Good Monday morning! Glad to with you and start out the week together in the Pastor’s Workshop.
This week we’ll be concluding our series “Begin with Basics”. Our Scriptural base has been Genesis 1, the Biblical story of the Beginning. Our premise has been, “When you start right, things go better. And when things go better, you can finish well.”
Our series began with “Starting Right”. As Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God…” When God is at the beginning of each day, we’re starting at the right place!
In week 2 we were encouraged to “Get Creative”. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created …” Every crisis we face (and we face a lot of crises these days), holds a challenge to get creative. God creates in love and we can be creative in God’s love!
Week 3 directed us to “Shine a Light”. In Genesis 1:3, as God created God said, “Let there be light…” As you get Creative in God’s love your thoughts, words and deeds will brighten the path of another.
Week 4 called us to “Care for Creation”. In Genesis 1:26, human beings were created in God’s image and given dominion over creation. As we saw “dominion” was not a license to exploit, but a responsibility to care. We are to be good stewards, protecting and preserving the goodness God made.
Week 5 invited us to “Claim the Good”. Genesis 1:31 celebrates that as God surveys all God has done, it is “very good”. Life holds a “Very Goodness”, instilled at Creation, that is ours to claim and live each day.
That has been our series so far. If you want to get a fuller recap on any of the weeks you can read my blog, “The Pastor’s Workshop”, or go to our sermon archives. Both of these are online at our website. There you can “catch up” on anything you may have missed.
This week, Week 6, we end our time with God’s Beginning. We finish the first Creation story in the Scripture. We read about Day Seven and God’s Rest. The title for our message will be, “Blessed by Rest”. Our focus Scripture will be Genesis 2:1-3. Our supplemental text will be Exodus 20:8-11.
Genesis 2:1-3
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
Exodus 20:8-11
8 Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.
As you can see, the focus of both texts is “Rest”. “Rest” was created as part of life. “Rest” was commanded for our good, as part of our covenant relationship with God.
If you’ve been in the Workshop for a while you “know the drill”. Today we “bathe” In the Biblical texts. We immerse ourselves in the Scripture. We read and reread, write and rewrite our passages using several translations. Then paraphrase the Scripture, as if you were the writer. Internalize the Biblical word.
As you do that make notes of words, phrases, images and ideas that capture your attention and stir a “holy curiosity and creativity” in you. This opening phase is a most important part of your creative process. As the premise of our series goes, starting right is key!
Since it’s the first day of the week, I’ll let you get to work!
I pray it’s a productive day for you. I’ll see you tomorrow in the Pastor’s Workshop.
Prayer: Gracious God, thank You for the blessing of a new week. Before us are opportunities to claim Your Goodness and to live Your Grace. Even as we engage in life keep us ever fresh. Let us begin each day feeling rested and restored because we know that we find our Rest and Restoration in You. Help us by Your Spirit to know Your gift of Sabbath. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.