Previous Service
Welcome
“We need to remain connected to the Lord resting, listening, seeking Him and then the beautiful fragrance of Jesus will be an aroma spread wherever we go!”
Stella
Worship
Word
Please read: Mark 2:23-28 (cf. Matt. 12:1-8; Luke 6:1-5)
Then He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Mark 2:27
Over time many probably fluctuate regarding ‘Keeping the Sabbath holy’ even from one extreme to another – very strict and rigid to very lax and free. What does the Scriptures teach about it? Well it is to be a delight:
If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honourable, and if you honour it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words.
Isaiah 58:13
Here we learn it is to be a delight and not just saying the words (if you call the Sabbath a delight) but an experience deep in our hearts. However, there are conditions and that is we don’t just do our own thing, for it is to be a holy day, honourable to the Lord and one we honour.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the 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.
Exodus 20:8-11
It is to be a day of rest which is why the Lord originally gave it:
The seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do.
Deut. 5:14
This is for our good and for His glory. Jesus goes on to teach that He is the Lord of the Sabbath,
So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
Mark 2:28
So the One who was going to seek and to save the lost, to serve them and give His life as a ransom, because He loved and cared for them so much; surely such a One has our best interests in heart, part of which was to teach that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. In His teaching Jesus indicates that need takes preference over ceremonial observation. King David was hungry and in need, and the priest met that need (Mk. 2:25-26). When we pile up the negatives such that the Sabbath becomes a burden not a delight, cf the Pharisees:
They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
Matt. 23:4
…then we need to redress the balance, which is what Jesus does here; He also healed many people on a Sabbath, Amen!
Quote of the week
“The Sabbath is God’s special present to the working man, and one of its chief objects is to prolong his life, and preserve efficient his working tone. The savings bank of human existence is the weekly Sabbath.”
W. G. Blaikie
Verse of the week
Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
Mark 3:4-6
Let’s Pray
Father, by Your Spirit within us, make us more and more like Your Son Jesus Christ, Amen!