FOLLOW | Rest

Word of the Lord says this, "At that time Jesus declared, 'I thank You Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children.' Yes Father, for such was Your gracious will, all things have been handed over to me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give You rest. Take My yoke upon You and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and You will find rest for Your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is like." Chapter 12, "At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath, His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck the heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, 'Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.'" He said to them, "Have You not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests. Or have You not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless. I tell you something greater than the temple is here, and if You had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, You would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." He went on from there and entered their synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him?" He said to them, "Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out of how much more value is a man than a sheep?" So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him how to destroy Him. Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there, and many followed Him, and He healed them all and ordered them not to make Him known. This was to fill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased, I will put my spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised read he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory. And in his name,

the Gentiles will hope." This is the word of the Lord. You guys can take a seat. Thank you, Pastor Billy. It's good to be with you this evening. If we've not had the chance to meet yet, my name is Ralph, and I have the privilege of serving on the care team here at Church of the City. And if you're new or just joining us today, I just want to welcome you again to our Sunday night downtown gathering. It's so good to see all of you here tonight. And of course, the welcome extends to all of the people that are worshiping with us online. This summer, we've been in a sermon series through the Gospel of Matthew entitled "Follow." And the title comes from Jesus' invitation to his first disciples in Matthew chapter 4 and verse 19. Jesus says, "Follow me." And each week of the series, we've been pressing on one clarifying question. What does it actually look like to follow Jesus? What does it look like to become his disciple, his student, his apprentice? How does Jesus live? How does he form the people who follow him? And then how do those followers in turn live faithfully in the world and on mission? This is week six of our series, and I just want to take a brief moment here to honor and bless all of my fellow colleagues, Pastor Keith, and Pastor Reagan, and Dr. Wanda, and Dr. Ron, for glory. My assigned teaching text, we just read it, is Matthew 11, 25 through 12, 21. I think we should put our hands for Pastor Billy reading all of those scriptures. And our word for today is rest. If I had to put a title on this message, it would be rest in the middle. Go ahead and turn to your neighbor and say rest in the middle. We take pride in living in the city that never sleeps. But this evening, I want to suggest that we also live in the city that never rests. We live in the city that never rests. And it's not because we don't take vacations, use our PTO or practice our self care routines. Rest evades us because we've been deeply formed more than we can to admit by the culture of our city that teaches us to measure our lives by performance and what we achieve. You don't need me to tell you this. It's the water we swim in and it is the air we breathe. If we rip a page from the culture, we are the Ivy League schools we attended. We are the zip codes and the side of Central Park we occupy. We are the clothes we wear, we the car we drive, we're the latest promotion, our income level, we're the firm we work for, we're the schools that our kids get into, we're the number of followers we have, we're our likes, we are our views, we are the brand that we've built and the list goes on and on.

And I think this goes without saying but these things are not bad in and of themselves. In fact, many of these things are gifts from God and answers to our prayer and we receive them with gratitude and humility. But the challenge is when the good things start to become the measure of our significance and worth, this can end up becoming heavy yokes that we were never meant to bear. And if left unchecked, this can lead to exhaustion and burnout because now we're living under the yoke of performance and we quietly struggle to keep up and to measure up, which begs the question, what yokes might we be carrying today? The last time we were together, I submitted to you that Matthew introduced three foundational realities in his gospel. Number one, Jesus is the king. Number two, he has a kingdom and number three, we are invited into apprenticeship with him. And now that we've reached the middle of Matthew's gospel, as Dr. Ron reminded us last week, we heard the words of the kingdom in the Sermon of the Mount where Jesus painted a portrait of the kind of people his kingdom produces, people marked by humility and mercy. And then we moved off the mountain and we hit the streets and we experienced the works of the kingdom. And if you've been following along in our daily Bible reading plan, you know that so far in the chapters that we've read together as a church family, we heard it last week, we know that Jesus healed a man with leprosy, leprosy was an incurable disease and this man encounters Jesus and he experiences healing. And then we found out that Jesus healed the Roman centurion's servant and he didn't even have to go all the way to the house. He just spoke the word and the servant experienced healing. We know that Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law who had a fever. We know that Jesus healed many and he We know that Jesus delivered two demon possessed men. We know in Mark's gospel, the fifth chapter, there's only one man, but in Matthew's gospel there's two. Whether it's one or two, it's no problem. Jesus delivers the both of them. And then because of some friends who brought their friend to Jesus, the paralytic experiences, not only physical healing, but he experiences spiritual healing. His sins are forgiven. And then Jesus heals Jarrus' daughter, raises her up,

heals the woman who had an issue with blood for 12 years. You could be 12 years old, or you could have an issue for 12 years for Jesus. It's no problem. He takes care of both of them. Jesus is on the move. His kingdom is among us, and he's doing his works. He heals two blind men, and he heals a demon oppressed man who could not speak. And then Matthew 935 says, Jesus heals every disease and every affliction. These are real people who were stuck in their issue until they met Jesus and experienced his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. It's one thing to sing those lyrics. It's another thing to experience those lyrics. When the kingdom of God comes, everything changes when kingdom comes. Everything changes when Jesus comes. Every time you read the Bible, and every time you read the Gospels, every time Jesus shows up in a place, something has to shift, something has to change. Nothing stays the same when Jesus comes. And we see this all throughout the Scriptures, people who are helpless and harassed, sheep without a shepherd. We see Jesus, who is the king, who has a kingdom, and that kingdom is now active in our time. And we are seeing the increase of his government being revealed in the pages of Matthew's Gospel. Jesus is outside.

We experience the words of the kingdom. We experience the works of the kingdom. And today, we are going to get an introduction into the warfare or the resistance of the kingdom. I want you to know that in today's teaching text, we are going to move from the revelation of the king to the rebellion against the king. We're not doing ESPN Top 10 Highlight Reels at Church of the City, where we only show you the winds of the kingdom because Jesus doesn't hide hard. And so now that Jesus has followers, he does something beautiful. He invites them to labor in his kingdom mission. This is beautiful. This is exhilarating. He tells his disciples to pray for laborers, and then he sends them out as answers to their own prayer. Matthew chapter 9. And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. And when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. And then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the labor is a few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Then we get to the next chapter, Matthew chapter 10,

verses 1 through 5, we're told that Jesus calls the 12 disciples list their names, and it says he gave them authority and sent them out. He gave them authority and he sent them out. And then we are introduced to the first round of warfare and resistance. We go from 0 to 100 real quick. In Matthew chapter 11, right before today's TV, the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, the one who preached repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. This is John the Baptist, the one who said, "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who's coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals are not worthy to carry." This is John the Baptist talking about Jesus. This is the same John the Baptist who baptized Jesus in the Jordan. He watched the heavens open. He saw the Spirit descend like a dove. He heard the father's voice saying, "This is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased." And now John the Baptist is sitting in prison and he sends one of his disciples to Jesus with the following question, "Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? Are you kidding me?" What do you mean are you the one who is to come? John is in prison and Jesus doesn't rescue him. Jesus doesn't aid in his release and Jesus does something that doesn't align with his expectations and it causes him to question Jesus. Does any of this sound familiar? What do you do when Jesus moves different? What do you do when he doesn't answer the way you want him to, the way you prayed for him to? If this could happen to John the Baptist, the forerunner, the one who prepared the way for the king, could it happen to us? Have you ever found yourself forgetting in the dark what God revealed to you in the light? If that's you today, you are not alone. Then we're introduced to cities, three of them, Corzine, Bethsaida and Capernaum and these are the areas in the regions where Jesus did a lot of those miracles that we just read through together. Jesus is on the move and his works are in these regions and there were people who were witnessing the works of the kingdom. They were watching Jesus do the miracles but they rejected the king. The Bible says that they refused to repent and in verse 20 then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent. Woe to you, Corzine. Woe to you, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works done in you had been done entire inside him, they would have repented long

ago and sat cloth and ashes. So we have John doubting Jesus. We have cities rejecting the king, rejecting Jesus, rejecting his miracles and then we meet the Pharisees. Jesus is about to get into a Sabbath altercation because his disciples are hungry and they pluck some grain to eat and the Pharisees considered this harvesting and quote-unquote working during the Sabbath and they saw this as breaking the Sabbath because their understanding of the law had become so burdened with all their man-made regulations and they get so frustrated with Jesus that at the end of their exchange we're told in the text that they began to plot his murder. This is the first wave of warfare and resistance. We have personal doubt, we have public rejection and we have religious opposition. John the Baptist in prison, cities rejecting the king and the Pharisees are actively opposing and undermining the ministry of Jesus and it is here. It is here at this very moment in the middle, in the middle of doubt, in the middle of rejection, in the middle of murder plots. Jesus is looking at his new followers, the helpless and the harassed, the sheep without a shepherd, all of the people that were weary and burdened, the people that were under all of those heavy, pharasiacal yokes, those bruised reeds and those smoldering wicks and moved with compassion, Jesus interrupts his own ministry time to say this, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. I am fascinated that Jesus makes this invitation right here and right now in the middle of resistance and he does it for the people who needed it the most and I would like to suggest to us that if we separate this invitation from its context, we reduce it to a comforting thought about slowing down or taking a vacation and this wasn't meant to be poetic sentiments. Jesus is offering a reality, a soul level rest that can actually be experienced right smack in the middle. Could you imagine the hope and relief that filled the hearts of Jesus's first followers? There wasn't a rabbi moving like this, there wasn't a rabbi talking like this, power was used to crush people but not this king, not this rabbi, Jesus is using his power to love, Jesus is using his power to help, Jesus is using his power to heal and to save and to recover and to set free and where does he do it? He does it in the middle, he does it in the middle of opposition, he does it in the middle of exhaustion, he does it in the middle of unanswered questions and he does it in the middle whatever you walked into this room carrying. So how do we actually receive and find this rest? Jesus gives us the pathway and this leads to the

second movement in the passage, Jesus gives us the pathway to rest. He says come, take, learn and find, allow me to say a brief word on each. Number one, come. Jesus begins with one simple word, come, come to me. Notice that he doesn't say come to a set of rules, notice that he doesn't say come to church, notice that he doesn't say come to a philosophy, come to a religion. He says come to me, this is an invitation to a person, this is an invitation into a relationship, it's an invitation into union and communion with the king. Jesus invites us to know him by putting our trust in him and choosing to follow him. We don't have to navigate life in our own strength, we don't have to carry our burdens alone, Jesus says come, this invitation is on offer today, he's inviting every person in the sound of my voice, come to him. If you've never put your faith in Jesus, it begins by saying yes to his invitation to follow him. And if you already belong to Christ, this is our open invitation to come to him again and again, every single day, we are invited to bring our awareness and our burdens to him. Not only does he say come to me, but he says take, take my yoke upon you. For many of us, a yoke is not a familiar image. In Jesus' day, everyone would have understood it immediately. A yoke is a wooden beam placed across the shoulders of animals so that they could carry a load or pull a burden together. But it was also a picture used by rabbis to describe their teaching and their way of life. So every rabbi had a yoke, every religious leader would invite their followers into a particular understanding of God. And we know that the Pharisees had their yoke, it was a heavy yoke, a way of life marked with endless rules and regulations and heavy burdens, and Jesus goes toe to toe with every rabbi of his day. And he says come to me, take my yoke upon you. I want to return to my opening comments because I can't help but to think. There's the yoke of performance that tells us we're only as valuable as our last accomplishment. What about that yoke of approval that keeps us chasing acceptance from people? What about that yoke of comparison that convinces us that everyone's life is better than our own? What about that yoke of success that whispers we're never enough, because there's always another opportunity, there's always another promotion. There's always the next thing.

What about that yoke of image that tells us that we must curate a life that appears impressive even when we're exhausted on the inside? What about that yoke of self-sufficiency that says we should be able to carry all of life's burdens on our own? All of these yolks, they promise life, but if we're honest, they leave us weary and exhausted. You know, when Jesus says, "Take my yoke," He's inviting us to live under His leadership and to order our life according to His way. You know, He's gonna say later that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. And it's not because Jesus makes life easy and simple. It's not because resistance disappears. Remember where Jesus is offering this invitation. He says it because He sets us free from the burden of carrying that yoke and that crushing weight of trying to prove and sustain ourselves in the city. We sing that song and that line that says, "His way is better." And it's my hope and my prayer for you tonight. If you're carrying a yoke and you feel heavy and you feel burdened, that you would come to the discovery that following Jesus and taking His yoke that you'll leave this place saying today that His way is better. Jesus says, "Come to me," He says, "Take my yoke." And then He says, "Learn from me, learn from me." This is how Jesus forms His followers.

This is the language of apprenticeship and apprentice doesn't thus simply admire the teacher and apprentice studies the teacher. The apprentice walks with the teacher and hopefully over time, the follower starts to look like the teacher. And this is what Jesus is inviting us into. He doesn't just want us to believe. He wants us to learn from Him. This is about allowing the life of Jesus to shape our own. It's about learning His way of trusting the Father and His way of loving people. Jesus says, "Come to me, take my yoke, learn from me." And if you do that, if I do that, if we do that, He says this, "You will find. "You will find rest for your souls." In verse 28, Jesus says, "I'll give you rest." And then in verse 29, He says, "You will find rest for your soul." Which one is it? It's both. I love when I meet people after they've encountered the good news of the gospel, after they've encountered the love of Jesus, after they've encountered the mercy and the grace of God. One of the terms in the scriptures describes that as making peace with God. And there's something remarkable about meeting these people when they first encounter the rest that Jesus gives. And it's almost as if Jesus is saying,

"If you like that, there's plenty of more "where that came from. "He gives it, but you also discover it "as you continue, as we continue to come to Him "and take His yoke and learn from Him. "So He gives rest, and I believe that there is rest "on offer for us in this room today, "especially those that are feeling weary and overwhelmed, "entired and exhausted. "There is rest, actual soul level rest "that is on offer, but it's not a one-time event." We find this rest over and over because it is a lifelong discovery of every apprentice who continues to come to Jesus, take His yoke and learn His way. Listen, this rest for our souls is in the place where all of our fears and all of our anxiety and all of our striving, our identity, our hopes, all of our desires. There, Jesus says there in that place. Your nervous system, your vagus nerve, your innermost being, there's rest that is available. There, soul level rest, and Jesus promises this, which leads us to our final movement. Jesus says come, He says take, He says learn, and if you do that, if I do that, we will find soul level rest for our souls. And I love what Matthew does, the gift that he gives us as we come to the close here. Matthew is going to give us one more gift and I really want you to see this because as soon as Jesus makes this offer in the text, we see that Jesus gets into this Sabbath altercation because the disciples were hungry and they were picking bread and the Pharisees have a problem with Jesus and with his disciples and I love what Jesus does here because he, in essence, says not only do I offer rest, but I should probably tell you at this point, not only do I offer soul level rest, I'm actually the son of man who is the Lord of the Sabbath.

So not only do I offer rest, I am rest. That's why Jesus says come to me because when you come to him, you're actually coming to the Lord of rest. And this is why the Pharisees decide in this moment that they begin to plot his murder. There is an increase of resistance, but I want you to see what Matthew shows us because we see Jesus, he's our example, not only is he the source of rest, but he's our example of rest. He models what rest looks like in the middle of resistance. And if I'm honest, I don't always get this right. When I'm in the middle of warfare, when I'm in the middle of resistance, in the middle of opposition, I don't always respond like Jesus does. But can I show you real quick what he does? He does three things. Number one, he prays. Number two, he heals and number three, he remains gentle. I have to show you this. I know it's hot. We're almost done and then we're going to pray, okay? He prays. You've got to see this. Look at this. Jesus says this is how he prays. At that time, Jesus said, I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you've hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and you revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal. I simply want to make a point here that in the middle of warfare and resistance, what is Jesus doing?

We see Jesus operating from a place of rest because he's worshiping, and he's praying to the Father. Did you listen in on that prayer? Did you eavesdrop on that conversation? Remember what Jesus is going through. His boy, his cousin, John the Baptist, his family member is in prison, doubting him. He's got entire cities rejecting him. He has Pharisees plotting his murder, and Jesus is like, Father, I thank you because I'm not taking any of that opposition personal. I'm not really struggling. I'm not in my fields right now. You know why? Because you, Father, are in control. You are the one that reveals yourself to some and hides yourself from others. One of the reasons why we struggle in warfare and in resistance is because we're not in communication with the Father so that he can give us perspective about what's really happening. We try to understand the situation with our rational thinking, and God is saying if you come to me, Jesus has perspective. A little later on in the text, they're going to accuse Jesus. from the enemy. Did you hear what Jesus said in the in the Father? I thank you that you have given me all authority. Look at what he's doing. He is reframing in the middle of resistance getting godly wisdom and getting godly perspective so he doesn't partner with lies. He doesn't look at his situation and allow that to dictate to his emotions because he's praying the reason why he doesn't retreat. The reason why he doesn't take the disciples and run to a monastery. The reason why he doesn't hide is because he can offer rest in the middle and he wants all of us to know. If you're gonna be a compelling mission with disciple in New York City, if you're gonna be in the marketplace and if you're gonna be on a college campus, yes they're gonna be my words and yes there's gonna

be works but you also have to know that there's gonna be warfare and I want you to get your weight up and I want you to be ready and I want you to be prepared but you got to come to me. You can't quit, you can't give up, you can't tap out, you can't deconstruct, you got to come to me, you got to keep coming to me, you got to talk to me, you got to take my yoke and you got to learn from me and I'll teach you. I'll teach you how to swim in the shock tank. I'll teach you how to be in a room with vultures but you got to come to me. Every time I do that I got to come back and realize where I wasn't my notes and then I'm a little too excited. I simply want to point out that in the middle of warfare and resistance Jesus is operating from rest because he prays. He sees the resistance through the lens of the Father's decision to hide and reveal. He sees the rejection and the opposition as part of what he calls the Father's gracious will. He sees his authority as coming from God and instead of being consumed by what's happening around him Jesus just comes to the Father and he's at rest because he's living an active abiding real-time communion with his Father in the middle. Can I encourage you to be a person who prays not only does Jesus pray I love this. Jesus just keeps healing people. Did you catch it? Then he said to the man stretch out your hand and the man stretched it out and it was restored healthy like the other but the Pharisees went out and they conspired against them to destroy him. Jesus aware of this he withdrew from there and many followed him and he healed them and he ordered them not to make him known. Look up here. Jesus knows that the streets are getting hot and so again the reason why Jesus comes to the Father is that you can see Jesus pivoting and making adjustments. Did you notice that the Bible says that Jesus withdrew. He pulled back for a minute because the streets were hot but notice what he keeps doing. He keeps healing. He keeps doing miracles and then he tells the people I know I just did that but can you keep that on the low low. So Jesus has strategy in the middle of warfare and in the middle of resistance but I can't get over the fact that Jesus is not thinking about himself. He's thinking about his followers. He is about the Father's business. He's in the temple

and he's saying, "Father, what are you saying? What are you doing? Who is the Father giving me and there's someone in the room." The Bible says that there's a man with a withered hand and Jesus says to the man, "Stretch out your hand." Now if it was me and Jesus asked me to stretch out my hand in front of everybody in church, I would have stretched out the good one. The problem is Jesus said I didn't come for the well. I came for the sick. So when Jesus told the withered man to stretch out his hand, it was the one that he was hiding. It was the thing he was embarrassed about. It was the addiction. It was the habit. It was the struggle. It was the thing that was withered. It was the thing that he didn't want anybody to see. But on the authority of Jesus' command, he says, "Stretch out the hand." And the Bible says something very beautiful. When he stretched out his withered hand, did you see what the text said? It says that Jesus healed it and made it healthy like the other one. Church, can I encourage you tonight? Whatever it He is able to heal you and touch you and restore you and bring health, just like the other one. And the thing that's so amazing to me about this moment is that Jesus is still healing. The Bible says that all who came to Him, He healed them. When I'm in the middle of resistance, I'm usually preoccupied with myself. I'm thinking about the pain. I'm thinking about the discomfort. I'm thinking about the inconvenience. I'm in the wrong headspace. And Jesus is teaching us by His example that you could be a person experiencing resistance and you could pray and you could still participate in mission and still be on mission and do the thing that God has called you to do in the places where He has planted you all over the city.

Can I say one more thing? He prays, He heals, and then this is the big one. Jesus remains gentle. Matthew 12, 20. A bruised reed, He will not break and a smoldering wick. He will not quench. A bruised reed is symbolic of a fragile life that has been bent under the weight of the world. A smoldering wick is symbolic of a faith that barely has a flame left. I don't know if you've ever seen a fire pit on the back end when it's almost out. There's no more wood, no more fluid. It's just kind of a few embers at the end. And this picture of this smoldering wick, I love that what looks like used to be and looks like once was, Jesus says, "If I see that and you come to me, I just blow my fresh breath on it and I breathe a new life and I can get that smoldering wick back into a fire again. And if you're here today and you used to be on fire for God and you're struggling, you could come. And Jesus says, "I'm gentle and I'm lowly in heart." You don't have to be ashamed of anything. You don't have to be embarrassed about nothing. You come to me just the way you are. And Jesus says, "I can handle it." A bruised reed, a smoldering wick.

I won't smother, I won't quench, and I won't put it out. And I love Jesus, but I especially love Him here in this moment because I still can't believe that in the middle of warfare, in the middle of opposition, in the middle of people questioning His motives, Jesus just keeps it pushing. He keeps finding people who are helpless and harassed, sheep without a shepherd, and He's looking for the weary and the burden and the bruised reeds and the smoldering wicks, and He just says, "Come." Jesus never allowed the warfare around Him to determine the posture within Him. He lived from deep communion with the Father. He remained faithful to mission, and He stayed gentle with people. And I submit to you that He models for us what it looks like to live from a place of real soul level rest. And then He invites us into that same way of life. This is the rest that Jesus is offering. I wish I could tell you that it meant the absence of warfare and resistance, but I can't. Jesus' rest is not an escape from life or His mission, but it is a settled confidence that comes from walking with the king in the middle to know that no matter what we face, we don't have to face it alone. Matthew has now given us the words of the kingdom, the works of the kingdom. And tonight, hopefully, we receive the glimpse into the warfare

of the kingdom, and through it all, I'm so grateful that we still have a king who promises to be with us in the works and in the warfare, him, to take his yoke, to learn from him, and to find rest for our souls, even in the middle. Could I ask you to buy your heads all over this room? Father, we just thank you for your word tonight. Thank you for your presence and in our gathering. Thank you for every single person that is in this room or worshiping with us online. God, I thank you that you know everything about them. You know the number of hairs on their head. You know us deeply and fully. And I'm just asking that as we move into this time of response, that there would be faith in the room to respond to you, to respond to your invitation to come. And Lord, I just pray that there would be like a true rest for our souls. I pray for people in the room that have been struggling to sleep, struggling with like insomnia, anxiety at night, unable to sleep. Your word says that you give sleep to those that you love. Lord, I pray for people in the room that are like John the Baptist that are in a season of their life where they have questions and there even might be some offense with you in their heart. And I just pray that today that would be a place of healing. Lord, I pray for people in the room that feel like helpless and harassed. They have no covering. They have no leadership. I pray that they would come to you, find covering, find safety, a good leader, a good king, a good father. I pray that they would find that today. And Lord, we just give you this time and the rest of our gathering where I invite you to have your way in Jesus name. Amen.