Rest Rythms

Soul Care • Sermon • Submitted 8 months ago • Presented 8 months ago

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Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Matthew 11:25-30

If you forgot your Bible please use the one in front of you and if you dont have a Bible at all, please take home the one in front of you as a free gift to you

Soul Care

If you are joining us for the first time today, you are joining us at the tail end of our sermon series called Soul Care

And so first - I do want you to know that we care for your soul

We believe that scripture teaches that our body is seperate from the soul and while our physical bodies may die,

Our soul lasts for an eternity

And even though our soul lasts for an eternity and our body will pass away, we still often tend to neglect the soul and worry mostly about the physical and mental state

And please do not get me wrong, I believe that we need to be concerened about our physical and mental state

Those are important

But often, the soul is neglected

And what we saw last week in Matthew 11 is that Jesus does care for your physical and mental state

Jesus healed and performed many other miracles that shows that he cares for the physical and mental

But that was the not the purpose as to why he came

Jesus did not come to heal your current physical body - rather he came to reconcile your soul

What we find in the very beginning of scripture - in the book of Genesis

Is that all other creation was created instantly - but with man, God formed the body and then breathed life into him

And God then distinguished and gave responsibility to both the flesh and the soul

That the flesh of man was to live and tend to the garden but the soul of man was to be unified with God through obedience

And the soul - to be unified with God is to be eternal

When we die, our physical body is buried but our soul lives on

And because of the fall of Adam and Eve disobeyed God,

They did not experience a physical death - rather they had a spiritual death

Their soul was imperfect and therefore severed from a Holy and righteous God

Their nature became a sinful nature and would be passed on to everyone born after them

Everyone born after them are born with a nature that is spiritually dead, contrary and separated from God’s law

And from the very fall of Adam - God gave a promise that he would redeem Adam and Eve, that he would redeem his all of his people back to him

And God’s plan of redemption is that he would send his one and only son Jesus to earth - to live and walk among the people - fully man and fully God

But remember that Jesus’ mother Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit

That Jesus was not born from the seed of man, but from God as God

And so yes, Jesus had the physical body and bodily needs that we have

But his spiritual nature - being from God and being God, was not born seperated from the Father

He lived a life of no sin

And yet - even though he had nothing wrong - he was unjustly sent to the cross

And Jesus, willingly submitted to the plan of the Father

Jesus willingly submitted to the love of his people

And Jesus willingly went to the cross to die

And what we know is that he did not stay dead, but arose from the grave on the third day

And because of his God nature, his death and resurrection solidified the conquering of sin and death

And in his conquering he redeemed all of his people

That as the Holy Spirit draws and changes hearts, the people see and understand, and realize they need Christ, so they put their faith and trust in Jesus, and they are forgiven of their sins

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30 -

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus has done the hard part of dying for you - He died so that you dont have to fight or work your way to be reconciled to God

But he did so so that by your faith and trust in him - you can find rest for your soul

The Question

And often, even as Christians, while we know that our soul is eternally secure with the Father, we have a tendency to burden it with our own junk and mess

This is done sometimes without even knowing or realizing it

And that is why we talked about you having to be a steward of your soul - why you should bring fellow brothers and sisters around you - why you should find a church with a pastor who cares for your soul

Because as you walk and live in this life - there is also another who opposes your soul

Satan will try to tempt you into stumbling

And then he will take your stumbling and try to spiral your soul as far away from the Holy Spirit as possible

He will try to decieve you with words that are contrary to God’s word

And if we are not on guard, if we arent protecting our souls, if we are not nurturing our souls -

We can open ourselves up to burdening ourselves

Now I know this is not what you want, we know this is not what God wants - so it brings the question -

How do we live in the comforting rest of the gospel rest of Jesus Christ?

We are going to be asking and answering this question over the next two weeks

Rest Rythms

This week we are going to be answering this question by looking at rest rythms

And if we are to look up the word Rythm, the definition is

Rythm - a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.

strong - regular - repeated pattern - movement

With the start of school, many families are starting to get their morning rythm in order

Each morning there are regular things that have to be done - wake up kids, dress, lunches, get ready for work, drop off kids, be on time for work, etc.

And each morning at least Mon-Friday these regular things that have to be done becomes a pattern

And the more this pattern is done, the stronger the pattern becomes

The more refined the pattern comes

And when something happens that throws off the rythm, it is felt and completely throws of the rythm

However, no matter messed up that morning becomes, it must be completed

There are breaks in the rythm - Saturday and Sunday are generally different rythms than Mon-Fri

These rythms are intended to be breaks

The same can be said for sound in the rythm of music - pretty music generally has rythm and musicians need to have a sense of rythm in order to be effective

Now there is also something in music called syncopated rythm where there are two or more rythms with a piece of music and both rythms must keep to their own rythm in order for the musical piece to sound good

In music there are breaks within the rythm that are used to help bring balance, musical effect, and rest for the musician who is performing

In the same way - we should have a physical rythm of life (like in our physical example

But we should also have a spiritual rythm of the soul

And both of these should work together to bring a strong and beautiful life

And what helps to make this a strong and beautiful life,

Is the rest that is inserted within the physical rythm of life and in spiritual rythm of the soul

And what we will see today is that God himself has given us the principle rythm of this rest

So that we can insert it into our own beautiful life

God the Father shows us this principle and we will also see God the Son, Jesus bring this principle

If you are able to stand, I ask that you please do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it as you follow along,

Mark 1:35–39 “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.”

This is the Word of the Lord, you may now be seated

Active Rest

God’s rest is still active

What we find in the gospel of Mark is that John Mark gets straight to the point of Jesus’ works and teaching

In just one chapter we find the baptsim of Jesus, the temptation of Jesus, the beginning of Jesus’ ministry

The calling of the first disciples, and the work of Jesus healing others and casting out demons

And if we look at just chapter 1 alone, we can look at Jesus and see that he was a busy man

And he wasnt busy just to be busy, he was teaching, and preaching, and healing

Jesus was doing ministry work as the Messiah

And what we find in the midst of Jesus doing all of this work is that he got up in the early morning

He went to a desolate place - and there he prayed

And the first thing that stands out is that Jesus - laboring daily

doing his ministry work - got up early

Now, I wont say that Jesus was only getting 4 hours of sleep

He may have gone to bed early the night before

He may have stayed up late teaching the disciples

I dont know, but what we do know is that he got up early - while it was still dark - he went to a quiet place - and he prayed

Now, you early birds may think this is a piece of cake but the people in the room who love their sleep are scared what I am going to say next

Because getting up early while it is still dark is hard for a lot of people

And I cannot state as fact what Jesus’ physical state was at the point but I would imagine that he is tired

Jesus is teaching, preaching, and healing - so much so that the line is out the door

Earlier in verse 33 it says that the whole city was at the door

If they had fire marshalls - the fire marshalls didnt care wbout the occupancy rules because Jesus was healing casting out demons

Keep them coming - one by one

And I am unsure at what point or even know how Jesus decided when to stop - Maybe it was the disciples

But what we find in our text today is that as the disciples come to Jesus - there are even more people waiting and wanting to be healed

And so I would imagine in Jesus’ flesh that his body was tired

Jesus was fatigued

And yet, he still wakes up early, goes to a quiet place, and he prays

Now, the second thing I find interesting about this is that Jesus goes to pray

If you are like me, it probably takes some concentration to pray

To not let yourself get distracted by other thoughts, to think about what to pray for next, and just to try to stay awake

So can you imagine being tired and then having to concentrate to pray - what a struggle that could be

And yet - prayer and solitude is what Jesus sought in the midst of being weak in the flesh

And so the question is why?

Practically speaking - the first thing we can say is that really is the only time Jesus could get away

As soon as the disciples wake up - as we will talk about soon - its go time!

THe questions and the ministry begins

But even more important than finding a quiet place is seeking the strength and wisdom of God the Father

While Jesus may be weak in the flesh, the supernatural power and peace that the Father gives is worth it

Jesus finds his rest and comfort from God the Father

And what would seem contrary to us - makes perfect since with God that to find rest you must be active

Remember last week we talked about the yoke of Christ - we still wear a yoke - we must be active - but it is not budensome

Rather - with Christ you have the strength, and the peace, and the perseverence to face tomorrow

And here is God the Son, seeking to be with God the Father to push past his fleshly limitation to find strength and peace, and perseverence to face the ministry of the day

And to talk about an active rest may seem weird - but I quickly want to take you back to Genesis 2 and see where this active rest comes from

Genesis 2:1–3 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

God rested - he rested from all of his work

But he did not take a break from being God

He was still holding all things together

He was still over all things

He was still in charge of all things

God did not rest from being God

And what we find here in Mark is that Jesus finds rest from the ministry but he doesnt do that by sleeping in

He doesnt take a day off from healing people - he later gets attacked because of this

Jesus doesnt find rest by giving up his responsibility

But he finds rest in going to the Father - to be with the Father - to seek what only the Father can give

Jesus’ rythm of work included a rythm of rest - but its not the kind of rest that we would expect

And when the rythm of his body was failing - he knew he had to strengthen it by the rythm of his divinity

And I am not sure how long he was praying but long enough that the disciples maybe slept in - and then probably spent a good amount of time looking for Jesus

And finally - finally they find him

And I would imaging that they didnt really respect his prayer time - usually you see someone praying and you bow your head or wait until they are done praying to interject

Well I dont know if Jesus took a break - You guys might think I pray long - can you imagine waiting on Jesus!?

But the disciples find Jesus and they inform Jesus that everyone is looking for him!

The word over wonders

The people want more healing!

You have to continue to win them by healing!

They will follow you if you heal!

We need you to continue to display your supernatural power!

And what does Jesus say to this?

He says, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”

I would think that if the disciples had baloons, they just heard them deflate

You mean you arent going to go heal?

And the next line reaffirms what Jesus meant - And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.”

Jesus came to teach - Jesus came to give a testimony of who he his - the casting out of demons and the acts of mercy healing others were acts to affirm and point to Jesus as the Messiah

Jesus’ primary ministry was to teach and preach to the people and to magnify who he is

And it all stemmed out of his divinity - out of who he was and who he is

That Jesus’ very nature of being fully God and fully man worked together to redeem a fallen people

Brothers and sisters we are the fallen people!

Application

We need an active rest

And even when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ - we still have bodies and our bodies are weak

And unlike Jesus, we arent divine but we need to understand that because of our faith in Jesus we are connected to the divine

That the Holy Spirit resides within you to bring rest to your soul and give you peace that surpasses all understanding

And so if Jesus integrated a restful rythm in his divinity

We too must incorporate a restful rythm for our soul

And this rest for our soul is not a passive, lazy, absolved from all responsibility kind of rest

Rather - we have an active rest that seeks the strength, wisdom, and peace of God

An active rest that rests in God’s word, that rests in worshiping him, that rests in praying to him!

Brothers and sisters - we live in a world today that tells you to work work work

Make as much money as you can

THe grind never stops

But we find this principle from God who rested from his work

And Jesus - finds his rest early in the morning and uses it to be with God

Brothers and sisters If your soul rythm is disruppted by your physical rythm your song will not be beautiful

The grind should not and cannot be more important than the rest from your work and the resting in Christ

So what is your soul rythm and what is your rest within that rythm?

Combining these principles together - You are here today, not working at your jobs so you are resting from your work AND you could be at home lounging around in your Pajamas still -

Rather - you are here to worship, to pray, to dig deep into Gods word and learn how it is applicable for your life

You are resting in Christ by gathering together as the body of Christ to find rest in Christ

So apply this to the previous sermon of Never Miss Church and the gathering of the people - when we said to find rest in Christ

This is exactly what we are talking about - that going to church should be an important rest rythm for your soul

To nurture and protect your soul

To start your body rythm strong and resh and renewed by the power of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit

And because our physical rythm gets beaten down - because our thoughts can get out of whack and the temptations for the flesh can become great

We should have a daily rythm of rest that mimics the gathering on Sunday

To find a quiet place whenever you can to worship, pray, and get deep into God’s word

And sometimes it may be hard, you may be tired, but the gathering on Sunday and the daily rest you should have are an active rest

And here is the beautiful thing - That when you go to God to rest, to praise him, to seek him, - He does not leave you void - he doesnt leave you on empty

Rather - He does sustain you and strengthens you, and works on your behalf to care for your body to care for your mind, and to care for your soul

In Exodus we see God being faithful to his people the Israelites

Exodus 34:6–7“The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.””

And this God the God of the Old Testament is the same God in the New Testament and he is the same God to us today

He is merciful and gracious - slow to anger - abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, forgiving our transgressions

Why would we not make time to rest in God daily!?

That while we may not always see miraculous, he is ready to speak to us through his word

For us to trust him and to trust his word

Gospel Presentation

If you are here today and you have never found rest in God because youve never believed in Jesus

There will be a time today in our prayer to give your life to him

To find an everlasting and sustaining rest in Him

To trust him to care for your soul

To submit to him as the creator and supreme authority

To acknowledge that your flesh is weak and needs a rythm of rest

To acknowledge that your soul needs rest

I plead with you today - Jesus is the rest you need - believe in him today

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