Recently I was asked what my favourite part of the church service is. It was part of a larger discussion about church.
I had to say I enjoy all parts of the church service – the singing, the sermon, the prayers and the fellowship. But my favourite has always been communion or the Lord’s Supper.
There is something about stopping and taking the bread that represents Christ’s body and the cup that represents His blood. It helps to remind me on what Jesus did for us in dying on the cross for us.
When I cannot go to church because of illness or some other reason it is what I miss the most. It is what I look forward to most when I can return.
So what is the high point of the church service for me? It would be communion or the Lord’s Supper.
This is a tough one. Who do I spend most of my time with? It would be a close call.
I spend a lot of time with kids at school being a Chaplain. But when I am at home it is with my wonderful wife. We are pretty much inseparable when I am not working. We have been for 29 years.
So if I had to make a close call it would be my amazing wife. I am a blessed man.
I am reading a book at the moment that contained this prayer from St. Francis Xavier. I thought I would share it…
O my Lord Jesus! Teach me to be generous; teach me to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to toil and not to ask for rest, to labor, seeking no reward, save that of knowing that I do your will.
I heard this really good acronym for sharing your faith in a sermon recently. It uses the letters of BLAST.
B – build relationships with people
L – listen to their story and get to know them
A – ask questions so you understand them
S – share your testimony about your faith
T – tell them about Jesus and His love for them
I really like that it starts by getting to know people and listening. Then once they feel heard, they are more likely to want to know about you and your faith story.
Bible readings: Deuteronomy 5:6–21, 2 Corinthians 4:5–12, Mark 2:23–28
The Sabbath is an important topic for Christians. The Bible tells us that it is a day of rest where we stop our usual work to rest and focus in on God.
Depending on what stream of christianity we follow it may be on a Saturday to line up with Jewish tradition or Sunday to line up with the day we remember the resurrection of Jesus.
In this message I want to look at our readings for this week and look at why we need a Sabbath day each week.
1. We need a Sabbath because it is in the 10 Commandments
In our first reading we see the Sabbath is mentioned in the 10 Commandments. Deuteronomy 5:12-14 NLT says, “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. [13] You have six days each week for your ordinary work, [14] but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work…”
The idea of a sabbath day was so important to God that He included it in His 10 Commandments. While many today will say that is part of the Old Testament, there is still an important principle in it. We need rest, we need to recover from our work, and we need to spend time each week focussing on God.
Many Jewish people down the centuries stop from sundown on Friday night and go in to Sabbath mode until they wake on Sunday. Some people I know in the Seventh Day Adventist church follow this pattern too. Regardless if you practice it on Saturday or Sunday, this time of Sabbath rest is important to our spiritual and physical well being.
2. We need a Sabbath as we are constantly under pressure
In our second reading we see that Paul and the early Christians were under pressure sharing the Gospel. Paul described Christians as being hard pressed, perplexed, hunted down, knocked down, suffering. He even uses the analogy of being like fragile clay pots containing a treasure.
Anyone who has been in full time ministry, been involved in church outreach, or working as a front line pastoral care worker knows that we are constantly under pressure. The pressures of peoples constant needs, spiritual attack from the enemy, financial or health issues have a way of burning us out. This is why we need a Sabbath.
We need to stop each week and take a breather. We need to get off the treadmill. Take the time to relax and just be still. We need to recreate and be with God. I know in my own life that when I do not do this burnout is just waiting around the corner for me. It is both a hard learned lesson and one I am still learning!
3. We need a Sabbath because it was made for people
In our final reading we see that in verses 27-28 Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”
I love the way Jesus puts it. The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people. Not people to keep the law of the Sabbath as some people do. They take it so far that they have lists of things they can and cannot do. They have made the Sabbath a legal requirement, rather than a time to stop rest and focus on God.
I believe the original idea behind the Sabbath was to rest and seek God. God knew we would get busy and caught up in our work, so He built in this cycle of work and rest. Each week He built in a time where we could just “Be still and know that He is God” (Psalm 46:10).
Closing summary
A time of Sabbath rest was so important to God that He built it in to the 10 Commandments, He knew we would be constantly under pressure, so He build in a pressure relief valve so we could be still and rest.
My final thought I want to leave you with is. We see that God rested on the seventh day after He created the world. If God rested, how much more do we need to too!
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