Today's Sermon:

"Rest to Run"

I. To Practice Sabbath is to....

“The rest of God is not a reward for finishing. It’s not a bonus for work well done. It’s sheer gift. It is a stop-work order in the midst of work that’s never complete, never polished. Sabbath is not the break we’re allotted at the tail end of completing all our tasks and chores, the fulfillment of all our obligations. It’s the rest we take smack-dab in the middle of them, without apology, without guild, and for no better reason than God told us we could.”-Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God

II. To Practice Sabbath is to...

“God is more interested in changing your thinking than in changing your circumstances…What makes Sabbath time different from all other time? Simple: a shift in our thinking, an altering of our attitudes.”-Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God

III. To Practice Sabbath is to be...

“The gift of Sabbath is not just a day, but an orientation, a way of seeing and knowing. It is both time on a calendar and a disposition of the heart; both a day and an attitude- a heart restful in the midst of unrest and upheaval…In it, you can lie down and rest. From it, you can rise up and go- stronger, lighter, ready to work again with vigor and a clear mind. It is room enough, time enough, in which to relinquish all encumbrances, to act as though their existence has nothing whatsoever to do with your own. It is an invitation, at one and the same time, to empty yourself and fill yourself.”-Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God

IV. To Practice Sabbath is to be...

“Many, many thanks for your loving sympathy in my bereavement- I cannot properly say loss. I feel it an inexpressible gain. She is not lost. She does not love me less now, nor do I love her less, or less rejoice in her. And I do from day to day and every day so delight in the love of Jesus, satisfy my thirsty heart when most desolate from His fullness, feed and rest in green pastures…Never does He leave me…His own rest, His own peace, His own joy He gives me. He kisses me with kisses of love, which are better than wine…In His presence there is fullness of joy.”-Hudson Taylor

“Ah! My dear brother, what a wonderful expression is that, ‘In Christ Jesus.’ And what a wonderful fact is our being in Christ Jesus and He is us…so all-sufficient. It is like playing in the shallows of a boundless ocean- Oh the unsearchable riches of His fullness! And all is ours- for He is ours and we are His.”-Hudson Taylor

“In the midst of much joy and sorrow, the presence of our dear Lord has been a constant feast and a deep rest.”-Hudson Taylor