Today we come to the end of our series on Sabbath, and you may ask yourselves ‘now what?’ What does the practice of Sabbath have to do with my daily life? What hope can resting and pausing offer me in a world that moves so quickly that if you stop and pause you’ll be left in the dust? What can we possibly hope to accomplish as a congregation by intentionally resting for one whole year? To begin to answer those questions, I want to talk to you about a park. Some of the most enduring and … [Read more...]
Gift from God – Sabbath Week 4
Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” ~ Luke 6:5 I remember as a child one of the worst things you could hear was a new set of rules or especially for a new gift, game or toy that you just picked up – don’t do this, don’t do that, you can’t do that here and what not. Now don’t get me wrong rules are important, most games wouldn’t be any fun without them but if rules suffocate and eclipse everything than there is no joy or delight. The same is true as we grow older, … [Read more...]
Jubilee Road – Sabbath Series Week 3
“Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan.” – Leviticus 25:10 Years ago a man named Millard Fuller was living the height of the American dream. A millionaire by age twenty-nine (couldn’t we all be so lucky!), he was a high-powered corporate executive working 24/7 and making close to a million dollars year, adding to his fortune. By all … [Read more...]
Sabbath as Rest – Sermon for September 29, 2019
** Audio version below ** Sermon: Sabbath as Rest * September 29, 2019 * Alice J Stewart Today we heard the 10 commandments. These are just the first 10. There are a total of 613 commandments for observant Jews. Of those 613, there are 33 commandments for various Sabbath times. As you might expect, there are more commandments relating to God himself. And you may be fascinated to know that there are a measly 3 for murder, 2 for adultery, 6 for stealing and coveting, and about 6 for lying. … [Read more...]
Sabbath: A Beginning – Sermon for September 22
“And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.” ~ Genesis 2:2 When I was a child the Sabbath was a completely foreign concept – not because I didn’t enjoy rest and delight in play like any other child my age – but because as a millennial, for the majority of my life Sunday has not been a day of rest. By the time I was aware enough as a child, stores were open 7 days a week and activities like baseball, or … [Read more...]