The Importance of Rest_September 14, 2025 • Andrew Spradlin • Genesis 2-1–3

Welcome to the Valley Baptist Church sermon podcast.

We're so glad you're here, and we hope this message inspires you,

builds your faith, and moves you toward a deep relationship with God.

Today, you'll find great insight into the Bible

and learn how you can apply it straight to your life.

So welcome and enjoy the message.

I want to welcome those who are joining us this morning from our Olive Drive campus.

If you have your Bible, please open it with me to Genesis chapter 2 and a message I'm calling the

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

importance of rest. We're staying in our series this morning and I think the message really

applies to what we're all going through this past week. Before we jump into the text, I want to have a time of prayer for our country.

Wednesday's assassination of Charlie Kirk and a school shooting in Colorado that actually

happened on the same day that was somewhat overshadowed were the latest events in what

has been a string of heinous acts of escalating violence in our country. Now, in many ways, what makes this situation a little bit different than some others is that this evil is being celebrated by some.

Our country is incredibly divided and broken.

And folks, ultimately, this is not a political problem.

It's a deep spiritual problem.

Our politics are broken because our society is broken,

and our society is broken because people are broken.

And we've got the answer to their brokenness, and His name is Jesus.

Amen?

So I want to do this.

I want us to go to the Lord because He's the only one who can help us out of this mess.

All right?

So as I pray, please join me in praying as well.

Our gracious Heavenly Father, we come before you, Lord, with heavy hearts, a great concern for our country.

And our concerns, Lord, we could be here all day listing them. Lord, some of us saw

something this week on purpose or by accident, Lord, that we can't unsee.

The murder of someone made in your image, Lord, another human being's life was taken from them.

Lord, we're concerned about all the violence that seems to be escalating, political violence,

but violence in all kinds of different ways.

Lord, we need you so very much.

Our country needs you.

So, Lord, I'm asking if you would just grant an abundance of wisdom and guidance to our leaders

to know how to navigate the choppy waters in which we live, you would just grant an abundance of wisdom and guidance to our leaders,

to know how to navigate the choppy waters in which we live,

to know how to navigate the division that exists in a way that could bring us together.

And ultimately, Lord, we know that the only one who can truly bring us together is your son, Jesus.

So, Lord, would you capture the heart of our nation?

Would you capture our heart as individuals, Lord, would you capture the heart of our nation? Would you capture our heart as individuals,

Lord? And one by one, communities and people and individuals and spread all throughout, would you,

by your Spirit, take out the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh as people surrender their lives to you? I pray, Lord, for our church family and all the other church families

out there. We're really one big happy family. We pray, Lord, that as your church, we would be a

bright shining light of your love and your truth and of your son. Lord, I pray that you would calm the anxiety, calm the fears, and that you would replace it

with peace that comes from knowing you. Lord, I pray for Charlie's wife and his two kids,

who are just at a loss today of such grief. But Lord, we know there are others

that have been victims of violence

and their families are grieving.

They're unnamed today, but they hurt.

Would you grant all of them this comfort

that only comes from your spirit and from your presence?

Lord, we need you so very much and we look forward

and we anticipate your return

when you will right all wrongs. But until that day, as you are patient with us, extending your mercy and grace,

we pray, Lord, that it would flood through our nation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Now, we're going to jump back into our series that we've been in, in the book of Genesis that I'm

calling How It All Began. The Bible simply begins with the sentence, in the beginning God created

the heavens and the earth. You see, the great assumption of life is that God is. I mean, why is

there something rather than nothing? That's the big question, right? The only rational explanation is there must be an uncaused cause, something or someone who's

outside of time, outside of space and matter, outside and not bound by natural law as the rest

of the universe is. And that's God. The Bible says that the heavens declare the glory of God.

Now, do you know what else declares the glory of God?

The complexity of a single cell.

We now, with modern technology, we have the ability to see DNA

and its complex design.

It screams out the existence of God.

Some have compared the likelihood of DNA forming without a designer to a tornado

hitting a junkyard and randomly constructing a Boeing 747 airplane. Not very likely to happen,

is it? You see, it is very clear that God is the maker of the heavens and the earth.

Now, I got sick last week, so we kind of got out of order with our messages. But before that, we were examining and just finished examining the six days of

creation when God created the world. Well, what did God do after He finished His creation? Well,

we read what He did after in Genesis chapter 2, verse 1. Thus the heavens and the earth and all

Genesis 2:1

the host of them were finished.

In the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had done, and he rested on the seventh

day from all his work, which he had done.

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he rested from all his work,

which God had created and made.

If I could get a little more monitor, I'm going to need it.

My voice is starting to fade, all right? Here's what we learned from this passage. God rested when His

creation work was finished. You see, God spoke the world in existence, and everything became

something, and when it was all done, He rested. Now, don't get the wrong idea here. The word

rested literally means ceased. It's not that God rested

out of exhaustion. He rested out of completion. The work was done. It was finished. You see,

God didn't get tired. We see that from Isaiah chapter 40, verse 28. Have you not known? Have

Isaiah 40:28

you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints

nor is weary. His understanding

is unsearchable. I heard about a college student who asked his pastor if he believed that there

was life on other planets. And the pastor said, no. And he said, you mean among all the billions

and billions of stars? You don't think there's any other life? And the pastor said, no. He said,

well, why did God go through all that trouble to make all of those

other plans? And the pastor said, what trouble? He simply spoke, and it was so. You see, that's

what we see in Genesis chapter 1. The text indicates that creation was an effortless act

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

by Almighty God because He's all-powerful. He spoke it into being. So the question becomes, why did God rest after it

was done? Well, I think his resting is a sign of completion and emphasis. When you have a rest in

music, it's not because the musicians are tired. It just means that it's a pause, perhaps for

emphasis. It's like when the movie ends by the screen just going

completely black and everything goes quiet all at once. That's an emphatic way to show the movie's

over and the audience is now left to reflect on all that has happened. I think God is resting here

as an emphatic way to say he's done creating with his word. But I also think that it serves as an example to you and I.

You see, rest is incredibly important for human beings.

In fact, every single one of us, we crave rest.

When I was a little kid, I couldn't stand when my mom and dad made me take a nap.

But now it's pretty much my favorite thing to do.

In fact, after church today,

I'm going to go home and take me a good old-fashioned Sunday afternoon nap.

And you know what? I think that's godly.

It's godly to rest when you need it.

Sometimes we're tempted to think that resting is always lazy

and working is always right, but that's not what Scripture indicates.

God provides for us here an

example in Genesis chapter 2 that is to be a pattern for you and I. Here's our principle.

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

God gave us a pattern of work and rest. Now, it's a pattern that actually eventually became

a commandment for the nation of Israel. In Exodus chapter 20, we read about the 10 commandments,

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

and the fourth command is given to Israel that they are to work six days and observe a Sabbath

day rest on the seventh. Well, God elaborates more on that command in Exodus chapter 31 that I want

Exodus 31 · chapter mention

to read, verse number 12. It says, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, Surely my Sabbath you shall keep, for it's a sign

between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies

you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it's holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall

surely be put to death. For whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off

from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the Sabbath is the Sabbath of rest,

holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their

generations as a perpetual covenant. It's a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. For in six days, the Lord made

the heavens and the earth. And on the seventh day, he was rested and refreshed. Here's what God is

saying very clearly. The Israelites were to keep the Sabbath day holy. Now, the word Sabbath literally, simply means rest. Some mistakenly have thought

that it means seventh, but it doesn't mean seventh. It means rest. God establishes a rest day for the

nation of Israel that was to be on the seventh day commemorating creation. And he established this rest day as a covenant sign of his relationship with him.

Now, a sign always points to a greater reality, doesn't it?

I mean, a sign's never the point.

The sign points to the point.

And we know the point is Jesus Christ.

The Sabbath sign was pointing to the rest that Jesus offers human

beings. Now, so the question becomes, as Christians, are we bound by the Sabbath and are we commanded

to keep it in the same way Israel was? And the New Testament answers no. But why? Well, it's because

we are no longer under the old covenant that Israel was under.

We are under a new covenant.

Colossians 2, verse number 16 says,

So let no one judge you in food and drink.

That's the dietary law.

Or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbath,

which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

Paul says,

don't let people judge you concerning the old covenant laws, the dietary laws, the festival laws, the Sabbath laws. Those things were simply a shadow. They're not the real thing. They're the

shadow of what's to come, a sign of what's to come. That's Jesus. Now, even though the New Testament upholds what God clearly said in the Old Testament

that the Sabbath was for Israel, and even though the New Testament repeats all other Ten Commandments

except for this one Sabbath command, some Christians still believe we are required to

keep the Sabbath on Saturday. Now, personally, I don't actually know anyone who keeps the Saturday

Sabbath in the same way it was commanded, because God clearly commands here that if anyone breaks

the Sabbath, they should be executed. That's how serious it was, that this sign for Israel,

that if you work while you're supposed to be pointing to the rest that Jesus the Messiah

brings, you should be executed. Now, we still have capital punishment for murder in our country that

was rooted in Old Testament law that's still in practice. But I've never heard anyone advocate

for executing someone who worked some on Saturday. So even those that say a Saturday Sabbath still applies to us,

they don't seem to take it as serious as God gave it. Now, that's actually a very good thing.

We shouldn't, because the Sabbath does not apply to Christians in the same way that it did to

Israel. Now, with all of that said, even though the Sabbath is a command from the nation of Israel,

I believe there's a wonderful principle that we gain from it. And even though the Sabbath is a command from the nation of Israel, I believe there's a wonderful

principle that we gain from it. And even though Genesis chapter 2, God rested and that's what He

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

did, it's a wonderful principle that we gain from Him, that there is to be a pattern in our lives

of work and rest, a rhythm, so to speak, of work and rest. Now, many people want to only focus on the rest part,

but the pattern is six days of work, one day of rest. You know, the Bible has a whole lot to say

about work. In fact, the Bible teaches that if a Christian man won't work, then,

well, I'm going to let God say it instead of me, so you blame him and not me. 2 Thessalonians 3, verse number 10.

If anyone will not work, neither shall he.

Now, that sounds harsh in our culture, but it's actually what's fair and right.

Because anyone who receives something without working for it,

someone else must work for it without receiving it.

And that's not fair.

That's not just.

Now, let's be very clear. The text says, if anyone

will not work. It doesn't say if anyone cannot work. The Bible has a whole lot to say about how

we have a responsibility to care and provide for those who aren't able to work. But the person who

can work but refuses to work, God indicates they should go without food for a few days until they

decide to work, and eventually they will. Now, the main point of the passage, though,

in the message is not that of work. It's actually of rest, and here's what we learn.

Rest is incredibly important for the body, the soul, and the spirit.

Now, as human beings, we are created in the image of God,

and therefore we are complex creatures.

We're made up of a body, a soul, and a spirit.

Now, oftentimes in Scripture, soul and spirit are used interchangeably.

So it's really hard to know what the emphasis is when soul and spirit are used throughout God's word.

But sometimes there's a couple of passages where God seems to split the hair between soul and spirit.

We're not going to do that today.

Rather, we're going to talk about it all together.

Because we aren't a body, and we aren't a soul, and we aren't a spirit.

We're all three united in one person. And guess what? Our body needs rest, and so does

our soul and our spirit. Now, I've learned that you can push your body far more than most people

realize. In wrestling, my uncle used to tell me, Andrew, remember that your body can go much further

than what your mind thinks it can.

And I found that to be true. But there were a few times where I actually was pushing my body and passed out and lost consciousness. And I learned the body does have a point where it shuts

down. Now, here's the deal. If you push your body to that point where it's a breaking point,

you're going to be down for a long time. But if you learn to step back when you need rest

and to rest prior to God making you rest, then you're going to recover and you're going to be

stronger than you ever were. We know that's how it works with exercise. We build strength through

physical exertion and then rest. And technically speaking, it's that rest time that the muscles recover and are made stronger. Our bodies must

have rest in order to function properly. Now, our soul and our spirit, they also need rest. And I

found that when my body is very, very tired, my soul and spirit oftentimes are tired as well

because we're connected. You might be surprised to hear me say that Sunday afternoon and evening is my most

challenging time of the week, mentally, emotionally, and sometimes even spiritually. And that's because

I'm physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted. And so because of that, and because

I get so tired, I've learned how important it is for me to rest right after church on Sundays.

And so here's what I do. First of all, I take a nap. And as I lay down almost every single week,

I can't sleep. My mind's racing, right? It's anxiously racing. And I know that I need rest,

but it's like I'm too tired and anxious to fall asleep. So here's what I do every week.

I talk with the Lord.

I close my eyes and I talk with him.

Lord, would you calm my nerves by your spirit?

Would you soothe my soul and comfort me with your spirit?

And then I fall asleep.

And then when I wake up, it's my same prayer all evening long until I get a good night's sleep and wake up refreshed Monday morning.

Now, here's what I'm saying.

When we're really physically tired, we're vulnerable.

We're vulnerable spiritually.

And we can be tempted to believe the devil's lies,

and we can be tempted to take the devil's escapes.

So that's why rest is so important within the Christian life.

Now, if you rest your body, but you don't rest your soul and your spirit, you've lost.

You missed the whole point.

Because the greatest rest that God offers you is not physical rest.

It's spiritual rest.

When we read the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus,

there were many occasions where

Jesus got away from his disciples and away from the crowd to spend alone time with his Father.

We ought to do the same. We should dedicate time every day where we get alone with our heavenly

Father and rest in him. I also believe, though, it's important to follow the pattern of rest that we

see God give to his people in scripture. So I would encourage you to set aside one day

each week that's dedicated to rest and worship. Now, that's not going to happen unless you

schedule it and unless you stick with your schedule. The pattern is clear from Genesis 2 and Exodus 20.

We are to work six days and rest one. Now, like I said earlier, I don't think that rest or worship

day has to be on Saturday. We see that in Romans chapter 14, verse number five. It says one day,

Romans 14 · chapter mention

or one person rather, esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. Let

each be fully convinced in his own mind. Paul

saying, if you want to worship on Saturday, worship on Saturday. If you want to worship on

Sunday, worship on Sunday. Whatever, be convinced in your own mind what day you want to worship.

God no longer has a particular day that he has chosen for worship and rest. So pick whatever

day you want. Or I personally think, pick the day that your church family has picked. Now at Valley, we've got groups that literally meet every day of the week for worship

and prayer. But our main worship gathering that we've carved out for the entire church family

is on Sundays. Why? To commemorate not creation, but recreation. We've decided to follow the pattern of the early church

because Sundays quickly took prominence over Saturdays.

I mean, think about it.

Jesus rose on the first day of the week.

He first met with his disciples on the first day of the week.

The Holy Spirit was given to his disciples on the first day of the week.

They were commissioned to preach the gospel of the world on the first day of the week. The day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit came on the first day of the week. They were commissioned to preach the gospel of the world on the first day of the week. The day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit came on the first

day of the week. Early Christians, they met to worship on the first day of the week. They collected

offerings on the first day of the week. The apostle John, he saw his great vision in the book of

Revelation chapter one on the first day of the week. On and on we could go, the prominence of

the first day of the week. Now you may think the apostles got it wrong, but you cannot deny that their day of worship was

anything other than the first day of the week, the Lord's day, the day of resurrection to

commemorate recreation. Now, why do you think that shift took place? I ultimately believe the Holy Spirit was behind it in this church.

But why was the Holy Spirit behind it?

Well, I think it's because the old covenant had passed away.

And the person of rest that the Saturday Sabbath was pointing to had arrived in the person of Jesus.

Jesus had come and he's paid for the sins of the world.

A greater work than creation is now here for us to commemorate, and that's redemption.

See, the last day of the week commemorates the finished work of creation. The first day of the

week commemorates the finished work of redemption. The last words that Jesus spoke as he hung upon the cross before he

died, I want to read them out of John chapter 19, verse 30. It says, so when Jesus had received the

John 19:30

sour wine, he said, it is finished. And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. On the sixth day of

creation, God finished the work of creation. On the sixth day of the Passover week,

Jesus finished the work of redemption.

And so as he's hanging upon the cross,

suffering for you and I, paying for our sins,

he says, it's finished, and he yields up his spirit.

Tetelestai in Greek.

Now the word tetelestai, if I can say that word, it was used of a painter who's painting

this beautiful painting.

And as he's painting it, he starts to paint one more stroke of the brush and he realizes it's not needed.

So he steps back, he puts the brush down and he says, to Telestai, it's finished.

Now, what was the finished work of Jesus on the cross?

Well, he had fully taken the wrath of God upon himself.

He had fully and completely paid for all of our sins upon the cross. It's finished. The work's done.

The Bible says that he, that's Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us that we might become

the righteousness of God in him. See, Jesus took on all of our sin as if he were the one who actually sinned,

even though he hadn't.

And he received all of our punishment.

And when he finished that agonizing payment of our sin,

he said, it's finished.

And he yielded up his spirit.

And then he rose the third day.

Here's our principle.

And it's the most important thing of the whole message.

God offers you and I eternal rest through his Son, Jesus Christ. He offers rest.

Now, we basically, we're looking at three different rests in Scripture this morning. The first rest, after creation.

The pattern of rest, work six days, rest one.

And now the most important, eternal rest.

And the first rest and the pattern of rest both point to the greatest rest, which is eternal.

Now, interestingly, in Genesis chapter 2, we find the verses that we read a

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

moment ago, the first time the number seven is mentioned in Scripture. And if you know your Bible,

you know that the number seven is a very significant number. It's the number of

completion or perfection. Now, I'm not sure if you noticed or not, but the seventh day language

is different than the first six days. The first six days all end with, and it was morning and

evening, but that doesn't appear for the seventh day, leading many to believe that the seventh day

was ongoing rest from God. I believe there was ongoing rest until sin invaded the world,

and that rest was halted. And when sin interrupted the rest of creation, creation's rest, God's rest,

God decided to do a new work that only He could do. He decided to perform a new creation in us who believe.

Now, that allows us to be saved from our sins and to enter into eternal rest, never again to be interrupted by sin.

And in many ways, that's the story of the Bible, that Jesus performed a work for us that we couldn't possibly have done ourselves. And I want you to stay with me for a moment because we're diving into what some might be,

think of as deep waters, but you can handle it, I promise.

In the book of Hebrews, the author of Hebrews argues

that Jesus is superior to the old covenant.

He says Jesus is better than angels.

He's better than the prophets.

He's better than Moses.

He's better than the priesthood. He's better than the prophets. He's better than Moses. He's better than the priesthood.

He's even better than the sacrifices and the old covenant

because all of those things are signs pointing to him.

Now, the author of Hebrews says there are shadows of things to come,

but the substance is Christ.

Shadows of things to come.

The same Greek construct that Paul uses in Colossians that we read a moment ago when he says the Sabbath is a shadow of things to come. The same Greek construct that Paul uses in Colossians that we read a moment ago when

he says the Sabbath is a shadow of things to come. Now in chapter 4, as the author of Hebrews shares

about how Jesus' fulfillment of the Old Testament law, he says, don't worry though. The Sabbath has

not been done away with. It's just been fulfilled. It remains.

But now it's eternal.

Hebrews chapter 4, verse number 9, he says,

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

there remains, therefore, a rest.

Literally Sabbath in Greek for the people of God.

For he who has entered his rest, that's Christ's rest,

has himself also ceased from his works as God did from his.

Now, don't miss the point here.

He's saying the Sabbath rest remains not on Saturday,

not on Sunday, but every day forevermore.

Because if you receive Jesus as your Savior,

you enter into his rest.

Now you've ceased from all of your works,

just like God did his.

What he's doing is he's talking about no longer working and striving to keep the law, no longer working to find God to be

pleased with your life, to somehow earn his favor, but to rest in the finished work of Jesus on your

behalf. Now as Christians, one of the reasons that I personally love the idea

of resting and worshiping on Sundays is because I believe it highlights the difference between the

old covenant and the new. In the Old Testament, people worked six days and rested on the seventh.

In the New Testament, they rest on the first day, then they work the six days. In the old, they worked in order to rest.

In the new, we rest in order to work.

It's a picture of the gospel.

Look at Ephesians 2, verse 8 and 9.

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith,

not of yourself, it's a gift of God,

not of works lest anyone should boast. Now, if we read

verse number 10, we would see that work that's been done for us creates us to be workers for

the gospel. It's saying that we can't possibly achieve our salvation. We must only receive it

by grace. It means you can't earn it. It must be received by faith.

You see, salvation is not a reward for the righteous.

It's a gift for the guilty.

We are the guilty.

Salvation is not a rest that we earn from all of our good works.

Salvation is a rest that enables us to do a bunch of good works.

Because salvation does not come from trying.

It comes from trusting, resting in Christ.

Jesus said, he said, come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.

Jesus came to give your soul rest.

Let me ask you, do you need rest? Are you tired?

I'm not just talking physically, I'm talking deep. Are you tired? Are you tired of the anger?

Are you tired of the hatred? Are you tired of the same sins? Are you tired of the guilt? Are you

tired of the division of your own heart? Jesus said, come to me and I will give you rest.

I'll take your yoke of burden, of guilt.

I will wear it upon the cross.

If you'll just come to me, I'll give you eternal rest.

And it's eternal.

We know Romans chapter 6, verse 23, for the wages of sin is death.

Romans 6:23

That's not rest.

But the gift of God is eternal life

in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen? Now, I heard about a story of some people years ago who were

traveling in Europe, and they came across this big castle. They wanted to see inside. And so,

finally, they found the caretaker, and they asked if they could go in.

He said, sure, just go right in.

Well, they went up to this massive door and it had one of those old school, you know, big iron keys.

And so they tried to turn the key and they worked and worked to get that key turned, but it just wouldn't turn.

So finally they went back to the caretaker and they said, can you help us?

We can't get the door to unlock.

And he said, well, I forgot to tell you.

The reason you can't unlock the door is because it's already unlocked.

Just lift the latch and go on in.

Maybe you've been trying and trying to be saved. You've been working and working to turn the key,

to open the door to God, to open the door to heaven.

Listen, if you keep working and you keep trying to do what you can do,

you'll never be saved because it's already done.

It's already been done.

The work is finished.

Jesus said it's finished.

Just lift the latch.

Come on in.

And there's only one way that you could do that.

It's by trusting and resting in the finished work of Jesus on your behalf.

Now, let's bow together in attitude of prayer,

both here and at Olive Drive.

This is a holy moment in the life of a church,

but don't misunderstand that.

It's not an overly formal moment.

In just a moment, I'm going to pray,

and we're going to stand to our feet at both campuses.

And we've been praying that there'll be movement in our midst as God moves. It says He moves.

We're going to invite you to come forward because there's going to be pastors and other

leaders and prayer partners here at the front of both campuses. And we're just going to ask you,

if your soul needs rest, I'm going to ask you to step out and come just as you are,

sin and all, messed up and all, broken and all.

That's all, all of us come.

And walk down one of these aisles,

walk down one of these staircases

and take one of these leaders by the hand

and say, I want to find rest in Jesus.

They'll know exactly how to help you. They'll know exactly how to help you.

They'll know exactly how to help you.

God wants to forgive you because he loves you.

In your sin, in my sin, in the sin of humanity,

it's driven a wedge between us and God

because God is so too holy

to allow evil to just remain without it being judged and paid for.

Someday Jesus will return and every sin will be paid for,

either by the person who committed the sin or the one who allowed Jesus to pay for it instead.

I want to invite you to receive the gift that God offers you today, a relationship

with Him, to be forgiven. God loves you like no one's ever loved you. Oh, how He loves you.

You may not necessarily feel that because we live in a broken world and our sin separates us where it's really hard

to have that relationship. But it's actually pretty simple because Jesus did all the work.

It's all done. We just have to receive it. And now our relationship with God can be restored.

So I want to invite you to experience that today, not just to know about it, but to experience it.

You just come forward in a moment and you say, I want to give my life to Christ.

He'll know how to help you.

Maybe you want to be baptized like many others today.

Say, I want to join this church family.

It's time for me to be connected in an official way.

I want to be a part.

Just come and let us know.

We would love to talk with you about that.

Or maybe if you're like me, the last few days you've been carrying a very heavy burden for our country and our society and for people. For people.

There's brokenness all around us.

Maybe you just want to come to these steps and you don't need to talk with a pastor.

You just need to talk with the master.

You need to do business with God today.

Maybe you want to come and pray about whatever God's doing in your heart.

Or maybe you want to come pray for our nation. Pour out your heart to the Lord about all that's

transpired. The solution to our problem, I'm telling you, is very complex, and it's actually

impossible without God. We desperately need Him. Maybe we just need to pour out your heart to him.

However, God leads in just a moment. Let's do business with him. Let's pray. Father,

we thank you so much for your love and your goodness and your truth.

Thank you, Lord, for being patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to faith and repentance.

Lord, thank you for your patience in the midst of our evil in the world.

That means you're not done with this world.

You have more to do, more grace to pour out.

And so we're asking, Lord, that you would pour it out liberally and generously through your people,

that we'd be conduits of your love, conduits of your truth, conduits of your gospel,

and that you would do a great transformation in our nation one person at a time,

a change and a transformation that is not from the outside in, but Lord, that's from the inside out.

We recognize the complexity of the division that we're in or part of the complexity.

And we recognize that there is a lot of room for improvement and reformation,

politically speaking, in so many different ways.

But Lord, we also recognize right now that while all of those things may be a very important part,

that ultimately what we need is you.

We need you to become the center of who we are.

Help us, Lord Jesus, in all the ways that only you're able to help. We pray in Jesus' mighty name.

Amen.

Thanks for listening today. We hope you enjoyed this message. And if you did,

we would be so grateful if you left us a review. Also, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast if you would like to be notified when a new sermon is released. If you feel the Lord calling you to take the next step in faith

through salvation, service, or giving, don't wait.

Reach out to us by texting podcast to 88988.

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You can also visit our website, valleybaptist.org

to find even more great resources.

No matter where you are in your journey,

know that we love you, we're praying for you,

and we can't wait to see what God will do in your life.