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-Small Groups -  Click here for information or to sign up for a Small Group

-The Music Man will be presented as our fall theatrical event...click here (www.ChristMemorialProductions.org) for full details and audition information. 

      Performances: November 13, 14,15 at 7:30 pm and November 16 at 2:00.

      Auditions: August 16 and 17 from 1- 5 PM..

Devotions

Day of Rest

Our Sabbath

Readings: Exodus 20:8-11 and Matthew 11:28

In six days God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1). “By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work” (Gen. 2:2-3).

Many years later, when God gave the Third Commandment to the ancient Israelites, He recalled His work of creation and His sacred day of rest. Once a week, on the Sabbath Day, the Israelites now were commanded to cease their labors just as God ceased His work after creation.

This was important for two reasons and in each we see the reflection of Christ. First, unlike God, we do tire and grow weary of our labor. Sometimes we may even feel like Job who said, “I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil” (Job 3:26).

We need a Sabbath, a day of rest. But where do we find such rest—only in the Lord.

King David knew this when he wrote; “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him” (Ps. 62:1). His son Solomon repeated the wisdom of his father when he said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel just as He promised”

(1 Kings 8:56). Then he immediately added, “Not one word has failed of all the good promises He gave through His servant Moses” (1 Kings 8:56).

Solomon knew what gives us true rest—the promises of God— the salvation of God—all of which are enfleshed in Jesus Christ. He is our rest. Christ is our Sabbath! So Jesus Himself could say, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28). What burdens you today—sin and guilt from your past—worry and anxiety about your future? There is rest from these when you turn them over to Jesus.

Yet, the Israelites did more than simply rest on the Sabbath. They also recalled the Lord’s deliverance. Moses explained to them. “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

Therefore, the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day” (Deut. 5:15).

The Sabbath was a special time to remember their great deliverance. So also, our Sabbath— our day of rest—is a special time to remember our great deliverance in Jesus Christ. On Easter morning Jesus rose from the grave announcing his deliverance for all people. The early Christians were quite right in moving the Day of Rest to the Day of Resurrection. For it is only in His resurrection that we find rest for our weary souls (Col. 2:16-17).

Prayer: Dear Jesus, You rested in the tomb on the Sabbath Day. Help me find rest for my heart and soul. Help me turn all my burdens and worries over to You. Help me find the rest and peace that only You can give. Amen.