Resting In God Series

We have been speaking about being a church on mission and what that means. The church was not created to be inward-focused or static. God did not create the church to be a place for people to attend, to hear His Word and then go back home or to work and leave the gifts and talents He has given us on the shelf. We come together for teaching, fellowship, prayer and to be prepared and equipped for the calling He has on our lives.

Jesus commissioned us with the gospel, the good news, the teaching of Scriptures and as a church to take this gospel to every nation. We want to be a church that is going - not just taking a message of truth to people but living out this message in the spheres of influence He has placed us. A church on mission is one that lives to fulfill HIs mission - to accomplish His work on this earth.

I believe that we are a church that is on mission. On mission for our families, on mission for our community, on mission for the world around us, all for the glory of God. But in order to be a church on mission, in order to do the will of God as a church we need to be abiding in His life. Abiding means being in communion with God and resting in Him. So today I want to look at a passage of Scriptures that talks about what it means to trust in and rest in the Lord.

It’s interesting that today’s topic is rest - it’s one thing I definitely didn’t get at the Chapel Kids Camp this past week. But when I’m talking about rest, I am referring to different dimensions of rest which can include physical, mental, sensory, spiritual, and social rest. We all need rest because we live in a fast-paced world, filled with expectations and obligations that demand our attention and engagement. Life and everything in it, whether it’s church, work, university, family, friendships - carry unrelenting commitments and stresses. With the speed that we are running through life, we can often find ourselves like Jackson Brown’s song describes, “running on empty.”

But you don’t have to even be running at an insane pace to be running on empty. The primary issue here isn’t always the pace and demands of your life. The issue really has to do with the health of your soul (your inner life). This is why rest is so important, because though we are designed to be going and growing as God’s people and as His church, we are also designed for rest.

Let’s read Luke 6:1-11

1 Now it happened that Jesus was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath, and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus, answering them, said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, 4 how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?” 5 And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

6 On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught; and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 Now the scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse Him. 8 But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And he got up and came forward. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you whether it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. 11 But they themselves were filled with senseless rage, and began discussing together what they might do to Jesus.

We see that Jesus was walking with His disciples through some grainfields one Sabbath. What is the Sabbath? The Sabbath was referred to in the first few chapters of Genesis after God created everything in 6 days and rested, then it was codified in the Ten commandments in Exodus 20:

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work (Exo 20:8-10).