[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help, you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in. I'm glad you made it here. Welcome, welcome. Let's also welcome all of our friends joining us online. Come on. High Ridge Church.
I want to especially welcome those of you who are on our mission trip down the Dominican Republic. Your high rich family loves you. We're praying for you. They're just about to head into service this morning, as a matter of fact. Can we just stretch our hands? We're. We're. It's kind of south, right? Dominican Republic's kind of southish. Let's. Let's go this way. How about that? Would you stretch your hands towards this way, guys? We're praying for you right where you are. Father, would you bless our friends? Would you bless our missions team? Lord, I pray that you would pour out your spirit upon them, that they would be a blessing that you would give them traveling mercies. Would you protect them, Lord, I pray that they would be led by your spirit and do much good in Jesus name. And all of us said together, amen. Amen. Amen. We're so thankful for each of you watching online. God has been good to us and I'm praying that God speaks to you right where you are. So grab your Bibles, if you would. We're gonna spend some time in the book of Exodus.
Exodus, chapter 20, Exodus 20. I wanna bring a message today called the rest of the story. Somebody with a little bit of gray in their beard remembers old Paul Harvey. My grandparents. Listen, that kind of stuff your grandparents probably did as well. Paul Harvey would give you the rest of the story. He would tell you some story. It would not tell you who it was, but kind of give you an excerpt of a person's life. And he would draw you into their story to have some big kind of twist and turn at the end. And he would say, and that person was. And he would list out somebody that you would know and you're like, oh, wow. And now you know the rest of the stories. Like, and that woman was Shirley Temple. You're like, oh, Shirley Temple. What in the world? You don't know what I'm talking about.
That was Wiz Khalifa. Okay.
But he would give you the rest of the story. I want to specifically talk about not Just the rest of the story. But the rest that's in your story, and the rest that's in God's story. And as we approach summer, as many of you are looking forward to vacation and many of you are taking some time to intentionally rest, I want to just talk on a deeper level theologically about what rest looks like to the Father. One of the, the markers of our church, one of the things that we want so much for people to understand, is simply four things. We want you to know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and make a difference.
And one of the ways that we accomplish to help you know God is every single Sunday, we will give you parts of the, of the characteristics of the personality of God so that you would understand him better, that you would understand his ways. And when you. When you understand his ways and his patterns, you'll recognize that his patterns were given to. So that we could live the best life possible, we could follow in his ways. He's a good Father. He has good things in store for you. And he has incredible patterns set up for his people. He lets us get to know him through His Word.
And specifically in the creation story, it talks about God resting on the seventh day. God says, I rested on the seventh day. And he gives that story again in Exodus and then in Deuteronomy, he gives a story all the way in Christ and in the New Testament and how important the Sabbath was. Now, admittedly, by the time Jesus got on the scene, the Sabbath had become something completely different. They've gone very, very legalistic in the terms of what they used to honor the Sabbath. And Jesus is like, you got this messed up. You guys went way to the extreme. It's meant to be a day holy to the Lord where you, where you take time off from your work, you spend some time with the Lord, you rest, you physically recover, you mentally recover, you spiritually recover.
It's not meant to be some. A bunch of rules and regulations of what you can and can't do. Like, that's not what it's for. So God. God gave the Sabbath to mankind.
It's a gift. It's part of a healthy pattern of your life.
Now, today, I recognize that we may not go to the extreme. Unless you've been raised in church, you're probably not extreme with your Sabbath and the way that you rest. Like, no, I can't do that because it's a Sabbath. Like, hey, calm down, calm down.
We generally go to the other side of that.
And that's more of the mindset of, I don't have time to rest.
I can't do that. That's inactivity. That's being lazy. Christians generally are not lazy people.
When you recognize that you've been redeemed, when you recognize that God loved you so much that he gave his Son for you, when you've been set free, you find yourself wanting to do things you want to accomplish. You want to go because God's given you a new lease on life.
We want to do.
We want to go. We want to be. We want to be a part of the mix. We want to be in the middle of what's happening. Just get me in the game.
But God teaches us that there's nothing wrong with wanting to be in the game and to do things, to serve, to go, to give, to be a part, to connect. Those are wonderful things.
As long as you understand the importance of your rest.
You cannot say that I value health if you don't take time to rest. Rest is a part of health. You cannot be healthy without rest. You, you must recover. And not only physically, but you need mental rest, and you need rest for your soul.
Now, the older that I get, and this year I turned 50 years old. Don't look shocked. Actually, in a month now on July 3rd, I turned 50. And you can venmo me if you. I'm just kidding.
I turned 50. And the older that I get, the more I realize, like, I understand energy differently. The older I get. Come on, somebody. Now, in my, in my late teens and early twenties, early thirties, especially starting out in, in youth ministry, like, it was all about caffeine and energy drinks and energy shots and five hour energy.
Why did we need that?
That was back when I had energy. I'm like, let's triple it because yolo, you know, like, what, what are you doing?
And now the older I get, I'm like, I just, I just want to take a nap. I, I can't handle things right now.
I know they say if you snooze, you lose, but if I'm happy, I happy. Like, that's how I roll.
I've learned that the older I get, the more I have to be conscious that my energy is limited. There's only so many things I can devote my time and my energy to until I start making bad decisions, until I start becoming emotionally reactive, until I start looking at things through a skewed perspective because I don't rest well. And the key to longevity is learning not just how to take a nap, not just how to have a day off every once in a while. But how to value God's version of what rest is supposed to look like. There's a different rest than what many of us would classify as rest.
I reminded myself of my children this week and how I used to have to just negotiate and argue and find ways to bribe them to take a nap. You remember that?
And they're just cranky. They're flying out of control. And you're like, you just need to lay down for a minute. Like, are you kidding me? Like, they could not comprehend that napping would help them feel a whole lot better. Like, no, that's like a death sentence. Like, why are you punishing me? It's punishment. You're making me lie down. What did I do wrong? You're doing it right now. Sleep or I will put you to sleep.
And then the older I get, I'm like, please, somebody make me nap.
Let me sleep for 15 minutes, for the love of God. It's amazing how your priorities will change. At one stage of your life, you need to be pushed into resting. And in the other stages of your life, like, I don't need to push. Like, I'll do it. Like, oh, Lord, you want me to nap? Give me no sign.
Thy will be done. You know, like.
But I've become conscious of the scripture. In Psalm 23, verse 2, it's taken out a whole new meaning to me where it says, he. He makes me. Come on, somebody. He makes me lie down.
Those of you that have the honor of being parents, you understand that part of your life where you have to make your kids lie down. It's because what's best for them. And here's the thing, you never really grow up out of that.
The Lord still makes us lie down because it's good for you.
So in the book of Exodus, God is giving out the ten commandments to his people. The ten. The ten big things. The. The law. He presents the law to his people, and he tells them, do not murder. That's kind of a good one.
He says, don't commit adultery. Some of you are like, well, you know, in certain. Certain cases, you know, the Lord will forgive me. I can have great things. No, don't do it.
It's not worth it. Come on, somebody give me an amen. Tell me that you know this.
He says, don't lie. Don't cheat, don't steal. Like, these are. These are important things. And then he says, rest.
Sabbath. God puts it right up there with things like adultery and. And murder. Using his name in vain, God talks about the importance of rest. Why is it that big of a deal? Why does he put it up there with. With things like murder and adultery? Why does he. Why does he list it in the same context? I want to show you this. In Exodus, chapter 20, God says this. Remember the Sabbath day. And to keep it holy, that means set it apart. It's not like every other day.
God says, I want 1/7 of your time to be holy to me. God also says, I want one tenth of your finances to be set apart. That goes to my house. That's holy to me. And I want 1/7 of your schedule that's holy to me. And God sets that as a pattern. Not because he needs your money, not because he needs you to take a nap, because look. Look at me. It's good for you.
It's good for you.
God's a good God and has good gifts to his people.
And so he lays this out in His Ten Commandments. Remember the Sabbath day. Keep it holy. Keep it separate. It's not like any other day. He says, for in six days, God made the heavens and the earth, and then he rested on the seventh day.
Therefore, how do you want us to remember that you rested, that you created the heavens and the earth, that you did all this? He says, I blessed the Sabbath and I made it holy. So keep it in mind.
Remember the Sabbath.
Now, people get super legalistic with this, but let's not miss the point of what God is modeling here.
God rested on day seven, not because he was tired, but because, look at me, he was finished.
And he looks back on his week and said, it was good.
God looked at all that he had made and said, that's good.
Now, coming from a good God, he doesn't need to remind himself. He doesn't need to encourage himself. He's doing it as a pattern for you.
Can you look back on this past week, every day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and say, that was good.
And what is your measuring stick for success for your week?
I think for some of us, if we actually took time to sit down, to be still and know that he's God, to honor the Lord with the Sabbath, we'd be afraid of what we'd look back on and what it would bring to mind. We'd be overwhelmed by how out of control our life has become. We don't want to see it. We want to ignore it, pretending like time just keeps going on. And as far as. If I can just get far enough away from it, it'll be fine. Was. Was this last week really good? It's important that you take time every week to look back, to do a little check on your life, to see, is this headed in the right direction?
Was this a successful week? And how. How would I know?
How would I know that it was? That it was really good?
Did it serve my interest? Did it serve the interests of others? Did it. Was. Was I obedient to the Lord?
If you don't take time to rest, you missed some of the most important parts of your life.
A time of reflection where you check in with the Lord and say, lord, is this good?
And God says, I want to build this into creation. I want to build this into the law. I want to build this into the very DNA and the character of my son. So that stands for all time, how important rest is because you only have a limited number of weeks.
And God says, I want one day where you honor me. Now, for some of us, we'd say, okay, Lord, what would you have me to do to honor you this whole day? And he's like, I don't want you to do anything. I want you to be at rest.
God doesn't ask us to do more.
He asks us to be still.
That's hard for some of us. Christians are, by and large not lazy people. But it's more difficult for us when someone says, be still, be quiet, take some time, rest, reflect, pause, and do it as an act of worship to the Lord.
So God creates this healthy pattern for each of us to take another look at, to see. It's deeper than just taking a nap. It's deeper than just taking a day off. It's deeper than just taking a vacation.
Because for some people, those things make us worse.
I've known many people that go on vacation and come back more exhausted than when they left.
Not you people in third service, not us. We would never do that.
You ever been in a time where you're like, okay, I've got some time off. I finally got it. I got some time off. And then two days later, you're like, what happened?
I'm exhausted. I need a break from my break.
Let me just tell you, for many of us, we don't know what fills our cup or your season of life has changed, and what used to fill your cup doesn't fill your cup anymore.
Or there could be some things that you think, this brings me a lot of energy because this is how I used to behave before I got saved.
So it's still going to work.
There's biblical rest.
There's God's rest.
And God's rest is miraculous. God's rest gives you the key to longevity. You're able to move faster and better and stronger because you're working from a place of rest, not just for rest.
Amen. So when God says, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, there's three things that I think are really important for us to glean from this scripture. And I want to make sure that you see this, because this is important for us.
Number one, God's rest breaks the slavery mindset.
So when God gives them the ten Commandments, remind yourself he's just brought them out of Egypt. 400 years of slavery. It's not just who they were. It becomes part of their culture.
Slavery, it's a mindset. It's bred into them for multiple generations. 400 years. We are slaves.
Now. Most of us would say, I've never been in a slavery situation. That's not my thing. You know, slavery is gone. I understand.
But this is a timeless principle that God still has to work out of each of us, because all of us have mindsets. All of us have these things that we get locked into that God says, I want to deliver you from that. I want you to find freedom from that. And it's difficult for us because we would say, that's just how I am. It's just how I'm built. It's just what I was taught.
There's a reason why God says, you must be born again.
Let me show you who you really are. You're no longer slaves. And God's rest is designed to break the slavery mindset. Now, there's some mindsets that exist in East Texas. East Texas culture is different than other places. There are other places where you walk into the city and you recognize, like, okay, this is way different.
But every single region, every area has the mindsets that they deal with that are specific to the area.
You know, this Gilbert doesn't feel like Las Vegas. Like, that's completely different.
Some of you are, like, it really doesn't. You might be right about it. Like, I'm just saying New York City does not feel like gladewater. Like, that's. It's completely different. The vibe is different. The culture is different. The mindset is different. And in East Texas, we have some mindsets. And look at me. Not all of it's good.
Are we warm? Are we authentic? Are we generous in giving people? Absolutely.
Those are wonderful things about the culture of East Texas. But there's some things that are not good. There's some things that are demonic. There's some things that you're going to understand if you are in ministry in this area, you're going to fight at least two prevalent spirits, Princes of the power of the air. The Book of Daniel calls them principalities and powers that are over this region. And one is a legalistic mindset, a very judgmental spirit. Longview does not forgive.
Longview does not forget.
And once people know you by your worst day, once they see your arrest photo, once they know that you messed up or you got busted or you cheated or you lied or you stole or you had a bad day, once those things are known, you will never get over that in East Texas.
Some of you are acting like this is news to you. Come on.
It's a very legalistic culture. We love to judge other people in East Texas because it helps us to feel better about our own sin.
It helps us to look at other people and say, well, I'm not as bad as Sister so and so. Let me tell you what her husband did. Let me tell you what her grandkids are like.
Very judgmental, legalistic spirit, pretending like we're okay.
And the way that we prove that we're okay is by pointing out how bad everybody else is. I've never seen it anywhere else on the planet like it is right here. It's one of the things that we're up against, One of the things I have to preach against.
One of the things I have to remind you of is who we are in Christ.
Remind you that people become new creations in Christ. That old things are passed away, all things become new. That Christ came to set people free.
It's a beautiful, beautiful thing that Christ does, and it directly combats the spirit that exists in East Texas. There's also another spirit. You're going to understand this if you live here very long. And that's a poverty mindset.
Not that we're all poor, but it's been bred into our culture.
Can't win. Don't try.
You're not a leader.
You're not special.
Do your job and go home. Don't put any heart, no excellence into it, no passion behind what you do.
You'd be shocked how much. How much of my own time I have to spend convincing people that you are who God says you are. You are not limited by what your parents or what your teachers or what your culture says you are. You can absolutely accomplish great things.
Why? Because of who your father is?
Because his unlimited resources. Trust him. Step out. Take a step of faith. Nah, I'm not. I'm not anybody. I can't. That's called a poverty mindset.
It keeps people stuck in a cycle of fear. I can never step out. I can't be generous, I can't trust, I can't tithe, I can't give, I can't go. I can't ever become like that. I. Because I'm afraid I'm not going to have enough.
And I deal with that mindset every single week for 10 years.
It's a slavery mindset.
And God's rest, God's Sabbath was given to directly combat that spirit that's inside of each of us.
I've been in other cities where they're prevailing spirit. You could feel it when, as soon as you walk into the. Into the city, feel. It's just greed.
Give me, give me, give me, get. That isn't here. We don't deal with that.
But you can feel it. And East Texas is known for it. Your hometown is known for it.
Some places those spirits, you can feel them as soon as you walk into the city.
There is a spirit here that does war with our soul, that tries to convince us we'll never change.
And when God gives his ten commandments, when he gives the story of creation, when he sends his son, he's there to break off that mentality of who you think you have to be and show you who you can be in Christ.
So God gives them rest. Remind yourself of this. Before God established the tabernacle, before God gave them a strategy, as God's walking them into the promised land, as he's walking them from the wilderness, before, before God gives them all of those things, he gives them rest first.
Isn't that wild of the list that we would think the things that are most important. Isn't the tabernacle more important than rest? God's like, you don't understand.
Isn't military strategy gonna be more important? We're gonna have to fight a lot of battles here.
Rest. I'm gonna teach you that first.
Aren't we gonna need a. To be taught a lot of other lessons that are a little bit higher up on the priority scale?
God gives them rest.
400 years is a long time for someone to be stuck in a mindset, a slavery mentality, before warfare, before sacrifices, before the strategies God taught him. Rest.
Rest. It's more important than you think it is. It matters to God and it should matter to us.
Look at this. In Deuteronomy 5, God says this. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there. Okay? Lord, how do you want Us to remember. What do you want us to do to make sure we never forget that? He says, honor the Lord with the Sabbath. It's a commandment. It's here to break the mentality of slavery. 400 years of a slavery is going to change who you think you are. It's going to make you forget that you're a child of the most high God and make you believe you're here to serve, to slave, to give.
It changes our mentality. It changes our worth.
400 years is a long time.
And Pharaoh takes the children of God and convinces them that they're slaves.
They began to build bricks, brick after brick after brick, until God moves upon the heart of Moses and says, go tell Pharaoh. Let my people go.
It was a process.
God brings them out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with great, great acts, and then teaches them about rest.
They were taught for 400 years that more bricks equals more value.
The more I produce, the more I'm worth.
And then eventually, exhaustion becomes a mark of faithfulness.
I've proven that I'm faithful. Why? Because I'm exhausted.
Now, you wouldn't say we have that kind of mindset. You're not what you produce. Of course you're not.
Until somebody asks you, how you doing? We're busy. We got kids in these classes, and my son's in baseball, and my daughter's in dance, and my brother's got graduation. And then we've got this and we got that. We're so busy. We're so busy right now. So many things on our plate.
We wear that as a. Like a badge of courage, like a prize. Because we're busy. Got so many things. Oh, we just been running around.
Got a lot of things going on.
Oh, man. So busy. You never. You never see the opposite. How are you doing? I'm so rested and recharged right now. You would not believe I am refreshed in my spirit. Why? Because it'd be a lie. We don't do that very well. We've forgotten that God has called us out of slavery to what we do, to experience freedom that can only be found in him.
He models it in creation. He gives it in the law, and he embodiments rest in his own son. Egypt had taught them something that had been ingrained into their culture, that if you don't produce, you don't matter.
And we still deal with the same spirit today.
How much they paying you over there?
What kind of benefits they give you?
What did you get done this week?
Here's one thing that we see that God gives the Sabbath. God gives rest to break the mindset of a culture of slavery and for them to remember it for all time of where God brought them from. You see, God did not just want Israel out of Egypt. God wanted the Egypt out of Israel.
Let me get that junk out of you.
You are not what you produce.
Your value has nothing to do with what you produce. Your value is in who you are.
So God brings the Egypt out of Israel by bringing Israel out of Egypt. And the Sabbath that he gives them was not just physical recovery, it's identity altering, its mentality altering.
And it still speaks true for us. You see, God did not deliver you from slavery so that you become a harder working slave. Come on, somebody, come on.
Here's the second point that I want to leave with you. Number two. God's rest turns slaves into sons. God's rest turns slaves into daughters. He makes them into a family. We don't work for a taskmaster, a slave driver. That's not our boss. We work for our father.
And sons behave differently than slaves.
Slaves say, this is my job. A son says, this is my family.
There's different rights, it's a different mentality. And God's rest turns slaves into sons.
We know that because when Jesus shows up on the scene, he operates differently than the way I would have operated if I was the son of God. Given only three years to change the course of the world, I probably would have died of exhaustion long before the cross.
Remind yourself Jesus shows up and in three years he carries the literal weight of the world on his shoulders.
And yet you see Jesus doing things like often withdrawing by himself to pray multiple scriptures.
You see Jesus sleeping during a storm like, don't you care if we drown? He's like, don't you care that I was asleep five minutes for the love of God, right?
He yells at us and says, where's your faith? Like, just speak to the storm. Like, what are you talking about?
Peace, Be still. Everything's still now can I get back to sleep?
Anybody else need anything? That's what I would have done.
I would have said, I've been so sarcastic. Is that it? Anybody else need something before I go back to sleep? Anybody else want to ruin my nap?
Little cranky Jesus?
No. Jesus carries the weight of the world on his shoulder. And he's sleeping during a storm.
Says he goes to weddings, he goes to dinners, he spends time at friends houses.
3 years to change the world.
You know what one thing you never find in scripture of Jesus doing? Jesus never Runs. Jesus never behaves like heaven was nervous.
And he's given us a pace that's healthier, the pace that we operate at.
And it's reflecting the Sabbath. You see, the pace of Christ reveals the secret to the peace of Christ.
That's better than some of you are amening. But there's the right pace. And most of us don't operate at that right pace.
Jesus often withdrew by himself to pray.
He often got alone. He spent a lot of time with the Lord. There's a reason why his disciples said, teach us how to pray. Because when we pray and when you pray, it's completely different.
How do you do that? We recognize that Jesus is changing the world. He's doing miracles.
He's on a fast pace, but he's not burnt out.
And they recognize something happening with his prayer life and him spending a lot of time with the Father.
Jesus says, me and the Father are one. Then why does he have to withdraw? He's doing it as a model for them to follow.
Get away for a minute. Psalm says, be still and know that I'm God. Get away. Spend some time with Jesus.
You see that Jesus rested because time with the Father is the key to real productivity. You'd be shocked what you could accomplish if you made it a priority to spend time with the Lord.
So Jesus tells his disciples in Mark, chapter six, he says, come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. I felt really, really impressed by the Holy Spirit to leave that scripture on the screen for just a moment and remind you this is a call from your Father to each of you. Come with me to a quiet place and get some rest. Some of you are like, that sounds like Cabo. That's what that sounds like. I need to just keep this in mind. Wherever you're going, when you're vacationing, when you're taking some time off, the key is he says, come with me.
Don't just go someplace and forget that Jesus is there. Like Jesus, I'm gonna leave you right here. Cause I got some sinning to do.
That's not rest.
That creates more work for me.
Help me help you.
Don't go on vacation and come back more jacked up than when you left. Like that ain't a vacation. It creates work for your boy. Easy.
Be nice to me.
He says, come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. So if time off leaves no room for Jesus, you kind of miss the point.
It's not going to replenish your soul.
It's not Going to help you.
You'll come back carrying shame and guilt for what you labeled as fun.
There's a difference.
There's a better way to rest.
So Jesus rested constantly, even while carrying the weight of the sins of the world on his shoulders and with his last words on a cross.
Jesus didn't say, I'm tired, I'm exhausted. He says, it's finished, it's done.
He looks back on the work that he had done as a reflection on Genesis and creation. He says the same thing. It's good.
Everything I've done, everything I've accomplished. It says he gave up his spirit because it was finished.
It was done.
So the Sabbath always pointed to more than a day. It's not just a day of rest. The Sabbath didn't just point to a day. It pointed to a person, points to Christ.
Jesus Christ is our ultimate Sabbath. He is our rest.
He is our peace.
So spending time away without spending time with Jesus is not going to fill your cup.
That's not going to help you. There needs to be time built in where you sit back and you look at your. You look at your year, you look at your week and you say, is it good Lord, Is there anything about my life that will I take this time? Anything you want to check me on?
Because I don't want to go another week just wasting time.
I don't want to just do things my way. But rest was built in to keep us at a pace that is sustainable, to keep us more productive than I could imagine, to help us produce things that actually matter.
It's time spent with Christ, our ultimate Sabbath.
Here's the final thing I want to leave you with. Number three. Rest is an act of trust and worship.
It's trust and worship.
Now, when you have. When you have kids, it feels like, you know, rest is punishment, right? Do you remember that?
You remember your kids arguing with you? For those of you that have had the honor of being parents, they argue with you about rest. Like, what did I do wrong? I don't need to go to sleep like you so do.
Like you are 35 years old and you need to lay down for five minutes.
Can I have a drink of water?
But mom, I need a kiss first. Oh, God.
Lay down. Remember that.
Remind yourself of this in the creation story.
God builds rest in today. 7.
And God put rest into the story before sin ever entered the world.
Rest first.
So God did not give rest to people because they were broken.
Rest is not punishment. Rest is actually preventative. Come on, somebody.
When Pharaoh is told, let the people go, they're no longer going to be slaves. He comes back, says, no, no, no. Now you make them make the same quote of bricks, but this time don't give them any straw. Why? Because exhausted people are really easy to control.
And the enemy uses the same tactic for believers today.
If I can't get you to give your life to me, I'll get you exhausted and distracted. I'll get you living a life of no purpose, no meaning, stuck in the same mindset, living the same exact culture for generations to come, because it's just who you are.
I'm busy, legalistic, judgmental, cranky and tired. And we bring that same mentality into God's house.
I think God's word to us would be rest.
Your rest is an act of worship. It tells me that you trust me.
It says that you recognize God is God and I'm not.
I don't carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. The weight of the world was put on his son's shoulders.
It's done. So God builds rest into the creation story as part of a healthy rhythm. I want to say that rest is not an event. It's a rhythm. It's not something that you have to go and make yourself rest. No, it's a rhythm. It's a healthy rhythm. If you value health, you're going to value rest.
It's not, we're busy. As proof of importance, as proof of our value, where the only possible finish line is burnout for you.
That's not your life.
Your calling is too great to be burnt out and not learning a healthy rhythm. Let me say it this way. God's rest is not inactivity. It's actually surrender.
Surrender.
The world survives while I sleep.
It didn't all fall apart. It didn't all burn down. It's not all dependent upon me. It's an act of worship. You'd be surprised what God can do if you took your hands off of it.
Be surprised what God can fix if you'd let him have it. One of the ways that we do that is by resting.
We tell God, God, I surrender. I trust, I trust you.
God loves it when his people trust him. And rest is proving that it's more than just talk. When you say, I trust you, Lord, Rest says, I could take time away and recognize that while I'm gone, you're doing things that I can't see.
We sing that in our songs. Even when I don't see it, you're working.
Even when I don't feel it. You're working right.
Rest does more than just express song lyrics.
It's tangible proof that we do trust him.
When we don't see it, when we don't feel it, we rest.
Rest is not avoiding responsibility, but it's surrendering the illusion that everything depends on you.
It doesn't.
Now, some people can rest physically but still strive spiritually. And their rest might not be I need to take a nap. But their rest is more needing to take a break from their works. Because there's a false mindset that is in a lot of Christianity that says I have to work to prove something to God to earn his love for me.
I have to do more, become more, serve more, give more, tithe more.
I have to go more, more. I have to do it.
Heard a great podcast this week. When a young evangelist asked a man, he said, on a scale of 1 to 10, if you were to stand before the Father today, on a scale of 1 to 10, would you say, how sure are you that you're gonna get into heaven? The guy said, six.
So why would you pick that number? He said, well, cause I try to do the right thing.
I try to be nice to people. I try to help others. I try to be kind of try to spend some time in my Bible. I'm trying to do those things. I think I'm like 60% sure that I probably could do it. He says, where does Jesus come into that?
Because your whole mentality says, I didn't need Jesus. I'm getting pretty close by just doing the right things.
God's rest was meant to destroy that mindset. And that's still part of our legalistic mindset in East Texas. I'm better than I used to be.
I'm better than her. I'm better than this. I'm trying. I've got a good heart.
That's a works based relationship with Christ.
And from the very beginning of creation, the Father is screaming, let me show you what real rest is. Let me show you how much I love you.
And it's not that we don't do things ever. It's we're doing them with the wrong attitude.
We do them out of sense of duty. He wants us to do them out of sense of delight. Why? Because we're part of a family.
It's what we do. It's our new culture.
Hebrews chapter four. Look at this, verse nine. There remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, not your job, from your works, from all the rules and regulations, all that judgmental spirit trying to please God with the best of things that I have. He said, rest.
Let me tell you who you are. Your son because of Christ. You're joint heirs with Christ. You're part of the family of God. You can rest.
They rest from their works, just as God did from his in creation. So let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest. He said, you want to work at something, work at resting better.
Make every effort to enter the rest so that no one will perish by following their examples of disobedience. So when you put your head down on your pillow at night, when you lay down, when you have your day off, when you have your vacation, you can rest for the right reasons. Rest knowing that you're coming back recharged. See, real rest says, I do not have to earn what Jesus already secured.
I don't have to earn his love.
I don't have to earn his acceptance.
He put all of my sin upon him.
I'm a son.
When God sees you, he sees the blood of his Son.
That brings real rest. So I have a challenge for you for this summer as some of you are preparing to go on vacation. My family and I'll be heading out on vacation today, actually on Tuesday. And so I do have a video message for you that's going to come up on the screen next week. So things that I would never say to you in person, I'm going to say on video.
So enjoy that.
But I created a sermon for you for next week instead. But we're. Take some time. We're going to spend some time resting because it's important. It matters. I'm not just a person that tells you, hey, do what I say, not what I do, because I'm a champion and I can do all things through Christ. And let's do more like, no, no, no, no, no. Easy. I've learned how to rest and how to value this. I model this in my life. My family models this. This is important.
And I'm not a hypocrite, but there's some things that I feel like you, you need to challenge yourself with. So I have a challenge for you. If you want to write this down or maybe take a screenshot. Let me ask you, what fills your cup?
Do. Do you know what fills your cup? You should know yourself. And the question is, does it still fill your cup? That's a good question. As you enter different seasons of life, it's going to be different from your 20s to your 50s.
You know, for Some of you, it's nature.
You need to be outside.
That fills my cup. For some of you, you're like, no, I need to be inside with room service. Like you do you, boo, boo. Whatever it is.
But you should know yourself, like, what. What is it that fills your cup? Is it fishing? Is it golf? Is it hunting? Is it. Is it shopping? You know, like, what is it that fills your cup? And do you. Do you. Do you plan for that? Do you prioritize it? Do you budget for it? Do you. Do you protect it?
One of the things that, you know, when I. When I do this, I come back, I'm lighter. I have. I feel like I forgot about things I never realized until I was in my 30s. Like, hitting a little white golf ball, like, right out into the woods.
Never towards the green, towards the woods. Like, for some reason, like, my mind just resets. And when I get angry at a little white ball, like, I just. I don't get angry at people as much.
But I found that that wasn't true in my 20s. Like, golf is for old people. In your 30s, you're like, I am old. And this is awesome.
But each season of your life, you're going to recognize that some of the things that used to fill your cup and give you energy and take your mind off things, they're not going to be the same. But you should know what that is, and ask yourself, does it. Does it still fill my cup? And remind yourself that this is not just physical rest. You do need to rest your body. You cannot be healthy without rest. Come on, somebody. You can't work out 24, 7. Like, I'm the healthiest person ever. You're going to die. Like, that's not good for you. You have to let yourself recover. Come on, somebody.
You have to recover.
And it's good for you. But you also are not just a body. You are a soul.
Your soul is your mind, your will, your emotions. Your emotions need a rest, somebody.
Your will, your ambition, your drive, it needs a rest.
Your brain needs to shut off.
You also, you have a spirit.
The spirit needs to rest from constantly thinking it has to earn. God's anything.
Need a break from constant stimulation.
We're the most overstimulated generation of all time. You need a break where you look back on your life, you look back on your week and say, is it good, God? Am I okay?
What would you have me do next? How can I honor you today by just being still, taking a deep breath.
God has a healthy rhythm for each of us, and he Built it into the story, and now you know the rest of the story. Come on, somebody. I want to finish up right there. Would you bow your head and close your eyes? If you're watching online, I want to. I want to just pray for you. I want to remind you that if you feel like this is an important message for our world, then do us a huge favor. Would you share this on social media? It always makes a massive difference when you do. There's a lot of people that do not have a home church, that don't get fed the word of God, that don't understand what it means. Like to have the word of God fed to you. And it makes a big difference. When you determine that you're going to be a part of the solution, use your social media to evangelize and share the gospel. Thank you very much for that.
As we bow our heads in prayer today, I just want to ask by the simple lifting of your hands, how many of us would say, pastor, I'm going to be honest with you.
I've been struggling in the rest apart, but you're speaking directly to me. I'm not sleeping well. I've got a lot of things on my mind. Fighting anxiety, fighting rest. I have to make myself try to shut things down. Where are you guys at? Let me just see your hands all across the screen place. Can we be honest today?
You can put your hands down. There's. There's almost everybody here has their hands raised. Thank you, Holy spirit. You're speaking to us. Father, we know that your word is alive.
Your word is a sword.
It's not here to just encourage us and inspire us. It also corrects us.
We recognize that Lord, busy is.
Is not what you've called us to be.
Productive, rested, healthy rhythms.
Father, we see the pattern in your word and we recognize your heart for us is to bless us and to destroy the mentality that we are, what we produce.
To destroy the mentalities that we could never be anything more than who we are.
To destroy the mentality that we have to work to earn anything. Lord, destroy those things in us. Help us to rest. Help us to be still and know that you're God.
Help us to breathe deep, to reflect, to use the time wisely so we can honor you with our rest.
And now with heads bowed and eyes closed, some of us that are listening to this message, some that are watching it, some of you are sitting in the room today and you're saying, pastor, if I'm going to be honest with you, I don't have a Relationship with Jesus. I don't know what that is.
I came to church today to try this out, but I want a relationship with Jesus. My friend, you're in the right place. I would love to introduce you to Jesus. And it starts with a prayer. I want to help you with that. For others, you say, pastor, I was raised in church.
I need to come back to the Lord. I've been backslidden. I've walked away from God. I need to repent. I need to come home. My friend. Yes, you do. And today is your day. I would love to help you.
So please let me help you. Like somebody helped me one time. They loved me enough to pray with me, and it changed my life.
So with heads bowed and eyes closed, if you want a relationship with Jesus or if you've been away from God and need to come home, pray this prayer with all of us. We're going to pray this prayer out loud so you don't feel embarrassed in any way. So, saints, come on, let's pray this together. Just say, jesus, I believe you're the son of God.
I believe that you came and died, and I believe you rose from the grave so that I could have life and forgiveness for my sins.
Please forgive me and I'll give you the rest of my life.
Thank you for loving me and Jesus name with heads bowed and eyes closed. If that was you and you say, pastor, I prayed that prayer.
I prayed that prayer. That was me. Would you just look up at me from wherever you are and lift your hands all across this place? I'm not going to embarrass you in any way. Good. Would you lift up your hands, say, that was me? I pray that prayer. Good. Yes, sir. I see you.
Yes, ma'. Am. I see you, ladies. Good for you. Would you guys put your hands down?
I'm so proud of you in the decision that you just made, and I actually would love to connect with you. The easiest way to do that is I want to ask you to text me. There's a phone number that's going to appear on the screen behind me. It's appearing on your screen at home as well. Would you text the words I prayed to that number?
Then I'm just going to send you back a link to some videos that I've made that will help you understand the prayer that you just prayed and what you should do next, what this means. I'm super proud of you. How rich family. Go ahead and look up at me if you would, and let's stand to our feet together as we prepare to close out our service today, I want to remind you, would you be praying for our Dominican Republic team? We pray our missionaries around the world keep them in your prayers. It's never safe to just leave the comfort of your home and go to places where there's a lot of lot of spiritual forces that you're up against. So pray for them this week, if you wouldn't mind. We appreciate that so much. Once again, I want to say thank you. For those of you who are tithing here, who are financially standing behind us, it's making a massive difference. There's a lot of people all over this world that are counting on us here in Longview, Texas to step out of that poverty mindset and say, lord, use me. You've blessed me. I know that you have more for me. I want to be a part of the solution, not part of a problem.
I'm so grateful for many of you that have chosen to give here. It's a big deal. I'm going to invite our elders and their wives forward and some of our pastors are going to join them as well. We would love to just make ourselves available to pray for you. So if you're walking through a dark season, if you're fighting through an addiction, if you're having difficulties in your marriage, I want you to know that you're going to fight through something.
And most of that is you're afraid that people around you are going to judge you if you get prayed for. Let me just tell you, this is a judgment free zone. Come on, somebody.
And most of us are not thinking about how messed up you are. We're all thinking the same thing. Good.
Help them, Jesus, because we've been here too.
Everybody needs some help and we would love to pray for you. So as our service ends today, we're going to be available to pray for you about anything that you might need prayer for. For everyone else, let me bless you as we finish today. Father, would you bless my friends with an incredible week being led by your spirit? I pray that they would accomplish more than they ever thought they could accomplish because they work from a place of rest. Help them to understand what fills their cup. Help them to understand who you are. Help them to take some time to just simply rest in the finished work of Christ and to recognize who they can be and who they are because of the gift that you've given to each of us. Help us to rest well and be blessed in Jesus name. And all of us said together. Amen. God bless you as you go. Have a wonderful week.
[00:48:05] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening.
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