Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Sunday Investment

Sundays should be the greatest day of your week! God thinks it's of the utmost importance that we prioritize it. From our Back to Church Sunday sermon here are Six Reasons to Invest in a Weekly Sabbath:
1. I need it (Genesis 2:2; Mark 2:27).  
 God knows I need it. That’s why He rested. God doesn’t want to flatten your fun or lessen your life by taking away a day. He wants to increase your joy and improve your life by giving you a day to refresh, refuel, and refocus with Him because He knows you need it.
2. God asks me to (Exodus 20:8).  
The fourth commandment says to keep the Sabbath “holy.” 
3. God blessed the Sabbath (Genesis 2:3).
For reasons only He fully understands, God says that He blessed the Sabbath. It’s a special day, not an extra day. When we cooperate with what God blesses, we get blessed.
4. My life goes better when I Sabbath.
So many of us think that if we can get ahead faster, if we are productive seven days a week . . . But that’s not how God made the universe. Secular sociologists have studied the benefits of church attendance. What they’ve found is that those who attend church regularly…
1. Live seven and a half years longer than those who don’t.
2. Are 56 percent more likely to have an optimistic life outlook than those who don’t.
3. Are 27 percent less likely to be depressed.
4. Are 35 percent less likely to get divorced.
5. Have higher average levels of commitment to partners, higher levels of marital satisfaction, less thinking and talking about divorce, and lower levels of negative interaction.
6. Achieve higher grades, and practice better time management.
The studies are pretty clear: life goes better for those who go to church regularly.
5. My Mondays go better when I Sabbath.  
Do you sometimes dread Mondays? We get out of bed saying, “Rats, I have to go back to work today.” We’re exhausted and unmotivated because we used all our energy on Sunday instead of receiving new energy from Sunday.
6. My family does better when we Sabbath.
It really is true that the family that rests together does best together. A family that attends church learns skills from the Bible about how to do relationships better and how to do life better.Great families become great by building great memories together. If you develop the habit of doing church together, your children (or your parents) will build a repository of enriched memories that will last a lifetime. My family is a far better family because of church.
7. My eternity will go better if I Sabbath.
God promises to bless me if I bless Him. And I bless Him when I show up at church.

God loves Sundays and so should we. Amen?