The Village Church The Village Church

Only God gives us our true identity. The story of Moses and the Ten Commandments.

On a mountain, God provided in a way that only God can provide. The story of Abraham and Isaac.

The counterintuitive way to meet our infinite desires is to...stop. The biblical writers call this "Sabbath," something that Jesus practiced with regularity. Theologian Walter Brueggemann once wrote, “The Sabbath…announces that the world is safely in God’s hands. The world will not disintegrate if we stop our efforts. The world relies on God’s promises and not on our efforts.” Jesus invites us into his way of life, a life away from the constant cycle of hurry in order to meet our infinite desires and into a life of slowing and Sabbath. 

Life satisfaction and overall happiness in the Western world has been dropping year over year for decades now even while things like the DOW run at record highs year over year. John Mark Comer writes, "One of the many reasons that happiness is dropping in the West even as the DOW is rising is because materialism has sped up our society to a frenetic, untenable pace."  What if Jesus was right when he said, "Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions?” Jesus invites us into his way of life, a life away from the constant stress of materialism and the hurry it requires and into a life of simplicity.

What's the greatest challenge to your spiritual life today? Christian philosopher Dallas Willard was once asked, "What do I need to do to become the person I want to be?" Willard responded, "You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day.” We all understand this on a gut level: rather than leading us to experience more life, hurry is actually stealing our life from us. Jesus invites us into his way of life, a life away from hurry that leads to rest for our souls.