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!
Looking back over the years most of my closer friends have had the same qualities. They are people of faith, I can talk and pray with them, they listen and not judge, and they provide encouragement when I needed it.
But my closest friends understood when I needed space to process things. They gave me space and time to think things through and did not take it as we are not friends any more. They understood my need to “turtle” and be inside my shell every now and then.
In my heart I am introverted, which just means I need space to recharge my batteries by being alone by myself. Unlike extroverts who need to be around people to be recharged.
For example, if I am thinking through a big issue I will go to my shed to be alone or I will go for a walk up our local rock that over looks our town. The space provides no distractions and I can just hear from God.
My best friends over the years have always understood this. They know I spend a lot of time talking and listening to people in my job as a Pastor or Chaplain and I need time alone or time alone with God to reset and recharge.
So what do I value most in a friend? Someone who understands my rhythm of time with people and time alone. Time when I need to turtle!
The title of this message is the ALL Consuming Call of Jesus. I want to look at Jesus’ last words before He returned to heaven. This is known as the Great Commission. As we work through the passage from Matthew 28, I want to take special notice of the word ALL.
1. ALL authority belonged to Jesus
Matthew 28:18 – Jesus came and told His disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.”
Jesus has all authority on heaven and earth. That is a big statement. It means no-one has more authority than Jesus. But as we look at the Scriptures we see this is true and undeniable.
In Matthew chapters 8&9 we see that Jesus had authority on earth. He had authority over sickness and disease, demonic forces and demons, the forces of nature, life and death.
Not only did Jesus say He had all authority, but He clearly demonstrated in the way He lived and ministered to the people He came in contact with. No demon, sickness, storm or death could disobey His command and authority.
2. Jesus said to go to ALL the world and make disciples
Matthew 28:19a – Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations…
In the last point we see Jesus has all authority. With this authority and His final words to His followers He said, “Go into all the world and make disciples”. It is a compelling command. It is an all-consuming call that can’t be ignored.
All of us here all called to the mission field too. Though not all of us are called to go abroad. We have a mission right outside this church. One church I went to once had the sign over the exit, “Mission starts here”. People would often reach up and touch as they left church.
People here is our region need to hear about God’s love for them, how Jesus came to show us what God is like, that Jesus died to pay the price for our sin and He rose again to life. And by putting our faith and trust in Him we have abundant life now, and live for eternity with Him when we die.
3. Jesus told us to teach them to obey ALL His teachings
Matthew 28:20a – Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
I have been a Christian for 35 of my 57 years on earth. The first 15 years of being a Christian I was really good at going into the world and preaching the good news. I was able to talk to people, share my faith, give them tracts and people would come to Christ. So, I was being obedient to the first part of the Great Commission.
However, I found that while people were getting saved, I would lose track of people and not know if they were growing or not. One day I felt God speak to me and say, “I told you to make disciples, not just Christian converts”.
This got me thinking what sort of things did Jesus teach? If we look at the sermon of the mount in Matthew 5-7, we see that Jesus talked about being salt and light, loving one another, giving to the needy, loving our enemies, not talking revenge, praying and fasting, money and possessions, the golden rule, being true disciples and producing good fruit.
Matthew 7:24 says, “Anyone who listens to My teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock”. We need to help people build their house on the solid rock of Jesus’ teachings.
4. Jesus promises to be ALL-ways with us
Matthew 28:20b – And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Jesus promises to be with us always. He says, “Be sure of this!” So, He really wants is to get it.
Jesus’ presence is with you by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. He is with you when you are alone. He is always with us when we meet together. He is our God and we are His people.
Knowing that Jesus is always with me by the presence of His Indwelling Spirit gives me courage and strength. Courage when I am afraid to share my faith or step out and pray for someone. And strength to know His power is with me to enable to share my faith, disciple others and allow God power to flow through me.
The key thought here is Jesus promises to never leave us until He calls us home individually or He comes back for us all. He does not expect us to fulfil the Great Commission alone.
Closing summary
Today we have looked at the passage known as the Great Commission of Jesus. His last words on earth to His followers before returning to heaven. In the message we saw.
Jesus has ALL Authority in heaven and on earth
Jesus told us to go into ALL the world and make disciples
Jesus told us to teach them to obey ALL His teachings
Jesus promises to be ALL-ways with us
In these passages Jesus bookend His commands. He says all authority is with Him and He promises to be all-ways with us. In the middle He says to go and make disciples and teach them to obey all His teachings.
Over the years people have said the following statement to me a number of times, “You are a Christian, you should help me”.
As Christians we should help others. The Bible tells us this is part of the Christian life. It helps us to shine our lights and bring glory to God (Matthew 5:16).
However, there are times when we should not help. I have had people make this statement to me when they are doing nothing to help themselves.
An example is one fit and healthy person never worked, was often on drugs or alcohol and never tried to get help for that. They went from one charity or Christian person after another to get help.
Many people tried to help with the alcohol and drugs issue, but they did not see it as a problem. They just wanted money, fuel or food to get by until there government payments came. Then they would buy drugs or alcohol with it.
Why am I posting on this example? Because as Christians we are called to help. But it is important to not just help everyone as we may be enabling their habits or their laziness.
The key is to prayerfully listen to God when someone comes asking for help. I often pray, “Is this someone I should help Lord” and then I listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Most of the time the Holy Spirit says yes, but there are times when He says not today. I do not always understand why, but I have learned to trust His judgment as He knows everything.
Another example was a man came to my church door when I was a Pastor. He said he was broke and traveling through town. He was honest about his previous issues with alcohol. He just needed some money to get by.
As we talked I felt the Holy Spirit say take him to the shop and buy a basket of food for two days. So we went and got bread, milk, cereal, pasta and a treat to bless him. He was very thankful.
A few days later the man came back and thanked me. He looked a lot better in himself and said he was going to continue his journey. He even thanked me that I did not give him money or a voucher as he would have been tempted to buy alcohol.
I explained that God prompted me to go to the shop with him and buy food, not just give him money. He simply said, “God knows best” and went on his way.
So again, when someone says, “You are a Christian, you should help”. Remember we are called to help, but always pray and ask God if He wants us to help on this occasion.
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