ESC Shabbat Service: The Simplicity of Breathing - Jason Trevett

Devotional

Day 1: Breath as Divine Rhythm in Dust and Spirit

The same breath that animated Adam’s lungs sustains you today—a sacred rhythm binding body to soul. Breathing isn’t just biology; it’s communion with the One who shaped you. Every inhale echoes Eden’s first breath, every exhale releases what no longer serves. To breathe is to partner with the Spirit’s pulse within. [01:47:02]

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. (Genesis 2:7, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you most easily forget that your breath is a holy gift? How might pausing to notice three intentional breaths today shift your awareness of God’s nearness?

Day 2: Rebuking Storms With Trust-Filled Lungs

Chaos stills when weary lungs declare, “He’s in the boat.” The disciples’ panic wasn’t about waves but forgetting who slept beside them. Your storms demand the same choice: frantic gasps or faith-shaped exhales. Peace isn’t the absence of wind but the presence of the One who names himself I Am. [01:57:27]

He woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. (Mark 4:39, ESV)

Reflection: What storm have you been shouting over instead of speaking to? What would it look like to address it with the calm authority of someone who knows the Captain?

Day 3: Selah Moments in a Speed-Wound World

Selah Wren’s name isn’t just cute—it’s a prophetic nudge. Pausing isn’t laziness; it’s resistance against soul-eroding hurry. Like a father dancing with his baby girl, God invites you to step out of productivity’s rush and into the rhythm of awe. What if your busiest day holds hidden altars of stillness? [01:45:50]

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

Reflection: Where have you replaced sacred pauses with checklist Christianity? What mundane moment this week could become your “Selah” if approached with intention?

Day 4: Last Breaths and First Encounters

Dying saints and Hawaiian sunsets both reveal this truth: glory often whispers loudest when we stop explaining. The hospital room thick with worship wasn’t about theology but presence—heaven leaning close to kiss earth. Your grief, stress, or numbness is an invitation to let God breathe where air feels thinnest. [02:03:16]

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. (Job 33:4, ESV)

Reflection: When has God felt more like a doctrine than a living breath to you recently? How might you create space for encounter in the exact place you feel spiritually winded?

Day 5: Stillness as Rebellion Against Unseen Hurry

Routines matter, but not for efficiency’s sake—they’re training wheels for abiding. Sunrise faithfulness isn’t about nailing rituals but noticing the Gardener walking in the cool of your day. What if your next breath became a tiny altar, a choice to trust the pulse of the One who needs no reminders? [01:52:07]

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20, ESV)

Reflection: Where has “busy” become a badge of honor rather than a barrier to intimacy? What one intentional pause will you protect this week to realign with God’s unhurried heart?

Sermon Summary

Breath carries God’s own life. Genesis 2:7 shows the Lord forming humanity and breathing into dust until a living soul stands up, and that breath keeps naming the soul and the Spirit in every inhale. Job 33:4 confesses that the Spirit of God makes a person and the breath of the Almighty gives life, so ordinary breathing becomes a sacrament of dependence. Psalm 46:10 then calls the body and the heart to be still, not as a luxury but as obedience, because stillness is how the soul remembers God is God.

Shabbat trains a rhythm of holy pause. Daily sunrises and sunsets, the appointed feasts, and even the body’s quiet cycles preach that God likes routines that hold people near his presence. A simple practice emerges: breathe, abide, encounter. Selah becomes a household word, not only in Scripture but in pacing a life that stops to adore.

Mark 4 sets the pattern for storms. Yeshua sleeps in the squall, rises, rebukes what rages, and tells the waters to hush. The storm obeys, and the boat learns a new question: who is this? The difference between terror and trust shows up in what the mouth does with its breath. When breath names Yeshua as Creator and King inside the waves, courage rises and the heart steadies.

Creation’s beauty becomes a classroom for oxygen-starved souls. A sky burning with a Hawaiian sunset can feel like looking into the face of the Lord, because the Lord uses beauty to make room to breathe again. Grief and relentless responsibility can grind a person thin, so a slow walk, a quiet drive, and long silence before God can act like rescue breaths. The Spirit often chooses gentle means to refill empty lungs.

Worship turns hospital rooms into upper rooms. Songs on repeat and whispers of “come, Yeshua, come” can thicken the air with presence until ministry quiets and tears handle the talking. Heaven meets earth where the last breaths honor the King, and that encounter becomes a template for ordinary days. Matthew 28:20 then anchors the practice with a promise that Yeshua is with his people always, so pausing is never empty space. This call to breathe is not escape but discipleship, training the church to stand still, receive, and then ride out into storms with a steady gaze and a rested soul.

Key Takeaways

1. Breath bears God’s life and Spirit [01:47:02] Breath is more than biology. Genesis and Job bind breath to soul and Spirit, so every inhale is a witness that life is received, not self-made. Naming that truth out loud can humble hurry and call the heart back under God’s care. [107:02]
2. Stillness becomes faith in the storm [01:57:27] Yeshua’s “Quiet, be still” teaches a way of standing inside chaos without being ruled by it. Stillness here is not passivity but allegiance, a choice to let his authority set the tone rather than the wind. Faith grows when breath is spent agreeing with his command instead of narrating the waves. [117:27]
3. Selah trains the heart to receive [01:52:47] A practiced pause opens room for the Spirit to refill what grief and grind have drained. Selah in the home, in traffic, and in work becomes a lived liturgy that makes healing possible. Without these small altars, even good labor can become breathless striving. [112:47]
4. Shared breath births corporate encounter [02:04:51] When families and congregations gather in one accord, unhurried and attentive, Shavuot-like moments become thinkable. The Spirit loves spaces where pace and purpose align around Yeshua himself. Corporate stillness is not dead air but the runway for holy fire. [124:51]
5. Yeshua rescues the breathless [02:10:19] Some storms leave people treading water. The King who stills seas also reaches for sinking hands, bringing the exhausted into the boat. Prayerful breathing in his presence becomes the first step from panic to peace, because his nearness is the oxygen. [130:19]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[67:10] - Commissioning Grace for Africa
[74:20] - Welcoming Eric and Tanya
[96:45] - Shabbat Shalom and gratitude
[97:51] - Everyday routines and rhythms
[100:34] - Seasons, Shabbat, and steadiness
[101:13] - Shema, feasts, and holy routines
[101:37] - The body’s God-shaped patterns
[103:10] - How breathing keeps us alive
[105:05] - Vision: simplicity, breathe, abide, encounter
[105:50] - Selah and learning to pause
[107:02] - Genesis breath and living soul
[108:23] - Be still scriptures and Job’s line
[108:59] - Yeshua calms the storm
[109:37] - Beauty as a place to breathe
[113:32] - Grief, leadership, and no air
[115:32] - Quieting to receive the Spirit
[116:41] - Reading Mark 4 in full
[117:52] - Who is this in the boat
[118:35] - Using breath to confess Christ
[120:04] - Walking through a last breath
[122:24] - Nurses and strangers interceding
[123:16] - Worship thick in a hospital room
[124:51] - Longing for Shavuot encounter
[125:29] - “I am with you always”
[126:10] - Stillness and ministry time
[130:19] - Prayer for the storm-tossed

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Mark 4:35-41 (ESV)
35 On that day, when evening had come, [Jesus] said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 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?”

Observation Questions

What two specific actions did Jesus take to calm the storm in Mark 4:39, and how did the disciples respond afterward?
In the sermon, the Hawaiian sunset was described as a moment where “beauty became a classroom for oxygen-starved souls” [01:52:07]. What physical and emotional effects did this experience have?
How did the disciples’ question in Mark 4:41 (“Who is this?”) contrast with their earlier reaction to the storm?
What practical examples of “Selah” (pausing to worship) were shared from the hospital room experience? [02:03:16]

Interpretation Questions

Why might Jesus have chosen to sleep during the storm, and what does this reveal about His authority over chaos?
The sermon linked breath to both dependence on God and the Holy Spirit’s presence. How does Job 33:4 (“the breath of the Almighty gives me life”) deepen this connection?
The phrase “stillness is not passivity but allegiance” was used [01:57:27]. How does this redefine what it means to “be still” in a crisis?
Why might corporate worship (“shared breath”) create an environment for encounters like Shavuot (Pentecost)? [02:04:51]

Application Questions

When have you felt spiritually “out of breath” like the example of grief and relentless responsibility [01:53:32]? What gentle, practical step could you take this week to “pause and receive” (e.g., a slow walk, a song on repeat)?
The storm in Mark 4 exposed the disciples’ fear. What current “storm” in your life tempts you to narrate the chaos instead of declaring Jesus’ authority? How could you use your breath to confess His lordship in it?
The Hawaiian sunset was a deliberate pause to “breathe” [01:52:07]. Where could you create a “Selah moment” in your daily routine (e.g., traffic, work breaks) to acknowledge God’s nearness?
The hospital room became a place of worship where “heaven met earth” [02:03:16]. How could you intentionally turn a stressful space (e.g., your workplace, a waiting room) into a place to invite God’s presence this week?
Shared stillness in community was called a “runway for holy fire” [02:04:51]. What would it look like for your family or small group to practice unhurried, attentive worship together?
Jesus’ promise, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20), anchors pausing as “discipleship, not escape.” How might trusting His constant presence change your approach to rest or anxiety today?

Sermon Clips

We all face fear and we can be terrified, but there's something different when our heart and our words and our breath chooses. I will acknowledge Yeshua is with me. He is the king of kings. I will depend on him and it will stir your faith in a different way. And I'm just so grateful that the Lord does that for us, that he is with us in every single storm. And I know that some of you are facing storms that feel so overwhelming right now. I just wanna encourage you to pause and to breathe. Look at who's there with you in the midst of that storm. Like Gabe said, keep your gaze upon the Lord. [01:58:53] (44 seconds) #PauseAndBreathe

The word breathe is mentioned nine times in the book of Job and you think about anyone who needed a breather, it was definitely Job. And Job thirty three four states, the spirit of God has made me. The breath of the almighty gives me life. Mark four thirty five verses to verse 41 is the story of Yeshua calming the storm. Verse 39 says, he got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, quiet, be still. Then the wind died down and was completely calm. [01:48:41] (40 seconds) #BiblicalBreath

So when we breathe, it's not just representation of the breath of life that the Lord's given us, but it's also a representation of the soul he's giving us as well. And for us believers, it's a representation of the Holy Spirit that resides within our hearts and within our lives. Psalms forty six ten, he says, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. That can be hard to do it sometimes just to be still before the Lord. [01:47:52] (36 seconds) #BeStillAndKnow

And I'm so thankful. My mom had just very little time left on earth, but here she was pausing with the last breath that she had in the world. She's acknowledging the king and heaven was coming down to her at that moment. And I was just thinking about it as we were worshiping and all those different things. I want that same encounter now in my life. I wanna experience that on a routine basis. To encounter the Lord in such a beautiful way. [02:04:23] (32 seconds) #LastBreathEncounter

And I'm just gonna tell you, Roussel being Shavuot now, it was like a Shavuot moment just with her in that hospital room. And it was so thick. Was like when the Bible talks about it was hard to minister because of the presence of the Lord. We talked about heaven coming to earth. It's literally what I experienced in that room. I hope my mom felt it too. I know that she did. But it was heaven coming to earth right there in this room and it was so thick I had to turn my eyes because I had to cry. But it was a beautiful thing at the same time. [02:03:44] (40 seconds) #HeavenComingDown

I just wanna breathe in his presence. I wanna breathe and have the Holy Spirit stirred up inside of me, but I wanna have that encounter like Shavuot of heaven coming down here to earth and just thinking about our congregation as well. If we were all in one accord, it was ten days for those in the upper room, but just think about that for your own family. If you're in one accord and you take time to pause and just let the Lord breathe in what that would do for your family, even our community as well. I just really feel like that's something that the Lord wants for us. [02:04:58] (36 seconds) #BreatheTogether

And I was just thinking to myself, man Lord, why was that suspect? Why was this a different kind of trip? And it just wasn't just something that was for fun or just to go on vacation. I just really felt like the Lord said, Jason, you needed to breathe. You needed a time to breathe. And so he's sharing his message, he's giving us those 10 points to go through and for us to keep our gaze upon him. I started to get emotional just thinking about that. Just his faithfulness and his goodness allowing me to breathe. I didn't realize that I was out of oxygen spiritually, physically, all the different things. And he's just so gracious and I'm so thankful for that. [01:52:32] (44 seconds) #RefilledByGod

I don't wanna be so busy. I'm looking at the Lord but I'm doing so many different things. There's times in our life where we have to pause for our family, pause for our self, just breathe and let the Holy Spirit be stirred inside of our hearts and in our lives. So when the Lord was stirring in me this word breathe a year ago, I never could have imagined that I would end up watching my mom take her last breath here on earth by the end of the year. [01:59:37] (27 seconds) #SlowDownAndBreathe

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ESC Shabbat Service: The Simplicity of Breathing - Jason Trevett

Devotional

Day 1: Breath as Divine Rhythm in Dust and Spirit

Day 2: Rebuking Storms With Trust-Filled Lungs

Day 3: Selah Moments in a Speed-Wound World

Day 4: Last Breaths and First Encounters

Day 5: Stillness as Rebellion Against Unseen Hurry

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

ESC Shabbat Service: The Simplicity of Breathing - Jason Trevett

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