2023 Sermon Series: Sabbath

Dear Renewal Church:

We are embarking on a season of exploring "Sabbath" as a community as we enter into a new season, both in the natural sense (Fall) and in the season of "back-to's" (e.g., back-to-school, back-to-work, etc.). The Fall can seem anything but restful. It is precisely at this time that we need to embrace the rhythms marked out by the living God for us. When we take time to Sabbath, we are "ceasing what is necessary and embracing that which gives life," as Pastor Marc Buchanan puts it. Sabbath "works" for us by reminding and reorienting us to the necessary rhythms that we were made to enjoy God.

Sabbath is a pattern found within the creation story: after God "worked" for six days in creating the earth, the heavens, and all that is within them, He rested. While work can evoke feelings of toiling and striving, within the creating work of Genesis, we hear God's overwhelming delight in all that he has made: "He saw that it was good" over and over again the Scriptures sing. When God creates humanity on the sixth day, He says: "very Good!" The Sabbath day then helps reorient us to the God who looks at each with delight. We can find delight in God because God delights in us first. We can cease to work because God, who is sustaining the whole universe, shows us how to rest first.
We learn to enter into His rest in faith that this joyful God is upholding the universe and we can cease our effort in it. It is an act of faith in the Creator God! Know that the God of Genesis and this very same God who then commanded the waters and winds of the sea of Galilee to "be still" in the flesh, is with us.

This series will take us to Advent, which marks a new "liturgical year." In one sense, we pattern our year with rest, as God rested before celebrating again the "new creation" of Jesus Christ: the God who became flesh and dwelled among us.

Grace and peace as we journey together,

The Elders