Embracing the True Spirit of the Sabbath
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "God intended the Sabbath as a blessing for people. God intended the Sabbath to give people a restful day. A recent survey found that 9 out of 10 Americans wished there was less negativity in the news and social media and that 80% of Americans are exhausted by the anger and negativity in our current discourse. I would suspect that most of you can identify with that. And while email and text messages has blessed us in many ways, it's also broken down the barrier between workplace and home. For many people, it's like they never leave work." [37:13]
2. "The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath. God intended the Sabbath to be a blessing. The God who created us knows that we need rest. We need time with our families. We need the Sabbath time can help make that need. The Sabbath encourages us, expects us to set limits on our work time to enforce restful time and family time. And doing that, studies show, reduced the number of heart attacks and divorces." [39:00]
3. "The Sabbath is not one day given to God while we are permitted to keep the other six for ourselves. It's rather a peculiar sign and symbol of the deepest things in our life. The Sabbath principle reminds us that there must be a time in our week when we stop and rest and take note of God. It's a sin to let ourselves become so rushed, so full of busyness, that we fail to take care of two vital human needs, our rest and our worship." [46:15]
4. "So what do the stories mean to us today? For one thing, these stories tell us that God created a Sabbath for us to give us a restful day, a family day. God knew that we needed rest and that our families need us to be present. And that's a pretty good takeaway from these stories. And another thing is, we need to pay attention when Jesus says, is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or do harm, to save a life or to kill? Because in God's economy, it's always the right time to do good, to help someone in need, to rescue someone in danger. It's always lawful to save a life. It's always lawful to help." [47:27]
5. "And so my friends, may you learn to trust Jesus. May you take some regular Sabbath time every week. May you set aside time for rest and worship. And may you receive the blessings that Jesus gives to those who follow and trust him." [48:51]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Jesus concludes that story by saying to the Pharisees, the Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath. The Pharisees had no answer to that, so if you're keeping score, that's Jesus one, Pharisees zero. It's an interesting take on the Sabbath, though. The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath. God intended the Sabbath as a blessing for people. God intended the Sabbath to give people a restful day." [37:13]
2. "Then Jesus goes to the synagogue where he encounters a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees, who have already been embarrassed once by Jesus that day, were eager to give it another go. So they watched to see if Jesus would heal the man's hand on the Sabbath, because then they could accuse him of violating another of the Sabbath laws. So Jesus gives them another chance. He told the man to stand up, and then he asked the Pharisees, is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or do harm? To save a life or to kill?" [40:03]
3. "Jesus, as you might guess, felt differently. And presumably, the man with the withered hand felt differently too, because when Jesus told him to stretch out his hand, he did so. And it probably wasn't easy for someone who had been trying to hide that withered hand for all of his life. He didn't, you know, he wasn't helpful to have a disability that showed in public. Everyone was watching, and for once, he's the center of attention which he's been trying to avoid forever. But he'd heard about Jesus. He was willing to take a risk so that he might have a chance to be healed, and so he stretches out his hand. And the Bible says that his hand was restored as healthy as the other." [40:52]
4. "The Sabbath principle reminds us that there must be a time in our week when we stop and rest and take note of God. It's a sin to let ourselves become so rushed, so full of busyness, that we fail to take care of two vital human needs, our rest and our worship. As the early Christians knew, the particular day of the week isn't really that important. You can rest and worship on Saturday or Sunday, and some people work on Sundays and maybe their day off is Monday and Tuesday. My Sabbath day is usually on Friday. You can still accomplish the purposes of the Sabbath on whatever day of the week it is that you can do it. The Sabbath is just a reminder to take time to rest and stop being so busy and worship." [46:55]
5. "And another thing is, we need to pay attention when Jesus says, is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or do harm, to save a life or to kill? Because in God's economy, it's always the right time to do good, to help someone in need, to rescue someone in danger. It's always lawful to save a life. It's always lawful to help. And the third takeaway too, I think, that Jesus is Lord and will bless those who trust him. As the man with the withered hand trusted Jesus when he stretched out his hand. It doesn't mean that Jesus will do everything that we want. He's not a cosmic butler. But it does mean that Jesus is in command and blesses those who trust him." [47:27]
Ask a question about this sermon
1. "God intended the Sabbath as a blessing for people. God intended the Sabbath to give people a restful day. A recent survey found that 9 out of 10 Americans wished there was less negativity in the news and social media and that 80% of Americans are exhausted by the anger and negativity in our current discourse. I would suspect that most of you can identify with that. And while email and text messages has blessed us in many ways, it's also broken down the barrier between workplace and home. For many people, it's like they never leave work." [37:13]
2. "The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath. God intended the Sabbath to be a blessing. The God who created us knows that we need rest. We need time with our families. We need the Sabbath time can help make that need. The Sabbath encourages us, expects us to set limits on our work time to enforce restful time and family time. And doing that, studies show, reduced the number of heart attacks and divorces." [39:00]
3. "The Sabbath is not one day given to God while we are permitted to keep the other six for ourselves. It's rather a peculiar sign and symbol of the deepest things in our life. The Sabbath principle reminds us that there must be a time in our week when we stop and rest and take note of God. It's a sin to let ourselves become so rushed, so full of busyness, that we fail to take care of two vital human needs, our rest and our worship." [46:15]
4. "So what do the stories mean to us today? For one thing, these stories tell us that God created a Sabbath for us to give us a restful day, a family day. God knew that we needed rest and that our families need us to be present. And that's a pretty good takeaway from these stories. And another thing is, we need to pay attention when Jesus says, is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or do harm, to save a life or to kill? Because in God's economy, it's always the right time to do good, to help someone in need, to rescue someone in danger. It's always lawful to save a life. It's always lawful to help." [47:27]
5. "And so my friends, may you learn to trust Jesus. May you take some regular Sabbath time every week. May you set aside time for rest and worship. And may you receive the blessings that Jesus gives to those who follow and trust him." [48:51]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Jesus concludes that story by saying to the Pharisees, the Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath. The Pharisees had no answer to that, so if you're keeping score, that's Jesus one, Pharisees zero. It's an interesting take on the Sabbath, though. The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath. God intended the Sabbath as a blessing for people. God intended the Sabbath to give people a restful day." [37:13]
2. "Then Jesus goes to the synagogue where he encounters a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees, who have already been embarrassed once by Jesus that day, were eager to give it another go. So they watched to see if Jesus would heal the man's hand on the Sabbath, because then they could accuse him of violating another of the Sabbath laws. So Jesus gives them another chance. He told the man to stand up, and then he asked the Pharisees, is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or do harm? To save a life or to kill?" [40:03]
3. "Jesus, as you might guess, felt differently. And presumably, the man with the withered hand felt differently too, because when Jesus told him to stretch out his hand, he did so. And it probably wasn't easy for someone who had been trying to hide that withered hand for all of his life. He didn't, you know, he wasn't helpful to have a disability that showed in public. Everyone was watching, and for once, he's the center of attention which he's been trying to avoid forever. But he'd heard about Jesus. He was willing to take a risk so that he might have a chance to be healed, and so he stretches out his hand. And the Bible says that his hand was restored as healthy as the other." [40:52]
4. "The Sabbath principle reminds us that there must be a time in our week when we stop and rest and take note of God. It's a sin to let ourselves become so rushed, so full of busyness, that we fail to take care of two vital human needs, our rest and our worship. As the early Christians knew, the particular day of the week isn't really that important. You can rest and worship on Saturday or Sunday, and some people work on Sundays and maybe their day off is Monday and Tuesday. My Sabbath day is usually on Friday. You can still accomplish the purposes of the Sabbath on whatever day of the week it is that you can do it. The Sabbath is just a reminder to take time to rest and stop being so busy and worship." [46:55]
5. "And another thing is, we need to pay attention when Jesus says, is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or do harm, to save a life or to kill? Because in God's economy, it's always the right time to do good, to help someone in need, to rescue someone in danger. It's always lawful to save a life. It's always lawful to help. And the third takeaway too, I think, that Jesus is Lord and will bless those who trust him. As the man with the withered hand trusted Jesus when he stretched out his hand. It doesn't mean that Jesus will do everything that we want. He's not a cosmic butler. But it does mean that Jesus is in command and blesses those who trust him." [47:27]
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