The Mystery Of Divine Rest
Pastor Mattie returns from sabbatical and preaches on the one discipline most of us have never taken seriously: rest. Drawing from Genesis, Exodus, the Psalms, and the life of Jesus, he makes the case that rest isn't the reward you get after the work is done — it's the evidence that God's presence is actually with you, and the rebellion against a performance-driven life that the gospel demands.
Hey, good morning church, who agrees it's good to be in the house today? Man, I love this family, I love this church, I love how loud you guys sing, I love you guys dance, and feel free to just take this whole room as your own. Make this your living room, make this your altar, make it your dance floor. Let's have some fun today in church, yeah? Come on, let's sing a song together. All right, a raise, come on everybody. I raise it, hallelujah My weapon is a melody Yeah, I raise it, hallelujah As heaven comes to fight for me Come on I raise it, hallelujah With everything inside of me I raise it, hallelujah In the middle of the darkness, we all raise I raise it, hallelujah In the middle of the mystery I raise it, hallelujah Oh fear you lost your hold on me I'm gonna sing in the middle of a storm Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar Up from the ashes, hope will arise Cause death is defeated, the King is alive We praise You, Lord We praise You, Lord Our worship is our weapon We sing a little louder We sing a little louder We sing a little louder
We sing a little louder We sing a little louder We sing a little louder We sing a little louder In the presence of my enemies We sing a little louder Oh, louder than the unbelief I sing a little louder Though our weapon is a melody We sing a little louder Oh, heaven comes to fight for me We sing a little louder Oh, in the presence of my enemies We sing a little louder Oh, louder than the unbelief I sing a little louder Though our weapon is a melody We sing a little louder Oh, heaven comes to fight for me ♪ For me ♪ ♪ I'm gonna sing in the middle of the storm ♪ ♪ Louder and louder you're gonna hear my praises roar ♪ ♪ Up from the ashes hope will arise ♪ ♪ Cause death is defeated the King is alive ♪ ♪ I'm gonna sing in the middle of the storm ♪ ♪ Louder and louder you're gonna hear my praises roar ♪ ♪ Up from the ashes hope will arise ♪ ♪ Cause death is defeated the King is alive ♪ ♪ I'm gonna sing in the middle of the storm ♪ ♪ Louder and louder you're gonna hear my praises roar ♪
♪ Up from the ashes hope will arise ♪ ♪ Cause death is defeated the King is alive ♪ ♪ I'm gonna sing in the middle of the storm ♪ ♪ And I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ In the presence of my enemies ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ More louder than the unbelief ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ Our weapon is a melody ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ For heaven comes to fight for me ♪ ♪ I'm gonna sing in the middle of the storm ♪ ♪ And I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ In the presence of my enemies ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ More louder than the unbelief ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ In the presence of my enemies ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪ ♪ I'll raise it an honest call ♪ ♪ I'll raise an hallelujah ♪
♪ I'll raise it an honest call ♪ ♪ So here it is, my alabaster heart ♪ ♪ I'm keeping nothing back from who you are ♪ ♪ No hidden treasure veiled by key or lock ♪ ♪ You're a lifetime worth of worshiping ♪ ♪ It's only just the start ♪ ♪ So here it is, my every waking day ♪ ♪ The minutes, hours, the years of endless praise ♪ ♪ For you're worthy of far beyond all I could say ♪ ♪ There's a lifetime worth of worshiping ♪ ♪ The nuance of your names ♪ ♪ So let it rise like incense ♪ ♪ My whole life a fragrance ♪ ♪ Every ounce here broken at your feet ♪ ♪ Every breath an offering, my heart cries ♪ ♪ These lungs sing over you, my worthy king of kings ♪ ♪ Believe that's the kind of king you are ♪ ♪ How could I not bring a lifetime worth of worship to you God ♪ ♪ So let it rise like incense my whole life a fragrance ♪ ♪ Every ounce here broken at your feet ♪ ♪ Every breath an offering my heart cries ♪ ♪ These loves sing over you my worthy king of kings ♪ ♪ So let it rise let it rise like incense my whole life a fragrance ♪ ♪ Every ounce here broken at your feet ♪ ♪ Every breath an offering my heart cries ♪ ♪ These love sing over you my worthy king of kings ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh sing out your love my worthy king of kings. ♪ ♪ Sing out your love song to him ♪ ♪ Sing out your love song to him ♪ ♪ All my love, all my love, all my love ♪
♪ Pour it out at your feet like Mary, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Sing all my love, all my love, all my love, all my love ♪ ♪ You can have it all, all my love, all my love, all my love ♪ ♪ You can have it all, all my heart and all my soul ♪ ♪ All I own, you can have it all all my heart and all my soul ♪ ♪ All my soul, all I own, you can have it all all my love ♪ ♪ All my love, all my love, you can have it all all my love ♪ ♪ All my love, all my love, you can have it all all my heart ♪ ♪ All my soul, all I own, you can have it all all my heart ♪ ♪ All my heart, all my soul, all I own, you can have it all ♪ ♪ All my love, all my love, all my love you can have it all all my love ♪ ♪ All my love, all my love, you can have it all all my heart ♪ ♪ All my soul, all I own, you can have it all all my heart ♪ ♪ All my soul, all I own, you can have it all ♪ ♪ Oh, you can have it all ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all, you're worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all, you're worthy of it all ♪ ♪ So let it rise like incense ♪ ♪ My whole life a fragrance ♪ ♪ Every ounce, you're spilled out of me ♪ ♪ Every breath is my offering ♪ ♪ My worthy king of kings ♪ ♪ So let it rise, let it rise like incense ♪ ♪ My whole life a fragrance ♪ ♪ Every ounce, you're broken at your feet ♪ ♪ Every breath an offering, my heart cries ♪ ♪ This love to sing over you, my worthy king of kings ♪ ♪ The King of kings ♪
♪ All my love, all my love, all my love ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ All my love, you can have it all ♪ ♪ All my heart, all my soul, all I own ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ All my heart, all my soul, all I own ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ Oh, you can have it all ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ You can have it all ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord ♪ ♪ And I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord ♪
♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪ I exalt Thee ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Oh, victory, you have won ♪ ♪ Victorious, you have come ♪ ♪ What was stolen, you brought back to us ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Oh, victory, you have won ♪ ♪ Victorious, you have come ♪ ♪ What was stolen, you brought back to us ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Our champion, you fight for us ♪ ♪ You made a way where there was none ♪ ♪ Our champion, you're strong in us ♪ ♪ The debt we owe, you paid it back ♪ ♪ The one in whom we belong ♪
♪ We lift our voice and join His song ♪ ♪ We were orphans, now forever yours ♪ ♪ We're forever yours ♪ ♪ Our champion, you fight for us ♪ ♪ You made a way where there was none ♪ ♪ Our champion, you're strong in us ♪ ♪ The debt we owe, you paid it back ♪ ♪ Our champion, you fight for us ♪ ♪ You made a way where there was none ♪ ♪ Our champion, you're strong in us ♪ ♪ The debt we owe, you paid it back ♪ ♪ Oh, you paid it all, you paid it all ♪ ♪ The debt we owe, our champion ♪ ♪ We will shout it out from the mountaintops ♪ ♪ That our God is good, He has overcome ♪ ♪ Let all the earth, every tribe and tongue ♪ ♪ We will sing it out, He has overcome ♪ ♪ We will shout it out, that our God is good ♪ ♪ He has overcome, let all the earth, every tribe and tongue ♪ ♪ We will sing it out, He has overcome ♪ ♪ We will shout it out from the mountaintops ♪ ♪ That our God is good, He has overcome ♪ ♪ Let all the earth, every tribe and tongue ♪ ♪ We will sing it out, He has overcome ♪ ♪ Our champion, you fight for us, you made a way for us ♪ ♪ You are our champion, you're strong in us ♪ ♪ The debt you owe, you paid it back ♪ ♪ Our champion, you fight for us, you made a way when there was none ♪ ♪ Our champion, you're strong in us ♪ ♪ The debt we owe, you paid it back, oh yeah ♪
♪ You paid it all, you paid it all, we thank you Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪ Jesus paid it all ♪ ♪ All to Him I owe ♪ ♪ Sin hath left a grimce insane ♪ ♪ But He washed it white as snow ♪ Sing it again. ♪ Jesus paid it all ♪ ♪ All to Him I owe ♪ ♪ Sin hath left a grimce insane ♪ ♪ But He washed it white as snow ♪ ♪ He washed it white as snow ♪ ♪ He washed it white as snow ♪ ♪ White as snow ♪ ♪ Be my dead, raise this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one, be my dead ♪ ♪ Raise this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Praise the one who paid my debt ♪ ♪ Raise this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Praise the one who paid my debt ♪ ♪ Raise this life up from the dead, oh ♪ ♪ Praise the one who paid my debt, hey ♪ ♪ Raise this life up from the dead, oh ♪ ♪ Praise the one who paid my debt, hey ♪ ♪ Life up from the dead, oh ♪ ♪ Praise the one who paid my debt, hey ♪ ♪ Raise this life up from the dead, oh ♪ ♪ Praise the one who paid my debt, hey ♪ ♪ Raise this life up from the dead, oh ♪ ♪ Praise the one who paid my debt, hey ♪
♪ Raise this life up from the dead, oh ♪ ♪ Praise the one who paid my debt, hey ♪ ♪ Raise this life up from the dead, oh ♪ ♪ Oh-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah ♪ ♪ Oh-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a ♪ ♪ Oh-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one who paid my debt, hey ♪ ♪ And raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one who paid my debt, hey ♪ ♪ Raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one who paid my debt, hey ♪ ♪ Raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one who paid my debt, hey ♪ ♪ Raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one who paid my debt, hey ♪ ♪ Raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one who paid my debt, hey ♪ ♪ Raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one, Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one, my Savior ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one, my Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the one ♪ ♪ Praise the one ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, my Jesus, my Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, baby boy, all to Him I'll go ♪ ♪ Sing that old praises to Him, all you must know ♪ ♪ Keep on still watching, keep on still watching ♪ And how magnificent is our God.
How glorious is His name. How profound is His love for me. In the moment I start to think I have the gospel kind of figured out, or I have Jesus figured out, He just blows me away. Reminds me just how vast, how majestic, how expansive, how incredible, how incredibly near He is to me. God never let me get comfortable. Never let me get complacent. I ask that you would just remind me again and again that you are more than I could ever imagine. You command the heavens. You taught the stars how to sing. You gave the oceans their borders. Measure the mountains. You set every creature in its place. And still you know my name. And still you long with jealousy to have me as your own. May I never lose the wonder that you're mine. ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ God who created you ♪ ♪ There at the start, before the beginning of time ♪ ♪ With no point of rest ♪ ♪ You spoke to the darkness outlawed in your eyes ♪ ♪ And as you speak ♪ ♪ A hundred billion galaxies are born ♪ ♪ In the vapor of your breath and planets ♪ ♪ If the stars are made to worship so alive ♪ ♪ I can see your heart and everything you make ♪ ♪ Every burning star will set no fire of grace ♪
♪ Creation sings your praises so alive ♪ ♪ Ooh, so alive ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ And out of your promise ♪ ♪ Won't speak in vain your syllable and your poem ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ As You I spoke my nature is sign ♪ ♪ To follow the sound of Your voice ♪ ♪ As You speak my heart to bear ♪ ♪ Your creatures can't You break ♪ ♪ You fall in pursuit of poetry You said ♪ ♪ If it all reveals in nature so will I ♪ ♪ I can see Your heart in everything You say ♪ ♪ Every pain is God who cares for Your grace ♪ ♪ Your creation still obeys You so will I ♪ ♪ Oh so will I ♪ ♪ So will I ♪ ♪ So will I ♪ ♪ If the stars are made to worship so will I ♪ ♪ If the mountains bow in reverence so will I ♪ ♪ If the oceans roar Your grace so will I ♪ ♪ If everything exists to lift You high so will I ♪ ♪ If the wind blows where You send it so will I ♪ ♪ So will I ♪ ♪ If the rocks cry out in silence so will I ♪ ♪ If the sun above our praise is still full shine ♪ ♪ And we'll sing again a hundred billion times ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh oh oh Oh, oh, oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh oh oh Oh, oh, oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh oh oh Oh, oh, oh oh oh ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh oh oh Oh, oh, oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh oh oh Oh, oh, oh oh oh ♪ ♪ God of salvation You chased down my heart ♪ ♪ Through all of my failings Thank you, God ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh oh oh Oh, oh, oh oh oh ♪ ♪ And here you create A light in the world ♪ ♪ And in the darkness you die Oh, oh, oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ And as you speak A hundred billion feelings disappear ♪ ♪ Well, you lost your life So I could find it here ♪ ♪ If you left the grave behind you So will I ♪ ♪ I can see your heart With everything you've done ♪ ♪ Every part designed In a work of art called love ♪ ♪ If you gladly chose to reign There so will I ♪ ♪ I can see your heart A billion different ways ♪ ♪ Every precious one Decided to die to stay ♪ ♪ If you gave your life to love There so will I ♪ ♪ You could love again A hundred billion times ♪ ♪ Oh, magical, magical design You're the one who never leaves the one behind ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ I could meet with you this afternoon before I go to bed tonight while I commune with you. What a miracle that is. We thank you for a relationship, for the promise of a future, the promise of life, and for our son Jesus and his blood spilled in the name of Jesus Christ, in Jesus' name, amen. Hey, welcome to the altar of fellowship. Man, what a beautiful place. I have missed this place so much. We got to do a tour of churches in the Tri-Cities and got to go to a couple other places. And I'll tell you, man, there is no place like this. And what a privilege it is to come into the house of the Lord with you guys. I hope that, you know, there's a common phrase that absence makes the heart grow fonder. And I'll tell you, that has been our experience.
I think, you know, my kids have never been more excited about the altar fellowship than when we were dragging them to some other church and they were like, we don't, all of our friends are at the altar. Why are we going anywhere else? And so I, we're seriously so glad to be back. We love you guys. We missed you like crazy. Would you guys, if you can find a seat, would you bless the musicians? They left already, but tell them they're walking around, tell them we love them. We are so grateful for them. I spent this last week from Monday to Friday, I think I mentioned to some of you that I was going to be spending some time on a silent retreat in a monastery. And so this last week from Monday to Friday, I was, didn't speak a word all week long. And during that time, uh, kind of the only sound that was made were the, the, the prayers and the chants of the monks who live at this monastery. And I've got to tell you, among many other ways that that impacted my life, it really made me grateful for the musicians we have at the altar because God bless these monks. They're very old men, none of whom are singers. And so I'm just so grateful. I'm so grateful for, uh, for our musicians here. We're seriously richly blessed. I want to tell you, as we prepare for the offering, uh, I want to tell you this story wrote real briefly in Genesis chapter 12. It says something I think that is, uh, that is profound in Genesis 12, starting in verse seven. It says, then the Lord appeared to Abraham, which itself is a crazy statement. The Lord appeared to a guy named Abraham. The Lord appeared to Abraham and said to your descendants, I will give this land. And there he built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. This is the, the Lord visited a man and said to him, I'm going to give this to your descendants.
And his first instinct was to say, I want to make sure that all my descendants can remember where God visited me. I want to make sure that my great great grandchildren can come and find the place where the God who keeps his promises came and met me. And so Abraham built an altar in that place and he named it Beth El, the house of God. And for years I have stood in front of this church and I've said, Hey, we should give our tithes and offerings. Now I want to give an answer to those of you who may wonder why, because in doing so, we join with the faith of Abraham who said, God gave me a promise and I want to make sure my grandkids can still find the place it happened when they want to know if there is a God and if he's good, I want to make sure that this building is still standing. I want to make sure that this community is still thriving. I want to make sure that when Kai's grandchildren or Kai's children say, Dad, what kind of church, what was the church like when you guys grew up, that he can bring them to this place and say, man, I remember right up there. God touched my life. I remember we used to have youth group over in the family room and man, I had some encounters that marked me forever in that place. And when we give in the moment, what we're doing is not just like resourcing a ministry. What we're doing is building an altar. We're giving of our resources to make sure that there is a place that can stand a place to be totally honest with you a place that the bank can't come and repossess a place that we don't have to sell to just keep the ministry going or make payroll like a place that is paid off a place that is secure a place that is home for generations to come and And can stand as a Bethel a house of God in the earth so Moses instinct Said the promise of God's generational faithfulness is to start to build an altar and so this morning I'm not asking you to give an offering. I'm asking you to help me build an altar right in this place that will stand if the Lord wills for generations to come as A testament to the fact that God still visits man and God still changes lives
Like he has so many bars. Amen Come on So would you stand with me as you know? There's a few ways you can give You can scan that QR code to give to your phone if you have the mobile app you can use that or There should be an envelope in the seat in front of you. You can use to give by cash or check or card but let's just come before this this faithful God in prayer Lord Scriptures tell us That we have never seen the righteous forsaken or as children begging for bread God you do not forsake your people And so today Lord we give As an act of confession that our hope isn't in finances That our hope isn't in our career or our business or our strength, but our hope is in you and That 300 years from now. It won't matter How much money we had in the bank 300 years from now Lord? We hope that it will matter The spiritual foundation we laid for those who would come after us God make us altar builders each of us God Make our lives like stones in the altar your building that will host and invite your presence Lord we love you. We love you. Teach us to love you more Teach us to love you God in a way that breaks out of just our emotions just our feelings of affection But help our love for you be visible and the way we spend our time the way we spend our money the way we give Our our energy and our ambition Lord let everything we do
Point constantly to you Be honored and be exalted today in our giving Just as you are in our singing and our dancing Lord. We bless you today In Jesus name Amen I I love you guys, it's great to see you we have Missed you so much and and It's been a trip I Met some people who have joined the church since I left so I had to introduce myself like I promised I am the pastor of this church I know but uh But I am Really glad to be here and over these last weeks of I've been on a with my family on a sabbatical and we've done some traveling and some hanging around the house and you know a lot of soccer in the driveway and The World Cup is on we got to watch a bunch of World Cup games and that has been awesome And and it's just been it's been my son has got his messy jersey on this morning. He's ready. Yeah, so uh I'm just I Think if I could try to maybe put into words the sense that I have it's it's gratitude I just recently heard from a mentor he said God doesn't give churches to pastors. He gives pastors to churches And I think that for me was like such a freeing thought that You know, it's not like I'm this sort of special man and God has entrusted you all to me The truth is that God loves this community this fellowship this family and and so as an expression of his love he formed me and Brought conviction and correction to me on countless occasions and then said Maddie I want to give your life to these people As a demonstration of my love and my care for them. And uh, and so I want you to know it's my honor to be, um, to be a pastor to this church
and uh, and to be given by God to the service of this church is one of the greatest privileges of my life. And so I'm, I'm really, really grateful to be here. And just today being back, I'm just overwhelmed with joy and, uh, and there's no place in the world I would rather be than, than right here. Um, and so thank you for having me. Thanks for letting me be a part of your lives and in the journey that God has you on. And uh, let's just, let's see what he's got next. Amen. Uh, I want to, uh, first I want to thank, uh, some of the people that stepped in while I was on sabbatical. There was a long list. Pastor David, uh, ministered significantly here. Uh, Owen Barclay preached just a fantastic message. Uh, pastor John as well, uh, shared, uh, some powerful, uh, testimonies and, and exhortation to the body, uh, elder, uh, Kashif and, um, and, uh, and we're so grateful to have him in his, his ministry. Pastor Zach, uh, of course, uh, James Vega, Jacob Coyne, uh, we are just richly blessed with just incredible anointed voices, uh, men and leaders of, of wisdom and revelation who, uh, have served this body, uh, really well over the last, the last couple of months. And I'm, I'm grateful for them and their support. And I just want to thank those guys, as many of them as are here right now, um, for, uh, for stepping in and making sure to continue to put food on the table for this, for this body. That's a big deal. And, uh, something I'm really, really grateful for. I, um, I felt this pressure, you know, to come back from a season of rest and to have some like profound sermon to preach to y'all. And then I thought, you know, the, what has served me to this point and now almost nearly 20 years of a walk with the Lord, actually two days from now will be 20 years from the
day that God, uh, brought me to life in his presence down in, uh, Southeastern Minnesota on the steps of my college dorm, studying Buddhism, trying to find some transcendent truth. And the presence of the living God came and found me that day and ruined me for anything other than him. It has been 20 years that he's been so faithful to me, to guard me and protect me and to keep calling me back again and again to his path. And I'm, I'm just, I'm really grateful for that. And, uh, over those, these last 20 years, what has served me in ministry has been just preaching from where you live, like preach what you know, preach what God is doing in your life. It's not a performance trying to make people think that you are something you're not. It's about being vulnerable enough to say, Hey, this is the path that I'm on. So I can't think of maybe anything more important to, to preach or, or, or more, uh, natural for me to preach to you this morning than to talk about rest. The truth is rest is not just what we do when the work is over. Rest is actually one of the primary parts of the work God has called us to do. And I feel, I have felt as I've been sitting on this word for weeks now preparing and waiting and studying and praying, I have felt this like oppositional impulse in my soul from the spirit of Americanism that is like, don't rest, grind, hustle, struggle, build, make a way. Like that's what we do. We're Americans. We pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. You know, we've got pride in our ability to produce, but then there are these commands in the scriptures that we are to rest, that rest is to be a regular part of our faith life. And in, in many ways, at many times that's incompatible with our view as Americans. And so we're going to have to decide, are we going to be people of the kingdom or are we going to be people of this worldly nation?
And if we are going to be kingdom people, we're going to have to find a way for rest to become a feature of the lives that we live before God. And so both today, I told my wife shortly before I came up here, I said, I feel like I could preach for six hours and truthfully, I have so many stories to tell. These last seven weeks feel like I lived two lifetimes. I feel like a different man and I am, it's the Lord has spoken to me in a lot of ways. I've got so much to say, but I don't know that I can say it all. Here's the good news though. I'm not going anywhere. So I'll be back, I'll be back next week and the week after that, the week after that. And we'll see if we can get it all out in the next year or so. But, um, but today we're going to talk about the secret, what I call the secret of divine rest and we'll start here. Both in days past and in days ahead, we have and will consider often what we are called by God to do in response to the gospel. We talk about making disciples of all nations, healing the sick, raising the dead, building the kingdom. We talk about confession, prayer, fasting, Bible study, evangelism, worship and giving. And yet I'm convinced today that there was one mysterious act of faith, which is more fundamental to our lives than any of these others. And that is the act of rest. Not until the last weeks of my life have I considered rest to be an act of faith. And yet the truth is rest is our rebellion against the oppression of performance. Rest is our rebellion against the oppression of performance. To rest is to say, God, I trust you with my wellbeing. God, I trust you with my unfinished business. God, I trust you with my security and with my peace. And today I hope to show you that the mystery of divine rest is the baseline for the life of faith. And in fact, listen to this, to receive the gospel at all, we must first rest from our
striving to obtain salvation. To do the work of God, we must rest from our insistence upon pursuing our own ambitions. To live a life of faith is to live a life of rest. It is to confess before God, I can't do it all. And then to hear God say in return, that's okay because I can. And so I want to, I want to start by looking at Genesis chapter one. Let's start in the beginning. Let's talk about rest and we'll go all the way back to some of these sort of formative moments. Genesis chapter one, let's start with in, uh, in verse 26, Genesis one 26, it, uh, it says, and this is a passage I know I've preached out of multiple times in the last years. It's, it's, uh, full of seeds that spring up into flowering fruit all throughout the scriptures. And so it's a, a powerful and important one to study, but it says, then God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea or the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Verse 27 says, so God created man in his image and the image of God, he created him male and female. He created them. Verse 28 says, and God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of the earth and every tree with seed and its fruit. You shall have them for food and to every beast of the earth and every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life. I have given every green plant for food and it was so. And God saw everything that he'd made and behold, it was very, everybody say very, very
good. That was, uh, that's the first time God uses the word very, I like that. God makes man and says, this is very good. It must've been Candace. Like he, you know, that must've been the one there's others are, are the other stuff is good, but you know, she's very good. And so, uh, he said, they said, God saw everything that he'd made and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning the sixth day. And so, uh, God made man. On the sixth day, he created an environment for man to live in first. And then he, he made man on the sixth day in a, it says evening and morning was the sixth day. And then what happens immediately after that? So the evening and the morning where the sixth day God creates man, but what's the first thing God does after he creates man? Well, let's look at Genesis seven, verse one, the very, or sorry, Genesis, excuse me, two verse one, the very next verse says this. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them, verse two. And on the seventh day, God finished his work that he had done. And he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So what God does is he makes all of creation. And then he makes man this unique creature made in God's image with God's very breath in his lungs. He creates this special, unique creature, and he endows this creature with the responsibility and the authority of, uh, of dominion. He says, I'll give you dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and the beast of the field. So he gives man his dominion. He entrusts man with his dominion. And then he says, here's the first thing you need to know, man, watch me rest. The first thing man did after being created was spend a whole day resting with God. Now there was work to do. There was a garden to keep, and there were animals to name, and there were, you know, plants to take care of. He was a steward. Like the dominion means responsibility. We know that dominion doesn't mean that there's no work to be done, but God sets a precedent. He makes man on the sixth day. So God's last day is rest. Man's first day is rest. This is how man spent his first day in existence is by learning to rest by watching God before there was a garden to keep or animals to name or woman to protect man learned rest. God's first priority after creating man was to demonstrate in front of him rest.
And this, like I said, is a priority we have in modern Western Christianity, largely ignored. And I should say this. I want to be honest and transparent with you here. When I say it's, I'm a little bit nervous about preaching rest in our church because I don't ever want to inadvertently give you permission to be lazy. Like you rest on the seventh day after six days of hard intentional focused work. And so we have like, there's this, there's been in the last couple of years, this sort of trendy Christian thing where people are like, I'm just Sabbath thing. And it's like, well, what you're doing is like, you're just being like lazy and withdrawing from everybody else and withdrawing from everybody else and contributing nothing of any value to anybody's life. And, and so like, I want to make sure that you hear what I'm saying, that I'm not saying we shouldn't work, that somehow work is like against what God has for us. But it is to say that if we can't rest, we've got a problem. We've got an idol. We're working for something other than God. If we find ourselves in a situation where we cannot establish a rhythm of rest. And so please today, don't hear what I'm not saying. And I want to be very clear. What I'm not saying is just chill because that's holy. I just spent this last week. I just spent time at a, at a Trappist monastery for, for the week. And, uh, nobody talks. It's a silent, like it's, it's silent contemplation, except for prayers seven times a day, starting at three 15 in the morning. And when the monks are not silently, uh, or sorry, when the monks are not gathering for prayer, they're silently doing their work, which is like farm work and making fruit cakes. So that's, I don't know. And, uh, they're not good. We got a fruit cake. It's not good. But I said, I said to my wife when I got home, I said, these guys have found the secret to peace and tranquility. And the secret to peace and tranquility is getting rid of all the women and children. That's that's what they, it's just, it's just 25, very old men just being quiet together. And And, uh, and in some ways it is, it is beautiful. I think having the space to hear God and to read God's word for 14 hours a day, if you want to, and to just go walk in the woods and listen to the birds, it really is beautiful and restful. I'm so glad that I went and I would go again and I would recommend it to
anybody. Uh, certainly I think that it is a thing of value, but, but I'll tell you life comes with sound and, and mess and color and expression and laughter and a little bit of chaos. Like that's the trade off you make. Right. And so I say all of this to say work is sacred and rest is sacred. And we don't get to say, well, I'll just trade one for the other. The truth is that we need desperately, we need to have, we need to have both. And, uh, and, and in, in the United States, broadly, I think our ethos has been, uh, if you have to make a choice, choose work instead of rest. Uh, and I think, but I, but I, I fear that the enemy will twist what I'm saying today and plant a seed in you that says, if you have to choose either choose rest instead of work. And I want you to hear that that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is understand that rest is a part of the work God has called you to do. You hear that? Okay. Rest is a part of the work God has called you to do. So now I want to jump from Genesis to Exodus. Let's look at the story of, of Moses and Exodus chapter 20. Uh, God is giving the, uh, uh, the, the 10 commandments and that rest in fact is so central to a life of faithful obedience to God that the Lord included it in his 10 commandments. And he included it right before honor your father and mother and don't kill, don't commit adultery and don't steal. So like it's kind of important to God, right? But this is what he says in Exodus 20, uh, verses eight through 11. He says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy six days. You shall labor and do all your work. See, everybody focuses on like keep the seventh day Holy, remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.
But they always skip over Exodus 20 verse nine, six days. You shall labor and do all your work. Okay. Please don't forget that six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God in it. You shall do no work. You nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates for in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. So hear this. God didn't rest on the seventh day because he needed the rest. God didn't rest on the seventh day because God was tired. God rested on the seventh day as an example for us to follow that. It's an invitation for us to demonstrate the nature of God in the way we live our lives, to look at God's pattern and to say, I'm going to follow that. I want God to be visible in the way that I live my life. In fact, again, in Leviticus 25, four, the principle is broadened. And God says in the seventh year, there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the whole land, a Sabbath of the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. It says you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. And so there's not just a weekly Sabbath, but even this like seven years where we're going to take like a time of rest where there won't be any working of the land. We're going to let the land rest. And so here this in our keeping rhythms of rest, everybody say rhythms. That's right. So what I'm not saying is a continuous state of rest. What I'm saying is a rhythm of regular rest in keeping rhythms of rest.
We not only obey God's instruction, we demonstrate his nature. Our rest is a visible monument of his creative work in the beginning. And it's an acknowledgement of our place within it, but rest. And I need you to hear. This is not like all man's righteousness. Our rest is not something we give God. It's something God gives us like all man's righteousness. It is not something we give God. It's something God gives us. I want you to see that rest. It's not like, uh, uh, a righteous act that we do to appease a grumpy God rest is actually a gift from God to us. And I want to jump a little bit further into Noah's or sorry, Moses story in an Exodus chapter 33. At this point, he has been leading the Israelites through the wilderness for, for years. And, uh, he's a little bit tired and frustrated as a, as a leader. Those of you that have ever raised a family or led a group, you know, it can be tiring. It can be exhausting. And so he, uh, he, he, he says to God, this is an Exodus 33 verse, uh, starting in verse 12. It says that Moses said to the Lord, see, you say to me, bring up this people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, I know you by name and you have also found grace in my sight. Now, therefore I pray. If I've found grace in your sight, show me now your way that I may know you and that I may find grace in your sight and consider that this nation is your people. And he said, this is God speaking. He said, my presence will go with you and I will give you what my presence will go with you. And I will give you rest. And then Moses said in verse 15, when Moses responded, if your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here for how then will it be known that your people and I have found grace in your sight, except that you go with us. So we shall be separate your people. And I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth. Now this I think is so profound for several reasons. Number one is that Moses is wandering in the wilderness. He had a promise from God way back in Exodus chapter three,
that he would lead him into a good and large land, a land flowing with milk and honey. That sounds great. Moses is not in a land like that. He's wandering around the Sandy arid Sinai peninsula for decades. And, and he says, God, I've come to love your presence so much that if I'm going to have to go into milk and honey, but your presence stays here in the desert, I'd rather stay in the desert because it's not about prosperity or ease or comfort for me. It's not about blessing. It's about you. I want to be where you are. And, uh, and so that's a profound moment. Moses is like, I'm not interested in the promised land. I'm interested in your presence, man, that can be instructive for us. I think we need to know like that kind of, uh, that kind of value. We need to hold that kind of value that, uh, that Moses held for the presence of God to say, I want to be where God is. And I, I don't really need anything else. If, if I, I mean, how many of us have like left jobs that paid more to move to Johnson city to come and be a part of the altar. It's like, we want to be where God's presence is, you know, it might be easier and more comfortable somewhere else, but there's something about the presence that we value that it's like, it's just worth it all. I'll live in the desert for the rest of my life. If I can be with him, this is what we see from Moses here. But, but then he says this, he says, so we shall be separate. Like your presence, Lord is the thing that makes us unique from all the other people, every other group of people, they have leaders and they have customs and traditions and rituals and gods that they worship and, you know, uh, holidays that they keep, but God, your presence, that's the thing that sets us apart. That's the thing that makes us different. So according to Moses, the presence of God is what would separate the Israelites from all the other people. But according to God in verse 14, look at verse 14, the primary evidence that his presence is with the Israelites is what first 14 it's rest. My presence will go with you. And what will be the result? Rest. It's not miracles. It's not prophecy. It's not angelic visitations. It's not even a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. What is the evidence that God's presence is with them? It's rest. That's in God's opinion, in God's view, the evidence that his presence is really with you is rest, which is wild, man, because I've got to be honest. I came up in ministry, in the charismatic stream, and I'm still charismatic. I love the Holy ghost. You'll find me running around here, speaking in tongues, praying in tongues. Often I'm grateful for the Holy spirit and the gifts of the spirit. We believe in signs, wonders, and miracles. And yet some of the most charismatic people I've known are also some of
the most anxious, some of the most Holy ghost filled people I've ever, you know, Holy ghost filled people I've ever met. They'll roll around on the ground and wave flags. And, you know, they're, uh, you know, identifying 15 demonic strongholds, every room they walk into, like these people that are really tuned into the things of the spirit are in a constant state of panic. Many of them live in this perpetual anxiety that they call discernment. They can't sleep because what if demons come after my kids while I'm asleep? You know, I got to stay up. And it's like, no, no, no. Do you want to know what the presence of God will give you rest? Heck, we want to be a supernatural people. We have to be a supernatural people. But the primary evidence that God's presence is with us is not tongue talking. It's not tears in our services. It's not even signs, wonders, and miracles. The primary evidence that God's presence is in our midst is rest. It's the rest that we can only have in knowing the battle doesn't belong to me. God is with me, and if God is with me, who can be against me? If God is with me, all hell cannot stand against me. If God is with me, cancer doesn't matter. If God is with me, poverty doesn't get a vote. If God is with me, divorce has no voice in my house, because the presence of God is with me, and if the presence of God is with me, I can have rest, because God can fight the battles I could never win. Friends, if you can rest, if you can't rest, I need you to hear this this morning. If you can't rest, if your life is eaten up today with anxiety and insecurity and striving and desperation, you reveal in that that God's presence is not with you. My hope is that somehow by his spirit, you'll take an honest look at your own life, your own internal world. Are you finding yourself always oriented toward the worst case scenario? Are you finding yourself always oriented to what could go wrong? Is fear defining your life, is criticism, suspicion hanging over you like a cloud?
Because if so, friend, I want to tell you this morning, God's presence is not with you. God's presence produces peace, according to Exodus chapter 33. Maybe it's God's presence and God's rest. Maybe those are things that we hope to have one day, and I think that's certainly the case for many of us, is that we live in anxiety, we live in uncertainty, we live in insecurity, but we have this sort of hope, this suspicion that someday we will come into rest. Like how many times do we see believers die and it's like we put rest and peace on their tombstone. It's like, all right, finally she can rest. Finally they're at rest with the Lord. But I want to give you permission to rest before then, maybe, and just give it a try. Don't wait until you die to find rest in Christ. Please don't wait until you die to find rest in Christ. His presence is available to you right now and his presence produces rest. So for many of us, we've sort of put rest off as something we'll get one day. But I want you to know that his rest is accessible to us today because his presence is accessible to us today. And if his presence is with us truly, rest will always follow. We've looked at Adam's first day, we've looked at now Moses, I want to look at David. David also knew the secret of divine rest as well. I want to show you one of the songs that he wrote here in Psalm chapter 62. He writes in Psalm 62, he says, truly my soul finds rest in God. Psalm 62 verse one, truly my soul finds rest. Now I'm reading out of the NIV. Truly my soul finds rest in God. My salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress. I will never be shaken. How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down? This leaning wall, this tottering fence, surely they intend to topple me from my lofty place. They take delight in lies. With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse. Yes, my soul finds rest in God. My hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress. I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God. He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times. You people pour out your hearts to him for God is our refuge. Guys, this is the confession of a man who carries the weight of a nation on his shoulders. This is the confession of a man who has had multiple people, including his own family members, that would love to end. His life, a warrior, a man with blood on his hands who can say in joy, truly, my soul finds rest in God. How many of us can really say today that our soul is at rest? You get on, you get on X for six minutes and you've seen 35 of the most outraging videos, the most alarming panic inducing videos you've ever seen in your entire life. It's like you log into that website and it's like, here's a video of three people getting shot. Here's another terrorist attack. Like here's some mentally unwell person, you know, fighting with the police. It's like immediately just so much panic and anxiety. And so how many of us can really say we live in a world that is in so many ways designed to steal rest from us? How many of us can say with David, truly my soul finds rest in God. Why can we say that our soul finds rest in God?
He says this because my salvation comes from him. Think about this, that my salvation, your salvation, isn't because you attended the right church, you prayed the right prayer, you made the right moral decisions. What if your salvation came from God as a gift? Then suddenly you could rest because God's not judging you based on your performance. God's judging you based on his love. That's what Christ accomplished for us. That my position as a Christian is not defined by my virtue or my moral ascent. My position as a Christian is defined by what God has done for me. If it did, I would not be able to rest. My salvation comes from God. That is David's confession in Psalm 62 one. That's what David understands that so many of us have forgotten that our salvation is sure, it's secure because our salvation comes from God and not from our own efforts, not from our own contributions, not from our own striving or struggle, but because of God's great love. Now we've looked at Genesis and Exodus and Psalms, I want to look at the life of Jesus who is ultimately our model for life and faith in practice. I want to look in Mark chapter four. I love this story. And for those of you who were here seven years ago, when this church was in my living room, you'll remember a friend of ours, pastor Parker preached a word that just blew my mind. And it was one of those sermons, and this doesn't happen very often. It's one of those sermons where I listened to his message and I thought, why didn't I think of that? You know, I was a little jealous, you know, it was so good. It was so good. And so I can't take credit for this teaching, but I'll tell you that, uh, that I have taken hope from it. I've taken a lot of life from it.
So I want to look at Mark chapter four and, uh, and this is a moment starting in verse 35 of Mark four. It says on the same day when evening had come, he, this is Jesus said to them, let us cross over to the other side. Now when they had left the multitude, they took him along in the boat as he was and other little boats were also with him and a great windstorm arose and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling, but he was in the stern asleep on a pillow. And they awoke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And then he arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. And he said to them, why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly and said to one another, who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey him? Now I want you to consider this scenario. You and your buddies are lifelong fishermen. You spent your whole life on and around this sea. You know how to handle yourselves on a boat and you are in one of the most brutal storms you've ever experienced. It's so brutal that you're pretty sure you guys are going to drown. And Jesus, who is your leader, he's your master, he's supposed to be your protector, is not just not panicking, he's also not helping. And not only is he not helping, he's not even paying attention, he's asleep on a pillow. And I don't understand what kind of person you have to be to be asleep on a pillow in the middle of a raging storm while on a boat in the middle of the sea. But I think the truth is you just have to be unconcerned to take rest in the middle of a situation like that.
And for years, I'll be honest, I read this passage and I thought to myself, man, look at the power of Jesus. He stands up and calms the storm and then he rebukes the disciples for their faithlessness. And what I took away from that was this, they should have calmed the storm. They should have said to the wind, peace, be still. They should have taken the cue from Jesus, their master, and calmed the storm. But here's the thing, and so what I drew from that was a sort of hypothetical act of faith that's not really in the text. I'm projecting it into the text and thinking that would have been the better alternative. But what's the real act of faith in the story? The real act of faith in the story is to sleep through the storm that everyone else is panicking about. If the disciples were following the example of their master, they would have been asleep with Jesus and they never even would have seen the storm that had caused them to panic. I can't help but wonder how many times we are looking at a coming storm, some kind of crisis, some emergency that we heard about on Fox News, some chaotic thing. Like I couldn't find the Strait of Hormuz on a map if you held a gun to my head. It doesn't matter to me what happens there. And I certainly have no control.
Even if I understood it, I have no control over it. So like I could give hours and hours and weeks and months and years of my time to panicking about what's happening there. Or I could just curl up with Jesus and say if he's not panicking, I'm not panicking. If he's at rest, I can be at rest. If he has peace, I can have peace. And to know that everything is under control even if it doesn't feel like it to me. Everything is under control even if everything is not under my control. So the act of faith is not to decree and declare wind, waves, be stilled in the name of Jesus. The act of faith is to say, I'm gonna do what Jesus does here. And I'm gonna rest while the rest of the world is panicking. I'm gonna choose rest. That is the example that we see Jesus set. In fact, Jesus would later say to his followers in Matthew chapter 11, and this is where we'll end for the morning. In Matthew 11 verses 28 through 30, Jesus says this to the people who follow him. He says to them, come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Friends, like I said before, rest is not something we give God. Rest is something God gives us. Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden
and I will give you rest. Verse 29, 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. Verse 30 says, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Friends, we have to repent of our, of the impulse we have had to follow God the way the world expects us to follow the world. I've got sons that wanna be athletes and one of the things that I have taught them is what somebody said to me when I was 14 years old, probably, that every day you don't train some other kid will. And when you meet him, he's gonna beat you. And that for me, it just stuck in my head and I was like, unacceptable. You know, it's not gonna happen. Nobody will work harder than me. And so it was like day after day, multiple times in my life, I've run sprints alone until I threw up. I was like, nobody is gonna outwork me. I'm gonna be the best there's ever been. And uh, and it turned out nobody ever paid me a dollar to play soccer, you know, it's like nobody it never happened Uh, I I got to play, you know I had some success in school and that was it and then i'm here I am i'm the pastor intern and uh And then I sort of take that same energy into my spiritual life nobody's gonna outwork me god I'm gonna please you more than anybody else. I'm gonna read the bible more. I'm gonna preach the gospel harder I'm gonna i'm gonna you know heal more sick people. I'm gonna convert more unbelievers like i'm gonna do it i'm gonna grind and the truth is Jesus is saying my yoke is easy and my burden is light
I just want to walk with you and sometimes man that storm that you're raging against i've called you to just ignore entirely And to just come take a nap with me just come rest with me So friends today, I want to call you back to the invitation That christ extends to rest To come to him those of you who labor today and who bear heavy burdens Maybe your burden today is is shame or guilt Maybe you're still trying to outrun the big mistake that you made the affair the abortion The addiction the years that you wasted following The path of self-destruction, maybe your burden today is guilt or shame Maybe your burden is the nagging feeling of inadequacy comparison. You've been looking at everybody else and thinking well, they're doing so much more than me They're doing so much more than me You know i've been working my tail off and I only have two talents and this guy hasn't done anything and he has five I just can't measure up and you're Feeling like you've got to do more Yeah Because you you carry this nagging feeling of inadequacy maybe this morning your burden is the need to be seen As impressive or worthy of love or maybe this morning your burden is just the fear of the unknown And how terrifying it is To not be in control of your own destiny, but remember If the lord is your shepherd You shall not be left in want If the lord is your shepherd you shall not be left in one he is more than able to meet all your needs And your striving and struggle will never accomplish what god's grace is meant to Your striving and struggle will never Be able to accomplish what god's grace
Is meant to So this morning the mystery of divine rest is this Faith demands rest but rest demands surrender Faith demands rest we cannot be people of faith if rest is not a part of the way we live our lives But Rest demands surrender means that we have to surrender control We have to surrender our need to know what's going to happen next month next year Rest demands that we trust god with our unfinished business With our well-being with our security and even with our identity and so I'm not asking you this morning to say like hey i'm going to commit to like from sundown friday night to sundown saturday night I'm going to turn my phone off and i'm not going to do any work like You know what a rhythm of rest will look like for you and for your family and I would encourage you to honor that But i'm not asking you today to rest i'm asking you today to surrender Surrender your need to feel important by packing your schedule full Surrender your need to feel important by Taking care of everybody else's business Surrender your need to find value and productivity And instead find rest in christ I I want to pray over everyone here, but um before I pray to dismiss. Can I just call the elders up? I I want to give you guys an opportunity. We'll keep the altar open if you are in this place this morning and you feel like Man, this is me I've been i've been full of anxiety I've been full of uncertainty i'm carrying these burdens and uh And I haven't been at rest. I haven't found rest in my soul. Maybe i'm a christian I go to church I'm trying to do all the right stuff, but I don't have rest in my soul I'm afraid all the time. I feel like i'm exhausted all the time
It comes out in the way I speak to my spouse and to my kids if that's The position that you find yourself in I would ask you before you you leave this room, come in and grab myself, come and grab one of these elders. We would love the opportunity to lay hands on you and pray for you. But would you stand with me? I just want to pray over all of us that God would give us the grace to surrender this morning. Oh, Lord, we thank you that there is rest in Christ. Thank you, Lord, that as we make rest a part of our lives, that we don't just obey you. We actually demonstrate your nature. We put you on display to a world that needs to see you and to know who you are. God, would you give us not just rest, the rest that faith demands, but God, give us the surrender that rest demands. Teach us, God, to trust you with our unfinished business. Teach us, God, to trust you with what we might see as the profit that could be made on that seventh day of of work. God, teach us to guard our lives, our schedules, our hearts, our minds in a way that is honoring and pleasing to you. And would you bless the work of our hands on the six days so that we can truly rest in surrender on the seventh? God, we we love you, make us a people of faith who can honor and demonstrate you. God, I pray for those that are carrying burdens in this place this morning of anxiety, shame, guilt or condemnation. Those that are carrying burdens of fear, panic. Suspicion, skepticism. God, would you just soften their hearts this morning, let them see that they need a savior and remind them, God, that your word says we can cast our cares upon you because you care for us. And so, Lord, we surrender to you today in Jesus mighty name.
Amen.
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- New to Pando+
- Ministry of the Week+
- Devotionals+
- Foundations+
- Mental Health+
- New Believers+