WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.480 So just to recap for those who weren't here last week, actually real quick, just in one word, let's, I don't know where Alex went, but let's try to get this right one this time. 00:00:10.140 --> 00:00:13.040 Shout out real quick. What did we learn about in one word last week? 00:00:13.780 --> 00:00:14.200 Sabbath. 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:20.539 Yes. So last week as a community, and obviously we heard James preach from Genesis 2 and we'll be continuing in Genesis today. 00:00:20.940 --> 00:00:25.920 But before we go on from there, we will have a special sharing in just a moment. 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:36.100 But I just wanted to share from our life group this week, you know, I was particularly encouraged as we dove deeper into Genesis 2 and discussed as a group, what does it really mean to truly rest? 00:00:36.260 --> 00:00:44.880 And just to hear from everyone, what is actual true rest? Is it, you know, the body being well? Is it my spirit? Is it my soul? Is it my mind? My emotions? 00:00:45.540 --> 00:00:48.200 I mean, just hearing everyone's thoughts in terms of how that works together. 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:58.240 And then honestly, most of us were probably confessing the ways we were not doing that well and just recognizing the ways we probably need more rest and true rest. 00:00:58.940 --> 00:01:09.680 And I was just encouraged both in our community and also just hearing just in different pockets of the community throughout the week as well, just the ways that the Lord was speaking to just individual people throughout the room in terms of, 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:15.240 I know James gave his kind of example of his kind of one hour, just empty time with the Lord. 00:01:15.540 --> 00:01:23.720 But in our life group, you know, everyone made kind of certain commitments about how they would spend just more dedicated time with the Lord and also just speaking with people throughout the church as well. 00:01:23.900 --> 00:01:31.840 I was just super, super encouraged to hear the ways that everyone didn't just take in the word last week, but also decided, well, how do I really live this out in the week to come? 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:41.500 One person who, after I heard last week's message, I told her immediately, which is Leora, who I'm going to invite to come up here and give her a round of applause. 00:01:48.100 --> 00:02:00.140 Immediately upon hearing last week's message on the Sabbath and rest, I know Leora had shared a little bit with our life group about some of her experiences with the Sabbath and with rest. 00:02:00.140 --> 00:02:14.360 I was like, oh, we would be so blessed to hear the full story of, of course, before we do that, we would love to just pray over you and just invite God to, as you speak to us, to minister to us as well. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:15.420 So let's pray for Leora. 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:28.199 So Jesus, we thank you that you're gentle and lowly in heart, that you're patient with us and that you desire for us to experience true rest. 00:02:28.199 --> 00:02:43.579 So in the ways that you've been shaping Leora and teaching her and instructing her and guiding her in the ways of resting in your presence, Lord, as she shares with us now, Lord, we just empower her to minister to each heart in this room, Lord. 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:51.599 God, would we continue to be a community that yearns to rest in your presence, especially as we hear from her sharing and her experience now, Lord. 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:53.299 So thank you, Jesus. 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:54.219 We pray this in your name. 00:02:54.539 --> 00:02:54.780 Amen. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:01.819 So the reason I asked Leora to come up is because she has shared some of her recent experiences. 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:04.099 Actually, can we get another mic real quick? 00:03:04.099 --> 00:03:14.879 She had shared briefly about some of her recent experiences before coming to Hong Kong and how she experienced true Sabbath and rest and what she learned from that. 00:03:14.939 --> 00:03:17.259 So I was like, oh, we have to get Leora to share. 00:03:17.780 --> 00:03:20.919 So really grateful for you preparing this week. 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:29.199 Of course, before we get into hearing about some of these experiences, I would be remiss if I didn't first ask, are you feeling rested this morning? 00:03:29.339 --> 00:03:37.459 Because mine honor you because this week I know you were leading this conference for work and that took a lot of your time and your energy. 00:03:38.019 --> 00:03:40.539 So in an honest sense, are you feeling rested this morning? 00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:47.099 I'm slowly recovering from a very intense week as I spent yesterday resting. 00:03:47.299 --> 00:03:48.779 So I feel rested this morning. 00:03:48.780 --> 00:03:58.300 And then maybe before you share about your last season, maybe if you could just introduce yourself to everyone, because you've only been to Hong Kong less than a year, I believe. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:03.300 Can you just real quickly tell everyone why has God brought you to Hong Kong and what you're doing here currently? 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:08.199 Yes, I moved to Hong Kong in October of last year. 00:04:10.340 --> 00:04:17.819 And yeah, I'm here as a research assistant professor at Lingnan University teaching ethics. 00:04:18.779 --> 00:04:22.939 Mostly AI ethics and ethics East and West as well. 00:04:24.579 --> 00:04:30.879 And yeah, so this door sort of just really opened up to me. 00:04:30.939 --> 00:04:33.059 I wasn't really expecting to move to Hong Kong. 00:04:33.060 --> 00:04:38.459 But yeah, the head of department read a paper of mine and then got in touch. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:43.280 And yeah, I really felt like this was the next place that God was leading me. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:46.319 So yeah, I moved to Hong Kong without having ever been to Hong Kong. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:50.939 So it was not an easy decision to make, but I'm here now. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:52.560 And we're super glad that you're here. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:05:05.560 And one thing that you shared with us in our first life group together a couple of weeks ago was your expectation for this season was just to really walk deep in community because you've kind of been in different places over the past few seasons. 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:11.800 And one thing I really love that you shared was the fact that we are designed for community and designed for relationship. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:22.220 And the reason for that is because without one another, there's certain parts of God's heart that we wouldn't otherwise be able to see without one another pointing us to that heart, refining us to see that clear. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:29.000 And that's exactly why we've brought you here this morning, which is to share your experience with the Sabbath and with the rest and what God's been teaching you. 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:40.740 So could you maybe first tell us, though, just prior to Hong Kong, what you're doing in this last season and particularly what did God teach you about rest in that past season and where you were? 00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:41.240 Right. 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:48.420 OK, so since before moving to Hong Kong, I did my postdoc in Israel. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:54.519 And so that was between 2024 to 2025. 00:05:54.519 --> 00:06:04.139 And so, yeah, I was there during the height of the war and I initially started off in Haifa, but that's like on the border with Lebanon. 00:06:04.419 --> 00:06:08.740 And so we would have rockets firing at us every couple of hours. 00:06:08.919 --> 00:06:10.279 So it got a bit intense. 00:06:10.579 --> 00:06:17.719 So I ended up moving down to Jerusalem, which is a very different sort of vibe from Haifa. 00:06:17.899 --> 00:06:18.899 It's a lot more religious. 00:06:18.899 --> 00:06:26.879 And one of the most amazing experiences I had living in Jerusalem was experiencing how the Jewish people keep the Sabbath. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:38.199 And so what happens during Sabbath, which is Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, is that the entire city just comes to an absolute standstill. 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:50.300 And so the busiest time of the week in Jerusalem is Friday morning and Friday afternoon where everyone's just in a frenzy trying to finish up all their business. 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:57.360 They're like meeting up with business partners trying to like finalize contracts before before the Sabbath. 00:06:58.019 --> 00:07:05.860 You have people just going out to the markets, buying food and getting just the house ready in order to keep the Sabbath. 00:07:05.860 --> 00:07:10.759 And then when the sun falls on Jerusalem, everything comes to a complete standstill. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:14.240 There's no public transport during Sabbath. 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:20.540 Most shops and restaurants also close, except for the ones run by Arab Israelis. 00:07:22.220 --> 00:07:24.040 There's no cars on the streets. 00:07:24.199 --> 00:07:25.379 There's no people on the streets. 00:07:25.620 --> 00:07:29.259 And there's just this like complete silence that descends upon the city. 00:07:29.259 --> 00:07:37.599 And depending on how religious you are, there are some very religious Jews who keep it very seriously. 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:48.560 And so they have a lot of like a long list of things that they can and can't do on Sabbath, including switching off lights and turning on the gas stove and things like that. 00:07:48.659 --> 00:07:51.339 So the very religious Jews would not do that. 00:07:51.339 --> 00:07:56.719 And so they would automate everything so that the lights just turn on automatically during the evening. 00:07:57.079 --> 00:08:08.139 Or if they don't have that system, what they would do is go out on the streets and grab a Gentile and force them to come in and switch on their gas stove for them and things like that. 00:08:08.500 --> 00:08:10.359 Because they don't care if you don't keep Sabbath. 00:08:10.679 --> 00:08:12.059 They need to keep Sabbath. 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:14.379 And so they do that. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:21.480 But even the very secular Jews, so the non-religious Jews, they would just take this time to completely switch off. 00:08:21.560 --> 00:08:34.460 They would switch off all their electric devices, their phones, TVs, and just spend this 24 hours just with family, communing together, sharing good food together, laughing together. 00:08:35.500 --> 00:08:40.559 And so, yeah, they take it very seriously in Israel, keeping the Sabbath. 00:08:42.059 --> 00:09:00.259 And some of the kind of highlights of my time in Israel was, yeah, during those kind of 24 hours of the week where I would just wander around the kind of empty streets of Jerusalem and just reflecting on God's goodness. 00:09:00.819 --> 00:09:11.379 And then we would gather together in the evening with my kind of Christian family there to share kind of Shabbat meals, which is in the photos on the PowerPoint slide. 00:09:12.059 --> 00:09:22.319 And so we would share Shabbat meals together and go through each of the processes that the Jewish people also would go through. 00:09:22.859 --> 00:09:26.539 And so there's like a phrase that's continually repeated throughout the meal. 00:09:26.539 --> 00:09:31.579 I'm going to completely butcher the pronunciation of this, but it's like, 00:09:31.719 --> 00:09:37.980 which is, blessed are you, Lord, our God, King of the universe. 00:09:38.299 --> 00:09:42.360 I mean, if you watch like the Chosen series, that's like a phrase that's continually repeated throughout. 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:53.060 And so they would say that phrase and say, blessed are you, Lord, our God, King of the universe, for giving, for bringing forth bread from the earth, for bringing forth fruit from the vine. 00:09:53.220 --> 00:10:01.300 And in each stage, they would remember who God is, what God has done for us and just reminisce on that. 00:10:01.299 --> 00:10:09.319 And so, yeah, it was just like at this time of realigning your heart to God's truth and his word. 00:10:10.139 --> 00:10:12.339 And that's just a really neat experience. 00:10:12.859 --> 00:10:20.839 And in that experience, I guess, how did that start to inform your view of what it means to truly rest in God and to Sabbath for yourself? 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:30.080 And so I think one thing it really did was completely transform my understanding of rest. 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:34.420 So this is very much in line with what James was sharing last week. 00:10:35.280 --> 00:10:46.200 But rest for the Jewish people and also rest from this kind of biblical perspective is very much equates to worship. 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:56.940 And the psalm that is read every Shabbat is Psalm 95, which talks about God giving the Israelites rest. 00:10:57.520 --> 00:11:02.600 And the psalmist starts off that psalm with this invitation to worship. 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:05.900 So it starts off something like, come, let us sing to the Lord. 00:11:06.180 --> 00:11:09.180 Let us make joyful noise, the rock of our salvation. 00:11:09.179 --> 00:11:17.279 And so resting is about stopping and remembering who God is and what God has done for his people. 00:11:17.819 --> 00:11:23.099 And that remembrance leading to this posture of worship and of reverence. 00:11:24.659 --> 00:11:30.259 And of course, this is like a very different understanding of rest from what the world teaches us. 00:11:30.719 --> 00:11:35.519 The world teaches us that rest is about, it focuses on me. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:46.000 It's about, it's about my well-being, it's about securing me time, and it's about self-care, it's about pursuing my hobbies. 00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:50.340 And all that can be good, it's not bad in itself. 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:55.059 But it's a very different understanding to what rest is in the biblical sense. 00:11:56.120 --> 00:12:03.199 So, yeah, so biblical rest is God-centered rather than centered on the self. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:11.879 And it seems like the world really, it tells us to rest, but then at the same time, it is very difficult to rest. 00:12:12.300 --> 00:12:17.140 Because it teaches us that, you know, we are the authors of our own destiny. 00:12:17.460 --> 00:12:20.560 Our own future is in our own hands. 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:26.020 And that makes it very difficult to rest, or rest just becomes a means to becoming more productive. 00:12:26.019 --> 00:12:31.759 And you're kind of running even faster in an achievement of your own goals. 00:12:32.500 --> 00:12:39.240 But Psalm 95 says that we can rest because we are not in control, but God is in control. 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:44.379 And because we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. 00:12:44.819 --> 00:12:49.939 And so we can rest because we know that our future is not in our hands, 00:12:49.940 --> 00:12:55.560 but in the hands of God who deeply loves us and cares for us as his flock. 00:12:58.140 --> 00:13:06.820 And then, yeah, just another thing, experiencing Sabbath has also really highlighted the beauty and simplicity of the gospel. 00:13:06.820 --> 00:13:15.760 You know, just as God rested from his work, because his work of creation had been finished, 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:22.820 we can also cease from our self-justifying works because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. 00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:30.900 And so experiencing Sabbath in Jerusalem at the heart of where everything happened was really, yeah, 00:13:30.899 --> 00:13:35.679 an amazing time where I could really reflect on that and the beauty of the gospel. 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:38.720 And then just the last question for you. 00:13:39.439 --> 00:13:47.419 You've come from a place where literally they would halt for 24 hours to a city that never stops. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:53.579 So now that you're in Hong Kong, drawing from your experiences in Israel and Jerusalem, 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:58.799 I guess, how has that influenced how you rest now or how you practice Sabbath now that you're in Hong Kong? 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:02.799 So I'm not going to lie, it's not been easy. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:05.659 I feel like I've gone from one extreme to the other. 00:14:07.719 --> 00:14:15.639 But I think the one thing that my experience in Israel has shaped me is that 00:14:15.639 --> 00:14:24.259 I now associate rest with not just doing whatever I want during a particular time, 00:14:24.259 --> 00:14:28.039 but with recentering myself to God's truth. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:37.159 And so even if you believe the God to be true, we are constantly being bombarded by messages of the world. 00:14:37.719 --> 00:14:41.419 Some are true, some are like half-truths, some are complete lies. 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:45.939 And it's very easy to just allow that to seep into your heart and mind 00:14:45.939 --> 00:14:51.699 and shape the way you view God, view your self-worth, 00:14:51.700 --> 00:14:53.840 kind of set priorities in your life. 00:14:55.040 --> 00:15:04.660 So one thing I've been doing is kind of intentionally setting time aside to filter all of that out 00:15:04.660 --> 00:15:06.440 and remind myself of God's truth. 00:15:07.400 --> 00:15:11.980 And so one thing I've been trying to do more often is memorize scripture 00:15:11.980 --> 00:15:18.259 and just go on walks where I speak those words of truth over my heart and mind. 00:15:18.259 --> 00:15:23.240 And I found that to be particularly helpful in a city like Hong Kong, 00:15:23.379 --> 00:15:29.980 where there's so many messages being shouted at you from all angles. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:31.080 Yeah. 00:15:31.439 --> 00:15:33.960 We appreciate you sharing your experience with us this morning. 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:37.319 I'm so glad to have you part of our community to share this experience. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:41.879 And of course, I know many in this room have been in Hong Kong for a long time, 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:45.500 so I'm sure there'll be areas that you'll be able to draw from each of us 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:46.759 in terms of how we rest well, 00:15:47.159 --> 00:15:49.980 especially as you continue to adapt into this new season here. 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:51.220 But super grateful for you. 00:15:51.460 --> 00:15:51.620 Thank you. 00:15:51.620 --> 00:15:53.240 So let's give Leora a round of applause. 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:53.620 Thank you. 00:15:56.120 --> 00:15:56.759 Thank you. 00:15:57.860 --> 00:15:59.439 Can you read some last five first? 00:15:59.700 --> 00:15:59.919 In a minute? 00:16:00.019 --> 00:16:00.259 In a minute. 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:01.480 Cool. 00:16:02.700 --> 00:16:05.080 Before we move on into the rest of our time, 00:16:05.299 --> 00:16:09.720 let's just invite God in as James opens the word to us. 00:16:09.720 --> 00:16:14.040 May our hearts be open to what he has to share with us this morning. 00:16:14.860 --> 00:16:17.500 So, Lord, we are submitted to you. 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:19.220 We're open to you this morning. 00:16:19.680 --> 00:16:24.300 Would your Holy Spirit cut us open to receive all that you may speak to us, 00:16:24.460 --> 00:16:25.460 convict us on. 00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:28.080 And God, would you just embed it deep in our hearts, Lord. 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:30.860 The same as last week, as we heard stories of people 00:16:30.860 --> 00:16:33.899 learning what it means to rest well 00:16:33.899 --> 00:16:38.300 and really trying to do that even in the midst of this city and its busyness. 00:16:38.299 --> 00:16:41.099 God, we pray for just more faith in this community 00:16:41.099 --> 00:16:44.399 to continue to be obedient to ways that you'll call us 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:45.500 through your word this morning. 00:16:45.599 --> 00:16:49.679 So speak through James in the ways that you have been speaking to him this week 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:51.899 on what it means to follow this word, 00:16:52.419 --> 00:16:53.519 to know this word, 00:16:53.699 --> 00:16:54.819 and to know deep in his heart. 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:57.159 In the same way, would your spirit speak through him 00:16:57.159 --> 00:16:58.199 to our community this morning? 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:01.059 So, Jesus, we thank you and praise in your son's name. 00:17:01.319 --> 00:17:01.539 Amen. 00:17:01.539 --> 00:17:01.659 Amen. 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:04.579 I invite everyone to stand to read Psalm 95. 00:17:04.579 --> 00:17:05.720 Okay. 00:17:07.159 --> 00:17:10.539 Now, as we tend to do in honor of the word 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:11.599 and respect of the word, 00:17:11.779 --> 00:17:14.179 we're going to open up the Bibles to Psalm 95. 00:17:14.339 --> 00:17:17.319 And if we ask everyone to stand as we read this word. 00:17:18.899 --> 00:17:21.839 So we'll give everyone a second to get to Psalm 95 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:24.740 and then we'll ask Leora to read for us this morning. 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:37.940 psalm 95 00:17:37.940 --> 00:17:46.380 oh come let us sing to the lord let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation 00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:54.299 let us come into his presence with thanksgiving let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of 00:17:54.299 --> 00:18:02.399 praise for the lord is a great god and a great king above all gods in his hand are the depths of the 00:18:02.399 --> 00:18:10.480 earth and the heights of the mountain are his also the sea is his for he made it and his hands formed 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:19.720 the dry land oh come let us worship and bow down let us kneel before the lord our maker for he is 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:28.160 our god and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand today if you hear his voice 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:35.180 do not harden your hearts as in merivah as on the day at massa in the wilderness when your fathers 00:18:35.180 --> 00:18:42.799 put me to the test and put me to the proof that they had seen my work for 40 years i loathed that 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:49.379 generation and said they are a people who go astray in their hearts and they have not known my ways 00:18:49.379 --> 00:18:56.399 therefore i swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest this is the word of god 00:18:56.399 --> 00:19:01.619 please take a seat 00:19:01.619 --> 00:19:09.759 always so exciting for me when we get to meet people that the lord brings into the community 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:15.379 and so thank you leora for sharing that always super exciting and intimidating for me as i find 00:19:15.379 --> 00:19:19.539 out there's more and more people who are so intelligent in our congregation uh just to be 00:19:19.539 --> 00:19:24.599 able to be blessed by you it's really good a bit disappointed in alex i told him if it's interesting 00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:28.900 just keep going uh and i don't have to preach because i didn't really prepare that much um but 00:19:28.900 --> 00:19:35.259 but then he didn't he didn't read those signals and now i'm here um so here we go um wow 00:19:35.259 --> 00:19:43.539 psalm 95 come let us just bow down and worship him that is the most important thing and well 00:19:43.539 --> 00:19:47.720 actually when you were sharing i can just imagine being there and everything stops and i was like 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:52.819 oh well i guess we do have that in hong kong we have it every few years it's called typhoon 10 00:19:52.819 --> 00:20:00.720 and where we finally do all stop typhoon 8 doesn't stop us by the way i've seen i mean i know people who 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:06.240 have been in malls in typhoon 8 still looking for mcdonald's uh but typhoon 10 is the day that we do 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:13.460 really sabbath and stop um and can you imagine being a gentile in jerusalem during that like on that 00:20:13.460 --> 00:20:19.380 day it's kind of like a gentile for rent just just walk around okay you want my help how much does it 00:20:19.380 --> 00:20:28.860 worth to you um but that low grade hum of anxiety uh that we experience being in this city it's a real 00:20:28.859 --> 00:20:34.939 thing right it's a very real thing i fall asleep uh with a white noise machine uh mostly because 00:20:34.939 --> 00:20:39.699 i've got a child in my room so i'm trying to uh kind of absorb the sounds but then i realized one 00:20:39.699 --> 00:20:43.819 time when i was on a work trip i was on my own in the hotel room i was like why can't i fall asleep 00:20:43.819 --> 00:20:49.359 thankfully it's uh it's a playlist on my spotify account so i put it back on and 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:55.779 aren't we just so used to that just so used to that low grade hum of anxiety 00:20:55.779 --> 00:21:02.940 and if you're the same as me then the answer the first thing i would do if i was you and the first 00:21:02.940 --> 00:21:09.960 thing i'm doing is go to the sabbath if you have that anxiety in you then the goal is to get back to 00:21:09.960 --> 00:21:16.440 being in the place of peace the bible calls that word what does the bible call that word 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:25.599 shalom what does the word shalom really mean it means wholeness it means that life is complicated 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:35.859 and complex and busy but yet in this big mosaic that is life there is shalom i believe the garden 00:21:35.859 --> 00:21:43.379 of eden had shalom it had this peace and i realized the moment we turned our backs on god 00:21:43.379 --> 00:21:48.099 we have let go of that shalom and let go of that peace and now we're in this place where we're just 00:21:48.099 --> 00:21:52.839 trying to figure out how to get back there and so let's go back to genesis chapter 2 00:21:52.839 --> 00:22:01.240 it's been fun for me to go through this and i'll tell you what happens on monday i open up my bible 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:05.740 onto the next passage that i'm going to be preaching on and i always think i have an idea about where 00:22:05.740 --> 00:22:09.419 i'm going and then the moment i open up the word and the moment i read it i'm like oh actually god 00:22:09.419 --> 00:22:14.779 i think there might be something else that you're trying to show me here and then as i just digest it 00:22:14.779 --> 00:22:18.299 and think about it and then i'm like okay i think there's something for us here and so we're going to go 00:22:18.299 --> 00:22:22.700 through this i'm going to carry on through um genesis chapter 2 i thought i was heading straight 00:22:22.700 --> 00:22:27.740 to marriage i thought i was heading straight to uh being in a uh in a marriage that reflects god's 00:22:27.740 --> 00:22:31.700 love between a man and a woman uh but actually it's not even just that there is so much more 00:22:31.700 --> 00:22:38.259 uh to this but just again in case you forgot uh from last time god goes through days one to six 00:22:38.259 --> 00:22:44.259 every day he says and there was evening and there was morning the third day and there was evening and 00:22:44.259 --> 00:22:50.279 there was morning the fourth day and you reach day seven he does not say that anymore the work is 00:22:50.279 --> 00:22:57.839 finished the perpetual state that creation is supposed to be in to flourish to have shalom is 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:04.279 every is all here and we start from a place of rest that's why the sabbath is friday evening who goes 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:09.480 to sleep going oh this is the beginning of my day none of us we will crawl into bed because we're 00:23:09.480 --> 00:23:14.180 exhausted from the day that we've had but we start the day we're resting i'm going to start my day 00:23:14.180 --> 00:23:21.000 by going to sleep and then i'm going to wake up and then i'm going to work from that place of rest 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:28.700 we completely turn it around and go the other way and we don't have that shalom interestingly here 00:23:28.700 --> 00:23:36.600 genesis 1 he tells us creation it's the wide lens of just how we all came to be and then scripture 00:23:36.600 --> 00:23:41.440 stops and then goes into chapter 2 and it doesn't carry on chronologically it stops for a little bit and 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:46.340 then it zooms back in to day six the macro lens for the photographers where it goes actually let's 00:23:46.340 --> 00:23:53.920 focus on one thing let's focus on that six day where actually god creates man and woman and so we 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:59.140 get actually a glimpse into what god's trying to show us here and yes there is relationship there is 00:23:59.140 --> 00:24:03.779 relationship between a man and a woman that is called marriage but there is also so much more than 00:24:03.779 --> 00:24:08.759 that i'm here to present to you in the time that in the too much time that we have left alex lee 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:17.200 the idea that there is a blueprint for humanity right here if you experience that low-grade hum of 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:24.399 anxiety like i do that maybe we have strayed in terms of what we were created for and maybe there's 00:24:24.399 --> 00:24:29.420 something here in genesis chapter 2 that we can look at that tells us what it was supposed to be like 00:24:29.420 --> 00:24:35.580 what humans were supposed to be like and i'm going to share this in three points here when we are were 00:24:35.580 --> 00:24:40.759 created to be humans we were created for relationship but relationship with three different things and we 00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:46.380 can see here from scripture that's what we're going to be looking at but first of all all of this is about 00:24:46.380 --> 00:24:53.900 god if you look at chapter one all the way to the beginning of chapter two god is described as god 00:24:53.900 --> 00:25:03.720 god god in the original it would be elohim this is the god of power this is the creator god who comes 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:09.840 in to speak things into existence he is an almighty god but can you see that it's really interesting as 00:25:09.840 --> 00:25:15.480 soon as we head into chapter two from verse four onwards it's no longer just god what is it 00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:24.400 it's the lord god it's yahweh elohim something happens brothers and sisters when it goes from just 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:29.980 creating and just showing off power to suddenly he wants to focus in on one thing and what's he trying 00:25:29.980 --> 00:25:35.099 to focus in on he's trying to focus in on relationship the word yahweh is his actual name 00:25:35.099 --> 00:25:42.140 it's not just a god of power but it's a god of presence it's a god of relationship so even just 00:25:42.140 --> 00:25:50.560 that little bit there god's trying to show us hey i'm as big as can be but i also know you and i also 00:25:50.560 --> 00:25:59.380 want to be known by you so then it says the lord god and then what we see is he is not only creator 00:25:59.380 --> 00:26:05.420 he's not only just the god behind the glass partition but he actually wants to be with us he's not just the 00:26:05.420 --> 00:26:11.200 creator he's the gardener he actually comes right i mean who how many people love uh the theater show 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:17.759 wicked or the film wizard of oz and he's not the wizard of oz he's not hiding behind a big machine 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:24.880 and a big face he actually steps out into earth and steps into relationship with god he is yahweh 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:33.140 he introduces himself in his own way and so we see here again chapter two verse six and the mist was 00:26:33.140 --> 00:26:37.480 going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground then the lord god forms the man of 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:43.200 dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:50.920 creature so we are created from the dust from dust we came from dust we go we actually are part of 00:26:50.920 --> 00:26:56.660 creation we are part of the earth but we aren't just dirt because if it was just dirt and dust that we 00:26:56.660 --> 00:27:01.460 were then it would be pretty it would be pretty tragic it would be pretty uh devastating that there 00:27:01.460 --> 00:27:06.279 really is no meaning to life but we hold in our existence this paradoxical tension that we are not 00:27:06.279 --> 00:27:12.460 only dirt but we are also glory not our own glory but the glory of god is breathed in to us so then we 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:17.059 have this moment where we can actually see where we should just be humble but we are just dirt 00:27:17.059 --> 00:27:24.599 of no worth god himself breathes life into us and because of that now we have significance we have 00:27:24.599 --> 00:27:33.180 intrinsic value not only do we have a soul we are a soul and that is man and that is man that sits 00:27:33.180 --> 00:27:40.100 right there um during the during the times of the bible especially in the new testament there's a 00:27:40.100 --> 00:27:43.980 group of people called the gnostics and the gnostics would be saying hey there's all this spiritual 00:27:43.980 --> 00:27:48.960 realm that we need to explore and that they would use it actually to control a lot of people and one 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:53.080 thing they would say is that hey the spiritual realm is the good stuff the physical realm is the bad 00:27:53.080 --> 00:28:01.140 stuff but what we're seeing here is that that is not the case that we are actually made from dust 00:28:01.140 --> 00:28:08.480 dirt but we also have the life of god inside us saint erenius says this the glory of god is man 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:14.780 fully alive but the life of man is the vision of god let me read that again the glory of god is man 00:28:14.780 --> 00:28:22.440 fully alive so if you want to see the glory of god it's us living in the way that we were supposed to be 00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:28.940 living created for what we were supposed to be created for the glory of god is man fully alive but 00:28:28.940 --> 00:28:34.380 the life of man is the vision of god and the only way we can have that kind of glory shown is if the 00:28:34.380 --> 00:28:40.259 life of man focuses fully on the vision of god focuses on beholding who god is it's about that's 00:28:40.259 --> 00:28:44.160 why the sabbath is there that we just spend our time not taking a day off doing the fun things that 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:51.620 we want to do but it is that we would feast on god psalm 27 4 right that the only thing we ask the 00:28:51.620 --> 00:28:55.080 only thing we seek is to dwell in your house all the days of our lives and to seek 00:28:55.079 --> 00:29:01.919 to gaze upon his beauty and to inquire in his temple so that's why we are what we are and we 00:29:01.919 --> 00:29:07.539 were made from him remember genesis 1 god says we are made in his image so we're made in his image 00:29:07.539 --> 00:29:13.379 and we also breathe his life that shows the first relationship that man was supposed to have 00:29:13.379 --> 00:29:20.799 the blueprint of humanity is to have close intimate relationship with god if you are feeling as their 00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:25.460 life isn't to the full if you are feeling just things are just not clicking that's the first 00:29:25.460 --> 00:29:30.759 place i would go on your sabbath i'll get god am i in a right relationship with you am i connected to 00:29:30.759 --> 00:29:37.639 you i was made to look like you i was made to breathe your breath maybe i'm going wrong somewhere 00:29:37.639 --> 00:29:44.839 because i've distanced myself from you maybe nothing in this world makes sense or is satisfying 00:29:44.839 --> 00:29:51.819 because i'm actually not made from this world and for this world i was made to look like him 00:29:51.819 --> 00:29:58.519 i was i have life because of him it's a c.s lewis quote from mere christianity that says 00:29:58.519 --> 00:30:02.459 if i find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy 00:30:02.459 --> 00:30:07.099 the most probable explanation is that i was made for another world 00:30:07.099 --> 00:30:14.799 saint augustine says we are restless you have made us for yourself oh lord our hearts arrest us until 00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:22.539 they find their its rest in you maybe that's where we're going wrong every now and again i walk 00:30:22.539 --> 00:30:28.319 down queen's road central uh and as i'm walking there's cars on the road many many cars it's a busy 00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:34.139 road and every now and again i see a lamborghini driving on that road and when we say driving we 00:30:34.139 --> 00:30:41.119 don't really mean driving he's crawling and i look and i smile and i snigger and i'm like you weren't 00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:48.099 created to be here queen's road central or hong kong for that matter maybe certain roads on the south 00:30:48.099 --> 00:30:55.399 side of the island or new territories maybe not central not queen's road essential you are trapped 00:30:55.399 --> 00:31:02.099 you weren't created for this um it's going to put him on the spot here i hope he won't mind um 00:31:02.099 --> 00:31:09.599 uh pastor gabe uh he's one of our you know just our dear dear uh pastors here uh we do we do a daily 00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:15.419 prayer call um and uh but one of the problems is one of the big problems with pastor gabe because he's 00:31:15.419 --> 00:31:20.899 nearly perfect in every other way is that is that his phone he's not an apple user uh so he doesn't 00:31:20.899 --> 00:31:25.859 like apple correct and so he has these other headphones and they're just tragic and when he when 00:31:25.859 --> 00:31:30.819 when we're trying to talk to him and hear his call there's just so much noise and and so his dear wife 00:31:30.819 --> 00:31:36.439 uh jojo uh actually was like hey you guys on the call are really really clear what's up with that i 00:31:36.439 --> 00:31:39.179 said well it's because there's only really one pair of headphones that are really good for this 00:31:39.179 --> 00:31:45.059 the apple airpod pro third generation and it has noise cancellation and it has voice isolation it is 00:31:45.059 --> 00:31:49.579 gold it is so good and so bless you out of your love for your husband you bought him a bit 00:31:49.579 --> 00:31:56.539 the other day we were on the call and it was still wasn't good and we realized why he's pairing this 00:31:56.539 --> 00:32:04.460 glorious pair of headphones with an android and he doesn't get to choose the voice isolation 00:32:04.460 --> 00:32:07.899 that is only for those who have been saved 00:32:07.899 --> 00:32:11.559 and so we pray for gabe 00:32:11.559 --> 00:32:17.939 that he would recognize and realize that his apple airpods were made for more 00:32:17.940 --> 00:32:25.700 but until then there would be that low grade hum of noise that we will all hear him through 00:32:25.700 --> 00:32:35.480 in ecclesiastes 3 he says you if it you have planted eternity in the heart of man 00:32:35.480 --> 00:32:42.519 like you know something is out there but you go and chase everything else that you can see 00:32:42.519 --> 00:32:47.500 and then you wonder why you don't feel like you're flourishing you wonder why you don't have that 00:32:47.500 --> 00:32:54.440 shalom start with the vertical axis of the relationship with him you were made in his image 00:32:54.440 --> 00:33:00.720 yes you were dust but he breathed life into you and now he is closer than you can ever imagine 00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:06.779 the fact that you woke up that you got out of bed that you can breathe that you can sit here 00:33:06.779 --> 00:33:14.819 and fall asleep is because of him to be human to follow the blueprint of humans that flourish 00:33:14.819 --> 00:33:20.799 is to be in relationship with him and number two we also need to work 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:29.119 this came to my dismay as i was reading this um chapter two let's go again uh verse we'll rewind a 00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:34.099 little bit verse five for the lord god had not caused it to rain on the land and there was no man to work 00:33:34.099 --> 00:33:41.579 the ground so he does he he creates the universe he creates the world but then he deliberately says 00:33:41.579 --> 00:33:47.179 here oh everything is created but there's no one to work the ground which tells me something else which 00:33:47.179 --> 00:33:53.459 is actually to be human that we also have to work that was part of creation that was part of our purpose 00:33:53.460 --> 00:33:58.600 the work comes before the fall so those of us who sit here going my work is evil 00:33:58.600 --> 00:34:08.059 well i don't know what job you do but the work itself is not we were created to work i also want to be 00:34:08.059 --> 00:34:12.039 sensitive here that actually we live in a society we live in an economy where that isn't even easy 00:34:12.039 --> 00:34:16.599 to one find a job and two to find a job that you think you are fit for and then to have contentment 00:34:16.599 --> 00:34:21.179 i get all of that and we're not necessarily here to kind of wrestle through and address that and actually 00:34:21.179 --> 00:34:25.599 as a pastor i'm sensitive to that because even this week i'm talking to people those of you right 00:34:25.599 --> 00:34:29.480 here who actually you are working you do believe that you're supposed to work you just want to find 00:34:29.480 --> 00:34:35.279 the right job and i'm praying that the lord would show you where he is leading you and what he created 00:34:35.279 --> 00:34:40.440 you for so i'm not here to necessarily address and saying hey you better get your act together and go 00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:45.079 work or stick it out in your job this is not what this is about but just if we just take a step back 00:34:45.079 --> 00:34:51.779 and go okay work is not evil it was created and then what does he do he plants he creates a garden 00:34:51.779 --> 00:34:57.599 verse 8 and then the lord god planted a garden in eden and the ground the lord god made to spring up 00:34:57.599 --> 00:35:02.360 every tree that is pleasant to the sight of and good for food and then what does he do if we go further 00:35:02.360 --> 00:35:06.980 down a little bit verse 15 he says the lord god took the man and put him in the garden of eden 00:35:06.980 --> 00:35:14.880 to work it and keep it the hebrew there what there actually means work means to worship it's the same 00:35:14.880 --> 00:35:20.699 thing so adam gets plonked into a garden and says you're going to worship me through your work here 00:35:20.699 --> 00:35:23.639 you're going to work and you're going to cultivate and you're going to keep this ground you're going 00:35:23.639 --> 00:35:28.059 to be fruitful and you're going to multiply you're going to have dominion over this you are going to 00:35:28.059 --> 00:35:34.119 work is what he's saying here and actually everything that he needs is already there there's this passage 00:35:34.119 --> 00:35:40.599 here from verse 9 to 14 he says he makes every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for 00:35:40.599 --> 00:35:46.039 food both beautiful and functional that means he gives us everything that we need not just that 00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:53.420 he also gives us rivers and trees and then gold and bdellium and onyx stone everything that man needs 00:35:53.420 --> 00:36:01.980 all the raw materials there that we need to flourish are already in place our job is to work it our job is 00:36:01.980 --> 00:36:10.219 to mine for it to find it to refine it to craft it all for what all for the glory of god when was the 00:36:10.219 --> 00:36:17.240 last time you looked at your work and went okay this is my worship to you god this is me worshiping you 00:36:17.240 --> 00:36:25.460 through doing this incredibly mundane earthly activity me just reassembling these raw materials 00:36:25.460 --> 00:36:29.840 these papers that i have whatever it is that god has put in front of you when was the last time you 00:36:29.840 --> 00:36:38.420 said okay actually that is my worship to god that is what i was made for the work is your worship we 00:36:38.420 --> 00:36:45.260 were created to order those things now work is also hard but i'm very keen to not talk about that just 00:36:45.260 --> 00:36:51.800 yet because that is chapter three when the ground becomes cursed so if you're sat here thinking james 00:36:51.800 --> 00:36:57.340 you're being insensitive to me because you don't know how my work is i'm here to tell you uh blame eve 00:36:57.340 --> 00:37:05.740 when she ate the apple no don't just that's a joke i'm saying work got really hard after the fall 00:37:05.740 --> 00:37:11.300 because before it wasn't supposed to be evil before we were supposed to work and cultivate and keep 00:37:11.300 --> 00:37:17.900 but it would actually be easy but that's not how it ends and that's not how it proceeds but we're 00:37:17.900 --> 00:37:21.480 going to leave that if you can bear with me we're going to leave that to next week because the fall 00:37:21.480 --> 00:37:29.199 happens in chapter three but for now we work and we don't use work to find our purpose we don't use 00:37:29.199 --> 00:37:35.880 work to find our identity we work from a place of rest knowing who we are just like adam he was 00:37:35.880 --> 00:37:42.900 created put in the garden and you work to move things together and shuffle them together so that 00:37:42.900 --> 00:37:47.980 they would glorify god some of you are sat here going well work is not only hard that we'll talk about 00:37:47.980 --> 00:37:53.360 next week but sometimes work also feels pointless well here this is where the gospel message can come 00:37:53.360 --> 00:37:58.300 in right and speak to you your work is not pointless for the one reason and the one reason is because 00:37:58.300 --> 00:38:03.920 jesus christ came lived and died and rose from the dead the resurrection and he showed us that work 00:38:03.920 --> 00:38:08.920 wasn't supposed to stay just in the garden in one place but it was actually supposed to spread to the 00:38:08.920 --> 00:38:13.699 point where we would all live in this garden city where all would be beautiful all would be flourishing 00:38:13.699 --> 00:38:19.279 but sadly we turn our way from god right that's chapter three and then the rest of humanity but 00:38:19.279 --> 00:38:26.279 what we see here is that your work is not in vain because of christ and let me tell you why in 1 00:38:26.279 --> 00:38:29.739 corinthians chapter 50 this is caleb's favorite verse is the one that got him to come to christ 00:38:29.739 --> 00:38:37.299 1 corinthians chapter 15 verse 58 he does not labor in vain right let's just go there just have a look i 00:38:37.299 --> 00:38:41.419 want you to look at this and actually if you're wondering and if you have a scientific mind and you're 00:38:41.420 --> 00:38:46.019 like oh how does creation work and how does how does all this even happen i don't even believe in 00:38:46.019 --> 00:38:51.180 these miracles uh and all these uh different things well let me take you to 1 corinthians chapter 15 00:38:51.180 --> 00:38:58.780 which i realize i can't multitask and do okay the creation account works because of jesus because of 00:38:58.780 --> 00:39:02.780 the resurrection actually that isn't even the biggest leap the biggest leap here is about the 00:39:02.780 --> 00:39:07.320 resurrection of christ that someone died came as dust and then rose again and at the very end so 00:39:07.320 --> 00:39:12.519 actually if you want one chapter to look at but to convince you of miracles to convince you of the 00:39:12.519 --> 00:39:17.640 resurrection this is it chapter 15 of 1 corinthians now at the very end of this it says this therefore 00:39:17.640 --> 00:39:23.080 my beloved brothers be steadfast immovable always abounding in the work of the lord knowing that in 00:39:23.080 --> 00:39:29.400 the lord your labor is not in vain you work you have purpose and it is not in vain because jesus christ 00:39:29.400 --> 00:39:35.240 came and died the death that we were supposed to die and now he is making all things new again so your work 00:39:35.239 --> 00:39:40.839 has a role in that whatever it looks like and you're like james you don't know how boring my work is it 00:39:40.839 --> 00:39:47.639 doesn't matter you do not labor in vain because in your working christ is glorified in your working 00:39:47.959 --> 00:39:54.439 christ is moving he is reordering reassembling making all things new through your work so that's 00:39:54.439 --> 00:39:59.799 why we must have a good relationship with our work uh dorothy sayers says this work is not a necessary 00:39:59.799 --> 00:40:05.079 evil to be escaped it is the natural exercise of man's god-given creative powers an essential way 00:40:05.079 --> 00:40:11.799 in which he participates in god's creation tim keller in his book every good endeavor if every 00:40:11.799 --> 00:40:16.039 anyone's struggling with work that's the book to read trumped by tim keller work is a primary place 00:40:16.039 --> 00:40:21.559 where we live out the command to love your neighbor because god is the true worker we work in his image 00:40:23.079 --> 00:40:28.119 i'm also here to say that actually some of us we have actually bought a lie the lie of what work really 00:40:28.119 --> 00:40:37.799 should be we think that work should be where we find contentment that we have a salary and that from 00:40:37.799 --> 00:40:44.199 that work we will also bring impact what we have is a form of modern consumerism where we think the work 00:40:44.199 --> 00:40:48.679 is supposed to serve us and give us our identity give us everything that we need to help us feel 00:40:48.679 --> 00:40:55.159 happy with ourselves but that is not what work was supposed to be some of you are actually in really tough 00:40:55.159 --> 00:41:00.279 work situations and my prayer is your pastor is that i'm not here just to tell you hey just look 00:41:00.279 --> 00:41:06.440 on the bright side of life and just keep working what i'm here to say is what if the work that god 00:41:06.440 --> 00:41:14.039 has put you into the garden that he placed you in remember adam was plonked into the garden what if 00:41:14.039 --> 00:41:21.639 your next question is god how can i worship you here how can i serve you here even in this tough work 00:41:21.639 --> 00:41:29.000 environment who do i need to reach out to and seek out and find to love and to serve and this job 00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:33.960 isn't great and lord can you give me a new one soon but in the meantime who am i supposed to be 00:41:33.960 --> 00:41:39.239 serving here how am i supposed to be worshiping here what if we took work from that angle 00:41:41.319 --> 00:41:45.079 what if we took work from the place where actually if this is my worship i'm going to walk into this 00:41:45.079 --> 00:41:50.119 office and it's a terrible terrible dark place but i'm going to find that one little glimmer of light 00:41:50.119 --> 00:41:56.199 light that god wants me to shine i'm here to find that colleague that is the hardest to love hardest 00:41:56.199 --> 00:42:01.480 to work with i'm going to love them i'm going to love them to the point where they feel sick because 00:42:01.480 --> 00:42:08.440 they hate me what if that was what it was about what if work wasn't actually about us what if work 00:42:08.440 --> 00:42:12.920 wasn't actually about our own satisfaction what if it wasn't about our own ambitions what if it wasn't 00:42:12.920 --> 00:42:18.679 about our own pay packet what if there was more to work than just that if we are to flourish as humans 00:42:18.679 --> 00:42:25.799 we must have a better relationship with work not we must have better work we must have a better 00:42:25.799 --> 00:42:31.719 relationship with the work that lord has called us to and that comes down to our first one which is we 00:42:31.719 --> 00:42:37.079 have to have a good relationship with him keller carries on and says if you have jesus you have 00:42:37.079 --> 00:42:41.879 everything if you don't have jesus you have nothing when you realize this you stop looking at your career 00:42:41.880 --> 00:42:49.880 as the place where you must find yourself you stop asking the job to be your savior what if our work 00:42:49.880 --> 00:42:55.000 was a place where we could work out our salvation what if our work was a place where we can love our 00:42:55.000 --> 00:43:01.079 enemies what if our work was the place where we actually go to worship and so you come on a sunday 00:43:01.079 --> 00:43:05.160 on your sabbath and you're ready to worship but as long as this is the first time you're worshiping 00:43:05.159 --> 00:43:12.279 you've been worshiping all week through your work relationship with him the vertical axis relationship 00:43:12.279 --> 00:43:19.079 with work the vocational axis and finally there are relationship with others and so we carry on 00:43:19.079 --> 00:43:23.960 and we've got the last bit here sorry it is warm uh we're going to talk to the building about increasing 00:43:23.960 --> 00:43:31.480 the air con it seems to be on but not really um then the lord god said in verse 18 it is god that it is 00:43:31.480 --> 00:43:38.199 not good that the man should be alone i will make a helper fit for him so this is again before the fall 00:43:38.760 --> 00:43:43.240 work is not evil work exists before the fall but there is one thing that isn't good 00:43:45.079 --> 00:43:51.240 the man would be alone 126 says let us make man in our image don't you find that interesting if you just 00:43:51.240 --> 00:43:55.400 come from a completely fresh you don't even know about christianity or you haven't been to sunday 00:43:55.400 --> 00:44:01.320 school this is interesting that from the very beginning it says god says let us make man in our image 00:44:01.480 --> 00:44:06.920 wait i always thought god was just this god zeus-like character on the throne why is he us and why is he 00:44:06.920 --> 00:44:14.039 our it's because there is the godhead it's because there is a community that we were made from relationship 00:44:14.039 --> 00:44:22.280 and we were made for relationship it is not good for man to be alone i will make a helper fit for him 00:44:22.280 --> 00:44:26.440 something else that's interesting and i joke about blaming eve because if you look at the account here 00:44:26.440 --> 00:44:34.519 there was only one person that was told about the tree adam it was his job it was his job to go 00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:41.639 and one cultivate the land and we get and also his job to then put tell everything to eve as well but 00:44:41.639 --> 00:44:48.280 adam doesn't do his job properly so we can't actually blame the guy when it comes to the sin of mankind 00:44:48.280 --> 00:44:55.800 and how we are all were doomed to death because the man didn't listen and what we see here is that 00:44:55.800 --> 00:44:59.240 actually he does work and keep it and he does something that's really interesting and actually 00:44:59.240 --> 00:45:08.840 really cute he goes and he names the animals you ra lion you pig pig isn't that cute because in 00:45:08.840 --> 00:45:16.280 chapter one god speaks life into existence god speaks creation into existence chapter two he lets man do it 00:45:16.280 --> 00:45:20.680 why don't you name the animals and of course the context here is there is authority when you give 00:45:20.680 --> 00:45:26.360 something a name and so isn't it cute honestly that's the only one i can come up with isn't it cute 00:45:26.360 --> 00:45:33.000 that man got a chance to do this isn't it cute that you get to work isn't it cute that you get to do 00:45:33.000 --> 00:45:39.000 whatever it is that you do when actually your job and your targets and your kpis they are there and 00:45:39.000 --> 00:45:43.480 they're real they're very very real but they are just secondary to the primary goal of work which is 00:45:43.480 --> 00:45:47.800 to glorify him that god gave you this that you would have dominion over your work that you would 00:45:47.800 --> 00:45:51.960 have dominion over creation that you will be able to name things but instead what happens is not only 00:45:51.960 --> 00:45:55.400 do we not have dominion over our work we get dominated by our work instead 00:45:59.000 --> 00:46:02.679 but adam here he goes around and it would have been really interesting for him because he's naming 00:46:02.679 --> 00:46:09.159 all these animals and he's like huh wait a minute these animals are all two by two it's like oh these 00:46:09.159 --> 00:46:13.480 animals are all a little bit different and then he must look at himself and go but i'm on i'm the 00:46:13.480 --> 00:46:21.239 only one of my kind i'm the only one that looks like i do and it's funny uh verse 20 says the man 00:46:21.239 --> 00:46:25.319 gave names to all livestock into the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field but for adam 00:46:25.319 --> 00:46:34.279 there was not found a helper fit for him why do we see this from the very beginning it's because we 00:46:34.280 --> 00:46:38.600 we were made for community we were made from community it is not good for us to be alone so 00:46:38.600 --> 00:46:43.400 god creates a helper for just in case you think a helper is someone who is inferior someone who is 00:46:43.400 --> 00:46:49.080 weak someone who has no control no the helper here is the same word used to describe god himself 00:46:49.080 --> 00:46:53.640 later in scripture god uses that word to describe himself it is a strength that is complementary what 00:46:53.640 --> 00:46:59.960 it is what it means a strength that is complementary to adam it is a woman who will complement adam's 00:46:59.960 --> 00:47:05.559 strengths and together they will be even stronger is what it's saying here and so he creates a helper 00:47:05.559 --> 00:47:11.800 for him so the man falls asleep and so man comes from dust but woman comes from man and what we have 00:47:11.800 --> 00:47:18.039 then is the beginning of the most sacred relationship between two human beings and that is the one of 00:47:18.039 --> 00:47:25.480 marriage the sacred covenant where a man leaves his father and mother and goes to be with another person 00:47:25.480 --> 00:47:32.760 and they would become one flesh the sacred covenant is the one that we see later much later where christ 00:47:32.760 --> 00:47:39.719 has this relationship with his own church this relationship this marriage those of us who are married 00:47:39.719 --> 00:47:45.880 will tell you marriage when you think about your marriage the first thing you think of is not warm fuzzy feelings 00:47:45.880 --> 00:47:57.640 the first thing you think of is sacrifice and giving and hurt when we get in relationship with other people 00:47:58.840 --> 00:48:05.640 we will get hurt and we will also hurt we are a fallen race because of genesis chapter three because of the choices that we made 00:48:05.639 --> 00:48:14.199 but it's interesting some of those wounds that were created if we were to let light in if we were to give 00:48:14.199 --> 00:48:19.239 people the chance it is through those wounds if we let light in is what henry now and says is that's where we get 00:48:19.239 --> 00:48:25.799 the healing it's funny we get hurt by humans so we retract from humans sometimes well knowingly that actually 00:48:25.799 --> 00:48:32.920 the way we get healed is through relationships with humans we were relational communal mutual beings 00:48:32.920 --> 00:48:39.000 now there is the sanctity of the marriage here that i don't have too much time that's another whole 00:48:39.000 --> 00:48:43.880 another sermon to talk about but one thing here that is the very end of this is that the man and his wife 00:48:43.880 --> 00:48:53.480 were both naked and unashamed uh our son micah two years old now has picked up a hobby recently and this 00:48:53.480 --> 00:49:02.440 hobby apparently does not include clothes at all so what he does uh unknowingly to us we'll be doing our 00:49:02.440 --> 00:49:07.320 own thing and suddenly he'll be like now's my chance and then he starts to take off his top 00:49:08.519 --> 00:49:12.679 and then he takes off his pants and his so i mean socks are already gone already 00:49:13.880 --> 00:49:17.079 and then and now he's discovered that he actually has the strength to take off his nappy 00:49:17.720 --> 00:49:22.200 uh and then he's discovered the genius of putting his nappy on his head uh 00:49:24.200 --> 00:49:27.240 yeah christine is mortified i find it hilarious and then 00:49:27.239 --> 00:49:34.199 he runs around the house telling each of us his great accomplishment of the day which is that he 00:49:34.199 --> 00:49:41.000 got naked and he has no shame whatsoever he loves it and he'll run and show one person and then he'll 00:49:41.000 --> 00:49:45.799 like look at me and then we kind of make a like a weird oh we're a little bit freaked okay okay that's 00:49:45.799 --> 00:49:49.879 cute and then and then we laugh and then he runs to the next person he does the same and then he's so 00:49:49.879 --> 00:49:53.479 excited he forgets that he's already come to me so he comes back to me and shows me the same thing again 00:49:53.480 --> 00:49:58.840 and on one hand i'm like oh this is so like let's i mean it's cute but it's like we've got the air 00:49:58.840 --> 00:50:03.000 conditioning on put your clothes back on um but on the other hand actually i get a little bit sad 00:50:04.679 --> 00:50:11.000 this is what humans were created to be like to be naked and unashamed 00:50:12.760 --> 00:50:18.280 and yet the moment we make that wrong decision the moment we respond to the question did god really 00:50:18.280 --> 00:50:25.000 say can you really trust god can you imagine just a two-year-old saying that and asking that 00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:32.760 question about their own parents oh can i really trust my parents do they really love me still even 00:50:32.760 --> 00:50:37.160 though they see every part of me that's essentially the lie that we bought in the next chapter 00:50:38.120 --> 00:50:44.200 and from that moment shame is introduced into mankind from that moment we are no longer naked and 00:50:44.199 --> 00:50:49.480 unashamed if you think about what that means to be naked and unashamed what it means is that we are 00:50:49.480 --> 00:50:57.399 fully known and fully loved that is the deepest cry of cry of our hearts that is what we were created for 00:50:57.960 --> 00:51:03.000 that we will be fully known by the people around us that we will be fully known by god and that we are 00:51:03.000 --> 00:51:09.879 fully loved regardless and yet one moment changes everything 00:51:09.880 --> 00:51:18.599 one moment causes humanity to not only not trust themselves but not trust god and not trust each 00:51:18.599 --> 00:51:24.039 other the relationship with him the relationship with work the relationship with others all of it is 00:51:24.039 --> 00:51:30.200 fractured and so now we are left with the low grade hum of anxiety and not the shalom that we're after 00:51:32.920 --> 00:51:38.680 i've got so much more to say next week in chapter three but for now if you're in a place where yep i'm 00:51:38.679 --> 00:51:43.239 not there i'm not flourishing these three axes of relationships i don't have things are not going 00:51:43.239 --> 00:51:48.919 well what hope do i have and i can answer you this without even knowing you very well there is only 00:51:48.919 --> 00:51:56.679 one answer because there is only one person that came who actually did flourish who actually did have 00:51:56.679 --> 00:52:03.639 this relationship with the father where he would be able to say the father and i are one they would 00:52:03.639 --> 00:52:09.319 be united together there is only one who knew exactly why he was created why he exactly why he 00:52:09.319 --> 00:52:14.279 came to the earth and he said for this purpose i was sent to share the good news of the kingdom of 00:52:14.279 --> 00:52:19.559 god there is only one who had this perfect relationship and loved people and knew people 00:52:20.279 --> 00:52:21.559 and that person is jesus 00:52:23.559 --> 00:52:28.440 and whilst we were given a blueprint to humanity that we have then failed miserably he comes to restore 00:52:28.440 --> 00:52:34.440 the blueprint he comes to show us that actually this is how you do it and how do you do it not just 00:52:35.639 --> 00:52:40.119 watch me and then try and copy me and try and imitate me and try your best to get to be like me 00:52:40.119 --> 00:52:46.360 no it's just invite me into your life and let me do it for you you will have this mind among yourselves 00:52:46.920 --> 00:52:53.480 which is yours in christ jesus let jesus come into you and then you can say i can do all things in christ who 00:52:53.480 --> 00:53:03.719 strengthens me that is how we get hope when we look at the lack of shalom around the world as we look at 00:53:03.719 --> 00:53:10.840 the lack of shalom in our own hearts in our own lives the goal then is to look back to him 00:53:12.920 --> 00:53:19.800 the one who actually shows us our new identity who breaks down every wall that stands between all of us 00:53:19.800 --> 00:53:28.840 he himself is that peace that's our hope he says i am that peace you will be whole if you are with me 00:53:30.200 --> 00:53:36.600 and that is what we hold on to we were designed for community uh dietrich bonhoeffer who himself 00:53:36.600 --> 00:53:41.480 had so much suffering in his life said this christianity means community through jesus christ 00:53:42.280 --> 00:53:48.280 and in jesus christ no christian community is more or less than this we belong to one another only through and 00:53:48.280 --> 00:53:56.840 in jesus christ we need each other blaze pascal calls this god-shaped vacuum that we have 00:53:57.400 --> 00:54:04.440 inside us can only be fulfilled through him and other people this is the question i'll finish with 00:54:05.080 --> 00:54:11.240 whatever you're struggling with whatever you are wrestling with what's your relationship like with him 00:54:11.239 --> 00:54:20.679 with work with others and whatever answer you have then say jesus can you come into that relationship 00:54:21.559 --> 00:54:29.079 can you come and help me i can't do this on my own i need you and only you and then we look at each other 00:54:30.279 --> 00:54:35.799 and go okay i really want to love god but i can't do it on my own can you help me 00:54:35.800 --> 00:54:44.680 can you help me practice my love on you and in doing so i actually can then be created for what i was 00:54:44.680 --> 00:54:46.280 created do what i was created for 00:54:48.519 --> 00:54:56.519 so all jokes aside i need alex lee in my life for me to love god more it's a non-negotiable 00:54:56.519 --> 00:55:00.280 i think that's why you're gathering here otherwise we don't need to be called the gathering 00:55:00.280 --> 00:55:06.840 to be with each other and i'll finish with this final quote from martin luther king 00:55:08.360 --> 00:55:14.120 i can never be what i ought to be until you are what you ought to be and you can never be what you 00:55:14.120 --> 00:55:20.120 ought to be until i am what i ought to be this is the way our world is made no individual or nation 00:55:20.120 --> 00:55:27.320 can stand out boasting or being independent we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality 00:55:27.320 --> 00:55:34.519 we were created for this for a relationship with god with work with each other and we can only do it 00:55:34.519 --> 00:55:37.320 through christ who strengthens us let us pray 00:55:49.000 --> 00:55:51.800 lord we spend a moment now just to respond 00:55:51.800 --> 00:55:57.400 or maybe just to rest in your presence 00:56:00.840 --> 00:56:06.840 to not already forget what was taught last week that we start on this journey from rest 00:56:07.640 --> 00:56:12.120 that we pursue relationship with you knowing that you are the one who pursues us 00:56:13.240 --> 00:56:18.360 we pursue what it means to have purpose in work knowing that the work is already done 00:56:18.360 --> 00:56:23.640 we pursue others and love others in the way that you loved us 00:56:23.640 --> 00:56:32.360 we desire shalom 00:56:35.400 --> 00:56:38.280 we desire peace we desire wholeness 00:56:38.280 --> 00:56:42.040 we desire you 00:56:44.920 --> 00:56:45.560 we need you 00:56:51.320 --> 00:56:53.800 bring us back bring us back to the garden 00:56:58.280 --> 00:57:02.280 bring us back to that place where we could just walk with you freely naked and unashamed 00:57:02.280 --> 00:57:11.080 thank you lord that you see us 00:57:12.200 --> 00:57:13.560 that in you we are fully known 00:57:16.040 --> 00:57:17.000 and yet fully loved 00:57:17.000 --> 00:57:32.920 this sunday we start there 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:33.079 00:58:02.920 --> 00:58:09.320 hand. And from there, Lord, would you give us the confidence to go to the places you have called us, 00:58:09.559 --> 00:58:16.039 the places that are difficult, the places that we may feel like we lack meaning and purpose, 00:58:16.039 --> 00:58:20.940 whether it's in work or the different relationships you have called us to, God, there is purpose 00:58:20.940 --> 00:58:26.840 in all that you have called us to. And we just pray for Lord, your spirit to awaken us to see 00:58:26.840 --> 00:58:34.860 what that may be. So we humble ourselves, Lord, in obedience, God, to what you may call us to 00:58:34.860 --> 00:58:39.380 in this week to come, in this season to come. Would you have it all? 00:58:42.380 --> 00:58:45.920 So thank you, Jesus. We pray this in your marvelous name. Amen.