Sermon: Because We Need Rest by Randy Roberts

Part 7: Why I’m an Adventist... 

Pastoral Welcome: Dan Matthews

Baptism: Sean Douglas Leeper, Chanmouny So Patzer, Sirath Meas Patzer - Rob Mohr

Children’s Feature: Jackie Bishop

Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:8–11, TNIV Mimi Esmiol

Note: Baptisms are in the extras section of the DVD

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERMON Without any hesitation, I can tell you that one of the reasons I am an Adventist is because Adventism celebrates the seventh-day Sabbath. A weekly time of rest, relationships and worship, Sabbath has been and remains one of the joys of my life. I have been reading a book entitled simply, The Sabbath. It was written by Abraham Joshua Heschel, an American rabbi who was born in Warsaw, Poland, and who was one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. May I share two quotes from the book? The first quote comes from the foreword, written by Heschel’s daughter. In enumerating the categories that constitute “work,” the Mishnah describes types of activities necessary to build technological civilization. Yet my father goes further. Not only is it forbidden to light a fire on the Sabbath, but, he writes, “Ye shall kindle no fire—not even the fire of righteous indignation.” In our home, certain topics were avoided on the Sabbath—politics, the Holocaust, the war in Vietnam—while others were emphasized. Observing the Sabbath is not only about refraining from work, but about creating … restfulness that is also a celebration. The Sabbath is a day for body as well as soul. It is a sin to be sad on the Sabbath, a lesson my father often repeated and always observed. (Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath, p. xiv). Wow! How would following what Heschel believed and taught change not only how you observe Sabbath, but the climate of your home on the Sabbath? And now Heschel’s own words. The Sabbath is no time for personal anxiety or care, for any activity that might dampen the spirit of joy. The Sabbath is no time to remember sins, to confess, to repent or even to pray for relief or anything we might need. It is a day for praise, not a day for petitions. Fasting, mourning, demonstrations of grief are forbidden. The period of mourning is interrupted by the Sabbath. And if one visits the sick on the Sabbath, one should say: “It is the Sabbath, one must not complain; you will soon be cured.” One must abstain from toil and strain on the seventh day, even from strain in the service of God. (Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath, p. 30). I confess—if Heschel’s idea of what it means to observe the Sabbath is correct, there is much that I have left to surrender to God on the Sabbath. But, at the same time, I am struck by the thought that if I do that—if we all do that—what a joyful day the Sabbath would be! God bless richly on this Sabbath day! Happy Sabbath!

Randy Roberts

Senior Pastor

MEDITATION Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world. – Abraham Joshua Heschel

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