The 3 MPH God In a 65 MPH World

In our nonstop world, efficiency and production are king. This Kingdom of Production has creeds and statements of belief like, "I'll sleep when I'm dead!”, "Go hard or go home!" and "Good things happen to those who hustle!" But in the Kingdom of God, King Jesus invites us to step away from this lie that can't deliver and step into a new way of being—Sabbath rest.

Message Notes

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” 
Mark 2:23-28

God is inviting us into Sabbath rest so that we, in Christ, may experience a taste of the eternal rest that will come at the return of Christ.

“It may be the case that (1) Christians are assimilating to a culture of busyness, hurry and overload, which leads to (2) God becoming more marginalized in Christians’ lives, which leads to (3) a deteriorating relationship with God, which leads to (4) Christians becoming even more vulnerable to adopting secular assumptions about how to live, which leads to (5) more conformity to a culture of busyness, hurry and overload. Then the cycle begins again.”
Michael Zigarelli

The way of Jesus is unhurried and unanxious.

“To walk with Jesus is to walk with a slow, unhurried pace. Hurry is the death of prayer and only impedes and spoils our work. It never advances it.”
Walter Adams

“God’s presence cannot be fully enjoyed if we are constantly checking the time or running to our next appointment. Enjoyment of beauty should not be rushed.”
A.J. Swoboda

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:23-28

By saying that Sabbath was made for man, Jesus is saying that Sabbath is a gift to His creation. By saying that He is Lord of the Sabbath, He is making the claim that He is the very God that instituted it.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. 
Genesis 2:1-3

 The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:27b-28 

“Sabbath-keeping is like any discipline of the Christian tradition. A discipline is any repeated and intentional action that God uses to change our hearts and minds. Disciplines are critical to the Christian life. And there are many disciplines in the Christian tradition, such as prayer, scripture reading, churchgoing, and confession. Disciplines are external actions undertaken with the vision that God can use them to reform our internal affections. We must once again envision the Sabbath not in terms of a day that “just happens” but in terms of a discipline that transforms us inside. Sabbath is a proactive, intentional discipline, not an add-on that we get to when time makes space for it.”
A.J. Swoboda

Sabbath is a 24-hour block in our week in which we stop, rest, delight, and worship. All of these being oriented toward God.

Is this rest and worship?

On Sabbath we embrace our limitations in order to embrace Jesus as Lord.

#1 Sabbath Time 
#2 Sabbath Ritual
#3 Activities
#4 Preparation
#5 Digital Detox
#6 The Daily Office

God is inviting us into Sabbath rest so that we, in Christ, may experience a taste of the eternal rest that will come at the return of Christ.

God is inviting you into Sabbath rest so that you, in Christ, may experience a taste of the eternal rest that will come at the return of Christ.