As I was praying about what we should focus on for this year, the idea of jubilee kept coming to mind.
This morning I have three R's that you can remember that may help in understanding the meaning and purpose behind the Jubilee and the Day of Atonement.
Then I want to transition to our theme of “A Good Time for a Jubilee” and share with you three R’s of Midway’s Jubilee.
As we consider celebrating Jubilee, I want us to see what the Lord has done, is doing, and is going to do for us here at Midway.
First, we must consider:
I) The Biblical Three R’s of Jubilee
1) Release
That is our first R: A release.
They would release all the slaves that is to say if you were in bondage to someone for financial reasons you would be set free.
Once you and I were slaves to sin, you were slaves until the Jubilee. Jubilee is about forgiveness it is about being set free from bondage to sin. We are released just like those slaves were released from their enslavement. That is something to be jubilant about.
2) Return
That is our second R: Return.
In Leviticus 25:23-28, God gives them instructions about returning the land back to its ancestral owners in the year of the Jubilee, as well as redeeming the land. They must give back the land in the year of Jubilee as a sign of faith that all the land belongs to the Lord.
I think for us - what a great reminder. Who owns us? Well, God owns us, doesn't He? Jesus made a way through His sacrifice on the cross for all of us to return to our rightful owner which is God.
3) Revitalize
Now the third R is Revitalize.
You see the land was to lay fallow, uncultivated. It was to just sit there. It was resting. Isn't that interesting? How was the land regenerated? It was by resting; by not being worked up; by not having crops. It was replenished; it was restored by rest; it was revitalized.
These people were taking a risk when they didn't plant in that 49th year. Well, are we ready to take a risk to show that our faith is a living faith that is dependent on God?
Now we must consider:
II) The Three R’s of Midway’s Jubilee
1) Remember
We need to remember where God has brought us from to where we are now. Have you ever wondered why God told Israel to celebrate a Jubilee every 50 years? The short answer is so that every generation would learn the lessons that God was teaching.
Many folks who set in this building today that the Lord has blessed us with have no idea of what it took to get us from where we were to where we are now. Many, have no idea of the praise we owe God for leading us through so much to get us to this place. Remembering is vital for moving forward.
2) Regroup
Last year brought us to the end of an amazing journey. What I mean by this is that we finalized a “Vision of Victories” of a new sanctuary and fellowship hall that is now paid for.
It brings us to the place where we can stop and remember and regroup as to what God would have us to do for the kingdom next. This is a time of rest and regroup before the next journey of faith begins.
3) Resolve
I want us to begin our next journey of faith with a Resolve, which means to, “decide firmly on a course of action; an earnest determination to do something.”
My thought here is that as we remember the goodness of God on us as a church and as a people that we will regroup with a plan to move forward for the glory of the Lord, with a resolve that won’t and can’t be stopped by the things of this world.
In Closing:
I think this is A Good Time for a Jubilee; how about you?
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