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Elements City Church

Why It Matters - wk5 Why Sabbath Matters

Why It Matters - wk5 Why Sabbath Matters

We have a mission as a church that drives the WHY we do what we do, but we also have other things that matter. We wanted to take a few weeks to highlight some other significant WHY’s – as followers of Jesus these are important and why they matter!

Locations & Times

Elements City Church

1825 N Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85712, USA

Sunday 5:00 PM

Thanks for being here...

Thanks for being with us, we pray that tonight would be encouraging for your week ahead. If you're a guest here with us, we invite you to fill out our communication card at the Next Steps table in the hallway after service, we'd love to meet you and we have a free gift for you. Click the link below to see THE WEEKLY - our digital announcements/info for all things happening in and around Elements...
http://elem.cc/weekly
Tonight we want to talk about WHY Sabbath Matters?! What is sabbath? And how can it's practice actually refuel your soul in our world that's stuck in a blizzard of distraction, crammed calendars, stuffed schedules and lives living at warp speed...

We live in a culture that doesn't celebrate slowness or being still. We celebrate the multi-taskers, the over connected, and the stretched thin. But can over-productivity become counterproductive? Can the ‘busyness badge’ we tend to honor, actually become a BURDEN that holds us back?
At the heart of Sabbath is stopping to surrender to God in trust.
Sabbath is not so much stopping to turn to God – in order to get something from him.He’s not the ultimate Divine Vending Machine in the sky. This is about stopping to be WITH to enjoy, treasure and delight. Sabbath is about relearning how to enjoy and delight.
The practice of Sabbath is a remembering that we are not what we produce.
We are valued because of WHOSE we are, not only what we do.
We are a human BEING, not a human DOING.
Sabbath is a gift from God we are invited to receive. And there are 4 key components to sabbath that we see in the principle and rhythm of Scripture. 1) STOP. We must stop our driven activity in order to remember who's really in charge. In Sabbath: I embrace my limits. God is God and He is limitless and indispensable. He is God; I am not. The core spiritual issue around STOPPING = is TRUST.
Quote:
Most of us are far too busy for our own spiritual good.
-Bill Hybels
Once we stop; Sabbath calls us to REST. God rested after his work and we are invited to do the same. So what do we do to rest...to fill in the gap from us stopping all the other stuff we were doing?
Whatever delights and replenishes you. (together with God)
The practice of RESTING is really trying for a day or mini-moments - to pull away:
Work
Physical exhaustion
Hurriedness
Multi-tasking
Worry/Anxiety
Decision-making
Catching up on errands
Maybe even technology
a 3rd component or principle to biblical Sabbath revolves around delighting in what we have been given. God, after finishing his work of creation, proclaimed “it was very good” (Gen. 1:31)
A final quality of Sabbath is, of course, the contemplation of God. Pondering the love of God – his wisdom for life, his presence in your life – remains the central focus of Sabbath. Throughout Jewish and Christian history, Sabbath has included worship with God’s people where we feast in his presence, read/study of his Scriptures, prayer and silence…
Dallas Willard has called silence and solitude the 2 most radical disciplines of the Christian life. =Solitude is the practice of being absent from people and things to attend to God. =Silence is the practice of quieting every inner and outer voice to attend to God.
Henri Nouwen:
“without solitude it is impossible to live a spiritual life.” ...solitude/silence are key to us making the practice of Sabbath a part of our lives for us who live in a world filled with noise and distractions.
The rhythm of SABBATH matters to our physical, mental, emotional well-being and ultimately to our spiritual growth and maturity.
A few moments each day (mini-sabbath)
1 day a week (weekly Sabbath)
John Ortberg once asked a wise mentor for some advice on how he could live the healthiest, most soulful life possible. Dallas Willard said: “The chief enemy of the spiritual life is hurry. If you want to live a more soulful, sane life, John, then you must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
Need Prayer? ....we've got some of our prayer team and pastors available following service to pray with you. Or you can text the word "prayer" to our phone number: #520-300-9001 to submit your prayer request to our prayer team to partner with you.

Thanks for partnering with us to BE the church in our city... (online giving)

Thank you so much! All we do is fueled by your gifts. You can be a financial partner with us by giving in the boxes in the back or give online here: *(there are also resources on that page to help you)
http://elem.cc/give

Thanks for being with us...

Thanks for being here tonight - stop by the Next Steps table for info on all things happening in and around Elements. If you're a guest with us, we've got a FREE gift for you as you stop by. Check out the WEEKLY online for answers to other questions or information. Join us next week as we celebrate with a WORSHIP NIGHT filled with different elements of Scripture, Prayer, Dance, Song, Giving, Communion and more...
http://elem.cc/weekly
Elements gear:
tonight in the lobby we have a pre-order sheet you can sign up for some Elements T-shirts, hats, hoodies if you've been wanting some.