SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't know me, my name is CJ Kelly.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm the youth programming director uh here at Real Community Covenant Church.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a recent graduate of Indiana Wesley University as of like three weeks ago.
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: So fresh into adulthood, so pray for me.
SPEAKER_00: I just paid my rent yesterday, paid my first utility bill two weeks ago.
SPEAKER_00: So everything of adulthood.
SPEAKER_00: It's great, it's wonderful.
SPEAKER_00: Um I'm so excited for all of it.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I'm so excited on Family Sunday to be giving you all the word.
SPEAKER_00: This morning, I invited my lovely friends, my lovely, our lovely kids to be with us and sit here in the front because um Jesus says, trouble not the children and let them come unto me.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So that's what we're doing this morning.
SPEAKER_00: We're celebrating the gift of children this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Um, our passage that we'll be reading this morning, that we'll be coming out of this morning, is John chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: So if you have it, you can turn there to it.
SPEAKER_00: But if you don't, we were so gracious enough to provide it up there for you.
SPEAKER_00: I I love this art.
SPEAKER_00: I found this art online.
SPEAKER_00: I found it on like Pinterest.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I thought it was so great to illustrate what we're doing today.
SPEAKER_00: But can we all stand as we read the word of God this morning?
SPEAKER_00: So John chapter 2, starting at verse 1, and we'll go to verse 11.
SPEAKER_00: And it says, On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
SPEAKER_00: When the wine was gone, Jesus said to his, Jesus' mother said to him, They have no more wine.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 4, Jesus says, Woman, why do you involve me?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus replies, My hour has not yet come.
SPEAKER_00: Kids, don't talk to your mother like that, please.
SPEAKER_00: Please don't, please don't.
SPEAKER_00: His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you to do.
SPEAKER_00: Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind they used for the Jews, the kind that used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water so they're filled to the brim.
SPEAKER_00: Someone say, To the brim.
SPEAKER_00: Then he told them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.
SPEAKER_00: They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned to wine.
SPEAKER_00: It says he did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who drew the water knew.
SPEAKER_00: Then he called the bridegroom aside, and he said, Everyone brings out the choice wine first, and then cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was getting a little, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all got it, y'all got it.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all got it.
SPEAKER_00: But he says, After the guests have had too much to drink, but you have saved the best till now.
SPEAKER_00: What Jesus did here in Canaan of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory to his disciples, and his disciples believed in him.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you for this uh this church body, this family, this body of believers whom you have gathered in here today to hear a word from you.
SPEAKER_00: That Father, we come in here Sunday morning carrying all of our emotions, all of our weights, all of our anxieties from the week, and we just lift them up to you.
SPEAKER_00: For we know that you are a good, good father who cares for your children, and you care for us, you care for all of us.
SPEAKER_00: But Father, we just pray that today that we would have a word, that we will receive a word from you.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I pray and I thank you for the message that you've put on our heart to deliver this morning.
SPEAKER_00: But I pray that it would not be CJ speaking this morning, but you speaking through me this morning.
SPEAKER_00: So, Father, we pray this in Jesus' Matthew's and mighty name.
SPEAKER_00: And all God's people said, Amen, amen, amen.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you can take your seats.
SPEAKER_00: You can take your seats in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Well, kids, maybe if you I don't know if you caught this or not, but it said in verse 2 that Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
SPEAKER_00: So because we're all disciples of Jesus, you guys are invited to the wedding.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: So we got we got something for you.
SPEAKER_00: I got something for you here.
SPEAKER_00: So everyone can come up and grab your wine.
SPEAKER_00: It's grape juice.
SPEAKER_00: Grab your grape juice, or excuse me, your wine, and then take it back to your seat.
SPEAKER_00: You can just take one cup, everybody take one cup and then take it back to your seat.
SPEAKER_00: You can take a cup, take it back to your seat.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, I promise.
SPEAKER_00: This is the top of the line.
SPEAKER_00: This is the top shelf wine right here.
SPEAKER_00: Top shelf right here.
SPEAKER_00: Top shelf.
SPEAKER_00: So you can go ahead and take that back to your seat.
SPEAKER_00: Take that back to your seat.
SPEAKER_00: And you can like slowly, slowly sip on that as we're going through the message, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Just imagine yourself, you're at the party, you're sipping on your grape juice, I mean your wine, and you're having a good time, right?
SPEAKER_00: So as we get back into the passage, I'm choosing to believe, I'm making the decision to believe that it's no mistake that Jesus chose a place like Cana of Galilee to do his first miracle.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't know how much you know about Galilee or Cana, but it's not like a super huge location in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: It's a pretty like lowly, kind of low, low-key kind of place.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe some might say like Mary in Indiana.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's not a super attractive place to some.
SPEAKER_00: To some, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's a small, remote village in that hilly region of Galilee.
SPEAKER_00: I think there's a map up there that kind of shows you where it is.
SPEAKER_00: It's in kind of the northwest, northwest region.
SPEAKER_00: You see, and you see it up there with the little, you know, the bump, the bumpiness up there on the right.
SPEAKER_00: That shows you that it's it's up there, right?
SPEAKER_00: So it's up there, it's remote, not a super attractive city, not someone, not someone like a celebrity like Jesus, you think would like show himself to do miracles, right?
SPEAKER_00: But I believe that this is no mistake, this is no accident, this is no coincidence.
SPEAKER_00: It's known, it's not known by much in scripture.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
SPEAKER_00: So how convenient, how characteristic is it like for Jesus to perform his very first miracle, to reveal his glory in a small place, in a small, lowly place like Cana of Galilee.
SPEAKER_00: How convenient, how great, how majesty, see the majesty in revealing your glory in a place like Marion, Indiana.
SPEAKER_00: A place not known for much by many, not a place where superstars come out of, maybe Zach, maybe Zach Randolph, that's our superstar, right?
SPEAKER_00: But not a big place that births majesty and glory.
SPEAKER_00: But the story begins, it says in verse 1 that on the third day a wedding took place.
SPEAKER_00: And I just, as I was reading, I was just so excited, just seeing this heavenly imagery that Jesus sets up here in the text.
SPEAKER_00: And we see this kind of heavenly wedding as well in Revelation 19.
SPEAKER_00: The third day, I was obviously representing the third day of which Jesus was risen from the dead in the glory that took place in the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ, and yet also of the wedding that pictures that heavenly wedding that is the Lamb of God, and the marriage of the Lamb of God to his bride, that is the church.
SPEAKER_00: So we see in Revelation 19, it says, Hallelujah, for the Lord our God Almighty reigns.
SPEAKER_00: Let us rejoice and exude and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 8 says, It was granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure.
SPEAKER_00: These fine linens representing the righteous deeds of the saints.
SPEAKER_00: And the angel of God said to me, This is John speaking, he says, See, right, he says, Write this, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to me, These are the true words of God.
SPEAKER_00: So we see this perfect imagery, this cool, heavenly, majestic imagery of Jesus coming back again, awaiting his bride, pure and holy, dressed in fine linen.
SPEAKER_00: That's us.
SPEAKER_00: The church, the bride of Christ, Jesus coming back and returning for his bride.
SPEAKER_00: As we keep going, we see that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the first one to discover that they're out of wine.
SPEAKER_00: But I believe that this is also no mistake, that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the first one to discover that they've ran out of wine.
SPEAKER_00: Some might even say that Mary is the hero of the story for some.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, she saves the master of banquets.
SPEAKER_00: The master of banquets was the person in charge, like the master of ceremonies, the MC.
SPEAKER_00: They're in charge of how much wine consumption has happened, so making sure, you know, you don't have drunk uncle in the corner that's having a little too much to drink, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Or when wine is running out, they go and get the servants to say, hey, we need more wine.
SPEAKER_00: But in typical Jewish culture, right, they kept the wine near the woman's quarters.
SPEAKER_00: So it's no mistake that Mary would run in to sing, like, oh my gosh, they're out of wine.
SPEAKER_00: So Mary notices and she's compelled with this need because it would be like a party file, it would be embarrassing to like at the wedding, you realize, man, they ain't got no wine in this party.
SPEAKER_00: This is lame.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm out of here, the wine is gone.
SPEAKER_00: Like, that would be like you'd be known as like the lamest party keeper in Galilee.
SPEAKER_00: Like, no one wants to do that.
SPEAKER_00: So Mary saves the party, essentially.
SPEAKER_00: She keeps the party from dying, right?
SPEAKER_00: But it's also, it's always good practice that whenever we see a woman mentioned in Scripture, to ask ourselves, what is God trying to say to or about the church?
SPEAKER_00: And we also see, we also know that Mary Magdalene, another Mary, was the first witness at the tomb to see and realize that Jesus had risen from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: So, how great is it now, at this moment, at this wedding, that Jesus is setting up this heavenly glory that shall appear, that on this third day, that this wedding happens.
SPEAKER_00: That just like Mary Magdalene was the first to mark the gospel and beginning of Jesus Christ, that Mary also, here in this story, being the one to save the party.
SPEAKER_00: But it seems that almost that Jesus like almost rejects her.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, yikes.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I even in my adulthood, I'm like, you know, I love my moms, and you know, sometimes my moms, even as an adult, she said, she she, I was talking to my moms the other day.
SPEAKER_00: She said, I don't care that you got a beard, you still my little boy.
SPEAKER_00: I said, All right, all right, mom, all right.
SPEAKER_00: And she did.
SPEAKER_00: She sure did.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus is like, mom, come on, like, you tripping.
SPEAKER_00: Like, this don't got nothing to do with me.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm sure maybe you've been there.
SPEAKER_00: Like, you're like out somewhere, and your mom, like, she sees a need, right?
SPEAKER_00: She's like, boy, get up and go open that door or something like that, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Boy, get up and go get that.
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, maybe somebody, maybe kids, maybe y'all got me right.
SPEAKER_00: When your mom tells you to do something, you're like, mom, I'm really not trying to do it, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm imagining this is what Jesus is like, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like, it's like, mom, like, come on, man.
SPEAKER_00: Like, we got this wedding, we're trying to have a good time.
SPEAKER_00: Like, we're not really, you know.
SPEAKER_00: And also, he has his homies with him, he has his disciples with him that were also invited to the wedding.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus also, in his humanity and divinity, holds these human emotions and anxieties because he remembers and he knows the weight of why he was sent.
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't just sent to have a good time and come hang out on earth with humans.
SPEAKER_00: No, he's meant to be a recompense for many.
SPEAKER_00: So it's not just like, no, I don't want to do what my mom is telling me to do.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, no.
SPEAKER_00: See, he's carrying the weight of knowing like that once I do this, there's no turning back.
SPEAKER_00: That once I reveal my glory, once I do this miracle, once I do this, there is no turning back, and we're now officially on the road to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus is holding this, he's wrestling with this, like, uh, should I do it?
SPEAKER_00: Should I not?
SPEAKER_00: Like, think of this imagery of when Jesus is in the garden, he's sweating blood and tears, knowing what's about to happen to him the next morning.
SPEAKER_00: He's about to go on the cross and be crucified.
SPEAKER_00: He's now picturing this, imagining this, like, once I do this, this is it, here we go.
SPEAKER_00: But because Jesus is so obedient, Jesus is the motto and imagery of obedience for us.
SPEAKER_00: That he was sent by the Father on divine mission.
SPEAKER_00: But yet he remembers why the Father had sent him.
SPEAKER_00: Because it says in Philippians 2, it says that in your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God to be used for his own advantage.
SPEAKER_00: Say that Jesus, he didn't just come here just to party, he didn't come here just to have a good time, he didn't come here just to live a cool and peaceful life.
SPEAKER_00: Rather, he made himself nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Someone say nothing.
SPEAKER_00: He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 9 says, Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: So he says, Therefore, in our very relationships, let us have the very same mindset of Christ, considering ourselves nothing.
SPEAKER_00: It says, being selfless, we maybe you hear this phrase, that being selfless is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.
SPEAKER_00: That we put the needs of our friends and our family members and even strangers before our own.
SPEAKER_00: Paul teaches us to have this very same mindset of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So now we look and we see like who are these servants that Mary is like telling, they're probably just like, Lady, who are you?
SPEAKER_00: Like, whoa.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, she's telling them, like, do whatever he tells you to do.
SPEAKER_00: And they're just like, oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Like, but we see Mary's faith plus action is what sets up the miracle, but she simply says, Do whatever he tells you to do.
SPEAKER_00: So some might say that Mary's faith and her action is what like causes and prompts the miracle, but I believe that after reading this and sitting with this text for a couple of weeks, like a couple of weeks, that the servants in the story are what move the story along.
SPEAKER_00: I might even argue that the servants play the most important role, other than Jesus, of course, in this story.
SPEAKER_00: Their obedience is the reason why this story is even in Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Like it's already in a not very noteworthy and notorious town of Galilee, of Cana.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's like, okay, these servants who were just simply close to Jesus, they were in the proximity of Jesus when this was happening, got to be a part of this miracle that took place.
SPEAKER_00: But I was asking myself, like, who are these servants?
SPEAKER_00: Like, are they the disciples?
SPEAKER_00: Like, who are they like people like that are hanging with Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: And like after some extensive research and reading some stuff, I finally discovered, like, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't have an answer.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't really say who they are.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I was hoping, like, okay, it didn't really come to me.
SPEAKER_00: But I think John, when he's writing this account, John being a first-hand witness of everything that's going on.
SPEAKER_00: I think John is purposely vague about who these servants are.
SPEAKER_00: Because they're most likely lowly and unknown people, to they're unknown by most people at the party party, but they probably play the most crucial role at this party.
SPEAKER_00: They're keeping the wine going by the command of the master of the banquet, and yet they are the hands and feet of this very miracle.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna ask my friends that I asked to help me out with this.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna demonstrate kind of what this looked like.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, oh, oh.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna ask my friends, Sophia, Harmony, where are you guys at?
SPEAKER_00: Caleb and Micah, Kai.
SPEAKER_00: So where's Micah?
SPEAKER_00: Micah, you get to wear my cap and gown, or my gown that I wore for graduation a couple weeks ago.
SPEAKER_00: So Micah is gonna be our master of banquets here.
SPEAKER_00: You can zip that up.
SPEAKER_00: And then you guys are the servants at the party.
SPEAKER_00: So here we go.
SPEAKER_00: So you all get a cool pair of glasses.
SPEAKER_00: Here you go.
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
SPEAKER_00: Here you go.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Here you go.
SPEAKER_00: And everyone gets a vest.
SPEAKER_00: You guys are the servants at the party, so you gotta put your uniform on.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta look at being uniform for this.
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
SPEAKER_00: So Mr.
SPEAKER_00: Micah here, our master of master of banquets, master of ceremonies, he was in charge of keeping the party going, right?
SPEAKER_00: Had to keep the party guests entertained.
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, he's kind of frantic because he's like, oh my gosh, we're out of wine, like I gotta distract, I gotta stall.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus, we're over here, Jesus is over here with the servants, right?
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, okay.
SPEAKER_00: So he tells them, he tells him, take, take the stone jars.
SPEAKER_00: We only got three stone jars.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't really have a big budget for this, so and they're plastic instead of stone.
SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, fill them to the brim.
SPEAKER_00: So this is your water.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna need you guys to work together and get these things filled to the brim.
SPEAKER_00: So Caleb, you can kind of help them out, get those things filled.
SPEAKER_00: So Micah, he's here, he's like, I gotta keep my party guests entertained.
SPEAKER_00: Like they're just like they're out of juice, you know, or they're out of wine.
SPEAKER_00: He's keeping them distracted, you know.
SPEAKER_00: He's doing a great job.
SPEAKER_00: He's using those, putting those theater skills to work.
SPEAKER_00: Putting those theater skills to work.
SPEAKER_00: Oh my.
SPEAKER_00: He's doing a great job.
SPEAKER_00: You're doing a great job, sir.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: What else you got?
SPEAKER_00: Come on, you gotta stall.
SPEAKER_00: Or people are gonna start leaving.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Miles is like really entertained right now.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Miles is entertained.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you're doing a great job.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: How are we doing over here?
SPEAKER_00: That's plain, that's to the brim enough.
SPEAKER_00: But it says, once they had got the water filled to the brim, it says he handed, he says to the servants, you guys can put that down right here.
SPEAKER_00: So it says, once he had finally filled the water to the brim, he says to the servants, you're gonna give that to our master of banquets over there.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Give the new wine, the water that was once turned to wine.
SPEAKER_00: Give that to the master of banquets.
SPEAKER_00: And it says, once the master of banquets tasted the water, he was amazed because this was the good stuff.
SPEAKER_00: You thought you had the top shelf stuff before, but he says, This right here, some of the best wine he's ever tasted.
SPEAKER_00: He says, and the master of banquets tasted the water that had been turned to wine.
SPEAKER_00: And it says that he didn't realize where the water had come from because he was so busy, right, trying to keep the party guests entertained.
SPEAKER_00: He was trying to keep the party going.
SPEAKER_00: But now there was more wine for everybody.
SPEAKER_00: So now everyone, go fill up your cups.
SPEAKER_00: There's more wine, there's plenty of wine.
SPEAKER_00: Grape juice.
SPEAKER_00: Plenty of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Plenty of it.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Go grab another cup.
SPEAKER_00: You can grab another cup.
SPEAKER_00: Grab another cup.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the good stuff, though.
SPEAKER_00: That's just the other stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Grab another cup.
SPEAKER_00: Here you go.
SPEAKER_00: That's the good stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Go grab a new cup.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's the good stuff.
SPEAKER_00: That's the good stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Go ahead and grab a cup.
SPEAKER_00: Here, I got you.
SPEAKER_00: I got you right here.
SPEAKER_00: Who needs a new cup?
SPEAKER_00: Here we go.
SPEAKER_00: And once you got your cup, go ahead and go back to your seat.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't taste like chocolate chips.
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
SPEAKER_00: Here you go.
SPEAKER_00: Grab another cup.
SPEAKER_00: I got you.
SPEAKER_00: Here you go.
SPEAKER_00: I got you.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: This is the good stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Once you got your cup, you can head back to your seats.
SPEAKER_00: Give a hand for my servants here.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you guys.
SPEAKER_00: You guys look lovely.
SPEAKER_00: You guys can grab a cup too, I guess.
SPEAKER_00: You worked hard.
SPEAKER_00: You guys are off the clock.
SPEAKER_00: You can go ahead and grab some wine too.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you worked real hard.
SPEAKER_00: You know.
SPEAKER_00: But it says in verse 9 of this text, it says, the master of banquets didn't realize where it had come from.
SPEAKER_00: Because he was so busy at the party, he was so busy trying to keep the guests entertained.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't realize where this water had came from, where the source of this miracle had happened.
SPEAKER_00: But the servants who were in close proximity to Jesus got to see this miracle happen.
SPEAKER_00: They were the really the only people at this party that got to experience this wonderful miracle of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And this was the first thing.
SPEAKER_00: This is the first thing in the wonderful journey of Jesus that he reveals.
SPEAKER_00: And he reveals himself to these lowly people at the party.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't reveal himself to the master of banquets.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't reveal himself to the high-ranking officials or anything like that.
SPEAKER_00: He reveals his glory to servants at the party.
SPEAKER_00: He reveals himself to those who were in close proximity to him.
SPEAKER_00: So these servants, they were simply obedient servants who were close to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse 11 says, What Jesus did in this little remote village of Cana of Galilee was the first sign of his glory.
SPEAKER_00: And the disciples believed in him.
SPEAKER_00: So even now, as we kind of come to a close, Colossians 3, 2, chapter 3, 2 through 4, it says, Set your mind on the things above, not on earthly things, for you have died, and your life is now hidden in Christ, in God.
SPEAKER_00: When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.
SPEAKER_00: So now as we kind of enter into Sabbath month, we're not just ceasing from all work.
SPEAKER_00: We're not just like stopping church, we're not just stopping work, like stuff still has to happen.
SPEAKER_00: But rather, Sabbath to draw us deeper into the things of God.
SPEAKER_00: Sabbath to draw us deeper into the commitments we have already made in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We're not picking up new work, we're not looking for new stuff to do.
SPEAKER_00: We're already continuing in what we have been done.
SPEAKER_00: We're continuing the work that already has.
SPEAKER_00: We're resting in the finished work of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Galatians 6.9 says, Be not weary in well-doing, for if you faint not in due season you will reap.
SPEAKER_00: So we're taking this month to intentionally step away from new work and new things that so easily distract.
SPEAKER_00: And choosing intentional proximity to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So as I close Luke 10, 38, it says, as Jesus and his disciples were on the way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
SPEAKER_00: She had a sister who was named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.
SPEAKER_00: But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that she had made.
SPEAKER_00: She came to Jesus and asked, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?
SPEAKER_00: Tell her to help me.
SPEAKER_00: But he says, Martha, Martha, the Lord answered, You worry and are upset about many things, but few things are needed.
SPEAKER_00: Or indeed, only one.
SPEAKER_00: Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.
SPEAKER_00: So as we lean into Sabbath, the worry I'm sure for a lot of us is like we're talking about Sabbath.
SPEAKER_00: That means like I'm not doing the things that I maybe should be doing, or I'm not getting the work done that maybe I should, maybe you feel like you're getting behind.
SPEAKER_00: But this is the decision that we make as we lean into Sabbath.
SPEAKER_00: We either making the decision to just be consumed by busyness, right?
SPEAKER_00: We have kids, we got, well, y'all got kids.
SPEAKER_00: We have jobs, kids at home, bills to pay.
SPEAKER_00: Like that stuff just doesn't stop just because we're choosing the Sabbath, right?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Needs still need to be met.
SPEAKER_00: But are we choosing to put our trust in the busyness?
SPEAKER_00: Are we choosing to put our trust in Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Are we gonna be like Martha and worry about everything that needs to be done and worry about all the preparations that need to be done?
SPEAKER_00: Or are we gonna simply choose this month to simply sit at the feet of Jesus?