Give It a Rest

Introduction

Welcome to Celebration Church. We are so glad that you are here. Thank you for worshipping with us today. If there is anything we can do for you and your family, please don’t hesitate to let us know. We are a family and we are with you. If you are joining us online, welcome. We are so glad that you are here.

Series Setup

We live in such an amazing, complicated but opportune time. Everywhere we turn we see confusion and chaos and it can seem hopeless. However, when Jesus sees the same thing, He called it harvest. (Luke 10:2) He called it an opportunity to reach people. We are called for such a time as this. To let our light shine and allow it to serve as a beacon of hope for people that are away from God. (Matthew 5:16) To be ambassadors of the King. To be dealers of hope. This is what He has placed in our hands.

1 Chronicles 29:14 NLT

14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!

Psalm 24:1 CSB

1 The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord;

1 Peter 4:10 CSB

10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

God has given us everything we need to honor Him but we have to steward it. Steward means manage or facilitate. Stewardship means to value or prioritize. We honor God in the way that we steward what He has given us.

Matthew 25 paints a picture of the followers of Jesus having to give an account for how they stewarded the things that God has given them. How did we steward our relationships? How did we steward our resources? How did we steward our time and rhythms? Did we live lives that showed faithful stewardship of what God has given us? In this series, we hope to extract wisdom from the Word of God so that we can be found faithful stewards.

Scripture

During creation, God operates with a rhythm; a pattern. He works then stops. Works, then stops. He does this for 6 days.

Genesis 2:1–3 CSB

1 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.

Matthew 11:28–30 The Message

28 “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. 29 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. 30 Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Jesus makes an incredibly powerful statement, “learn from me”…study me. Model me. Be like me. Jesus is humble, kind, gracious, but Jesus was also a man that understood the importance of rest. He lived and modeled a life of rhythms. I believe one of the most overlooked thing in our culture is the importance of rest.

In a world where productivity and multitasking is a celebrated skillset, rest can seem lazy, wasteful, unproductive. However, God has a different view on the matter. I want to spend a few moments today about reclaiming an ancient gift that God has given us, rest. I have entitled today’s message, Give it a Rest.

Prayer

Lord, we thank you for your goodness; your grace. The kindness you extend to us. Your church, community, your Word, which is a lamp unto our feet to guide us to your ways. Give us open eyes, ears, hearts. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Illustration

At a very young age I understood the importance of hustle, hard work, grit. My parents modeled it for me. By the time I turned 15, I had already bought my first car. When I graduated high school, I had 3 jobs.

From that point forward, I learned that hard work pays off. I hustled with at every job I had. I got into full time vocational ministry. You know what I did, I hustled. Worked really hard. I built my dream home but felt the call of God to come to DC and serve this amazing community. I wanted to hit the ground running and I did…literally. Within my first month, I broke my ankle but that didn’t stop me. I was preaching with crutches.

Then I moved to Orlando to serve the amazing community there. Had to adjust to the culture. 2 years later, I am here and there. So you can imagine by the end of 2020, I was tired. Then, a few weeks ago, I got Covid the week after Easter. It was the worst time ever to get sick in the church world. I was forced to wait and recover. It almost took 2 months!

Transition

I was in such a rush to get back. Then God checked me. Get back to what? He began to show me that every discipline in my life was birthed out of reaction. Birthed out of pain. Birthed out of pressure. Discipline turns to routine and routine turns into a rut. Going through the motions but somehow at a standstill

I was busy and I never considered that hustle without boundaries reflects the areas we trust God the least. I thought being busy was a great sign of stewardship…God never called us to be busy, he called us to be fruitful. In order to be fruitful, there must a rhythm that we move by and that rhythm includes rest.

Please understand we have to have discipline. We have to get things done. However, discipline unchecked can turn into a routine. Routines turn into ruts. Over the past 4-5 years I established disciplines that became routines. Every routine was a reaction to something.

You may know a routine, but it doesn’t mean you have rhythm. Caleb plays football and the cheerleaders…have a routine but they lack rhythm. There’s no grace, there’s just motions.

Observations

Routines keep us busy but rhythms keep us fruitful. Sometimes we feel like constant movement equals progress. We do it all the time when trying to avoid traffic. We will look at our map and drive through someones backyard to shave off 1 minute. Being fruitful requires patience and trust. Typically fruitfulness requires planting, watering and waiting. Waiting requires trust. God adds the increase. Seasons are a brilliant expression of this. Each season serves a purpose. We must steward the seasons accordingly.

Routines are often birthed out of pressure, rhythms are a response to God’s pressing. When was the last time you invited God to interrupt your routine? Did you know that when Jesus interacted with people, they were often going about their day…but Jesus interrupted their routine? Luke 7:11-17 tells the story of a widow on her way to bury her son…but Jesus interrupted the funeral. Sometimes our routine is lifeless but if we can operate with God’s rhythm, we can experience life.

Routines can make us so rigid that we are not in rhythm with God. God moves with rhythms. Jesus moved with rhythms. The Holy Spirit nudges us to keep up with God.

Galatians 5:25 CSB

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Jesus says learn from me. Here’s the rhythms of Christ:

Worked and Used His Gifts

Served God’s People

Rest in God’s Presence

Jesus lived a fulfilled life because He operated with a rhythm that allowed Him to remain in optimal condition, spiritually vibrant, and missional minded. Some seasons require more work, more serving, but there’s never a season that didn’t include REST. Rest isn’t a luxury, it is a necessity. Rest is a restorative break from labor and worldly striving. It is to cease from activity. It means to pausing and giving space to God to fill.

Rest is also the way we ensure our ambition doesn’t outpace God. We can be so driven, that we stop being led.

Points

What if there are things we have been striving for that can only be accomplished if we actually rest? Maybe instead of striving for what’s next, we need to pursue rest. Jesus describes two sets of people, the weary and burdened. Tired and worn down.

Rest Gives Us Perspective

2 Kings 6:15–17 CSB

15 When the servant of the man of God got up early and went out, he discovered an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?” 16 Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes and let him see.” So the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

The servant saw one thing, but Elisha saw something completely different. When you rest in God, you have a different perspective. Rest gives us perspective of who is with us. GIVE IT A REST!

Rest gives us perspective on how far we have come. Whenever I go on a road trip, I never look at the signs. Mainly because when I have been driving for 5-6 hours, I sometimes think I should be further down the road. Maegan, is the exact opposite. She will take a nap and wake up and say, wow, we are in Savannah already! It’s a matter of perspective. She rested and was able to appreciate how far we’ve gone. The lack of rest, causes me to think about how much further I wish we were. Rest gives us perspective of progress. GIVE IT A REST!

Rest allows us to hear from God instead of our feelings. Rest allows us to walk by faith and not by facts. Rest gives us the ability to see things through God’s lens. Before you react, rest! Before you make any sizable decision, rest. Before you make a big purchase, rest. Rest is the remedy for impulsiveness. GIVE IT A REST

Rest Gives Us Hope

One of the biggest crisis of today is the frequency that we see burnout. Burnout is when you are physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally exhausted. When we are exhausted, we are vulnerable. It has been said we are the most vulnerable when we are alone, hungry, bored, or tired. Vulnerability leads to compromise. I have seen leaders fall because they were compromised due to a lack of rest. The lack of rest makes us vulnerable. Vulnerability leads to bad decisions.

You ever watch a sporting event and a team is just being crushed; Then its half-time and they come out so fired up? What happened? They were able to rest, get some instructions and their hope was restored. It is possible to have faith, but don’t have hope.

1 Kings 19:3–5 (CSB)

3 Then Elijah became afraid and immediately ran for his life. When he came to Beer-sheba that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there, 4 but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. Suddenly, an angel touched him. The angel told him, “Get up and eat.”

Elijah was exhausted and burned out but he rested and God sent a messenger to encourage him and restore his hope. Marriage…give it a rest! Family…give it a rest.

Rest Honors God

Exodus 20:8–11 CSB

8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates. 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

After creating everything, God invites man to rule, reign and rest in His presence. There isn’t another day until the fall of man. Once the fall happens, the cycle begins and now man is under a system of work and labor that seem to never end. However, God still designated a day for His creation to honor Him. It’s called Sabbath. It is a day where we disconnect from the pressure of the world and rest in God’s presence.

Sabbath is how we intentionally and consistently put God on our calendar and invite Him in our homes to be the guest of honor with our family. Sabbath ensures our ambitions don’t outpace obedience. As a family, on Friday, we have dinner, pray together and spend time.

Rest is worship. It honors God.

Closing

Rest allows us to Remember: Communion

Jesus instructs His disciples, when you gather, do this in remembrance of me. Rest reminds us that God is in control. The bread reminds us that healing, wholeness is available. The juice reminds us that forgiveness and redemption is available.

(CITY DINNERS & COMMIT TO TAKING COMMUNION IN YOUR HOME)

God didn’t call us to be busy, He calls us to be fruitful and in order to be fruitful, we must rest.

Altar

Jesus tells us to come to Him and He will give us rest for our souls. Maybe you have been striving, doing things in your own strength. Today is a day for you to experience a touch from God.

Perhaps your next step is to take your seat at His table.