Summer Vibes | Part 2

Introduction

We are wrapping up our Summer Vibes series.

Whether we like it or not, the school year creates a routine, a schedule from August to May.

Every year when school ends there is a natural brake that is engaged. I call it the summertime slowdown.

I’ve found that there are two things that can happen during the summertime slowdown:

1. You can grow closer in your walk with God (all distractions of school, sports have been removed…).

2. Or you can begin to backslide in your walk with God (we become so relaxed in the slowdown that we forget to feed ourselves spiritually…)

These two things don’t just happen.

[GARDEN ILLUSTRATION]

In the same way, each day during the summer we have the daily choice to wake up and make a deposit into our walk with God.

Some of you may be asking, how can I or what does growing in my relationship with Christ look like?

Three things to grow your walk with Christ:

1. Read/study His word daily and pray.

2. Attend a weekly church service.

3. Seek community with like minded Christians.

Tonight, I want to talk a little bit about the word rest.

Body

A couple weeks ago, we had dialogue about vacations.

Most people go on vacations to get away, flee from responsibilities, but also to rest.

You can be at a physical place of rest and your spirit not be at rest.

So what is rest? How would do we define rest?

I define Biblical rest as being restored/renewed by God’s presence. In the Old Testament God actually instituted the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a day that all God’s people would rest.

Don’t get it twisted. Biblical rest, the Sabbath is not an excuse to be completely lazy for a day. God instituted a day of rest because he knew that we would work hard, go to school, play sports, study, whatever for 6 days and we would need a day of rest.

God after creation in Genesis took some time to rest.

So what does the Bible say about rest?

Matthew 11:29–30 NIV

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

In v.28 we see that God is inviting us to come to Him. Come check this out…

Then he specifies who it is He is calling. ALL who labor and are heavy laden. Come to me ALL people who are weighed down by burdens, weighed down by the things of life and I WILL give you rest.

Jesus says come to Me and then He tells us to take His yoke and learn from Him. A yoke is what they used to put ox in to work the fields. Our yoke is heavy, but God’s yoke is light.

Jesus doesn’t just tell us that He can PROVIDE rest, through his relational nature Jesus tells us that He will bear the yoke WITH us. He goes a step further to say here’s HOW I will give you rest.

[ANALOGY CARRYING SOMETHING HEAVY]

With Jesus we are promised rest. With Jesus we get to rest.

Conclusion

Summertime is just around the corner. Some of us here only have 1-2 weeks left of school. I want to encourage you to finish strong. Finish this school year stronger than maybe you started.

You will have many, many opportunities to rest this summer. The summertime slowdown, right?

Be intentional with your time. Time is a gift. We only have so many days on this Earth, so make them worth it.

We would be naive to think that this summer we are just going to grow without putting in the work. Just like I can’t wish that my garden would produce vegetables, I had to put in the work.

There are two things that will happen this summer. We can take steps deeper into our relationship with God or we can take steps further away from God. We have the choice.

Tonight, I want to encourage you to ask God how you need to Biblically rest this summer. Is it by reading His word? Being in involved in community? What is it?

Prayer