Rhythms of Grace
by Mike Cosper
Balancing Life's Demands
by J. Grant Howard
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Cultivating Sabbath Rest in a Busy World
by Michael H. Burer
Developing habits of “Sabbath Rest” can help us center our lives on Christ.
Like a lot of people, I maintain a full schedule with work, church, and family obligations. It is hard to find time for rest and renewal. None of the things that take up my time are wrong in and of themselves: humanity was made for work, Christians are called to ministry, and serving one’s family brings great joy. But as sinful people are prone to do, I can easily avoid rest for the wrong reasons.
We as believers often justify our obsession with work under a thin veneer of spirituality. We can’t rest because of ministry responsibilities or because we must fulfill our calling. We exalt those who work hard and rest little as champions for the kingdom. But this perversion of a godly work ethic refuses to acknowledge that God calls us to rest as well as work.
Our Lord Jesus addressed this issue directly in his own ministry: Jesus proclaimed the Sabbath as a day for God’s people to celebrate their redemption and experience God’s presence. Even though Christians no longer rest on the Sabbath, we should cultivate habits of “Sabbath rest” in accordance with Jesus’s teaching.
Jesus’s attitude toward the Sabbath has long been a subject of scholarly discussion. As believers who are not under Law, we sometimes struggle to understand Jesus’s Sabbath teaching, especially when it involves controversy over a specific issue of rabbinic interpretation. Underneath our questions, however, lie timeless theological truths about rest.
The Sabbath in the New Testament
Jesus highlighted his view of rest in two key passages that still have validity for believers today and help us understand why rest is important.
In Luke 13 we read that Jesus healed a crippled woman on the Sabbath. She had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years and could not stand up straight. While teaching in the synagogue, Jesus was moved to free the woman from her infirmity by laying his hands on her (vv. 10–13).
Despite the clear display of divine power evidenced in the woman’s healing, the synagogue leader became upset because Jesus had technically worked on the Sabbath (v.14), something forbidden by rabbinic teaching. Jesus’s response got straight to the heart of the matter: he proclaimed the Sabbath as a most appropriate day for her healing. Jesus, choosing words that pointed to the history of the Sabbath—that it celebrated redemption, the freedom from slavery that God brought to Israel in the Exodus— described the woman as “a daughter of Abraham” who had been “bound” but was “set free” (v. 16). The Sabbath was her day of celebration! By healing her, Jesus brought her redemption to vivid fruition and gave her the capacity to celebrate more than ever. With this action, Jesus proclaimed the Sabbath day as a time for God’s people to celebrate their redemption.
In a separate encounter with a Pharisee, Jesus made a bold claim about his Sabbath actions (John 5). He had just healed an invalid at the pool of Bethesda (Bethzatha, NET) on the Sabbath, and this man proceeded to unintentionally get Jesus in trouble by carrying around his mat (v. 10). Technically, this action by the healed man violated the rabbinic commands against work on the Sabbath.
In response to accusations against him, Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (v. 17). Jewish theologians understood that God still worked to redeem his people, even on the Sabbath. And clearly the invalid whom Jesus healed had experienced God’s redemption. Jesus tied his own activity to God’s, showing that God was tangibly present in the midst of his people even on their day of rest. Thus the Sabbath was a day for God’s people to experience his presence anew in their redemption.
The Sabbath for Christians
As believers we no longer have to rest on the Sabbath; we can rest on any day, at any time that fits our calendars. But as we can all attest, we often go to the other extreme and hardly rest at all. Jesus’s actions and teaching show that rest remains vital for the believer. He identified the Sabbath as a time of rest when God’s people can experience his presence and celebrate their redemption. God’s desire for us has not changed; he still wants his people to rest so they can experience these tangible blessings of a relationship with him.
Our challenge is to cultivate habits of “Sabbath rest” to experience God’s presence and celebrate our redemption. As believers in Christ, we no longer rest on any particular day, but regular rest should still anchor our schedules as we refuse the perversion of a good work ethic that makes regular rest optional. God does not intend for us to be so busy with work, ministry, or family that we neglect time for celebration and renewal. Rest allows us to revel in God’s presence and celebrate the redemption we have in Christ’s death and resurrection.
Tips on Cultivating Sabbath Rest
To this end, let me suggest some practical ways we can cultivate Sabbath rest in our lives.
- Anchor the weekly schedule with regular worship in a local church.
Believers don’t have to worship on a particular day, but we do need to worship. Whether we gather on Sunday morning, Saturday night, or some other time, we can make regular times of worship a solid anchor to our weekly schedules. Cultivate restful relationships with other believers. Our small group at church gets together monthly for times of fun and fellowship. These relationships renew and sustain me. Whether you do so with your family or as an individual, develop key relationships that provide rest.
- Augment times of rest with personal worship in prayer and Bible reading.
Rest should not only be corporate but also individual. Consider reading through a prayer book such as The Valley of Vision, if you need help getting started.
- Make your rest consistent but not constricted.
Just as it is easy to work too hard, we can also work too hard at our rest. Don’t be anxious if life gets in the way and disrupts scheduled times of rest. Trust that consistency in the long haul will provide ample time to rest and rejoice in your relationship with God.
- Learn to see rest in the context of your entire life.
We all experience busy seasons that tax us greatly, and sometimes rest is hard to find during a particular week or month. We can manage those tough times by keeping our eye on the big picture. My situation can illustrate. Due to the academic calendar, free time evades me from August through May; the end of this cycle brings lots of stress at the close of the academic year. Fortunately, summer comes right after this busy season, which affords me ample time for rest and renewal. Your calendar probably differs from mine, but the same principle holds: over time you should make time for rest and renewal. Going month after month without rest indicates a need to examine priorities; it’s likely something needs adjustment.
To summarize, God calls us to rest just as he calls us to work. He wants to bless our relationship with him by giving us time to experience his presence and celebrate our redemption. As believers who love our Lord, we worship him and grow in devotion when we find time for rest. It may not be today, but it should be soon. Develop habits of Sabbath rest so those times of celebration are never far away.
Dr. Michael Burer, associate professor of New Testament Studies at DTS, served as a project director for the NET Bible and is the coauthor of A New Reader’s Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. An ordained minister, he is active in his local church and ministers frequently in France.
Developing habits of “Sabbath Rest” can help us center our lives on Christ.
Like a lot of people, I maintain a full schedule with work, church, and family obligations. It is hard to find time for rest and renewal. None of the things that take up my time are wrong in and of themselves: humanity was made for work, Christians are called to ministry, and serving one’s family brings great joy. But as sinful people are prone to do, I can easily avoid rest for the wrong reasons.
We as believers often justify our obsession with work under a thin veneer of spirituality. We can’t rest because of ministry responsibilities or because we must fulfill our calling. We exalt those who work hard and rest little as champions for the kingdom. But this perversion of a godly work ethic refuses to acknowledge that God calls us to rest as well as work.
Our Lord Jesus addressed this issue directly in his own ministry: Jesus proclaimed the Sabbath as a day for God’s people to celebrate their redemption and experience God’s presence. Even though Christians no longer rest on the Sabbath, we should cultivate habits of “Sabbath rest” in accordance with Jesus’s teaching.
Jesus’s attitude toward the Sabbath has long been a subject of scholarly discussion. As believers who are not under Law, we sometimes struggle to understand Jesus’s Sabbath teaching, especially when it involves controversy over a specific issue of rabbinic interpretation. Underneath our questions, however, lie timeless theological truths about rest.
The Sabbath in the New Testament
Jesus highlighted his view of rest in two key passages that still have validity for believers today and help us understand why rest is important.
In Luke 13 we read that Jesus healed a crippled woman on the Sabbath. She had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years and could not stand up straight. While teaching in the synagogue, Jesus was moved to free the woman from her infirmity by laying his hands on her (vv. 10–13).
Despite the clear display of divine power evidenced in the woman’s healing, the synagogue leader became upset because Jesus had technically worked on the Sabbath (v.14), something forbidden by rabbinic teaching. Jesus’s response got straight to the heart of the matter: he proclaimed the Sabbath as a most appropriate day for her healing. Jesus, choosing words that pointed to the history of the Sabbath—that it celebrated redemption, the freedom from slavery that God brought to Israel in the Exodus— described the woman as “a daughter of Abraham” who had been “bound” but was “set free” (v. 16). The Sabbath was her day of celebration! By healing her, Jesus brought her redemption to vivid fruition and gave her the capacity to celebrate more than ever. With this action, Jesus proclaimed the Sabbath day as a time for God’s people to celebrate their redemption.
In a separate encounter with a Pharisee, Jesus made a bold claim about his Sabbath actions (John 5). He had just healed an invalid at the pool of Bethesda (Bethzatha, NET) on the Sabbath, and this man proceeded to unintentionally get Jesus in trouble by carrying around his mat (v. 10). Technically, this action by the healed man violated the rabbinic commands against work on the Sabbath.
In response to accusations against him, Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (v. 17). Jewish theologians understood that God still worked to redeem his people, even on the Sabbath. And clearly the invalid whom Jesus healed had experienced God’s redemption. Jesus tied his own activity to God’s, showing that God was tangibly present in the midst of his people even on their day of rest. Thus the Sabbath was a day for God’s people to experience his presence anew in their redemption.
The Sabbath for Christians
As believers we no longer have to rest on the Sabbath; we can rest on any day, at any time that fits our calendars. But as we can all attest, we often go to the other extreme and hardly rest at all. Jesus’s actions and teaching show that rest remains vital for the believer. He identified the Sabbath as a time of rest when God’s people can experience his presence and celebrate their redemption. God’s desire for us has not changed; he still wants his people to rest so they can experience these tangible blessings of a relationship with him.
Our challenge is to cultivate habits of “Sabbath rest” to experience God’s presence and celebrate our redemption. As believers in Christ, we no longer rest on any particular day, but regular rest should still anchor our schedules as we refuse the perversion of a good work ethic that makes regular rest optional. God does not intend for us to be so busy with work, ministry, or family that we neglect time for celebration and renewal. Rest allows us to revel in God’s presence and celebrate the redemption we have in Christ’s death and resurrection.
Tips on Cultivating Sabbath Rest
To this end, let me suggest some practical ways we can cultivate Sabbath rest in our lives.
- Anchor the weekly schedule with regular worship in a local church.
Believers don’t have to worship on a particular day, but we do need to worship. Whether we gather on Sunday morning, Saturday night, or some other time, we can make regular times of worship a solid anchor to our weekly schedules. Cultivate restful relationships with other believers. Our small group at church gets together monthly for times of fun and fellowship. These relationships renew and sustain me. Whether you do so with your family or as an individual, develop key relationships that provide rest.
- Augment times of rest with personal worship in prayer and Bible reading.
Rest should not only be corporate but also individual. Consider reading through a prayer book such as The Valley of Vision, if you need help getting started.
- Make your rest consistent but not constricted.
Just as it is easy to work too hard, we can also work too hard at our rest. Don’t be anxious if life gets in the way and disrupts scheduled times of rest. Trust that consistency in the long haul will provide ample time to rest and rejoice in your relationship with God.
- Learn to see rest in the context of your entire life.
We all experience busy seasons that tax us greatly, and sometimes rest is hard to find during a particular week or month. We can manage those tough times by keeping our eye on the big picture. My situation can illustrate. Due to the academic calendar, free time evades me from August through May; the end of this cycle brings lots of stress at the close of the academic year. Fortunately, summer comes right after this busy season, which affords me ample time for rest and renewal. Your calendar probably differs from mine, but the same principle holds: over time you should make time for rest and renewal. Going month after month without rest indicates a need to examine priorities; it’s likely something needs adjustment.
To summarize, God calls us to rest just as he calls us to work. He wants to bless our relationship with him by giving us time to experience his presence and celebrate our redemption. As believers who love our Lord, we worship him and grow in devotion when we find time for rest. It may not be today, but it should be soon. Develop habits of Sabbath rest so those times of celebration are never far away.
Dr. Michael Burer, associate professor of New Testament Studies at DTS, served as a project director for the NET Bible and is the coauthor of A New Reader’s Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. An ordained minister, he is active in his local church and ministers frequently in France.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Christ @ the Center of Worship: What Does 'Center' Mean?
We talk a lot on our blog about centering our lives on Christ. What does "center" mean?
Likewise in worship, we don’t just seek to point to Jesus and tell Him how much we love Him. We want to worship Him as the center of every part of the service. Our services are not designed to make the preaching or a time of speaking about Jesus as the center of the service with music being preliminary preparation to that. In our services, we seek to proclaim Jesus in every part of the service. More specifically, one of the ways we seek to accomplish this is to proclaim the gospel story of Jesus Christ in the all the content and the order in which we worship God. The gospel is not just something to speak with our mouths but something to live in and live out. The second visual below seeks to illustrate this.
We think it’s important to worship this way because we see the primary purpose of worship to be the edification of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 14). We want to make disciples who center their whole life on the whole story of Jesus Christ at home, work and play. In order for this to happen, it’s important to provide ways to form us this way in worship at church. We hope this article will help you engage in what is happening when we worship together on Sunday mornings so that as we begin this new year, we can more fully center our lives around Jesus Christ plus nothing else.
Webster’s defines center as, “the point around which a circle or sphere is described; broadly: a point that is related to a geometrical figure in such a way that for any point on the figure there is another point on the figure — called also center of symmetry.”
This is a good definition for the kind of thoughts many of these articles are seeking to communicate.
When you define center in this way, everything you add to the center circle must connect to its center in some way to keep a balance of symmetry. When we talk about centering our lives or worship on Christ, we see Jesus as the point around which a circle is described. This means that Christ is not just part of our life or part of worship but that every part of life and worship must connect to Christ. For example, in our lives we don’t just center ourselves on Jesus at church we center all the areas of our lives on Christ. There are not secular and sacred compartments of life. The visual below seeks to illustrate this.
This is a good definition for the kind of thoughts many of these articles are seeking to communicate.
When you define center in this way, everything you add to the center circle must connect to its center in some way to keep a balance of symmetry. When we talk about centering our lives or worship on Christ, we see Jesus as the point around which a circle is described. This means that Christ is not just part of our life or part of worship but that every part of life and worship must connect to Christ. For example, in our lives we don’t just center ourselves on Jesus at church we center all the areas of our lives on Christ. There are not secular and sacred compartments of life. The visual below seeks to illustrate this.
Likewise in worship, we don’t just seek to point to Jesus and tell Him how much we love Him. We want to worship Him as the center of every part of the service. Our services are not designed to make the preaching or a time of speaking about Jesus as the center of the service with music being preliminary preparation to that. In our services, we seek to proclaim Jesus in every part of the service. More specifically, one of the ways we seek to accomplish this is to proclaim the gospel story of Jesus Christ in the all the content and the order in which we worship God. The gospel is not just something to speak with our mouths but something to live in and live out. The second visual below seeks to illustrate this.
We think it’s important to worship this way because we see the primary purpose of worship to be the edification of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 14). We want to make disciples who center their whole life on the whole story of Jesus Christ at home, work and play. In order for this to happen, it’s important to provide ways to form us this way in worship at church. We hope this article will help you engage in what is happening when we worship together on Sunday mornings so that as we begin this new year, we can more fully center our lives around Jesus Christ plus nothing else.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Getting Back on Track
by Bruce Zimmerman
I would like to challenge you to consider moving into some new areas for 2014 in your spiritual life. Perhaps it is time to join a new Sunday School class or community group. Perhaps it is time to start a regular commitment to giving. Perhaps it is time to start a new habit of reading God’s Word on a daily basis or even reading through the Bible this year. Perhaps it is time to go on a mission trip that will stretch you in ways that you have never imagined. How about starting a new ministry or community group? It can be exciting and challenging at the same time. The staff and elders of WBC are ready to assist and help you make 2014 truly a new year spiritually for you.
For others, 2014 is a time to get things back on track where they once were. The last year or years have taken a toll upon certain areas of our lives and they need a redirection, a refreshment, a renewal, a resurgence of energy and attention. Things may have been headed in the wrong direction and need to be corrected. This is not seeking after that which is new, but rather to restore that which once was. In spiritual terms, this might be indicated by the term repentance. It is turning away from the sinful and damaging activities that have come into our lives and hearts. Perhaps we have grown cold to the Lord over some time and it is time to, “return to our first love.” The church of Ephesus was challenged in Revelation 2:5 to remember from where they had fallen, to repent of their sin and to return to the things they used to do. Sounds like a good plan for things that have gotten off track.
Remember
Repent
Return
Our sermon series through January and February will focus on “Back on Track!” I will be teaching again from the book of I Kings, picking up where we left off before the holidays in chapter 12. Our study will take us through the rest of the book as God gives the nation of Israel the opportunity to get “Back on Track.” The chapters cover the fascinating ministry of Elijah and Elisha, calling down fire from heaven, being fed miraculously by the ravens, and raising up of a child from the dead. It also covers the despicable leadership of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel and the many antics they participated in during their lives. The power of God is displayed,
His heart for justice and righteousness, and yet His incredible grace that surprises me again and again. This series will guide us from an OT perspective to getting not only a nation back on track, but our church, our families and our personal lives. Join us Sunday mornings in both services for “Back on Track!” starting January 12th.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
This Month at WBC
Another new year is here. For some of us, it might seem like last year just started. Others may have 2013 so far in the rearview that it seems very distant. As we start 2014, we would like to once again offer you some ways that you can center your life around Jesus Christ. No matter what perspective you have on this new year, center it on Christ as the book of Colossians reminds us to do.
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Ministry Partner of the Month: Mike and Rowena McGinty
Prayer Requests:
The Iwate Relief Project—tsunami disaster work in Iwate
· Protection and encouragement for overworked staff
· Fruit from the hundreds of contacts that have been made
· Transition from relief work to church planting
· Financial needs to keep this ministry in operation after May 2014
General Japan Needs
· Overcoming traditional obstacles to the Gospel
· Healing of families that are becoming increasingly fragmented
· Recruitment and training of new workers
· An empowered, unified Japanese church
Life & Ministry Coach—McGinty ministry next term
· Good working relationships with current field leaders
· Wisdom for coaching
· Clear definition and application of new ministry role
· Building of trust relationships with newer members
McGinty Personal Needs
· Refreshment after a challenging term of ministry working in a disaster area
· Opportunities to reconnect with family, friends and supporters while in the States
· Growth in ministry skills in preparation for a new ministry focus
· Suitable housing in Tokyo
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