REMEMBERING & REFOCUSING

CBC YOUTH MINISTRY: THE 4TH COMMANDMENT

The Fourth Commandment is rooted in our faith in God that He is sovereign over all things. Our souls can truly rest because of the Work that Jesus accomplished on our behalf in his life and his death on the cross. Lastly, because of this understand that God designed a perfect rhythm for our lives, we make regular plans to rest from our work and reflect and worship the Lord with the community of saints.

UNDERSTANDING & PRACTICING SABBATH

As we look at the 10 Commandments we remember that all of the 10 commandments:

Are all tied together
All point to our relationship with God & how that affects others
These laws are set in place to show us that we cannot keep the law on our own
These laws fulfilled in Jesus allows us to live the best possible life if we follow them joyfully.

The fourth commandment is no different. I'm not sure if Sunday's Youth Praise made any sense. It could have been a mixture of tiredness and my rambling but I wanted to make sure we all were clear on the 4th commandment. Here's the summary:

1. A sabbath rest was created into the fabric of creation and how life ought to be. The Lord God rested on the seventh day, called it a Sabbath day, blessed it and called it holy. It was a good thing.

Bonus: Remember that God doesn't need to rest. He's God. So what he's doing here is he's creating something good and right for us to follow and enjoy.

2. Sabbath rest is meant to remind us that ultimately God is in control over all things and that our ultimate worship is not in his things but in Him. We should take and make time out of our daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly calendars to set aside for the Lord in worship, connection, prayer, and relationship.

Bonus: God knows that we would work ourselves to death trying to build ourselves. Therefore, he tells His people to keep the sabbath in order to prevent them from fooling themselves that their work that gives them meaning. We have value because who we are (as God's created beings and in Jesus) not what we do.
Bonus: Taking a sabbath forces us to trust that God is over all things and that he will provide for us and take care of our daily needs. He knows the ultimate thing we need isn't more of created stuff but more of Him.

3. Sabbath rest for those in Christ takes place in the context of the gathered, local, worship in church. Because of the life and death of Jesus Christ, our final rest for the soul is in the person of Jesus. Our hopes, dreams, worth, and value is found in Him and we can finally rest from the insanity of earning. And through Christ, he created the Church in which we gather weekly to commune with the saints in worship, prayer, hearing and submitting to Scripture.

Bonus: If this is sabbath rest for the 2018 Christian, how seriously ought we take this commandment? Do we make gathering with the church a priority? How do you prepare yourself before you walk into service? Do you actively engage in worship or is your heart distracted and divided? Do you anticipate the Spirit of God to challenge you during worship? How do you see those around you in service? Do you worship with them and connect with them and pray with them?

This is the 4th commandment friends. Now that we understand this a bit more, we are held accountable for living this out and as the verse says, teaching all those who are within the community. I pray that your soul is restored as you practice this commandment.