The Stewardship Collection | Give it a Rest

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

I want to read a passage of scripture that I think really was the inspiration behind this powerful song.

In Daniel chapter 3, it tells the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and anybody that's been to any form of Bible study or Sunday school, you may be familiar with the story.

Daniel 3 · chapter mention

But there's this moment where it talks about how Nebuchadnezzar the king he created this giant statue in his image.

And he wanted everybody to bow to it, to surrender to it.

And so when it came to the people of God, they said, Man, like there's just certain things we're not going to surrender to.

I see this image that the world has created, but there's just certain things we're just not going to bow to.

I wonder if I'm talking to somebody here right now where you feel like you've been presented with some information and the adversary is saying, like, you just gotta surrender and accept it for what it is.

But I believe God is looking for a bunch of hungry heart people to say, I don't care what the world surrenders to, but that's for me and my house, there's just certain things I'm just not gonna give into.

What it says is that naturally the the king gets upset, and so he wanted to throw them in this spire as a strict judgment, this very open public um death that they were going to experience.

They he begins to interview them before he does it, and he says to them, Listen, I've I've heard on the streets that you guys said that you're not going to surrender.

Now, I gotta believe that y'all got it wrong.

So I want to give you a chance to change your mind right now.

And I believe that these young men had given one of the most powerful speeches that I've seen in scripture.

Because they said, If the God that we serve exists, he will surely rescue us.

But this is the part where it gets good.

At verse 18, it says, But even if he does not rescue us, even if he doesn't, even if I don't get the job, even if it doesn't work out, even if I don't get the miracle, even if all the things I've been praying for, even if somehow it doesn't work out the way that I want it to work out, I want you to know I'm still gonna place my trust in Jesus.

I'm still gonna place my trust in God.

What I want you to understand is that's when we get to a place where our faith transcends being circumstantial.

Because we know what it means to have circumstantial, but I believe God as long as I get some things in my life.

But when I believe these young men modeled, it's having a faith in God that even if it doesn't work out, God is still good.

What scripture says is that it's in this moment that they're thrown into the fiery furnace, and naturally there's an expectation of death, but after some time goes by, at verse 24 says, Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in an alarm and he said to his advisors, Didn't we throw three men bound into the fire?

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, my math tells me that's three people.

They say, Yes, of course, your majesty.

They replied to the king.

He exclaimed, Well, look, I see four men not tied, walking around in the fire, unheard unharmed, and the first one looks like the son of God.

The fourth one looks like the son of God.

I want to encourage somebody right now before we go into a quick time of prayer.

I believe that right now it may feel hot for some of us.

Some things are heating up for some of us.

The walls seem like they're closing in for some of us.

And it seems very, it seems very limiting, it seems very restricting because these men were thrown into the fiery furnace and they were bound.

Their arms were tied up, that their feet were tied up, they were thrown in there, there would be no movement.

But interestingly enough, the scripture says that not only were they not in there alone, but in a place that should have consumed them, they were walking around in freedom.

I want you to know that even if the adversary tries to put you in his own little box and tries to limit your movement, that the God that we serve will say that in the places that other people have been destroyed, I can still walk in freedom, I can still walk in healing, I can still walk in my breakthrough.

I want to encourage somebody in here right now.

I realize that right now it may be some things that are heating up in our lives, but I believe that there is another in the fire right there with you.

You are not in this thing alone, that God is with you.

And if God before you, what can stand against you?

There's another one in the fire with you.

You're not in it alone.

And if there's only one thing you walk away with when you come in here today, I want you to know that the area that should have consumed you when you come out of it, you will not even be able to detect that you were in it in the first place.

The Bible actually says that when they got out of the fire, that the scent of smoke wasn't even on them.

It wasn't even on them.

Sometimes we go through some seasons and we think that those seasons define us and they're gonna be with us forever.

But the Bible says that we come forth as pure as gold.

And I believe what we think is going to define us is actually developing us for a greater purpose.

Let me pray for us.

God, I thank you so much, Lord, for your word.

I thank you, God, that even if, even if things don't work out the way that we think that they should, even if the prayer doesn't get answered the way that we expect it to, even if we are still dealing with some some areas of struggle, God, that even in those places, Lord, that we believe that we're gonna be able to walk in freedom, that in those places, God, that you're gonna be able to meet us exactly where we are, God, that places that should be restricting for others, God, are gonna be opportunities for us to talk about the goodness of who you are.

Father, we recognize that we are not alone.

There is another that is in this fire, there's another one that's in this fiery furnaces, there's another that's in this burden that we're carrying, God.

There's a belief that you are with us.

So I pray for your people right now, those who feel alone, those who feel isolated, those who feel broken, rejected, that God they feel this comfort of your presence with them.

Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus that you have your way with us today.

There's another that's with us.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen and amen.

God bless you guys.

You can go ahead and and and take your seats.

We're so, so glad that you will come and worship with us today.

If this is your your first time here, welcome to Celebration Church.

We're so glad that you're here with us.

If you're joining us online, we want to thank you so much for creating the space and worship with us uh today.

I believe that it's moments like this that we can be inspired with being in community with the expectation that God is truly gonna speak and move and do something in our midst.

Um I'm excited about this collection of messages that we're gonna be sharing over the next couple of weeks.

Because what we're gonna be talking about is this idea of what is true biblical stewardship.

Now, I I know a lot of times when we think about that word or I've heard that term, a lot of times it's it's connected to resources and it is inclusive of that.

But but quite honestly, what stewardship is, it's how do we prioritize God with what he has given us?

How is God seen and what he has given us?

See, the the Bible talks about how we're in an interesting time.

I don't think that we have to do a whole lot of research for us to be able to look and see the times that we live in.

We we turn on the news or we can go to social media and we're quickly hit with the despair that exists among us.

We see job loss, hunger, hopelessness.

We we see division, we see anger, we see bitterness, it's this constant bombardment.

And and if we're not careful, we can begin to lose a little bit of hope.

But interestingly enough, the very things that I describe, they're not new.

The Bible actually said that there's nothing new under the sun.

In fact, a lot of the tensions, a lot of the emotions, a lot of the things that we're experiencing, they're found right in scripture.

So what you and I may define as a problem, Jesus interestingly calls it harvest.

It's interesting how Jesus can look at what we would define as a problem, and he would say that this is an opportunity.

See, when Jesus was doing ministry with his disciples, he sees the very same things that we're seeing.

His disciples are just as confused as we are, and Jesus says, Man, the harvest is plentiful.

Because what greater time can the church, can the people of God begin to allow their light to shine, except for in moments like this?

It's in moments like this that the people of God really should be rising up, and this is where we begin to see Matthew 5, 16 begin to become a reality.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good work and glorify your Father in heaven.

I I want to submit to you, church, that I realize that we're in some interesting and trying times, but I believe that there's a harvest available.

I believe our ability to navigate through this season with our with our moral character and with our focus on kingdom, that that could be the testimony that can help somebody at your job come to faith.

That could be the very thing that can help a loved one understand that God is real because you'll get hit with that question that maybe some of us have heard before.

There is something different about you.

Well, I'm glad that you asked me that.

See, I don't place my faith and trust in this world, my faith and belief is in something so much bigger.

This is what it means to steward what it is that God has given us.

It's our opportunity to be ambassadors of the king.

David says in 1 Chronicles chapter 29, he says, But who am I and who are my people that we could give anything to you?

1 Chronicles 29 · chapter mention

Speaking to God, everything we has have has come from you, and we will give you only what you gave us first.

Pastor Mike kind of mentioned that earlier about how we are simply giving God what he's already given us.

That's what stewardship is.

We sing songs, we we don't sing because it's our favorite song, we we sing because God is worthy.

But here's the beautiful thing let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Who gives us breath?

God.

So the beautiful thing is God will never require us to give us any give anything to him that he hasn't already given to us.

That's what stewardship is.

It's taking what God has given us and choosing to prioritize Him in it.

God has given us so much, and David goes on in Psalm 24, verse 1, when he says this, he says, The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants belong to the Lord.

Psalms 24:1

Peter continues the same concept in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse number 10, and it says this just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

If I were able to construct these thoughts all together in one cohesive statement, it would simply be this God has given us the gift so that we can serve Him and serve others.

He's given us everything we need to serve him and to serve others.

Stewardship is simply how we are able to prioritize and presence God in everything that He's given us.

And God has given us so much.

God has given us relationships, community, people that we get an opportunity to spend time with.

How are we prioritizing God in our relationships, in our family?

How is God present in those things?

God has also given us the incredible gift of the resources we have, no matter how much or how little, how are we valuing and presencing God and what he has given us?

But God has also given us this beautiful gift of time.

How are we how are we valuing and prioritizing him in our time and our rhythms?

That's what I want to talk to us about today.

About establishing a godly rhythm that ensures that God is exalted in all that we do.

Starting at Genesis chapter 2, I want to read a couple of passages and then we're gonna we're gonna jump into this.

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

But God moves with this powerful rhythm.

From Genesis 1 till we get to 2, there's this creation rhythm.

It talks about God creating, He He works with His creation, and then He says that it's good, He rests from it.

I want you to remember that the God creates something, He works with what He creates, and then He says, It's good, He rests from it.

There's a rhythm that God has.

I create, I work, and I rest.

There's this rhythm that God moves with.

Genesis chapter 2, verse 1 through 3.

Genesis 2:1–3

It says, So the heavens and the earth and everything in it were completed, and on the seventh day, God had completed his work that he had done, and he had rested on the seventh day from his work that he had done.

God blessed the seventh day and he declared it holy, for on it he rested from all of his work from creation.

Jesus takes this same idea, but but gives it a much deeper meaning.

Matthew chapter 11, verse 28 through 30.

Matthew 11:28–30

I like this in the message translation.

It says, Are you tired?

Worn out?

Burned out on religion?

Jesus is talking to people who just they've been through it.

They're politically oppressed, spiritually oppressed, they're just going through it.

He says, Are you burned out on religion?

Come to me, get away with me, and you'll recover your life.

I'll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with me and work with me.

Watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.

Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.

How powerful is that?

I was introduced to this passage over 20 years ago.

This idea of take my yoke, learn from me.

See how easy it is to be in a relationship with me.

But the reality of it is, there are times when my life didn't match Jesus' words.

There are times when things did seem heavy.

There were times when it did seem complicated.

There were times when it seemed as if something was a little bit out of sync.

And quite often what I would often think is I will wonder, is it is it is it God or is it me?

Because I feel like I'm I'm doing the things that God has called me to do.

But I believe in all of my working, I established great routines, but I didn't have godly rhythms.

That's what I want to talk to us about.

About this idea of having a godly rhythm that's inclusive of resting in his presence.

Let's pray and let's jump into what God wants to do.

Lord, we thank you.

We thank you for opportunities for us to come together in your name.

Never let us take the gathering of God's people lightly.

Whether we're joining us online, in here, on person, watching the videos later, God, I pray that you meet us exactly where we are.

It's only your breath that can transfer a room with a bunch of people into an opportunity for the presence of God to move.

Only your presence is the thing that can allow a podcast to actually turn into a message from you, God.

So I pray that you breathe and have your way, Lord.

I pray that you give us open eyes that we can see you.

I pray that you give us open ears that we can hear you and open hearts that we can receive everything that you have for us.

We surrender this time to you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

And amen.

I I I learned personally at a at a very young age uh the importance of hard work.

I was raised with very hardworking parents, and they and they still are to this very day.

So I learned early.

I I think I was 15 years old when I when I bought my first car.

Didn't even have a license yet.

Bought a 1984 Chevy Chevette.

Anybody know what that is?

Anybody out there?

Just I don't want to feel like I'm that old.

The door couldn't even close.

I had to lift it up and close it.

It was like a janky car, but it was mine, and I knew then that this is what happens.

You work hard, you you make smart decisions, and then you get rewarded for it.

That was just a rhythm that I got accustomed to functioning with.

Just making smart decisions and working hard.

So that just became a part of my rhythm.

Every area of my life, it just became work hard, stay focused, and and you'll get the outcomes that you want.

Work hard and stay focused, and you'll get the outcomes that you're looking for.

That seems like a really good routine to remember.

It's something that I would tell my kids just work hard and stay out of trouble, stay focused, and you'll be successful.

And there certainly is some truth to that.

I remember going through varying stages of my career and using that very same philosophy all the way through it, and I got promotions and got all types of opportunities that presented themselves to me.

I eventually ended up in full-time ministry and I took that same concept right into ministry.

I wanted to make sure that I did everything I could to have maximum impact.

I wanted to do everything that I could to make a difference.

So I use that same thing.

I literally like I I studied the Bible like it was a competition.

And oddly enough, sometimes it did.

Because when you're amongst a bunch of people, you wanted to be known as the Bible guy, the one that everybody could come to and get a word from God.

So it became this thing, this point of this point of success.

Man, I I gotta stay in God's word.

There were great results that come from it, but often the motivation is a little askewed.

I remember a few years ago as I was on this journey and full-time ministry and just watching God do some incredible things, being a part of some amazing ministries.

About three years ago, God called Megan and I to move from Jacksonville to go up to the DC area.

We loved it.

And again, the same thing that I was thinking, they were going through a lot of pain there.

The lead pastor had stepped down, and we went up there to try to serve and bring some stability to a church that was hurting, that was fractured.

We wanted to come up and help, and so we stepped into a culture that already existed.

We we met staffed and we inherited and they inherited us, and you're you're trying to learn this dance of not wanting to step on toes, not wanting to tip over any sacred cows, trying to discern what is what God wants you to do versus what is it that's part of the culture and not wanting to upset anything, so you just kind of adapt to the reality that you may find yourself in.

Some of y'all know what that feels like.

Some of y'all with with blended families may know what that feels like, where you're you're you're part of this family and there's a child that that may not be in your home all the time, and you're just trying to figure how can I make a difference?

I don't want to step on toes.

You that that that dance of not wanting to upset anything.

So you adapt.

We did that for a few years, and and and God began to move and bless it, but but even in then it was it was nonstop work, it was nonstop grind, it was nonstop hustle.

Within my first month there, I'd fallen and broken my ankle.

I shared a story with you guys before.

You can't imagine being the guy that everyone's expecting to come in to fix it.

The one that's gonna make everything better.

We're hurting, the staff is hurting, the church is hurting, fix it.

And I fall and break my ankle, checking the mail.

Like, God, what like what are you doing?

So, what I did is I I did what any other person would do.

I'm like, okay, but but God, I'm still gonna keep preaching.

I'm preaching in crutches, I'm I'm preaching, sitting on stools, I'm people are carrying me out, man.

It looked weird.

It did kind of feel good to have somebody walking you out.

I feel like a king for a moment.

That's probably the problem.

But but but you you gotta you gotta keep moving.

No rest.

I gotta I gotta get after it.

Did that for two years, and and for those that have been around our church for for any period of time, then then God called us to come back to Orlando.

This is a place that Megan and I knew that we were destined to be.

Speaking of which, we celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary just a couple of days ago.

So we we did our we did our honeymoon in Orlando.

So we knew then, like, okay, this is gonna be the place that we knew that God was was sending us to.

Um, but 21 years, I often like to say like 25, 26, because we had been together for about 26 years, and I want to get credit for those other years because there's a lot of pain and wisdom in there.

So 21 years God's way, but those other years count.

So anyway, we've been together, but God had called us to come to this amazing community here, and much like our same scenario in DC, we we inherit a church, we inherit a staff, and now there's this pressure.

And and there's this pressure of keep everything exactly like it was.

And there's other pressure of change everything.

So you're you're you're balancing and you're trying to be all things to all men, and you're you're navigating through it, and then six months into that journey, COVID is trying to adapt to a new church culture, establish a new routine that can really allow you to immerse yourself into the people that God has called you to.

And now the thing that you need with these people, which is proximity, is the thing that's taken away.

God, what do you want me to do?

I broke my ankle when I got to DC.

We got a global pandemic when I get to Orlando.

If you want me to do something different, just say it.

Just tell me.

I'll promise I'll listen.

In that time, working nonstop and shooting videos and everything, and people are leaving, new people are coming, and you're just trying your best to figure out God, what is it, what is it that you want me to do?

And then in the middle of all that, but wait, there's more.

Then the pastor that was in DC steps down.

So now we're dealing with a church split, and I'm literally traveling back and forth to both cities, trying our best to care for broken people.

And with that journey, there was no time to slow down, there was no time to rest because we had to do our best to stabilize what seemed incredibly unstable.

Maybe maybe you can relate to that just a little bit.

We found a way to try to stabilize the best that we could, but then we start getting some traction.

We're getting some stability in DC, we're getting some stability here.

God's beginning to do a new thing, and we're at peace with it, and we're beginning to take steps.

Easter Sunday, we move into this new incredible facility, and the people of God are coming back, we're gathering, and we're beginning to get this sense of man, this is all.

Like I feel like we're beginning to really take ground.

And then literally the Tuesday after that, I start getting sick.

By that Friday, find out that I have COVID and I'm gone for six weeks.

You can't imagine DC chaos, Orlando chaos, global chaos, racial chaos, all this stuff, and you're just working nonstop, thinking that you can fix it.

And then when you feel like you're finally getting some momentum, the people of God are coming back, we're gonna begin to engage in community the way that I intended us to two years ago.

And hey, Keith, Easter Sunday is a great Sunday, it was a great service.

God moved, it was powerful.

Um, why don't you stay home for the next six weeks?

I was about to lose my mind.

And I remember sitting in my room and and just processing everything I just said and saying, God, I I just want to get back.

I just I just need to I need to get back.

I need to get back into, I need to get back amongst the people, I need to get back.

Like, Lord, I'm not in DC, I'm not in Orlando, like I need to get back amongst your people, and and and God said, get back to what every routine that you've created over the past five years has been a reaction to chaos.

Every routine that you created, everything that you've been doing has been a reaction to chaos.

What if, what if this is an opportunity for you to slow down and allow me to do a reset so that you can stop functioning with routines and start moving with my rhythm.

Because what happens is, and and for my for my football fans, you you'll know it.

I know that God has called me to be a quarterback, so to speak.

But for the past five years, I've been a cornerback.

You know what cornerbacks do?

They react to whatever is happening in front of them.

It takes a lot more energy when you're reacting.

While Reespear goes left, you go, okay, let me go for okay, you're just reacting.

Somebody leaves over here, okay.

Let me go try to fix that.

Another person's upset, let me go try to fix it.

Okay, I go up to DC.

Like you're just reacting to everything around you.

And God says, I don't need you.

I don't need you to keep reacting, doing man to man.

I need you to get into a zone and learn how to rest in my presence.

And trust that I got these other areas covered.

God began to do this work in my heart.

And that's putting it lightly, because God knows how to communicate with me, and sometimes I can be a little bit stubborn.

So I'm like, nah, Lord, I got this.

So I'm gonna I'm gonna come back within the next eight days.

I think I was talking to Pastor Mike.

I'm like, okay, so I'll be out this week, but I'll be back the next week.

And Mike is like, I are you are you sure?

Like we we got like he like he knows I'm the boss, but at the same time, he's like, nah, you you can't come back.

So at one point, I'm like, I'm all in my feelings.

I'm like, man, it's like they don't need me.

And God said they don't.

Because oddly enough, in my six weeks of absence, imagine this world, the world kept spinning, the church kept moving forward, and Jesus kept being preached.

Somehow I think that we can really believe that everything rises and falls with us.

And this brought me to a place of utter humility where God began to challenge me to man, get out of reaction, get out of the routines and start operating with my rhythms.

See, the thing that I've that I've learned is that sometimes we're we're going through the motions, but we're not actually making any traction.

There's times where we we we're we're doing a whole lot, but it doesn't feel like we're really making that big of a difference.

And we've been conditioned to believe that if we keep busy enough and we we keep working hard enough and if we keep doing the things that we'll get the results.

But the interesting thing is this I honestly thought that my busyness was honoring to God, but then God had checked me and said, I never called you to be busy, I called you to be fruitful.

And in order for you to be fruitful, you have to move with my rhythms.

And the rhythm that God uses is you have to work with what I've given you.

You have to serve people, and you have to rest in my presence.

That's the rhythm that God requires of his people in order to produce fruit.

Think about it one plant, another waters, but God has the increase.

There's this place that we all get to where we have to trust that God is in control.

That God, I know that you got it.

I found that places where I'm the most busy are often the areas where I trust God the least.

I feel like that's hidden from people right now.

Some folks don't want to give me eye contact, some people are like, yeah, you got me.

Clock says I got another 10 minutes, which we know I'm gonna go longer than that.

Um you're new here.

Clocks are just suggestions.

Um areas we're the most busy are the areas that we trust God the least.

Because we we we gotta keep our hands on it.

We we gotta keep we gotta keep moving.

Now here's the thing: it's beautiful to have discipline.

You absolutely have to have it, you have to have discipline.

In fact, to be a disciple means you're a disciplined follower of Jesus.

So please don't hear something that I'm not saying.

But what I realize is that if we're not careful, discipline can turn into routines, and routines can then turn into ruts.

And now you're just going through the motion, but you're not actually taking any ground.

See, here's the thing: you can have routines, but it doesn't mean that you have rhythm.

Let me help you so so y'all can get a hold of this.

My my son Caleb, he um he's playing football now.

And and so when I went to his first game, it was so exciting to go and and and watch my boy on the field.

And we all know the ingredients of a high school football game.

You know that you're gonna have the athletes on the field, you're gonna have the coaches on the sidelines, you're gonna have the parents that are there, and you're going to have the cheerleaders.

Come on, somebody was a cheerleader, you know what I'm talking about.

My daughter was a cheerleader.

I was a cheer dad.

Come on, somebody.

We were we were about that life.

So I know all about the cheers, I know the energy that's required, man.

I'm all in, so I'm going there.

I want to see, like, yo, like I want y'all to do the job that your name says.

Cheer leader, lead me in cheering for this team.

Do the job.

They knew the routine, they didn't have any rhythm.

They were going through the motions.

Make it clap, clap.

I mean, they they they had they they they were going through the they they were certainly going through the motions, but I was not excited to be in that game.

I was like, I can do a better job.

Let me come down here and help y'all.

We got the spirit.

Yah, yeah, yeah, we got the spirit.

Yum, yes, yum, but we got the spirit.

We got the yumma, yah, we got the wheel-but the wimm-but the wimbler but the wheel-but the whipp-whib-whap.

Come on, minute.

Don't you test me in here?

Come on, man, take a swim.

They were like defense.

What are you doing later?

I'm like, God Almighty.

So you I hope you're catching the point.

You can know the routine, but you can also not have rhythm.

You can do the exact same thing with the presence of God, and now that routine turns into rhythms of grace, but without God, it's just going through the motions.

I firmly believe that routines keep us busy, but rhythms allow us to be fruitful.

We all know that feeling that we like the illusion of progress, don't we?

We all know that some of us we won't leave our home until we pull out a map and we look at what Waze has to say about it, we look at what Apple has to say about it, we look at what Google has to say about it, and we're measuring it all out so we can save two minutes.

Waze will have you ride through somebody's backyard to save off a minute.

It's like, man, look, okay, like I get it.

I saved a whole minute, but I probably could have just kept going straight and it would have been okay.

I literally would have arrived at the exact same time.

The illusion of progress because of constant movement.

I'm gonna take my time and work this a little bit more.

Sometimes we're we're we're moving around so much and it makes us feel better about ourselves, but if we learned how to rest in the presence of God, maybe, maybe we would get to our destination a little bit quicker.

I think routines are often birthed out of pressure, but rhythms are a response to God's pressing.

Routines are birthed out of pressure.

And if I could be honest, that was what I felt over the past almost five years.

Pressure to fix DC, pressure to figure out Orlando pressure to fix DC and Orlando pressure to know everything you need to do in a global pandemic that no one's ever been in.

You can tell them a little bit better.

Pressure to have it all figured out.

Pressure to know everything.

But I believe that when God shows up, he wants you to be more responsive to his pressing.

Do you do you know that that in Scripture that Jesus, when he's doing ministry, that more often than not, he encounters people who are going about their regularly scheduled programs.

What they did is they recognized that Jesus was there and they shifted from their plan so they could experience what God had for them.

I think often God is tapping us on the shoulder and saying, like, hey, can you slow down?

I want to talk to you for just a minute.

No, I I gotta stick with my routine.

I gotta keep getting after it.

And God's like, but if you could just, if you could just slow down, blind bar to Mayus, he had a he had a routine of standing outside the gate and begging and asking for money, but on that one day, Jesus showed up and he was able to respond to the presence of Jesus and he got his miracle.

The Bible tells us in Luke chapter 7 about a widow.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

Her son had died, and they were on their way to go and bury him, and they had very strict religious rituals that went with these things.

You have to bury them at a certain time, and so they're walking out of the town, they don't have time to stop, the mourners are there, the mother is there, she's on her way to bury her son, and then Jesus interrupts the entire program.

Can you imagine if she didn't recognize her time of visitation?

Look, you you gotta move, I gotta get here.

We can't have him out by sundown.

But something about the presence of Jesus allowed her to not react to the pressures of society and man, but allowed her to recognize the presence of Christ.

And as a result of that, she was able to see her son come back to life.

I just wonder, when is the last time that you invited Jesus to interrupt your routine?

When is the last time that you invited Jesus to just interrupt your regularly scheduled program?

See, the Bible tells us in Galatians that if we are to live by the Spirit, that we're supposed to keep in step with the Spirit, to function at this rhythm, and Jesus tells us, as we shared earlier, to learn from me, watch me, model me.

And do you know the rhythms that Jesus had?

Jesus did this.

He worked and used his gifts, he served God's people, and he knew how to rest in God's presence.

He he used the gifts that God had given him.

I'm gonna use my gifts, whether it's a carpenter, whether it was helping and healing, I'm going to, I'm going to use my gifts, but I'm also gonna serve God's people, and I'm also gonna make sure I have a rhythm of resting in God's presence.

I don't want to make this incredibly reductive, but I hope, I hope that you can grab a hold of this.

I'm gonna work and use my gifts.

I'm also gonna make sure that I have a rhythm of serving God's people, but I'm also gonna have a rhythm of learning how to rest in his presence.

I believe that when Jesus says, watch me, model me, look at what I'm doing, this is what he's saying.

Use the gifts I've given you, help my people, and rest in my presence.

Jesus modeled this ministry model his entire life.

This rhythm will make sure that our ambition doesn't outpace God.

Because if I can be honest, there are times where I felt my ambition led me to a place that I outpaced God.

You ever get somewhere and you did feel like, man, like Lord, where are you?

He's like, Man, I'm back here where I told you to be.

Our ambition can outpace God sometimes.

There's a couple things that I want us to grab a hold of as we as we prepare to enter into my first closing.

I have two more to go.

My first closing.

Um, I want you to write this down.

When we know how to rest in God's presence, it gives us perspective.

Or if you want to simplify it, rest gives us perspective.

But understand when I'm talking about rest, I'm not talking about sleeping, disconnecting, I'm talking about resting in God's presence.

It gives us perspective.

Let me let me highlight what I'm talking about here.

Second Kings chapter 6, verse 15 and 17.

2 Kings 6:15

To kind of summarize what's going on, the the people of God are at war again.

No surprise there.

And there was a prophet named Elisha, and this prophet was basically hearing from God, giving instructions and messing up the enemy's plans.

So understandably, the enemy was upset with the ministry of Elisha and wanted to do something about it.

So starting here at verse number 15, it says that when the servant of the man of God, the servant of Elisha, got up, they slept that night, got up and went out early, he discovered an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city.

He wakes up from his sleep and it got worse.

Have you ever gone to sleep and you woke up and it got worse?

Like I thought it, I thought it was gonna get better, but it's it's a whole lot worse.

I I thought I thought we were gonna get the breakthrough.

We went to counseling, but now it's getting a whole lot worse.

We we started doing the things that the pastor told us to do, and it's getting a whole lot, like those moments when you feel like I should be experiencing a breakthrough, but it feels like it's getting a whole lot worse.

This is what he saw, and what scripture says is that he says to Elisha, Oh my master, what are we to do?

And Elisha said, Don't be afraid, for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.

Then Elisha prayed, Lord, please open his eyes and let him see.

The Lord opened the servant's eyes and he saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

What that means is that the servant and Elisha went to sleep that night.

One of them was resting in their own strength.

So when he woke up, he saw the opposition.

Another one was resting in the presence of God.

And when he woke up, he saw something completely different.

I believe the difference between our ability to recognize the presence of God or are we adequately resting in his presence?

Because when you're resting in God's presence, you can see things a little bit differently.

When everybody else says, and I see a whole lot of chariots and I see a lot of destruction, that God will say, No, no, no.

If you can under only understand that those who are with us are greater than those who are with them.

These are the moments when the scripture that says, Greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world.

These are the moments when it may feel like you're outnumbered, but when you're resting in the presence of God, it gives you perspective that God is truly with you.

There are some moments where we just need to give it a rest, but I also believe that rest will give us perspective of how far we've come.

When we're resting in the presence of God, we can we can easily see that God is with us even in moments when we don't feel it.

But I also believe that there's other moments where we can rest in the presence of God and see how far we've come.

See, for me and my family, excuse me, so for me and my family, whenever we um got some water for me, come on, girl.

21 years here.

21 years.

Talk amongst yourselves for a second.

Okay.

So whenever my wife and I we take a road trip, I would say like 90, I don't know, 99.9% of the times I drive.

Um I mean, and and some of it's because I like to be in control, some of it's because I just want to get there.

That's the Lord saying, Don't you talk about your wife like that.

Are you praying against me up here?

You're supposed to have my back.

But watch this.

Whenever we do a road trip, it's inevitable that she'll take a nap.

I love when she does it because it allows me to put on the music I want to listen to.

As soon as she does, I'm like, okay, cool, let me put on what I want to, like, because otherwise she wants me to like listen to like Hill's song and Bethel, Maverick City.

That's cool.

Sometimes I need to listen to some stuff that's gonna keep me focused and not crashing.

I love the worship, but I need to listen to some things that get me up.

DMX.

Okay, let me.

I don't know.

Because every now and then I do want to say, y'all gonna make me lose my mind up in okay.

What I'm saying is when she takes her nap, I'm focused on the road, I'm getting after it.

And so it's inevitable that when she wakes up, she's like, oh my gosh, like, look at how far we've come.

Now for me, I look at that completely differently because I'm thinking to myself, I've been driving for what seems to be a hundred hours and we're only out of one state.

But for her, she's thinking, man, I went to sleep and we're in Florida.

I wake up and we're in North Carolina.

God, that's awesome.

We're in the car the same exact amount of time.

We've we've traveled the distance, but the difference is one of us rested and was able to get a perspective of how far we've come while the other one was simply counting every mile that we still needed to go.

I'm talking to somebody right now.

I'm I'm talking to somebody.

They're starting to get it, Mike.

They're starting to get it.

Could it be possible that when we don't rest in the presence of God, that you end up like me where you're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe we haven't made it there yet.

I've been working so hard on this thing and we still haven't got the breakthrough.

I've been praying about this and I still don't have the resources that I want.

I've been trying to get this job and this business started and I'm still not there.

But then somebody who's been resting in God's presence can say, Oh my goodness, do you see how far you've come?

Do you remember when you first started that you didn't even have any resources?

But now you're already at a place where you have three employees?

Have you have you lost perspective of how far God has brought you because you're not resting in his presence?

See, when we learn to rest in God's presence, we have a perspective that we know that God has moved us forward.

Rest gives us a perspective of progress.

My second close.

Okay, my second clothes rest gives us hope.

Rest gives us hope because one of the things that I've learned is that it's possible, it's possible for you to have faith, but to not have hope.

Let me let me let me help somebody.

Do you realize that there are moments when we when we we still are believing God, but we lose hope that He's actually gonna do it?

I believe that God is real.

My faith is not an issue, but I'm losing hope that I'm actually gonna see this breakthrough on this side.

It's possible to be in a place where I I truly do have faith in God, but I've just lost hope that I'm going to see the outcome work out in my favor.

We're dealing with a crisis of sorts where where people are feeling despair.

And this idea of are we ever going to move forward?

Are we ever going to have a sense of normalcy?

We kind of get to this place where we start to lose hope.

Faith is this belief and this thing that I can't see.

Hope is the thing that fuels my faith to hold on until I get there.

Have you ever felt that I believe in God, but my hope tank is full and I feel like I'm stranded?

I believe that God is a redeemer.

But I don't think He can redeem this relationship.

I believe that God is a provider, but I've lost hope that I'm ever going to find myself out of a situation that I'm in.

My credit scores are 500.

I'm not sure if you have been at that place where you know and have seen the goodness of God, but but you just don't, you don't have the hope anymore that you'll believe that He's going to do it.

One of the things that I love to do as a fan of all sports, I love to look at the psychology of halftime.

Because a lot of times you'll see a team that may be losing, they're getting blown out.

And I'm often wondering, man, like when they come out in the second half and they're all fired up, man, what what did that coach say?

Why are they so fired up?

And a lot of times it comes down to this.

While they're playing and they're losing, they start to lose hope.

Halftime comes in, they get a rest from the thing that they're engaged in.

The coach begins to remind them of the skill set that they have, and then they come out fired up and ready to get after it for the next half.

This idea that sometimes we're so engaged in battle that we begin to lose hope.

But when we can rest in the presence of God, it allows us to kind of get recharged and understand that God is still with us, that he's not done with us as of yet.

The Bible tells a story in 1 Kings chapter 19, where it talks about the prophet Elijah.

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

Not to be confused with Elisha, who we just talked about.

Bible, Old Testament times, y'all understand.

Elijah, Elisha, but Elijah was his prophet, and he had just did this incredible thing for the kingdom of God.

And what the Bible says is that after he was successfully defeated all these false prophets, after he had won this battle, that he was so filled with hopelessness because he thought that he was all alone.

It literally says that he ran off to a land.

That was designated for Judah.

I would be remiss if I didn't help you guys see this.

That Judah means praise.

But it's in the place that he should have been giving God praise, he begged for death.

Have you ever been in a place that I should be praising God for this?

But I'm just ready to throw in a towel on this.

I should be praising God for my marriage, but I'm ready to quit.

I should be praising God for my finances, but I just don't feel like we can get out of it.

I should be praising God for my job, but Lord, can you please give me another one?

Have you ever seen that place where your life has been like I prayed for and now I'm praying about it?

I've been praying for this thing, but now that I got it, I'm praying about the thing that God has given me.

Poor Elijah.

He got to this point where he's like, Man, I'm all alone.

I can't do this.

And what the scripture says is that he took a nap, he rested.

And then the angel of the Lord, almost like his halftime coach, said, It's time for you to get up and get something to eat.

You're not alone.

God is not done with you yet.

In fact, there's another prophet that I have set aside, and I have your successor waiting for you.

But you need to get up and you need to get something to eat.

I don't know who I'm talking to right now, but allow me to be your life coach for a moment.

I think that some of us have been sitting on the sidelines for long enough.

I believe the mindset I'm in here to tell you is this that you may feel that you do not have any more fight left in you.

You may feel that the thing you should be praising God for is the thing that you're ready to give up on.

But allow me to step into the shoes that Jesus has asked me to step into and tell you it is time for you to stand up.

It's time for you to get something to eat and recognize that God is not done with you yet.

That if you can just begin to rest in his presence and get a perspective, you can allow your whole thing to get filled up and know that God is not done with you yet.

It's time for you to get up.

It's time for you to get up.

When you can rest in God's presence and you can listen to God's message, you can understand that it's time for me to get up, take a stand on God's word.

Recognize that if he did it for them, he'll do it for me.

And it's time for me to understand that I'm not alone that God is certainly with us.

This is my third and final clue, so the worship team can come out and join us.

But here's a here's a here's a third and final thing I want you to grab a hold of.

Because we understand that when I rest in God's presence, it gives me perspective.

Not only of who's with me, but how far I've come.

That when I can rest in God's presence, that it gives me this sense of hope.

And knowing that I'm not alone and God's not done with me yet.

If I can just get up, surround myself with the right people, digest the word of God, get perspective of what God's word says and be fired up by his spirit, I can keep moving forward.

But then lastly, that when we really rest in God's presence, it's an act of worship, it honors God.

It proves to God that I trusted that you are in control.

In Exodus chapter 20, when God introduces this idea of Sabbath to the children of Israel, it wasn't so much about hey, taking a day off.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

Again, remember, remember, for the group of people that he's talking to, they had been in bondage for 400 years.

They had been slaves.

So here's what that meant.

When you're a slave, there are no days off.

You work nonstop, around the clock, non-stop.

So when they get out of bondage, the one of the first things God does is, hey, I know you're used to working so hard for everything you need to eat.

I know you're used to working so hard for everything that's around you.

What I want you to understand is I need you to rest and trust that I got you.

He teaches them this idea of rest.

And oddly enough, when I rest in God's presence, it means that I trust that he's in control.

It's weird how that works.

When he's talking to the Israelites, he tells them, Hey, I'm gonna provide for you.

You're used to eating these weird foods back in Egypt, but I'm gonna literally give you bread from heaven.

All you gotta do is get up, go out and get it, and trust that I'm gonna provide for you tomorrow.

I'm gonna provide you with water.

This is this rhythm that God was trying to teach them.

He said, You don't, even on the Sabbath, the day I don't want you to work, I'm gonna give you double on the day before, so you don't even have to worry about it.

God's in control, and I believe that somebody needs to hear that.

God is in control, he wants to let you know that if you can just slow down and really see that he is God, that he's got you.

Sometimes I just reduce things down to this by faith.

When it gets beyond my reach, when I get to a place where God is challenging me to slow down and rest in him as he did when I was going through the season of being sick, I've reduced it down to God's got it.

When I talk with Pastor Mike, when I found out I was sick, and he said, Hey man, I talked with the team in DC, the team here, we got the pulpit covered for the next six weeks.

We don't want you to even call, we don't want you to look at an email, we want you to focus on just getting better.

And after I got off that phone call, and when I got out of my flesh about man, they don't need me no more to Mike trying to take my job.

Um I don't know what you're trying to do, man.

Um I was able to come down to this idea.

God's got it, and it's literally shifted my entire life.

Like, I feel like this is a TED talk, but but it works, like it literally changed my life.

It literally allowed me to start to recognize that I'm not gonna be driven by goals if I'm not first being led by his spirit, because it's possible to be so driven that we stop being led, and I believe that God was challenging me.

Can you trust that I got it?

And you can move in my rhythms, use your gifts, help other people and rest in my presence.

And when you do that, it honors me.

Now, when you came in, you received the communion elements, and I would love you to go ahead and grab a hold of them.

If you did not get that when you came in, could you slip a hand up?

Um, the team would love to come and serve you.

We have one here.

Is there another one over there somewhere?

Is that an extra one?

Okay.

Okay.

Don't get ahead of me, y'all.

We gonna want to talk about something real quick, though.

I think it's interesting that that when Jesus was talking to his disciples and giving them the final instructions, so to speak, this is what we refer to as the Last Supper, it's like this Passover meal, and it's just powerful all across the board.

But but Jesus says to them that this bread is symbolic of my body that's broken for you.

And I want you to do this in remembrance of me.

This this juice is symbolic of my blood, and it was shed so that we have unfiltered access to the throne of grace.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Now, to me, it seems like there's a lot of different ways that if I were to kind of be like the one in charge of Jesus' itinerary, I wouldn't think that sitting down and having a meal was anything that was going to really move the gospel forward.

Because we have to remember that Jesus gave them an incredible task.

Go out and change the world.

But also make sure you sit down and do this in remembrance of me.

That means that even though the disciples had this incredible job assignment, that literally every day they paused and they remembered what Jesus did for them.

That was their rhythm.

Every time they gathered, they sat down, they took communion, they shared testimonies, they preached, and thousands of people got saved.

That was their service.

Do this in remembrance of me.

As a family, we we try our best to create space where we say, we're gonna do this and remind ourselves of the goodness of God.

That's what communion is about.

It's about sitting down, being reminded that by his stripes we are healed.

So that means that healing is available to me.

We're reminded that Jesus took it to the cross and that his shed blood allows us to have access to grace that we can withdraw whenever we need it.

How many of us would be honest and say, Man, I need to be reminded of that more frequently?

You don't need to wait for the church to have a communion service, to have a moment where you slow down and you remind yourself of the goodness of God.

You remind yourself of what he's done, you remind yourself of where he's brought you from, and you do this in remembrance of him.

Jesus said, Your messages aren't always going to be in remembrance of me.

That's not the only thing.

You know what the biggest thing you can do that honors me in remembrance of me is that you slow down, you rest in my presence, and you remember I got it under control.

That's what worship looks like in the kingdom of God.

What I want to ask you to do now is just take a moment and remind yourself that this is the bread that symbolically represents the body of Christ that was bruised, that was pierced for our transgressions.

Our sins are forgiven, our brokenness can be restored.

Remember this, slow down and remember that Jesus has already paid the price.

You can take the bread and eat it at this time.

And it's the same with the Jews, his shed blood.

We we just sang a song that talks about what a powerful name it is.

We sang a song about the precious blood of Jesus.

And and I remember as a young Christian, I I understood certain aspects of the language that we share, but I didn't understand the theological implications.

So when you talk about the blood of Jesus, I was like, okay, I get it, but this seems very barbaric, but but let me help you to understand.

The blood of Jesus is pure, it's perfect.

And when it talks about the blood of Jesus being amongst his people, that means that when God looks at you, he doesn't see you for your flaws, he sees you through the lens of the shed blood of Jesus, which is why it now says that we are righteous when we stand before God.

Not because of our own works, but it's because the shed blood of Jesus becomes the barrier and the filter that God looks at us through.

His blood.

So when Jesus said, be reminded that my blood was shed for you, it's a it's a great way to encourage yourself that though you may fall, that though you may make mistakes, that God's got it.

You don't have to walk in shame.

The blood of Jesus covers you and empowers you.

Remember that.

Let's take the juice together.

I want us to go back into a moment of worship.

And and and just as we prepare to do that, I want to issue this encouragement.

You can even refer to it as a challenge.

When you genuinely pause and rest in the presence of God and you remind yourself that He has it, it brings you such a sense of peace.

What I want to make sure of is that you guys don't have to wait until we as a church do this for you to experience it.

And my encouragement and my challenge for you is simply in the comfort of your own home, you pause with your family, find a day, whatever day works best for you.

You take communion and you pray together and just say, Let us be reminded that God's got it under control.

I want to ask you, as your pastor, do this in remembrance of Him.

You don't have to wait until you come here.

It's powerful when we're all together.

I want to encourage you, find a time once a week in your home to do this.

And I believe you'll begin to experience a shift, a grace that will begin to fill your home.

Because what Jesus has done for us, you don't have to wait till Sundays to be reminded of it.

You can experience it every day because Jesus is our Sabbath rest.

What Sabbath was meant to represent once a week for our Jewish brothers and sisters, Jesus says, you actually have access to that every single day.

If you can trust me, rest in me, and believe that I have it under control.

I want to pray for us.

Lord, I thank you so much.

I thank you for your presence.

I thank you for your word.

I thank you for your grace.

And God, I pray for every individual that's in here.

That as we we look at the complexities and the busyness of our schedules, God, that we can we can recognize those moments where you're nudging us, you're challenging us to slow down, to use our gifts that you've given us to help other people, but to get in rhythm with you by just resting in your presence.

So, Father, as we go back into worship, Lord, I pray that you begin to interrupt our schedules.

You begin to interrupt our routines because you never called us to be busy, you've called us to be fruitful.

Disrupt our weeks.

Allow us to be sensitive to your pressing and not just reacting to the world's pressure.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Church, I'm gonna ask you to stand and let's go back into worship one more time before we wrap up.

Thanks again for listening.

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