Finding Soul Rest in Christ's Invitation

1. "What I want you to know this morning is don't feel bad about needing a nap sometimes or a moment to yourself. Maybe you've seen this if you're on social media at all. I've seen this a lot over the past few months. This, I guess it's a meme, I don't know, but I took a screenshot so I can read it. It says, this is your gentle reminder that one time in the Bible, Elijah was like, God, I am so mad I want to die. And so God said, here's some food and why don't you have a nap? And so Elijah slept, ate, decided things weren't so bad. Never underestimate the spiritual power of a nap and a snack." [01:22] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "You see, when we come to Jesus, when we take his yoke and we truly learn from him, then we are able to experience this deep soul rest that only he can offer. But that phrase, those words, soul rest, maybe it's a little confusing. Like, what is soul rest? What do we mean by that? Because we live in this world that's just constantly on the move, right? Many of us, we're overwhelmed by work and family responsibilities and things we've overcommitted to." [04:10] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "And so with soul rest, there's this inner peace that happens. Right? This peace that surpasses all understanding. A peace that remains even in the midst of trials and tribulations. We read about this in Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 through 7, when the Apostle Paul writes, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." [05:31] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "You see, Jesus offers forgiveness and reconciliation with God, no matter what you've done, no matter what you've said. You see, when you come to Jesus, when you believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, there is freedom. There is forgiveness. There is healing. The enemy, that we have when we're in Christ, Satan, he's going to do everything he can to try and get you to doubt that freedom, to doubt that forgiveness, to say, man, I've done something so terrible that God can never forgive me. That is a lie from Satan that we need to stop believing." [06:54] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "Soul rest also offers fulfillment. It's found in the wholeness that comes from living in alignment with God's will, with his purpose for our lives. John 10, 10 says the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. It's the fullness of life that Jesus promises. Abundant life. Life lived in alignment with God's will. And soul rest is absolutely essential for our well-being. It provides us with strength, with clarity, with peace and hope in the midst of life's challenges." [08:19] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "You see, for a sheep to lie down and rest, four conditions must be met. Because I'm Baptist, we tried to find some alliteration for them. So these four things are fear, friction, flies, and food. And what's interesting is that, again, it is the role, it is the responsibility of the shepherd to make sure the sheep can rest, right? To provide relief from these four things. And so let's take a look at them. The first one is fear. You see, sheep are easily spooked. They're naturally timid. They're easily frightened. They often get scared without even knowing what they're afraid of." [11:02] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "And so sheep, they have to be able to put aside their fears, and they can only do that when they know that the shepherd is in the field with them, because they know that shepherd. They know that that shepherd will protect them and keep them safe from predators. And it's the same for us. We need security that comes from knowing that God is our protector, that we have a good shepherd in Jesus who's willing to lay down his life for us. John chapter 10 verse 11, I am the good shepherd, Jesus says." [13:41] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "You see, sheep are notoriously nasty to each other. In a flock there's something called the butting order. B-U-T-T. Butt. Butting order. Now if you're in middle school or like me a grown adult who sometimes thinks like a middle schooler and relates to middle schoolers easily you probably laughed at that or you didn't do it out loud because you're embarrassed of the people next to you. It's okay. There's this butting order that happens with the sheep and it's real. Like literally they headbutt each other over the silliest of things sometimes." [15:01] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "And so what the sheep does or what the shepherd does for the sheep is he provides relief from that. He'll actually go and beat some of the sheep to get them to stop causing that friction with the others. And for us our souls find rest when we're at peace with God and with other people. When we're free from relational strife and inner turmoil and it's difficult for us isn't it? Like doesn't it seem like we're constantly having issues with other people?" [16:25] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "True rest is found in him alone. That's why in Matthew 11, 28, Jesus says, come to me, come to the good shepherd, and you will find rest. Our problem is we look everywhere else for it, don't we? Philip Keller tells a story in his book of one time he was leading his flock towards clean water. Like there was actually this creek nearby that came from snow melt. And it was this pure, pristine, clean water that he was leading his flock to. But on the way, the sheep kept stopping. And they were drinking from these muddy puddles in the middle of these dry, dirty fields." [21:58] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)