Rhythm of Rest | Mar. 16, 2025

hey Hey

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[Laughter]

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Hey Heat Heat N

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Hey Heat Hey Heat

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Hey hey

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hey

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Heat Hey heat Hey

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heat Heat Heat

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Heat Hey

Heat Heat Heat

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Let's get

closer

Let's

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go Come

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on Hey Hey

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All right Good morning Abundant Life

Welcome to church Are you guys excited

to worship with us this

morning Go ahead and stand to your feet

We'll sing some songs Just praise the

Lord You're seated on the throne of

mercy Your glory shining bright for all

to

see Oh God I will praise you

[Music]

Magnificent with grace

unending You rescue us with love that

never

fails Oh God I will praise

you Who is like the

Lord Strong in battle

Who is like the

Lord Mighty to

save Who is like the

Lord King

forever Jesus

reigns Jesus

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reigns Oh he reigns this

morning I know that you are always with

me

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Your presence goes before and goes

behind Oh God I will praise

you Who is like the

Lord Strong in

battle Who is like the

Lord Mighty to

save Who is like the

Lord King forever

Jesus

reigns Jesus

reigns Who is like the

Lord Strong in

battle Who is like the

Lord Mighty to

save Who is like the

Lord King

forever Jesus

reigns Jesus reigns

[Music]

Oh he reigns above it

all He's

holy You reign in all the earth You

reign in all the

heavens You're

holy You're seated on the throne Nothing

can stand against you You're

holy He

reigns You reign in all the earth You

reign in all the

heavens You're

holy You're seated on the throne Nothing

can stand against you

Who is like the

Lord Strong in

battle Who is like the

Lord Mighty to

save Who is like the

Lord King

forever Jesus

reigns Jesus reigns

Who is like the

Lord Strong in

battle Who is like the

Lord Mighty to

save Who is like the

Lord King

forever Jesus

reigns Jesus

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reigns You reign in all the earth You

reign in all the

heavens You're

holy You're seated on the throne Nothing

can stand against you You're holy

You reign in all the earth You reign in

all the

heavens You're holy

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You're seated on the throne Nothing can

stand against you You're

holy

Yes he's

holy Oh you reign above it

all

Hallelujah Oh you lift up praise to you

this morning

Intro

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2 They say this mountain can be moved

They say these chains will never

break but they don't know you like we

do There is power in your

[Music]

name We've heard that there is no way

through

We've heard the time will never

change They haven't seen what you can

do There is power in your

name So much power in your

name Move the immovable

Break the

unbreakable God we

believe God we believe for it From the

impossible we'll see a

miracle God we

believe God we believe for it

We know that hope is never

lost For there is still an empty

grave God we believe no matter

what There is power in your name

So much power in your

name Move the

immovable Break the

unbreakable God we

believe God we believe for it From the

impossible we see a

miracle God we

believe God we believe for

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it You have the way when there seems to

be no

way We trust in you God You have the

final

say You are the way when there seems to

be no

way We trust in you God You have the

final

[Applause]

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say Move the

immovable Break the

unbreakable God we

believe God we believe for it From the

impossible we'll see a

miracle God we believe

God we believe for it Move the

immovable Break the

unbreakable God we

believe God we believe for it from the

impossible We'll see a

miracle God we

believe God we believe for it

[Music]

You are the way when there seems to be

no

way We trust in you God You have the

final

say You are the way when there seems to

be no

way We trust in you God to have the

final say

You are the way when there seems to be

no

way We trust in you God You have the

final

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say Move the

unmovable Break the

unbreakable God we

believe God we believe for it from the

impossible We'll see a

miracle God we

believe God we believe for it Move the

immovable Break the

unbreakable God we

believe God we believe for it from the

impossible We see a

miracle Yet we

believe Yet we believe for it Yet we

believe Yet we believe for it

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I believe

it You said

it It is

done You said

it I believe

it You said it

It is

done You said

it I believe

it You said

it It is done

I

believe you

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say you save

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You

say

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you say

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the

immovable Break the

unbreakable God we

believe God we believe for it from the

impossible We'll see a

miracle God we

believe God we believe for it We

believe Can we believe for it Can we

believe Can we believe for it

Yeah Come on Let's just give him some

praise in this place Lord you are able

and willing and mighty all the time

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Going on the God of Jacob

come whose love endures through

generations I know that you will keep

your

covenant I'm calling on the God of

Moses the one who opened up the

ocean I need you now to do the same

thing for

me Oh God my God I need you Oh God my

God I need you now How I need you now

for rock of wages I'm standing on your

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faithfulness on your faithfulness

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I'm calling on the God of

Mary whose favor rests upon the

Lord I know with you all things are

possible I'm calling on the God of David

Who made a shepherd boy

courageous I may not face

Goliath but I'll count my own child Oh

God my God I need you Oh God my God I

need you

now How I need you

now Oh rock your rock of ages I'm

standing on your

faithfulness on your

faithfulness Oh God my God I need you Oh

God my God I need you

now How I need you now

Oh rock of ages I'm standing on your

faithfulness Oh your

faithfulness

Oh it's your faithfulness we're standing

on

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Oh you heard your children then you hear

your children now you are the same God

You are the same God You answer prayers

back then and you will answer now You

are the same God You are the same God

You were providing then you are

providing now You are the same God You

are the same God You moved in power Then

God move in power Now you are the same

God You are the same God You are a

healer

You are a healer now You are the same

God You are the same God You are a

savior then You are a savior Now you are

the same God You are the same God Oh God

my God I need you Oh God my God I need

you

now How I need you

now

Horages I'm standing on your

faithfulness Your faithfulness your

faithfulness oh

God Oh God my God I need you Oh God my

God I need you now How I need you

now Oh rock oh rock of angels I'm

standing on your

faithfulness On your

faithfulness Oh

Oh

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Holy Spirit

come Holy Spirit

come Our hearts are

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open Heat Heat

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I'm calling on the Holy Spirit

Oh my dear river come and fill me

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again Come and fill me again

Oh come and fill me again

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Happy birthday

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I'm sorry

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around

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Heat Heat

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Oh my words for

sure I got

nothing How could I

express all my gratitude

I could sing these

songs as I often

do Every song would

stand and you never

do So I throw up my hands and praise you

again and again

All that I have is a

[Music]

hallelujah And I know it's not much I'm

nothing else fit for a

king except for a heart singing

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hallelujah Hallelujah

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I've got one

response I've got just one

move with my arms stretched

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wide I will worship

you So I put up my hands and praise you

again and again

Cuz all that I have is a

hallelujah

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Hallelujah I know it's not much I'm

nothing else for a

king except for a heart singing hallelu

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Hallelujah My soul don't you get shy of

me Lift up your soul You've got a lion

inside of those lungs Get up and praise

the

Lord Come on my soul don't you get shine

on me Lift up your soul You got a lion

inside of

those Get up there and praise the Lord

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Don't you get shy here Lift up your song

You got a lion inside of

those Get up and praise the

Lord Come on my soul Don't you get shy

on me Lift up your soul You've got a

line inside of

us Get up and praise the Lord

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Hallelujah My hands praise you again and

again

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All that I have is a

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hallelujah I know it's not much of

nothing else fit for a

king except for a heart singing

hallelujah

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I love my hands Praise you again and

again All that I have is a

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hallelujah And I know it's

not else for me

Set our hearts singing

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hallelujah

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Hallelujah

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Glory Heat

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Come on let's just minister to the Lord

in this time Just lift up your hands

Sing a song to him Tell him he's good

Praise him for what he's

done Oh Lord we love you

Hallelujah Oh we sing praises

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Hallelujah You're wonderful

Lord We love you

We adore you Lord

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So I throw up my hands and praise you

again and

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again Cuz all that I have is a

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hallelujah And I know it's not much I'm

nothing else for a king

Set for a heart singing

hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelu

Yeah Hallelujah to the only

king the only lord the only savior that

we ever have or that we ever want Jesus

we love you We praise you Your name is

awesome above every

name Thank you for life and victory that

you bring to us in the full Lord we just

receive and we are so refreshed so

encouraged in your presence today We

thank you for being here with us Lord

Drawing us near to yourself What a gift

So we just worship we honor we praise

you voluntarily Lord today we don't have

to No we get to Amen We sing hallelujah

cuz we get to sing to the King of all

kings Hallelujah We love you

Lord Amen Amen Church I just invite you

to turn and tell somebody how good God

is this morning And then you can take

your seats

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You know I think I think Jesus is fun to

praise Does anybody agree with me on

that this morning It's fun to praise the

Lord It's fun to remember what he's done

celebrate that Don't you have a reason

to celebrate church Can you say amen to

that this morning Hey Um you know as

we're just in this awareness of the Lord

this morning um I wasn't sure when I

would do this so Twilight I'm putting

you on the spot once again here if

you're okay with that You said I could

just work you in Twilight uh this week

shared a testimony with me and it was

just so moving and I I just feel like

now is a good time for you all to hear

Is that okay Twyla If I bring a mic down

to you And um Twilight just she has a

lot of testimonies in her life but she

shared one with me this week and I

wanted you to you all to hear it too So

here you go Two do you want me to stand

You can or if it's easier to say you can

do that too Okay

Um am I okay with this Can you hear me

Okay Um I was uh I've had a few trials

this last few months and but um some of

you know that I had a global stroke Um

it's been almost five years now and um I

was rushed to uh surgery and my bowel

had ruptured and I had a

um global stroke from that and when I

woke up the only thing I had left was my

hearing I couldn't

speak I everything was black Um like I

said the only thing I could do was I

could hear but I I couldn't tell anybody

what was going on And um I was still in

recovery And

uh I I was it was very fearful cuz like

I said everything was black I didn't

have

um any perception of what was going on

And my my thoughts were fairly clear I

they weren't jumbled but um I I was

scared

and I felt like I was crying And later

when I talked to my daughter she said

"You cried a lot and we were worried

that you were in a lot of pain." And

um I

uh I I just called out to the Lord I

said "Am I dead or what's going on I'm

scared I'm I'm afraid I'm really afraid

And you promised to be with me." And

um he

uh all of a sudden I felt this very

calm and it was still dark It was still

black But when I talked to my daughter

she said "All of a sudden you just quit

crying."

And it she said we didn't know why

Um and

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uh I I think

that I wasn't you know like any unknown

I wasn't sure what was going to happen

And I don't know if I I was dead or what

But I didn't know I didn't even know

that my ball had ruptured at that point

cuz they had lifellighted me from the

uh mountain into the hospital and I

hadn't woke up But anyway when I asked

when I called and said "I'm afraid Just

please don't leave me Don't let go of

me." And all of a sudden I had

this I always I always hear this this

phrase peace that passes all

understanding And definitely that's what

it was because I just felt so calm and

like it didn't really matter what

happened You know I knew he had me and I

didn't know what was going to happen

next But

um everything just seemed to be okay And

my daughter told me that all of a sudden

I just kept I just quit crying And she

said even the room

was not so chaotic They weren't running

to to see if something was going on or

that everything just kind of went calm

and I was very thankful for that It took

me like I said it's taken me five years

and I've got my vision back and of

course you can tell I can talk

Um like any stroke I I sometimes lose my

train of thought or I I' I lose words

and but um the Lord has been good to me

and he's been faithful and you know um

pastor always says you know you can all

you can relate that to Bible verses and

and and stuff and but the one thing that

it reminds me of is when I was kind of a

young girl my First thing that I learned

was the song Jesus loves me And I kind

of have to refer back to that because

the whole New Testament tells me well

the whole Bible tells me that I'm I am

loved and he's not going to let go of me

And I guess that just

really put the nail in in you know in it

for me because I kind of questioned that

most of my life And after 5 years of

therapy I'm doing really really well So

you know God is faithful and he's good

to take care of us That's that's it Amen

[Music]

Isn't that good And isn't that just like

our God that in a dark place literally

with her vision being gone and just so

much uh so much stacked against her in

that moment fearful uh unsure of what

was next Call out to the Lord and you

know what He was there Amen And his

peace he always brings peace Jesus is

the prince of peace And so I just love

that testimony It speaks to the comfort

of God And I want you to know he wants

that in your life too just like he's

Twilight's prince of peace he wants to

be your prince of peace And so this

morning let's just pray as we start um

continuing this service Lord we just

thank you for the peace that does pass

understanding Thank you for coming and

being with us every moment of every day

Lord where could we go where your love

would not be there where you would not

be there with us Lord like it says in

Romans 8 what on earth or in heavens or

anywhere could separate us from your

love Lord there is nothing because your

love is so great and we're so grateful

So thank you Lord for loving us We just

enjoy being loved by you and we love you

back God In Jesus name we pray Amen Amen

It's good isn't it Well hey church uh

this morning uh we're going to continue

worship with giving And so if you

prepared to give this morning please

please get ready to do that If um you're

not sure if you want to give or not you

can make that decision as I share I'm

just going to go to James chapter 2 and

James 2 · chapter mention

I want to share just a couple verses

with you Um if you need an envelope

today just put your hand up One of our

ushers will come find you with one

Otherwise we've got some online stuff on

the screens Um it's kind of an

unconventional scripture to use for a

tithe and offering kind of encouragement

um this morning but I was thinking about

James chapter 2 James is a book with a

James 2 · chapter mention

lot of life application addresses a lot

of uh behaviors and and one of the

things James speaks to is the action of

faith in our life What a living uh real

Jesus- centered faith looks like And

James he dissects that a little bit One

of the things he says in verse 15 of

James chapter 2 inspired by the Holy

James 2 · chapter mention

Spirit to write this James says "Suppose

you see a brother or sister who has no

food or clothing and you say goodbye

have a good day stay warm and eat well

but you don't give that person any food

or clothing What good does that do?" So

you see faith by itself isn't enough

Unless it produces good deeds he says

it's dead and it's youth useless What I

see in this verse is it's it's

addressing what real living faith looks

like in action What the evidence of real

living faith looks like in our life And

um one of the things James says here is

it is actionable It takes steps It it

does things that are in agreement with

the belief and the assurance that real

living faith has And he presents this by

offering kind of this this situation

this dilemma He says a believer is here

presented with a situation to act

according to their belief There's a need

from a brother or sister and this

believer has a choice Am I am I going to

do something actionable about it or am I

just going to kind of cover up with nice

words this situation What James inspired

by the Holy Spirit has to say about it

here is real living faith it will act in

accordance with the belief And he says

here that um this belief should drive a

believer to act to meet the need of

another It should be a generosity uh

action that comes when we have real

living faith And what I think about when

I consider that is that real living

faith in God will always produce life

transformation Real living faith will

always change things because God's grace

is received through faith And God's

grace is what has power to change

everything Don't you know that to be

true It's God's power It's his favor

It's his help for you That's all part of

what his grace is And it's when his

grace shows up in your life that things

really begin to change Jesus talking

about faith he said "Hey speak to this

mountain and it will be moved." Well

what happens in that situation Faith

speaks out and then receives believing

and assured of God's promise that there

is power to do that thing which it spoke

And so when I was in Bible school the

way this was kind of presented to me is

what we believe will dictate what we

think What we think will dictate what we

say and what we say will dictate what we

do And I guess I just want to

acknowledge that as we prepare to give

this morning that any action we're

taking really should be rooted in what

we believe You know this action of

giving is is really it's a question of

of our belief It's a question of our

faith And the reason that we give is

because we so surely so truly believe

what the word of God says Our faith is

founded in God's word in his promise And

so we believe what the Bible said that

says that moves us then to give to live

like what it says is true And so because

I believe that God is my provider Well I

I walk in faith in that provision and am

able to give and bless others because I

believe that you know it glorifies God

to give Well I act on that belief I act

on my faith that God is glorified

through giving by giving Um it's one

thing to just say I believe all of that

but what James says here is that real

alive faith it will act upon those

things that it claims to believe And I

believe that that is so You know it's

because I am so sure and I my belief and

my confidence in Jesus for salvation and

forgiveness is so real that I confess

him as my savior Amen That action of

faith is is because of belief In the

same way with our giving the action of

giving should be so rooted in what we

believe about God that he is our

provider that he's glorified as we give

that us sacrificing us giving it honors

him that it pleases him that he is able

and he's faithful to bless and multiply

what we offer to him so that he can use

it for great results in his kingdom I

believe these things are true Anybody

else believe that they're true this

morning Well if you believe it then I

want to I want to I want to in inspire

you I want to encourage you I want to

challenge you Give like you believe this

morning Amen That's all I'm going to say

Let's have ushers come forward I believe

our life should flow from our faith A

life walked by faith will look different

than a life walked by the world And so

if you got faith in our Lord this

morning then I just I challenge you I

encourage you give like give like you

believe what the word says because it's

true He's faithful and um we can trust

in his promises So with that let's pray

and bless this offering and um give from

a heart of faith this morning Father I

do thank you for the opportunity to

worship you in this way to give and to

contribute toward the work of your

kingdom Lord thank you for making us

your hands and your feet on earth today

the body of Christ Thank you for

blessing us over and above just the

minimum of our needs so that we can be a

blessing to others that we can together

go and bless missionary partners bless

projects bless communities Lord I thank

you that that's possible because of what

you do what you graciously do in each of

our lives and in our life together as a

church Lord we trust you this morning We

trust your word We believe that what you

said is true We thank you for being our

provider Lord We thank you for being

glorified as this offering is given

However you see to it that that is done

we pray and thank you that it is done in

Jesus name Lord we thank you that you

would be honored and pleased with this

offering Lord we thank you that you do

more with this You multiply it You

increase it and you send it further than

what we could have ever asked thought or

imagined on our own Lord we give because

we believe what your word says is true

We believe you are God You are provider

and you are making a way for all these

things to be done according to your word

and your power Lord we trust in you and

your grace We love you and pray it in

Jesus name Amen I believe it church and

I'm excited about it The things God's

doing are good He is alive and working

on the earth today Um we're going to

dismiss our kids to head out to their

classes And as they're going I'm just

going to share with you a couple of

announcements real quickly Uh first is

no Wednesday student ministry services

this week with spring break Uh our kids

classes will not be meeting and so don't

come to church this Wednesday evening

for kids classes Uh but we will be back

the following week for preschool 1st

through 6th and our youth Um and then

home groups Uh your group leaders will

reach out to you with the plan about

home groups Uh a couple other things

coming up Ignite weekend for all of the

teenagers we would love our youth to go

Um a fellowship church in Oakland is

bringing in a very dynamic speaker He's

actually um uh he's involved in the

coordination of a Bible school in

Colombia but he's also a teaching pastor

at a fairly large uh faith church down

in Mississippi And so they're bringing

this guy in flying him up and absorbing

a lot of expense to do so But it's

because they just believe in teenagers

They want to invest in youth and they

they really believe that this uh

gentleman they're bringing in is going

to do a great job of inspiring and

igniting a passion for Jesus in our

teens So if your teenagers are not

signed up yet if they're not registered

please hop on our website You could even

do it right now while I'm talking about

announcements Go to our events page

click Ignite There's a register button

there You can get them signed up They'll

eat three meals They'll get a t-shirt

and it'll be an overnight from uh March

28th to 29th And so get your teens

signed up for that They will be blessed

there Um we are Yes That's due by

Wednesday That's due by I thought it was

the following Wednesday That is the 19th

Okay Well we're gonna go with it's due

by this Wednesday And if we're wrong

about that then we'll tell you next week

But this could be your last Sunday to

sign them up So please get your

teenagers signed up for Ignite weekend

Um we are still receiving candy for our

Easter egg hunt coming up the weekend of

April 20th And so if you'd like to

donate to that uh just bring it and set

it on the south desk in our foyer Um

blankets for agape That group we're

working on a name for it kind of um that

group is going to be meeting for their

first meeting too Uh I don't know if

they're making blankets there or if

they're talking about it or if they're

teaching but uh whatever they are doing

if you're part of that group the first

meeting is going to be on March 25th I

believe here at the church at 5:00 So

put it on your calendar If you're

involved in that team that project

please plan on coming and being part of

that meeting Um and then my last

announcement just uh this is kind of the

last week I'll talk about it generally

and just kind of reach out to me

personally if you're interested Uh but

but we have an opportunity to go on a

mission trip to Cuba with one of our

partners Willow Ministries And so um if

me saying that sparked any interest any

desire in you to go to that mission

field and bless um just several people

working with about five churches in the

eastern part of Cuba Uh we are looking

at about the first week of July uh that

we would go It'd be an eight- day trip

and um we're looking for a small team

under 10 people But if you have any

interest please do come and talk to me

um after service today Let me know Hey

I'm interested I want some more

information about that and I'd be happy

to share with you all the details that I

know at this time We will be having some

u more more like definite information

next week And so I'll reach out to

everybody who expresses interest and

we'll set up a meeting to talk about

details uh probably next Sunday or the

one after that So uh that's coming up

quick It'll be short because July is

just a few months away I know it seems

like July is so far away but it's really

not It's going to be here so fast And so

uh you know if you're interested in Cuba

please come talk to me after service

today All right that's all I've got for

announcements Church would you open up

your Bibles with me And um I'd like to

preach this morning In fact I'll make it

easy on you just open the cover and just

stay right there We're going to start in

Genesis this morning All right Um kind

of an interesting message Uh this isn't

the way I I normally preach and not

usually the way I I typically get a

message but I was laying in bed the

other night trying to go to sleep and I

I just like I heard this this phrase

rolling in my mind I didn't have a

message for today yet Um but I I got

these words in my heart and I just

connected with them and it was like I

knew in this moment yeah that's that's

it That's what I'm preaching Sunday And

so um I dug into this topic rhythm of

rest Rhythm of rest And today I'd like

to talk about these two things that

every person on the planet has

interaction with in their life Rhythm

and rest Now some of you might be

thinking this morning well I don't have

rhythm And if you don't have musical

rhythm that's okay Your life is still

full of rhythm Your life is still full

of patterns your life is still full of

things that are consistently a part of

your daytoday walk the way you approach

life And that's really what a rhythm is

It's a it's a consistent pattern that we

hold in life Now when I say rest

everybody probably is immediately

thinking about how well you slept last

night Maybe you got a lot of sleep maybe

you didn't get very much In any case we

are all familiar to a certain extent

with the idea of rest And the truth is

this There's a connection between rhythm

and rest And it's this Our rest follows

the rhythm of our life Rest follows the

rhythm of our life And whether you've

ever thought of it in this term or not

you already have a rhythm of rest You

already have a pattern to the way that

you rest in your life a pace at which

you rest and then you go and you break

and you start and you you recharge and

then you expel Um we all have patterns

to how we approach this and we have a

depth to the way that we rest That's

part of the rhythm too How deeply we

rest how refreshed we we really get

whether we're satisfied with kind of a a

simple shallow rhythm of rest or if we

want a deeply refreshing rhythm of rest

in our life And so one of the most

recognizable forms of rest of course is

sleep And everybody has a different um a

different rhythm when it comes to sleep

You know I've talked to people before

that say "I sleep 10 hours a night."

I've heard of people that say more than

that And I think where you have the time

to sleep more than like nine or eight

hours a night I don't know And I've

heard other people they say well I sleep

like four hours and I'm good And I think

how are you alive Because to me that

pattern of rest that rhythm of rest it

doesn't seem

sustainable And something that I think

is kind of interesting about the idea of

a rhythm of rest is we can get into a

rhythm that really isn't sustainable for

our life We can get into a rhythm that

maybe it works but it's not really

healthy Maybe it it'll pass but it's not

best Maybe we get into a rhythm where

we're we're just drawing things out

longer than we should And and I guess

what I'm getting at is rhythm is

important And having the right rhythm in

our life matters If I could make an

observation about the rhythm of rest and

I'm not just talking about sleep but

rest as a general concept We'll talk

more about that this morning Most people

that I encounter don't have a problem

with getting too much rest in their life

Can anybody say amen to that Come on All

all the parents with kids under five in

the room can you say amen to that

Usually too much rest is not the

problem And I'm not really here today to

give you a TED talk on the health

benefits of rest the mental the social

the relational emotional benefits of

rest although there are many You can go

find those for yourself What I'd like

and what I felt moved to do this this

morning is speak to the biblical truth

about rest for our life Because the

truth is this We were made for rest We

were made to rest The rhythm of rest is

weaved into the fabric of our created

being And yet rest is a rhythm that is

easy to get offbeat in our life It is so

so easy to enter into a pattern of poor

rest It's so easy um to get into this

mode of sustaining a pace that's out of

rhythm with the life of Christ It's so

easy to miss out on opportunities and

blessings and moments in life because

our rhythm is off You know I've noticed

just really in the last 5 years since

COVID there's this word I hear often

burnout Anybody heard that in the last

couple years You know I lived like my

whole life until 2020 and I had never

heard burnout Actually I thought burnout

was when you like floored the pedal and

held the brakes you know and you're

spinning your tires That was a burnout

in my mind until like 2020 And now

there's this this like issue in America

of all these people that are just tired

But we don't say tired we say burnt out

because nobody wants to admit that

they're tired And it's because we we

hold up busyness as this this prized way

of

living Burnout is is an issue today

because busy has become the reality of

most of our lives In fact I talk to

people and I say "Hey how are you

doing?" You know probably the be the

number one thing I get other than good

which is the most generic answer ever I

mean I have to work on it too but we

should all just stop saying good when

people ask us how we are It's it's just

so like meh and but but busy is

something I hear a lot How are you Oh

we've been busy Oh there's just a lot

going on right now And it's like yeah

well when's that going to

stop Well it was supposed to be four

years ago but here we are still busy Can

anybody relate to that or is it just

just me Um for some of us busyness at

times even becomes a measure of success

Busyiness becomes the proof that I'm

doing enough that I'm needed enough that

I'm I'm drawn on enough And so I'm busy

because I'm doing things right But you

know as I look at the pattern of

Christ's life I don't see busy as the

distinctive marker And so I want to talk

to you today about this rhythm of rest

One more thing before we open to Genesis

2 verse three I was thinking about in

music because rhythm is a musical

concept In music rhythm is one of the

most critical pieces You know if rhythm

gets off everything falls apart Isn't

that true Have you ever heard where the

rhythm gets off and everybody knows it's

bad right Rhythm is important Did you

know that the two things that make up

rhythm are the beat and the

rest Rest is a critical component to any

rhythm in life Whether it's your sleep

whether it's your emotional cycle

whether it's the way you make decisions

and your mental capacity to decide

whether it's you know the the way you

give yourself out to people whether it's

just spiritually speaking of of you know

acting upon our faith and being

refreshed by the Lord and poured into

and encouraged you know filled up and

poured out There has to be this sequence

of both resting and beating you know a a

really good pattern It'll go beat rest

beat rest beat rest Do you like that or

or do you like beat beep beep be beat

Some of you like beat beat be

beat It's better with the rest The

rhythm of our life was designed to have

rest in it And God knew that we would

have a problem with the rhythm of rest

And so from the very beginning he makes

it clear that rest is a critical part of

how we were made Let's look at Genesis

Genesis 2:3

2:3 And God blessed the seventh day and

declared it holy because it was the day

when he rested from all his work of

creation God says there's something

special about this moment I've made all

these wonderful things I mean I think

creation's pretty cool I love being out

in the woods I love hearing animals and

birds and all of that stuff I love the

sights I love the smells I know that's

not for everybody but it's for me I love

it I love creation But God says this is

holy This is special This is

important This day blessed for

rest He declared this day holy because

it was the day he rested from all his

work of creation And so I see this from

the very moment of the week of creation

being complete God was instituting rest

into the rhythm of our life

To deny rest is to deny the created

order of this world that God made The

created way the way he made you was to

have rest And so to deny that is to blow

off part of creation I had this thought

you know was the week complete at day

six Would we call the week over at day

six No we wouldn't It was done at the

end of day seven right So the whole week

is seven days not six days You know the

work was completed at the end of day six

but the week wasn't done yet The work of

creation may have been complete but

there was another thing God needed to

institute besides just the work and it

was it was rest And I had this thought

as I was studying this week Who would

think it wise to disregard any other

part of God's creation I mean who who

wants to throw out

land Not me Not a good swimmer Who wants

to give up the sky The birds Okay may

maybe there's some mosquitoes and things

we could negotiate Who wants to throw

out the beef I don't I like my steaks

I'll keep

them I mean think about the creation

week You know if we're going to throw

out rest what else should we take

out right

I mean if if God put rest at the very

beginning of all of this then what else

are we going to disregard throw out or

make

optional No If he made it then it was

very good and we need it to stay in as a

part of our created order How could we

disregard rest when it was at the very

beginning of creation Rest and the need

for it should be as real to us as the

rest of creation Just look just like I

look out and I see a blue sky and I love

that I should look and see the need for

rest and the availability of rest and I

should love that because it's all part

of how God made us Part of the very good

intention at

creation And I love this You know God

doesn't just make us and say "Okay I've

got something for you to do I think this

is going to be a good idea Why don't you

all rest?" He first exemplified it

before God ever told any man to rest He

first rested himself God leads by

example Let's look at another thing that

just shows how we're made for rest You

know when God set up his commandments

his Mosaic law he gave his people Israel

these 613 commands that we're just going

to you know it was going to be great

We're going to make this thing awesome

except none of them ever followed the

commandments like they were supposed to

and they never walked in the blessing

And so it didn't work out because of the

sinfulness of man But in Exodus 20 8-11

this commandment is given to the nation

of Israel Remember to observe the

Sabbath day by keeping it holy You have

six days each week for your ordinary

work but the seventh day is a Sabbath

day and rest a day of rest dedicated to

the Lord your God On that day no one in

your household may do any work This

includes you your sons your daughters

male female servants your livestock any

foreigners living among you For in six

days the Lord made the heavens the earth

the seas and everything in them But on

the seventh day he rested That is why

the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set

it apart as holy In this command God

shows us once again he reiterates we

were not created only to work and

produce God didn't make us like robots

He made us in his image and he made us

to need rest Sometimes it seems like

work is championed Business is

championed as something that is virtuous

while rest is almost demeaned as

weakness Have you ever felt that way

Like you don't want to admit you're

tired because somebody's going to think

less of you if you say "Hey I'm tired I

think I need to rest." I mean that that

just in my observation in my experience

it's never like "Hey we need to rest a

little bit more." It's usually like "We

need to get a little bit further We need

to inch a little bit more We need to

push a little bit harder." Am I speaking

to anybody except myself this morning I

mean isn't that the way it goes Amen But

it's not the way that God made us and

it's not the way that he instructs

us And then we wonder why our rhythm is

so off Well it's because we're not doing

it God's way Okay So God created us not

just to work and produce but to enter

this rhythm that includes rest And so it

is not a biblical worldview to deny the

need to rest to push off the need to

rest To do so is actually to deny God's

word It's actually to deny his created

design And so I just want to settle this

on all of you It's okay to need rest

Just turn and tell somebody that's next

to you right now it's okay that you need

rest It's okay that you need rest I I

I'm not going to think less of you if

you rest Just tell somebody that I give

you permission to rest Okay Is this

freeing a little bit to anybody this

morning just to hear that It's okay to

rest It's okay to need a break It's okay

to need to get refreshed

sometimes because you weren't just made

to pour and pour and pour and go and go

and go and do and do and do

beat No you were made to rest too So

rest is a part of our created being And

while I have you thinking about rest let

me just take the opportunity to say rest

is so much more than just physical We

need more than just sleep in our life

You need that too So don't don't put

your sleep off But you need more than

just sleep We need emotional rest We

need times where we are just refreshed

emotionally You know God will do that

for you We're going to talk this morning

about resting in his presence because

that's where it all happens So I'm

jumping jumping ahead but it's the truth

Rest is found with Christ And you need

emotional rest God will do that for you

Jesus will give you emotional rest We

need relational rest at times I mean we

can't we can't just be pouring out to

everybody all the time We need times

where we are refreshed where we are

encouraged where where we have people

you know pouring into us too There are

times where we need to rest from having

to decide things to figure things out We

need mental rest at times Your brain

cannot be working overtime 247 You will

burn your brain out It wasn't made to

work like that You know I get to the end

of a a day and there's some days at the

church where there's just like a lot a

lot of decisions a lot of mental strain

And sometimes I get home and Taylor and

I are talking and and she'll be like "So

what should we make for dinner?" And I'm

like "I I don't want to make any more

decisions." Like I I'm done for the day

I'm I'm out I'm tired I need to rest

Anybody feel that Yeah So we need more

than just sleep There's these other

kinds of rest we need as well We

certainly need spiritual rest You know

our spirits long for the refreshing of

the presence of God We need rest in our

spirit We need rest in the vision and

calling on our life What I mean by that

is I do think there are times where

where we can get so wrapped up in trying

to pursue something trying to do

something trying to become something

that we get exhausted from it And I've

seen people give up because it just gets

too hard to keep pushing forward Well

it's because you're doing it without

rest

Because if we have rhythm of rest in the

walk that we're walking with God it it

will sustain us It will make us able to

endure and continue on I mean endurance

isn't just about pushing through every

warning every need that you have It's

about managing those things It's it's

about um giving sustenance to those

things so that you have the strength and

the energy to continue on And so we need

all kinds of rest And as I think about

the rhythm of rest the very best example

is Jesus himself Let's look at Jesus You

know um you can open to Mark open to the

book of Mark I'll give I'm going to give

you one more verse before we go there

But Mark 2 and then we'll be in Mark 6

As I think about anything we're we're

endeavoring to do in our life we should

always look to Christ as our example Um

in 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul said this

1 Corinthians 11:1

"You should imitate me just as I imitate

Christ." And so Paul makes this pretty

clear for everybody He says this this is

the way we do it Imitate Christ Because

ultimately Paul's saying hey I'm I'm

just trying to imitate Christ And as I

do that follow this example The example

ultimately is Jesus He is the perfect

example for us And so if Jesus is our

perfect example should we not also

pattern our rest after him I don't think

we'll get any better than Jesus Can you

agree with that statement church And so

if it doesn't get any better than Jesus

any more perfect than Jesus any more

wise than Jesus well then let's look at

him as our example even in this area of

rest How does Jesus set a rhythm Well

the first thing I would say about the

rhythm of rest in Jesus's life is rest

was a priority to Jesus but not in a

legalistic way I see rest as a priority

in Jesus' life but not in a legalistic

way You see Jesus in his time

ministering and walking on the earth him

and his disciples were actually accused

by Pharisees and religious leaders of

breaking the Sabbath which was a capital

offense If you broke the Sabbath in in

the Jewish structure you were put to

death And so this this was a big

accusation And there were people that

were saying "Jesus you're not keeping

the Sabbath like you're supposed to."

And it was because they had been walking

through these fields and harvesting and

eating grain while they were going And

maybe your first thought on that is like

well Jesus was stealing grain It

actually wasn't That the way that their

laws and their customs were written made

allowance for people to do that It was

it was kind of like it was kind of like

state welfare but not like it is here It

was it was better And so um Jesus is

walking through the fields with his

disciples and they were having their

needs met eating this grain And the

issue wasn't that they were taking the

grain It was that they were doing that

on the Sabbath day And these Pharisees

say "How dare you break the Sabbath by

eating?" Well it was because they were

har you know I pulled a piece of grain

off so I'm

harvesting You can see the legalism

dripping through in that This is what

Jesus said when that accusation came in

Mark 27 I probably should have given you

that a minute ago Chapter 2 27 Here's

Jesus's response He said to these

religious

people these Pharisees the Sabbath was

made to meet the needs of people and not

people to meet the requirements of the

Sabbath So the Son of Man is Lord even

over the

Sabbath If you go just to the next

chapter in fact you could just skim a

little bit further down you'll see Jesus

breaking the Sabbath again by healing

somebody on it And then when he's

accused he say he says "Well if your

donkey falls into a well aren't you

going to get it out on the Sabbath

You're just going to let it drown?" Well

then how how can it be wrong to heal a

man and make him well on this day that

is really to give God glory this holy

day How how can we not be walking in

these holy things like healing And so

Jesus makes this bold statement that the

Sabbath was made to meet the needs of

people and not the other way around

Here's something I see all through the

word Every time God gives a command to

Israel it was to lead them into the

blessings available in that covenant

Everything he tells them to do in the

613 laws that you'll find in Leviticus

and Deuteronomy it was all so that they

could live blessed in their covenant And

I'll tell you this everything that God

instructs and commands us to do today

it's all to live a blessed and fulfilled

life Amen is to see the needs that we

were created with fulfilled He knows how

to do that and he tells us how to do

that It's walking according to his word

And so Jesus modeled life in a way where

the doing of life and rest were

beautifully intertwined You see rest and

and doing all mixed together in Jesus's

life If we look a little further in Mark

um

6:31 we see that with Jesus rest was not

found in the Sabbath day Rest was found

in relationship with the father In Mark

Mark 6:31

6:31 Jesus said this He's telling his

disciples now So he he's been doing this

but now he's teaching his disciples this

He says "Let's go off by ourselves to a

quiet place and rest a while We need

some rest We're going to go away from

all this busyness We're going to slow it

down we're going to be quiet and we're

going to rest He said this because there

were so many people coming and going

that Jesus and his apostles didn't even

have time to eat And so he was

intentional here He's saying there's a

lot happening and so just like there's

this draw on us we need we need to be

refreshed We need to keep ourselves

sustained through rest so that we can

continue with the pace He didn't let the

pace dictate how he rested That's a good

word Jesus never let the pace dictate

his rest He let the rest and his need

for rest dictate the pace of his life

Not an excuse to be lazy but it's an

awareness of need It's an awareness of

the created need he had And I'll tell

you when you need rest you need to rest

Can you say amen to that

Now good luck getting your employers on

board with this All right If you're

talking about being sleepy at work or

something but have them come talk to me

You know we'll see what we can do Uh

verse 32 So they left by boat to a quiet

place where they could be alone Uh let's

look at another verse Luke

Luke 5:16

5:16 says Jesus often often you get that

often So this is frequently this is

often in his life what did he do He

withdrew to the wilderness for prayer

And so Jesus in his need for rest he

would withdraw from this place of

distraction the place of need and he

would go to a place where he could be

intimate with the father where he could

be refreshed by the father where he

could find rest in relationship with the

father It was this relationship with the

father that was his source that fueled

him You know when Jesus got tired out

ministering to the crowds he didn't just

say "Hey the Sabbath day is coming Let's

just hang on a little bit longer and

then we'll get some rest." No he would

withdraw and go be with the

father Jesus's rest wasn't dependent on

a calendar date It was dependent on his

relationship with the father Are y'all

seeing that this morning with me He

would withdraw and go be with the father

And so

Jesus his refreshing his resting that

fueled him it was it was not a

regimented sleep schedule It wasn't a

health and wellness plan It wasn't

supplements or trackers or any of the

stuff that people try to use to get rest

today And I'm not against those things I

mean if they help you sleep okay But

I'll tell you the kind of rest Jesus

really needed and the kind we really

need it comes from presence It comes

from relationship It comes from being

with

him You know you can go to a Sabbath day

and not get

rested If there's no relationship if

there's no presence there's no

refreshing Come on Amen Now I've been to

some Sabbaths There's no rest Not Not in

what was going on there I mean I I

connected with the Lord myself and found

rest But it's it's not dependent on the

building It's not dependent on the date

If you go I think it's in the book of

Colossians As a matter of fact Paul

actually addresses people that try to

put a regulation about the Sabbath or

festivals or new moons on people And he

says "Don't be dissuaded by any of

that." That's not what it's about It's

about the relationship It's about his

presence because he's the one that

brings us rest He's the one that brings

us peace He's the one that refreshes us

Can anybody say amen this morning Let's

go to Matthew 8 We're going to see here

an example of Jesus being in rest in the

middle of uh not rest Matthew 8 23 says

Jesus got into the boat There's a lot of

rest happening around boats Jesus got

into the boat and started across the

lake with his disciples Suddenly a

fierce storm struck the lake with waves

breaking into the boat but Jesus was

sleeping

Rest So what's going on There's this

storm and Jesus is asleep in the middle

of this chaos Jesus is

resting The disciples went and woke him

up shouting "Lord save us We're going to

drown." See the contrast

Jesus is asleep and the disciples are

doing anything but rest I mean their

minds have to be "What can we do Where

do we go What's the closest land I like

how how long can we

float?" Their minds their emotions their

souls I all of it out of rest And Jesus

is asleep fine So they wake him up Lord

we're going to drown Jesus responds "Why

are you afraid You have so little

faith." Then he got up rebuked the wind

and waves and suddenly there was a great

calm I mean it's like you you almost see

Jesus speaking rest into this situation

out of the rest that he had working in

him That's kind of a new thought for me

I haven't fleshed this out so this this

is just me kind of spitballing with you

this morning right now but I feel like

it's kind of good Jesus out of the rest

he had going on in his heart out of this

confident relationship that I'm with the

Lord he's present with me we're all good

here out of this peace that he has He

speaks peace He speaks rest He speaks

calm to the storm

What if the things that are robbing rest

in your life need you to get into rest

first What if I get to rest with it

first If I get to the point where I'm no

I'm no longer stirred I'm no longer

bothered I'm no longer you know burnt

out about this but I'm rested because

I'm with him What if that's the key to

being able to see rest come into that

storm in your life The disciples had no

rest They had no faith But let me tell

you this faith brings rest Rest is an

evidence of faith Jesus I mean that's

what he says to them You really have so

little faith Here we see this physical

rest that Jesus was doing while he slept

He was exemplifying this life of walking

by faith Staying in rest was the action

of faith in this moment Sometimes the

the most faithfilled action that you

could take in a situation is just to

rest

Isn't that a cool thought Some Sometimes

it's not going to be you know h how loud

I can shout how fast I can dance how

quick I can run where I can go what

sometimes it's just going to be to be at

peace and rest And that's what faith

looks like in some

circumstances Sometimes that's faith is

is just to rest to go to sleep in the

middle of a terrible situation I can I

can relate to that because I've had

nights where I was not full of rest but

I wasn't full of faith And then when

faith came rest

came And so sometimes faith just looks

like rest Thank you for that Amen

Whoever said that thank

you I felt like that was a pretty good

point too

Um life in

Christ is not rest or faith Rest or

accomplishing God's plan You know

because sometimes faith is action

Sometimes faith is doing something But

even in our doing even in our getting up

and speaking to the storm it should come

from rest You know I think sometimes we

we do things we say things we act on

things because we want to get to rest

It's like I'm going to work my way to

rest

But the problem with that is that's

that's the Old Testament way is that I

work six days and eventually I get to

rest You know in the New Covenant we

don't celebrate We don't gather on the

seventh day We gather on the first day

You know why that is It's because the

work is done in Christ And so we gather

and we celebrate rest on the first day

What how else could I say this We start

with rest rather than finishing with

rest Come on Amen And so we we approach

situations from the place of rest in

Christ rather than trying to get into

rest someday by working a situation out

on our own Thank you I think so too See

Sabbath rest came from the completion of

work Our rhythm of rest is that rest

comes from the completed work of

Christ

Amen Their rhythm of rest was six days

on one day off Our rhythm of rest is

it's always there always available And I

can live out of rest that I find in

Jesus And so I'll say this again Though

we see in scripture Jesus honoring the

Sabbath although the Pharisees didn't

think so he seems to be drawing his rest

from daily interaction with the father

And so in the New Testament we we

approach rest differently than they did

in the Old Covenant We don't gather on

the Sabbath to fulfill the Mosaic law

The law has been fulfilled The curse has

we've been redeemed from the curse Amen

You know the pattern of the New

Testament church you even see it in uh

Acts chapter 20 in 1 Corinthians 16 You

Acts 20 · chapter mention

see that they gather on the first day to

celebrate the completed work of our

risen Lord and Savior Jesus Because the

truth is this Jesus is our rest today

It's not on a day It's not on a place

Jesus is our Sabbath rest today Rest is

always available to you in Christ Every

moment every day in every storm in every

challenge rest is there if Christ is

there And he doesn't leave you or

forsake you Amen

And so through every demand every

difficulty stress tension requirement of

life we can lean on him We can cast our

cares on him and we will find

rest In the new covenant Sabbath is not

a legalistic requirement It's not a

mandatory sacrifice Sabbath rest is a

reality lived in

Christ Sabbath rest is a reality lived

in Christ Let's go to Matthew chapter 11

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

I want to look at this just a little bit

more Where is our rest found I already

said it's it's a reality that we live in

Christ And Jesus promised this If we

look at what it says in Matthew 11 28

Jesus said "Come to me all you who are

weary carry heavy burdens and I will

give you rest

Take my yoke upon you Let me teach you

because I am humble and gentle at heart

and you will find rest for your souls

For my yoke is easy to bear and my

burden I give is

light I'll say this Coming to Jesus is

not to add another burden to the busy

life It is to find the replenishing that

our soul

craves Jesus is not about adding more

stuff to your schedule relationship with

Jesus isn't to make life more

complicated give you another set of of

obligations to fulfill another list of

tasks to complete Though I I am sure we

have all encountered that methodology of

approaching the Lord That's not what I

see Jesus saying in the New Testament

Like come to me he says and I'm going to

give you rest come to me and it's it's

not going to be about doing more and

working more and being busier and you

know but now it's all branded as

Christianity That's not what Jesus says

He says "Come to me and I'll give you

rest My burden's easy My yoke is light."

Jesus told all those who are in need

"Come to me and you will find rest."

He's saying "Come to me and you will

experience the freedom and the calm that

can only be found in my presence." I

love worship because it it brings me so

aware of his presence When I worship God

I become more aware of the fact that

he's here And you know what inevitably

happens I

rest When we're up here doing all of

this I'm

resting It might look like a lot It's

it's not when I'm aware of him and not

of

me because it replenishes my soul It

refreshes me It it it inspires me It

moves me It it frees me It calms me When

I spend time in his word I find rest for

my mind As I read scripture and and I'm

thinking about all these situations

whether it's out of the Bible or it's a

scripture the Holy Spirit reminds me of

in a moment where I have a need You know

what It quiets my mind All those times

where I've been awake churning over a

situation you know what brings me

physical and mental rest The word does

The word that answers the question calms

the

fear undoes my doubt That word of God

which is sharper than any two-edged

sword and dever it divides it pierces

right down to the truth of the matter

You know what that does It brings me

rest It brings me rest to the attacks

and the chaoses and the situations in in

my mind and at times in my body I find

when I'm encountering a situation and I

go to God in prayer about it and I truly

release it to him in prayer I experience

that release from the pressure Have you

ever felt the weight of something lift

off of you as you offer it to God That

tension that pressure lifted because you

have now found rest in trusting him You

see it's his presence that brings us all

these different kinds of rest into our

life It's in his presence and the

nearness of him that rest This

requirement from creation is truly met

Jesus didn't have any uncertainty about

it You know there's no doubt in what

Jesus said No question He says "Come to

me and what

I

will." I mean is there a question in

that statement Come to me and I will

give you rest He didn't say "I might

give you rest." He didn't say "Yeah

we'll we'll take a look at your file and

see you know where you're at on getting

rest today." Jesus didn't say that He

said "Come to me I will give you rest."

What that tells me is when I'm in need

of rest it's an alert that I need to get

close to

Jesus When I feel tired when I feel

stressed when I feel worried when I

don't feel rested what it tells me is

you need you need to get back into the

awareness of his presence because he

doesn't leave you or forsake you But

sometimes my mind leaves him And I'm

probably the only one that that happens

to the pastor of the church just

wandering around sometimes not thinking

about Jesus But but you know that

happens in life Life happens right And

and in the moment the first place my

mind always wants to go is not to

thinking about Jesus's presence with me

But when I get to the awareness of his

presence rest always comes Let me just

testify to you this morning I have never

not seen this promise fulfilled When I

really got into the presence of the Lord

he always brought me rest Even if I

didn't see like the physical change

immediately my soul was immediately

rested My my heart was immediately

refreshed I I immediately was inspired

and and I had belief faith You know

faith comes by hearing the

word to know that a situation would be

taken care

of Jesus has no uncertainty He says "I

will give you rest." He says "Let me

teach you Let me teach you what's true

let me show you the truth and you'll

find rest in your souls That happens

when we're around Jesus He shows us

what's true He teaches us what we need

to know and it brings us rest You know

it it is it is just being in his

presence but it's it's also hearing what

he has to say listening So when he

reminds me of a scripture when that

scripture rises up in my heart hearing

it means I don't just say "Well these

are the reasons why that can't be true

Jesus."

It's to be receptive to hear Lord I

remember that you said that I remember

you said "I can trust in you Lean not in

my own understanding All my ways

acknowledge you and and he will make

straight my paths He will take care of

me." Okay I trust you That's hearing and

receiving and then doing the word And

when we do that we're going to

experience rest See Jesus is speaking

about this way of living in him He's

speaking about this way of following him

imitating him And we call it walking by

faith not by sight Walking according to

what Jesus has done and who he is and

what he says Drawing our rest from him

rather than physical tactics patterns or

formulas You see Jesus Jesus doesn't

give us a formula to live a rested life

But he leads us into rest through

relationship We enter rest by trusting

his completed work not working a plan

Yeah

It's the truth We enter his rest by

trusting his completed work rather than

working a plan And I am one of those

people that sometimes I almost think I

would rather just have the plan Lord

give me a formula You know tell me tell

me the things I need to

do You know I I

almost maybe this is going to seem kind

of sarcastic but I almost think there

are some of us believers who we we

almost approach it like well if God

would just you know if he'd give me a

plan like like here I wrote up a special

one for us Let's say this was the

formula that God gave Like if if this

was the magic prescription the divine

prescription that every time you do this

you're going to get rest And let's say

it was you have to get seven hours of

sleep fluff your pillow three times eat

a cup of cottage cheese I don't know

where I got that drink a cup of green

tea and read something for 10 minutes Do

you think you'd get it all done if rest

was guaranteed every time Just work the

plan Some of us would try pretty hard

We'd have that alarm set We'd be

fluffing the pillow keep that cottage

cheese in the

fridge But we struggle with come to me

That's the

plan It's not seven steps It's not three

It's not even two One step you get Come

to me Come to me is what Jesus says And

I will give you rest It's a guarantee

But you have to come to him And I think

where we struggle with it is you know

all these seen things they almost seem

more attainable because we're walking by

sight not by faith

When I walk by faith I just come to him

because I know him and he's with me and

the word assures me of that And so it

becomes easy But if I don't have faith

it's

impossible I I can't come to him if I

don't believe in him If I don't trust in

him if I'm not

confident about who he is and what he's

done like if I don't know that the blood

has brought me near and made me eligible

to stand in his presence how can I come

to

him So really it comes back to a faith

issue Am I going to come to him or not

He makes it so much simpler You know

this is really a better way It's really

a lot better than the three-step plan

Come to me because I might not have

access to my cottage cheese all the time

but he's here with me all the time So in

any situation I can go to him in any

moment I can call out on

him I can I can detach from the work and

the stress and the situation and I I can

I can spend time in his presence So

there's this rest for us to to enter

into and I just think about how much

better life in this rest is You know

it's it's not automatic It is a decision

I want to be so clear about that this

morning because you could leave and I

heard this great message on the rhythm

of rest and you know rest is my reality

now I'm going to live and rest But but

you have to choose You do have to choose

to come to him You do have to make an

intentional choice to enter into that

rest It does not happen automatically It

is it is a decision that we all make to

walk by the spirit to walk by faith to

come to Jesus But it's a decision you

can make Let me let me say that Hear me

say that today It is a choice that you

have If Jesus is your Lord and Savior

you can come to

him And if you don't know how just start

by praying Just start by saying "Lord I

am choosing to draw near to you right

now I am I am I am seeking you you and I

thank you that I find you when I seek

because that's what your word says Lord

I thank you that you are knocking at the

door of my heart You are ready to come

in and spend time with me Thank you Lord

that you do not depart from me You don't

leave me You don't forsake me You are

here in this moment You are here right

now And because you are here Lord I ask

you to just give me rest I think about

Twilight's testimony just from earlier

today What did she do She drew near to

the Lord and rest came peace came calm

came This is how we do it And it changes

it changes the way we live It changes

how things work And and I think it's

important to say too that living in this

rhythm of rest living from the rest that

Jesus gives us doesn't mean that there

aren't going to be challenges Doesn't

mean there won't be problems Doesn't

mean there won't be storms There most

certainly will be But you will handle

them so much differently when you're

living in the rhythm of rest You know I

think back on some examples just from

the last couple years in my life I'm

going to talk about me because you don't

want me talking about you

Um I think about

co COVID 19 2020 and 2020 Yeah we all

love that right

You know on the other side of that mo

mostly on the other side of it when most

of it was in the past I remember having

these conversations with people and and

we were talking about like the church

and leading the church through COVID and

I I don't know if you all know my

timeline my history and all that but I

had been here for a a ripe three months

when CO came So I'm a 25year-old pastor

leading a church that I've been with

three months through one of the most

transitional things that's ever happened

in the history of the American church

I'm like "All right let's do it." And

you know I got through we got through CO

pretty well I think and you can all

determine that for yourselves But we

came out on the other side of that and I

was having these conversations with

people I got to be on the phone and you

know like insurance people would call or

just whoever And that was the question

for like two years So how did you guys

handle COVID How'd you get through CO

You know how did you make it Are you

okay after CO And I honestly maybe it

was the naivity of being so young in the

position but I was like yeah it was fine

Like it wasn't it wasn't that big of a

deal I said you know we just we just

pivoted We changed things when we needed

to but like there was grace for it I

said it was easy It was as easy as a

worldwide pandemic could have

been And I truly believe that the reason

that I felt and I wasn't like drumming

something up That's honestly how I feel

about it It was actually the two years

of COVID in some regards were easier