Pastor Tony Ashmore begins the series "Unload" in this Sunday morning celebration.Unload PT1
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, April 15, 2012
www.mylifegatechurch.com
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Sermon Notes:
The Sabbath Principle
Mark 2:27 “Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.”
Every 7th day was a day of rest—a day to replenish, refresh and refire. We are wired by God for a Sabbath—without it we will crash and burn. (sleep problems, health issues, life expectancy, aging skin, sex drive, energy, depression)
Every 7th year was a year of rest, of jubilee. The whole principle is about trusting God for everything instead of trusting our efforts. It is an insult to our Father when we fail to trust Him as His children.
Exodus 16:29a “They must realize that the Sabbath is the LORD’s gift to you…”
The Sabbath is a gift to us from the Lord. It is the 1st gift the Lord gives back to the Israelites after being released from slavery. As slaves they had no Sabbath. Our enemy does the same thing to keep us from experiencing freedom. As slaves in Egypt, they never had any days off, so the Sabbath day of rest was a very apt way to remember their Salvation (what God had saved them from), and that they now belonged to a good God. We had no way of saving ourselves from our sin, but God chose to save us by grace. Living with the Sabbath Principle in our lives reminds us that we must have Him in our lives, that we are lost without Him.
Genesis 2:3a “And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy…”
1st thing declared holy in the Bible is the Sabbath. It is holy because it is the day God chose to rest upon. The Lord rested on the 7th day. It is not the day of the week that made it the Sabbath—it is the fact that He “rested” on it that made it the Sabbath. We are ‘holy’ because He chooses to ‘rest upon us’. Rest is not found in the Sabbath, it is found in the God of the Sabbath. Are we a place of rest for the Father? Do we create a throne for His presence in our lives? The first mention of the Sabbath in connection with the Manna (Exodus 16) confirms this aspect of trusting God as gracious Creator and Provider of all good things. We have a tendency to think that we are the center of the universe and that everything depends on our efforts, so we dare not take a day of rest, otherwise we will fall behind in our work or our finances or everything will fall apart. So a day of rest serves to get our focus off ourselves onto God, enthroning Him as the center of our life, trusting Him for our provision.
Exodus 20:8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”
The Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to us to restore, refresh, replenish us. It is a source of release, not just relief. He tells us in the 10 commandments to ‘keep it holy’—don’t seek that release, the refreshment and replenishing we need in ‘unholy’ ways. Those ways will not truly provide release. They may provide a ‘relief valve’—much like the pressure relief valves on our hot water heaters that keep them from blowing but don’t actually address the source of the pressure. The result is the pressure continually re-builds, eventually wearing out the relief valve, resulting in an explosion of pressure and a need for a new relief valve. That’s why our ‘unholy’ relief valves break down and we seek new and greater ‘valves’. A continual cycle of searching for relief valves that provide only temporary escape.
So What:
1. Stop justifying a life without a Sabbath. Scientists tell us one sign of sleep deprivation is the failure to recognize you aren’t getting enough sleep. “I have adjusted to only 6 hours of sleep.”
Hebrews 4:11 “So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.”
2. Start practicing trust with God: speak His Word when the temptation comes to take back the cares. Stand on His Word: look up all the scriptures about worry, fear, anxiety, sleeplessness, bad dreams—It’s His Word—It’s the Truth! Treat it like it is. Honor it, think it, speak it and start seeing it happen in your life.
Hebrews 3:19 “So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.”
3. Scheduling a Sabbath—Be intentional with setting aside 8 minutes of every hour, 2 to 3 hours before bedtime, one day of the week. Turn off cell phones, don’t check emails, find the “holy” place for you. Spend time with Him each day. You’ll find yourself. You’ll also find yourself accomplishing more in less time.
Hebrews 4:10 “For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.”
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