Theme of the Day: Rest Is A Gift, Not Something To Be Earned
After a long day of work, you have earned the right to sit down in your favorite chair, put your feet up, and watch your favorite program. After a hard week on the job, you have earned the opportunity to relax a bit that weekend. After doing your job well for many months, you have earned those two weeks of vacation at the beach. This is how everyone thinks: rest is something you earn through hard work. We even teach that to our kids: no gaming until homework is done, no playing with friends until chores are complete.
Since that concept of rest being earned is so deeply engrained in us, to properly understand spiritual rest requires a top-down faith. God needs to send us the Spirit so that we can grasp this truth. True spiritual rest cannot be earned. In fact, the harder you try, the more restless and the less peaceful you become. Spiritual rest is a gift that God gives. The rest we need most—from guilt, from worry, from shame, from hopelessness—is graciously given to us by the Lord of the Sabbath.
Mark 2:23–3:6
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
Colossians 2:13-17
Psalm 62A
919 – Blessed Jesus, at Your Word
703 – I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
670 – I Come, O Savior, to Your Table
635 – From High Atop the Mount
Prayer of the Day: Eternal God, your Son, Jesus Christ, is our true Sabbath rest. Help us to keep each day holy by receiving his Word of comfort that we may find our rest in him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. Alleluia.