Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Good morning. How's everyone doing this morning?
[00:00:03] Good. What an awesome opportunity to see this band. Not just one or two students, but to have nine students up here gifted and praising the Lord. They did great. They did great.
[00:00:17] Well, my name is Kevin Wilsey. If this is your first time here, we are glad that you're here. I'm one of the pastors on staff. Pastor Jared is actually out of the country, and so him and Ethan Bartolina, they had the opportunity to go with Help one now to go to Neba, Dominican Republic, to the grand opening of the first phase of the new school that many of you generously gave to and supported. And so tomorrow morning, that elementary school is going to open the doors for the first time, and these preschoolers are going to walk through those doors. And because of your generosity, you're giving these kids an. An opportunity to walk into education with the opportunity to break this harsh. To break this cycle of extreme poverty. And so thank you for your generosity. We can be praying for them.
[00:01:14] And he's also gonna be preaching tonight, so you can be praying for him as he preaches tonight. But before we dive into our text this morning, Exodus 31, let me open us in prayer, and I'm gonna pray for Jared and Ethan as well. Lord, thank you so much for this morning where we get to gather as your people, as sons and daughters, and we get to rest in our identity that you've given us, Lord. Lord, I pray this morning that you would use me to preach your word, Father, that your word would be encouraging to these people in this room. That, father, your word would transform our lives so that we could live to serve others and to live serving you for your glory. And Lord, I pray for Jared and Ethan as they're in Neba. Would you watch over them? Would you guide their steps? Would you give Jared the words to say tonight as he preaches? May they see lives transformed. But, Lord, thank you so much for a church who generously, radically gives to support a place that's in extreme poverty to. To this church, gives financially to open up this school so that that extreme poverty could. That cycle of extreme poverty could be broken. So I praise you for our members and the support.
[00:02:39] And, Lord, I pray that you would just do a radical work over in Neba. May your gospel go forth. May your glory change Neba. Lord, thank you so much for this morning. We need you. We need you. And so be with us as we listen and hear your word in Jesus name, Amen. All right, let's dive in. So before we get to Exodus 31:1. Let's remember where we've been and what's been going on. So if this is your first time here, We've been walking through the book of Exodus, and at the very beginning of Exodus, we saw a people, the Israelites, God's chosen people. We saw them enslaved to the Egyptians, right? When they were in Egypt, Pharaoh was a harsh taskmaster. He commanded them to work. He commanded them to work without rest.
[00:03:32] And Pharaoh, he didn't see the Israelites as a people, right? He saw them as a means to serve himself. And it seems like. It seemed like the Israelites, their value was tied to what. What they could produce, right? That he said, gather straw, make bricks, fill your quota, produce more, work longer. Their work hours were long, difficult, and exhausting. And in the midst of their work, in the midst of this hard labor, God heard their cry.
[00:04:08] And he said, I have seen their affliction. I have heard their cry. Because of their taskmasters, I know their sufferings. And I've come down to deliver them out of slavery to a land flowing with milk and honey. And that's exactly what the Lord does, right? God redeems his people from slavery. And ever since then, we've been walking with them.
[00:04:35] We've been watching God establish a way for him to dwell with his people.
[00:04:42] He's redeemed them. He's brought them into covenant with himself. And now he says, I'm going to dwell with you. And over the last several weeks, you guys know, we've been walking through this instruction manual. The first service, I compared it to the IKEA instruction manual, and I was like, wait, that's probably not right. This is God's instructions to his people. It's better than IKEA's instruction manual. But we were walking through the instruction manual for the Tabernacle.
[00:05:11] God directly talking to Moses, explaining what would it take for God to dwell with his people.
[00:05:17] And I want to share this with you because I don't want you to miss this change, this change that's taken place. The Israelites, they're no longer working for Pharaoh.
[00:05:30] They are now building God's kingdom, right? They are now building God's dwelling place. They're no longer building Pharaoh's kingdom. See, God, he redeemed them from Pharaoh. He brought them into covenant with himself. And now he says, I'm going to dwell with you, and I'm going to give you a different kind of work.
[00:05:51] And we come to Exodus 31 this morning where we reach the end of these instructions for the Tabernacle but here in this chapter, we're going to see something important. We're going to see God gives his people meaningful work.
[00:06:06] God equips them by his spirit and God calls them to rest.
[00:06:11] God gives his people meaningful work. God equips them by his spirit and God calls them to rest. And when we talk about work this morning, I wanna be clear what I'm talking about, okay? I'm primarily talking about our vocation, our ordinary work, our responsibilities.
[00:06:30] So, like our jobs, our careers, raising families, caring for a home, and the things that God has place in front of us. Okay, Moms in this room. I'm talking about that as well. Motherhood.
[00:06:46] But then that's vocation. But then I want to. Our calling as Christian is more than. It's bigger than our vocation. We're all called to follow Christ. We're all called to serve others, to make disciples, to live for God's glory.
[00:07:03] But we live out that calling in the particular places and responsibilities where God has placed us. And I think that's especially important for us because we live in a world that constantly tells us what we do and what we accomplish.
[00:07:21] That's what gives us value, and that's what gives us worth.
[00:07:25] But Exodus 31 is going to show us something different, is going to redeem this idea of work for the Israelites. And it's gonna show us that we work because God has given us meaningful work.
[00:07:39] And we rest because God is God.
[00:07:43] So let's dive into our text this morning. Exodus, chapter 31. I'm gonna read verses one through 11. First, the Lord said to Moses, see, I have called by the name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting and in carving wood, to work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiability, the son of Asamach of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability that they may make all that I have commanded you the tent of meeting and the Ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, the table and its utensils and the pure lamp stand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils in the basin and its stand, and the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the Garments of his sons for their service as priests, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do. So let's pause here after verse 11, and let's just take a moment. God here, he's calling Bezalel, he's calling Oliab, Oholiab, and he's calling all able men to work.
[00:09:23] And we're gonna talk about what the Spirit provides them. We're gonna talk about what the Spirit equips them. But before we get into that, I just wanna take a moment, I just wanna focus in on work.
[00:09:35] Cause it's important for us to remember that work was God's idea before sin even entered the world.
[00:09:44] From the very beginning, God in creation, he worked, he created and then he rested from his work.
[00:09:51] And then he turned to Adam and he gave Adam work. He told Adam to cultivate and to keep the land, to subdue his creation.
[00:09:59] So work was there before sin even entered the world. And I think that's important for us because sometimes we can think. If work is exhausting, if work is frustrating, frustrating, if work is hard, maybe work itself is the problem.
[00:10:19] But I don't think that's the case.
[00:10:21] I don't think work is the problem. Work is a good gift from God that has been corrupted by sin.
[00:10:32] See the curse in Genesis 3 made work hard.
[00:10:36] How many of you in here have read Tim Keller's Every Good Endeavor? Has anyone read that book? Great book on work. And in it, he.
[00:10:46] As a summary, he answers three questions. I'm not going to tell you about the third question just times sake, but the first two. So go cliffhanger, go read the book. But the first two.
[00:10:58] The first one, he says, he asked, why work? And in a summary, he says, because God created us to work and gave us gifts to serve him and. And serve others.
[00:11:07] And then he goes, why is work difficult? Because sin has corrupted something God originally called good. And I think here in Exodus 31, God is redeeming Israel's understanding of work.
[00:11:22] They aren't working because Pharaoh demands it.
[00:11:27] They're working because God has called them to it. Now, God isn't giving them another form of slavery. He's showing them what works looks like for a people who have been redeemed and brought into covenant, brought into his presence.
[00:11:46] See, he shows them that their work matters.
[00:11:52] We spent the last several chapters looking at just all the intricate details of the tabernacle, from what the priests are wearing to the lampstand, to the mercy seat and the details that go into each and every part of the tabernacle.
[00:12:09] And I think the Lord goes into that because I think he's showing us that every detail is meaningful. It's important. The work that they are doing matters because it's the dwelling place of God.
[00:12:22] The work they're doing is for God's glory.
[00:12:26] And I think there's something important here for us when we think about vocation and calling. Bezalel was a craftsman. God had given him these particular abilities and skills, and that was part of the way that God made him. But now in Exodus 31, God calls Bezalel by name to use those gifts for a specific purpose, to build the tabernacle.
[00:12:49] And that's helpful. It's helpful for us because our vocation is the ordinary work and responsibilities that God has given us.
[00:12:58] And our calling as Christians is bigger than our vocation. Right? The New Testament is full of this. We're called to follow Christ, to serve others, to make disciples, to live for God's glory. And we could read passage after passage in the New Testament about our calling as followers of Jesus.
[00:13:18] But one passage that sums it up really well is Colossians 3, 23, 24. And it's a familiar one, but I think it's one that we forget way too often.
[00:13:28] Paul, in Colossians, he's calling believers to put on Christ, to walk in Christ. We're no longer dead in our sins, but now we're alive in Christ. That Christ has set us free.
[00:13:42] And now we are his sons and daughters, children of Christ.
[00:13:50] See, Paul has given us an identity as his children, as his chosen people. And then he gets to verse 23, and he says, whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ Jesus.
[00:14:12] See, work is a good thing given by God for us. And we each have different vocations. We each have different jobs. But as followers of Jesus, we're called to work for him.
[00:14:25] We're called to serve him, to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love others as he has loved us. And this plays out differently in the particular places and responsibilities that God has given us.
[00:14:43] So whether your vocation is education or medicine, or if it's in finances or business or construction or parenting, In art, in music, as a son, as a daughter, as a child, your job is one of the places where you live out your calling. You see, oftentimes we mix this up and we have to be careful because God has given us our vocations and job. And yes, it's by his grace, of course, that we're in these spaces that we're in. But for, and for many of us, we take our work seriously. We know that our work matters. We're intentional, it is meaningful. We take our tasks seriously. But if we're not careful, then we can allow our work then to become our identity.
[00:15:35] Think about a resume. If someone asks you, tell me about yourself. Who are you?
[00:15:40] Think about your LinkedIn account, right? What do those two things do? A resume and a LinkedIn account, it tells you where. It tells them where you've worked, what you've done, what you've accomplished, what you're capable of.
[00:15:56] And there's nothing wrong with those things, right?
[00:15:59] But the danger is that we can begin to believe our resume is who we are.
[00:16:08] Our resume tells us, I am what I do, I am what I accomplish, I am what I produce. I am successful if my work succeeds.
[00:16:18] And now this gift of work that God has given us, this good thing, it has out turned and become this ultimate thing in our life. It has become an idol in our life.
[00:16:34] Tim Keller, he says thinking of work mainly as a means of self fulfillment and self realization slowly crushes a person.
[00:16:44] That work is going to crush you if you expect it to give you only what God can give you.
[00:16:53] Your identity, your worth, true meaning and satisfaction. It doesn't come from work, but it comes from God.
[00:17:01] Work is going to disappoint you. We've all been disappointed in our jobs, in our work. Someone's gonna have a better LinkedIn profile, someone's gonna have a better resume. Someone else is going to outperform you. You won't get that promotion. You've had a bad day, you've had a bad month, you've had a bad year.
[00:17:22] You're gonna get burned out, or maybe, maybe you'll even lose your job.
[00:17:28] And if our identity is in our work, if it's built on our work, then when it suffers, guess what?
[00:17:36] We suffer.
[00:17:39] See, there's two ditches here. There's two ditches we can fall into. One side is that we can make work our identity and expect it to give us meaning. And, and that can lead us to burnout. It can lead us to despair.
[00:17:52] Now, on the other side, we can see work as meaningless and that leads to laziness or being apathetic towards the work that God has given us.
[00:18:03] See this biblical picture, it's neither of those overworking or underworking. Or laziness. But it's faithfully working from an identity that we've already received from God.
[00:18:17] See, look at Israel. Their identity wasn't supposed to come from what they produced for Pharaoh when they were enslaved, right? And now their identity isn't going to come from what they produce for God, but their identity comes from the God who redeemed them, who made a covenant with them, who chose to dwell with them, because there is no way that they can work their way to God.
[00:18:44] But God actually worked his way to them.
[00:18:49] And it's the same for us.
[00:18:51] That God, in His love for us, he sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins, that his life was given for ours, that he has redeemed us from our sin. He's made a new covenant with us, and he calls us sons and daughters.
[00:19:13] You see, in Christ, we're given an identity and we're given a purpose.
[00:19:19] He gives us meaningful work.
[00:19:21] And in whatever we do, we should work heartily for the Lord.
[00:19:27] I love it. Because in this idea of work and in this passage here, God doesn't stop with just that.
[00:19:36] That's not all the good news. He doesn't just simply give people work, but next he equips them to do that work. Look at verse three again. I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability, with intelligence, with knowledge, and all craftsmanship.
[00:19:55] See, something significant is happening here that God says, I have filled him with the Spirit.
[00:20:02] God gives Bezalel a task, but he doesn't just say, here you go, good luck. Right? Figure it out. He doesn't do that.
[00:20:09] He equips Bezalel for the work that he's given him, that he specifically called him to.
[00:20:16] And the Spirit fills Bezalel with ability, intelligence, knowledge, craftsmanship. He's given Bezalel these particular abilities and skills, and he calls him to use those gifts and for the specific purpose which is building the tabernacle, the place where God is going to dwell with his people.
[00:20:37] And if we keep going, in the passage in verse 6, he also provides others. We see Ohaliab and other able men. They're also granted ability to help with this task.
[00:20:50] Bezalel has a job to do, but he's not expected to do this job out of his own strength, and he's not expected to do this job by himself.
[00:21:03] Now, this is the first time we see. This is the first time in scripture we see someone being filled up with the Holy Spirit, right? But it's not the first time that we see the Spirit. So the Spirit was There at creation, bringing God's creation into order. And now this same Spirit fills Bezalel and equips him to create and build the place where God's gonna dwell with his people. And I think this shows us something about the way God works, that God gives His people abilities and gifts, and he uses those abilities and those giftings that he's given his people for him, for his purposes, for his glory.
[00:21:48] And that's important for us because we can divide our lives into spiritual things, ordinary things, right? We can think that preaching, teaching, coming here on Sunday and serving on a service team, that that's all spiritual. And that happens just on Sunday morning when we go into community group. That's all spiritual.
[00:22:12] If we're not careful, then that means when we turn around and walk to Monday, we can set the spiritual aside and say, Monday is just work.
[00:22:25] It's just ordinary.
[00:22:27] And I think Exodus 31 is challenging that way of thinking that God, he cares about the work of our hands.
[00:22:34] He cares about our work. He cares about how we use the abilities that he has given us.
[00:22:42] And what I love about this is because in the New Testament, guess what, The Spirit doesn't just hop from person to person, but the Spirit dwells within all believers.
[00:22:56] Every believer is given a different gift, and these gifts are used for the common good.
[00:23:04] God doesn't give every Christian the same gift or the same vocation. Praise the Lord, that would be crazy if he did.
[00:23:15] But he does give every believer His Spirit. And he calls us to use what he's given us to serve Christ and to serve others.
[00:23:22] And so your vocation, it may be ordinary, but it's not insignificant what you do every day when you go to work on Monday, it is not insignificant. God has given you abilities and placed you where you are, and he's given you opportunities to use the gifts that he's given you to serve him and serve others right there at your work.
[00:23:49] Some of you are gifted at teaching, at leading, at encouraging, at serving. Some of you are gifted at creating and building and organizing or caring for people, or generosity or showing mercy.
[00:24:05] And let me tell you that God gives you these gifts so that you can serve him for his glory, that you can serve one another for his glory.
[00:24:17] So what does this mean for us? It means that when you walk into work tomorrow, you're not leaving God at the door, but you're actually bringing him into your workplace because he no longer just dwells in a tabernacle, but you are the tabernacle. First Corinthians 3, 16 says, do you not know that you are God's temple? And. And that God's spirit dwells in you?
[00:24:42] See, in Christ, we are his dwelling place.
[00:24:45] And so for us, I think it's important that you leave here and you ask yourself, God, what have you equipped me with? What gifts and abilities have you given me, and how can I faithfully use them for your glory?
[00:24:59] Wherever you've placed me, wherever you've called me.
[00:25:04] See, we must examine our lives and think about where God has placed us and what abilities he's given us and who he's placed around us that we can serve.
[00:25:17] And here's the encouragement that God doesn't just call you to work for him and leave you on your own, but he gives you his spirit, he gives you his word, he gives you his people, and he gives you gifts, and he gives you what you need to accomplish his task.
[00:25:36] The best thing of all is he gives you a lot of grace as well.
[00:25:43] See, God, he provides what we need to faithfully do what he's called us to do. And so I say all this, and I want you to know that that does not mean that work is going to be easy, right? It doesn't mean you're always going to feel good, capable, but it doesn't mean.
[00:26:09] But it does mean that you don't have to be sufficient in yourself, because sufficiency comes from Christ, right?
[00:26:20] And then I think that leads us into the next stage of where Exodus 31 is going. And this is very important, because if God has given us meaningful work, and if God has equipped us to do that work, then why in the world in this next section does he go, hey, actually, all this work I just called you to, you gotta stop.
[00:26:39] And you're like, what?
[00:26:41] Let's look at it. Verses 12 through 17. And the Lord said to Moses, you are to speak to people.
[00:26:48] You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, above all, you shall keep my sins Sabbath. For this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. That's important.
[00:27:03] You shall keep the Sabbath because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
[00:27:15] Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath shall be put to death. Therefore, the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth. And on the seventh day, he rested and was refreshed.
[00:27:47] So this almost seems a little strange, right, that God, he's given them this incredible work to do. He's given them the tabernacle to build.
[00:27:56] He's given Bezalel the Spirit, and he's equipped Him. He's given them the ability he's given them and other people to work alongside them. And then God says, stop.
[00:28:08] He says, above all, you must rest.
[00:28:12] And that's what Sabbath means, right? The word Sabbath means to cease, to stop.
[00:28:18] And God, he commanded Israel to stop, to cease from their ordinary work on the seventh day and to set that day apart as holy to Him. He's calling them to rest. That this seventh day is a day of rest. It's a day of worship. It's a day of remembering that I redeemed you. You belong to me. You are my chosen people.
[00:28:45] And for us as Christians, we don't observe the Sabbath in the same way as the Israelites did, right?
[00:28:51] It's in the Mosaic covenant. And so we don't exactly observe the Sabbath in that same way. And we're gonna talk about that here in a second. But from the earliest days of the church, the Christians, they gathered together on the first day of the week, Sunday.
[00:29:06] Why Sunday? Because that is the day that Christ rose from the grave.
[00:29:11] And they said, this is the Sabbath day. This is the Lord's day. So throughout church history, Christians, they have come together and they've treated Sunday as the day to gather for worship and for Sabbath to intentionally practice rest.
[00:29:27] So why does God do this? Because he's teaching his people. He's redeeming their idea of work. He's teaching his people that work is good, but work is not God.
[00:29:41] Look at verse, verse 13. God says the Sabbath is a sign between him and his people, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you.
[00:29:54] Their Sabbath was a reminder that God is the One who makes them holy.
[00:29:59] He alone is the One who makes them holy. They don't work seven days a week to prove anything.
[00:30:05] They don't have to prove their worth or earn God's favor. They stop because they already belong to Him.
[00:30:14] In the Old Testament, Sabbath was a gift and a command from God.
[00:30:20] It began in creation, right, and was given to Israel as a part of the covenant.
[00:30:26] It was a day set apart for rest and worship. And I think about what God had just brought the Israelites out of slavery from the Egyptians. For generations, Pharaoh has demanded that they work without rest. And now God says to his redeemed people, rest stop.
[00:30:49] Six days you shall work, but the seventh day you shall rest.
[00:30:54] And that's a completely different understanding of work. And, yeah, when the Israelites, when they didn't follow this, when they refused to keep the Sabbath, it was more than just simply breaking a rule. But they were breaking. They were walking in disobedience to a covenant that God has made with his people.
[00:31:12] So it was covenant disobedience. They were rejecting God's command and failing to trust his provision. They were failing. Failing to trust his design. They were failing to trust him. And what he says for his people, Sabbath is ultimately an act of trust.
[00:31:31] So when you stop working, you're saying, God, I trust you to provide even when I'm not producing. You're saying, I am not my job. I am not my productivity. I am not what I accomplish, but I belong to you.
[00:31:47] You're saying, God, you are in control.
[00:31:50] The world doesn't depend on me, but the world depends on you. I depend on you.
[00:31:58] So what do we do today as Christians with the Sabbath?
[00:32:02] Are we still required to keep the Sabbath exactly as Israel did?
[00:32:07] And I would say, no, we are not under the Mosaic covenant. No. Now, I say that, but I want you to know that Jesus, he doesn't dismiss the Sabbath.
[00:32:20] The New Testament does not require Christians to observe the seventh day in the same way Israel was commanded to. But Jesus, he doesn't dismiss the Sabbath. He goes in Mark 2, when the Pharisees, they come to him and they criticize his disciples. Jesus turns to them and he says, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. See, Jesus is. He's reminding them that Sabbath was God's good gift for his people.
[00:32:50] It wasn't meant to be just another rule or another burden that they have to carry, that they have to follow.
[00:32:58] And ultimately, Jesus, he fulfills the Sabbath. He fulfills what the Sabbath was pointing to.
[00:33:05] All along the Old Testament, Sabbath was pointing to the one who would bring ultimate rest. It was a reminder of that. And Jesus, he is that one. And he says, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest.
[00:33:23] So while we're not trying to earn God's favor by keeping a particular day, I do think the principle of Sabbath is very important because it's a part of the created order. I do think the principle of Sabbath should still shape our rhythms of life because God created it that way, that we need regular rhythms in our lives where we stop just our normal grind, stop our normal work, and we worship and we rest and we enjoy the good gifts that God has given us.
[00:34:01] And so when I say that, the question that comes to mind is, what about kids, sports, what about work schedules? What about travel? What about yard work? What about all the things that seem to fill up our Sundays? And I'm not going to stand up here and give you a list of rules to follow.
[00:34:16] I'm not going to stand up here and say that this is okay and this isn't okay. Because I don't think the New Testament does that for this, it doesn't give us that kind of list.
[00:34:26] But instead I want you to ask yourself, is my life structured in a way that I actually stop, rest, worship and trust God?
[00:34:40] For some families, it may mean that you have to say no to certain activities.
[00:34:45] It may mean that you have to say no for certain things on Sunday because they're consistently crowding out worship and consistently crowding out rest.
[00:34:59] For others, there may be seasons where a child's game or maybe work is unavoidable and that responsibility, it just happens on Sunday.
[00:35:11] But the question that I want you to ask is not, did I technically break the Sabbath? But it should be, am I intentionally making space in my life to stop to worship and to rest and remember that I belong to God?
[00:35:31] And so you might have to make some difficult decisions depending on your family, depending on your kids schedules, depending on your work.
[00:35:39] But I want to encourage you to ask whether your calendar reflects that you actually believe God when he says rest stop.
[00:35:52] Because if every Sunday is just like another day, another day to catch up, right, another day to produce, another day to turn, To run from one activity to the next, then I think we're missing the gift of rest that God is giving.
[00:36:16] And so very practically, I think we need rhythms in our lives and I'm going to wrap up with this, but I think we need rhythms where we just stop.
[00:36:24] Where we put our phones down, where we put our emails down, where we put work aside and we stop, stop producing.
[00:36:34] Where we worship, where we come together with God's people, where we hear his word taught, where we sing praises and truths to him, where we pray, where we enjoy, where we get together with friends and we eat a good meal, when we get together with our families and we spend time with our spouse and we play with our kids, where we go outside.
[00:36:58] If you're a reader, maybe it's you sit and you pick up a good book and you Read where you enjoy God's creation, but also where we trust, where you remember that God, he is the one that is still working even when we rest, even when we stop. Because unlike your resume, who tells you what you've done, Sabbath reminds you who you belong to, whose you are.
[00:37:32] So when you Sabbath, when you're reminding yourself, I don't have to prove myself, I don't have to earn my worth, I don't have to accomplish everything.
[00:37:43] Why? Because I belong to Christ.
[00:37:47] And ultimately the Sabbath on Sunday or another time, where you rest and enjoy, in worship, in trust, it points us beyond rest and it points us to Christ, that Christ, he's already done the work that we could never do, that we don't work to establish our identity because Christ has already given us our identity.
[00:38:14] We don't rest because everything in our lives, it's wrapped up and tied and finished. We rest because Christ went to the cross and he said, it is finished.
[00:38:24] Our salvation is done. We don't need to work. We can rest in Christ.
[00:38:33] And so we work faithfully because he's given us. God has given us meaningful work to do, and we work confidently because God, he's equipped us with his spirit. He's given us abilities and gifts to take that into the workplace. He's given us others around us to help encourage us and do this same work.
[00:38:57] And we rest because God is God and Christ has finished the work that we could never accomplish.
[00:39:05] Let's pray, Father. God, thank you for redeeming our view of work and rest.
[00:39:23] Lord, in a culture that is driven by how much we can do and how much we can produce, and what we do gives us our identity.
[00:39:35] Lord, I pray that we in this room, that we would stop, that we would rest, that we would worship, that we would trust because you are God and because Christ has finished the work that we could never accomplish.
[00:39:50] Lord, I pray for those in this room, Father, who are weary, who are tired, maybe from overworking or maybe from Lord, they're tired and that has led them into despair or laziness or Lord, I pray that they would hear these words that you have said, Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
[00:40:20] Father, I pray that they would run to you, that they would find ultimate rest in you.
[00:40:25] And Lord, I pray that that would in turn encourage them to move forward, to use the gifts and abilities you've given them, to serve others and to glorify you.
[00:40:37] Lord, we praise you and worship you for all that you've done for us. May we now go.
[00:40:43] May we be a light in this world. In Jesus name, amen.
