title: rest: take time to smell the roses text: hebrews 4:4-11 theme: god promises the believer a...

TITLE: Rest: Take time to smell the Roses

TEXT: Hebrews 4:4-11

THEME: God promises the believer a lasting spiritual rest through Jesus Christ.

“You are absolutely right my dear, and I suppose that if I did the same thing, I would become

just like him."

“All work and no rest makes Jack neurotic.”

"Listening to Xanax," Lisa Miller

• Americans (and Canadians ?) learned to stop worrying about worry and pop its pills instead. Depression can be a "serious medical problem" that requires medication.”

"Listening to Xanax," Lisa Miller

• Americans (and Canadians) learned to stop worrying about worry and pop its pills instead. Depression can be a "serious medical problem" that requires medication.”,

• Her article focuses on the use of drugs to deal with "low-grade anxiety" about ordinary life (or what she calls "functional anxiety"). If the '90s were the decade of Prozac, then the 2010s have become the era of Xanax.

But, what did people do to handle the stresses of daily life before

Prozac and Xanax?

Mark 6:30

“The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and what they had taught. [31] Then Jesus said, "Let’s get away from the crowds for a while and rest."

Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus said, "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest"

How can the believer find a lasting rest?

I. God rested to give us a model. (Gen. 2:1-3)

Genesis 2:1-3

“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

I. God rested to give us a model.

A. He rested on the seventh day- Sabbath.



B. His rest includes:



B. His rest includes:1. Completing and ceasing what He has done.




2. Reflection on what He has done.




2. Reflection on what He has done.

3. Satisfaction for what He has done.

Daniel Boorstin,“The Image”

“We expect anything and everything. We expect the contradictory and the impossible. We expect compact cars which are spacious; luxurious cars which are economical. We expect to be rich and charitable, powerful and merciful, active and reflective, kind and competitive ….

Daniel Boorstin,“The Image”

“We expect to eat and stay thin, to be constantly on the move and ever more neighborly, to go to a "church of our choice" and yet feel its guiding power over us, to revere God and to be God. Never have people been more the masters of their environment. Yet never has a people felt more deceived and disappointed. For never has a people expected so much more than the world could offer.”

II. God commands the Sabbath as a day of rest.

Exodus 20:1

“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy”


A. It was meant to honour God and what He has done.

Duet. 5:12-15

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work… You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.



B. It was part of the covenant between God and Israel.

Exodus 31:12-18

"Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you and for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes holy… The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever.”




C. It shows God values rest.

A Pastors Observation

“…think of how successful Satan has been in hindering the worship of Christians in 20th century America. We are workaholics, and, in addition, worn out by the time demands of our day. It is no wonder that the quality of our worship is so shoddy. We must have free time to worship, and we must plan our week so that we finish early enough to have that free time. It does take time to be holy.”




C. It shows God values rest.1. He wants our relationship with Him to be restful.




C. It shows God values rest.1. He wants our relationship with Him to be restful.

2. Even without the Sabbath law.

John 6:28-29

"Then they asked him, ’What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ’The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’"


III. God offers us a better rest.



A. Physical rest is still something God values.




B. Today we find rest in Jesus.

Colossians 2:16-17

“Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath Day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.’”




B. Today we find rest in Jesus.1. It is a spiritual rest.

Psalm 62: 1-8

“1 Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. 2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. 3 How long will you assault me? Would all of you throw me down— this leaning wall, this tottering fence? 4 Surely they intend to topple me from my lofty place; they take delight in lies. With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse

Psalm 62: 1-8

5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. 6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. 8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”





2. It is an emotional rest.





2. It is an emotional rest3. Our ultimate rest is eternity.

Hebrews 4:4-11

9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

APPLICATION

1. In Sabbath time we remember to celebrate what is beautiful and sacred; we light candles, sing songs, tell stories, eat, nap. ...we become available to the insights and blessings of deep mindfulness that arise only in stillness and time. When we act from a place of deep rest, we are more capable of cultivating right understanding, right action and right effort."

APPLICATION

2. Learn to slow down. Learn to “smell the roses” as it were. Life goes by too fast and none of us knows when our life will end.

APPLICATION

3.Not only do we have worth when we are working; but we have equal worth when we are simply enjoying God’s good gifts – reading the Scriptures, listening to music, fishing, walking in the woods, playing with our children, having coffee with our spouse, admiring a painting, or eating a hot croissant with jam and butter. And we need regular times of rest to help us remember that.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER: Erma Bombeck

• I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.


• Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.


• When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."


• There would have been more "I love yous".. more "I’m sorrys"...but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it... live it...and never give it back.

title: rest: take time to smell the roses text: hebrews 4:4-11 theme: god promises the believer a...

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