Beyond Sunday - REST
Beyond Sunday - Week of September 1, 2024
Unhurried Life
What a great message from Pastor Tim Perkins on Sunday. The topic was rest, and Pastor Tim took us on a leisurely stroll through some points on what rest is, and also what it isn’t. Let’s review:
What rest isn’t:
Rest is deeper than sleep.
Rest is more than time-off.
Rest is better than escape.
What rest is:
When it comes to the topic of REST – there is a long list of options available, but there is only ONE ANSWER! It’s Jesus!
(Matthew 11:28–30 MSG) Are you tired? Worn out? 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.
It’s one thing to know what rest is, but how did Jesus do it, and just as important, how do we do it? Pastor Tim shared three points to help us with that.
#1. Jesus rested by living to please God.
#2. Jesus rested by not ignoring the call to rest
A) 3 points of application:
• Divert Daily
• Withdraw Weekly
• Rest your BODY
• Recharge your SOUL
• Refocus your SPIRIT
• Abandon Annually
#3. Jesus rested by living in the realm of faith.
If you’re anything like me, the message resonated in the service. It convicted me of my lack of strategy around rest; it motivated me to examine my life; and it inspired me incorporate these points of diverting daily, withdrawing weekly, and abandoning annually into my routine.
And then I walked out to my car and the reality of my schedule hit me square in the face. And that 4 letter word crept into my mind:
Deadline
Actually, that is two 4 letter words combined to make one 8 letter word, but you get the point. See, all of us have responsibilities, and with those come expectations, and with those many times comes deadlines. They come from all over: teachers, professors, bosses, customers, spouses, children, government, and the list goes on. Deadlines can cause us to speed life up, to live at an unsustainable pace, so when it is time to Sabbath, to rest, we find it difficult to just turn it off. Let’s look at a story from John 11 where we see Jesus respond to expectations in a unique way and see what we can learn from it.
Read John 11:1-14
Questions:
• In John 11:1-3, what expectations are put on Jesus?
• What is his relationship to those putting on the expectations and how would that affect his response?
• What was Jesus’ response?
• In John 11:4, what is Jesus’ perspective that guides his response?
• In John 11:9, Jesus provides the lesson. What do you think he is getting at in this message to his disciples?
Read Hebrews 3:11 – 4:11
• What does this tell us about the rest that God has for us?
Read Psalm 46:10
• How does this verse help us respond in the same unhurried manner that guided Jesus’ life?
In summary, our motto should be “Act, don’t react.” And we should act from a place of trust; a deep, abiding confidence that God is God; that he is guiding our lives and that he has a good plan for every detail of our time here on earth. Does that sound easy? Not a chance. But well worth it. So be still, and know that He is God.
Unhurried Life
What a great message from Pastor Tim Perkins on Sunday. The topic was rest, and Pastor Tim took us on a leisurely stroll through some points on what rest is, and also what it isn’t. Let’s review:
What rest isn’t:
Rest is deeper than sleep.
Rest is more than time-off.
Rest is better than escape.
What rest is:
When it comes to the topic of REST – there is a long list of options available, but there is only ONE ANSWER! It’s Jesus!
(Matthew 11:28–30 MSG) Are you tired? Worn out? 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.
It’s one thing to know what rest is, but how did Jesus do it, and just as important, how do we do it? Pastor Tim shared three points to help us with that.
#1. Jesus rested by living to please God.
#2. Jesus rested by not ignoring the call to rest
A) 3 points of application:
• Divert Daily
• Withdraw Weekly
• Rest your BODY
• Recharge your SOUL
• Refocus your SPIRIT
• Abandon Annually
#3. Jesus rested by living in the realm of faith.
If you’re anything like me, the message resonated in the service. It convicted me of my lack of strategy around rest; it motivated me to examine my life; and it inspired me incorporate these points of diverting daily, withdrawing weekly, and abandoning annually into my routine.
And then I walked out to my car and the reality of my schedule hit me square in the face. And that 4 letter word crept into my mind:
Deadline
Actually, that is two 4 letter words combined to make one 8 letter word, but you get the point. See, all of us have responsibilities, and with those come expectations, and with those many times comes deadlines. They come from all over: teachers, professors, bosses, customers, spouses, children, government, and the list goes on. Deadlines can cause us to speed life up, to live at an unsustainable pace, so when it is time to Sabbath, to rest, we find it difficult to just turn it off. Let’s look at a story from John 11 where we see Jesus respond to expectations in a unique way and see what we can learn from it.
Read John 11:1-14
Questions:
• In John 11:1-3, what expectations are put on Jesus?
• What is his relationship to those putting on the expectations and how would that affect his response?
• What was Jesus’ response?
• In John 11:4, what is Jesus’ perspective that guides his response?
• In John 11:9, Jesus provides the lesson. What do you think he is getting at in this message to his disciples?
Read Hebrews 3:11 – 4:11
• What does this tell us about the rest that God has for us?
Read Psalm 46:10
• How does this verse help us respond in the same unhurried manner that guided Jesus’ life?
In summary, our motto should be “Act, don’t react.” And we should act from a place of trust; a deep, abiding confidence that God is God; that he is guiding our lives and that he has a good plan for every detail of our time here on earth. Does that sound easy? Not a chance. But well worth it. So be still, and know that He is God.
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