refresh rəˈfresh/ verb 1.give new strength or energy to; reinvigorate.

Refresh

Refresher

Sabbath and Silence

Bless you prison, bless you for being in my life. For there, lying upon the rotting prison straw, I came to realize that the object of life is not prosperity as we are made to believe, but the maturity of the human soul. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956

Christ Called it the Goal- Matthew 5:48 Mature Soul Paul Gave His Life It- Colossians 1:28 Pastors, Teachers, Elders, Evangelist Equip the Body for It-Ephesians 4:13 Epaphras Prayed for It- Colossians 4:12

Three Lies We Believe

I Can Have It All

All King Solomon s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon s days. (1 Kings 10:21, NIV84)

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. (Ecclesiastes 2:10, NIV84)

When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed. (1 Kings 10:4 5, NIV84)

She said to the king, The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. (1 Kings 10:6 7, NIV84)

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:17, NIV84)

I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. (Ecclesiastes 2:18 19, NIV84)

So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:20, NIV84)

I Can Do It All

Piano Lessons+Soccer+Cross Country+Honors Choir +Algebra 2+ English+Chemistry

Grandma is Sick

Parents Are Fighting

Job at Hy Vee

Church+Quiet Time+Youth Group

I Deserve It All

Dennis Kozlowski

I Deserve More Respect @ Work I Deserve More Time with My Spouse I Deserve Me Time I Deserve A Vacation I Deserve a Bigger House I Deserve to Have Others See Things My Way I Deserve to Pursue My Dream/Goal

We Wonder Why We Are So Tired, Over Worked, Under Pressure and Overwhelmed by Life s Pain

Will You Say No To These Lies?

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28 30, NIV84)

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you ll recover your life. I ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you ll learn to live freely and lightly. (Matthew 11:28 30, The Message)

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. (Exodus 20:8, NIV84)

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. (Exodus 20:9 10, NIV84)

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 20:11, NIV84)

Why the Sabbath?

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27 28, ESV)

The Man with the Shriveled Hand And he said to them, Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill? But they were silent. (Mark 3:4, ESV)

And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. (Mark 3:5, ESV)

Bent Over Woman Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, Woman, you are freed from your disability. (Luke 13:10 12, ESV)

And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. (Luke 13:13 14, ESV)

Then the Lord answered him, You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day? (Luke 13:15 16, ESV)

The Man with Dropsy One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not? (Luke 14:1 3, ESV)

But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out? And they could not reply to these things. (Luke 14:4 6, ESV)

The Pharisee s Sabbath = 39 Man Made Rules

It is a Sign of Our Covenant Relationship with God

And the LORD said to Moses, You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. (Exodus 31:12 13, ESV)

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 heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. (Exodus 31:16 17, ESV)

Covenant implies relationship, promise and expectation. The covenant thus plays a central, if not controlling, role in understanding Israel s identity, history and place within God s purposes. Newman, C. C. (1997).. In R. P. Martin & P. H. Davids (Eds.), Dictionary of the later New Testament and its developments (electronic ed., p. 245). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Within the biblical tradition the covenant points to the unique relationship Yahweh established with the world through Israel, Yahweh s immutable and sacred pledge of faithfulness to this special relationship and Yahweh s legitimate expectation for his people to respond appropriately (i.e., to live as covenant people).

Israel s Identity Israel s History Israel s Place within God s Purposes

It is Written into Creation

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (Genesis 1:31 2:1, ESV)

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 2:2 3, ESV)

It is a Sign of God s Provision

Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, (Exodus 16:21 22, ESV)

he said to them, This is what the LORD has commanded: Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning. (Exodus 16:23, ESV)

So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. Moses said, Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none. (Exodus 16:24 26, ESV)

Why The Sabbath? Jesus Is the Lord of the Sabbath The Sabbath is God s Special Sign of His Covenant Relationship With His People The Sabbath has an Important Place in God s Creation The Sabbath is a Reminder that God Will Provide

David Ford in The Shape of Living I remember a rabbi in a television interview being asked: 'How have the Jews managed to preserve the sabbath over thousands of years?' His reply was: 'It is not the Jews who have preserved the Sabbath; the Sabbath has preserved the Jews

Why are we enslaved to our Work Our Activities Our Accomplishments

No REST Inhumane to Your Loved Ones Inhumane to Your Friends Inhumane to Yourself

What Should the Sabbath Look Like?

The Sabbath is For the Lord

The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. (Romans 14:6 7, ESV)

Corporate Worship And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. (Luke 4:14 16, ESV)

No Work

Rest

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:9 11, ESV)

Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the LORD. (Leviticus 26:2, NIV84)

During a period of high stress, the Christian Financial Author and Radio Perseronality, Larry Burkett said that he was resigning from being in charge of the universe and would let God keep His job!

No Judgement

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2:16 17, ESV)

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. (Romans 14:5, ESV)