Trey VanCamp Podcast Trey Van Camp

For the modern mind, the Sabbath is typically associated with a day off work to attend church, get things done around the house, and binge on the latest TV show. While this may offer the illusion of rest, it is far from a holy day set apart for the Lord.
The Bible presents a different view of the Sabbath, which involves focusing our minds, hearts, and bodies on the adoration of God. It includes thinking of God throughout the day, turning our attention from worldly things to God, and loving and serving others. Without worship, the Sabbath can become a day of self-centeredness rather than a day to honor God.
Rather than simply resting, worship transforms the Sabbath from a day off work to a day centered on God’s character and nature.

Genesis 2:1-3; Isaiah 58

Together Guide at https://formedbyjesus.com/sabbath/worship/

A key element of Sabbath is the practice of delight. When we take the time to stop and to rest, we find ourselves more aware of the goodness and beauty in the world around us. This recognition and enjoyment of creation is called delight, and it’s something that God himself does. Scripture is full of God delighting in his creation, including us. God delights when we delight. But most of us are too unaccustomed to delight.
Simply put, we don’t know how to play. We know how to indulge, how to escape, and how to numb, but few of us have cultivated the Godly qualities of playfulness and joy in our lives. God institutes Sabbath not as a day of restriction and rigidity, but as a day of delight so we become people defined by our joy.
When we use Sabbath to practice delighting in God, in others, in creation, and in ourselves, we allow the Spirit to form us into people of delight.

Genesis 1:31-2:3; Mark 2:23-3:6

The idea of rest seems simple enough. We all want rest, but never seem to get it. Always just outside of our reach, rest seems either something to laugh at, or something to buy. But one of the most radical things Jesus teaches us is that he is able to offer us true rest without requiring us to work more, do more, or have more.

When we practice Sabbath, we stop all our work and worry so that we’re able to become people of true rest. Like Israel, we remember that we’ve been saved from the oppressive yolk of productivity, and instead we’ve taken on Jesus’ yolk of ease. We reject that lie that our worth and value come from what we do, and that rest is a commodity we have to earn. In this way, rest is a countercultural rebellion against the powers and systems at war against God and his kingdom.

To practice Sabbath is to accept the invitation to rest while living in a world of hurry.

In our culture of restlessness, busyness, and hurry, setting aside an entire day to stop all work and productivity sounds anything but restful. Yet deep inside all of us is a yearning for true rest, which is why God offers rest as a gift in the form of the weekly Sabbath.
In Genesis 2 God himself takes a day to rest from his work, weaving a rhythm of rest into the fabric of creation. When we live by this rhythm, working during the week and resting for a full day, we’re slowly transformed into people of true rest who are able to genuinely love others. But living outside of this rhythm wreaks havoc on our souls and relationships with others.
To realign ourselves with this ancient rhythm, the first step is simply to stop. For 24 hours we commit to ceasing our work and turning our trust from our own hands to God’s provision.

In Exodus 14, Moses finally leads the people of Israel out of slavery and into freedom. But before they can enter the promised land, God tests them. He puts them between Pharaoh and the Red Sea, he leads them to undrinkable water, and then he makes them wander long enough to run out of food. Each time, the Israelites complain.
They would rather remain in slavery with stability than have their freedom without control.
In many ways, the story of Israel is the story of the Christian life. Like Israel’s struggle to detach themselves from Egypt, we struggle to detach ourselves from our sin. To confront us with this reality, God tests us. But from the life of Moses, we learn that the best way to endure seasons of testing and turn our attention away from our old life of sin, is to practice praise.

Our society is obsessed with redefining reality. We look to technology, entertainment, and education to pull our attention away from the reality of sin and attempt to control our future.
But at some point, reality hits us.
Whether in the form of a global pandemic that shuts our lives down, or 10 ancient plagues that shut a nation down, God often allows us to experience harsh reality checks to reveal our idols and point us back towards him.
When we practice communion, we remind ourselves of this reality. We remember that we are not God, that we cannot save ourselves, and Christ is the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus loves us, he’s rescued us, and he’s here when we’re willing to surrender our control.