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Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP220212S
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00:11 [ Piano playing "Christ Our Hope" ] 00:13 ♪♪ 01:31 ♪♪ 02:47 ♪♪ 04:39 ♪♪ >> Our scripture reading this morning is found in Psalm 63. 04:48 We'll read Verses 3 and 4, and 6 through 8. 04:52 I'll be reading from the New King James Version. 04:55 "Because Your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall 05:00 praise You. 05:02 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 05:09 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. 05:14 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. 05:21 My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me." 05:26 Let's sing together. [ Piano playing "And Can It Be" ] 05:31 ♪♪ 09:12 >> You may be seated. 09:21 >> ♪ All creatures of our God and king ♪ 09:26 ♪ Lift up your voice and with us sing ♪ 09:29 ♪ Alleluia, alleluia 09:34 ♪ Alleluia 09:43 >> ♪ All creatures of our God and king ♪ ♪ Lift up your voice 09:49 and with us sing ♪ ♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ Thou burning sun 09:59 with golden beam ♪ ♪ Thou silver moon with softer gleam ♪ 10:05 ♪ O, praise Him ♪ O, praise Him ♪ Alleluia, alleluia 10:14 ♪ Alleluia 10:18 ♪♪ ♪ Thou rushing wind that art so strong ♪ 10:27 ♪ Ye clouds that sail in heav'n along ♪ ♪ O, praise Him 10:33 ♪ Alleluia ♪ Thou rising morn in praise rejoice ♪ 10:39 ♪ Ye lights of evening, find a voice ♪ >> ♪ O, praise Him 10:45 >> ♪ O, praise Him >> ♪ Alleluia >> ♪ Alleluia 10:52 ♪ Alleluia ♪ Ev'ryone with tender heart ♪ Forgiving others, 11:01 take your part ♪ ♪ O, see me ♪ Alleluia 11:11 ♪ Alleluia ♪ Ye who long pain and sorrow bear ♪ 11:18 >> ♪ Long pain and sorrow bear >> ♪ And cast your care >> ♪ Praise 11:23 >> ♪ O, praise Him ♪ O, praise Him ♪ Alleluia, alleluia 11:31 ♪ Alleluia >> ♪ Alleluia >> ♪ Alleluia 11:38 >> ♪ Alleluia >> ♪ Alleluia >> ♪ Alleluia 11:44 >> ♪ Alleluia >> ♪ Alleluia >> ♪ Alleluia 11:51 >> ♪ Alleluia >> ♪ Alleluia >> ♪ Alleluia 11:58 >> ♪ Alleluia ♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ Alleluia 12:06 >> ♪ Alleluia ♪ Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son ♪ 12:18 And praise the Spirit, Three-in-One ♪ >> ♪ O, praise Him 12:26 >> ♪ O, praise Him >> ♪ Alleluia >> ♪ Alleluia 12:31 >> ♪ Alleluia >> ♪ All creatures of our God and King ♪ 12:39 ♪ Lift up your voice and with us sing ♪ ♪ Alleluia, alleluia 12:47 ♪ Alleluia 12:55 ♪ Alleluia 13:08 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 13:36 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 14:05 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 14:34 ♪♪ 14:45 >> Let's pray. Amazing, amazing love, Father. That's what brings us here. 14:51 That's what compelled us to come We didn't come to hear somebody. We came to be with You. 14:57 And we need to sense now in the space that You show up. You're already there, but open 15:05 our eyes so that we see You. This will be about You that way. All of our Eyes looking to 15:10 Jesus, and that's how it should be. We thank you in Jesus' name. 15:16 Amen. 15:18 My friend Tara VinCross has written a new book. 15:20 You're gonna love it. I hope you read it. 15:23 "Deep Calling." And in the book, she tells a 15:27 story that appeared in the newspapers in Tacoma, 15:29 Washington, where she once pastored. 15:33 it's a story about a basset hound. 15:36 You know what a basset hound looks like? 15:37 You know, the long ears and short legs. 15:39 And was named Tattoo. Ooh, I like that name. 15:44 One evening, a police officer motorcycle patrolman, 15:50 Terry Filburt, is cruising around North 21st Street 15:54 and Adams Street around 7:25 when he notices a vehicle that 15:59 appears to have something dragging from it. 16:04 He turns the bike around and he catches up with the vehicle, and he starts pass it and realizes 16:11 it's a basset hound whose leash is caught in the door. He finally pursues them to pull 16:22 over. They pull over. 16:26 And he says, "What were you thinking?" He told the reporter at the 16:33 newspaper later that that dog was picking them up and putting them down as fast as he could. 16:40 At some places, the dog exceeded 25 miles an hour. I mean, please. 16:46 Rolled over a few times, as well. So, a man and a woman get out. 16:51 And when he tells them about the dog, the driver starts shouting, "Tattoo! Tattoo!" 16:59 Well, there's good news to this story. The dog was uninjured... 17:05 and no citation was issued. But I'm sure he gave him a little lecture about it. 17:11 "If you ever walk your dog again, don't do it with the car door. 17:13 Just walk him on the sidewalk. That's what they're for. [ Laughs ] When I think of 17:17 Tattoo the basset hound, two lines of scripture come to me. I'm gonna lay them on you right 17:22 now. Line number one is the title of this moment that you and I are 17:26 sharing together. "My soul followeth hard after Thee." 17:33 Beautifully read a moment ago. Psalm 63. The psalmist is not complaining 17:37 about his leash caught in the door. The psalmist is chasing after -- 17:41 Guess who? You got it. The Almighty Himself. My soul followeth hard after 17:47 Thee. Some of you are in this space right now, and your hearts are 17:51 longing for God. I know it's true. And you've come to the right 17:55 place at the right time. You're gonna meet Him right here. 17:59 My soul followeth hard after Thee. And the other line I think about 18:04 is that, when I think about Tattoo, I'm thinking, "Wait a minute, that's all of us." 18:08 We are all running on the treadmill of life until we're about going crazy, and you know 18:12 what? We're shouting, "Get me off of this treadmill, please!" 18:17 And I tell you what, I got some great news for the likes of you and me. 18:21 We're gonna encounter in one moment a splendid opportunity that will come to you to get off 18:27 this treadmill every seventh day of every single week you have left of your life. 18:35 I'm just thinking to myself, "I wonder if these two lines were meant to go together?" 18:41 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." With Jesus. 18:45 "My soul followeth hard after Thee." I think they go together. 18:50 Let's try them out for size. There's a little secret about the Sabbath most people don't 18:55 know, and those who do know have usually forgotten. So we're gonna go to Jesus for 19:00 this secret unveiling. Come on, Jesus, Lord, teach us. So we're gonna go to His life. 19:06 Yep, He's in Capernaum. Open your Bible, by the way, to Mark 1. 19:10 He's in Capernaum. Capernaum is His home away from home -- He grew up as a boy in 19:15 Nazareth. But now, He's got a bunch of guys that are following Him, and 19:18 they're all fisherman, and they're all from Capernaum. So He makes Capernaum His home 19:22 away from home, and it's Sabbath morning. And where do you think the 19:26 Creator of the universe would be going on Sabbath morning? He's going to church with His 19:31 buds. So they're all piling into church. 19:33 I don't know if they sat in the balcony or sat down on the main floor, but they went to church. 19:37 And I want to take a look at that. Mark 1. 19:42 Ah, this is a great story. Mark 1:21. "They went to Capernaum." 19:46 There it is, see? " They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus 19:52 went" -- As Luke 4 tells us, He did every single Sabbath. 19:55 He went to church. So you're in good company. "And when the Sabbath came, 20:00 Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. And the people were amazed at 20:05 his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 20:11 Oh, man, if He could stand up in front of this little congregation, I'd sit on a back 20:15 row to here. Wouldn't you? No, you can't imagine it. 20:19 But in the middle of worship -- true story -- a man leaps to his feet. 20:24 The man's going berserk. He's demon possessed. That's what's going on. 20:28 And he's shrieking. "You understand that everything comes to an end?" 20:32 Of course it does. But the demon -- fallen angel -- that is possessing the man 20:37 forgot the little lesson. Don't mess with Jesus. And just like that, "Out of him, 20:43 I command you." Poom -- the demon's gone. 20:48 By the time everybody gets their pulse rate calmed down, Jesus resumes His teaching. 20:57 What do you suppose everybody talked about over Sabbath dinner that day? 21:01 Can you imagine it happened in here? Please. 21:04 I'll keep going. So, church is over now, okay? We're picking up right there. 21:08 Church is over. "As soon as they left the synagogue" -- Jesus and His 21:11 disciples -- "they went with James and John" -- the Zebedee brothers -- to the home 21:15 of Simon and Andrew. All fisherman, and they're all from Capernaum. 21:19 Simon's mother-in-law was in bed." I want to hit the pause button 21:21 right there. I want to give a shout-out to mothers-in-law. 21:25 If you have a mother-in-law who is still alive, count your many blessings. 21:30 They got these crazy jokes about mother-in-law jokes. Don't even pass one along. 21:34 I had the privilege of sitting beside my mother-in-law as she breathed her last, holding her 21:38 hand, and her daughter on the other side of that bed. I loved that woman. 21:44 She gave me a beautiful wife. Never make fun of a mother-in-law. 21:49 And if you still got one alive, be in touch with her. Love on her. 21:54 "Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about 21:58 her. So he went to her, took her hand, and helped her up. 22:02 The fever left her and she began to wait on them." My, oh, my. 22:08 But keep reading. "That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the 22:13 sick and demon-possessed. Why, when we were in church today, we saw what happened. 22:19 The story ends, "The whole town gathered at the door." Now, what's up with this waiting 22:26 until sunset business, huh? Help me out with that. Oh, you know what's up, don't 22:30 you? What's up is the clergy of the town. 22:33 The clergy of the country have made a law. "You can't heal anybody. 22:36 You can't help anybody. You cannot help somebody who needs healing or comfort." 22:47 Mnh-mnh. Well...somebody forgot to tell Jesus. 22:53 Because He healed somebody before He sat down for Sabbath dinner. 22:57 Oops. Now, you know the truth. Seven of His great miracles were 23:03 reserved for the seventh-day Sabbath to remind us that the Creator of this day enters into 23:09 our suffering with us. Some of you listening to me right now are suffering. 23:13 You have a mask on in this church. Of course, we all have masks on, 23:17 but you have a facade that says everything is cool. "I'm fine, thank you." 23:22 Nobody else knows that you are not fine right now. Your heart is aching. 23:26 Your heart is breaking. You have gone through a mess this last week. 23:30 You survived this far. But you need somebody to enter that broken space and breathe 23:39 His comfort into you. You came to the right place when you went to Jesus. 23:44 Yeah. So, we can quickly infer that the clergy are not always right, 23:50 and I'll be the first to admit that. They're wrong. 23:52 You can heal on the Sabbath. In fact, what Jesus says over in Matthew -- I love this line. 23:56 Never forget this line, it's a good one to have locked away in your heart. 23:59 Jesus says, "It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." All the clergy are saying, "It 24:03 is unlawful to, unlawful to, unlawful to." Jesus said, "Wait, wait, wait." 24:06 Let me just tell you one thing. It's lawful to do good. That's all you need to know -- 24:10 it's lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Thank you, Lord. 24:15 Next time I come to your seventh day, Almighty Creator, I'm gonna remember that line. 24:20 "It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." After all, He's the one who 24:24 created the seventh day Sabbath in the beginning, did He not? But what's so intriguing about 24:29 the Creator and His use of time or His structure of time is that He is not synchronized -- the 24:35 Creator of the universe -- to our mechanical clock time. He has His own time. 24:41 Creation time. That's why, for the Creator, you don't need a Rolex. 24:46 Couldn't afford one, anyway. You need a Timex. I do have one of those. 24:50 If you have a Timex... you still don't have to look at it. 24:56 Because instead of making Seikos, he made sunsets. And that's all you need. 25:02 In fact, you remember the creation story. Everybody knows the creation 25:04 story. The Creator starts with what? Is it light or dark when He 25:09 starts creation? Help me out quick. Light or dark? 25:12 Of course, it's dark. And then He says, "Let there be" what? 25:14 Light. So, the first day sets the pattern for every single day afterwards. 25:18 He starts with the dark, and the day ends with the light. And that's why the first day 25:23 record in Genesis 1:5 reads in there, "It was evening and there was morning -- the first day." 25:29 You read the second day, it's the same. "And there was evening and 25:33 morning -- the second day." The third day, the fourth day, the fifth day. 25:38 What's the Creator doing? He's counting one rotation from light to darkness and darkness 25:44 to light. And He says, "That is a day." Right there. 25:49 Oh, and, of course, we know that when He comes to the sixth day -- yep, we know this verse. 25:53 "And God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there 25:59 was morning -- the sixth day." So, in the next verse, when God creates the seventh day Sabbath, 26:05 how do you suppose the Sabbath will be marked and delineated? You got it right. 26:11 "And there was evening, and there was morning -- the seventh day." 26:17 Sunset to sunset. That's what's going on with the people in Capernaum. 26:23 They were told, "You can't come till the Sabbath is over -- sunset." 26:27 Ah, the Creator Himself observes that Creation time. Boy, don't you love Him for it? 26:35 In fact, when the Creator comes down here in this glorious event -- this happening in the 26:40 universe that we call the Incarnation -- when He comes down here, there is no confusion 26:45 about when the Sabbath begins and when the Sabbath ends. In fact, when the Creator was on 26:50 top of Mount Sinai with one of His closest friends in history -- a man named Moses -- 26:56 He says, "Hey, listen, you remind everybody, this is how you do it." 27:00 Leviticus 23:32, how's it read? "From evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath." 27:08 Creation time. You don't need one of these. You just have to know, you can 27:16 see the diminishing of light, then the Sabbath has come. Beautiful, beautiful. 27:24 Why did the Creator put so much insistence on this while He was here? 27:29 Ah, because with His finger, He carved it into granite Himself. "Remember the Sabbath day to 27:35 keep it holy." And He does. Sigve Tonstad found this writer. 27:42 I don't know where he found the writer, but this is beautiful, and I have to share it with you. 27:47 I'll put it on the screen right here. And the writer is 27:51 Pinchas Pilate. I love the name, Pinchas Pilate. "The Sabbath, declared once by 27:55 God, comes and goes at regular intervals without any human invention." 28:01 You don't need anything. Nothing on your wrist. Don't need any Wi-Fi. 28:05 Don't need internet to know when the Sabbath begins. You don't need any of that. 28:09 Mnh-mnh. "It comes and goes at regular intervals without any human 28:14 invention." Oh, I love this -- calling the Sabbath a "she." 28:20 "She cannot be stopped or postponed." Mnh-mnh. 28:24 It remains up to us, however, to let her in; to receive her properly. 28:32 Oh, they used to do this 2,000 years ago when Jesus was here. What's it mean to receive the 28:37 Sabbath properly? Oh, it's not rocket science. Let me tell you. 28:39 Karen and I, we just did it last night. We do it every Friday at 28:42 sundown. And we sing a few songs. Pull out the old battered-up 28:48 trombone. Allen, and Karen's at the keyboard. 28:51 And we just play some fun music together, and we sit down. We're trying to memorize some 28:55 scripture passages together. So we sit down. We got a great storybook by a 28:58 friend of mine named Dick Dirksen. So we're reading those stories, 29:02 and then we have prayer. And you know what we say in our prayer? 29:05 If we spoke Spanish, here's what we would say. In that prayer, these would be 29:09 the words we would use. Mi casa es su casa. And what's that mean? 29:14 "My house is your house." Come on in. We welcome Jesus into our house. 29:19 Of course, He's been with us the whole week, 24/7, but in a special way, He comes in on the 29:23 Sabbath, and guess what? We say goodbye to the Sabbath the same way -- a few songs, a 29:27 little bit of reading, and we pray. "Don't leave us, Jesus. 29:30 But thank you for the day we just had with You." There's no rocket science, "get 29:35 a degree" in this. No, tonight, you can do it. Say goodbye to the Sabbath 29:41 tonight with Jesus. It remains up to us, however, to let her in; to receive her 29:45 properly; to acknowledge that, indeed, we do have an extra dimension to our being. 29:50 Oh, this is good. Now, here it comes. "For, if we are not more than 29:54 what we are -- we are, most likely, less than what we are." Ooh, you gotta look at that. 30:05 Just read it off the screen. I mean, what does that say? What are we? 30:11 We are children of the Creator. Yes, we are -- brought into existence, each one of us, by 30:16 His personal choice. I repeat, you are not here by accident. 30:20 You were called into being by your Creator. That's who we are. 30:26 And we were born with a God-shaped vacuum in our hearts. You don't have to belong to any 30:31 religion. You can be "Mr. No," "Mrs. No," "Ms. No Religion." 30:36 "I have no religion." Guess what? Can't help it. You already have a God-shaped 30:40 vacuum in your heart. And it will only be filled by the Almighty Himself. 30:47 Nothing else can fill it. That's why people keep chasing and chasing and chasing. 30:51 "I gotta find something." Try your God-shaped vacuum. Fill it with Him. 30:57 Anyway, Sigve Tonstad, who does some excellent study examining the origin of the seventh day 31:06 Sabbath, powerfully contrasts the stark difference between what He calls Creation time and 31:10 clock time. I gotta share this with you. This is beautiful. 31:13 "The Sabbath has the power," He writes, "to overturn distorted priorities." 31:17 Keep reading. "In the biblical perspective, the Sabbath interrupts the 31:22 routine of clock time and the obligation of work by calling all creation to a day of rest 31:28 according to the great clock of nature. That's beautiful. 31:31 The man is a poetic writer. He's an MD and a PhD, New Testament scholar. 31:37 All of it in one. Keep reading. That's beautiful. "As daylight fades every Friday 31:43 night, 'from evening to evening'" -- we just read the verse -- "the Sabbath breaks the 31:47 cycle of business and the struggle for subsistence. At the setting of the sun, clock 31:53 time yields to Creation time in order to respond to a higher summons, mediated by the clock 32:00 of Creation." The seventh rotation of the Earth at the end of every week 32:08 from sunset to sunset marks the beginning, duration, and end of His Sabbath. 32:17 Beautiful. One more line. "For this reason, the hours of 32:22 the Sabbath behind at the gentle tolling of nature's ruling light, not an arbitrary hour 32:27 defined by a mechanical clock." No, no, no, no, no, no. 32:32 So, here's the question. We're all asking it. 32:34 How does all this work? I gotta share something really, 32:39 really special with you. My friend Marine Raj found this. 32:42 She found it on Instagram, and it is an Instagram post. 32:47 An Instagram post by Eli Albrecht. 32:53 Now, let me tell you who he is. He is a young Jewish private 32:57 equity merger and acquisitions lawyer -- that's a mouthful, but 33:01 that's what he does for a living. 33:03 He's kind of a dude. He's a young Jew. He's a Sabbatarian just like 33:09 you. Watch how he deals with the Sabbath. 33:12 Now, this is for the whole world to read. That's how Marine found it. 33:15 Here we go. "I," says this young, successful lawyer. 33:20 "I observe Shabbat" -- Sabbath. I have tried to hide it at different times, but never 33:27 compromised it, and it makes me a better lawyer, father, husband, and human. 33:33 For 26 hours, beginning sundown on Friday" -- 26. Yeah, he adds an hour on either 33:40 end just to make sure we come into this time together. For 26 hours, at the beginning 33:48 of sundown on Friday, I turn off my phone and computer. I don't use electronics. 33:56 And what I affirmatively focus on is self-growth. I lean in and nurture my 33:59 relationship with my kids and my beautiful wife. Most important, I evaluate 34:03 whether I was the kind of lawyer, coworker, father, and husband that I wanted to be this 34:09 past week and how I can do better this coming week." Writes this Sabbatarian. 34:15 [ Chuckles ] Oh, this is good. "Throughout my career, I was 34:20 told that to do M&A" -- And it's "mergers and acquisitions," okay? 34:25 "To do M&A, especially PE" -- I didn't write this down. It's "private equity." 34:31 "I was told I would have to compromise my Shabbat observance." 34:36 Mm-hmm, "A successful M&A lawyer and mentor told me, 'Yo, Eli. You may be the best attorney in 34:43 the world, but unfortunately, if we get an LOI -- letter of intent -- on Friday night, I 34:49 need you to turn it back to the client by Saturday night. If you can't do that, clients 34:54 just can't work with you. Have you ever considered going into tax law?'" 34:59 [ Scoffs ] Don't have to deal with people at all. That was the counsel he got. 35:08 And then, he tells about his acquaintance with Joe Lieberman. Joseph Lieberman, a very 35:15 well-known senator -- retired senator now -- in the United States Senate. 35:19 Wasn't observant. I heard Eli in a podcast. "I'm an observant Jew. 35:26 I observe the Sabbath." Lieberman was the same. 35:34 All right. Oh, this is good. "Shabbat is designed to 35:38 reinforce" -- So this is to the public, he's speaking now. 35:41 "Shabbat is designed to reinforce that our value is not the sum of our productivity or 35:46 what we produce. Our value goes beyond our work and beyond the economic value we 35:52 create." Isn't that good? When all the ringing and pinging 35:57 is gone for 26 hours" -- You know what that is, don't you? 36:00 Yep, that crazy vibrator. When all the ringing and pinging is gone for 26 hours, you 36:07 realize that your worth is independent of your work." And at the bottom, "Shabbat 36:12 Shalom to all." Wow. [ Chuckles ] Pretty impressive, wouldn't you 36:18 say? Let me ask you a question. Could you give that testimony? 36:24 Could you give that testimony to the world? Who knows you're Sabbatarian? 36:31 Your stereo blaring Friday night late, live-streaming flickering on your little 36:36 Sabbath laptop long into the night. Do you compromise the holy 36:41 Sabbath? Working a little extra on the job when you should be at home 36:46 with Jesus before sunset? Playing a little longer on the basketball court? 36:51 I know the game ought to be over now, but come on -- just a few more points, please. 36:55 On the golf links. Sun dropping. "I should be with my family 37:01 right now." Do you do that? What is the Sabbath to you? 37:07 Willing to compromise your Sabbath convictions for the sake of advancement or a bigger 37:11 paycheck? 37:15 How did Eli Albrecht put it? I'm gonna let you read it, because I just read it to you. 37:20 "While I recognize that Shabbat observance could result in a detriment to my career or 37:25 winning certain clients, the gains to my mental health, peace of mind, creativity, innovation, 37:33 closeness to family, and overall well being" -- and I put in, not to mention being obedient to my 37:39 Creator -- "are absolutely priceless. "I will never give up the 37:44 Shabbat." That's from a lawyer Jew. What do you do? 37:52 Who are you? You believe in Jesus. You celebrate the Sabbath. 37:59 Would you post words like that? Wow. Apparently, you can. 38:07 Apparently, you can live this way. Oh, what are those two lines 38:11 we're tracking? "My soul followeth hard after Thee." 38:14 Whatever I do, it's for Him. "My soul followeth hard after Thee." 38:18 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy with Jesus." With Jesus. 38:23 Ah, let's go to a Lutheran, okay? We're picking people not in my 38:27 faith community, is that okay? So, we're going to a Lutheran. His name is Walter Brueggemann. 38:31 He's an Old Testament scholar. He's written a book. It's a good book, I read it. 38:35 "Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now." And in the book, he takes a 38:41 swipe at something you treasure. Up there or down here. Listen to him. 38:46 Here we go. Walter Brueggemann. "In my horizon, the most 38:49 unwelcome form of multitasking is with the cell phone." "Oh, stop, stop, Dwight. 38:54 Don't continue. Please." No, come on. "In my horizon, the most 38:58 unwelcome form of multitasking is with the cell phone -- on the phone while at dinner with 39:02 a guest"... You and I don't do that. ..."or while driving." 39:06 You and I don't do that 'cause it's against the law of Michigan. 39:09 Yeah, right. 39:17 I want to tell you something. If you want to take notes during a church service, just 39:20 write them down. You have full dispensations from here. 39:22 You may write notes down from the sermon. But he's not talking about the 39:27 sermon. Taking notes during a church service. 39:31 What are on the notes? 39:42 I just have to post right now, please. Excuse me. 39:47 I'll be back, God. 40:05 When you multitask, and some of you consider yourselves, at your ripe young age, experts at 40:10 multitasking, you have given yourself to...nothing fully. Everything is just half or a 40:18 quarter or a third, however many tasks you are multitasking. Well, that's pretty heavy 40:26 stuff. He says, "Let's go to the Sermon on the Mount. 40:30 Let's talk about Jesus." Good idea. "Jesus offers an ominous 40:33 characterization of multitasking" -- remember this from the Sermon on the Mount? -- 40:37 "No one can serve two masters." Mnh-mnh! 40:47 You can't multitask with God. You can't. And then, to make sure we get 40:54 it -- and you're going to blush a little bit with this, but that's okay. 40:58 It makes the point very well. 41:07 [ Metallic clatter ] Well, I drop it, too, hearing that. 41:14 [ Chuckles ] Some guy said no. Pssh! "Oh, was that my phone?" 41:20 No. [ Laughs ] I'll repeat it 'cause you missed it now. 41:30 Can you imagine that? How long do you think Karen would allow me to do that? 41:35 Huh? Say, pastors don't make love. Are you serious? 41:40 Is that in the Bible? It's not in the Bible. You're trying to pull my leg. 41:45 You got the man's point. You got Brueggemann's point. Listen, nobody's condemning 41:50 the technology. Hold on, hold on. Nobody's condemning 41:53 the technology. Eli Albrecht is not. Walter Brueggemann is not. 41:56 The Lord Jesus Christ is not condemning technology. He's asking us something, 42:00 however. Are we multitasking with God on his Holy Sabbath? 42:07 Or any other day, I suppose. Making love to your cell phone on the Sabbath, tick-tocking 42:14 away on God's holy nickel on God's holy day. I don't -- 42:18 Listen, it doesn't matter to me. I know you're a very popular student and people are demanding 42:22 to hear from you right away. I understand that part. And I know you're a great 42:26 professor. I don't know what all it is you teach, but I understand why 42:30 multitasking is so important for you. But what Walter Brueggemann is 42:35 reminding us is that nobody gets full attention when I multitask. Not God, not nobody. 42:42 And when I multitask on the Sabbath... I've made a statement. 42:51 The one who bought me. How can it be? Amazing love. 42:56 For thou, my God has died for me. I'm telling him, "Ah. 43:02 Not a big deal." "Ah, man, Dwight, that's pretty heavy." 43:08 Well, think about it. Can people tell that we're observing the Sabbath? 43:16 Let me rephrase that question. Can people who know who we are? Because sabbatarians are known 43:20 all over this community. Sometimes I say "unfortunately." Can they tell whether we're 43:28 being faithful to our sabbatarian convictions? Do they know. 43:33 Do they see it? Do they sense it? Well, I don't do anything to be 43:39 seen. Well, you are doing something to be seen because it's being 43:43 seen. People know. On a more pleasant note, here's 43:50 an e-mail from one of you. Thanks for sharing with me. I got your permission 43:53 to share it. The e-mail begins this way. "I often think back to a little 43:57 incident that took place several decades ago when we still lived in northern Minnesota. 44:01 There was a Christian family who had several sons. The older sons were in sports in 44:05 the public school system." Why not? "And they were good, quite good 44:08 in sports. So mom and dad went to pretty much all the games, but their 44:12 youngest son, who was about our son's age, which was under five at the time, was a good friend 44:17 of our son, and their son got bored with the game, so his parents would come over to our 44:21 place many times on Friday evenings, when most of the games take place, and we were happy to 44:26 have him with us. I recall -- I recall one Friday evening, 44:29 when my friend hurriedly dropped off the youngest son, and she looked around, she looked around 44:35 at the peaceful surroundings. Fire in the fireplace, reading Bible stories to the kids. 44:42 And she said, 'You know, sometimes I really envy you having your Sabbath day.'" 44:52 Wow. "It was then that I truly realized what a blessing 44:58 the Sabbath is. I've often thought since then what a relief it is, all at 45:02 once, that once a week, I have permission from the greatest authority in the universe to 45:08 drop all the busyness of life on this Earth and just rest in His love. 45:12 I can't imagine life without the Sabbath." Good for you. 45:17 We didn't have to go to a successful Jewish lawyer to find out that people are blessed by 45:23 the Sabbath. We just heard from one of you. God bless you. 45:32 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Sundown Friday to sundown 45:36 Saturday. I got to say this. This is not rocket science. 45:40 This is not rocket science. God says, "I love you. You love me. 45:43 I've given you a bright mind. You got a loving and compassionate heart." 45:47 Listen, I have not published a book -- "50 Lawful Ways to Celebrate the Sabbath." 45:53 There is no book. You can't find it here. I love you and you love me. 46:00 My soul follows hard after you, God. Good. Come on. 46:04 On the seventh day Sabbath, from sundown to sundown, God has inserted a day in which our 46:11 lives are spiritually recalibrated, turning away from all the gifts and turning our 46:22 hearts, in a high, concentrated way, to the giver. 'Cause that's my problem. 46:30 I talk more about the gifts. Even when I talk to Him, I talk more about the gifts than 46:34 the giver. Sabbath comes to recalibrate. I want to end with a line from 46:42 AW Tozer with you. His book, "Pursuit of God." We have worship. 46:47 I'm talking about the pastors and chaplains of this campus. We have worship every Monday. 46:51 If you're wondering where we are on Monday at 1:30, we're downstairs, our chairs in a 46:55 circle, all massed, and we're having worship together. We're reading through Tozer's 46:59 little book, "Pursuit of God." And then, we have time to pray and apply it in prayer. 47:03 So just this last Monday, we're going around the circle, not by one by one, but people are 47:07 taking turns praying. And one of the occupants of the circle says something, speaks a 47:12 line in that prayer that goes straight to my heart. Just boom. 47:15 You know how the spirit does it. Just choom. "Are you listening to this, 47:18 Dwight?" Because I've been struggling with this notion or this need to 47:24 give more of my devotion to the giver and less of my attention to the gifts. 47:29 It seems like every time I show up with God, I say, "Hey, God, so nice to be with you. 47:33 Now, listen, here's my list for today." Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. 47:36 And I can spend minute after minute after minute. I can fill an hour with that. 47:42 And God says, "There's something wrong with this picture. What are you doing?" 47:48 Let me read you a line that we've already read in our little circle from AW Tozer. 47:53 Oh, yeah. "My soul followed hard after thee." 47:56 Oh, I remember that one. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 47:59 And I love adding the words "with Jesus," because that's how you do it. 48:02 And then, that line from last week -- "I am wholly yours," Jesus says, "so I want you to be 48:06 wholly mine." You don't need to multitask when you're around me. 48:10 I want all of you. I want all of you. Okay, here's Tozer. 48:14 "When religion has said the last word, there is little that we need other than God Himself. 48:20 The evil habit of seeking God-and"... And actually, so many times, 48:25 that's how I go to God. "God, it's so nice to be with you. 48:28 I love you back. And by the way, can I, while we're here together"... 48:32 And it's the "and" that just keeps adding all the gifts that I need from you right now, 48:36 Giver. Tozer says, "The evil habit of seeking God-and effectively 48:43 prevents us from finding God in full revelation." Keep reading... 49:03 I am what you're longing for. I am what you've been seeking. 49:12 Come to me. Every Sabbath, recalibrate. 49:15 [ Clicking tongue ] Recalibrate, realign so that 49:19 you and God are connected again. Wow. 49:28 So, anyway, we're having this prayer, and that's what the 49:30 Spirit is saying to me. Spirit is saying, "Hey, boy, did 49:32 you hear what was just said in that prayer?" 49:35 You know, Dwight, I get a lot of the gift stuff from you. And we're happy to give you 49:40 gifts, so don't take me wrong. But I wish you would concentrate on the giver more than the 49:45 gifts, huh? I'm what you're looking for. I'm what you're seeking. 49:52 Talk to me, open your heart up to me." Ah. 49:58 In that split second, I knew he was right. And that's why the Sabbath 50:03 recalibrate, recalibrate. Here's a prayer you can pray every Sabbath. 50:08 Come on, it's a simple prayer. Goes like this... 50:24 I love the gifts, but I didn't come today for gifts. I just want you. 50:30 I want you more than your gifts. "Desire of Ages" beautifully captures this quiet, quiet 50:39 depth of the Sabbath day with these words. "When every other voice is 50:45 hushed" -- shh! For me, late Friday night is a good time for that. 51:09 Wow, that's it. Oh, my soul followeth hard after thee. 51:16 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it wholly with Jesus. "I am wholly yours, and that's 51:22 why I want you to be wholly mine." What a giver, huh? 51:28 What a giver. What a prayer. What a prayer. 51:35 Come on. Oh, God. I want you. 51:43 I want you more than your gifts. Let's pray. Dear Jesus... 51:56 That's what the Sabbath reminds us -- we get it. And, so, we have but one prayer 52:02 to pray to you. Oh, God, I want you more than your gifts. 52:14 Please and thank you. Amen. Amen. 52:23 Two little responses to what we just shared together. You know the drill. 52:28 If you go to our number, 269-281-2345, the code today is "Banner5." 52:34 "Banner5." And here are the two steps... 52:46 Yeah, me, too. I got it. But this one, I want you to 52:49 think of this one. This is box number two. 53:04 Now, look at, here's the deal. I put up a response last week, 53:07 and a bunch of you sent it in, and when you clicked that, I 53:10 told you, I promised you I would pray for you by name. 53:13 And I have. I got a little list of names 53:16 that I'm keeping where I have worship in the morning. 53:19 Prayed for you this morning. But this is different now. 53:22 This is the first time. "Please pray for me as I 53:24 experience God's Sabbath for the first time," this sunset to 53:27 sunset. Just pray for me that it will go 53:30 well with my soul. My friend, it will go well 53:34 with your soul. I promise. 53:37 All right let's bring the singers out. There's a great gospel song, 53:43 set to another tune so that you'll think about the words. You'll recognize the tune. 53:47 Come on, singers. Robbie, lead us. Let's sing that song together. 53:57 [ "O Day of Rest and Gladness" begins ] >> Please stand as we sing. 54:03 ♪♪ 56:52 ♪♪ >> Let's pray together. 56:58 Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. 57:01 The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto 57:04 you. The Lord lift up his countenance 57:07 upon you and give you peace now and forever more. 57:10 But all the church say, "Amen." 57:16 >> I want to take an extra moment to thank you for joining 57:18 us in worship today. It's by the continued support 57:20 from viewers like you that we're able to bring this program. 57:22 Today I want to invite you, though, to share with us how 57:25 this ministry has blessed you. I get inspiring notes, e-mails 57:28 from viewers literally all over the world telling me, 57:31 "Look, Dwight, God has been blessing me this way. 57:33 He's been doing this." I would love to hear from you, 57:35 as well. Just visit our web site -- you 57:38 know it -- newperceptions.tv, and click on the "contact" link 57:41 at the top of the page. Send me a note, let me know what 57:44 God has been doing right now in your life. 57:47 Once again, thank you for being with us today. 57:49 I hope you'll join us right here next time, and until then, 57:53 may the God of grace journey with you every step of the way. 57:58 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:17 ♪♪ |
Revised 2022-02-22