Understanding The Purpose Of The Sabbath Law

Song Credit: “Lift Me Up" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on October 28, 2022, by Westbury Road, Roc Nation, Def Jam, and Hollywood Records, as the lead single from the soundtrack album of the 2022 superhero film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.


The Ten Commandments | Remember The Sabbath - Exodus 20:1-2, 8-11 - Gayle Parker

This Sunday will be the fifth sermon of our summer sermon series and it is titled "Creation and Labor—The Sacred Rhythm of Sabbath and Rest".

Sabbath is a sacred rhythm essential to the Jewish and Christian spiritual life. In a world where our value is determined by what we do and contribute, the architecture of the Sabbath is intended for humanity to rest in the healing and transformative love of God.

8.10.25 - Message: Creation and Labor—The Sacred Rhythm of Sabbath and Rest

Marked by the Day

Every week, the time, it passes
Six days, they go by
Always looking forward to day seven,
you know why
Sanctified by God after
He created earth and sky
Rested on that day and gave
It to us as a sign

Chorus:
We’re marked by the day
We’re marked by the way
We’re marked when we say
Remember the sabbath day
x2

Oh eh oh

Six days we have to work
And six days we can do our thing
But the seventh’s different
Not a day to be working
Not causing other people to work
Buying or selling
We’re setting God’s holy day apart
In all our dwellings

Chorus

Bridge:
From sunset to sunset
A perfect day of rest
Spending time with God
We’re living for you, God
We keep Your sabbath as a sign
Part of Your perfect design
We honor You, our God
You are Almighty God

Oh eh oh

A time for us to gather
It’s a holy convocation
Not just a little meeting
But a 24 hour duration
Coming with clean hands and
Pure hearts, a holy nation
Delighting in the sabbath
With God as our fixation

Chorus oh eh oh
Bridge oh eh oh
Chorus

Marked by the Day

"Purpose"

If Truth looked you right in the eye
Would you stay on the outside 
Or wave your flag and give up all you ever had
If Truth were planted in your ear
Would you drown it out or hear
and do verity with righteous sincerity 

Would you try to find
And look deeper behind 
The red curtain
Even if it hurts yeah uh huh
The truth about forever:
It’s written for whomever 
Perceives it, 
Receive it, if you just believe it

Chorus:
Our lives have a purpose under the sun
Fear the Creator, the only one
With power to give life and take it away
Keep God’s commandments before Judgment Day

The truth’s written for mankind 
God’s instructions are defined,
His very hand 
wrote the words of His commands
The truth is that our righteousness 
Is keeping His commandments 
So don’t break His law
Break one and you’ve broken all

John made his profession
Stating sin’s the transgression 
of the Torah, Only blood restores ya
The precious blood of Messiah
Covers sins and ‘s required
By the Father
Without it, don’t you even bother

Chorus

Truth is the evidence, the proof 
That something is real
Not held with prominence, the truth
is a third wheel 
Lies are not bullet proof, the truth
Can wound an ideal
Life’s major element includes 
The love of the truth

Chorus

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Purpose

"Tables of Stone"

Some believe in diamonds and gold
Putting all their trust in their billfolds
Some live for manmade labels 
But I live by the tables of stone
Written by God’s hand

Riches don’t profit in the day of wrath
But righteousness delivers from death, do the math 
The Word is the map
You just gotta take the path

Some believe whatever they’re told
Like that the world’s a billion years old
Oh, some believe the cable
But I believe the tables of stone
Written by God’s hand

Who changed the truth of God into a lie?
If you eat the fruit of lies, you get blinded eyes.
If the truth you deny
Delusions fill the skies

Some believe that all throughout time,
Some things happen only when stars align 
Yeah, some believe in fables 
But I believe the tables of stone
Written by God’s hand

Have no other gods before His face
Don’t make a graven image or bow down at its base;
Don’t take His name in vain; Keep the sabbath—all of it; 
Honor your folks, don’t murder, cheat, steal, lie, or covet.

God made the sabbath after His creation plan,
He rested, and He blessed it, and He gave it to man.
If you keep the sabbath then delight will be in Him.

Some say that God’s sabbath day changed
But it’s ac-tual-ly what man rearranged
SOME think that they’re unable
But I live by the tables of stone
Written by God’s hand
Some only enable
But I live by the tables of stone
Written by God’s hand



Tables of Stone

"Can’t Follow Your Heart"

The heart is deceitful above all things
Two hearts can lead two people in paths differing 
But there is only one right way to go
One path, one truth, one light to follow 

Following a feeling might seem a thrill
And staying in one place might seem too chill
The heart can paint a picture to fulfill
But wake yourself up and smell the daffodils

Chorus:
You can’t follow your heart
No, you’ve gotta restart 
Sometimes the truth’s like a dart 
That makes the world fall apart
Can’t take one piece a-la-cart
You take it all or depart
If you can’t see in the dark
Then you can’t follow your heart

There is a right way and a wrong 
But most just choose to follow along
Whichever way’s convenient and ease-ay
To speed up on life’s freeway

Gotta test your visions and your dreams 
Gotta test the spirits and the mainstream 
To absolute truth found in the Word of God
And if it contradicts, you gotta see the fraud

Chorus

On a mission and I’m wishin you would hear me 
Take position, no omission of reality

A prophet whose words don’t come to pass
Tune them out, don’t follow their forecasts.
God brings to pass just what He said
The lying prophet lacks the fear of God and dread

A prophet whose words seem to ring true
Must be tested by all of their fruit 
Does this prophet keep all God’s commandments
Or lead the people with enchantments

Chorus

It might be hard to swallow
But no, you can’t follow 
You can follow your—
You can’t follow your heart



Can't Follow Your Heart

"Right There"

Chorus:
You were right there for me
You had exactly just what I needed
You were waiting for—for me
To read it like You mean it for—for me
To hear, learn, and do it
You caused my eyes to see
All the things that the world tried to delete, yeah
Captivating for—for me
Believed it like You mean it for—for me

I’d lived my lifetime
Without knowing all my crimes
But this light left no cloak for sin
All of this time I
Had been living a big lie
But the truth’s the same now as then

Chorus

I saw the shavings that
Their eraser left chafing 
Right from wrong’s been redrawn by men
Your balm of healing,
The truth You’d been revealing,
Gave my heart a fresh start again

Chorus

My head was spinning 
Going back to the beginning
Like my brother brother told me to
Knowing to stop sinning 
Was the only way to winning
Gotta do it right ‘til I meet You

Right There

“Eternity”

Eternity eternal
Everlasting, Continuing in motion
Eternity eternal
Where we shall go depends upon our devotion
Eternity eternal
Appointed unto man once to die
Eternity eternal
We go to our long home to meet the Maker of the sky

Chorus:
What’s greater than the things that we see
It’s the things that last for eternity
The things on earth only last so much
the things that last moth and rust can’t corrupt

You got me thinking ‘bout
You got me thinking ‘bout
You got me thinking ‘bout eternity Yeah
X2

Eternity eternal
We were made eternal in His image at creation
Eternity eternal
All are resurrected to life or to damnation
Eternity eternal
Great or small, God judges all at the consummation
Eternity eternal
This life is our chance to prove our love and dedication

Chorus

The whole duty of man is
Fearing God and keeping His commandments
We were put on this planet
For this reason so understand it
X2

Chorus

Eternity

"Die To Live"

Time  /  Slips away, slips away
But okay  /  What we have is today
I’m  /  Not the same, not the same
s’when I came  /  Now I know where to aim

Chorus:
You gotta die to live
You have a love to give
To the Eternal One
Who shines brighter than the sun
And like a fire within
Burn the old life of sin
I give You everything
Refine my heart in the flame

Mine  /  s’what they say, what they say
But they’ll pay  /  When this life falls away
Climb  /  But which way, but which way
There’s a day  /  That the Judge won’t delay

Chorus

A line  /  ‘s fading gray, fading gray
Sin’s okay? Nay, nay!  /  Sin’s as black as decay
Shine  /  Break away, break away
Gotta stay  /  In God’s Word and not stray

Chorus

Burn it all away
Don’t want the lies that people say
Let’s just start at the beginning
So I know which way to winning 
Give me the truth so I obey

Die to Live

Death By Heat (Needs Proper Mix)

We may forget our limitations, but God in His goodness never does. In Exodus we are commanded to “remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” Our Father calls us to rest, and we can only neglect this command for so long before we experience the consequences of disobedience. In this sermon, Pastor Lance Faulkner explains what the Sabbath is, how we are called to practice it, and what happens when we fail to do so. If we don’t pause to rest, spend time with God, and evaluate our lives, the result can harm us, our relationships, and our spiritual walk.

The Key To A Life Without Regrets w/ Pastor Lance Faulkner

Sermon B-Side Podcast: Some questions from Summer Sermon & Fall Preview

Join Jenna Wright and Pastor Matt Looloian as they wrap up the summer series on Sabbath and “Who We Are” and share what’s ahead for the fall - a deep dive into Leviticus: Holy God, Holy People. Discover the difference between the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day, how spiritual gifts in Romans 12 work, and what to expect from upcoming Bible studies at Liberti Church.

27B - Summer Wrap Up & Fall Preview - B-Side - 09.02.25

Humanity tends to be drawn to the simplicity of binary categories: yes/no, right/wrong, allowed/prohibited. It can be easy to apply this kind of thinking to Jesus' rejection of legalistic readings of the sabbath laws in his interactions with pharisees in the gospels. But in other places Jesus makes it clear that he has not come to overthrow God's laws, much less one of the "big ten." Jesus simply wants to law to serve the purpose for which is was intended, which is always the practice of love and freedom. To impose modern categories to this ancient story, he understands that sabbath-keeping is about healthy boundaries, rather than legalistic bondage. Which means that even if we reject binary thinking we have any easy way to honor sabbath-keeping law. We just need to ask if our sabbath-keeping serves the needs of love and freedom for all. 

Photo by Aida L on Unsplash



Boundaries, Not Bondage

In this teaching, we review the importance of Teshuvah for Christians. Each of us needs to examine our lives and make sure we are building on the rock, which is Christ. This season is a time to slow down our busy-ness and seek God's face with extra attention. God will meet us in the secret place.

What is Teshuvah?

In this short teaching, we will answer the question "Should We Call Ourselves Christians?" Is Christian a Biblical and historical term to refer to the first followers of Jesus or does it come from another religion?

Should We Call Ourselves Christians?

In this message, we discuss the meaning of Daniel 7:25 and its implications for Christians. Why would satan try to change the set times of God? Also, we discuss the meaning of Leviticus chapter 23 and how the Lord's Feasts teach us about intimacy with God. 

Comparing Daniel 7:25 and Leviticus 23

Valley Presbyterian Church has an international reputation as a destination wedding setting, but for some 350 people in the Bay area, it’s more than a wedding, or even a Sunday, destination:  it’s our home.

Because of our proximity to Stanford and Silicon Valley, a lot of us work in academia or technology.  Because of our love of and passion for the arts, many of us are working artists, writers, and musicians – or aspiring to be!  We follow Christ in the teachings of the Reform tradition (PCUSA), though individually, our paths vary.  What we share is a longing for God, a connection to the community, and meaningful ways to serve the wider world.

Even though we are a destination church, we believe that we are called to risk the Spirit-led journey. And we are really one another’s traveling companions and support team along the way.

We are a band. No genre is off the table! If you would like to collaborate then please message me! We need a drummer and bassist!

At Midtown Presbyterian Church, we value honest questions and genuine community, working alongside one another as we discover more about what it means to follow Jesus in the modern world, and in Phoenix. You are welcome here.
Listen to our teachings in this podcast to follow us, and be sure to join us Sunday mornings; visit thespringmidtown.org to learn more.

Welcome to the sermon feed for Abiding Peace Lutheran Church: Journey of Faith. We would love to have you with us for worship, but if you can't join us on Sunday mornings, we hope these messages bring the challenge and grace of the gospel to your life.

Liberti Church seeks to live, speak, and serve as the very presence of Jesus Christ for the Harrisburg region. Please join us here for sermons from our weekly worship gatherings. Visit www.libertiharrisburg.org for more information.

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