What Does The Bible Say About Sabbath Rest?

What does the Bible say about Sabbath Rest_ Matt: Well, hello and welcome to Crowd Church. My name is Matt Edmundson. Beside me is the very talented Dan Orange. And we are Crowd Church, a digital church, an online church, uh, for those who are looking to explore the Christian faith. And we're just here. It's a safe space to do that whether you're a Christian, whether you're not. You are welcome here. Uh, and tonight, today, this evening, wherever you are in the world watching this, we are gonna be talking about rest and Sabbath. And speaking of rest, Dan, uh, I saw in the comments you had a crafty nap this afternoon. Dan: I did have a little. Afternoon, Sunday rest and it was very good. Matt: A little Sunday afternoon rest after the, after the Sunday dinner after quite a lot of, yes, after quite a lot of Dan: meat at a Brazilian restaurant, so yes. But now I'm ready. Matt: Yeah. Now you've come out of your food coma and you'rejoining the rest of the world. Yep. Absolutely. Well, the good news is, Dan, you'll be pleased to know that you are gonna, um, uh, find justification for having a rest this afternoon. For sure. That's what I'm hoping. No pressure Jack. Uh, so Jack Mariner is doing the talk this evening called What does the Bible say about Rest and Sabbath? We are gonna get into that in probably about three or four minutes. Uh, so yes, uh, do stay with us for that as we get into the talk. Um, but if you are watching this live, if you're joining us live, whether on Facebook or YouTube, do say hi in the comments. It'd be great to hear from you. Uh, it'd be great to see where you are watching this from, uh, and, uh, everything that's going on. So thank you for all your comments that have come in so far. What's Matt k Crewe got here. Uh, uh Has Matt Edmundson caught the sun? I dunno. Matt? I don't think so. Uh, am I looking a little bit sunburn? I just, maybe it's just the lighting on the camera. I don't know. Uh, but yeah, welcome. Do join in. Do say hi in the comments. They do come through, uh, and we do respond whenever we can. So, yeah. Dan, what's coming up? Dan: So, as you said, we've got Jack Marr. We're gonna be talking about the Sabbath, which would be very interested. Um, we got a worship song come up very shortly and then after the talk we will have Conversation Street. So we'll be chatting about the talk and if you've got any questions, just put 'em in the comments and we can hopefully try to answer them. Matt: Yes. Well, you can 'cause you, you are way more knowledgeable about these things than I am. Uh, so I'm about Sunday afternoon Kips. I don't Dan: think that'd be the whole talk. Matt: Yeah. Yeah. So I've got a lot more practice to be fair and to be totally transparent and honest. I also had a nap this afternoon. Uh, my little routine when the Grand Prix is on, is to watch the start, have a nap in the middle and watch the end. Uh, and I've done that for many years and it seems to work really well. In fact, I miss it when the Grand Prix isn't on because I miss my Sunday afternoon nap. Uh, maybe it's the stage of life thing, Dan. I don't know. Yeah, I think so. Uh, I didn't start napping until we had kids and then. It just suddenly was a gift. Yeah. All of a sudden I could just nap. Anyway. Anyway, so you are correct. We are talking about what does the Bible say about Sabbath and rest. We are gonna have Jack Marr do the talk in just a few seconds time. Uh, after the talk, we're gonna have time of worship. Uh, join in if you can. Sing along, if you can, if it's safe to do so, or just listen to the words if you can't. Uh, and then Dan and I will be back for Conversation Street, where we will take your questions, your comments, and we will chat about Sabbath and rest. The whole live stream will be done and dusted by around 7:00 PM although that said, usually around seven o'clock we play another worship track for those who just wanna hang around in the comments. But, uh, just to give you some idea of time. Uh, and if you're not watching in the uk, 7:00 PM is in about 55 minutes, uh, from now. So if you are watching on Catchup or listening to the podcast, a big warm welcome to you. Uh, I hope you're enjoying the podcast. I hope you're enjoying the Catchup live stream. And if you can do, come join us live. Every week, every Sunday here on Facebook and YouTube. Yes, we are. Right. Without further ado, let's bring on my very, I'm just looking for the button on my thing here. There we go. Uh, without further ado, let's bring on our good friend Jack Mariner. Now, if you are new to Crowd, and you dunno who Jack has, Jack has been around our church in Liverpool for a long time. I'm trying to think. Uh, he, he is, he is gotta be here a while. Uh, Jack, he's part manager. Yeah. He said Dan: Eve's put out a video about communities that they've been doing those for 13 years and he's been doing those for a long time. So I'd say over 13 years. Matt: Yeah. Wow. There's. Sherlock Holmes, also known as Dan Orange. Well done. So, yeah. So, uh, Jack's been around for a while. He's part of the church leadership. He's just an all round amazing guy. He's a great father, he's a loving husband, and, uh, he's a real keen fan and student of the Bible. So he's done the whole Bible school thing. So we asked Jack to do this talk to which he said yes, it's his first talk for a while in Crowd Church circles. Uh, so grab your notebooks, grab your pens. You are gonna want to pay attention to this, uh, and we'll be back very, very shortly with Conversation Street. Here is Mr. Jack Mariner. Jack: Hey, Crowd Church. Great to be with you. Today we are looking at the topic. What does the Bible say about Sabbath rest? Now you don't need to go far to see that there is so much being written about. So much has been written in the last decade or so about mental health, emotional. How we can cope in a world that is so busy, right? How, how we can get all the things that we want to get done, how we can cope with always being on, go, go, go, do more, be more. All these things, you know, the rates of anxiety and depression are really high. Um, let's be honest, life can be a little bit overwhelming, right? It can be a little bit too much. Maybe there aren't enough hours in a day. Maybe we struggle with dealing with the requirements we put on ourselves or others put on us. And sometimes it just feels a, a little bit like life is too much. And, and it's probably no surprise that in the church in the last five, 10 years, I'm just seeing increasingly churches preaching these series to try and help people grapple with these topics and help people slow down and help people put in margin and rest. And why? Well, the reason is 'cause God cares. God cares about us. And actually he has some really good things to say. About how we are to live sustainable lives and not just survive, but thrive in our day to day. And if I was to step, put this all down to one bottom line, and it's a bottom line that I've nicked off someone, but I thought it was pretty good. The bottom line of this message is that we need to take a Sabbath. If we don't take a Sabbath, Sabbath will take us. If we don't take a Sabbath, Sabbath will take us. And for me, I found out about this, uh, the hard way really. I suffered burnout in 2016. I'd been working a bit too hard. I'd put too much expectations on myself. I was working, uh, in a, in a environment where I struggled to take time off often working on the weekends. And I just found myself mentally and emotionally exhausted. And I started to struggle with some friendships. And my relationship at home with my wife was taking. Uh, a knock as well. And someone said, Jack, you need to stop. You need a rest. You need to take some time out. And so I did. And I, in that space of a couple of years where I slowed down, had a bit of time out, I found this rhythm of Sabbath that brought so much life to me and thought, why didn't I take this more seriously earlier? So I'm gonna look at what Sabbath is, uh, what the Bible says about Sabbath, and then we're gonna look at some practical, what might Sabbath look like for me? How can I do Sabbath and have Sabbath rest in such a busy life? So let's take a look at Sabbath in the Bible right now, and probably the most, um, common or or known passage in the Old Testament about this is when Sabbath is mentioned as one of the Big 10 Commandments. It's the fourth and longest commandment in Exodus 20, verse eight to 11. So let's have a read of that. And it says, remember the Sabbath day By keeping it holy, six days, you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to your Lord on it. You shall not do any work, neither you nor your son or [00:09:00] daughter, male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing your town. So nobody should work nothing and nobody should work. For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and earth the sea and all that is in them. But he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. So here, the Israelites, God's people were to cease work, to stop work on the seventh day and have a solemn day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. And that word Sabbath probably comes from the Hebe word, Shabbat, which literally means deceased to stop, to cease from doing what you're doing. And each week, God's people were to stop from the toil, stop from doing what they've been doing for those six days to come together and to rest. And why did they do that? Well, three reasons why. Firstly, they did it because it was an act of worship. It was an act of devotion, and it was an act of obedience. God said, do it. So they did it, but they were also doing it because God said, be like I am, be holy. For I am holy. And God in creation, um, had had that breast himself on that seventh day, and he calls them to imitate him. And so here in this passage, he tells him to remember the Sabbath, keeping it holy as he did. So it's an act of worship and obedience. Secondly, it brings restoration. It is so good for us. Remember the bottom line I shared earlier that if we don't take a Sabbath, Sabbath will take us well In Deutero five, in Exodus 23, God tells people to rest so that they could be restored. And the word there actually has a deeper meaning, means to catch, breath, to be restored, right to the very soul. And those who own property should rest their slaves and animals on the Sabbath day so they too could be restored. So it wasn't just for individuals, but it was for their whole households, their slaves, their animals as well. And in two Chronicles 36, we read that Israel, the people of God, they were, um, taken into captivity in Babylon. And while they were there, it meant that their land could finally get a rest. And it says that the land of his rail was laying dormant and it finally had its rest. So Sabbath is about restoring creation and living in a sustainable way. You know, imagine, I love that idea that if we took this seriously, the idea that right from creation, we, God had put limits on everything. Not just people, animals, but even the land. And we can push ourselves, we can push the animals, we can push the land too far. Imagine if we took that seriously. All the conversations people have about around the environment and around our resources being pushed too far. And maybe we've overworked the land, not just our bodies as well. I think it's really interesting, something I'd love to look into a little bit more. Well, the third reason to Sabbath is that it points people to the future hope of Jesus return. You know, Sabbath, everything we've talked about so far, about stopping, about worshiping God, stopping it about being restored, stopping and living in a sustainable way, recognizing that the world that us, the animals, that the land has limits. But all of that actually points to heaven, right? That actually Sabbath is about bringing justice, it's about bringing provision. It's about bringing wholeness. It's a picture of the day when Jesus returns and God will make all things new. So practicing Sabbath is for the present. It's remembering the past, but it's also looking. To the future, and this is how we're gonna live. Where we don't need to work, we don't need to tour, we don't need to strive anymore. God will provide. God is our provider. Amen. So how can we see Sabbath in our day to day? I'm gonna look at that in a moment, but really I want to want to just push home that it is not just a day of doing nothing, but it connects us to God. It restores us and points towards his coming kingdom. So into the New Testament, that's exactly what Jesus also affirms. We've read about the ultimate testament, but it's interesting how often Jesus either teaches or performs a miracle or preaches on the Sabbath day. And I've been reading Luke recently, and it's scattered throughout Luke's gospel. Luke chapter 13, we read Jesus healing, a crippled woman, and then a group of Pharisees approach him and say they try and catch him out. These Pharisees, the keepers of the law, they're like, you are working on the Sabbath in Luke 1314. They say they are seven, six days for work heal on those days, not. The Sabbath. Um, but of course Jesus understood that God didn't just rest on that seventh day. It wasn't like he'd done all his work and then he just had to lie down Now on the Sabbath, although it means to stop and to cease what it says, to stop and to cease from is the busyness of life. From building your empire, from toiling away from selling and buying. It doesn't just mean to stop and do nothing, and that's what Jesus got. God is always loving. God is always restoring. God is always bringing life, and that's what Jesus came to do. And he's clearly upset that these religious leaders missed. That Sabbath is at its essence about bringing life. Okay. It's not what, uh, that we ought to do it or we should do it or we must do it. I don't think it makes us a better Christian or it gets us saved if we Sabbath. It's that we get to, it's a gift from God. So obeying Sabbath to letter just results in strife. It just results in more work strife as opposed to rest, death, as opposed to life. So let's get a bit practical. And, uh, to do this, I'm gonna be using, um, Pete G's book of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. And he also writes about Sabbath in other areas as well. But he uses four key things to say these are what you need to do to have a good Sabbath. This is what makes Sabbath [00:15:00] a holy and biblical Sabbath. And he talks of Sabbath as a 24 hour timeframe. It's a 24 hour timeframe where we stop work, enjoy rest, practice, delight, and contemplate God. So stop work for, this is the the hardest part that we actually stop. You know, it takes effort. If you imagine a car driving on a motorway, it is much easier for that car to discontinue. But a good car owner, or anyone with any common sense really will know that a car cannot just keep going. A car needs an MOT. Occasionally a car needs to be refueled. It needs petrol. A car will need minor repairs occasionally. If not, it's gonna break down. It's gonna run out of fuel. And we are exactly the same, and the world is exactly the same. We need to take seriously that we have limits and it takes a conscious effort to stop and to slow down and to think, do you know what I'm going at too fast to pace. I'm going at too fast a pace, and I get so encouraged that Jesus had limits on earth. You know, he didn't heal everyone. He didn't stay in Capernaum when people said, stay, stay, stay. Plant a church here. He, he didn't do everything that people ask of him. Yet at the end of his life, he prayed in John 17, four, I've completed the work you've given me to do. So Jesus, in his humanity, he was fully human. He was also fully God. But in his full humanity, he had limits and so do we. Now, for Jen and I, we, uh, our patterns that we've developed over some years is we work up until Friday evening and then we sabbath Friday evening to Saturday evening. We do a simple meal. We light the candle, the family together, we make sure that we are home. Uh, just. For, for that evening meal on the Friday. So we make a special effort there. Um, and we bless the, the week that we've had and we say thank you Lord for that. We share our highs and lows and any funny stories and then we bless the day of rest together and we just have a quite a chilled. And Saturday as a family time, we try and make it not too busy, not too full of activities or the children's activities. We try and limit them as well and we want to be refreshed. And there is this debate, uh, in Christian circles, but in other circles as well, about whether we need to sabbath on a Friday night to Saturday evening or whether as a New Testament, the early church practice, you can sabbath on the Lord. Well, they didn't practice this, but they have something called the Lords though, which is something slightly different on a Sunday where the people of God gathered together to praise and to worship and to remember God Well, there is differences and what I like about Pete Gero. Language is, he says it's a 24 hour period, it's a 24 hour timeframe where we do need to stop. We do need to rest. So I know good Christians in my mind that that Sabbath Friday night to Saturday evening, me and my wife do it just because that works for [00:18:00] our, um, our lives. Because I often work on a Sunday. Um, I, I know good Christians who sabbath on a Sunday. I know good Christians who Sabbath on a Wednesday. Um, I don't actually know what a good Christian is, uh, as I, as I'm saying that. But, um, you, you get my point that you can sabbath at any point, but it's gotta be a 24 hour period where you stop and you rest and you do these things. So number two, rest. Once we've stopped, we need to accept God's invitation to rest. Now, one of the major obstacles, I think, to resting is technology. And it's great technology for things like this connecting as sharing of being informed. But we, how can we stop when we're always on? How can we stop when we're always on, always connected and formed and stimulated? Um, there are many studies that say that actually too much technology is bad for our mental health. Having too many smart devices pinging messages, actually we can get addicted to the, uh, adrenaline or the endorphins or the oxytocin or whatever it is that is, is stimulated and, and is formed in our brains. When we get a message, we can, um, we can get overstimulated and we can get addicted to these things and Sabbath if we let. It can be a resistance to these things, and I know a growing number of people who are practicing Sabbath. By coming off their devices once a week. And, and we do this, me and my wife, we try and do it most Sabbath. Um, and we do make that special effort to get home on Fridays. And we put our phones to the side for, for the day, uh, or as best as we can. And do you know what? Since we've been doing it, not only have we been more attentive to ourselves and understanding ourselves, how we are really doing our emotions, our souls, we're more aware and attentive and connected to each other, but also we're connected with God and to the kids. The kids love us not being on our phones all day. Um, yes, they want to go on their devices a little bit more than we let 'em on the, on the Sabbath, but actually we've bonded so much better as a family. So there's all sorts of benefits to coming off technology. So I just encourage you to think about your own use of technology. But the thing about rest really is that it's gonna look different for all of us. We're gonna have different needs, different demands on us. And so one good way of thinking about it is do the things that bring you life. And help you rest. So that's napping or hiking, reading, eating nice food, whatever it is. Um, one opportunity my wife, Jen likes, is on a sunny day just to go to the park. She often takes the kids if it's a sunny day, she likes just to play and enjoy the flowers and just go for a walk. It fills her off. It fills her up. Yes, she is in full-time parenting mode, but she's doing something that helps her rest and switch off from the busyness of life. So what does it look like for you to rest in your circumstances? And I'd encourage you to think weekly and also longer term. 'cause there are some things you can do annually or maybe once a term that you can't do weekly, like a camping trip or a fishing trip or whatever it might be. Thirdly, delight. Now do the things that you can delight in. Let's be clear. God didn't need to rest, right? He didn't need to on the seventh day say, do you know what? I've just created the whole universe. I need a rest. I'm gonna go upstairs. Lie down. You guys crack on with things. He didn't say that did he? And that that's not what he needed. God is a God of unlimited energy. He doesn't need rest. Um, after creating the world, he said it is very good. And like a child who makes a cake, they can't wait to eat what they've created. They can't wait to delight in what they created. And on the seventh day, God delighted in creation. And I think that's a really good practice for us, that we, once a week, we delight in what we've created. We look back at our week and we say, that was good. That was good. Or at least say, God, that was good, what you've been up to. If we can't see anything good that we've made, but usually if we stop, we'll actually be able to do it. And it's a really [00:22:00] good practice in a world that always says we can do better. And there's more and there's progress to stop and say, that was good. So as part of preparing for Sabbath, one of the most important or another really good question to ask is, what gives you joy and delight? Once you've delighted in your own creation, what else can you delight in? For me, it's silence, it's nature, it's playing games, it's being silly, it's making things, it's making food, and it's eating food as well. So what about you? Now finally contemplate. This is the final thing, and this is what separates a normal Sabbath and a day off with a biblical Sabbath that really reconnects us and reorients us, um, and helps us to really be replenished. The final aspect of Sabbath to think about is contemplating God. And simply put contemplating means being aware of something. You know, it's good to stop, it's good to rest, it's good to, to practice self-care, but there is so much written about that. And what makes us distinctive as God's people is the presence and awareness of God. It's contemplating him. It's about drawing close to him and growing in our awareness of him. So let's face it, there are, there is so much bad news out there. There is so much to get us down and drain us all the time and practicing remembering. God and contemplating his goodness is really good for us. And Deuteronomy five, it tells the people of God, remember the Sabbath, observe the Sabbath, remembering what God has done, remembering how God has led them out into, uh, the wilderness, how he's provided for them, how it's saved them, how he'd, uh, been good to them. And that is a good practice for us at some time and throughout our Sabbath to just observe and contemplate God as we do this regularly, we'll be reminded of his promises. We'll be reminded of his goodness. And I think it's really helpful for us to fill ourselves with good news and the good news of the gospel and of God in a world of so much, uh, negative news as well. And just wrapping up Matthew 1128. Jesus says these brilliant words. This is the message translation. So why don't you just close your eyes and, and, uh, and listen to these. He says, are you tired? Are you worn out, burned out on religion list of to, to-dos, ORs and shoulds? Come to me. Get away with me. And your recovery, your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me. Work with me. Watch how I do now. Doesn't that sound good? He's talking not just about the, that one day a week. I think he's talking about a Sabbath lifestyle, one of a rhythm of work and rest. One of constantly coming into awareness of him, of knowing our limits, embracing our limits, uh, fixing our eyes on him, living in an awareness that orientates us to God. Because let's face it, we're in a disorientating world where the life can get too much. God is our north star. He wants us to be oriented to him so that he can show us the way forward. And ca the, the, the truth about Sabbath is that it is counter-cultural in the world. That is always saying, do more and be more, stretch yourself a little bit more. Well, actually, maybe God is calling us to slow down and go at a more sustainable pace. And actually maybe we'll, we'll, we will achieve more. Maybe we'll achieve less, but that's okay. The bottom line is we need to take a Sabbath, otherwise Sabbath will take us. So as we go into a time of chat now, and as you think about this, this week, my question to leave us would be, how are we observing the Sabbath and are we getting restored? Thanks for listening.

Matt: Well, there you go. Thank you John and Anna Grace, uh, for that track. And thank you Mr. Jack Mariner for being a legend with your talk. Uh, I think it's one of the things that Jack said, uh, Dan, and let's start at this point, is actually Sabbath rest is very canti cultural, uh, especially in the West, right? Um, [00:31:00] it is super, super canti cultural. In other words, it's not something that we. Easily do as a society. I don't think it's not easy. Something easily we do in the church. In fact, uh, this just taking a day of rest, taking a day of Sabbath. So I, I guess question number one, Mr. Orange, how easy do you find it yourself to do the whole Sabbath thing? Dan: Um, not, not super easy to be honest. Um, but I do, Saturday is probably our saper it, we don't have an official within our household. Um, but Saturday probably is, we pretty much got kids that will give us a line on a Saturday morning. Other that age now, Matt: are they? Dan: Yes. Yeah. Uh, rest and gym for me and then yeah, friends and family normally on that day. Um, but I'd like some of the things that, um, Jack [00:32:00] brought out about that being, um. Restored and something that Dave can put in the comments about reflection. Mm-hmm. Um, I think I want to introduce that into our, into our family that at the end of the week we have a little reflection. Let Matt: me add that, Dan: actually, Matt: I've got that comment here. So this is what Dave said. I always think the purpose of the Lord commanding the Israelites to keep the Sabbath was to reflect on the Lord's goodness faithfulness and provision. Mm-hmm. Is that the comment you were referring to? Dan: Yes. Yeah. I really like the idea of that. Often when, uh, we pray with the kids at night, well just pray about what's happened, sort of that day and that week. But I wanted it a bit more actively, you know, a bit more consciously. This is what's happened this week. What's, what has been, what has been great about the week? What's, what can we reflect on what God's done for us that week? Matt: Yeah, that was one of the, I mean, I've heard [00:33:00] Pete's cero talk about Sabbath quite a lot actually. Um, and I, I really like what he has to say and every time I hear his little list of the four things, uh, the, um, stop work, enjoy rest, practice, delight and contemplate, goal contemplate. Dan: Yeah. Matt: I'm like, okay. The first barrier is of course, stopping work. That, for, for me, that was always quite tricky, but I've, I get through barrier number one, right? And then I enjoy it. And we're gonna talk about some of the things that you do, maybe some of the things that I do. But I think for me, the hardest thing, uh, is this whole practice and delighting contemplating God on Sabbath. Do you know what I mean? And not seeing it as just a day off just to do whatever it is you want to do. Um, so yeah, I think it's, um, I, I think it's quite, I don't think I, I do think Sabbath is quite, quite, quite counter-cultural and I do think it's not actually that straightforward. And actually, even if we get through the hurdles of stopping work and, you know, enjoying rest, how, how much do I bring God into that day is an interesting question. Right? Dan: Yeah. Yeah. Because one of the things in the, uh, in the commandment is actually the keep it holy. Mm-hmm. We talk a lot about, about the rest and the Sabbath and having a rest, but it says, remember the Saab Sabbath and keep it holy. Mm. Um, I thought you are always asking the questions. I'd turn it around and say, what do you think you've seen through my little scheme? Keep it holy. What does that mean? Matt: I see you're asking. Okay, cool. Uh, I, I dunno how to respond now. 'cause I'm not, I'm not. No, no, no. Uh, for me, holiness, um, just means separate, right? So, um, when you are holy, you are separated from something to something, right? So, uh, a great example of this is when you are married, right? You are separated from, [00:35:00] I was separated from all the other ladies of the world and separated unto my wife, right? So I became holy unto Sharon. I became separate for her. Um, and I think. When we, when we think about keeping the Sabbath holy to the Lord, it's like separate it from everything which is normal and mm-hmm. Culture and separate from that unto the Lord, separate it to the Lord. In other words, do this God's way, not the way that you do it the other six days of the week. Right. There's this one day where I just want you to do it like this, uh, and separate it, uh, to be holy, to be something for God. Which is why I think Pete's gero, uh, contemplate God is a great way to explain that. Yeah. Right. It's a great way to say, um. To say yes, this day is holy. It is God's. I'm gonna contemplate God. I am. In [00:36:00] Christian circles, we like to use phrases that don't really make a whole great deal of sense, but when you're in church, they do. And we use phrases like, I want to draw near to God, or I wanna draw close to God. Do you know what I mean? And so I, um, I, I know that, for example, one of the things that brings me life, coming back to warn Jack's questions is, um, joinery. I like, I've got a little workshop. Uh, you've seen it, you've seen me there on a Saturday I have at my little workshop. Yeah. I was down there this week with Zoe. And one of the things that I love to do on my Sabbath is just go down there for about five or six hours and just make something out of wood. It's the complete opposites digital, which is the nine to five of my normal day. Um, it brings me life, it brings me joy, it's creative. And often when I'm, if I'm down there by myself, I will have back to back podcasts and worship on. So, Do you know what I mean? I'm like, I'm, I'm listening to someone teach or trying to get some understanding or a podcast, you know, about Christianity or, or a talk or something to do with my faith. Uh, so that when I come out of that zone, not only have I made something outta wood, but I feel closer to God, like I have drawn closer to him. And that's what makes it holy. It's a long answer, uh, to your question. Yeah. Dan: Long answer, but yeah. Good answer. I like that. Matt: Is that all right? Yeah. Yeah. Did I pass? You did. So let's have a look. Go on. Dan: Yeah. Um, I'll just say, so yeah, my rest, sometimes it is because my, my job sometimes the week can be very practical 'cause I'm like a, a tradesman. So my, when on a Saturday doing DIY or putting things on the wall or something, can I have to actively. Um, decomp com, com, com, whatever it was, compartmentalize, compartmentalize that that isn't, you know, that isn't my day job. I'm actually [00:38:00] resting and doing something just to, yeah. Um, so it's not always practical things that I do on the. On the Saturday, but yeah, it's still, yeah. Matt: And there are thousands of still, of, of people around the country going, Dan, DIY is not rest. It's not, enjoy your rest. It's not said What's wrong with you. No, I, I totally get that. Yeah. Uh, Dave put here, he said, I, uh, talking about a list, he, uh, so a similar list for years ago. He said, take, in fact I can add this to the broadcast. So lemme do that. Oh wow. Dave has taken over. Uh, I remember reading a similar list few years ago. Take time to study the Bible Journal. Listen to Christian worship music, play an instrument, take a walk in nature, go for a drive. Go to your favorite coffee shop, reading a good Christian novel or autobiography, watching or listening to a sermon or a podcast podcaster, fellowship with friends, invites someone over for dinner, eating a meal with family. They're all great activities, I think to do on a Sabbath. Uh, on a Sabbath day. So do you, on your Sabbath day. Switch off the whole technology thing. Do you do that? 'cause you're a bit of a technic geek. Dan: Yeah, I'm a bit of a technic geek and no, I don't. Um, but it's, yeah, I, I, I, something I like the idea off, because sometimes I can scroll when I could just be rested. You know, do, do you get that sort of, I'm sitting there, what should I do? Oh, phone comes outta my pocket and just scroll. Yeah. So, yeah, I like the idea that that could be part of my, my resting myself. Yeah. I think Matt: it's a really good challenge actually, not to bring the phone out a challenge. Yeah. It's okay. And I just wanna put this out there to the big world and you can, you know, we maybe will cut this snippet out and use it as a tweet later on. Uh, it's okay to be bored in the modern world. Right. And it's, you know, it's even more, okay. It's okay if your kids are a little bit bored [00:40:00] in the modern world. Just want to throw that out there. Uh, just, you know, while we're talking about technology, uh, so Matt says he goes for a long walk for five hours around the Liverpool when he has a no phone day. Man, that's commitment right there. Uh, so yeah, Nicholas put here, I have a rule that I don't, I, she doesn't do any woodwork, uh, or use any power tools and doesn't even mow the lawyers. I think she meant to say mow the lawn. At least I hope we're not mowing lawyers might get. Yeah. And I don't tend to watch TV apart from Crowd. Of course, of course. This is all part of, you know, Sabbath. Uh, so, uh, yeah, fascinating, isn't it? So, um, what's Dave put here? If the content of my Sabbath began to set the pattern or tone from what, oh, what if the content of my Sabbath began to set the pattern or tone for my entire life? That's a deep question. Dan: Mm-hmm. I like, I like that. I've been reading that thinking. Matt: Yeah, that's a good question, isn't it? Mm-hmm. Because in theory, I mean, with Sabbath, you are, I suppose you're switching off from the default, the nine to five. You are switching off from technology, you are focusing on God, you are resting in God. You're not in a rush, just waiting on God. Yet the other six days were all complete maniacs in terms of go, go, go, go, go, go. Uh, and so I, I like that question. What if this actually set the tone for my entire life? Yeah, I like that. Dan: The, um, talk at, uh, Frontline this morning, um, was, in fact it was Jack's wife. Yeah. Jenny. She was that, uh, yeah, yeah, she was great. And something she talked about is just the time, beginning of the day. And it's a little bit like a, like a mini Sabbath. Just having that start of the day, that is the day that you, that's the time that you reflect, that you contemplate, [00:42:00] um, to bring, bring that Samath. Like that's a bit like Dave saying, um, to set the tone for Mm. For that day. Yeah. Yeah. Matt: I have to admit for me, right, and I, I appreciate that. I'm now at a very different phase of my life. Compared to a bunch of other people, right? So my kids, they kind of take care of themselves. I don't, I don't have to prepare breakfast for them much to my daughter's dismay, right? Mm-hmm. Uh, my two boys university age, Zoe, is just about to do a final, is just, so, my phase of life is very different. And one of the things that I've, I've started to do recently is I get up and the first thing that I do, the first half an hour of the day is I journal. Usually for me, journaling is a form of Prayer. I kind of pray on paper, if that makes sense. It works really well for me. And I journal and I pray and I study the Bible, right? And that's what I do. And then for the next two hours after that, um, I try and do something that is creative. So I shut down all the tech apart from the one single app that I need, which is a writing app. Um, and I will just do, I will write something, create something either for Crowd or for work, and then I'll hit the gym. So by the time 11 o'clock comes, um. I have been so productive. Mm-hmm. And so far in what I need to get done. I've always, I've, I've done a massive jumpstart to the day, but I've kind of reoriented my day around this whole practice. Do you know what I mean? Switching all the tech offs, switching everything off, just getting into a place where it just, it's just, Do you know what I mean? Everything's just quiet and still, and it's amazing, amazing how much I get done during that time. But as I said, I'm in a different phase of life. Uh, Anna's put here. I think the way we can enjoy rest will vary greatly depending on the way that we are wired. So it's what it's about working out what's restful for you and family. Absolutely. That's totally right. And has actually written a book on rest, and it is one of the co-hosts here at Crowd Church. She's written a book on it called Sand Between Your. Uh, and so do check that out. Um, uh, and so, oh, what she says here, we tend to go out for the day as a family. Dan: Yeah. Because doing something nothing at home with a 7-year-old isn't really rest. Yeah. Matt: Amen. We all know what you mean. Uh, I might be at a different phase of life, but man, do I remember those days? Um, yeah. Just getting out for the day with the kids was, uh, was more restful than staying in. That's for sure. So, um, yeah. What else do you do, man? What, um, what are some of the things that you found that, uh, bring you life? Dan: I think for me it's a, it's a time when, um, it's a time actually on a Saturday, probably Saturday morning when I can chat to Lisa. 'cause, 'cause life isn't going. Um, and just to be clear, Lisa is your wife for that donating? Yes. Yeah. She's not like, yeah. The dog or someone next door. You heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen. Um, yeah, it's a time that we can, we can catch up and chat and rest and talk about, talk about stuff. Mm-hmm. Um, yeah. So as my, 'cause the, like you said, the week can be a bit more, has to be a bit focused. Um, you know, I'm often out and on site at eight till eight o'clock, so eight 30. So there's not much time in the morning to do that and kids getting ready for school. So yeah. Part of my rest is, is chatting. Mm-hmm. And just, yeah, find out where we're both at. Matt: Yeah. Abso well this is, comes again to this whole practice and delight thing. I like that as an idea. You know, that phrase practice delight, um, talk about [00:46:00] the week, talk about things that were, that's gone well. Um, you know, things that have happened, which have been good. And if there isn't anything. There are still good things that you can actually talk about it maybe in somebody else's life, and you can still celebrate that. Right. Um, but that whole practice in delight, I think is quite a good, a good thing, you know, that, um, what do they call it? The attitude, the gratitude attitude. That's right. Yeah. The gratitude attitude. You know, just to be thankful, uh, and just take time to be thankful, uh, for the things that God has done. But also, like Dave said, in terms of God's faithfulness to think about the things that you are wanting him to do, uh, and that you are trusting him for, uh, just with a grateful heart. Just, yeah. It's amazing how life is different when you, when you, when the, the heart is grateful, you know? Uh, and so that, that practice in delight, that whole being grateful, that whole gratitude thing. Yeah. Man. I think it's, it's, um, it's phenomenal. So here's my question to you. You asked me a question. I'm gonna ask you a question, just the way it works. Um. Why do you think God rested? Right. So all of this comes down to the fact that God creates the earth in six days, and on the seventh day he rests, and then he commands his people to do the same thing. Right to rest. Now what? Why? Dan: Yeah. Oh yeah. It, it's great, isn't it? Because like Jack said, he is got all the energy in the universe. Mm-hmm. And he says, he says rest. So could we take from that a bit that rest isn't necessarily not doing anything and, and, and recuperating. 'cause God didn't need to recuperate, but perhaps his, his rest was his contemplation of, of what he'd just done [00:48:00] that week. Um, looking at us, looking at the world, the universe, um. And, and the, and also like the Big Jack brought out about, um, Pharisees trying to get Jesus to say, oh, but you healed that person on the Sabbath, but God's worship. We just sort of exuberated from him mm-hmm. Into healing. You know, it wasn't, we didn't, couldn't, almost couldn't help that. Yeah. And yeah, it's great, isn't it? And I love that the Bible isn't something we can just read it and get our heads around just instantly. Yeah. But the creator of the universe, the first thing he does, first few chapters of the Bible is rest. Yeah. And then tells us to Brilliant. Yeah. Matt: It's quite fascinating, isn't it? And I, I, I remember someone saying to me, Matt, you know, if God rests you, you, [00:49:00] you're gonna need to rest. You probably should. Yeah. Right. I mean, it, it just. Just think it logically through, right? If God rests you, you're not exempted. And it's funny, isn't it? 'cause you, I read, I can read about Sabbath and I can read about rest and I can approach it in two different ways. The logical way to approach this is to go, that's awesome. Thank you God for rest. You are the creator. God telling me here, to have a sabbath day that in the modern world is a beautiful thing. Right? That's fantastic. I love that. The other way to interpret this is to go, which is my default, but when you think about it logically doesn't make any sense, is to go, oh, but I've got so much to get done. Yes. Do. What do you mean rest? And it's almost like something that is a blessing, something that is good and something that is God's created order, becomes a problem for me because I've got to go. Well, hang on a minute. I've no, I, I've got stuff to do. I want to get on with stuff. Uh, and so yeah, that, I think there's these two sort of two approaches isn't there? And the, like I say, the logical approaches just go, thank you God, this amazing thing. So what's Dave put here? I read that in Genesis two. God sets up a pan of rest after the six days of creation. God rest on the seventh day. Uh, he enjoyed the fruit of his work when he created mankind. He also settled them in the garden that he created so that he could dwell with hi. They could dwell with him and know him personally. That's awesome, isn't it? That's awesome. So what do you think to, um, church on a Sunday? So is church part of your Sabbath? Dan: That's a very good question. Yes. Yes it is. And I, I think, um, before I. Heard about this other type of Sabbath that we talk about, you know, the rest and the [00:51:00] family time. That was all my, my default, well, Sunday, Sunday's a Sabbath. 'cause that's the time I spend, um, worshiping God as a family, as a, as a church together. Um, so I definitely think, yeah, it is, it is Sabbath and I think there is, there must be rest in that. I think sometimes our Sunday Sabbath can get very busy, um, and it can get very, um, uh, energy zapping, not perhaps in the, in the, in the God part, but in the, just the family and having friends around and, um, if you, if you got to drive to church or take a bit of time out to, to get there and do things. So yeah, I do think it's, it is my Sabbath as well. Um. But it was interesting over COVID when we couldn't actually physically get out to church. It was suddenly, well, this is a different way of living. Having felt a bit like, um, yeah. Like people that go, you know, Sunday is a, perhaps in the UK is a huge shopping day, isn't it? Mm-hmm. That's the day people go out and hit the sales and hit the shops and stuff. And, um, it was this, this two day weekend rather than often it can be felt, could have felt before, like a one day weekend. Mm-hmm. Um, but perhaps need to actively make sure that, that it's both the, it's both the same. It mightn't be restful, it's physi, physically restful, but it's still that time when I can contemplate and delight in God. Matt: Yeah. Yeah, and I'm the same way, to be fair, I, until I started doing Crowd Church, um, I always saw Sunday as my Sabbath rest. And church is very much part of my Sunday, right? I love church. I love going to church. I love, uh, meeting people. I love connecting with God. I love Crowd. And I, I love the comments and the banter and the, it's [00:53:00] just, it's, it's life giving is what it is. But I think when you are leading church, it feels very different to when you are, you know, when you are going to church. Uh, and so that's why I moved my Sabbath to Saturday because, um, it be like Nicholas put here in the comments that Sunday actually can be one of the busiest days, um, which is why I moved it. But I, I still see church very much as part of my. Rest as part of my practice in delight, as part of my contemplating God. Uh, and I, I think it, it's a, it's a beautiful thing, you know? It's a, it's a, it's a beautiful thing. It's one of my favorite phrases. It's a beautiful thing. So thank you everybody for your comments, uh, on Sabbath rest. Uh, it's been great just reading what you guys get up to you and, uh, appreciate your comments, guys and gal. I really do. Uh, it's been an interesting conversation. Uh, and so the bottom line, the summary is God says, take one day a week as a holy day. And we call that Sabbath. Uh, and yeah. Deb, hope you got something practical outta this. Hopefully you got something useful outta this. It's not meant to be a problem for you. This is all life giving stuff. Uh, and uh, one of the things that Jenny Mariner said this morning, and I'll, I'll end on this 'cause I, I thought it was such a wonderful quote. Uh, she talked about, and Jack read the scripture as well. Are you tired from Matthew 1128? Uh, from the message translation, are you tired, worn out, burned out in religion? Come to me, get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me. Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. Such a beautiful passage, uh, from the message. And Jesus is saying this to us today. I still believe that. Um, but one of the things that Jenny says, he says is when you walk with somebody, you have to walk at their pace. Yes. Dan: And Matt: I wrote that down too. I love that. I love that. Uh, the key to all of this is walking with Jesus. When you walk with somebody, you live and walk at their pace and it's easy for us as Christians or uh, those that don't get no Christ or just anybody, it's easy to walk at a different pace of Jesus because Jesus' pace is often a lot slower than we think it is right in the West. Uh, with that kind of go, go, go, gotta do this now thinking, uh, Jesus, let's do this today. Now go, uh, and Jesus is like, let's just walk, let's just journey. Uh, and so, uh, we have to walk at the same pace. And I think Sabbath for me is all about that slow down learning to walk at the pace of Jesus, uh, and learning the unforced rhythms of grace. So yeah. [00:56:00] Here. End of the lesson. Right. Thank you. Uh, Jack, Dan, thank you for your comments. Thank you everybody for your comments on Facebook. Uh, you can definitely keep the conversation going. Uh, so what's happening? Oh, Anna says, what's Dan: happening next week? Yeah, Matt: what's happening? A very good question. Sharon is doing talk. Dan: Yes. Matt: Well done. You know that, Dan: that's awesome. Well, no, I just read off the Matt: comments. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah, yeah. George, who's moderating the Crowd Church comments, has already told us he's on it. Uh, talk on loneliness next week. Matt, Sharon, my, uh, beautiful wife is doing that talk, uh, on loneliness. Um, so that's what's happening next week. Just to remind everybody what's happening in August, um, just so there's no surprises is the livestream is gonna carry on. Uh, every Sunday, 6:00 PM You're welcome to join us. Come join in. The comments, uh, the live stream is gonna carry on, but it's gonna be a non-live, live stream. Now, what do I mean by that? I mean that we have prerecorded [00:57:00] them, uh, so that everybody here at Crowd, uh, on the team will take August as a sabbatical. Right. Sabbatical, Sabbath, same root word. Right. Uh, and if you follow Pete Gero, you'll, he talks a lot about sabbaticals and so it was listening to his podcast actually that really challenged me on this in a conversation with Matt Crew, uh, where we just were like, you know what, let's just take August and take that as a, as a as a month of rest. We're gonna rest the land as it were in August. But we didn't wanna stop putting stuff feather 'cause we know. Uh, a lot of people, you know, connect with that every week and it's life given and it's brilliant. So we know we've got a responsibility, but this is where technology is our friend. So we have prerecorded a whole bunch, uh, of live, what I say, a bunch four. Uh, we've recorded four live streams, uh, which are gonna go out during August. We'll still be in the comments. We'll still come and say How's it? But no one has to come and do production and all that sort of stuff. So we get a whole month of rest to enjoy the summer together as families. So that's what's going on in August. Dan, you and I recorded one of those live streams. We Dan: did. We did. You remember which one We did? And just, just so. Just so that Matt knows I have trimmed my beard. You can tell in the future it's longer TriMed. So you can see my mouse today. Matt: Yeah. So it's gonna look like your beard has grown really quickly. Yeah. Uh, when you watch the August livestream, that's brilliant. So August, the non-live, live streams coming your way on the Crowd Church platform where Dan magically grows a very long beard. Uh, so yeah. I've also prerecorded some with Anna. I'm. Recording one, I think this week with John Farrington. So, uh, they will all be coming out. Um, uh, so we've got loneliness. John Harding has done a talk on emotional wellbeing. Uh, we've got, um, Chris and Beth Ken, which was the one that we [00:59:00] did give us, giving us an update on and just sharing some stories on miracles, which was phenomenal. You're not gonna wanna miss that. So, uh, we've got the launch of the What's the Story podcast, Anna and I recorded that. You're not gonna wanna miss that one either. Um, Jesus, I'm so excited about that. Uh, you're gonna find more about that up in the coming weeks. The What's The Story podcast. Um, and then we're gonna do a talk on how do I know God? Uh, one of the most popular questions I get emailed, can I know God? And how do I do it? So we are gonna answer that question in August. So do stay connected with us. We will carry on the, what does the Bible say about series? Back in September. And in fact, Dan, the first talk, uh, is from your beautiful wife. Dan: Yes. In September. Yes. What does VI say about mental health? Yes. Matt: So we are covering a whole bunch of stuff. We've got rest, uh, we've got loneliness, we've got, uh, emotional, [01:00:00] um, strength, which John did. And then we've got what does the Bible say about mental health with Lisa. It was totally unplanned. It just kind of worked out that way. So hopefully you're finding all these useful and helpful. So I think Dan, from me, from you, that's, unless you've got anything else you want to throw in here, bud. Dan: No, no. Good night everyone. Matt: Yes. Thank you so much everybody for joining us. We are gonna play one more song, one more worship song. Feel free to stick around in the comments, carry on chatting away. Uh, join in with the words if you want to sing along. It'd be great if you do so. Uh, like I say, we will be back next week with what does the Bible say about loneliness. My beautiful wife is doing that talk. I am hosting that with Dan Pryor, so I'm really looking forward to that one. Uh, so do come and join us. It'll be great to see you there. Thanks again for all your comments. Um, and I'm just looking for the button on my part. Here it is. Uh, [01:01:00] thanks again for all your comments. It's been great to hear from you. If you would like to reach out to us, if you would like to connect with us, you can do that at crowd.church, uh, online. You can reach us on social media at Crowd Church. Uh, we obviously now have the Crowd Church Livestream podcast, which you can get from all your favorite podcast locations. So we're just cranking it out there. Uh, and thank you everyone for your comments that have been coming in the emails during the week. We have been praying for you, so do keep connecting with us. I think that's all the notes has done now, Dan. Dan: I think Matt: so. Dan: Yeah. Matt: I think we'll end did a good job. Awesome. Thanks Dan. Thank you everybody. God bless you. Have a fantastic week. See ya. Bye for now.