Lord of the Sabbath

INTRODUCTION

300 Illustrations for Preachers A Coffee Shop Built to Repel WiFi

Preaching Themes: Creativity, Friendship, Sabbath, Stress

Most people look for a coffee shop with free Wi-Fi and get annoyed if that service isn’t provided. So many places offer free Wi-Fi; a Canadian coffee shop tried the opposite approach. The Faraday Café was built to repel and jam cell phone signals and was the first such shop in the world to try and deliberately create a wireless “black hole.” The owner worked with engineers to create what is known as a Faraday cage around the shop to turn away signals from the outside. The owner, Julien Thomas said he felt that digital technology had developed so quickly that people have not really had a chance to think about the etiquette or ethics around their use. Thomas hoped to help his customers feel what casual life was like without a constant Internet connection.

The shop closed after a couple of weeks.

—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

no tolerance for being unplugged

we must be updated

we must update

we can’t get along without the world

and the world can’t get along without us!

no tolerance for being unplugged from the world on the Sabbath

we act as if the world is lord over us

or as if we are lord over the word and it can’t get along without us

this leaves us exhausted in an exhausted world

rest is only found in Jesus who is truly Lord

the only

the word Sabbath - to cease

to cease slaving to self-righteousness

to cease working for God’s approval

because we have true righteousness and full approval in Jesus who is our rest

But Jesus is only our rest if he is our Lord.

We make ourselves anxious by pretending to be lord of our lives.

We find rest when we submit to the lordship of Jesus.

Over our work and rest

Over everything everything in our lives

Mark 6:31 ESV

And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

300 Illustrations for Preachers Feeling like a Dog Being Dragged by a Car

Feeling Like a Dog Being Dragged by a Car

Exodus 23:12; 33:14; 34:21; Psalms 46:10; 127:2; Jeremiah 31:25; Matthew 11:28–30; Mark 6:31; Hebrews 4:1–11

Preaching Themes: Sabbath, Stress

Tattoo’s owner shut his leash in the door so he could help his wife carry a load to the car. Forgetting the dog was there, the owner pulled onto the road and started home, with Tattoo the basset hound trailing along behind. At first it was like going for a walk, but as the speed increased and the distance lengthened, Tattoo began to have problems keeping up. The people who loved him the most were unaware of the trouble he was in. Before they got to the main highway, a motorcycle police officer noticed the trailing dog. The owners were horrified by the ordeal Tattoo had just experienced, even though the dog appeared uninjured.

When life seems to be dragging you by the neck, it is time to remember that God has something else planned for you—his rest.

—Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

We want work and rest on our own terms. We want to be Lord.

Those who refuse to recognize Jesus as Lord cannot partake of the rest he offers them.