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>> Good morning, happy Sabbath.
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The scripture reading today
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is found in Matthew 11:28-30.
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And it says, "Come to me,
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all you who are weary
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and burdened,
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and I will give you rest.
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Take my yoke upon you,
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and learn from me,
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for I am gentle
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and humble in heart,
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and you will find
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rest for your souls.
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For my yoke is easy,
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and my burden is light."
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We invite you to stand and
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worship with us this morning.
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>> Thank you
00:17:40.36\00:17:41.09
for leading us in worship.
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Thank you very, very much.
00:17:42.79\00:17:43.69
Amen. Amen.
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If we live long enough,
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sooner or later,
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we will all need a hero.
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Yay, verily, last millennium,
00:18:02.94\00:18:04.08
when I was a junior
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in high school,
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it was in the middle of the week
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and it was time for open rec.
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In those days,
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I was at Forest Lake Academy,
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I think I was a junior,
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and the open rec was just that.
00:18:16.12\00:18:19.23
It was the gymnasium
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being opened up,
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and you could come in
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and you could play sports,
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you could talk, et cetera.
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If you were a dorm student,
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you had to be there.
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If you didn't live in the
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dorms, it was optional for you.
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I was a dorm student,
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so I was there at open rec.
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At this particular night,
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I was playing
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in a pickup volleyball game,
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and at some point in the game,
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the other team hit the ball
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way, way, way over our heads
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and clearly out of bounds.
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So you need to picture this.
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The other team is
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on that side of the net.
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The net's here.
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And I'm in the back row
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on my team's side.
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And everybody sees the ball.
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It's way out of bounds,
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clearly out of play.
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And so I turn around to go
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and pick up the ball
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wherever it's going to land,
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and bring it back
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so we can continue the game.
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And this takes a little bit
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of time to tell,
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but obviously
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it happened fairly quickly.
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I begin to trot backwards
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to get this ball and it's,
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you know, high arc.
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The Forest Lake Academy gym,
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even to this day, it's huge.
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It's got three full basketball
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courts in it there.
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And I'm headed back along
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the curve towards the sidewall.
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And as I'm looking at
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where the ball is,
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I look, and out of the corner
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of my eye, I see
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that there are
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some gymnastics mats stacked
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against the wall.
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You know, they fold them up
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when they're not in use.
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And maybe,
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I don't know, about this high
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or so, four feet off the ground
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or something like that.
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And on the mats are three high
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school girls, two facing one.
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They're on their stomachs
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facing each other,
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their head on their hands, and
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they're talking to each other.
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And the volleyball is headed
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straight for their heads.
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So I pick up
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the pace a little bit.
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You know, watching this thing,
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right.
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I get about 10,
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15 feet away from them
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when they realize
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that I am headed their way.
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And they look at me
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and they look up
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and they see the volleyball.
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They cover their heads,
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and what'd they do next?
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They screamed. Exactly, right?
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Ladies, why is that?
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How does that happen?
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All right?
00:20:27.92\00:20:29.19
I mean, there was no committee
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amongst them that said,
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"I think the appropriate
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response at this time,
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given the situation,
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would be that we scream."
00:20:33.76\00:20:34.56
No, no, it was like
00:20:34.63\00:20:35.60
instantaneous, right?
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And, so, they scream, "Ah!"
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Right? And I hustle.
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You know, I stretch out my hand,
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and about 12 inches above their
00:20:44.21\00:20:46.47
heads, I catch, with
00:20:46.57\00:20:47.88
one hand, the volleyball.
00:20:47.98\00:20:50.18
[ Applause ]
00:20:50.28\00:20:52.25
>> You go!
00:20:52.35\00:20:53.78
>> And true story,
00:20:57.29\00:20:58.25
true story, true story.
00:20:58.35\00:21:00.12
One of the girls, she went --
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She didn't feel
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the volleyball hit her head.
00:21:04.19\00:21:05.13
Right? So what's going on?
00:21:05.23\00:21:06.16
So she looks up.
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She sees me holding
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the ball over her head.
00:21:08.56\00:21:09.20
She looks me in the eye,
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and she says, no kidding,
00:21:10.40\00:21:11.77
she says, "My hero."
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[ Laughter ]
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If you're a junior guy in high
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school, that'll put
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a bounce in your step.
00:21:26.95\00:21:27.85
Right? Okay. This is good.
00:21:27.95\00:21:29.18
"My hero." Right?
00:21:29.28\00:21:31.85
>> Take it easy.
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[ Laughter ]
00:21:34.29\00:21:36.06
>> Wouldn't it be great
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if, in a world
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where chaos and stress and worry
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and all of life's concerns,
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when they seem to be flying
00:21:56.14\00:21:58.11
out of the sky
00:21:58.21\00:21:59.38
like some giant apocalyptic ball
00:21:59.48\00:22:01.88
to crush us in the head,
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wouldn't it be great
00:22:04.45\00:22:08.16
if somebody reached
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out their hand and stopped it?
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>> Hallelujah.
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>> You know, I think
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if you ask most of the world,
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they would say, "Yeah,
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I would like that."
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But the truth is that most
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of the world
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doesn't get a hero like that.
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In fact,
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if I read my Bible right,
00:22:29.54\00:22:31.35
this whole thing of stress
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and worry
00:22:32.85\00:22:33.85
and being overburdened
00:22:33.95\00:22:35.35
is actually
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only going to get worse.
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Take a look in your Bible,
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please, at Luke chapter 21.
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Luke 21:25 in the Red Bible,
00:22:44.33\00:22:47.86
the pew Bible, that's probably
00:22:47.96\00:22:49.26
somewhere around you there.
00:22:49.36\00:22:50.33
It's on page 709, 7-0-9,
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Luke 21:25,
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and we'll read 25 and 26.
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Luke 21
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is kind of a parallel chapter
00:22:59.44\00:23:00.98
to Matthew chapter 24 and 25,
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at least in topic
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and some of the specifics.
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Jesus here is talking
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with His disciples,
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and He is telling them what
00:23:08.15\00:23:09.15
to expect, not just in
00:23:09.25\00:23:11.15
the near future,
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but at the very end of time,
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the days that we live in, just
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before Jesus returns.
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And here is part
00:23:16.16\00:23:17.09
of that description.
00:23:17.19\00:23:17.69
Luke 21:25.
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Jesus says, "There will be
00:23:19.66\00:23:20.80
signs in the sun, moon,
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and stars.
00:23:22.06\00:23:23.06
On the Earth,
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nations will be in anguish
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and perplexity at the roaring
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and tossing of the sea."
00:23:29.67\00:23:30.74
So, as the world wears out
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like a garment,
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as Paul puts it,
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I think nature
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begins to go crazy.
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And it's not just a person
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here that's referred to
00:23:37.41\00:23:38.11
as having anxiety.
00:23:38.21\00:23:39.38
It says, "Nations,
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entire nations will be
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in anguish and perplexity."
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Verse 26.
00:23:44.12\00:23:45.32
"Men will faint from terror,
00:23:45.42\00:23:48.02
apprehensive
00:23:48.12\00:23:49.32
of what is coming on the world,
00:23:49.42\00:23:51.03
for the heavenly bodies
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will be shaken."
00:23:52.23\00:23:54.56
Before it gets better,
00:23:54.63\00:23:57.30
it will get worse.
00:23:57.40\00:23:59.80
If you think you're stressed out
00:23:59.90\00:24:00.94
now, just keep waiting.
00:24:01.04\00:24:03.30
And I know what some of you
00:24:06.98\00:24:07.78
are thinking right now.
00:24:07.88\00:24:08.61
You're thinking, Pastor Shane,
00:24:08.71\00:24:09.48
I am so glad I came
00:24:09.58\00:24:10.61
to church this morning.
00:24:10.71\00:24:12.11
You're just a ray of sunshine.
00:24:12.21\00:24:13.42
You've brightened
00:24:13.52\00:24:14.05
up my entire day.
00:24:14.15\00:24:14.82
I think I'll go
00:24:14.92\00:24:15.62
and put a stick in my eye
00:24:15.72\00:24:16.58
and lie in a bed of nails,
00:24:16.69\00:24:17.62
just so I can complete
00:24:17.72\00:24:18.29
the effect
00:24:18.39\00:24:19.15
that you're looking for here.
00:24:19.25\00:24:19.89
But that's the challenge,
00:24:23.59\00:24:24.49
isn't it?
00:24:24.59\00:24:25.99
What do we do with this?
00:24:26.09\00:24:30.97
I mean, how are we to survive?
00:24:31.07\00:24:32.43
The Bible has made it clear,
00:24:32.53\00:24:33.47
the Word of God is saying
00:24:33.57\00:24:34.50
that things will actually get
00:24:34.60\00:24:36.04
worse for most of the planet,
00:24:36.14\00:24:37.37
not better, before He returns.
00:24:37.47\00:24:39.41
How are we to keep the pressure,
00:24:39.51\00:24:42.84
the pressure of daily living
00:24:42.94\00:24:44.38
that, yes,
00:24:44.48\00:24:45.15
at times can feel like this
00:24:45.25\00:24:46.51
apocalyptic ball of chaos
00:24:46.61\00:24:48.05
raining down from the skies,
00:24:48.15\00:24:49.55
how can we keep
00:24:49.65\00:24:50.62
it from crashing down
00:24:50.72\00:24:51.99
on our heads and crushing us?
00:24:52.09\00:24:53.52
What is the cure
00:24:53.62\00:24:55.46
for the chaotic life?
00:24:55.56\00:24:57.39
Well, good news.
00:25:02.33\00:25:05.10
There is a solution.
00:25:05.20\00:25:10.34
A hero has indeed made a way.
00:25:10.44\00:25:15.94
True, most of the planet does
00:25:16.04\00:25:17.71
not know about it, but it works.
00:25:17.81\00:25:21.22
It is an ancient solution.
00:25:21.32\00:25:23.35
In fact, it is quite literally
00:25:23.45\00:25:25.25
as old as the hills.
00:25:25.35\00:25:27.49
Take a look at
00:25:27.59\00:25:28.56
Genesis chapter 2, please.
00:25:28.66\00:25:30.46
Verse 1.
00:25:30.56\00:25:31.93
Genesis 2:1.
00:25:32.03\00:25:34.86
It's on page one
00:25:34.96\00:25:36.10
in your red Bible.
00:25:36.20\00:25:38.30
In Genesis chapter 2,
00:25:38.40\00:25:40.10
we have just completed,
00:25:40.20\00:25:41.97
obviously, Genesis chapter 1,
00:25:42.07\00:25:42.70
and Genesis chapter 1
00:25:42.80\00:25:43.64
is the creation story.
00:25:43.74\00:25:45.01
This talks about
00:25:45.11\00:25:45.74
how God made the world,
00:25:45.84\00:25:47.84
you know, the seas,
00:25:47.94\00:25:48.84
the mountains, the plains,
00:25:48.94\00:25:49.84
the islands, the animals,
00:25:49.94\00:25:51.51
you and me, human beings.
00:25:51.61\00:25:53.98
When we get to chapter 2.
00:25:54.08\00:25:55.55
Six days of creation
00:25:55.65\00:25:56.89
have been completed.
00:25:56.99\00:25:57.89
When we get to the seventh day,
00:25:57.99\00:25:59.55
something highly,
00:25:59.65\00:26:01.49
highly unusual takes place.
00:26:01.59\00:26:04.39
Genesis 2:1 says,
00:26:04.49\00:26:06.26
"Thus the heavens
00:26:06.36\00:26:07.13
and the Earth were completed
00:26:07.23\00:26:08.20
in all their vast array.
00:26:08.30\00:26:10.27
By the seventh day" --
00:26:10.37\00:26:11.97
Which day? By the seventh day.
00:26:12.07\00:26:14.20
"By the seventh day,
00:26:14.30\00:26:15.34
God had finished the work
00:26:15.44\00:26:16.91
He had been doing.
00:26:17.01\00:26:17.67
So, on the seventh day,
00:26:17.77\00:26:18.94
He rested from all his work,
00:26:19.04\00:26:21.91
and God blessed the seventh day
00:26:22.01\00:26:23.45
and made it holy,
00:26:23.55\00:26:25.38
because on it, He rested
00:26:25.48\00:26:27.02
from all the work of creating
00:26:27.12\00:26:28.32
that He had done."
00:26:28.42\00:26:30.19
Now, general rule of thumb.
00:26:30.29\00:26:32.99
There are so many lessons
00:26:33.09\00:26:35.59
in this part of the Bible.
00:26:35.69\00:26:37.79
There is so much to be found.
00:26:37.89\00:26:39.56
Doesn't matter really what topic
00:26:39.66\00:26:40.56
you're talking about.
00:26:40.66\00:26:41.26
Eventually there will be
00:26:41.36\00:26:42.23
some strand that ties back
00:26:42.33\00:26:43.93
to Genesis 1-3.
00:26:44.03\00:26:45.23
It's a powerful,
00:26:45.33\00:26:46.27
powerful part of the Bible.
00:26:46.37\00:26:47.47
We only have time to look at
00:26:47.57\00:26:48.80
just a few things here.
00:26:48.90\00:26:50.01
First of all,
00:26:50.11\00:26:51.24
it says that God rested.
00:26:51.34\00:26:55.68
And we know exactly why this is.
00:26:55.78\00:26:57.18
Because God was exhausted.
00:26:57.28\00:26:59.71
I mean, He was beat up, man.
00:26:59.81\00:27:01.05
I mean, He was sweating
00:27:01.15\00:27:01.88
bullets all this week.
00:27:01.98\00:27:02.82
I mean, how hard must --
00:27:02.92\00:27:03.82
We start sweating
00:27:03.92\00:27:05.45
when we weed the garden bed.
00:27:05.55\00:27:07.49
God here made the garden bed,
00:27:07.59\00:27:09.06
so he's absolutely depleted.
00:27:09.16\00:27:10.76
He's got to take...
00:27:10.86\00:27:13.80
No, that's a bunch of baloney.
00:27:13.90\00:27:14.83
That's not true.
00:27:14.93\00:27:15.66
That's not true at all.
00:27:15.76\00:27:17.43
God did
00:27:17.53\00:27:18.37
not need to rest one bit.
00:27:18.47\00:27:20.07
God is the source of all energy
00:27:20.17\00:27:21.77
and strength in the universe.
00:27:21.87\00:27:22.67
He doesn't get tired.
00:27:22.77\00:27:23.41
He doesn't need naps.
00:27:23.51\00:27:24.34
He doesn't need to take a break.
00:27:24.44\00:27:25.67
God is not in need of rest.
00:27:25.77\00:27:29.08
And yet, He does.
00:27:29.18\00:27:32.41
Second Bible tip
00:27:32.51\00:27:34.02
for you this morning.
00:27:34.12\00:27:34.98
Whenever God does something
00:27:35.08\00:27:36.55
that He doesn't need to do,
00:27:36.65\00:27:38.35
pay attention.
00:27:38.45\00:27:39.29
He's trying
00:27:39.39\00:27:39.92
to teach us something.
00:27:40.02\00:27:41.99
Secondly, in His rest, God
00:27:42.09\00:27:44.59
makes something, quote, "holy."
00:27:44.69\00:27:46.83
Now, I don't
00:27:46.93\00:27:47.56
know how you do that.
00:27:47.66\00:27:48.90
You know, you can sit
00:27:49.00\00:27:50.53
in your dorm room, for instance,
00:27:50.63\00:27:51.77
and just try to make
00:27:51.87\00:27:52.47
something holy,
00:27:52.57\00:27:53.27
and it won't work, right?
00:27:53.37\00:27:54.20
You can't do it, okay?
00:27:54.30\00:27:55.44
Only God can actually imbue
00:27:55.54\00:27:57.47
something with holiness.
00:27:57.57\00:27:58.71
And here, He makes
00:27:58.81\00:28:01.11
this holiness.
00:28:01.21\00:28:03.65
And for something
00:28:03.75\00:28:05.28
to be made holy means
00:28:05.38\00:28:06.72
to be set aside
00:28:06.82\00:28:08.32
for a sacred purpose.
00:28:08.42\00:28:09.35
At the very least.
00:28:09.45\00:28:10.09
It means more than that.
00:28:10.19\00:28:11.19
But at the very least,
00:28:11.29\00:28:12.45
it means to set it aside
00:28:12.55\00:28:13.99
for a sacred purpose.
00:28:14.09\00:28:14.82
In other words,
00:28:14.92\00:28:16.16
God is saying, "Six days --
00:28:16.26\00:28:18.76
down, got those done.
00:28:18.86\00:28:20.33
This seventh day is different.
00:28:20.43\00:28:22.53
I'm setting it aside.
00:28:22.63\00:28:23.87
I am, in some way --
00:28:23.97\00:28:25.17
I am drawing lines here."
00:28:25.27\00:28:28.00
Which leads us
00:28:28.10\00:28:28.84
to the third thing.
00:28:28.94\00:28:31.01
God did not make a holy thing.
00:28:31.11\00:28:35.81
God did
00:28:35.91\00:28:36.91
not even make a person here,
00:28:37.01\00:28:38.38
in this instance, holy.
00:28:38.48\00:28:40.15
God instead chooses
00:28:40.25\00:28:42.25
to make holy time.
00:28:42.35\00:28:47.49
Time. A day.
00:28:47.59\00:28:50.26
And of course,
00:28:50.36\00:28:51.13
this is none other
00:28:51.23\00:28:52.16
than the holy Sabbath day,
00:28:52.26\00:28:54.96
the seventh day of the week.
00:28:55.06\00:28:56.06
Friday, sundown, to Saturday
00:28:56.16\00:28:56.87
sundown.
00:28:56.97\00:28:57.73
This is the holy Sabbath day.
00:28:57.83\00:29:00.34
And I'm going to cut
00:29:00.44\00:29:01.27
to the chase here
00:29:01.37\00:29:02.30
just ever so briefly.
00:29:02.40\00:29:04.07
I believe
00:29:04.17\00:29:05.41
that the Sabbath day is
00:29:05.51\00:29:07.11
a major part of the cure
00:29:07.21\00:29:09.18
for the modern, chaotic life.
00:29:09.28\00:29:11.51
>> Amen.
00:29:11.61\00:29:13.15
>> Say again,
00:29:13.25\00:29:14.05
I believe that the Sabbath day,
00:29:14.15\00:29:16.15
rightly understood
00:29:16.25\00:29:17.29
and experienced,
00:29:17.39\00:29:18.32
can go a very long way
00:29:18.42\00:29:20.69
towards bringing peace, order,
00:29:20.79\00:29:22.32
and meaning back into a world
00:29:22.42\00:29:23.99
that specializes in war,
00:29:24.09\00:29:25.73
disorder, and emptiness.
00:29:25.83\00:29:29.80
And much of the world.
00:29:29.90\00:29:31.97
If what I just said could
00:29:32.07\00:29:33.17
be broadcast, you know,
00:29:33.27\00:29:34.24
instantly to all, you know,
00:29:34.34\00:29:35.34
whatever, there is, 8 billion
00:29:35.44\00:29:36.27
people on the planet,
00:29:36.37\00:29:37.21
my guess is that
00:29:37.31\00:29:38.64
a large proportion of them
00:29:38.74\00:29:40.41
would say, "You must be joking.
00:29:40.51\00:29:45.05
Come on."
00:29:45.15\00:29:46.85
I mean, first of all,
00:29:46.95\00:29:48.38
many of them don't take
00:29:48.48\00:29:49.58
the creation story seriously.
00:29:49.68\00:29:50.42
So they say, well,
00:29:50.52\00:29:51.32
this is mythology and whatnot.
00:29:51.42\00:29:52.59
And even if they did take
00:29:52.69\00:29:53.96
the story seriously,
00:29:54.06\00:29:55.26
how could some ancient day
00:29:55.36\00:29:57.33
where supposedly God,
00:29:57.43\00:29:58.93
you know, carved out this time
00:29:59.03\00:30:00.06
and said, "This time is holy,"
00:30:00.16\00:30:01.20
how could that possibly have
00:30:01.30\00:30:02.73
an impact on the chaos
00:30:02.83\00:30:04.97
and the modern --
00:30:05.07\00:30:06.07
modern burdens that we carry
00:30:06.17\00:30:08.34
every day on this planet?
00:30:08.44\00:30:10.41
Can't be, many people say.
00:30:10.51\00:30:13.01
You know, to that skepticism,
00:30:16.38\00:30:17.81
sometimes I just want to ask
00:30:17.91\00:30:18.95
people, who do you wish
00:30:19.05\00:30:20.65
was right?
00:30:20.75\00:30:22.78
Me or you?
00:30:22.88\00:30:25.19
Do you really want to
00:30:25.29\00:30:26.65
just continue on into this chaos
00:30:26.76\00:30:28.62
that the world lives in?
00:30:28.72\00:30:29.52
Or wouldn't it be great
00:30:29.62\00:30:31.13
if there was a solution?
00:30:31.23\00:30:33.26
Well, let's see who's right
00:30:36.36\00:30:37.83
by doing some digging.
00:30:37.93\00:30:40.70
And let's begin with this.
00:30:40.80\00:30:43.07
As we shall soon see, the holy
00:30:43.17\00:30:45.51
Sabbath day has three purposes.
00:30:45.61\00:30:48.18
How many purposes did I say?
00:30:48.28\00:30:49.84
Okay, three purposes
00:30:49.94\00:30:51.01
and a condition.
00:30:51.11\00:30:52.98
Three purposes and a condition.
00:30:53.08\00:30:56.08
We're going to get to
00:30:56.18\00:30:56.85
the three purposes.
00:30:56.95\00:30:58.15
But first, the condition.
00:30:58.25\00:31:00.86
In order for the three purposes
00:31:00.96\00:31:02.59
of the Sabbath
00:31:02.69\00:31:03.79
to become a reality
00:31:03.89\00:31:05.59
in our lives, at least one
00:31:05.69\00:31:08.10
specific condition must be met.
00:31:08.20\00:31:10.43
Now, there are
00:31:10.53\00:31:11.27
some other conditions,
00:31:11.37\00:31:12.13
yes, but with few exceptions,
00:31:12.23\00:31:13.20
there is at least
00:31:13.30\00:31:14.07
this one non-negotiable.
00:31:14.17\00:31:16.57
If we are to experience
00:31:16.67\00:31:18.67
the meaning of the Sabbath,
00:31:18.77\00:31:20.31
the blessing of the Sabbath,
00:31:20.41\00:31:21.81
if what God intended to be ours,
00:31:21.91\00:31:24.05
starting all the way back
00:31:24.15\00:31:24.91
at creation,
00:31:25.01\00:31:25.91
is to actually become ours today
00:31:26.01\00:31:28.28
through the Sabbath experience,
00:31:28.38\00:31:29.68
then the stage
00:31:29.78\00:31:30.92
must first be set.
00:31:31.02\00:31:33.69
The furniture of our lives
00:31:33.79\00:31:35.42
must be arranged
00:31:35.52\00:31:36.39
in a certain way.
00:31:36.49\00:31:37.83
The condition
00:31:37.93\00:31:39.19
of the blessing must be met.
00:31:39.29\00:31:44.00
So, what is this condition?
00:31:44.10\00:31:50.81
Turn over a few pages
00:31:50.91\00:31:52.07
to the right to Exodus 20:8,
00:31:52.17\00:31:55.14
page 52, 5-2 in your red Bible.
00:31:55.24\00:31:58.98
Page 52.
00:31:59.08\00:32:00.52
Exodus chapter 20.
00:32:00.62\00:32:03.49
Beginning with verse 8.
00:32:03.59\00:32:05.12
My guess is many of you
00:32:05.22\00:32:06.15
have spent some time
00:32:06.25\00:32:07.26
in this particular chapter,
00:32:07.36\00:32:08.16
perhaps even done
00:32:08.26\00:32:08.89
some memorization, and
00:32:08.99\00:32:10.13
there's good reason for that.
00:32:10.23\00:32:11.36
This is the first formal giving,
00:32:11.46\00:32:13.60
at least,
00:32:13.70\00:32:14.23
that we have recorded,
00:32:14.36\00:32:15.06
of the 10 Commandments.
00:32:15.16\00:32:15.93
Now, the 10 Commandments
00:32:16.03\00:32:17.10
have been around as long
00:32:17.20\00:32:17.87
as God has been
00:32:17.97\00:32:19.50
because this is His character.
00:32:19.60\00:32:20.57
His law is His character.
00:32:20.67\00:32:22.40
Some people who say,
00:32:22.50\00:32:23.10
well, this law was only
00:32:23.20\00:32:23.84
made for the Jews.
00:32:23.94\00:32:24.94
The Bible says that,
00:32:25.04\00:32:26.07
without law, there is no sin.
00:32:26.17\00:32:27.58
But we know there was sin prior
00:32:27.68\00:32:28.51
to Mount Sinai
00:32:28.61\00:32:29.61
and therefore there was law.
00:32:29.71\00:32:30.71
So enough about that.
00:32:30.81\00:32:31.65
We'll talk more about that
00:32:31.75\00:32:32.21
another time.
00:32:32.31\00:32:33.11
In Exodus chapter 20,
00:32:33.21\00:32:35.05
the formal giving of
00:32:35.15\00:32:36.35
the 10 Commandments comes here.
00:32:36.45\00:32:37.62
And when we get to commandment
00:32:37.72\00:32:38.69
number 4 in verse 8,
00:32:38.79\00:32:40.29
this is what we find.
00:32:40.39\00:32:42.79
"Remember the Sabbath day
00:32:42.89\00:32:46.26
by keeping it holy.
00:32:46.36\00:32:48.80
Six days you shall labor
00:32:48.90\00:32:50.53
and do all your work.
00:32:50.63\00:32:51.97
But the seventh day is a Sabbath
00:32:52.07\00:32:53.47
to the Lord your God.
00:32:53.57\00:32:54.80
On it, you shall not do any" --
00:32:54.90\00:32:57.17
What's the next word there?
00:32:57.27\00:32:58.21
Work.
00:32:58.31\00:32:59.34
"On it, you shall not do any
00:32:59.44\00:33:00.54
work, neither you
00:33:00.64\00:33:02.04
nor your son or daughter,
00:33:02.14\00:33:03.18
nor your manservant
00:33:03.28\00:33:03.98
or maid servant,
00:33:04.08\00:33:04.65
nor your animals,
00:33:04.75\00:33:05.58
nor the alien within your gates.
00:33:05.68\00:33:06.88
For, in six days,
00:33:06.98\00:33:07.98
the Lord made the heavens
00:33:08.08\00:33:08.88
and the Earth, the sea,
00:33:08.98\00:33:09.68
and all that is in them.
00:33:09.78\00:33:10.59
But He rested
00:33:10.69\00:33:11.62
on the seventh day.
00:33:11.72\00:33:12.95
Therefore, the Lord blessed
00:33:13.05\00:33:14.06
the Sabbath day
00:33:14.16\00:33:14.82
and made it holy."
00:33:14.92\00:33:17.03
A condition,
00:33:19.53\00:33:20.96
a necessary precondition,
00:33:21.06\00:33:22.86
we might even say,
00:33:22.96\00:33:23.93
for us to receive
00:33:24.03\00:33:25.63
the true blessing of the Sabbath
00:33:25.73\00:33:27.60
is that we stop working
00:33:27.70\00:33:29.74
and start resting.
00:33:29.84\00:33:32.84
That we stop working,
00:33:32.94\00:33:34.54
and that we start resting.
00:33:34.64\00:33:36.68
Now, I am not unaware
00:33:39.88\00:33:41.18
of the fact that a bunch
00:33:41.28\00:33:43.45
of y'all are Adventists.
00:33:43.55\00:33:46.49
And you're probably thinking
00:33:46.59\00:33:47.42
to yourself,
00:33:47.52\00:33:48.29
tell us something
00:33:48.39\00:33:49.22
that we don't know, Preacher.
00:33:49.32\00:33:51.33
I mean, duh, we memorize
00:33:51.43\00:33:53.13
this in kindergarten.
00:33:53.23\00:33:54.36
Right? You know.
00:33:54.46\00:33:55.16
Remember the Sabbath day to keep
00:33:55.26\00:33:55.80
it to the sixth --
00:33:55.90\00:33:56.97
Thou shalt not do any work,
00:33:57.07\00:33:58.03
you know.
00:33:58.13\00:33:59.83
So let's just jump a step
00:33:59.93\00:34:01.54
or two ahead, then.
00:34:01.64\00:34:02.30
Are you doing it?
00:34:02.40\00:34:03.47
Are you doing it?
00:34:07.28\00:34:10.11
Or maybe I should put
00:34:10.21\00:34:11.28
a little finer point on that.
00:34:11.38\00:34:13.58
Students, faculty, staff,
00:34:13.68\00:34:17.15
those that are connected with
00:34:17.25\00:34:18.39
our August institution here,
00:34:18.49\00:34:20.76
in this particular setting
00:34:20.86\00:34:22.76
where the clock never seems
00:34:22.86\00:34:23.69
to stop,
00:34:23.79\00:34:24.79
where studying never seems
00:34:24.89\00:34:26.06
to end,
00:34:26.16\00:34:26.86
where the calendar and classes
00:34:26.96\00:34:28.03
seemingly march on,
00:34:28.13\00:34:29.00
impervious to
00:34:29.10\00:34:30.17
any discernible wear and tear,
00:34:30.27\00:34:31.97
are you actually resting
00:34:32.07\00:34:33.67
on the Sabbath day?
00:34:33.77\00:34:35.10
Now, for some of you,
00:34:38.81\00:34:39.71
the answer is yes.
00:34:39.81\00:34:41.31
Yes. Praise the Lord.
00:34:41.41\00:34:43.55
Keep going, keep going.
00:34:43.65\00:34:47.72
But for others,
00:34:47.82\00:34:48.92
the answer is, uh, less clear.
00:34:49.02\00:34:54.19
Or maybe it's just plain no.
00:34:54.29\00:34:57.29
"I am not resting on the Sabbath
00:34:57.39\00:35:00.96
like God would have me to."
00:35:01.03\00:35:03.03
To this second crowd,
00:35:03.13\00:35:06.74
let me ask a gentle question.
00:35:06.84\00:35:10.17
Is Sabbath rest
00:35:10.27\00:35:14.11
a suggestion or a command?
00:35:14.21\00:35:17.68
Which one?
00:35:17.78\00:35:19.58
The answer is painfully obvious,
00:35:22.32\00:35:23.25
isn't it? Yeah.
00:35:23.35\00:35:24.59
It's a command, right?
00:35:24.69\00:35:26.39
You know, six days shall
00:35:26.49\00:35:27.22
they labor and do all their
00:35:27.32\00:35:27.89
work, but the seventh
00:35:27.99\00:35:28.56
day is the Sabbath.
00:35:28.66\00:35:29.19
The Lord, the God.
00:35:29.29\00:35:30.06
In it, thou shalt not.
00:35:30.16\00:35:31.36
That's the imperative.
00:35:31.46\00:35:32.56
This is a command.
00:35:32.66\00:35:34.46
God is saying,
00:35:34.56\00:35:35.33
don't do it, okay?
00:35:35.43\00:35:36.97
Don't do it.
00:35:37.07\00:35:37.93
And why is it a command?
00:35:40.70\00:35:42.80
Why not just,
00:35:42.90\00:35:44.04
uh, a helpful suggestion?
00:35:44.14\00:35:46.21
Okay?
00:35:46.31\00:35:47.54
Why doesn't God make
00:35:47.64\00:35:48.58
the Sabbath a suggestion?
00:35:48.68\00:35:50.01
I mean, do you see
00:35:50.11\00:35:50.95
the implications here?
00:35:51.05\00:35:51.98
The fact that it's a command
00:35:52.08\00:35:52.85
and not a suggestion?
00:35:52.95\00:35:53.62
Where is God's
00:35:53.72\00:35:55.05
faith in humanity?
00:35:55.15\00:35:57.12
I mean, is almost insulting.
00:35:57.22\00:35:58.89
Does God really think that,
00:35:58.99\00:36:00.79
if he only made the Sabbath
00:36:00.89\00:36:02.79
a suggestion, that we humans
00:36:02.89\00:36:04.99
would be crazy enough
00:36:05.09\00:36:06.33
to just keep working and working
00:36:06.43\00:36:07.96
and working without taking
00:36:08.03\00:36:09.23
the proper time to rest
00:36:09.33\00:36:10.27
and live a balanced life
00:36:10.37\00:36:11.33
and instead become stressed out,
00:36:11.43\00:36:12.37
worried and depressed?
00:36:12.47\00:36:14.07
I mean,
00:36:14.17\00:36:15.00
who would live like that?
00:36:15.10\00:36:16.54
Let me put some statistics up
00:36:24.55\00:36:27.38
on the screen here for you.
00:36:27.48\00:36:30.89
According to the CDC,
00:36:30.99\00:36:32.29
in 2023,
00:36:32.39\00:36:33.49
about 690,000 people
00:36:33.59\00:36:35.39
in the United States
00:36:35.49\00:36:36.36
died of heart attacks.
00:36:36.46\00:36:38.86
If you do the math
00:36:38.96\00:36:40.16
and you average that out,
00:36:40.26\00:36:41.36
that means that someone
00:36:41.46\00:36:42.43
in the United States dies of
00:36:42.53\00:36:43.73
a heart attack every 60 seconds.
00:36:43.83\00:36:47.07
And research tells us
00:36:47.17\00:36:49.77
that a major contributor
00:36:49.87\00:36:51.61
to heart disease is stress.
00:36:51.71\00:36:55.94
How about cancer?
00:36:56.04\00:36:58.08
Cancer is the second leading
00:36:58.18\00:36:58.88
cause of death
00:36:58.98\00:36:59.65
in the United States,
00:36:59.75\00:37:00.65
with just over 600,000 people
00:37:00.75\00:37:02.18
dying from it in 2023.
00:37:02.28\00:37:04.09
Now, according
00:37:04.19\00:37:05.39
to the American Cancer Society,
00:37:05.49\00:37:08.19
the most prevalent lethal form
00:37:08.29\00:37:10.89
of cancer is lung cancer,
00:37:10.99\00:37:13.96
and about 80% to 90%
00:37:14.03\00:37:16.00
of those lung cancer cases
00:37:16.10\00:37:17.47
are caused by what?
00:37:17.57\00:37:18.33
Any guesses?
00:37:18.43\00:37:20.17
By smoking? That's right.
00:37:20.27\00:37:21.27
And why do people smoke?
00:37:21.37\00:37:23.20
Well, research is
00:37:23.30\00:37:23.97
pretty consistent.
00:37:24.07\00:37:24.94
A major reason people smoke
00:37:25.04\00:37:26.57
is to relieve stress.
00:37:26.68\00:37:30.81
But there's more.
00:37:30.91\00:37:32.78
You know, for millions of people
00:37:32.88\00:37:33.88
that are living around this
00:37:33.98\00:37:34.62
country, they're not
00:37:34.72\00:37:35.45
necessarily overworked
00:37:35.55\00:37:37.09
or maxed out schedule-wise,
00:37:37.19\00:37:39.02
for instance, at school or work,
00:37:39.12\00:37:40.42
but they are nonetheless worried
00:37:40.52\00:37:41.99
and stressed out
00:37:42.09\00:37:42.96
and depressed with what
00:37:43.06\00:37:44.03
they do have to deal with.
00:37:44.13\00:37:46.39
According to the American
00:37:46.49\00:37:47.40
Psychiatric Association,
00:37:47.50\00:37:49.23
while there are, of course --
00:37:49.33\00:37:50.13
Excuse me.
00:37:50.23\00:37:51.60
Let me skip ahead here.
00:37:51.70\00:37:52.43
In 2024, 43% of adults
00:37:52.53\00:37:55.30
say they feel more anxious
00:37:55.40\00:37:57.54
than they did the previous year,
00:37:57.64\00:37:59.11
from 37% in 2023
00:37:59.21\00:38:01.74
and 32% in 2022.
00:38:01.84\00:38:03.41
And by the way,
00:38:03.51\00:38:04.25
did you notice something?
00:38:04.35\00:38:05.58
People are getting more anxious
00:38:05.68\00:38:07.12
even as the pandemic,
00:38:07.22\00:38:08.58
supposedly the cause,
00:38:08.68\00:38:09.72
and I think, statistically,
00:38:09.82\00:38:10.45
the cause of much
00:38:10.55\00:38:11.49
of the difficulties in mental
00:38:11.59\00:38:12.75
and emotional in this country,
00:38:12.85\00:38:13.59
even as that fades
00:38:13.69\00:38:14.99
in the rearview mirror,
00:38:15.09\00:38:15.96
we keep getting
00:38:16.06\00:38:16.93
more stressed out.
00:38:17.03\00:38:19.86
Adults are particularly anxious
00:38:19.96\00:38:21.06
about current events,
00:38:21.16\00:38:21.80
70% of them,
00:38:21.90\00:38:23.10
especially the economy.
00:38:23.20\00:38:24.17
77% said that.
00:38:24.27\00:38:26.00
The 2024 for US election --
00:38:26.10\00:38:27.30
imagine -- 73%.
00:38:27.40\00:38:29.04
And gun violence 69%.
00:38:29.14\00:38:31.74
And what about
00:38:31.84\00:38:33.01
young people in particular?
00:38:33.11\00:38:35.11
Maybe you've heard about
00:38:35.21\00:38:36.11
the mental health crisis
00:38:36.21\00:38:37.85
among young people today.
00:38:37.95\00:38:38.98
It is real and statistically
00:38:39.08\00:38:41.15
easily verifiable.
00:38:41.25\00:38:42.78
For instance,
00:38:42.88\00:38:44.49
according to a Gallup poll,
00:38:44.59\00:38:45.89
fully 68% of Gen Z --
00:38:45.99\00:38:47.92
that's those born between
00:38:48.02\00:38:48.89
the mid to late 1990s
00:38:48.99\00:38:50.09
in the early 2010s --
00:38:50.19\00:38:51.53
feel stressed much
00:38:51.63\00:38:53.06
of the time at work.
00:38:53.16\00:38:54.36
In other words,
00:38:54.46\00:38:55.06
it's just a way of living.
00:38:55.16\00:38:58.93
There was another study,
00:38:59.03\00:38:59.63
2022-2023
00:38:59.73\00:39:01.64
called the Healthy Minds Study.
00:39:01.74\00:39:03.14
Fascinating study.
00:39:03.24\00:39:03.94
It was done
00:39:04.04\00:39:04.87
of college students only.
00:39:04.97\00:39:06.68
And they found
00:39:06.78\00:39:07.74
that among college students,
00:39:07.84\00:39:08.98
41% qualified as having moderate
00:39:09.08\00:39:12.38
to severe depression.
00:39:12.48\00:39:14.82
That, ladies and gentlemen,
00:39:14.92\00:39:15.75
is astonishing.
00:39:15.85\00:39:17.29
We are dangerously close to one
00:39:17.39\00:39:19.72
out of every two college student
00:39:19.82\00:39:21.36
having some form of depression.
00:39:21.46\00:39:24.66
Talk about being stressed out.
00:39:24.76\00:39:26.86
A major source of depression
00:39:26.96\00:39:28.10
is unresolved stress.
00:39:28.20\00:39:32.10
And even when we go
00:39:32.20\00:39:33.23
a little bit younger.
00:39:33.34\00:39:34.74
According
00:39:34.84\00:39:35.44
to the Substance Abuse and
00:39:35.54\00:39:36.67
Mental Health Services
00:39:36.77\00:39:37.71
Administration,
00:39:37.81\00:39:38.71
or sometimes called a SAMHSA,
00:39:38.81\00:39:40.44
among adolescents aged 12 to 17
00:39:40.54\00:39:42.34
in 2022, 19.5%,
00:39:42.44\00:39:44.91
that's 4.8 million people
00:39:45.01\00:39:46.51
in this country, had
00:39:46.61\00:39:47.58
a past year major
00:39:47.68\00:39:49.15
depressive episode and 14.6%,
00:39:49.25\00:39:51.69
that's 3.6 million people, had
00:39:51.79\00:39:53.19
a past year major
00:39:53.29\00:39:54.76
depressive episode
00:39:54.86\00:39:55.92
with severe impairment.
00:39:56.02\00:39:57.89
In other words,
00:39:57.99\00:39:58.66
they could not continue
00:39:58.76\00:40:00.10
the normal round
00:40:00.20\00:40:01.06
of their daily lives
00:40:01.16\00:40:02.16
because of their depression.
00:40:02.26\00:40:03.53
I could go on all afternoon
00:40:07.17\00:40:08.77
quoting stats like this.
00:40:08.87\00:40:11.61
The problem is real and, to me,
00:40:11.71\00:40:14.48
the conclusion is self-evident.
00:40:14.58\00:40:16.44
We are, in far too many cases,
00:40:16.54\00:40:19.38
stressing and worrying
00:40:19.48\00:40:21.15
and stewing ourselves
00:40:21.25\00:40:22.55
into early graves.
00:40:22.65\00:40:25.29
And for those who do manage
00:40:25.39\00:40:26.72
to stay above ground,
00:40:26.82\00:40:28.12
too many of those are depressed,
00:40:28.22\00:40:29.72
stressed out, overworked,
00:40:29.82\00:40:30.99
and under-slept, and they do
00:40:31.09\00:40:32.53
not know how to stop.
00:40:32.63\00:40:34.73
To which I would say two things.
00:40:37.97\00:40:39.53
Number one,
00:40:39.63\00:40:41.74
if you're listening to my voice
00:40:41.84\00:40:42.80
right now and you identify
00:40:42.90\00:40:45.14
with this absolute chaos
00:40:45.24\00:40:46.37
and you're feeling crushed
00:40:46.47\00:40:47.28
and you don't know what to do,
00:40:47.38\00:40:48.98
find a good Christian counselor.
00:40:49.08\00:40:51.48
That's what they're here for.
00:40:51.58\00:40:53.01
They're here to help.
00:40:53.11\00:40:54.48
If you're a student, stop by
00:40:54.58\00:40:55.52
the CFE, chaplain's office,
00:40:55.62\00:40:57.62
they'll help you find one.
00:40:57.72\00:40:58.52
You stop by the church office
00:40:58.62\00:40:59.42
here, stop by to see me
00:40:59.52\00:41:00.06
afterwards.
00:41:00.16\00:41:00.86
Be glad to help you to find
00:41:00.96\00:41:01.66
a Christian counselor to work
00:41:01.76\00:41:02.46
through these things.
00:41:02.56\00:41:04.26
And secondly...
00:41:04.36\00:41:05.33
No wonder God commands us
00:41:09.93\00:41:14.70
to rest on his holy Sabbath day.
00:41:14.80\00:41:18.84
Because if
00:41:18.94\00:41:19.94
he only made it a suggestion...
00:41:20.04\00:41:22.21
[ Chuckles ]
00:41:22.31\00:41:23.51
If you have the time,
00:41:23.61\00:41:24.88
keep the Sabbath,
00:41:24.98\00:41:26.11
you know, nobody would.
00:41:26.21\00:41:30.09
So God says,
00:41:30.19\00:41:31.22
if I make it a command,
00:41:31.32\00:41:32.52
if I make it a command,
00:41:32.62\00:41:33.62
at least someone will listen.
00:41:33.72\00:41:34.99
Someone will see
00:41:35.09\00:41:36.39
that my heart yearns for theirs.
00:41:36.49\00:41:38.03
God loves us.
00:41:38.13\00:41:39.49
God never gives us a command
00:41:39.59\00:41:40.86
that it would be better
00:41:40.96\00:41:41.66
for us to disobey it.
00:41:41.76\00:41:44.13
All of his laws are good.
00:41:44.23\00:41:45.23
There's nothing
00:41:45.33\00:41:46.03
manipulative about them.
00:41:46.13\00:41:47.17
There's nothing that will harm
00:41:47.27\00:41:48.24
us in these things.
00:41:48.34\00:41:48.90
If we follow His law
00:41:49.00\00:41:50.64
in relationship with Him,
00:41:50.74\00:41:52.11
great things will happen,
00:41:52.21\00:41:53.27
including when we rest
00:41:53.38\00:41:55.44
on the Sabbath day.
00:41:55.54\00:41:56.88
Can you imagine
00:41:56.98\00:41:58.61
how different the world would be
00:41:58.71\00:42:01.75
if everyone on the planet
00:42:01.85\00:42:03.55
rested on the Sabbath day?
00:42:03.65\00:42:06.86
I mean, the statistics
00:42:06.96\00:42:07.76
that I put up on the screen
00:42:07.86\00:42:08.49
are just a moment ago.
00:42:08.59\00:42:09.26
They would be dramatically
00:42:09.36\00:42:10.23
different, guaranteed.
00:42:10.33\00:42:11.56
Imagine
00:42:11.66\00:42:12.69
how different the world would be
00:42:12.79\00:42:14.83
if it simply stopped working
00:42:14.93\00:42:16.80
on the Sabbath
00:42:16.90\00:42:17.77
and started resting.
00:42:17.87\00:42:19.53
Some of you listening to me
00:42:23.27\00:42:24.41
right now need to make
00:42:24.51\00:42:25.17
some changes in your life.
00:42:25.27\00:42:27.04
You need to make some changes in
00:42:27.14\00:42:28.38
how you observe the Sabbath.
00:42:28.48\00:42:31.18
I just want to pour
00:42:31.28\00:42:31.91
gas on that fire.
00:42:32.01\00:42:33.18
Great things,
00:42:33.28\00:42:34.72
including peace, await you.
00:42:34.82\00:42:38.09
But remember, physical rest,
00:42:43.86\00:42:48.60
as good as it is,
00:42:48.70\00:42:51.00
isn't the point of the Sabbath.
00:42:51.10\00:42:55.30
How about that?
00:42:55.40\00:42:57.01
Some of you
00:42:57.11\00:42:57.84
ought to be thinking right now.
00:42:57.94\00:42:58.77
"You mean it gets even better?"
00:42:58.87\00:43:00.24
Yeah. It does.
00:43:00.34\00:43:01.81
I mean, as good
00:43:01.91\00:43:02.88
as the rest part is,
00:43:02.98\00:43:03.78
that's a great thing.
00:43:03.88\00:43:04.38
It's not
00:43:04.48\00:43:05.58
the point of the Sabbath.
00:43:05.68\00:43:07.65
It's not
00:43:07.75\00:43:08.58
the purpose of the Sabbath.
00:43:08.68\00:43:09.88
It is instead, as I mentioned,
00:43:09.98\00:43:11.12
it is a condition,
00:43:11.22\00:43:12.25
this precondition to receiving
00:43:12.35\00:43:14.06
the ultimate blessings
00:43:14.16\00:43:15.06
of the Sabbath,
00:43:15.16\00:43:15.82
of comprehending the three
00:43:15.92\00:43:16.99
purposes of the Sabbath.
00:43:17.09\00:43:18.13
So once we've begun resting,
00:43:18.23\00:43:22.53
what are the purposes?
00:43:22.63\00:43:24.27
What are these three purposes,
00:43:24.37\00:43:25.53
these three blessings
00:43:25.63\00:43:26.30
of the Sabbath?
00:43:26.40\00:43:28.47
Well, we only have time today
00:43:28.57\00:43:29.47
for the first purpose.
00:43:29.57\00:43:31.74
We'll get to the other two
00:43:31.84\00:43:32.47
in part two.
00:43:32.57\00:43:34.48
Let's get to it.
00:43:34.58\00:43:35.84
Exodus 20 again,
00:43:35.94\00:43:37.28
this time looking at verse 11.
00:43:37.38\00:43:39.85
Page 52. Exodus 20.
00:43:39.95\00:43:42.68
We read earlier, remember
00:43:42.78\00:43:44.02
the Sabbath day, the keeping
00:43:44.12\00:43:45.29
holy, six days you shall labor,
00:43:45.39\00:43:46.69
et cetera, seventh day's the
00:43:46.79\00:43:47.62
Sabbath, on it you shall not do
00:43:47.72\00:43:48.62
any work.
00:43:48.72\00:43:49.72
Verse 11. Here's the reason why.
00:43:49.82\00:43:51.36
First reason why.
00:43:51.46\00:43:53.46
"For in six days,
00:43:53.56\00:43:55.70
the Lord made the heavens
00:43:55.80\00:43:59.13
and the Earth, the sea,
00:43:59.23\00:44:01.04
and all that is in them.
00:44:01.14\00:44:02.14
But he rested
00:44:02.24\00:44:02.94
on the seventh day.
00:44:03.04\00:44:04.07
Therefore, the Lord blessed
00:44:04.17\00:44:04.94
the Sabbath day
00:44:05.04\00:44:05.74
and made it holy.
00:44:05.84\00:44:07.21
For in six days, the Lord made."
00:44:07.31\00:44:11.18
A first reason
00:44:11.28\00:44:13.15
that the Sabbath was created,
00:44:13.25\00:44:14.92
the first purpose of the Sabbath
00:44:15.02\00:44:17.62
is to remind us
00:44:17.72\00:44:18.95
that God is our creator.
00:44:19.05\00:44:23.19
Now, some of you don't
00:44:23.29\00:44:24.19
understand how big that is.
00:44:24.29\00:44:26.13
So let me tell you
00:44:26.23\00:44:27.03
a brief story here.
00:44:27.13\00:44:29.13
John Ortberg tells the story
00:44:29.23\00:44:31.17
of a little kid.
00:44:31.27\00:44:33.10
I don't remember the kid's name.
00:44:33.20\00:44:33.54
I'm just
00:44:33.64\00:44:34.34
going to call him Donnie.
00:44:34.44\00:44:35.60
Little Donnie, probably 7 or 8
00:44:35.70\00:44:36.84
years old, he is in
00:44:36.94\00:44:37.87
this children's Bible class.
00:44:37.97\00:44:39.64
And the teacher,
00:44:39.74\00:44:40.88
she is teaching them
00:44:40.98\00:44:42.61
that particular day,
00:44:42.71\00:44:43.68
the creation story,
00:44:43.78\00:44:44.91
Genesis chapter 1.
00:44:45.01\00:44:46.45
And so she explains to the class
00:44:46.55\00:44:47.42
that she's
00:44:47.52\00:44:48.22
not going to just read it.
00:44:48.32\00:44:49.45
She's going to have them act it
00:44:49.55\00:44:50.55
out.
00:44:50.65\00:44:51.82
And so she calls on Donnie.
00:44:51.92\00:44:53.12
She says, Donnie,
00:44:53.22\00:44:53.76
here's a flashlight
00:44:53.86\00:44:54.92
and here's a little stepladder,
00:44:55.02\00:44:56.46
and we're going to turn off
00:44:56.56\00:44:57.56
all the lights in the room,
00:44:57.66\00:44:58.33
and you're
00:44:58.43\00:44:59.16
going to hold the flashlight.
00:44:59.26\00:45:00.33
And when I read the words,
00:45:00.43\00:45:02.56
"And God said, 'Let there be
00:45:02.66\00:45:04.40
light,'" Donnie,
00:45:04.50\00:45:06.94
that's when you push
00:45:07.04\00:45:08.00
the button on the flashlight
00:45:08.10\00:45:09.17
and turn the light on, and
00:45:09.27\00:45:10.44
the whole room will be lit up.
00:45:10.54\00:45:11.91
"Okay, teacher, okay.
00:45:12.01\00:45:12.87
I'll do, I'll do."
00:45:12.97\00:45:13.81
So little Donnie goes over,
00:45:13.91\00:45:15.41
climbs up,
00:45:15.51\00:45:16.18
gets on that second step
00:45:16.28\00:45:17.11
on that stepladder, holds
00:45:17.21\00:45:18.31
the flashlight up there.
00:45:18.41\00:45:19.25
The lights turn out in the room
00:45:19.35\00:45:20.15
and teacher there.
00:45:20.25\00:45:21.88
"And God said,
00:45:21.98\00:45:23.69
'Let there be light.'"
00:45:23.79\00:45:27.49
And Donnie goes.
00:45:27.59\00:45:29.26
[ Snickering ]
00:45:29.36\00:45:34.46
Lights come on.
00:45:34.56\00:45:36.36
"Uh, Donnie, you didn't turn
00:45:36.46\00:45:38.83
the flashlight on."
00:45:38.93\00:45:39.93
"Oh, I'm sorry, teacher.
00:45:40.04\00:45:41.04
I'm sorry. Okay."
00:45:41.14\00:45:42.80
"Donnie, we're going to do this
00:45:42.90\00:45:43.57
again, all right?
00:45:43.67\00:45:44.31
Turn the lights off here.
00:45:44.41\00:45:45.21
I'm going to read it again.
00:45:45.31\00:45:46.14
You turn the flashlight on
00:45:46.24\00:45:47.31
when I say those words."
00:45:47.41\00:45:48.28
"Okay."
00:45:48.38\00:45:50.28
"And God said,
00:45:50.38\00:45:51.85
'Let there be light.'"
00:45:51.95\00:45:54.58
And Donny goes...
00:45:54.68\00:45:56.85
[ Laughing ]
00:45:56.95\00:46:01.89
Lights come on.
00:46:01.99\00:46:03.79
"Donnie, you didn't turn
00:46:03.89\00:46:05.69
the flashlight on."
00:46:05.79\00:46:08.00
And little Donnie steps down
00:46:08.10\00:46:10.03
off of the stepladder, and
00:46:10.13\00:46:11.30
he walks over to his teacher,
00:46:11.40\00:46:13.17
and he hands out the flashlight
00:46:13.27\00:46:14.77
to her, and he says,
00:46:14.87\00:46:16.00
"Teacher, I'm just feeling
00:46:16.10\00:46:18.21
too goofy to be God today."
00:46:18.31\00:46:20.24
Oh, that
00:46:27.75\00:46:29.28
we could learn the same lesson.
00:46:29.38\00:46:34.59
You see, too often we act
00:46:34.69\00:46:37.26
like the roles are reversed.
00:46:37.36\00:46:40.70
We act as though we are
00:46:40.80\00:46:43.37
the creator and not the created.
00:46:43.47\00:46:46.13
We act as though all
00:46:46.23\00:46:47.67
of this life
00:46:47.77\00:46:48.67
were our responsibility.
00:46:48.77\00:46:51.07
And because it's
00:46:51.17\00:46:52.34
our responsibility
00:46:52.44\00:46:53.64
and because it dwarfs us --
00:46:53.74\00:46:54.88
The responsibility for this,
00:46:54.98\00:46:56.98
it is too much for us. Okay?
00:46:57.08\00:46:58.41
And so it dwarfs us,
00:46:58.51\00:47:00.05
and we become stressed out
00:47:00.15\00:47:01.62
and we fret and we stew
00:47:01.72\00:47:02.92
and our blood pressure goes up
00:47:03.02\00:47:03.99
and we have heart attacks,
00:47:04.09\00:47:04.72
and we have broken
00:47:04.82\00:47:05.32
relationships, and
00:47:05.42\00:47:06.49
we're just running, running,
00:47:06.59\00:47:07.36
running, running, running,
00:47:07.46\00:47:08.02
running when all along,
00:47:08.12\00:47:10.93
the actual creator
00:47:11.03\00:47:12.69
of the universe
00:47:12.79\00:47:13.86
is still sitting on His throne,
00:47:13.96\00:47:16.16
and is more than able to give
00:47:16.26\00:47:17.53
us what we need to
00:47:17.63\00:47:18.40
not just survive,
00:47:18.50\00:47:19.73
but to thrive even in the chaos
00:47:19.83\00:47:21.30
of our end-time lives.
00:47:21.40\00:47:23.27
This is one
00:47:23.37\00:47:24.14
of the biggest reasons
00:47:24.24\00:47:25.51
why the Sabbath is so important.
00:47:25.61\00:47:27.44
Because to know
00:47:27.54\00:47:28.88
that God is our creator
00:47:28.98\00:47:30.98
is the most important thing
00:47:31.08\00:47:32.48
we can know about him.
00:47:32.58\00:47:34.52
Now, I've mentioned this before,
00:47:34.62\00:47:35.72
and I'm going to mention it
00:47:35.82\00:47:36.55
again because nothing exceeds
00:47:36.65\00:47:37.85
this.
00:47:37.95\00:47:38.59
Other aspects of God
00:47:38.69\00:47:40.09
are important, but none are
00:47:40.19\00:47:41.72
as important as this.
00:47:41.82\00:47:43.66
To say that God is creator is,
00:47:43.76\00:47:46.23
for instance,
00:47:46.33\00:47:47.00
more important than saying
00:47:47.10\00:47:48.23
that God is our sustainer
00:47:48.33\00:47:49.56
because only the creator
00:47:49.66\00:47:50.87
can sustain his creation.
00:47:50.97\00:47:52.63
To say that God is creator
00:47:52.73\00:47:54.30
is more important even than
00:47:54.40\00:47:56.04
saying that God is our redeemer,
00:47:56.14\00:47:58.07
for only
00:47:58.17\00:47:59.47
the creator can redeem us.
00:47:59.57\00:48:01.71
What does the Bible say?
00:48:01.81\00:48:02.91
Book of Psalms -- "Create in me
00:48:03.01\00:48:04.75
a clean heart and renew
00:48:04.85\00:48:06.31
a right spirit within me."
00:48:06.41\00:48:07.95
Salvation is an act of creation.
00:48:08.05\00:48:11.72
Only the creator can be
00:48:11.82\00:48:13.05
our Redeemer.
00:48:13.15\00:48:14.82
To know that God is our creator
00:48:14.92\00:48:16.32
is the most important thing
00:48:16.42\00:48:17.59
we can know about him.
00:48:17.69\00:48:19.46
This is why God has
00:48:19.56\00:48:21.03
gone through so much trouble
00:48:21.13\00:48:22.36
to highlight the Sabbath day,
00:48:22.46\00:48:24.50
for the message of this day
00:48:24.60\00:48:26.33
is the most important message
00:48:26.43\00:48:28.07
that humans can receive.
00:48:28.17\00:48:30.54
This is why the Sabbath was made
00:48:30.64\00:48:31.94
all the way back at creation,
00:48:32.04\00:48:33.21
at the very beginning
00:48:33.31\00:48:34.28
of human history,
00:48:34.38\00:48:35.14
so that we, as a race,
00:48:35.24\00:48:36.48
would be sure to start off
00:48:36.58\00:48:37.91
with the right orientation
00:48:38.01\00:48:38.85
towards God.
00:48:38.95\00:48:40.02
This is why the Sabbath is
00:48:40.12\00:48:41.65
to become so prominent
00:48:41.75\00:48:42.58
at the very end
00:48:42.68\00:48:43.59
of human history.
00:48:43.69\00:48:44.82
Did you know that?
00:48:44.92\00:48:45.92
The three angels' messages,
00:48:46.02\00:48:47.29
we talked a lot about those.
00:48:47.39\00:48:48.36
The three last messages
00:48:48.46\00:48:49.89
that God gives to the world
00:48:49.99\00:48:50.86
before Jesus returns.
00:48:50.96\00:48:51.83
And the first
00:48:51.93\00:48:52.86
of those three angels says,
00:48:52.96\00:48:54.83
"Worship Him
00:48:54.93\00:48:56.26
who made the heavens, the Earth,
00:48:56.36\00:48:58.03
the sea,
00:48:58.13\00:48:58.83
and the springs of water."
00:48:58.93\00:48:59.93
It is a direct reference
00:49:00.10\00:49:01.57
to Exodus 20:8-11
00:49:01.67\00:49:03.61
and the fourth commandment.
00:49:03.71\00:49:04.51
The holy Sabbath day
00:49:04.61\00:49:06.41
is prominent at the end of time.
00:49:06.51\00:49:10.41
At the beginning of our history,
00:49:10.51\00:49:12.01
at the end of our history,
00:49:12.11\00:49:13.95
and at every point in between,
00:49:14.05\00:49:15.82
the Sabbath stands
00:49:15.92\00:49:17.29
as a perpetual reminder
00:49:17.39\00:49:19.05
that God is still on his throne,
00:49:19.15\00:49:21.19
that we might rejoice
00:49:21.29\00:49:22.46
in our smallness
00:49:22.56\00:49:23.63
and in his greatness,
00:49:23.73\00:49:24.76
that we might bask
00:49:24.86\00:49:25.86
in our creativeness
00:49:25.96\00:49:27.13
and his creator-ness.
00:49:27.23\00:49:28.70
Listen carefully.
00:49:28.80\00:49:29.76
Every eight days,
00:49:29.86\00:49:32.80
humans start to forget
00:49:32.90\00:49:34.44
that God is God
00:49:34.54\00:49:35.70
and they are not.
00:49:35.80\00:49:37.77
So every seven days,
00:49:37.87\00:49:40.34
God sends us the Sabbath
00:49:40.44\00:49:42.68
so that we'll never forget
00:49:42.78\00:49:44.58
that God is the creator,
00:49:44.68\00:49:46.35
and that, if we trust in him,
00:49:46.45\00:49:48.82
sooner or later,
00:49:48.92\00:49:50.52
everything will be okay.
00:49:50.62\00:49:55.02
>> Amen.
00:49:55.12\00:49:55.99
>> Next week, in part two,
00:49:59.73\00:50:00.93
we're going to talk about
00:50:01.00\00:50:01.80
how to receive this immense
00:50:01.90\00:50:03.23
blessing of the Sabbath
00:50:03.33\00:50:04.50
fully into our lives, so I hope
00:50:04.60\00:50:06.70
that you can join us for that.
00:50:06.80\00:50:08.64
But until then,
00:50:08.74\00:50:10.74
I would gently challenge you
00:50:10.84\00:50:12.07
to consider
00:50:12.17\00:50:13.07
some important questions.
00:50:13.17\00:50:16.34
Are you experiencing the Sabbath
00:50:16.44\00:50:18.68
as God would have you to?
00:50:18.78\00:50:22.25
Is this ancient blessing
00:50:22.35\00:50:23.75
a living reality
00:50:23.85\00:50:25.19
in your current life?
00:50:25.29\00:50:27.09
Or are you too stressed out,
00:50:27.19\00:50:28.86
too busy, too worried
00:50:28.96\00:50:29.99
to take in its benefit?
00:50:30.09\00:50:31.53
I leave you with a final story.
00:50:36.13\00:50:39.10
Years ago, in my early years
00:50:39.20\00:50:40.74
of ministry, I was maxed out.
00:50:40.84\00:50:44.84
I was not living my life
00:50:44.94\00:50:47.18
in a balanced fashion,
00:50:47.28\00:50:48.78
and at the time
00:50:48.88\00:50:49.64
this story takes place,
00:50:49.74\00:50:50.58
it had been far too long
00:50:50.68\00:50:52.45
since I had had a Sabbath day's
00:50:52.55\00:50:54.98
blessing, and I was dedicated.
00:50:55.08\00:50:56.95
You know,
00:50:57.05\00:50:57.75
Lord, had called me.
00:50:57.85\00:50:58.85
I wanted to be faithful to that.
00:50:58.95\00:51:00.22
And so I worked,
00:51:00.32\00:51:01.49
and I worked very hard,
00:51:01.59\00:51:02.62
and I didn't take breaks,
00:51:02.72\00:51:03.73
and I was overloaded
00:51:03.83\00:51:04.86
and things were
00:51:04.96\00:51:05.73
not looking good in my life.
00:51:05.83\00:51:09.16
Now, one of the thousand reasons
00:51:09.26\00:51:10.77
I married my wife is
00:51:10.87\00:51:11.83
because she's smarter than I am.
00:51:11.93\00:51:13.30
And she noticed this problem,
00:51:13.40\00:51:14.94
and she said,
00:51:15.04\00:51:15.77
"We need to go camping.
00:51:15.87\00:51:17.04
We need to go camping.
00:51:17.14\00:51:18.14
We need to get away for
00:51:18.24\00:51:18.61
a weekend.
00:51:18.71\00:51:19.34
You're not preaching.
00:51:19.44\00:51:20.08
We're going to get away.
00:51:20.18\00:51:20.58
Go camping."
00:51:20.68\00:51:21.21
And normally,
00:51:21.31\00:51:22.11
I'm not a big camping fan
00:51:22.21\00:51:23.21
because that means I load
00:51:23.31\00:51:24.25
the car and load the car.
00:51:24.35\00:51:25.28
And if the tent gets wet,
00:51:25.38\00:51:26.18
I dry it out.
00:51:26.28\00:51:26.92
And so it's, you know,
00:51:27.02\00:51:28.08
I'm not real keen on that part,
00:51:28.18\00:51:29.45
but I knew she was right.
00:51:29.55\00:51:32.39
We had to go.
00:51:32.49\00:51:34.42
And, so, we left
00:51:34.52\00:51:35.96
the Seattle area,
00:51:36.06\00:51:36.89
and we drove down
00:51:36.99\00:51:37.93
to the southeastern corner
00:51:38.03\00:51:40.60
of Washington state,
00:51:40.70\00:51:41.93
to the Umatilla National Forest,
00:51:42.03\00:51:44.30
and we found some logging roads
00:51:44.40\00:51:45.87
there and just went out
00:51:45.97\00:51:47.00
into the wilderness to camp.
00:51:47.10\00:51:48.37
We didn't go to a campground.
00:51:48.47\00:51:49.27
So there's nobody else out
00:51:49.37\00:51:49.97
there, this is just
00:51:50.07\00:51:50.81
open wilderness out there.
00:51:50.91\00:51:52.14
And we set up our camp.
00:51:52.24\00:51:53.41
This was on a Friday.
00:51:53.51\00:51:55.14
And get up on Sabbath morning.
00:51:55.24\00:51:56.58
And I don't have a clue
00:51:56.68\00:51:58.08
what to do.
00:51:58.18\00:52:00.15
Pastors in particular,
00:52:00.25\00:52:02.12
if they're not living correctly,
00:52:02.22\00:52:03.49
they're not living --
00:52:03.59\00:52:04.32
on Sabbath mornings
00:52:04.42\00:52:05.82
they get the jitters, right.
00:52:05.92\00:52:07.12
It's like you haven't had
00:52:07.22\00:52:08.09
your smoke for
00:52:08.19\00:52:09.32
the day kind of thing, right?
00:52:09.42\00:52:10.89
Like, okay, a sermon is going to
00:52:10.99\00:52:12.63
break out at any moment.
00:52:12.73\00:52:13.19
I must be ready.
00:52:13.29\00:52:13.96
Okay?
00:52:14.03\00:52:15.13
I've got to offer an appeal.
00:52:15.23\00:52:16.20
Something like that.
00:52:16.30\00:52:16.80
Just, you know,
00:52:16.90\00:52:17.53
kind of church on the brain.
00:52:17.63\00:52:18.60
And so I don't know what to do.
00:52:18.70\00:52:19.43
What do I do?
00:52:19.53\00:52:20.34
There's, you know, chipmunks
00:52:20.44\00:52:21.44
and squirrels out here.
00:52:21.54\00:52:22.24
So I grab a camp chair
00:52:22.34\00:52:24.01
and go 50 to 100 feet away
00:52:24.11\00:52:25.61
from our campsite,
00:52:25.71\00:52:26.74
and I sit on the edge
00:52:26.84\00:52:28.94
of a pretty large valley.
00:52:29.04\00:52:31.45
It's probably three quarters
00:52:31.55\00:52:32.35
of a mile, maybe a mile across.
00:52:32.45\00:52:33.85
We're quite a ways down there,
00:52:33.95\00:52:35.08
just, you know, the rolling
00:52:35.18\00:52:36.28
mountains of the Umatilla
00:52:36.38\00:52:37.45
National Forest there.
00:52:37.55\00:52:38.72
And I sat in that chair.
00:52:38.82\00:52:41.42
And I sat and I sat
00:52:44.83\00:52:50.67
and I sat for hour
00:52:50.77\00:52:56.04
after hour after hour.
00:52:56.14\00:52:59.51
Did you know?
00:53:03.55\00:53:04.18
It's astonishing
00:53:04.28\00:53:06.51
what happens when you stop.
00:53:06.61\00:53:10.29
That Sabbath day
00:53:15.72\00:53:18.49
was extraordinary.
00:53:18.59\00:53:21.73
I sat there and I stared out
00:53:21.83\00:53:22.80
over that canyon.
00:53:22.90\00:53:24.87
I can still say -- At one point
00:53:24.97\00:53:26.33
I got a pair of binoculars.
00:53:26.43\00:53:27.47
I'm looking at,
00:53:27.57\00:53:28.37
and I can still see, in my
00:53:28.47\00:53:30.07
mind's eye, these hawks that
00:53:30.17\00:53:31.47
were just doing their circles
00:53:31.57\00:53:32.41
across the valley there.
00:53:32.51\00:53:33.84
I can still hear
00:53:33.94\00:53:35.98
the squirrel, probably
00:53:36.08\00:53:38.91
about 40 feet away from me,
00:53:39.01\00:53:40.82
a squirrel, one squirrel moving
00:53:40.92\00:53:42.75
one twig -- I heard it.
00:53:42.85\00:53:46.25
I not only saw birds,
00:53:46.35\00:53:47.96
but I heard the sound
00:53:48.06\00:53:49.49
of their wings
00:53:49.59\00:53:51.43
as they flew over my head.
00:53:51.53\00:53:53.46
It's amazing
00:53:56.60\00:53:57.67
what happens when you stop.
00:53:57.77\00:54:01.47
Ladies and gentlemen,
00:54:04.77\00:54:05.44
that Sabbath probably
00:54:05.54\00:54:06.54
saved my ministry.
00:54:06.64\00:54:09.41
Probably wouldn't be sitting
00:54:09.51\00:54:10.55
here today if I hadn't stopped
00:54:10.65\00:54:15.05
and rested on that day.
00:54:15.15\00:54:17.69
Now, I want you
00:54:20.06\00:54:20.82
to notice carefully.
00:54:20.92\00:54:23.73
It might have been,
00:54:23.83\00:54:24.89
technically speaking,
00:54:24.99\00:54:25.99
this kind of a park-like
00:54:26.09\00:54:27.13
setting that I was in.
00:54:27.23\00:54:31.10
But the truth is, the reason
00:54:31.20\00:54:32.53
why that experience was
00:54:32.63\00:54:34.30
so powerful for me is
00:54:34.40\00:54:37.51
because I was in a park in time.
00:54:37.61\00:54:42.68
You see,
00:54:42.78\00:54:44.01
if God had made the Sabbath
00:54:44.11\00:54:45.95
a stick or a stone
00:54:46.05\00:54:47.98
or a building,
00:54:48.08\00:54:50.05
to keep the Sabbath holy,
00:54:50.15\00:54:51.59
you and I would have to buy
00:54:51.69\00:54:52.59
a plane ticket and fly
00:54:52.69\00:54:53.62
to the Middle East, right,
00:54:53.72\00:54:54.62
so we could, quote, "keep the
00:54:54.72\00:54:55.66
Sabbath holy," right?
00:54:55.76\00:54:56.59
But God, in His genius,
00:54:56.69\00:54:58.53
in His utter and complete
00:54:58.63\00:54:59.86
genius, said, "No, no, no, no.
00:54:59.96\00:55:01.23
I'm going to weave the Sabbath
00:55:01.33\00:55:03.20
into the very fabric
00:55:03.30\00:55:04.83
of their lives, into time,
00:55:04.93\00:55:07.10
so that anyone,
00:55:07.20\00:55:08.84
anywhere on the planet,
00:55:08.94\00:55:10.87
when the Sabbath rolls around,
00:55:10.97\00:55:12.84
they can take a walk
00:55:12.94\00:55:16.28
in this park in time."
00:55:16.38\00:55:21.55
And we can see God afresh,
00:55:21.65\00:55:24.05
and the harridness
00:55:24.15\00:55:25.79
and the chaos of the world
00:55:25.89\00:55:27.99
can be left behind.
00:55:28.09\00:55:31.66
You see, as it turns out,
00:55:31.76\00:55:34.03
we do have a hero.
00:55:34.13\00:55:37.53
And He cares deeply about us.
00:55:37.63\00:55:40.24
And He sees this ball of chaos,
00:55:40.34\00:55:43.57
like some apocalyptic disaster
00:55:43.67\00:55:46.07
that is headed towards
00:55:46.17\00:55:47.41
His children's heads.
00:55:47.51\00:55:48.71
And He reaches
00:55:48.81\00:55:50.05
out His hand and He stops it.
00:55:50.15\00:55:53.62
He creates this park in time,
00:55:53.72\00:55:56.52
and it's in that park in time
00:55:56.62\00:56:00.62
that we can rest,
00:56:00.72\00:56:02.79
that we can be recharged,
00:56:02.89\00:56:04.99
and that we can be revived
00:56:05.09\00:56:06.80
because it's there.
00:56:06.90\00:56:08.40
It is there that we come
00:56:08.50\00:56:11.10
to know God as our creator,
00:56:11.20\00:56:13.57
who holds us
00:56:13.67\00:56:14.87
in the very palms of his hands.
00:56:14.97\00:56:17.91
The one who made us
00:56:18.01\00:56:19.91
certainly knows how to help us.
00:56:20.01\00:56:23.24
The one who made us knows how
00:56:23.35\00:56:25.35
to bring peace out of the chaos.
00:56:25.45\00:56:28.02
Praise the Lord
00:56:28.12\00:56:29.85
for his glorious gift
00:56:29.95\00:56:31.89
of the Sabbath day.
00:56:31.99\00:56:33.82
>> Amen. Praise the Lord.
00:56:33.92\00:56:35.59
>> Before you go,
00:56:38.89\00:56:39.73
let me take just a moment
00:56:39.83\00:56:40.96
to share with you an opportunity
00:56:41.06\00:56:42.40
to get into the Bible
00:56:42.50\00:56:43.47
in a fresh, new way.
00:56:43.57\00:56:45.23
All across the world,
00:56:45.33\00:56:46.80
more and more people are hearing
00:56:46.90\00:56:47.97
the call to examine
00:56:48.07\00:56:49.14
the Scriptures for themselves.
00:56:49.24\00:56:51.01
If you've felt drawn to learn
00:56:51.11\00:56:52.31
more about God's Word
00:56:52.41\00:56:53.41
but you don't know
00:56:53.51\00:56:53.91
where to start
00:56:54.01\00:56:54.98
or you're just looking
00:56:55.08\00:56:56.01
for a more in-depth
00:56:56.11\00:56:57.11
examination of Bible truths,
00:56:57.21\00:56:59.08
then I have something right
00:56:59.18\00:57:00.42
here that I believe
00:57:00.52\00:57:01.45
you're going to enjoy.
00:57:01.55\00:57:03.12
I would like to send you
00:57:03.22\00:57:04.35
a series of Bible study guides.
00:57:04.45\00:57:06.55
Each of these study guides asks
00:57:06.65\00:57:08.19
and answers very important
00:57:08.29\00:57:09.52
questions, such as
00:57:09.62\00:57:10.79
these examples right here.
00:57:10.89\00:57:12.23
Why does God allow suffering?
00:57:12.33\00:57:14.46
Can God be trusted?
00:57:14.56\00:57:16.97
Each of the initial five guides
00:57:17.07\00:57:18.60
begins with a story
00:57:18.70\00:57:20.14
to introduce the subject.
00:57:20.24\00:57:21.54
Then, through a series
00:57:21.64\00:57:22.70
of focused questions,
00:57:22.80\00:57:24.14
you'll soon be learning portions
00:57:24.24\00:57:25.34
of the Bible
00:57:25.44\00:57:26.47
you may never have known before.
00:57:26.57\00:57:28.41
And when you're through,
00:57:28.51\00:57:29.71
you'll be able to share
00:57:29.81\00:57:30.75
with others these inspiring
00:57:30.85\00:57:32.25
truths from God's Word.
00:57:32.35\00:57:34.78
Just call our toll-free number.
00:57:34.88\00:57:36.12
It's on your screen now.
00:57:36.22\00:57:37.39
877 -- the two words
00:57:37.49\00:57:39.39
HIS-WILL.
00:57:39.49\00:57:40.86
Friendly operators
00:57:40.96\00:57:42.29
are standing by to send you
00:57:42.39\00:57:43.22
these guides.
00:57:43.32\00:57:44.66
Once again, that's 877-HIS-WILL.
00:57:44.76\00:57:47.73
Call that number,
00:57:47.83\00:57:49.06
and don't forget to join me
00:57:49.16\00:57:50.43
next week right here
00:57:50.53\00:57:51.77
at this same time.
00:57:51.87\00:57:52.80
¤
00:57:59.11\00:58:07.58
¤
00:58:07.85\00:58:16.26
¤
00:58:16.52\00:58:24.90
¤
00:58:25.17\00:58:28.20