Finding Real Rest in Our Gracious God

The scripture reading comes from Deuteronomy chapter 5. Please follow along on the screen.

Deuteronomy 5 · chapter mention

Verse 1.

And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them,

Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today,

and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.

Verse 6.

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above

or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them or serve them.

For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,

visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,

for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.

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.

You or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock

or the sojourner who is within your gates,

that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,

and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Honor your mother and your father as the Lord your God commanded you,

that your days may be long,

and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not murder,

and you shall not commit adultery,

and you shall not steal,

and you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,

and you shall not covet your neighbor's wife,

and you shall not desire your neighbor's house,

his field or his male servant,

or his female servant,

his ox or his donkey,

or anything that is your neighbor's.

These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain,

out of the midst of the fire,

the cloud,

and the thick darkness,

with a loud voice,

and he added no more.

And he wrote them on two tablets of stone,

and gave them to me.

This is the word of God.

Great.

Good morning, Watermark.

And for those of you who may be joining us for the first time,

or watching from further afield,

welcome.

My name is Kevin.

I'm one of the leaders here at Watermark,

and it's great to be with you together this morning.

Let's pray right away as we respond to God's word,

and pray for our time together.

Will you join me?

Gracious Father,

loving Son,

Holy Spirit,

we come before you this morning,

to calibrate and align our hearts with who you are.

We come before you this morning,

to worship you,

and to adore your name,

to give you the praise that you are due.

God,

we come before you this morning,

because you are God,

and we are not.

Because the things in our lives,

we tend to hope and trust,

and God cannot save us,

they cannot satisfy us,

they cannot revive our heart and soul,

as we sang about this morning.

But you,

God,

can.

You,

God,

can.

And so,

Lord,

you are the one true God.

You're the living God.

Jesus,

as the apostle said,

you have the words of life.

Where else should we go?

And so,

God,

this morning we come,

and we carve out this time,

to reorientate our hearts to you.

We do this because it's right to praise you,

and to worship you,

as your creation,

and your creatures,

as God.

It is right that we worship you,

and adore you,

but we do it even more than that,

because we need it,

God.

We so desperately need it.

And so,

God,

this morning,

as we look at these words for abundant life,

I pray that you do give us abundant life,

as we respond with simple faith.

God,

won't you revive our heart and our soul?

God,

won't you give us the faith,

to trust you,

to obey these words,

God,

to walk in obedience to them.

Help us,

God,

where we are fearful,

where there are things that get in the way,

where we are tempted to trust in ourselves,

our own way.

God,

we pray,

give us faith,

Lord.

Help us to trust you,

Lord.

God,

we pray also for ourselves,

at this time,

when there's so much uncertainty,

going on in our world,

in our city.

God,

we pray for our hearts.

Oh,

God,

this morning,

give us rest,

we pray.

Give us rest,

Lord,

where we're fearful and anxious,

where anxiety and despondency have gripped our hearts,

where the future for some of us may seem bleak and hopeless.

God,

remind us that you are on the throne.

God,

give us peace this morning.

Give us rest.

God,

I pray that just as I do my best to unpack these words,

and to look at this word for abundant life,

won't you be with me?

I pray,

God,

may anything I say that is not of you and your heart,

may it fall away,

God.

Stop me saying things that are not of your heart.

And God,

even things that I haven't planned to say,

God,

would you lead us in your truth?

We want to know your truth,

not my truth,

God.

We want to know what you have to say to us,

not what I have to say to us.

God,

we bring the next 30 minutes before you and say,

God,

come and lead us,

we pray.

We pray these things in your wonderful name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Well,

we are continuing our series,

these 10 words for abundant life,

more commonly known as the 10 commandments.

And this morning we are looking at the fourth of these,

and this is how it goes.

It says,

observe the Sabbath day,

keep it holy as the Lord,

your God commanded you.

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 do no other work,

you or your son or your daughter,

your male servant or your female servant,

or your ox or your donkey,

or any of your livestock,

or the sojourner,

the foreigner,

who's within your gates,

that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

Now,

when we think of the idea of Sabbath,

a couple of things might come to mind.

This idea of doing no work,

checking no emails,

unplugging from the regular rhythms and demands and routines of life,

that may sound very archaic.

If not something from another planet,

then at least something from a whole nother century.

You may have an idea in your mind of people dressed in very traditional clothing,

sitting quietly around the table,

sipping tea,

not talking,

doing no fun,

no laughter,

very serious,

traditional view of life.

Or maybe,

maybe it's not so much a view that is archaic or old school.

Maybe when the idea of a Sabbath comes to our mind,

in this high-paced technological world,

maybe the problem with the idea of observing a Sabbath,

of taking a day to unrest and unplug from the rhythms and the demands of life,

just sounds completely boring.

What on earth would you do with 24 hours,

with no email,

no WhatsApp,

no Facebook,

Instagram,

TikTok,

Netflix,

the idea of unplugging just sounds completely boring.

In a city like ours,

that has 500 million things to do on any given day,

why on earth would you want to unplug?

As we've spoken over the last couple of weeks,

God's word to us,

these 10 words for abundant life,

are given for our joy.

As we sang earlier,

to revive our souls.

They're given for our flourishing,

and our benefit.

God gives these words to his people,

not to constrain our joy,

but to maximize it.

Not to hinder our joy and our happiness,

but to see it grow,

to see it flourish,

to see it in its fullness.

These 10 words are given for abundant life.

And so,

listen up.

So this morning,

as we look at this idea of Sabbath,

I want us to look at three things.

The first,

what is the Sabbath all about?

Why is it so hard?

And then finally,

how are we going to apply it to our lives today?

So,

let's dive in.

Firstly,

what is the Sabbath all about?

Well,

the word Sabbath literally means to abstain from working.

It's the stop working day.

You could read it like this.

Observe the stop working day,

to keep it holy,

as the Lord your God commanded you.

Six days you shall labor,

do all your work,

but the seventh is a stop working day,

to the Lord your God.

And notice how it says we are to observe the stop working day.

To observe means more than just ring it on your calendar.

In Exodus,

it says,

remember the Sabbath.

That's more than just work out which day of the week it is.

It's to engage in it.

It's to prioritize it.

God says,

keep it holy.

It's to recognize that there's something different,

something distinctive,

something sacred about this day that God has called us to set aside.

And notice in verse 14 of our passage,

the egalitarian nature of the Sabbath.

You see,

sometimes in the old days,

someone might've said,

okay,

fine,

I'll abstain from working,

but my son,

he's going to work hard.

The farm needs to carry on being tended to.

Business needs to tick over.

I need to sell my wares.

My son's going to work.

And God says,

no,

no,

not you,

not your son abstain from working.

Okay,

fine.

My daughters,

they're going to,

they're going to have to work hard.

God says,

no,

not your sons,

not your daughters.

Someone may have thought,

okay,

fine.

Well then my servants,

if I can't work,

if my family can't work,

they're going to work doubly hard today.

And God says,

no,

not your sons,

not your daughters,

not your male servant,

not your female servant.

Okay,

well,

what about the foreigner?

What about the foreign domestic worker?

God's commanded,

they're going to work doubly hard today.

God says,

no,

not the foreigner within your midst.

What about the animals?

I mean,

there may not be anybody to help them plow straight.

The fields may be a bit crooked.

They may eat a little bit too much food while they're plowing the fields,

but at least let the animals work.

At least let the machines run.

At least let the technology do what it needs to do.

And God says,

no,

not your animals,

not your crops,

nothing.

It is to be an entire day of rest,

a stop working day for everyone under your sphere,

your household.

This wasn't just a class thing.

It wasn't just for the upper class,

the wealthy,

those that could afford it.

All people in society were to observe and enjoy the Sabbath day of rest.

Now the question is,

okay,

if they were to do this,

what were they to do on this Sabbath day of rest?

What did it involve?

Well,

look at what this passage says.

In fact,

actually the 10 words of abundant life are given twice in the Old Testament.

The first time they're given in Exodus 20,

and the second time in Deuteronomy 5.

And there are slight differences in emphasis.

Look at what it says in Exodus 20.

God says,

you shall remember the Sabbath for in six days,

the Lord made heaven and earth,

the sea and all that's in there and rested on the seventh day.

Therefore,

the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

So what's God saying here?

Well,

the scripture is telling us that God in his creation,

he finished creation and he specifically stopped working to enjoy his creation.

The picture here is of God seated on his throne.

He is resting,

but he's ruling and he's reigning.

Now,

of course,

God is still at work in the world,

but he's not frantically running around,

juggling a million plates,

trying to keep the world going.

God is at rest.

He's ruling and he's reigning.

He's on the throne and he's not frantic or worried about what's going on in the world.

All things are under his control.

And God then instructs his people to set aside some time,

one day in seven,

to remember that God is on the throne and that all the world is under his control.

But additionally,

God builds into the way that the world works,

this period of rest,

not because he needed it,

but because he knows that we need it.

And so to observe the Sabbath is part of the way that we are hardwired.

It's part of our design.

It's to celebrate our design.

To violate the Sabbath is to violate the way that God has designed us.

And therefore,

the Sabbath commands or calls us to rest,

to rest,

knowing that God is on the throne and that we aren't.

But then look at the passage in Deuteronomy chapter five,

which Claire read to us earlier.

Moses gives a slightly different emphasis.

He says this,

you are to observe the Sabbath.

And now here's the reason.

Verse 15.

For you shall remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt

and that the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

Therefore,

the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath.

So what's God saying in this passage?

Well,

previously he rooted the command to rest in creation.

The fact that God rested and instituted this for our good.

But here he's commanding it not so much in creation,

but in redemption.

The Sabbath is not only the way we are wired.

It's also a reminder of God's mercy and his saving grace.

It's not just a sign that God has created us this way.

It's a reminder of his magnificent salvation and his mercy towards us.

Sabbath is a reminder that we are his people,

that he's called us out of our former way of life,

and that now we belong to him.

And therefore,

to celebrate the Sabbath is to celebrate God's saving grace,

and it calls us to worship.

To worship.

And these two things of rest and worship,

rest and worship,

are constantly portrayed throughout the Old Testament,

throughout the Scripture.

God calls his people to set aside time

in his weekly rhythm and pattern

to rest and to worship.

But then there's a third thing we see in this passage.

Do you remember how the passage called

not just the head of the household to rest,

but everyone in the family to rest?

What's going on here?

The Sabbath calls us to community.

Your children,

your foreign workers,

domestic helpers,

aunts,

uncles,

everyone was to rest.

It was a stop working day

for the entire family.

Now we sometimes miss this

because of the intensely communal aspect

of the Old Testament.

And we can sometimes think,

yeah,

God's rest is just for me.

I go take a day walking in the mountains

and I pray.

But actually,

in the Bible,

to Sabbath was an intensely communal affair.

Every Friday night,

from the setting of the sun

to Saturday evening,

when the stars appeared,

the entire family,

aunts,

uncles,

cousins,

grandparents,

everyone would gather,

pray together,

eat a big meal,

celebrate God's goodness,

worship,

rest,

celebrating one another

and God's goodness

to their family.

The Sabbath calls us to rest,

calls us to worship,

but it calls us to worship together.

These two things,

to rest and worship,

are throughout

the Old Testament principle of Sabbath.

But they're not to be done mechanically,

they're not to be done ritualistically

or superstitiously,

they're not to be done full of faith,

trusting the Lord,

by ceasing from work

and gathering with our family

to worship together.

We rest in part

so that we may be free

to worship God

undistracted from the demands of life.

And we worship God in part

by ceasing from our work

and resting.

And the significance of this

being tied to creation

is that God is saying,

this isn't just something

you do once in a while

or when you have the time

or when work's not busy.

This is part of a weekly rhythm,

a rhythm that you put in your life

to rest and worship together.

Kevin DeYoung summarizes

the Sabbath like this,

rest, rejoice, repeat.

Rest our bodies and souls.

We revive our hearts

by worshiping God,

by rejoicing in who He is.

And we repeat this

every single week.

Now, what about the New Testament?

That's the Old Testament.

How do Christians practice this

in the New Testament?

Well, things get a little bit

interesting here.

And Christians have debated this

over the ages.

But generally,

we see three things.

The first thing we notice is this.

Jesus never violates

the Sabbath principle.

Now, at the time

of the New Testament,

the religious leaders

came up with a whole bunch

of other rules and regulations

about how the Sabbath applied.

In fact, they came up

with about 39 categories

of what you could or couldn't do

in order to honor the Sabbath.

And each one of those categories

had about 10 rules themselves.

So there's about 400 extra rules

that they came up with.

You can't pick a flower.

You can't smell a rose.

You can't throw water

out your window

in case that falls on a seed

and then the seed

starts to sprout

and then you've been

growing plants on the Sabbath.

So all these rules

that they came up with.

Jesus has no problem

breaking those human rules.

But the Sabbath principle

of taking time

to rest and honor God,

worship God,

Jesus never violates

the Sabbath.

Second thing we see is this.

The New Testament apostles

seem to untangle

some of the superstition

and the rigidness

of the Sabbath

that was prevalent

in the church.

So some people

viewed the Sabbath

highly superstitiously.

There's some things

that you can do

and there's a whole bunch

of things you can't do.

And the apostles write

and say,

no, that's not the honor.

That's not the heart

behind the Sabbath.

Honor the principle.

But some people think

this day is holy.

Some people say

that day is holy.

Actually,

these are things

that we shouldn't fight about.

You don't need to be

so superstitious

and meticulous

around it's from

6 p.m. on Friday

to 6 p.m. on Saturday

or it's 6 p.m. Saturday

to 6 p.m. Sunday.

There's a bit of

grace and freedom

in the way

that you apply it.

But the third thing

we do see is this.

Early on

in the New Testament

and in church history,

we see something else

taking place.

Rather than Christians

applying the gospel

to the Saturday Sabbath

to the seventh day

of the week,

which is what would happen

in the Jewish culture,

Christians gathered

on the first day

of the week

to celebrate the gospel,

to celebrate Christ,

to take communion together,

to worship together,

and to be community together.

We see this

in Acts chapter 20.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

The Christians gathered

after work

at the end of the day

on the first day

of the week,

which they called

the Lord's Day,

to celebrate communion,

to listen to Paul preaching,

and to worship God together.

We see this

in 1 Corinthians 16

where Paul writes

and he says,

when you gather

on the first day

of the week,

take up a love offering

for the churches

that are in Judea

and are struggling financially.

And so the Christians

gathered on the first day

of the week,

the Lord's Day,

on Sunday,

to celebrate communion,

to listen to God's word,

and to worship together.

By the end

of the first century,

church history shows us

that many Christians

had actually stopped

observing the Saturday Sabbath

and were working

on the Sabbath

and were now

observing the Sabbath

on the Sunday,

gathering on the Lord's Day

for community and worship.

And why did they do that?

Well, because the Lord's Day,

the Sunday,

was the day that Jesus

rose from the dead.

It was the day

that Jesus rose

in resurrection,

power, and glory.

Interestingly enough,

in John's Gospel,

Jesus rises from the dead

on Sunday,

appears to his disciples,

and then the next time

he appears to them again

is seven days later

on the next Lord's Day,

the next Sunday.

Now,

is Sunday

the new Sabbath?

Is Sunday

more spiritual

than any other day

of the week?

No,

not necessarily.

In Romans chapter 14,

Romans 14 · chapter mention

Paul writes,

and he says,

don't make a big deal

about one day

as opposed to other days.

Every day,

in some ways,

is the day we celebrate God

and worship Him

and align our hearts to Him.

If you have to work

on a Sunday,

let's say you're a pilot

and you're rostered

to fly on a Sunday,

should you insist

that you will do

no work on a Sunday

ever

and refrain from flying?

Well,

Paul says there's freedom,

there's grace

to do that.

We shouldn't be

superstitious

about Sundays,

but what we should do

is make sure

that as a weekly rhythm,

we are gathering

with God's people,

resting and unplugging

from the regular demands

and rhythms of life,

worshiping God,

not just on our own,

but with God's people.

The issue is

to set time aside,

to rest,

to worship together,

to remind ourselves

that Jesus rules,

work doesn't,

to remind ourselves

that Jesus is on the throne,

not us,

to remind ourselves

that our lives

and our family's lives

are in God's hands,

not our own.

Now,

second thing is this,

why do we find

this so hard?

I'm sure you agree

with me,

most Christians,

even gospel-centered Christians

like Watermark

tries to be,

we're pretty bad at this.

Why is that?

Well,

I think there's

a couple of reasons.

The one reason

is because we're fearful.

We're fearful

of what we might

miss out on.

While this is true

of everywhere,

there's probably

very few cities

in the world

in which this is

more prevalent

than the city

of Hong Kong.

Because of just

the extreme competitiveness

of our city,

the idea of

setting aside time

to rest,

to switch off,

to not answer

your phone,

to not answer

emails or

WhatsApp messages,

to not be

on call,

on demand,

just seems

absolutely crazy.

The ethos

of our city

is that if you're

not going to be

the fastest,

the best,

the hardest working,

just get out the way

and let somebody else

in your place.

And so the idea

of switching off

your phone,

not checking emails,

closing shop,

means we could

miss out.

There's the fear

that I could

miss out on profits,

I could miss out

on income,

I could miss out

on bonus,

I could miss out

on recognition,

I could miss that

promotion that I've

been longing for

and needing.

That maybe switching

off from Facebook

or Instagram

or social media

means I'm going

to miss out

on what's

happening with

my social circle,

what friends

are up to

and my social

credit.

But friends,

what this means

of course

is that we are

slaves.

Anybody who

cannot say no

is a slave.

Is it possible

that we've become

slaves to the

culture of our

city?

Friends,

the truth is

that even for

ancient times

the fears

were no less.

If you were a

farmer,

you had to get

your crops in

when harvest was

due,

before the

rains came

and destroyed

your crops.

When traders

were coming

through the

village,

you had to

sell your

wares before

they moved

on.

In the

ancient times,

the fear of

missed opportunity

was no less.

And yet God

makes this

promise that

if you'll trust

me enough to

rest and to

worship,

I promise I'll

take care of

you.

God promises

his people that

he is faithful

and he'll take

care of us.

Maybe for some

of us,

the fear is not

so much the

opportunity cost,

the fear is

something else.

For many of

us,

it may just

seem too

scary,

too daunting

to have to

deal and face

the things in

our lives,

the things in

our hearts,

the anxiety,

the loneliness,

the despondency.

Any prolonged

quietness or

stillness means

that we need to

face the

insecurities and

the addictions

in our lives.

It's easier

just not to

go there.

And so we

mask over the

fears in our

hearts and the

anxieties and

insecurities with

constant busyness,

never able to

switch off,

never able to

put our phone

down,

never able to

be quiet and

rest because the

voices and the

fears and the

worries of our

hearts are just

too loud.

Now, of course,

the problem with

this, friends,

is that that means

we never deal with

it.

They're still there.

They just push

down deeper,

waiting for

another time to

surface.

And over and

against these two

fears, God gives

us this gift,

this incredible

gift of freedom,

this gift of

Sabbath rest.

It's a day in

which we declare

our freedom,

that we are not

slaves to our

culture, not

slaves to our

families, to our

schools, to our

bosses, to the

stock market, not

even slaves to our

own fears and

insecurities.

God gives us this

gift where we

declare and stay

our freedom,

knowing that if

we are free in

Christ, we are

free indeed.

But God also

gives us this gift

of faith because

the Sabbath is

meant to be a day

where we lift our

eyes off of the

circumstances around

us, off of the

things that demand

our attention.

We lift our eyes to

heaven and we

remember, we

behold our God

and see that he is

on the throne.

It's this gift where

we remind ourselves

what's true in the

world and what's

real and where our

lives really are.

God commands us to

obey the Sabbath but

he also gives us the

gift of Sabbath.

And so the Sabbath is

both a command and a

gift.

I want us to take a

few minutes now and to

reflect on two

questions.

And if you're with

somebody else, maybe

take some time to

discuss these questions

with them.

If you're on your

own, maybe take a

journal and jot down

these questions.

Let's take two

minutes to think about

these two questions.

Firstly, have you

ever thought of how

the Sabbath applies

to you?

Have you ever

thought it does

apply to you?

Secondly, what

stops you from

taking time to

unplug from the

rhythms and the

demands of life and

to rest and to

worship and to

Sabbath well?

Let's take a few

minutes to do

that.

Let's take a few

moments to three

scruration.

Thank you very much.

Had to do that.

Thank you.

Listen.

backpack.

Yes.

These seven

evenings remind you

of the upper

stairs for the

aid for the

injection of

the

water stadium

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And the reason I'm saying that is because I really want myself and you and for us as a church to take this seriously.

It's an outstanding book that's going to help us practically think about this.

So add that to your list.

Okay.

Finally, how should we do this practically?

How should we apply this to our lives?

Now, as I said earlier, the New Testament isn't strictly saying that the Sunday is the new Sabbath.

But we do tend to see this principle.

If there is another way that you can do this, that you can gather with God's people in community to rest and to worship, be free.

But what is critical to the idea of the Sabbath is these three things of rest, worship, and in community with God's people.

Feeding your soul.

Reminding ourselves that God is on the throne, not me.

That Jesus rules, not work, not social media, not culture.

And so find time to do that.

How should we do it practically?

Well, in order to do this well, there's four things that we need to do.

In our family, we've been trying to do this the last couple of months and it's been so good and life-giving.

We haven't got it perfectly down yet, but we're trying our best and I'll tell you a little bit about that in a minute.

Four things we need to practically do.

First thing, you need to prioritize it above everything else.

You need to look at your calendar.

If you're married, talk to your spouse.

Otherwise, look at your calendar and prioritize this time above everything else.

What is the time when you and your family are going to Sabbath?

And you need to guard it as if your life depends on it.

And the reason is because your life does depend on it.

It really does.

If you have to quit some things to fit it in, do that.

If you have to leave some clubs, if you have to give up some hobbies,

if you have to make some changes, do whatever is required to prioritize a set time weekly in your calendar

when you can rest, revitalize your soul, and connect with God.

You know, one of the things we like to do is to tell our children, hopefully we do this,

that Christ is King.

Jesus is God.

But it's hard to convince our children of that when soccer practice, piano lessons,

tuition, needlework, housework, Netflix, Instagram, social media, cooking,

every other thing takes priority.

When following Jesus and gathering with his people,

when getting into God's word is 17 on our priority list,

it's hard to convince anyone in our family that Jesus is King.

Friends, I want to encourage us to do whatever it takes to prioritize this Sabbath time in our weekly schedule.

Second thing is this.

You need to turn off your phone and disconnect from all connectivity.

Now, I know that sounds like I live in the dark ages

and that I don't know which city I live in and which century I'm part of.

But honestly, our culture is absolutely addicted to our cell phones.

There's all sorts of books and research about that,

about the addiction that mobile phones are having on our culture

and the effects that it's having.

Now, whatever your views are of social media,

what is unquestionable is the way that mobile phones and connectivity

have absolutely hijacked our minds and our hearts and us as human beings.

And we know the results of this.

Teenage anxiety, depression, suicides are absolutely off the charts.

Cultural analysts that have tracked teenage anxiety and depression throughout the decades

have tracked the rise and suddenly in 2010 with the advent of the smartphone,

anxiety and depression have absolutely gone off the charts.

Friends, many of us spend more time looking at our screens than we do at our kids in the eye.

Many of us spend more time looking at our phones than we do at God's Word.

Our phones have hijacked our hearts and our souls.

And so, for some of us, it may not be social media.

It may be checking emails or WhatsApp messages or other forms of communication.

Can I plead with us for the sake of our soul, for the sake of our sanity,

for the sake of our humanity, for the sake of your children and your marriage,

whatever Sabbath looks like, turn off your phone and disconnect from the demands

and the connectivity of our world.

In our family, because Sunday is a workday,

we try and do Sabbath from 5 p.m. on Friday evening till Saturday lunchtime.

And so, in our family, at 5 p.m. on Friday evening,

sorry, 5 p.m. Friday evening,

all cell phones get turned off,

all iPads get turned off,

computers get turned off,

TV gets turned off,

all digital equipment gets put away in the drawer.

And from 5 p.m. Friday evening till Saturday lunchtime,

nobody is allowed to look at a screen.

And though sometimes it's hard,

it's been the best thing for our family.

As we get to engage and pray together and have a meal

and celebrate one another and what God is doing in our lives.

Third thing is this.

You need to find out what relaxes you,

what revives you,

what refreshes you,

and do that thing.

For some people, it may be hiking.

Some people, it may be an extended time of reading.

Some people may be being on the water,

in the beach,

baking.

For some people, it may be playing guitar,

playing a round of golf.

Find out what makes you grateful to be in God's will

and a part of His creation and do that thing.

But here's the fourth thing and the most important thing.

You need to tune your heart to worship Christ.

In the book of Hebrews,

the writer is talking about the way that God's people

in the Old Testament and the leadership of Joshua

were going towards the promised land.

And under Moses,

they were going from the wilderness,

this place of being nomads,

this place of danger and armies and battles and enemies.

And they were on their way towards the promised land.

And the promised land is described as this place of milk and honey.

It's a description of luxury and rest and perfection.

This place where there's no more battles to fight.

This place where your heart is full and satisfied.

And so for 40 years,

God's people are anticipating getting to the promised land.

Finally getting there and being able to rest from the journey,

but also being able to rest from warfare and battles

and from manna and quail.

Finally, they could get to the promised land.

But Joshua says,

the book of Hebrews says this,

What's the writer saying?

He's saying that even though God's people finally got to the promised land,

their hearts were not ultimately at rest.

He's saying that the perfect circumstances of our lives don't give us rest.

He's saying that rest,

true rest is not found in circumstances,

it's found in a person.

It's found in the person of Jesus.

What Hebrews is telling us,

friends,

is that if you managed to buy a perfect island in paradise,

and you had servants waiting on you all day long,

you had all the money in the world,

you had all the food you could possibly eat,

you could wake up in the morning,

go for a run on the beach,

you had a sailing boat waiting there for you.

If you had the most perfect,

idyllic life that you could ever possibly dream of,

your heart would not be at rest.

That would not guarantee that your heart would be rest and satisfied.

Friends,

how many people say,

I'll work hard,

I'll make a ton of money,

and once I get $5 million,

$10 million,

$20 million,

I'll kick back,

and I'll relax.

You know what?

No matter how much money you make,

your heart's not going to be at rest.

Because true rest,

ultimate rest,

is found in our hearts and our souls,

coming to the one that knows us the best,

who made us for a relationship with him,

and calibrating our hearts to him.

In the Old Testament,

Joshua did take them into promised land.

They were no longer wandering throughout the wilderness and the desert,

but they got to the promised land,

this land of milk and honey and luxury and of plentiful,

and they still were not satisfied.

Because though they got there,

they'd wandered away from the God who knew them and made them.

Friends,

in Jeremiah,

Jeremiah 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6,

God's people are in the promised land,

and things are going bad because they've wandered away from God.

And so Jeremiah gives this amazing verse.

He says this,

Stand by the roads and look.

Ask for the ancient paths,

where the good way is,

and walk in it,

and you will find a rest for your souls.

Friends,

I know that the idea of taking a Sabbath,

of carving out time in our busy city,

sounds absolutely ridiculous.

I know it may even sound like something from the dark ages.

But if the mental health statistics,

if the divorce rates of our city are anything to go by,

if the burnout and the anxiety and the loneliness of our city is anything to go by,

friends,

maybe we need to stop,

look for the ancient paths,

find out where the good way is,

and walk in them.

Maybe that's the way to find rest for our souls.

Jesus picks up on this verse in Matthew chapter 11,

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

and he,

speaking to his disciples,

who would have known Jeremiah,

he takes this verse,

and then he applies it to himself.

And he says this,

and this still applies to us all these years later,

Friends,

some of us here are frenetic,

and anxious,

and worried,

we are angry,

we are stressed,

we have explosions of anger,

because we've never come to Jesus.

Friends,

maybe you've been part of church for many years,

you've sang the songs,

you've given your offering,

you've been part of a Bible study,

but you've never really come to Jesus.

You've never really surrendered your heart to him.

You've still wanted to be in control of your life.

You've felt that your life is ultimately in your hands.

Friends,

Jesus calls us today,

today,

to find our Sabbath rest in him,

to surrender to him,

to maybe for the very first time,

to admit,

Jesus,

you are God,

and I am not.

God,

you are on the throne,

and I am not.

My life is in your hands.

Friends,

you cannot save yourself from your sin,

but you also cannot save yourself from your anxiety,

and your worry,

and your fears.

Only Jesus can.

Friends,

come to him,

and find your rest in him.

Come to him and align your hearts to him.

Come and worship him.

Come and let him be your God.

Let him be your king.

Come and surrender your life to him.

Friends,

maybe the reason why you've never rested,

is because there's an idol that you've served,

called yourself,

or an idol called work,

or an idol called money.

Friends,

those idols are going to destroy you.

There is one God who can save you,

not only from hell,

that's true,

but also from the anxiety,

and the worry,

and the despondency of our hearts.

There is one God and king,

who can give you rest.

His name is Jesus.

Friends,

come to him today.

Come to him this morning.

Don't go another minute,

another hour,

still being God and in control of your life.

Come to him and find your Sabbath rest in him.

Friends,

I know it's a fearful thing,

to cut out time,

to say no,

to switch off your phones and our emails.

I know that maybe there's a fear of losing out.

Of course there is.

Friends,

Jesus is more than adequate to look after you.

He's more than adequate to look after your family.

He's more than adequate to look after your children.

Friends,

your life is not in your boss's hands.

Your life is not in your client's hands.

Your life is not in the stock market.

Your life is in King Jesus.

Trust him.

Trust him.

And then for those of us that are so fearful,

to engage the stuff in our hearts.

It's scary to take a Sabbath because we don't know what we'll find in our lives.

Friends,

maybe confronting the pain and the agony is a fearful thing.

Don't you see?

Jesus is a good physician.

Jesus is the best counselor you'll ever come across.

Jesus is the great physician.

He is there to heal your heart.

He's there to bring you freedom.

Friends,

Jesus died on the cross,

not just to save you from hell,

but also to bring healing to our lives and our souls.

Friends,

Jesus is the one who invites us to come and to bring our burden to him.

Jesus says here,

come to me,

those of you who are burdened and anxious and worried and frightened and fearful.

Come to me.

I will give you rest.

Friends,

bearing those things with the business of life will never deal with him.

Come to Jesus.

Come and find your rest in him.

Friends,

can I beg you?

The frenetic pace of this city is killing us.

It's killing our marriages.

It's killing our children.

It's killing our hearts.

It's killing our peace.

We're on the treadmill and it's getting faster and faster and faster.

And those things that we are hoping and trusting,

and not only are they killing us,

even if we get them,

they will not satisfy us.

They cannot save our souls.

They cannot satisfy us.

Jesus says,

come to me.

All you who are weary and heavy laden,

come to me and I will give you rest.

Let's pray together.

God,

sovereign God,

gracious King,

majestic Lord,

God,

we come to you this morning.

We are anxious and worried,

fearful and frightened,

worn out,

burnt out.

God,

we've come to the end of ourselves.

And the amazing thing is that we've done this,

God,

because we've trusted in false gods,

other idols.

And though,

God,

that alone

means that we deserve to be

banished to hell forever.

We've

kicked you out of our lives

and trust in other things.

God,

in your incredible mercy,

in your outstanding grace,

you come to us and say,

come,

my children,

my sons and daughters,

come and find your rest in me.

Jesus,

though,

we are like prodigal sons and daughters

that have run off to a faraway country

to try and find our satisfaction

in all sorts of things.

God,

many of us have come

to the end of ourselves.

We've realized,

God,

that coming back to you,

even being a servant in your house

would be better than

serving some false idol

that is killing us.

And yet,

God,

as we come back to you this morning,

we find you

as a father

that is waiting for us,

that is running towards us,

that is throwing his arms around us

and saying,

my son,

my daughter,

welcome home.

It's so good to have you.

God,

you didn't just slaughter

the fattened calf

and I returned.

You let your son

be killed.

You let your son

hang on the cross for us.

Jesus,

as we

read earlier,

better is one day

in your house

than a thousand elsewhere.

better is one day,

God,

with you

than all the pleasures

that this world could offer.

God,

I pray,

won't you give us

the faith

to trust you,

to unplug

from the demands

of life,

to switch into

you,

God,

and to switch off

from the regular

rhythms of life.

Help us,

I pray.

God,

won't you open

the eyes of our hearts

to see you,

to adore you,

and to come back to you.

We need you,

Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.