2023.10.07/08
From the Pastor’s Desk : Rev. Mark Liu
Dear brothers and sisters, may I wish all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
When we study history, we will know that Thanksgiving was established to thank God for His protection and provision. In other words, the object of Thanksgiving is God, not the food on the table. Today, when we celebrate Thanksgiving, we quickly think of turkey or all the delicious food. The focus has changed from thanking God for the provision to what kind of food will we celebrate Thanksgiving this year, or traveling to other places, etc. Over time, the purpose of establishing Thanksgiving has changed, and the purpose of celebrating Thanksgiving has been forgotten.
In fact, this phenomenon is not unique to today. The Bible tells us that when we forget who we are, the way we deal with many things will change. This week’s sermon will talk about the relationship between the Sabbath and Jesus. In Luke 6:5, Jesus said “He is Lord of the Sabbath.” The Pharisees at that time set up a lot of conditions for keeping the Sabbath, and forgetting the original purpose of keeping the Sabbath. Keeping the Sabbath became a yoke for people at that time.
In Genesis, after all creation was completed, God saw that everything was good, especially when He saw human beings, God described as very good. And the Bible tells us that God rested on the “seventh day.” The “rest” mentioned here does not mean that God needs to rest. But it’s the beginning of everything. God chooses to be with people. The Sabbath is not about resting and doing nothing, but about returning to the Creator, and this return is demonstrated through worship. The purpose of worship is not what God needs, but what we need. When we forget to worship, we forget who we are. This forgetfulness will appear in our lives. This forgetfulness causes us to be unable to rest.
Today we all hope to have rest. This rest is not available until we return to heaven, but can be found today. We can rest because we place all values on Jesus Christ. Our worth is not gained by what we do, but by our Lord laying down His life so that our worth is fully reflected. When we replace Jesus with other things, we think that our own value is reflected through these things, but we don’t know that these things have no eternal value. Only Jesus Christ can give us eternal value. Only when we are willing to think carefully and discover that this is grace, will we be grateful. Only by being grateful can we have rest.
In this Thanksgiving, will you be thankful for salvation? How will you reflect this gratefulness in your life?
May God bless you all. May God bless RCAC.
His servant,
Rev. Mark Liu