God Empowers and Renews Us

Good morning and may God richly bless you our beloved guests , our Chapelwood family, as well as our streaming audience. Our prayer is that your life would be changed by Jesus. And that through a relationship with Him you would have life and an abundant life. Let me pray for you this morning.

Pray - Great and glorious God who love us, as Your creation, we pray that upon the reading of Your word, You would cause our hearts to boldly love You, to diligently listen Your word, to completely accept what we hear, and then passionately live out Your word. We gratefully ask this in Jesus’ life changing name. Amen.

As we look at the 31st Chapter of Exodus and see how God Empowers and Renews Us, we first need to look at verses 1-11. And as we do we will see that God Empowers His Servants.

God Empowers His Servants

Exodus 31:1–11 AV

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee; The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle, And the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense, And the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot, And the cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office, And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.

As we live and work in daily life, where do we get the power, creatively, leadership, and strength to accomplish the amazing things that God commissions us to do as we serve Him and our fellow man?

Moses relays to us an account of two men being used by God, Oholiab and Bezalel, They were different in many ways. They came from different tribes. They had different skills sets. They were also commissioned with different responsibilities that needed carried out in order to prepare for worship.

Just as the Lord had required that the materials to be used for the tabernacle and the priestly dress had to be of the finest quality, so he took steps to ensure that the work done with these materials would also meet the highest standards.

Oholiab and Bezalel were filled with the Holy Spirit for the purpose of using their talents to create a place for worship. The strength the needed to endure long hours of precise workmanship was provided by God. The Ruach Ha’kodesh, which is the Hebrew name for Holy Spirit, divinely gave the workman the ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship to create the instruments and articles of worship. Oholiab and Bezalel, as well as all the skilled craftsmen were empowered to craft and create not by their power, but by the Holy Spirit.

There are times when God has called us to serve and we feel we cannot do it. We lack faith and doubt Him power. We trust Jesus to save our soul from the damnation, but we doubt His Spirit’s ability to help us talk to our coworker about Christ. We pray with might that God will save our Aunt from the ravages of Cancer, but doubt His ability to lead us as we teach a kid’s Bible class.

It is an odd dynamic to say God is all powerful, yet completely doubt His ability to help us and and reign supreme over the smallest daily tasks.

Yet, in our text we see that the working man was being empowered to create for God. They are trusting God as He is sovereignly empowering them though His Holy Spirit. That blue collared with calloused hands, wiping sweat from him brow during a 16 hour shift is creating beautiful items to help others worship and understand God. Salt of the Earth men who did not buy in to pie in the sky dreams trusted Jehovah, day in day out in the work place.

And we should do. We need to trust God can supernaturally help us with conquering a spreadsheet, trouble shooting problems, locating lost resources, finding solutions, and dealing gracefully with difficult people. The Apostle Paul put it this way.

Romans 12:1 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

So here’s what I want you to do. As God is helping you in your everyday, ordinary life … follow His lead as He empowers to you to do amazing things in His name. Your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, shopping, singing in the shower, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Let Him lead you and be faithful to follow in your daily walk.

I know this can seem hard when you have a 100 things to do. You feel pulled in every direction and there is seeming no rest. Not even a moment to take breath. You are busy and worn out. God knows this. And He is ready to lift our burdens. And His plans for you.

Matthew 11:28 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

When we are rested we feel renewed. We feel refreshed. When we look at verses 12- 18 we can see part of God’s plan for you as God Refreshes Us through Worship.

God Refreshes Us through Worship

Exodus 31:12–18 AV

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

As we live and work in daily life, how do we rest, reenergize, and powerful for what the world may throw at us and God empowers us to do?

Where do we tap in and reenergize so we don’t burn out and quit? So we don’t give up hope?

As God speaks to Moses, He reveals to Moses the purpose and the process the sabbath.

First, Jehovah explains that this covenant is between God himself and His people, the Israelites. It is so important that Gods says that above all, we are to Keep His sabbath. Keeping the Sabbath is so dire to our well being and to our relationship with God that He declares that if we forsake it.

Do we take the Sabbath serious? Do you invest in it? Do we honor it? Do we really believe God’s word? Rest, Renewal, Relationship with God.

Second, It is to be a sign for future generations. By keeping the Sabbath ye are showing the younger generations the importance of God and a relationship with Him. By keeping the Sabbath, Israel was telling the younger portion of society as well as the world at large that a relationship with God mattered. They were assigning value to God. They were teaching or discipling the younger ones about how to have a relationship with God and how to keep life in balance.

When we put life on hold and keep a sabbath, we are explaining to the our neighbors, coworkers, friends, and families that God is number one in our life. We are saying that our relationship with God is of value. That we understand who He is.

Elohim (God)

Qanna (Jealous)

Adonai (Lord, Master)

Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah)

El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty)

El Elyon (The Most High God)

El Olam (The Everlasting God)

Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner)

Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace)

Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts)

Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There)

Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd)

Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)

Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies You)

And He is so much more. In fact there are two more of names that may helps us to understand God and His plans new renew us through worship.

Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals)

Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)

The last two help us to see how God cares for us. It show God desires to heal us from the wounds of the world. And as the everlasting, Ancient of Days willing provides rest for us.

As our Lord and Creator, God knows what makes us tick, what our strengths are, what our needs are, what hurts us, and what our weaknesses are. He knows us inside and out.

Our loving Lord knows that we struggle. He knows we are worn down, worn out, weak, and weary. He is ever aware that we can’t catch a breath. Jesus knows we don’t have the strength to go another round let alone pick ourselves off the floor. And to deal with that He created and instituted the Sabbath.

When we have a Sabbath, we are resting. We are not working. And we are focusing on our relationship with God. God as Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals) uses this time to heal us up from the harm of the world. Through the Sabbath we are built back up from a world that is geared up to beat us down. Through the Sabbath God removes the bitter and makes us better.

God as Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide) provides this day as an investment in us and our relationship with Him. Our Savior provides a time of safety and rest. Your Sabbath should be a safe harbor. A time where you should be able to safely take that deep breath. A time where you should be able to stop and have fellowship with God and even His people without fearing repercussions. Without fear of attacks. We are supposed to be able to simple go and sit at the feet of Father God like we are small children and listen to Him.

It is through this time that you will find your strength again. It is with this time that we find our selves being renewed. It is where we are built up. It is where our peace and hope are restored. When we sabbath we are really to rest in God. We hide in God as the cleft of the Rock to get out of the storms of the world. We hide in God as a strong tower to find shelter from all the attacks warring against us.

The Sabbath is so necessary for your life as well as your relationship with God that the Bible tells us whoever profanes the Sabbath by working on that day is condemned to death.

Many feel the pains of death now. The have never invested in God. They feel hollow and dead on the inside now. As they breath the swallow in the the blackness of sin and it drinks deep into the bones. It cripples and kills them.

As the musicians come forward to lead you in a time of invitation. He are 3 decisions you may want to make. 1) You may want to simple ask God to forgive you and save you from His wrath. 2). You may want to take that step of faith and begin to truly live for Jesus by being baptized as He commanded and as He was Himself. And 3) You may want to become part of the Chapelwood family.We are hear to support you, walk with you in life no matter shadow or sunshine, as help you grow in your faith. The Church was important enough Jesus not only started it, is the head of it, but He died for it. A Church family matters. We are just ragamuffin group of sons and daughters running into the arm of our Father, God. And we are here for you.