Skip to main content

Return to My Rest


This past Sabbath I preached on a message from Zechariah 6:1-8 called Return to My Rest.


Here’s what I forgot to say….

The Christian experience is characterized by resting in God’s completed work.  We don’t rest in what we can do but in what He has already done.  God created man on day six. The seventh day was man’s first full day in existence and it was spent in rest. What did man need to rest from? He hadn’t done anything yet?  That is the point.  Man wasn’t resting from something; he was resting in something. God invited man to rest in His completed work. Sabbath is a rest in what God has done.  This is how the human story started. This is how our story continues. This is the story of our salvation! God sent His son, He lived the perfect life, He die on the cross, He rose from the dead, His work accomplished our salvation.  We don’t do the work. We rest in what He has done.  This is the story of our eternal home! This can be our story today! Join God in resting in His completed work!

I also forgot to clarify that the “North Country” (Zech. 6:6,8) does not refer to Alaska!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A New Living Faith in an Old Rugged Cross

This past Sabbath I preached a message from  Isaiah 43:14-21  entitled  A New Living Faith in an Old Rugged Cross .  I explored the tension between welcoming the new and holding onto the old.  Through the prophet Isaiah God called His people to “Remember  not the former things, neither consider the things of old” (Isaiah 43:18). Three chapters latter the same God called the same people to “Remember the former things of old” (Isaiah 46:9). Which is it?  Are we to run to the new or cling to the old? Well, both.  We are to welcome the new things that God leads us into while holding onto the unchangeable truth of who God is.  At the same time we are to run from the new things that will lead us away from God and from the old things that have kept us from Him. The point is not that it is new or that it is old but that it is God.  Here’s what I forgot to say…. God has ...
1 comment
Read more

Reference Point

This past Sabbath I preached a message from  Hebrews 12:1-3  called  Reference Point .    Reference points are powerful because we look to them to interpret the reality around us. Too often, we choose our reference points poorly. We look to what we should have done or could have had.    We compare ourselves with the others who are smarter, prettier, and wealthier. But Christians have a reference point that rest of the world doesn’t have… Christ! When we look to others we don’t look to criticize or compare but to see Christ and show Christ! When we look at ourselves, we don’t look at who we are but who we are in Christ! We fix our eyes on who Christ is and what He has done. And there’s a promise…  we will not grow weary and loose heart ! Here’s what I forgot to say…. Our world is populated with people who are drifting, unsure of their own identity. God is inviting each of us to run with intentionality in the identity we have in Him.  ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Life of the Party

This past Sabbath I preached a message from Luke 15:17-32 called  The Life of the Party .   In the story of the lost son we see a picture of a God who is the life of the party.   It was the father who was ready to celebrate, not the sons.   We see how God celebrates. He is extravagant. He brings out the best. He kills the fattened calf.   And we see what God celebrates. The father says to the older son, “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”   God celebrates transformed life!   We have the opportunity to join the festivities of a God who extravagantly celebrates life! Here’s what I forgot to say…. Extravagance is impractical.   I spent a year teaching at Nile Union Academy in Cairo, Egypt.   Among the many cultural differences that amazed me was their excessive hospitality.   I didn’t need continuous refills of tea. And it would have been more...
Post a Comment
Read more