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Let's pray again. Our Father, we we do open our 
heart to you. We ask that you would continue to  

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give us grace as we understand our vocation and 
calling in you. Lord, what a privilege it is to  

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to open to all that we can be in Christ and what 
it is to do the king's business on this earth,  

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and so we bless you and, and watch over us and 
teach us by your Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Well this is our um seventh session in, 
uh, on vocation in the class and we,  

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again, we've been moving through the vocation of 
promise the unilateral side of the covenant to the  

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bilateral commands that part of our calling 
is not just to live in the promise but it's  

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now to engage in all that we can become. So we 
move from the general calling to the particular  

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calls of providence the circumstances 
we're in. Last time was the free steward,  

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that God has given us this range of freedom 
now to explore all of our humanness,  

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to discover His will so that we can do the King's 
business. We are stewards of our entire life.

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Now another call is the call of leisure, 
the call of sabbath. My vocation,  

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my calling to not just work, work, work, but 
my calling to mirror what actually God has done  

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in rest and leisure and vocation. And so this 
is um, uh this is our fourth particular call.  

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And I'll just, I'll just define 
it as something like this, this  

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vocation of leisure is to enter the rest. It's 
to enter the rest that God has given for us now  

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in Christ. It's to enter the rest that God has 
given to us in Christ and to enter the rest from  

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the daily labors that we engage in as a reminder 
of two things. It's a reminder of two things;  

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that it is God's work and not 
our work that most defines us.  

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So we we rest, we enter this rest of Christ and we 
rest from our daily labors as a reminder that it  

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is God's work and not ours that most defines us. 
And secondly as a reminder that we were made not  

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only for work. We were not made only for work but 
to we we were made to enjoy the work we've done  

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with God and others. We were made to enjoy 
the work that God has done - that we have  

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done - with God and others. So let's talk just 
about a little bit about this sabbath of leisure.

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The first point I want to say is that this 
this sabbath or this vocation of leisure,  

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this vocation of sabbath, it mirrors in creation 
the very act of God resting and taking enjoyment  

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in His work. It mirrors the very work of God 
in resting and enjoying His work right. As God,  

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He created for six days and on the seventh day He 
rested. So we get the command in Exodus chapter  

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20. Exodus chapter 20 verse 8 to 10 he says, 
"Remember the sabbath. Keep it holy. Six days  

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you and your sons and daughters are to work but on 
the seventh you are to rest from all your labors  

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as God rested from His." We are to mirror this 
work of God and as - and this is very important  

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to God. It's very important. In Exodus chapter 
31 verse 14 to 17, Exodus 31:14-17, this was so  

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special that if you were not keeping sabbath, 
you were to be put to death. There weren't many  

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crimes in the old testament that were, that 
the punishment was capital punishment death;  

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homosexual acts, sexuality with animals, 
trying to whisper some to somebody to come  

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away and leave God, and adultery. But one 
of them here is to not keep the sabbath.

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This is a main element because it's going to 
turn out once, once humans fall and once the  

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city of Cain, right, is the city of Lamech 
is built, the city of the world is built,  

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humans are no longer going to keep the sabbath.  

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Humans are going to either work work work and 
anxiety and to try to build their little kingdom  

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or they're going to recreate themselves to 
death without God or something in between,  

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but here we are to rest from our labor to enjoy 
it with God and one another. It's interesting when  

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Charles Hodge talks about this, he actually says 
this is not just a command of God, but he thought  

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this commandment represented what was already a 
universal law in nature. He thinks this is just  

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natural law to do this. And he quotes from the 
text in Exodus chapter 16 verse 26. Now this is  

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before the actual giving of the decalogue. Exodus 
16:26 where, remember they were to gather manna  

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for six days but on the seventh day they were not 
to go out to find manna because they wouldn't find  

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it in the fields because they were to remember 
the sabbath. And so of course some disobeyed  

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and they should have rested on that day. And so 
Hodge says isn't it interesting that they were  

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supposed to keep sabbath and they knew about 
sabbath somehow even before the decalogue,  

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so he thinks this is a principle that is just 
ingrained in human nature. And some have commented  

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interestingly that many calendars throughout 
the world were built on seven days, not because  

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of astronomical elements to this. Now, again, 
there's a lot of issues you know to to discuss  

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about this, but the primary point here we want 
to say is that to God, it was very important  

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that we as humans should mirror His activity 
of resting to enjoying the work of His hands.

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But a second point. There's 
something even more here going on.  

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This is not just natural law or to rest, but 
this is a redemptive law. It's a redemptive law  

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because it's trying to show 
that that it is God, and not us,  

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that is the primary way of sanctifying this 
earth, that God's work, and not our work,  

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is the primary definitional work. And so here 
is Ezekiel chapter 20 verse 12. This is Ezekiel  

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chapter 20 verse 12. It says this: "And I 
gave them my sabbath as a sign between us  

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that they might know that I am the 
Lord who sanctifies them, that it's I,  

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the Lord, who sanctifies them." So a second 
reason for this sabbath is that we rest from our  

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labors as a reminder of, it's not our labors that 
sanctify us. It's not our labors that deliver us  

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but it's God's labor that delivers us. And so when 
we take sabbath that's a reminder that your work  

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and all your stuff, it doesn't create your whole 
life. It's not even the primary definitional work  

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that makes your life what it is. It's God's 
work. And so we remind ourselves of our finitude,  

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that it is God who sanctifies and not ourself.

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A third point about this sabbath is that 
ultimately this sabbath is fulfilled  

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in Christ. Ultimately the sabbath is 
fulfilled in Christ. Let me just read  

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from Hebrews chapter 4. So if you're turning 
in your scriptures it's Hebrews chapter 4.  

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And if you recall in Hebrews 4, Hebrews is 
talking about that much that was in the old  

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testament is now fulfilled in Christ. In Hebrews 4 
it says this He was talking about the sabbath uh,  

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in the old testament and then he says in verse 9, 
Hebrews 4:9: "There remains therefore a sabbath  

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rest for the people of God. There's a sabbath 
rest for the people of God. For the one who has  

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entered His rest" - now this is God's rest 
- "has himself also rested from his works,  

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as God did it from His." So we have now entered 
into Christ. We have entered into Christ's rest  

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on the basis of justification and 
what He has done on the cross.  

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Therefore the one who has entered the Christ's 
rest has now rested from his works. And so sabbath  

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is really now fulfilled, our whole life is 
fulfilled in Christ, and so we rest from all  

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of our works. I am not trying to do any work to 
gain any merit from God. And therefore in verse 11  

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"let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest." 
Let us be diligent to enter that rest, to engage  

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in a life - and how I interpret that is let us be 
diligent to continue to enter into the promise,  

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to open to that problem to live on the basis 
of the promise. That's what it is to enter  

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into that rest. It's to live on 
the basis of our life in Christ  

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lest anyone fall through following 
the same example of disobedience.

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And so here Christ is the fulfillment 
of the sabbath in one sense then  

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every day, every day we enter into the sabbath 
rest we no longer are required by a law,  

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"You must keep this one day" because now we see 
shabbat, sabbath, is fulfilled in Christ. We have  

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entered His rest and so every day we're laying 
aside our works, because the work, the real work  

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was done by Christ on the cross. And 
so now every day we can make sabbath.  

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However there's still a principle here because we 
still live with one foot in this world to rest,  

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to give literal physical rest from our 
work that's a principle of wisdom now.

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And so let me give you some principles 
of how to keep sabbath, how to,  

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how to enter into this vocation of, of leisure,  

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how to enter into this vocation of celebration, 
this vocation of recreation, resting.  

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The first is this there is a need in our life 
to rest from our work. There is a need to rest  

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from our work and, and the church historically 
decided to make that the first day of the week,  

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the day that they were going to celebrate the 
Lord. It was no longer shabbat, the Saturday.  

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The church decided to worship on the the Lord's 
resurrection day, Sunday. And so that slowly  

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became the day of shabbat, of sabbath, and it was 
a symbol of that's the day we're going to rest,  

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because this idea of rest was to take aside time 
where we were, where it would be a symbol. It  

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would be a symbol that I'm not going to trust 
my effort. It's a symbol that not by anxiety  

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or worry am I going to always work to make 
life happen, but as a symbol I'm going to rest  

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and as a sign, a symbol of trusting God's work, 
trusting God's call, trusting that God is going  

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to work things out. And so I am going to take 
time. Some of you need to take more time. Some  

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of you out of anxiety and fear work, work, work. 
There's no end. If there's any struggle that I  

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have it is in that area; it's work, work, 
work, because in anxiety I’ve been trained  

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to grab problems by the throat and work them 
out. And so I want to keep working these things.

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But second thing. A second principle is in 
our leisure, in our rest, to keep it holy to  

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keep it holy. “Remember the sabbath and to keep 
it holy.” Sanctified. See the shabbat was not  

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just to recreate but it was to do this in God. It 
was to recreate as, as a principle of loving God.  

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We won't turn to the text for time but it's in 
Isaiah chapter 58 verse 13 to 14. In Isaiah 58:13  

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to 14, on the shabbat they were not just to do 
their own pleasures or to do their own things, but  

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they were to open to God in that day in service 
and love. And so in part of our recreation,  

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again, I think there needs to be a time, a 
symbolic time of a day I'm not going to work.  

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But don't just then split off from God. See some 
of you love to recreate. Some of you love leisure,  

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but the question is do you do it by yourself, 
do you do it in the power of yourself as a way  

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of splitting off from God, or can you do it 
in the Lord. Can you take leisure with God.  

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And so here in our recreation and our leisure. not 
just the one day we do this but whenever we take  

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recreation - because we have so many opportunities 
to do this - to keep it holy, to open to God.

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The third principle is this is a time to rest and 
to enjoy - underlying ENJOY - the fruits of our  

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work. I won't take time here but if you ever have 
an opportunity to study the book of Ecclesiastes,  

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there's around five refrains in the book of 
Ecclesiastes. And those refrains are to help  

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the Israelites to realize that, you know, in all 
of your work when you can enjoy the fruits of your  

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labor that's a gift from God, because it's only in 
God's sovereignty do we even have the time to take  

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leisure. And so in that we're to enjoy it. Some 
people work so hard they're doing so much that  

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they can't even recreate and enjoy because they're 
filled with anxiety. Some people recreate too much  

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and they're filled with guilt even when they're 
enjoying, but how to live a life open to God  

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so that we can enjoy the leisure that 
we can enjoy, doing this in the Lord.

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Here's the prayer project I'd like you to do: 
I'd like you to do this for 30 minutes now,  

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and I would like you just to ask the question 
to the Lord, “Lord, how have I handled leisure?  

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How have I handled this? What do 
I do when I engage in leisure?”  

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Another question to ask Lord, “Is my 
life filled with anxiety so that I  

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end up working all the time? Lord, is there a 
lot of anxiety so I end up working all the time?  

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Do I need more rest? Do I 
need to take a day for this?  

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Or, Lord do I get a lot of rest and a lot 
of leisure but I do this as a way of just  

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splitting off from You? Lord, what would it 
be to watch a football game or to rest in You,  

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to do recreation in You? Lord, how much rest do 
I need? How should this be working in my life?”  

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I just want you to open to God about 
this. Pray about it for 30 minutes,  

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write half page to a page, bring it back 
to discuss, turn it in. Okay let's pray.

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Lord we, um, we see that we have, we are 
stewards. We’re to do the King's business  

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and yet Lord, um, You have made it 
so that we are to mirror Your work,  

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to rest, to mirror uh that You enjoyed Your work. 
You enjoyed the work of Your hands and we are to.  

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And Lord we're to enjoy it with one another in 
You, not just as a way of climbing into our cave.  

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And Lord, most of all it's a reminder that that 
You sanctify. It is not our work that is most  

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definitional about reality but it's Your work. 
And so help our trusting You in rest to be a  

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reminder that You are the great King and we bless 
you in Jesus name, bless these students, amen.

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Father, again, teach us by 
your word teach us by truth  

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teach us um what it is to follow You, to 
to do your business, the King's business  

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in this life, to to be free stewards, to follow 
You in all ways, and to take leisure and to  

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realize what it is that we're called to now in 
this world given that there's parts of this world,  

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there's still an enmity with You. And so 
Lord, You watch over Your saints. Watch over  

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these students. Bless them. Teach us by your 
Spirit, by truth we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

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This is the eighth uh part of our, uh, 
in fact this will be I think the last  

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on our concept of vocation, concept of 
calling. And um, as we've looked at this,  

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this panoply of callings I'm sure we could 
we could even come up with more but I've  

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tried to come up with some large scale ways 
of looking at the callings of God in our life  

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and as we think through our vocation, because 
part of the assignment that you'll be doing soon,  

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is you'll be going on retreat to ask questions 
about who you are, to spend 24 hours in retreat  

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thinking through with God in prayer: “God, what 
am I called to? What, how has, how have I been  

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doing with my calling? What has my life been 
so far, and now what what is it in the future?”

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And we'll give you a whole guide 
of doing that as you're helping,  

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we want to help you assess what you're doing 
here at Talbot and at your time of training here.  

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Well as we've talked here, we talked 
about this vocation of the covenant;  

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called into a covenant with God, called 
into a promise, but called into becoming  

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something - the general call. And then we've 
talked about the particular call; our vocation  

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with with God's providence, our circumstantial 
vocation, our vocation is free stewards,  

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and last was our vocation of leisure, to enjoy 
life and to learn to mirror the work of God  

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in creation, that is, we rest from our works as a 
sign that, that uh, it's God's work that is most  

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central and that sabbath is now potentially for us 
all the time as we rest from our works in Christ.

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The last vocation i want to talk about 
here is under the particular calls.  

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It is our vocation as a pilgrim, or our vocation 
of a pilgrim, and as a polemic to the world. Our  

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vocation of being a pilgrim in this world, and our 
vocation of being a polemic, a polemic meaning an  

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argument against, we are - whether you like it or 
not - we are an implied criticism of this world.  

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Now in one sense we, we ultimately are, 
uh, we help bring this world to its  

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telos - to its full goodness and beauty 
- but we're also an implied criticism  

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because this world is no longer just the 
kingdom of God. This world has become  

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now part of the cosmos where the god 
of this world, Satan, is seducing it.

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So let me give you some points under this, 
this last one. And this is going to be a  

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difficult one in our life because we 
won't want to be a pilgrim. We're,  

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we're going to want to make our roots here. We're 
going to want to make our life full and wonderful  

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here. We're going to want to accumulate goods and 
make a wonderful life but we're pilgrims. And I  

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don't want to be in conflict with others, but here 
we we are by the very nature of being a believer.  

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Let me give you a number of points under this. 
The first one is this, that our vocation to rule,  

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our vocation to rule would have been 
utterly wonderful had there been no fall.  

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Our vocation to rule would have been so 
wonderful. Adam and Eve could have just  

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built their roots right here in this earth. They 
could have explored their humanness. They could  

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have done everything it is to be a human and would 
have been wonderful, but that's not what happened.  

00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:51.600
Number two the fall came, and with the fall and 
with sin our desires to rule are so seducible.  

00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:58.080
They're so seducible because now we desire, 
just like Adam and Eve, there's part of us that  

00:22:58.080 --> 00:23:05.760
want - and humans do this universally apart 
from redemption - they hide and they cover  

00:23:05.760 --> 00:23:10.960
and they fill, they use city-building and 
culture-building and exploring their humanness as  

00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:16.880
ways of filling them, not using, allowing God to 
fill them. And they're using all their activities  

00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:23.840
as a way to hide from the deepest issues of 
shame, guilt, and sin, and ways to cover,  

00:23:23.840 --> 00:23:29.520
“I'm a good person. I'm a kind person. I'm 
a, I'm a PhD. I'm a doctor. I'm a this,”  

00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:41.120
but this is all now uh, uh now the third point is 
this is: This is a the, the city of the earth now,  

00:23:41.120 --> 00:23:49.840
the city that began back to Cain and Lamech in 
Genesis chapter four; the the cosmos. The world,  

00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:59.520
this is now in the hands of the evil one. Second 
Corinthians 4:4 says that the god of this world,  

00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:06.400
Satan, is blinding the minds of men so they cannot 
see the light of the gospel. And so we there,  

00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:12.400
we know that we're not only seducible in the fall 
but because this world is in the somewhat in the  

00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:18.320
hands of the evil one, that's first John says and 
in Second Corinthians 4:4, he's the god of this  

00:24:18.320 --> 00:24:25.920
world. There's a seducer, and he has seduced 
millions and millions as to what their, their  

00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:35.040
vocation is. Most people on this planet, it looks 
like they follow a false call, they're seduced.  

00:24:37.280 --> 00:24:40.880
They don't think they're being called 
by God to anything. They're not saying  

00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:46.880
yes to God on anything, and they're 
being seduced. They're being distorted  

00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:52.480
in that call-ability, their vow-ability. 
They say yes to God in nothing.

00:24:54.880 --> 00:25:03.440
But for us it is different. The fourth point is we 
as the church have been called out of the world.  

00:25:05.040 --> 00:25:11.760
In first Peter 2:9 it says that we have been 
called out of darkness into his marvelous light.  

00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:20.480
In Galatians chapter 1 verse 4, we've been rescued 
from this present evil age. In Colossians 1:13 we  

00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:26.240
have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness 
and we have been transferred to the kingdom of the  

00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:32.960
beloved Son. We are no longer members of the 
kingdom of this age. We are no longer members  

00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:38.560
of the kingdom of the cosmos. We don't leave the 
world, we still are in the world but we're lights  

00:25:38.560 --> 00:25:48.960
in the world. We're not of the world. The church 
is a kind of ghetto in the cosmos where we, we're,  

00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:55.840
we're living kind of in rebellion as, as, as 
the cosmos and those who live in the cosmos are  

00:25:55.840 --> 00:26:05.600
living in rebellion to the true God. We live in a 
ghetto and we are living in rebellion against the  

00:26:05.600 --> 00:26:13.440
god of this world - Satan. We are in rebellion 
against what he is trying to seduce people to.

00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:18.480
We are now members of the kingdom 
of God on earth. The fullness of the  

00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:23.840
kingdom hasn't come. We are stewards to 
do the King's business while He's gone,  

00:26:25.120 --> 00:26:32.480
while the god of this world, Satan, continues 
to seduce people into the cosmos. And the  

00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:40.720
implications of that for us is twofold. One, 
we're pilgrims. The first is we're pilgrims.  

00:26:42.560 --> 00:26:51.840
This is not our place, a final rest, this 
is not our place of final self-exploration.  

00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:58.480
First Peter chapter 2 verse 11 says “I 
urge you as aliens and strangers...”  

00:26:59.840 --> 00:27:03.600
We're aliens and strangers and 
he says “I urge you as aliens  

00:27:03.600 --> 00:27:10.560
and strangers to abstain from fleshly lust,” 
that is, don't give in to the seducer,  

00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:19.280
the ways of your flesh. In Hebrews chapter 11 
verse 13 to 16, in Hebrews chapter 11:13-16  

00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:28.160
there's this stress on the, these heroes of faith. 
They were strangers and exiles in the world.  

00:27:29.120 --> 00:27:36.080
They were, they were exiled in this world. In 
verse 36 and 37 of Hebrews 11 the world wasn't  

00:27:36.080 --> 00:27:41.520
even worthy of them. Even though the world put 
them to death, the cosmos wanted to destroy them,  

00:27:42.320 --> 00:27:51.760
the world wasn't even worthy. And so in Hebrews 
chapter 13 verse 12 to 14 it says here, “Therefore  

00:27:51.760 --> 00:27:58.640
as Jesus suffered outside the city,” that's kind 
of a metaphor, “therefore let us go outside the  

00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:06.000
camp too,” let us go outside the city, let us 
go outside of this cosmos, bearing His reproach.  

00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:14.400
There'll be a shaming. And then he gives 
this great principle “for here” - this is  

00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:21.520
Hebrews 13:14 - “for here we do not have a 
city of lasting value, but we are seeking  

00:28:21.520 --> 00:28:27.280
the city which is to come.” This is not our 
city. This is not our place. We're pilgrims.  

00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:35.040
And in Revelations 18 where it's witnessing 
the, it's going to witness in Revelation 18  

00:28:35.040 --> 00:28:41.200
and 19 that this destruction of the city, the 
destruction of the cosmos as Jesus is preparing  

00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:48.880
through the tribulation and then to come again 
in Revelation 18:4 the word of the revelator  

00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:54.080
John is to come out, come out, come out of 
the world. Come out of this. We're pilgrims.

00:28:55.600 --> 00:29:03.200
But secondly we're not only pilgrims, we are 
also a an implicit polemic against this age.  

00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:10.880
Our, our vocation in this life as stewards 
is; my calling is to be a pilgrim and my  

00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:17.120
calling - whether I like this one or not - it's to 
be a polemic to this age, a polemic to this world.  

00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:30.160
Look at First Corinthians chapter one uh, 
First Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 26.  

00:29:32.080 --> 00:29:38.640
This is about our calling. “For consider” - First 
Corinthians 1:26 - “For consider your calling,  

00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:44.560
brethren. There were not many wise according 
to the flesh. There were not many mighty,  

00:29:45.520 --> 00:29:51.280
not many noble,” right, there's no - 
God didn't, God did not take the cream  

00:29:53.200 --> 00:30:01.600
when, in redemption, but God has chosen generally 
the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.  

00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:06.120
And God has chosen the weak 
things - that's you and me -  

00:30:07.360 --> 00:30:10.080
the weak things of the world to 
shame the things which are strong.  

00:30:11.360 --> 00:30:16.720
The base things of the world, the despised, 
God has chosen the things that are not  

00:30:18.320 --> 00:30:26.720
that He might nullify the things that are. 
Why? So that no man should boast before God,  

00:30:29.280 --> 00:30:36.480
but by His doing you are in Christ Jesus who 
became to us wisdom in God, and righteousness,  

00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:40.240
sanctification, redemption. 
Christ is all these good things.  

00:30:42.080 --> 00:30:46.880
“So just as it is written, let him 
who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  

00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:56.800
We are called, we are called - as 
Paul says here - to shame the wise;  

00:30:59.040 --> 00:31:06.160
to shame the things which are strong. We 
are called by God as a living polemic.

00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:14.320
This is hard. That means that, 
that, the implication of this is,  

00:31:14.320 --> 00:31:20.720
is first, is this. The implication 
is first: Trust your life to God.  

00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:27.360
Trust your life to God. Trust your life to His 
wisdom, because sometimes things are just not  

00:31:27.360 --> 00:31:31.680
going to go as you want and you're going to 
wonder, “God, I've got, I can't do the things  

00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:36.720
I really feel I'm called to,” but you don't know 
all the purposes of God. Trust your life to Him.  

00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:44.160
Be open that He is doing something in you very 
unusual. It's not the way Aristotle would want  

00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:52.320
to do it, but it's His purposes. Part of it is to 
shame the wise, part of it is to shame the noble,  

00:31:53.760 --> 00:31:57.360
part of it is to place us in a place 
of weakness so we'll trust Him.  

00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:04.160
It's to remind us that we're pilgrims. 
When I get sick I remember this is not my,  

00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:09.040
this is not my city. Everything's not 
perfect. Everything's not perfect here.  

00:32:12.320 --> 00:32:14.880
So the first implication is trust yourself to God.

00:32:15.760 --> 00:32:22.960
The second implication is to beware to be 
aware of naturalism, to beware of thinking  

00:32:22.960 --> 00:32:31.280
naturalistically, to beware of thinking, you 
know, “I need to maximize my humanness. I need  

00:32:31.280 --> 00:32:36.560
to maximize all the things I can. I want the 
perfect life that's how I will serve God best!”  

00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:43.600
Open to God's work. Open to God's 
word. Open to God working through  

00:32:43.600 --> 00:32:49.440
you because it may be different than 
just you living in your own power

00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:55.840
The third implication is be open to the fact  

00:32:57.360 --> 00:33:05.200
that your life in this life will be hidden 
to some degree. This is not your city.  

00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:10.720
This is not your lasting place. This 
is not the full revelation of John Coe,  

00:33:12.560 --> 00:33:19.120
of Mike Wilkins, of Brian Willis. This is not 
the place where we're fully going to be revealed.  

00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:28.560
There's another day. Just look for 
a moment at Colossians chapter 3.  

00:33:29.520 --> 00:33:36.880
Colossians 3 1-4. Colossians 3:1 “If you have 
been raised up with Christ keep seeking the  

00:33:36.880 --> 00:33:43.920
things above where Christ is seated at the right 
hand of God. Set your mind on things above.  

00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:50.880
Set your mind on things above and not on the 
things that are on earth.” Set your mind on  

00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:55.120
things above, right, because there's another day, 
there's another, there's another life for us.  

00:33:56.400 --> 00:33:59.120
Not just “How can I make 
this life go really well.”  

00:34:01.520 --> 00:34:07.360
And now here's why, verse three and four, 
“for you have died, for you have died and  

00:34:07.360 --> 00:34:13.040
your life is hidden with Christ in God.” 
You have died. You have died in Christ  

00:34:13.040 --> 00:34:19.840
and your life now has a hiddenness. See, see this 
is not the time where Christ is fully revealed.  

00:34:20.640 --> 00:34:27.760
And so your life is hidden with Christ in God 
but when Christ, who is our life, He's our life,  

00:34:29.120 --> 00:34:34.320
my life is connected to Him. My 
life is connected to His purposes.  

00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:40.560
And so when Christ, who is our life, is revealed 
then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  

00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:46.080
When Christ comes again then 
my life will be fully revealed  

00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:54.560
in glory. My the full revelation of John 
Coe. The full experience of myself. Then I  

00:34:54.560 --> 00:34:59.760
will finally have a home and I can experience 
the fullness of what it is to be John Coe.

00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:07.920
Same for you. That's going to be the new heavens 
and the new earth. And so right now we live in a  

00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:14.080
certain way shrouded. We're shrouded, our life is 
hidden with Christ in God, that's why in some ways  

00:35:15.840 --> 00:35:21.760
bets are off regarding whether you 
will shine and rise in this life,  

00:35:23.120 --> 00:35:27.200
whether all of your plans of how you 
think you're going to be a good steward  

00:35:27.200 --> 00:35:32.800
will work out. All bets are off in some, in some 
ways because of the plans and the purposes of God.  

00:35:35.200 --> 00:35:42.240
We work, we toil, we plan, we pray, we 
trust, open our heart to God. We recollect  

00:35:42.240 --> 00:35:48.000
but at the bottom we want to be open 
that God will do as He is who wills  

00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:54.800
knowing that in part our life is 
hidden right now with Christ in God.

00:35:56.640 --> 00:36:02.400
Before I give you the prayer project 
let me then just kind of give a summary  

00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:14.640
of of kind of where we've been and, uh, and 
so here, here we are as human beings. We are  

00:36:15.840 --> 00:36:22.560
created with a certain nature, a certain set 
of capacities one of them is the capacity of  

00:36:22.560 --> 00:36:31.840
vow-ability, to open to the call of God. We're 
created with the capacity of vow-ability.  

00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:37.520
We're created with this 
capacity to say yes to God,  

00:36:37.520 --> 00:36:44.880
but because of the fall, because of the 
possibility of sin, we also are seducible.  

00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:54.800
We're seducible and so here we, we have all 
of these abilities created in the image of God  

00:36:57.920 --> 00:37:01.200
and we have the Holy Spirit who 
has given us a particular endowment  

00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:04.640
and now here we are in the present  

00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:16.560
looking to how should we/I live my life? How 
should I engage in my freedom? How should I move  

00:37:16.560 --> 00:37:21.760
from the present to the future? How, how is it 
that I should live? What should I give my life to?

00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:26.480
Well, back in the beginning we said 
we need to transform our freedom  

00:37:27.520 --> 00:37:35.280
into the call of God. Our freedom is the 
very thing that can open us to, “God,  

00:37:35.280 --> 00:37:39.520
what are You calling me to do? What do 
you call - I want to say yes to You.  

00:37:39.520 --> 00:37:45.280
I want to say yes to You and my future. 
I want to open to You in what this is.”

00:37:46.640 --> 00:37:49.840
And so now in the covenant of God,  

00:37:53.840 --> 00:37:58.640
the covenant of God is really the calling, 
if you want to, you know, use biblical terms,  

00:37:58.640 --> 00:38:06.400
our callings are all based upon this covenant 
of God. And so in the covenant of God we have  

00:38:06.400 --> 00:38:16.080
the promises. I'm called to God in these promises. 
I'm called to a life of opening to what He's done.  

00:38:16.080 --> 00:38:21.600
And so what is a fundamental call of God in my 
freedom? It's to say yes to what He has done.  

00:38:24.080 --> 00:38:31.840
But now all the the bilateral parts; What am I 
to give my life to? There's the general call.  

00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:37.520
The general call is really, it's a vocation 
of love. It's a vocation of loving God and  

00:38:37.520 --> 00:38:44.560
neighbor. It's a vocation of spiritual growth 
- giving my life to growing as a person,  

00:38:45.520 --> 00:38:49.120
and it's a vocation of good works. 
This is what all are called to.

00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:52.640
And then what is my particular call?  

00:38:56.480 --> 00:39:02.320
The particular call that I have, 
iit's to open to God's providence,  

00:39:03.600 --> 00:39:09.680
right. Open to His providence. What has God 
done in all of my life to open and accept  

00:39:09.680 --> 00:39:13.840
all of the ways that He has made me, all of 
the things that He has brought into my life.  

00:39:15.520 --> 00:39:18.080
And then there's the vocation of my circumstances,  

00:39:19.440 --> 00:39:28.400
opening to God in my circumstances. And third, 
it's the vocation of being a free steward,  

00:39:30.560 --> 00:39:37.360
opening to God as that free steward. 
And fourth, our vocation of leisure.  

00:39:39.680 --> 00:39:43.600
It's not just that I'm a free steward. I'm 
supposed to give myself to all this work  

00:39:43.600 --> 00:39:48.880
and and to be doing the King's business because 
part of the King's business is to imitate Him  

00:39:48.880 --> 00:39:58.720
to rest, to enjoy, to recognize His 
works are most definitive of my life.

00:40:00.080 --> 00:40:06.240
And fifth, my vocation as a 
pilgrim. I'm passing through,  

00:40:07.120 --> 00:40:12.960
I'm passing through - this isn't this isn't, 
uh, the place of my final rest. This isn't  

00:40:12.960 --> 00:40:18.400
the place where I will fully be revealed, 
but in fact it's not only as a pilgrim,  

00:40:18.400 --> 00:40:24.880
but it's as a polemic, so a polemic of this 
age. I am an implied criticism of this age.  

00:40:24.880 --> 00:40:30.560
Yes, I want to love the people but I'm an applied 
criticism of this age because He's called me  

00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:36.160
in a sense to shame the 
world, to shame this cosmos.  

00:40:37.600 --> 00:40:40.720
And we do this by love and 
by our devotion to Christ.  

00:40:43.360 --> 00:40:49.520
So this is kind of our, this is, this picture 
of vocation as we're called, right. Remember  

00:40:49.520 --> 00:40:55.520
Galatians. You've been called to freedom but don't 
let your freedom be an opportunity for the flesh,  

00:40:57.200 --> 00:41:02.480
but in love serve one another. 
Transform your freedom as a call of God.  

00:41:04.640 --> 00:41:11.360
We have been delivered from the cosmos. 
Do not be seduced. And in your failure,  

00:41:12.480 --> 00:41:16.720
even that, open that to God 
to find Him in your weakness.

00:41:18.320 --> 00:41:19.840
Here's the last prayer project.  

00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:27.120
This is the prayer project for 30 minutes 
about being a pilgrim and a polemic.  

00:41:29.040 --> 00:41:34.720
So for 30 minutes here's what I'd like you just to 
pray through. First, how do you feel about being a  

00:41:34.720 --> 00:41:40.480
pilgrim? How do you feel about being a pilgrim? 
How do you feel about this not being your city?  

00:41:42.480 --> 00:41:48.240
Do you wish this was your city? How 
much have you - you might want to talk  

00:41:48.240 --> 00:41:51.920
to the Lord about - how much have 
you tried to make this your city?  

00:41:57.040 --> 00:41:57.920
How much have you  

00:42:00.640 --> 00:42:05.280
tried to or, or desire that this be the full 
place of your revelation of who you are?  

00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:10.880
I just want you to spend some time, just 
kind of, just kind of pondering that.

00:42:12.720 --> 00:42:15.840
Then the next thing I want you 
to go on to is: How do you feel  

00:42:18.400 --> 00:42:24.240
about being called to shame the world? What is 
that, what does that mean? I mean it doesn't  

00:42:24.240 --> 00:42:30.240
mean that I'm supposed to just be angry against, 
you know, everything that goes on, but what is it  

00:42:30.240 --> 00:42:37.280
to accept that I am a polemic against this place? 
Have I resisted this? Have I accepted this?

00:42:41.840 --> 00:42:49.040
The third thing just to explore in this 30 minutes 
is: What really has meaning in your life right  

00:42:49.040 --> 00:42:59.760
now? What uh, how can you engage in this life as 
pilgrim, that really gives meaning to your life  

00:42:59.760 --> 00:43:05.520
as a pilgrim? What are the things that you really 
want to give yourself to as a member of the  

00:43:05.520 --> 00:43:11.520
kingdom, as doing the King's business but knowing 
you're a pilgrim? And so in that, how do you feel  

00:43:11.520 --> 00:43:16.720
that your life is not going to be fully revealed 
here, that in part you're hidden in Christ?  

00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:23.520
I just want you to spend 30 minutes talking 
about those issues with the Lord and then  

00:43:23.520 --> 00:43:29.440
write a page and you'll come back and discuss 
it with your cohort groups. Let me pray for you.

00:43:31.440 --> 00:43:42.080
Father, we thank you. We bless you that we have 
been called out of darkness into your kingdom, the  

00:43:42.080 --> 00:43:48.000
kingdom of the beloved Son, but, but of course we, 
we still uh, we're living like a bit of a ghetto  

00:43:49.440 --> 00:43:53.840
in this cosmos right now. So 
what is it to be a pilgrim?  

00:43:55.600 --> 00:44:02.640
What is it to be waiting to be 
revealed? What is it to be a polemic.  

00:44:04.400 --> 00:44:12.080
Lord, does it mean I'm to, um, hate my 
neighbor? But how can I love them in Christ  

00:44:14.320 --> 00:44:17.760
and accept that I really am a 
follower of Christ in this life.  

00:44:18.960 --> 00:44:24.960
Lord open these students, bless them, bless them 
as they engage in the future in their retreat  

00:44:25.680 --> 00:44:28.240
in discerning your vocation and calling of them.  

00:44:30.240 --> 00:44:35.840
So be with them, Lord. And bless 
them. In Jesus’ name, amen.