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Brandon Fisher 10/2/22 Brandon Fisher 10/2/22

Pause to Restore

Brandon Fisher

The Sabbath specifically (and rest generally) can so easily become just another duty for us to do. But it was never meant to be this way. The Sabbath is a gift that God gives to us so that we might regularly be restored and renewed. We need to realize that resting will require boundaries, but those boundaries are about restoring health and life (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual). We need to be both carful of making rules where God has made none, and careful of disregarding what God says is good. Resting well will require asking good questions, putting into place good boundaries, and developing good practices and habits. But we also need to remember that none of these things can provide us with the rest we ultimately need. It’s only in Christ that we find true rest for our souls.

Mark 2:23-3:6; Luke 6:1-11; Matthew 11:25-30

Kyle Kauffman 9/25/22 Kyle Kauffman 9/25/22

Pause to Relate

Kyle Kauffman

There is a constant danger in our lives to prioritize things that don’t really matter and deprioritize things that do really matter. Or to prioritize things of less importance of things of greater importance. Part of the danger of being so busy and never (or rarely stopping to rest) is that we never get the chance to ask, “What really matters in this life?” At the top of our list should be relationships. Both our relationship with God and our relationships with other people are meant to be of greatest importance in our lives. This is why God’s greatest commandment is to love Him and love your neighbor. But these relationships get displaced by all sorts of other (often good) things. Pausing both helps us to remember how important relationships are and provides us with the time and space to enjoy the relationships we have.

Luke 10:38-42; Luke 14:16-24; Matthew 22:34-40

Kyle Kauffman 9/18/22 Kyle Kauffman 9/18/22

Pause to Rejoice

Kyle Kauffman

Rest is intricately connected to the gospel. God sets his people free from slavery so that they can rest. Jesus invites his people to come to him so that they can find rest. The future we are promised in Christ is a future of eternal rest. Our failure to rest well is in many ways a failure to believe the gospel. When we don’t believe the gospel we look to other false gods to save us. But these gods just end up enslaving us and robbing us of rest. But when we believe in the gospel we are free to rest today because God has finished the work to save us in Christ. And we are free to rest today because God’s promises to us are secured in Christ. We rest well when we believe the gospel and rejoice in all that God has done and promises to do for us.

Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Matthew 11:25-30; Luke 10:17-20; Hebrew 4:1-11

Kyle Kauffman 9/11/22 Kyle Kauffman 9/11/22

Pause to Remember

Kyle Kauffman

We have a tendency to view rest with either suspicion or as optional add-on to our lives. We think, “If I rest, won’t I miss out on something important in my life, or even worse, become lazy.” Or we think, “Rest is a good thing, but I just don’t have time to rest. Maybe if I get everything done, I’ll rest. Or maybe in another stag of life, I’ll be able to rest. But for now, there is no time to rest.” But from the start for the world, God gave people rest, commanded people to rest, and has connected rest with our faith in him. While the Sabbath looks different for us then it did for the Israelites, the principle remains the same. Rest is not bad, it is good. Rest is not optional, it is necessary. Rest provides the space for us to remember and worship the God who created and sustains everyone and everything. We are invited and commanded to pause and rest so that we might have time to wonder at God, the world he’s made, and the life he’s given to us.

Genesis 1:31-2:3; Exodus 20:8-11