The specifics of the “thou better nots” can change… But our human tendency stays remarkably the same. We have a habit of adding to what God has already said.
This message explores how unresolved hurt can crowd our souls even when our schedules are clear. Jesus calls us to multiply mercy instead of revenge, not because the hurt was small, but because God’s mercy toward us is enormous. Forgiveness doesn’t pretend sin is fine; it brings the debt to the cross where Jesus says, “It is finished,” and invites us to begin releasing what has been holding power over us.
Sabbath isn’t an outdated rule or religious burden, but a gift from God for weary people. God gave Israel Sabbath after generations of slavery in Egypt, where their worth had been measured by bricks. Sabbath retrained them to live as liberated people who belong to God, No Pharaoh. In Jesus’ day, the Sabbah had often been twisted into another burden, but Jesus reminded everything that “the Sabbath was made for man,” and then invited the weary and burdened to come…
