Humans were created to be God’s image bearers and partners, and then we fell under the curse of sin. But when Jesus stepped out of the grave on Easter morning, he rose victorious over sin. The curse is broken. This means new life and a new purpose for us and our work.

Work is at the very core of who we are and what we were always meant to do. It is among our first and highest callings–to bear the image of God by becoming His partners, by stewarding creation for His glory and for the good of others.

Worship is surrendering all of life back to God. But what does all of this have to do with Sabbath? Well, in one sense, worship is what Sabbath is all about. We don’t just stop to stop, rest to rest, or delight to delight. We stop, rest, and delight so we can become the kind of people who can worship God with our whole being.

Over the last two weeks, we talked about ‘stop’ and ‘rest.’ This week, our focus is on ‘delight.’ The Sabbath isn’t just about what we stop doing, and it isn’t simply about what we rest from. We stop and rest so that we can become the kinds of people who can enjoy the goodness of God. For people like us–prone to be negative and vulnerable to hardships–we need a day set aside to delight in God and in creation.

‘Busy’ and ‘tired’ are the primary ways most of us answer questions like ‘How are you doing?’ or ‘how was your week?’ But, at the risk of sounding cliche and insensitive, it need not be this way. What we need is rest.

For most of us, the idea of stopping for 24 hours is uncomfortable. We spend our days on the go. We have become accustomed to living full but only sometimes fulfilling lives. If we stop for Sabbath, it will likely bring us face-to-face with two areas of our lives that make us uncomfortable: our identity and our idolatry.

What if the thing God is inviting you into this year is not more but less? If it sounds nice but impossible, attractive but unrealistic, that’s fine. All we are asking for at this stage is an open mind as we spend the next several weeks talking about the often neglected and easily misunderstood practice from the way of Jesus, known as Sabbath.

Christmas brings us to the undeniable, reckless love of the Father, where He sent His one and only Son, not only to show us a way back home to the Father but to show us the Father and how to live as His children in light of His love.

We tend to place a lot of expectations on Christmas, but what do we do when this season of family, joy, and celebration doesn’t quite meet our expectations? Navigating the reality of loving and living in the midst of messy family dynamics can be challenging. The good news is that God is with us in the mess.

Through Jesus’ perfect life, death, and resurrection, we are all offered a way home into a relationship with God. We are promised an eternal home in heaven to live with God forever. As followers of Jesus, we know that this earth is not our ultimate home, but how are we supposed to live now, on this planet, in our temporary home in light of that knowledge? How do we live life with an eternal perspective?