ESC Shabbat Service: Jason Trevett - The Simplicity of Exhaling

Jul 11, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: At His Feet in the Midst of Chaos

When life demands constant motion, the purest act of worship is stillness. Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet while Martha scrambled to manage tasks. This posture of surrender interrupts productivity culture, trading achievement for intimacy. Being present with Christ anchors us when storms rage, priorities blur, or obligations multiply. The highest calling isn’t efficiency but devotion. True peace begins when we stop striving and start listening. [01:19:11]

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42, ESV)

Reflection: What task or worry keeps you from sitting at Jesus’ feet today? How might choosing stillness reshape your perspective on what truly matters?

Day 2: The Sacred Pause Before the Storm

Breathing isn’t passive—it’s resistance. Just as Jesus calmed the storm, intentional pauses create space for divine intervention. Selah moments—those holy interruptions—allow us to recenter on God’s sovereignty. Like lungs fighting for air, these pauses counteract life’s suffocating pace. When we stop to worship mid-chaos, we declare that the One in our boat matters more than the waves. [01:20:55]

He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:40-41, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you need to insert a “Selah” today? What storm are you facing that requires you to first acknowledge Christ’s presence before seeking solutions?

Day 3: Breathing Life Into Dry Bones

God’s breath transforms dead places. Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones mirrors areas in our lives that feel beyond repair—relationships, dreams, or weary souls. Divine breath isn’t metaphorical; it’s the force that resurrects what we’ve labeled hopeless. Our role isn’t to manufacture revival but to discern where God is already breathing and join Him there. [01:33:20]

Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:5-6, ESV)

Reflection: What “dry bone” situation in your life or community needs you to trust God’s breath more than your own effort? How can you position yourself to partner with His renewal?

Day 4: Divine Interruptions on Ordinary Paths

A thrift store detour in Hawaii became holy ground. Miss Pat’s story reminds us that God hides appointments in mundane moments. Loving others isn’t about grand plans but surrendered availability. The Holy Spirit whispers through coffee runs, grocery lines, and Craigslist searches. Our greatest kingdom work often starts with a simple “yes” to inconvenient prompts. [01:38:34]

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39, ESV)

Reflection: When has an ordinary detour become a divine encounter? What practical step can you take this week to stay alert for unexpected kingdom assignments?

Day 5: The Ripple Effect of Obedience

An eight-year-old’s question about a bike sparked a miracle. Levi’s sensitivity to Colson’s need shows how small obediences create eternal ripples. Every “yes” to the Spirit’s nudge—whether giving $100 or rebuilding a playground—carries disproportionate impact. Our sacrifices of praise aren’t about scale but surrender, trusting God to multiply loaves and fishes. [01:44:12]

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13:15-16, ESV)

Reflection: What “small obedience” have you hesitated to act on? How might embracing it today create ripples beyond your imagination?

Sermon Summary

The call to simplicity begins at the feet of Yeshua, where Mary chose the highest place by choosing the lowest posture. The presence of the King becomes the place where hurry gets laid down, where “if the highest place I reach is at your feet, then I’ve done it all.” Selah names that holy pause, the slow breath before the Lord, the stillness of Psalm 46 where God says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Yeshua in the boat shows that the storm does not get the final word, because the wind and the waves still know his voice.

The simplicity of breathing also has an “equal and opposite reaction.” The pause before the Lord makes the heart sensitive to the movement of the Holy Spirit. Physical hearing may get weak, and the world may sound like Charlie Brown sometimes, but the heart and soul can still grow to hear the voice of the Lord more clearly. The Spirit speaks in everyday life, in conversations, in little nudges, in those moments where a person has to be quiet enough inside to listen.

Ezekiel’s dry bones show the Lord breathing life where there had been no life. The breath of God attaches tendons, brings flesh, covers with skin, and makes the dead live so that everyone knows he is the Lord. That same picture becomes a way to look around and ask where the Lord is already breathing. The difference matters, because something organic that the Holy Spirit is moving in is not the same thing as something people try to manufacture, even with good intentions.

Matthew 22 gives the simple shape of that life: love the Lord with all the heart, soul, and mind, and love the neighbor as oneself. When that is the foundation, simple things can carry the favor of the Lord. Immersions, Shabbat dinners, a thrift store encounter with Miss Pat, and an eight year old’s heart to bless Colson with a bike all show how small acts can become huge when the Spirit is breathing on them. The Lord can use a card, a word, money, a bike, a prayer, or a conversation to say, “I’m with you.”

The testimony from South Africa deepens the same call. God kept asking ordinary people to “just show up,” even when the task was not in their gifting and the place was overwhelming. The word became, “pause for the one,” not change everything, not fix all of Egoli, but find the one and love the one. Hebrews 13 closes the call with praise, doing good, and sharing what is in the hand, because those sacrifices are pleasing to the Lord.

Key Takeaways

1. Stillness trains spiritual hearing The pause before the Lord is not empty space. It is the place where the noise inside gets quiet enough for the Spirit’s nudges to become recognizable. Even when natural hearing fails, the heart can become more trained, more tender, and more ready to move with what God is breathing on. [91:30]
2. God breathes on simple obedience The Lord often puts life on things that look small, plain, and not complicated. Immersions, dinners, conversations, and small acts of kindness can carry more spiritual weight than carefully manufactured programs. The question is not always how impressive something looks, but whether the favor and breath of the Lord are resting on it. [94:24]
3. Love creates room for the Spirit Matthew 22 gives a simple test for Spirit-filled action: love God fully and love the neighbor truly. When that foundation is present, the Holy Spirit has room to move through ordinary moments. A thrift store conversation can become a divine appointment when love listens, notices, and speaks life. [97:07]
4. Small kindness can carry glory An eight year old noticing Colson at the window became a holy moment for a whole family. The bike was not just a gift, it became the Lord’s encouragement on a hard day. The kingdom often comes through a childlike question: how can someone be blessed right now? [101:10]
5. Pause for the one The need in Egoli was massive, but God narrowed the call to one person at a time. “Slow down for the one” keeps compassion from becoming overwhelmed by scale. Faithfulness often looks like showing up, stepping into discomfort, and trusting the Lord to meet the person right in front of the church.

## [123:38]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[79:11] - At the Feet of Yeshua
[80:55] - Selah and the Simplicity of Breathing
[82:05] - The Equal and Opposite Reaction
[88:04] - Stories of Unexpected Blessing
[91:30] - Hearing the Holy Spirit Clearly
[93:20] - Ezekiel’s Bones and God’s Breath
[94:24] - Where the Lord Is Breathing Life
[97:07] - Matthew 22 and Simple Love
[98:34] - A Divine Appointment in Hawaii
[101:10] - Levi’s Gift for Colson
[106:01] - South Africa Testimony Begins
[112:16] - Just Show Up
[123:38] - Slow Down for the One
[132:00] - Praise, Good Works, and Sharing

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Psalm 46:10 (ESV)
"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

Matthew 22:37-39 (ESV)
"And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Hebrews 13:15-16 (ESV)
"Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God."

Observation Questions

In Luke 10, Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet while Martha was distracted by tasks. What does this story reveal about the relationship between stillness and spiritual priority? [01:19:11]
Psalm 46:10 commands, "Be still and know that I am God." What specific actions or postures might "being still" involve in a noisy, hurried world?
The sermon described a thrift store encounter where a simple conversation became a divine appointment. What made this moment spiritually significant? [01:38:34]

Interpretation Questions

Ezekiel’s dry bones were revived by God’s breath (Ezekiel 37:5-6). How does this imagery help us discern the difference between human-driven efforts and God-breathed life in ministry or daily acts?
Matthew 22:37-39 ties love for God and neighbor to the "greatest commandments." Why might loving others create space for the Holy Spirit to move, even in ordinary interactions? [01:37:07]
The South Africa testimony emphasized "pause for the one" instead of trying to fix everything. How does this principle align with Jesus’ teachings about faithfulness in small things? [02:03:38]

Application Questions

What is one practical way you could create intentional "Selah moments" (pauses) this week to quiet internal noise and listen for the Holy Spirit’s nudges?
Think of a "small act" (a card, a prayer, a conversation) you’ve felt prompted to do recently but haven’t yet acted on. What step could you take to obey that prompting? [01:41:10]
The sermon highlighted "loving the one" in overwhelming situations. Who is one person in your life or community God might be asking you to slow down and intentionally serve this week?
Reflect on a time when a simple act of kindness (like Levi’s bike gift) impacted you. How could you pay forward that kind of unexpected blessing to someone else? [01:44:12]
Hebrews 13:16 calls believers to "do good and share." What is one tangible way you could sacrificially share your time, resources, or words to reflect God’s love today?

Sermon Clips

49s

#ListenWithHeart

“``But I'm glad that even though my physical hearing may not be what it used to be, my heart and my soul can still grow to hear the voice of the Lord. And that's what I wanna strive for each and every day. I wanna hear more clearly the Holy Spirit, and I wanna invest my time in the places that he's calling me to. So listening and searching for the voice of the Lord is such an important aspect of our walk with him. When we are taking time to breathe, to pause, and to be present in the presence of the Lord, the reaction to that is we are able to hear more clearly and sense the movement of the Holy Spirit. And I wanna spend more of my time investing in those things that the Lord is breathing on.”

49s

#SmallActsBigImpact

“Cost a little bit of time, some money, different things. It was a bike. It was out of the box, maybe. In some ways, they had to think about it. But man, did the Lord breathe on it and did he use it at the right time just to speak life into our family? And those opportunities are all around us and I just wanna encourage us just to even take the time. That's when we talked about in the first part of breathing to pause, to let the Holy Spirit just fill our hearts and then listen, listen for him, what's he speaking? And then, do the action that maybe he's calling you to do. And it's amazing when we feel the nudging of the Holy Spirit, we act on it and how even with simple words or actions, it can have a huge impact on other people.”

55s

#AtHisFeet

“I feel like I could just stay in the bridge of that song, What a God, for the rest of today. Oh my goodness. Just it's so powerful. And I've been thinking and reading from Luke 10 where Mary Martha are interacting with Yeshua. Martha's working to try and get the house ready and Mary's just at the feet of Yeshua and it's just really impacted my heart and soul. And just to think about if the highest place I reach is at your feet, then I've done it all. And I just oh, Lord. I just wanna be at your feet. I just simply wanna be before you, Yeshua, and just lay all those things down. We're talking about simplicity this year. I just simply wanna be at your feet, Lord. I just wanna be with the king just in his presence just to be there with him.”

32s

#PauseForTheOne

“but that was the one that was available because I was working ECD. So I show up. They're like, okay. We'll pray. Well, Kathy, you pray. And I'm like, okay. Alright. So show up. Lord, what do you want me to say? And so I got to pray for Alethia, who was just in a dark place. But there was one woman that was missing, and so Heather said, we've gotta go look for the one. And pastor Brian, at the beginning of the week, had said, want you to slow down for the one. You are not here to change a goalie. You are not here for anybody else. You're here for the one. I want you to pause for the one.”

49s

#DivineEncounter

“And so I just love those kind of encounters that we can have with people. And I've gone I've been very blessed. I've gotten to leave worship in front of like hundreds of people, do all kind of meet, you know, high ranking speakers, and all those different things. It's such a blessing. But there's nothing like an encounter like this, where it's a divine appointment, and you're just speaking life into someone who's having a hard day, or they need to hear. And you walk you walk away and it's like, what was that? Like, where did that come from? And you feel the favor of the Lord with you, you know, in the midst after you're walking away. There's there's nothing like it. And it's simply because we're loving the Lord with all of our heart, and then we're exercising that by loving our neighbor.”

57s

#SimpleAndImpactful

“And it was this simple thing, and we would pack out his condo. We had like 30 to 40 people that would show up once a month to his house. Super easy to do. It wasn't like some complicated thing, but the presence of the Lord was always there with us. And it was just amazing just to have the group of people worship together and just for someone to speak life into us, but it was like an organic thing. Wasn't like I was forcing it to happen. There's been plenty of things, twenty some years working here and being a minister. There's been plenty of things where, oh, we should do this, you know, other congregations do it, and we've tried to put on that program. And it doesn't go anywhere, and there can be a lot of effort to try and get it off the ground. And that's what just the Lord was putting on my heart for this year, To look at the things that are around that he's already breathing on, and it can be simple, but super impactful.”

55s

#BaptismAndFavor

“So this was my first time, being able to go and witness it, and it was just so amazing. And it was this organic thing that the Lord was breathing on. We had about 90 people there. I think 10 people were immersed, and you could just feel the Lord's presence while we're there. It wasn't some complicated service where we had like this huge amazing worship team or a high profile speaker, but you could feel the favor of the Lord was with all of us there, and he was breathing in life. And one of the reasons you could see the favor of the Lord was people were simply declaring their faith in Yeshua, and following the commandment of being immersed as an example of their life, being transformed and dedicated to the Lord.”

70s

#GodUsesKids

“Isn't that amazing? Oh, man. That's hard not to cry watching that one. And it all comes from an eight year old talking with his mom. How can we bless Colson? And what can we do for him? And the thing is is that, oh, that's so special to me because that was such a hard day. It was a hard day. I won't forget that day. One of those days where you're driving home and like, Lord, are you forsaking me? What is going on in life? Do I wanna still do this for me personally? And I pulled up on the street and I saw my kid riding a bike that I've never seen before. And so it's like the encouragement of the Lord just speaking to, I'm with you and I'm using a I'm using a eight year old to prove the favor of the Lord for you and your family. And it's just I'm just so thankful for that. I'm thankful for the butchers doing it. And just these little things, that is something that the Lord was breathing on.”

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ESC Shabbat Service: Jason Trevett - The Simplicity of Exhaling

Devotional

Day 1: At His Feet in the Midst of Chaos

Day 2: The Sacred Pause Before the Storm

Day 3: Breathing Life Into Dry Bones

Day 4: Divine Interruptions on Ordinary Paths

Day 5: The Ripple Effect of Obedience

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

ESC Shabbat Service: Jason Trevett - The Simplicity of Exhaling

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