We Rest

We Are Church – we gather to worship God together, to fellowship and build each other up, to learn and grow and hold each other accountable together, to serve each other and the community together. But the assembly of people with purpose and mission is not just about doing. We also rest, individually and together.

Genesis 2:1–3 NIV

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Genesis 2:1–3 NIV

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Sabbath – part of Creation story. God rested. Rest, celebrate.

Exodus 20:8–11 NIV

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exodus 20:8–11 NIV

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

command to sabbath same 4th commandment. Longest, focus, aligns right relationship with God and right relationship with man. Creation motivation.

year of release described, release from slavery, debt, ownership returns. Justice.

Exodus 23:10–11 NIV

10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Exodus 23:10–11 NIV

10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

sabbath year, ground fallow, poor and beasts eat what comes up. :12 weekly rest so ox and donkey and servants and guests may rest and be refreshed. In a section on justice – doing what is right and just with those around you. Sabbath is a practice of justice.

sign between God and Israel that God sets you apart, continue to observe sabbath because it is set apart for you. Covenant forever and sign forever that God made everything in six days and seventh day rested and was refreshed. Solemn rest to the Lord.

rest from plowing and harvest

– part of redemption story of Israel rescued from slavery. Commanded as part of 10 Commands in desert after coming out of slavery in Egypt.

Deuteronomy 5:15 NIV

15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

the sabbath is a reminder of Israel’s slavery and provides that rest for all. Celebrates the rescue from slavery. In NT context this could also point to the slavery to darkness and the rescue. Observe sabbath to celebrate the rescue from slavery to darkness of death and sin.

Seventh Day Sabbath rest, after six days of work a day set aside as holy to rest, refresh, refocus.

Seventh Year Sabbath rest. After six years of work, a year to let the ground rest from tilling and planting and harvesting. Only what comes up on its own is to be eaten. God will provide during this time if Israel is faithful to observe the sabbath year.

Seven sevens = Year of Jubilee. After seven sabbath years, a final year of jubilee – celebration, setting free, returning to original (reset), fresh start.

Picking and eating grains, healing, priests serving in the temple.

Mark 2:27–28 NIV

27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Mark 2:27–28 NIV

27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

(, ) Jesus reframes sabbath – made for man not man made for sabbath. Jesus is Lord of the sabbath and can create purpose for the day.

Matthew 11:28–30 NIV

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28–30 NIV

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

; come to me and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and learn from me you will find rest for your soul. Speaks to the harried pace, the worry and frustration, the burdened and weary life. Do it my way and you will be refreshed.

come to me and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and learn from me you will find rest for your soul. Speaks to the harried pace, the worry and frustration, the burdened and weary life. Do it my way and you will be refreshed.

starts with fasting and the true fasting God wants. look at that in January.

Isaiah 58:13–14 NIV

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

starts with fasting and the true fasting God wants. look at that in January.

faithfulness to sabbath rewarded by feast.

Isaiah 58:13–14 NIV

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

faithfulness to sabbath rewarded by feast.

Sabbath rest and fasting go together. Rest is like fasting. Not vacation, not taking a break to play at whatever you want. Submitting to an intentional fast in order to rest, but also to hear from God, to reset vision and focus, refresh, restart with renewed purpose.

Jesus is calling us to come to Him and learn and rest.

In the life of every believer, of every group, of every congregation there is a time for work and there is a time for rest. There is a time to carry out mission, and there is a time to stop and regroup and listen and receive orders.

Three areas of misfocus:

Let’s start with committing ourselves to personal sabbath on a weekly basis. Setting aside busyness and making time for rest and for an intentional time to hear from the Lord.

Programs and activities prioritized rather than outcomes and results of lives changed and lost people reached and needy people helped.

Buildings and facilities and stuff prioritized rather than people and relationships and opportunities for Gospel interaction and love and grace and service and justice.

Wants and desires and preferences prioritized. rather than asking what Jesus wants and what He's saying we are to do and how.

It's not that having buildings and programs is wrong. But when we lose focus of why we have them and they become the end goal rather than tools to help us accomplish the mission Jesus calls us to, then it is time to take a step back, a sabbath rest, a fast from these things, and seek Jesus. Ask for His wisdom and direction and renewed vision and refocus on what is important to Him.

Pat Morley quote: A servant does not ask What do I want? A servant asks What does the Master need?

Example of Tess and me 10 years ago.

Why does Mt. Rock need to observe a sabbath year?

Example of military – not simply a bunch of individuals running around on the battlefield hoping for the best. Organization in units, smaller from the larger. Task, training, orders come from the top leader to organize and deploy the units. All applying their training (gifts) toward a common mission.

Example of music – band, orchestra, choir. . “On the same page” same key, same score, etc. All done in order for the common good.

Already been talking about the areas where we are overextended in people and resources – facilities and programs.

(in music, the rests are as important as the notes. The quiet spaces for some or all of the instruments are just as meaningful as the notes. Not quitting, not being dismissed from the band, but having a specific piece to play in the overall composition)

Since then, received lots of feedback – emails, letters, conversations, comments.

I’m listening and I hear you, I receive those concerns and take them seriously.

The general sense of the messages received even more definitely confirms the need for a sabbath year.

Disunity and division ( or cacophony) are the result of each one wanting to do their own thing. Each going their own way. Each person, each section, each group.

Shows three areas of misalignment consistent with what we’ve been saying:

When all are united and working toward a common vision together in the same missional path, larger/deeper impact can be made by dividing the task among the smaller groups and bands. Make it part of what you are doing rather than something extra or outside of what you are focusing on.

As a congregation, we place high priority and value on buildings, on programs, and on personal preferences.

Unity is not uniformity, but especially in a time of scaling back it helps all of us if we all focus on one thing together. We learn that one thing, teach each other that one thing, practice that one thing, pray through that one thing, bring all our gifts to apply to that one thing, and become good at that one thing. Together. In unity. And then rejoice together and grow together and move forward together.

All growing together in an area of focus. We all know as well that if we are truly listening to the Holy Spirit, we will also hear from Him in the area we need to hear and obey as well. When we are truly in unity as the body, each part also gets what they need.

We look for the outcome of this sabbath year to bring us into alignment with Jesus in three areas:

review – sabbath, feast.

People, Transformation, Mission.

Programs and activities prioritized rather than outcomes and results of lives changed and lost people reached and needy people helped.

It's not that having buildings and programs is wrong. But when we lose focus of why we have them and they become the end goal rather than tools to help us accomplish the mission Jesus calls us to, then it is time to take a step back, a sabbath rest, a fast from these things, and seek Jesus. Ask for His wisdom and direction and renewed vision and refocus on what is important to Him.

Buildings and facilities and stuff prioritized rather than people and relationships and opportunities for Gospel interaction and love and grace and service and justice.

Pat Morley quote: A servant does not ask What do I want? A servant asks What does the Master need?

Wants and desires and preferences prioritized. rather than asking what Jesus wants and what He's saying we are to do and how.

Pat Morley quote: A servant does not ask What do I want? A servant asks What does the Master need?

It's not that having buildings and programs is wrong. But when we lose focus of why we have them and they become the end goal rather than tools to help us accomplish the mission Jesus calls us to, then it is time to take a step back, a sabbath rest, a fast from these things, and seek Jesus. Ask for His wisdom and direction and renewed vision and refocus on what is important to Him.

What does sabbath look like?

Pat Morley quote: A servant does not ask What do I want? A servant asks What does the Master need?

Taking a rest means scaling back activity to focus on one thing together, developing unity in relationship and discovering our mission. We ask the Master what it is He needs from us. We work together to make that one thing effective and then work out from there.

review – sabbath, feast.

Unity is not uniformity, but especially in a time of scaling back it helps all of us if we all focus on one thing together. We learn that one thing, teach each other that one thing, practice that one thing, pray through that one thing, bring all our gifts to apply to that one thing, and become good at that one thing. Together. In unity. And rejoice together and grow together and move forward together.

Prayer as we enter a year of Sabbath.

Each comes with unique gifts. We also each come with unique needs. As we come together in unity and we are truly listening to the Holy Spirit, we will also hear from Him in the area we each need to hear and obey as well. When we are truly in unity as the body, each part also receives what they need.

Example of Tess and me 10 years ago.

Example of military – not simply a bunch of individuals running around on the battlefield hoping for the best. Organization in units, smaller from the larger. Task, training, orders come from the top leader to organize and deploy the units. All applying their training (gifts) toward a common mission.

Example of music – band, orchestra, choir. . “On the same page” same key, same score, etc. All done in order for the common good.

(in music, the rests are as important as the notes. The quiet spaces for some or all of the instruments are just as meaningful as the notes. Not quitting, not being dismissed from the band, but having a specific piece to play in the overall composition)

When all are united and working toward a common vision together in the same missional path, larger/deeper impact can be made by dividing the task among the smaller gatherings and groups. Make it part of what you are doing rather than something extra or outside of what you are focusing on.

There is one final area we need to grow – celebration, rejoicing, glorifying God. easy to get distracted and discouraged. Keeping our eyes on what God is accomplishing among us and celebrating those things helps to keep us focused and encouraged.

review – sabbath, delight, feast.

Isaiah 58:13–14 NIV

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah 58:13-14

Prayer as we enter a year of Sabbath.

We Rest

Introduction

Points

Points

Sabbath Motivation = creation, redemption, justice.

Sabbath Motivation = creation, redemption, justice.

Jesus and Sabbath

Jesus and Sabbath

Mt. Rock and Sabbath

Mt. Rock and Sabbath

Conclusion

Conclusion