matthew Walker, his book, Why Do We Sleep? He says, regularly sleeping less than six hours a 208 00:21:49,340 --> 00:21:54,220 night, weakens your immune system, substantially increases your risk to cancer. It's linked to 209 00:21:54,220 --> 00:21:59,020 developing Alzheimer's, increases your risk of diabetes, increases your risk of cardiovascular 210 00:21:59,020 --> 00:22:04,460 disease, stroke and congestive heart failure, contributes to all psychiatric, major psychiatric 211 00:22:04,460 --> 00:22:09,660 conditions, including depression, anxiety and suicidality. And it's a proven recipe for weight 212 00:22:09,660 --> 00:22:16,300 gain. This is what he says, add the above health consequences up and a proven link becomes easier 213 00:22:16,300 --> 00:22:22,300 to accept. Relative to the recommended six to nine hours, the shorter your sleep, the shorter 214 00:22:22,300 --> 00:22:28,860 your lifespan. The old maxim of sleep when I'm dead, it's therefore unfortunate. 215 00:22:29,420 --> 00:22:33,660 Adopt this mindset and it's possible that you will be dead sooner and the quality of that 216 00:22:33,660 --> 00:22:40,780 shorter life will be worse. The elastic band of sleep deprivation can stretch only so far 217 00:22:41,500 --> 00:22:47,900 before it snaps. It can only stretch so far before it snaps. That is haunting. 218 00:22:47,900 --> 00:22:53,500 Sleep is just one factor and the rest of your body requires to function healthily. 219 00:22:54,060 --> 00:23:03,740 You are too busy not to Sabbath. But if you Sabbath, you're going with the rhythm and grain of the 220 00:23:03,740 --> 00:23:08,780 universe. Did you know that an American study of seven day Adventists who still practice Sabbath 221 00:23:08,780 --> 00:23:15,340 as a part of worship found that seven day Adventists are A, happier and B live 11 years longer than 222 00:23:15,340 --> 00:23:20,300 the average person. And someone counted up how many Sabbath days there are in the average lifespan 223 00:23:20,300 --> 00:23:25,500 in an amounts to 11 years. It's almost like when you give a day to God for rest and worship, 224 00:23:25,500 --> 00:23:31,980 you get a day back. But if you Sabbath, you will have more energy, you'll be happier, 225 00:23:31,980 --> 00:23:36,700 you'll be closer to God because you are intentionally giving yourself time and space to be 226 00:23:36,700 --> 00:23:42,620 present to him. What's not to love? What's not to love? I found that because I Sabbath, 227 00:23:42,620 --> 00:23:47,100 I can do whatever is required of me. Saturday to Thursday, I can do all the lunchboxes and the 228 00:23:47,100 --> 00:23:50,060 school drop-offs and the play dates. I can do the dinners and the breakfast and the dishes 229 00:23:50,060 --> 00:23:56,140 and I can do the washing and I can mow the lawns. I can work my two jobs. Life is insane six days 230 00:23:56,140 --> 00:24:03,660 a week. But Sabbath is always coming. I Sabbath on a Friday, I try to say carbs and sugar for 231 00:24:03,660 --> 00:24:08,300 Friday. So on a normal Friday, I'll get up before the kids for a bit of Bible prayer and exercise. 232 00:24:08,300 --> 00:24:12,860 And then I'll get the kids up and I'll drop the kids off at school and then I might go get a coffee 233 00:24:12,860 --> 00:24:18,780 and some carbs and some sugar by myself. Or maybe I'll go and get some coffee and carbs and sugar 234 00:24:18,780 --> 00:24:23,740 with one of my best mates. I might go shoot some hoops or have a nap or work in the garden or go 235 00:24:23,740 --> 00:24:29,340 for a run. Maybe Ash and I will go out for lunch or coffee. Then we'll get to read a book for joy 236 00:24:29,340 --> 00:24:33,340 or worship. And I'll pick up the kids and we'll play together or we'll go somewhere and get an 237 00:24:33,340 --> 00:24:38,060 ice cream. We finished the night with a movie together and I'm in bed early. My phone is 238 00:24:38,060 --> 00:24:45,900 either off or all my work apps, Slack, etc. is deleted from my phone. I don't have messenger 239 00:24:45,900 --> 00:24:51,660 or socials on any on my phone any other time of the week. So on the Sabbath, it's literally just a 240 00:24:51,660 --> 00:24:57,580 phone for emergencies. The Sabbath for me is a day filled with worship because it is the day I'm 241 00:24:57,580 --> 00:25:04,780 most present to God. It is the day he has my full attention. Fridays are the best. Fridays are also 242 00:25:04,780 --> 00:25:11,980 imperfect and a work on progress. I'm too busy not to Sabbath. But because I Sabbath, I can meet the 243 00:25:11,980 --> 00:25:17,660 demands of my life happier and with more grace because my Sabbath is always coming. 244 00:25:19,980 --> 00:25:25,500 That's what I'd said this. Disciplines are not righteousness, but they are wisdom. 245 00:25:26,620 --> 00:25:29,820 Disciplines or spiritual practices of which the Sabbath are one. 246 00:25:29,820 --> 00:25:36,700 They're not righteousness. By that I mean in doing them, you do not make yourself right with God. 247 00:25:37,500 --> 00:25:42,300 But they are wisdom and this applies to the Sabbath as it will apply to each of the four 248 00:25:42,300 --> 00:25:47,580 practices we're going to talk about now make room series. You should get yourself a Sabbath. 249 00:25:47,580 --> 00:25:52,460 Not because you have to have one to be a good person. Not because you need one for God to love 250 00:25:52,460 --> 00:25:58,140 you. You are beloved before you did a thing. You should get a Sabbath because it's wisdom 251 00:25:58,140 --> 00:26:07,500 on how to live a good life. Now I get it. Hiving out a whole day may look achievable to you. 252 00:26:09,660 --> 00:26:14,540 But throw in shift work or kids and everything you've already committed to it might look near 253 00:26:14,540 --> 00:26:21,740 impossible. So Sabbath what you have. Can you find five hours? Can you find half a day? What time 254 00:26:22,300 --> 00:26:27,500 can you find? Are there some things you could let go of in order to prioritize rest, joy and 255 00:26:27,500 --> 00:26:32,620 worship? Or you can be present to God where you can unshuckle yourself from the slavery of business. 256 00:26:33,500 --> 00:26:37,900 All of the spiritual disciplines take time and practice. You never become good at something 257 00:26:37,900 --> 00:26:43,900 overnight. But if you do over time, if you give yourself and give small investments over a long 258 00:26:43,900 --> 00:26:48,780 period, getting into a routine or discipline often requires you to make something as small 259 00:26:48,780 --> 00:26:53,500 and achievable as possible. In his book, Atomic Habits, James Clear talks about how he built 260 00:26:53,500 --> 00:26:59,900 his gym routine. For a couple of months, he would just get dressed into his gym gear at 6am or 261 00:26:59,900 --> 00:27:05,500 whatever time he wanted to go to the gym. And he would go to the gym in his full gym clothes. He 262 00:27:05,500 --> 00:27:11,900 would lift one weight and then he would go home. Because how well or how much he did at the gym 263 00:27:11,900 --> 00:27:16,860 wasn't the point. The point was that he did it. And the point was that making it so small and 264 00:27:16,860 --> 00:27:24,220 achievable that he actually felt so stupid if he didn't do it each day. And after a month or two, 265 00:27:24,220 --> 00:27:28,540 going to the gym or not wasn't really a thought. He just went to the gym every day and he could 266 00:27:28,540 --> 00:27:36,140 start to concentrate more on what he did at the gym. GK Chesteron said this, if a thing is worth 267 00:27:36,140 --> 00:27:43,020 doing, it's worth doing badly. So Sabbath what you have, start small, start bad. The point 268 00:27:43,020 --> 00:27:49,580 is just to start somewhere. Start to say this time, this time here, this is different time. 269 00:27:49,580 --> 00:27:55,580 This time is set apart. This time is for God. This is for my life. Sabbath what you have, 270 00:27:56,540 --> 00:28:01,420 an experiment, practice and build your way up to something that can carry you for the other six days. 271 00:28:02,140 --> 00:28:07,500 Try turning off your phone during that time. Try throwing a ridiculously lavish dinner for your 272 00:28:07,500 --> 00:28:14,780 family. Save a favourite book to just savor during that time. Set that time apart as holy 273 00:28:15,420 --> 00:28:22,380 and necessary for your flourishing. Jesus says this in Matthew 11, 274 00:28:23,420 --> 00:28:28,540 Come to me, all you are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 275 00:28:29,500 --> 00:28:34,860 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you because I am humble and gentle of heart and you will find 276 00:28:34,860 --> 00:28:42,540 rest for your souls. If you are weary, tired, busy carrying heavy burdens, if you are too busy to rest, 277 00:28:42,540 --> 00:28:51,580 too busy to seek joy or too busy to worship, come to Jesus. He's calling you and he will give you rest. 278 00:28:53,580 --> 00:29:00,300 How? He says this, take my yoke upon you. What does this mean? Well, a yoke is something that 279 00:29:00,300 --> 00:29:05,820 holds a pair of animals together to work a field or to do other kind of work. There's a picture 280 00:29:05,820 --> 00:29:11,740 up on the screen. If you're working a field and plowing with two animals, you need to keep them 281 00:29:11,740 --> 00:29:18,300 in pace with each other. And this is what a yoke does. It holds them together. So they cannot pull 282 00:29:18,300 --> 00:29:23,420 in other directions, in different directions, and they cannot go one faster than the other or one 283 00:29:23,420 --> 00:29:30,140 slower than the other. A yoke holds the animals together. It holds them together. It keeps them 284 00:29:30,140 --> 00:29:34,700 together so that when you're plowing a field or whatever you're doing, you can do it in an even 285 00:29:34,700 --> 00:29:43,820 and efficient way. Are you tired, Jesus says? Come and be yoke to me. Come and let me hold you. 286 00:29:44,380 --> 00:29:51,660 Come and walk at my pace. Come and head in my direction. You're going too fast. Maybe for some 287 00:29:51,660 --> 00:29:58,940 of us, we're going too slow. We're heading in the wrong direction. Come, walk through life at my 288 00:29:58,940 --> 00:30:07,100 side, Jesus is saying. You have to surrender to me. You have to let go of control. You have to let 289 00:30:07,100 --> 00:30:15,900 go of your own pace and your own direction. You have to let go, but don't worry. Jesus says, 290 00:30:15,900 --> 00:30:24,780 I am humble and gentle at heart. I'll teach you how to live and you will find rest for your soul. 291 00:30:26,940 --> 00:30:33,020 The Sabbath is a way that we yoke ourselves to Jesus, to walk in his pace, to head in his direction. 292 00:30:33,900 --> 00:30:38,540 We might think that we get more work done with that one day if we could give that day to work. 293 00:30:39,420 --> 00:30:42,060 We might think that we have too much work to give up that day. 294 00:30:42,060 --> 00:30:49,100 We might think we just can't carve out the time, but the truth is that we always find a way to 295 00:30:49,100 --> 00:30:57,260 make space in our lives for that which is important to us. We are too busy not to Sabbath. 296 00:30:58,300 --> 00:31:04,460 We need to live at Jesus' pace so that you have every opportunity to begin this Sabbath practice 297 00:31:04,460 --> 00:31:10,540 for our favorite sermon segment at Encounter Henley, Henley Homework. I made you a worksheet. 298 00:31:10,540 --> 00:31:14,380 That's right. I made you a worksheet. We're taking homework to the next level. 299 00:31:15,020 --> 00:31:20,940 And this worksheet is simple. Can you carve out a day, dinner to dinner, where you can 300 00:31:20,940 --> 00:31:27,660 intentionally stop for rest, joy and worship? Can you find that day? And if you can't carve out a 301 00:31:27,660 --> 00:31:33,100 day, if you legitimately can't carve out a day, try to find at least a five-hour period in your week. 302 00:31:34,220 --> 00:31:38,540 And if you can't find at least a five-hour period in your week, then Sabbath what you have, 303 00:31:38,540 --> 00:31:48,540 find something and write it down on your piece of paper. And then in the columns, there are three 304 00:31:48,540 --> 00:31:56,300 areas for the Sabbath. There is things that bring you joy, things that help you to rest, 305 00:31:56,300 --> 00:32:01,260 and things that are acts of worship for you. And what I want you to do on this sheet is just pick 306 00:32:01,260 --> 00:32:07,100 one thing that you can do or that you can stop doing that will help you in each of those three 307 00:32:07,100 --> 00:32:11,260 areas. One thing that will bring you joy, one thing that will help you to rest, and one thing 308 00:32:11,260 --> 00:32:16,460 that will be an act of worship for you. Write it down, block it out, protect it, 309 00:32:16,460 --> 00:32:21,180 book it in your calendar, make it non-negotiable. You are too busy not to Sabbath. 310 00:32:21,980 --> 00:32:25,660 You're going to take some time. Think, pray. You might have to rearrange your week. You might have 311 00:32:25,660 --> 00:32:30,540 to give up some good things in your life and give them the boot so they can begin to live at Jesus' 312 00:32:30,540 --> 00:32:42,220 place. We'll take some time to fill it in. And then the rest is up to you. Let's pray. 313 00:32:44,940 --> 00:32:49,500 Lord Jesus, we thank you that you have given us this great gift of a Sabbath, 314 00:32:51,260 --> 00:32:58,620 something made for us out of love for us. So, Lord God, I pray that as we think, 315 00:32:58,620 --> 00:33:02,380 reflect during this next song as we fill out our worksheet, 316 00:33:05,820 --> 00:33:10,940 that you would just be so present to us, that you would help us see clearly, see with your eyes 317 00:33:10,940 --> 00:33:15,660 what it is in our weeks and the space that we can create for you, what it is that we need to 318 00:33:16,540 --> 00:33:21,820 give up or start or stop doing in order to seek joy, rest and worship. And we pray, Lord God, 319 00:33:21,820 --> 00:33:28,460 that you would help us to live life and life to the full, to yoke ourselves to be led by you, 320 00:33:28,460 --> 00:33:34,780 humbly in your way and to let go of our prayers to Jesus. 321 00:33:39,900 --> 00:33:44,780 Thanks so much for tuning into this week's message. If you felt challenged or need prayer, 322 00:33:44,780 --> 00:33:50,380 we would love to hear from you on Instagram, at Encounter Henley. Or if you're interested in how 323 00:33:50,380 --> 00:33:55,660 you can support this ministry, please go to our website, EncounterAdelaide.com.au. 324 00:33:55,660 --> 00:34:03,340 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.