Labor Day

Does anybody enjoy a nice vacation?

Yeah.

Yes, we just got through with summer.

Maybe some of us got to get away and rest a little bit.

I love, personally, just laying on the beach, just soaking up the sun, maybe reading a book,

and then, you know, when it gets too hot, you jump out in the water, and then you just

come back and you do it all over again for a few days straight, and it's amazing.

I also love the mountains, too, outdoors, you know, getting up and hiking and all that

sort of stuff.

And I'm all for a good rest, okay?

I'm all for a good rest, to be able to get away and recharge physically.

You know, I love sleep.

It's great.

Does anybody else love sleep?

Yes, amen.

Give us back nap time, right?

All of that good stuff.

But some of us, maybe, could rest a little too much, which would tend toward laziness,

so maybe we could, some of us might be able to, or we might enjoy rest a little too much,

and maybe some of us tend, trend toward the other side, where we overwork, and we go too

much, and that's also a sinful pattern of behavior, too.

So, laziness, but also overworking.

Overworking and not resting are both not good things that God calls us to.

So, the timing of this weekend, it's Labor Day weekend, right, which is a day where we

get off to celebrate work, which doesn't really make a lot of sense, and we're not starting,

we're starting a new sermon series next week, where we're going to walk through, verse by

verse, the book of Ephesians, which is going to be really cool, but that's starting next

week.

So, this week, it's a perfect opportunity for us to sort of step back a little bit,

and look at a passage of Scripture that addresses rest and work, and how those two sort of come

together and work, because they are two sides of the same coin, rest and work.

Biblically, the two go hand in hand, and I want us to see that, and how that works out.

And when we approach any Scripture, or any topic, we want to know what the Bible has

to say about it, and Scripture has much to say.

Okay, so first, I want to lay down a couple of things.

I want to lay down a couple of things, foundationally, for us to understand, as we talk about this,

to build our foundation of what we believe on these things, okay?

So, first is this, God establishes the rhythm of work and rest in creation.

Do you remember back in Genesis 1, wherever God takes six days, and He creates everything,

and then He says that it's very good, and then on the seventh day, He did what?

He rested, right?

So, we see this pattern from the very beginning in creation.

God works hard for six days.

He does it very well.

He does His work, and He pronounces it very good, and then He rests for a day.

So, this then, biblically, becomes the foundation for us as humans, in our rhythm, in the way

that we do things.

We're to work hard for a specific amount of time, and then we are to rest.

So, this is a pattern, biblically.

We're created in the image of God.

And this is a way that we image Him, this pattern of work, and then rest.

And then we also know that when God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses, to give to

Israel, the people of God, He gives them the number four.

The fourth commandment was, who remembers?

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

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.

So, not only do we see God in creation.

In setting the stage and the foundation for work and then rest, we see Him command His

people to do it as well, work and then rest.

So, clearly, we see the pattern established in Scripture, to work hard and then rest.

God worked hard in creating for six days, and then He rests, and He told His people

to do the same.

So, in our text today that Nathan read, we'll see this pattern given to Jesus, given to

the disciples by Jesus.

Sorry, I messed that up.

Given to the disciples by Jesus.

Given to the disciples from Jesus.

And I want us to see that Jesus sent His disciples out to work and then rest.

Jesus sent His disciples out to work and then rest.

That's a pattern that we see, and I want you to see it in your Bible as well, in the text.

Then I want us to make application to our lives, okay?

And along the way, part of whenever we preach verse by verse through a text, which we're

going to do is sort of teach you how to read your Bible as well, because whenever we go

through verse by verse, we want to be able to pick out the truths that we see.

We want to see what it teaches us about God, what it teaches us about ourselves, and then

we want to make that application to our lives as well, because, and I say this a lot, the

Bible is not about you.

The Bible is not about you.

It's about God.

And how He's bringing all things together through Christ, okay?

So that's what we're going to do today.

Sound good?

Woo!

Who's excited?

Okay.

So let's get to work.

Pun intended.

Come on.

Thank you.

I got one laugh.

All right.

Mark 6, if you're not there already, turn to Mark 6, verses 7 through 11.

It's the second gospel in the New Testament.

And we see from the beginning, Mark 6, verse 7, it says,

He called the twelve, so He brings them together.

He calls them together or summons them.

These are the original twelve disciples, and then He sends them out with a job to do.

He gives them a task.

He said, here's what I want you to do.

And He gives them authority over the unclean spirits.

He tells them they're not going to need anything but their sandals and a jacket.

Don't bring two jackets, though.

And then He gives them some instruction that if people reject them, essentially,

it's okay.

Just move along.

And then He said, all right, get to work.

And then they go.

So Jesus gives the original twelve disciples a job to do here.

He gives them a task.

He assigns them a specific task.

Now, this is not a trick question.

Are you one of the original twelve disciples?

No.

No, you're not.

So He gives them, the original twelve disciples, a specific charge.

However, though you're not one of the original,

the original twelve disciples, if you are a believer in Jesus,

if you proclaim to be a follower of Christ,

then you are a disciple, just not one of the twelve disciples.

So we can learn something here in this text about how Jesus interacts with His followers.

Okay, we can learn something here.

And we want to draw out the meaning, not read ourselves into the text.

We don't just substitute our names in there.

Right?

We want to draw out the meaning and then apply that to our lives today.

Okay?

We don't read ourselves into the text.

That's not how we read our Bible.

So we want to draw out the meaning and apply those truths

so that we might be more faithful followers of Jesus today in our time.

Okay?

So here's the point that I want us to get.

Jesus has given us a job to do as well.

And if Jesus has given us a job to do,

then we need to be faithful and responsible to do that job.

So we see that from the very beginning,

right,

and when I say job,

I'm not talking about like what you do to make money.

Okay?

I'm talking about like a specific task in your life

that is actually primary above you making money.

Okay?

They're not different,

but your job is something that God has given you to do.

It's not just what you do to make money or you going to school.

Okay?

So from the very beginning,

when God created man and woman,

when He created Adam and Eve,

He gave them a job.

Okay?

He gave them something to do.

He created them in His image.

They were image bearers,

and they were to co-rule with God on the earth.

He gives them dominion over the earth.

He says,

take care of the garden,

tend it,

and keep it.

And then He says,

be fruitful and multiply because,

this is important,

the reason why He tells them to be fruitful and multiply

is so that God's image would be spread all over the earth.

Okay?

So what we're talking about here is not just,

you know,

multiplying just to multiply.

It's for the purpose of having God's image bearers spread all over the earth.

That's the goal.

That's why God created man and woman to co-rule with Him on the earth

so that His glory, His image might be spread all over the earth.

That was the job of the original humans, Adam and Eve, from the very beginning.

They're going to spread God's image across all the earth.

And then you know the story.

Adam and Eve turned their back on God,

they rebelled against Him,

against His purpose.

They disobey Him after they're tempted.

Right?

It's the same sort of temptation that you and I get today.

Essentially, the devil tempted Adam and Eve and said,

did God really speak to you?

Did He really say that?

And any time we are sinful and disobeyed today,

it really stems from that question.

Did God really say?

Has God really spoken for sure about something that you should do?

Right?

So,

so,

it's,

it's the same today that,

that He gave Adam and Eve a job,

the original humans a job to be His image bearers and to spread God's image all over the world.

That's His job.

But they,

they sinned.

They turned their back.

They disobeyed.

They did not do what they were supposed to do.

Now,

this did not take God by surprise.

Okay?

Jesus was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

There's no surprise here.

This is always God's plan to reconcile or make everything right.

All things.

He's going to reconcile all things.

He's going to make all things right through Christ.

This was always God's plan.

Now,

that's where we come in.

Okay?

I'm getting there.

This is what our job is through Christ.

Jesus is described in the Bible,

Colossians 115 and also in Hebrews as the image of God.

He is the exact imprint of God's nature.

So Jesus is God incarnate or God on the earth.

Okay?

So Jesus is the true image of God.

And now for us,

we are,

our job is still the same to fill the earth with image bearers of God.

So if we are going to bear God's image,

if we are going to show the world who God is,

if we're going to fill the world with the image of God,

then who should we be like?

Jesus.

If Jesus is the true image of God and it's our job to fill the earth,

with the image of God,

then we are to be like Jesus.

Okay.

Does that make sense?

That,

that,

that is our job.

The original humans were to spread the earth to,

to spread God's image all throughout the earth.

They,

they failed.

Now our job through Christ is to be like him and reflect God's image all over the world.

Now,

how,

how do we do that?

The difference is now we have the full revelation of God.

We know how God has worked all throughout history for this time for us right now.

Right?

To tell people about Jesus so that they might believe in him and then become like Jesus.

And the more that they become like Jesus,

the more that they reflect the image of God.

So as we continue,

as we become more like Christ,

we're becoming more of the image of God.

And as we teach others and tell others what it looks like to be like Christ,

they're becoming more like the image of God.

And now God's image is being spread all throughout the earth,

which is what he created humans to do.

In the first place.

Does that make sense?

You tracking with me?

Okay.

I'm just making sure we're on the same page.

So our job is to reflect Jesus,

the true image of God.

That's our job.

That is what we're called to do.

Okay.

Now our job is,

is twofold.

And Jesus sums it up when he's asked what the most important commandments are.

He's like,

what,

what am I,

what am I supposed to do?

It's in Matthew 22 and other places as well.

He says,

you shall love the Lord,

your God.

You probably know this with all your heart,

with all your soul,

with all your mind.

This is the great and first commandment.

And the second is like it.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

So if our job is to spread God's image,

that is to be like Christ,

to tell others what it means to be like Christ,

that we love God with all we are,

all we have.

And did you know that you become like what you love?

So what we,

what we set our affections on,

what,

what we love and what we,

what we place as primary in our lives is what we become like,

what we believe to be true and right and beautiful.

What we desire to be right is what we,

what we love.

So what we love is what we become like,

right?

Like when you really look up to somebody,

when you say somebody is your role model,

really what you're saying is I want to be like that person.

So you're like,

oh,

I love them so much.

What you're really saying,

what you're saying is I want to be,

I want to be like them.

I want to reflect them in some sort of way,

right?

So when we're,

there's someone we love,

we seek to reflect them.

Okay.

You say,

I love so-and-so like,

you know,

goals,

right?

That's what we want to be like.

That's what we love.

It's what we set our affections on.

So our job is to love God with all we have,

all we are for the purpose of becoming more like him.

And we know his nature.

We know what he's like because he's revealed himself to us through his word.

We also know what he's like through the person and work of Jesus,

which is also recorded in his word,

right?

So,

so we want to be more like God.

That's how,

that's how we reflect his image.

We want to be more and more like Jesus.

We want to reflect him so that we might be more like him.

And that,

that's our job.

And we do that by loving God,

with all we have,

all we are.

Okay?

And shameless plug on Wednesday nights,

we're going to start a systematic theology class,

which is going to be awesome.

We're going to be studying all about God for the purpose of becoming more like him.

Okay?

So our job,

love God with all we are,

all we have,

and to be like him.

And then that love for God leads us to love for those around us,

right?

So we love God with all we are and then we love our neighbor,

right?

So that leads us to love other people as well.

We love those,

those around us.

We tell them about Jesus.

Ultimately,

that is the ultimate act of love.

When we tell other people about Jesus,

who is God in the flesh,

and we do that for the purpose of them becoming like him and spreading God's image even more,

right?

So really what I just did that whole time is call you to be a disciple who makes disciples without actually saying it until now.

I'm sort of summing up what we've been talking about the past few weeks.

Really,

our job,

right?

If our job is to reflect Christ,

to be like him,

and then to spread his image,

right?

Then we make others like Christ,

which they can't do that without being told.

So really what I'm saying is we need to be disciples who make disciple makers.

Okay?

Now,

look at verses 12 and 13 in verse 30.

We see the disciples go to work.

Verse 12 says,

so they went out and proclaimed that people,

should repent.

They cast out many demons and anointed with oil,

many who were sick and healed.

And then we see them come back in verse 30,

which says the Apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught the disciples.

They go out and they get to work.

They did what Jesus told them to do.

They went out,

they proclaimed the message that Jesus had been proclaiming.

They did all the things that Jesus had been doing,

and they come back and they told Jesus all that they had done and taught.

Now,

does it sound like,

after Jesus gave them the job to do,

that they were like,

all right,

we'll get to it later.

First,

you know,

I got a game of Fortnite to get in or,

you know,

whatever.

I'm not,

I'm not dissing video games.

Just for example,

okay,

no,

they didn't,

they didn't hesitate,

right?

The,

the,

they got right to work.

They did what Jesus told them to do,

and very clearly,

they worked hard at it.

Okay,

so after they work hard,

Jesus,

they came back to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.

Now,

this is important.

This is how disciples would have learned back in that day.

Okay,

so disciple means a learner or a follower.

And so Jesus was their teacher and what they did,

they would follow him around.

They would listen to everything that he said,

everything that he taught,

everything that he proclaimed.

They would watch his actions and watch what he did.

They would follow him around.

They would just soak it all up.

And then Jesus would say,

all right,

now it's your turn.

Go out and do it,

which is what they did.

They would go out and they would say all the things that they had heard Jesus saying,

and they would go out and do all the things that they saw Jesus doing.

And then they would come back and it's,

you know,

not exactly like our system today,

but they would come back and say,

all right,

you know,

how did I do?

This is,

they reported all that they had done.

They said,

all right,

here's what we did.

Here's what we said.

Here's how we acted.

What do we do?

And Jesus would have used this time to continue to teach them to say,

all right,

here,

here's what,

here's what you are supposed to say.

Here's what you're supposed to do.

It's sort of like when the teacher teaches you and then you take a test and then that that's how you did on the material that you learned,

right?

The difference is back then they would literally be following their teacher around everywhere and learning everything about them,

not just a specific subject.

Okay,

so,

but,

but you get the idea.

It's sort of like our school today where they would have went out and just done what Jesus had told them to do,

everything that they had learned.

They would come back and say,

all right,

how did,

how did I do?

What,

what did,

what did this look like?

And this would have been a growing process for them in that moment.

And this is what we see Jesus do in verses 31 and 32.

He tells them,

I'm paraphrasing,

you've been working hard.

What I've told you to do.

You've been doing your job.

You've been,

you've been working hard at what I told you.

To do.

Now come away.

And rest for a while.

You've been,

you've been hard at work doing what I called you to do,

what I told you to do.

Now come away and rest for a while.

Let's,

let's,

let's rest.

Now this rest has a,

has a specific purpose.

Okay,

this is,

this is physical rest,

because the disciples had been out and they had been working so hard.

And Jesus saw this,

saw that they'd been,

been doing their job.

There was so many people around them.

Jesus's ministry had really begun to take off at this point.

And so much so that they didn't even have time to eat.

That's what the scripture says.

So Jesus gives them rest from their work.

And ultimately we'll see,

we're not going to go into it,

but a compassion for the lost drives them back out to get back to work.

But for the time,

Jesus tells them,

come away,

come away and rest for a while.

So they hop in the boat and they go to a desolate place and an empty,

a quiet place is where they go.

Now,

remember what,

what we said earlier,

this isn't,

this isn't exactly a one-to-one like you aren't one of the original 12 disciples,

right?

You're not walking with Jesus,

but we still have a job to do.

That's what God has called us to do.

Each and every day to love him with all.

We have all we are and to love others and all those around us for the purpose of spreading his image of being like Christ spreading his word all over the earth throughout the whole world.

So let's see if we can make the jump to today and apply this what we've just seen to apply to us personally.

Okay,

I'm going to set the stage just a little bit.

Your student,

right?

Most of us in here are your student.

You have school just about every day,

right?

Even homeschoolers have school work to do.

You have,

you have something to do.

You have school to do every day.

Maybe you're involved in an extracurricular activity or two.

You're involved in something outside of school as well.

Sports,

whatever it is.

It takes up more of your time.

You also want to hang out with your friends.

You also want to have a good relationship with your family as much as you can.

So school extracurricular activities friends family.

Does that sound like most of us in the room that describe you more more or less?

That's that's sort of what we're all working with now adults in the room.

You can really substitute school for work and this this works out.

Okay,

whatever it is that you do during the day.

So what would what would my day look like?

If I realize that God has given me a job to do.

Okay,

what if I realize that God has given me a job to do?

What would it look like my day every day?

If I got to work on that job that primary job my role to be God's,

image-bearer to reflect him and everything I have and to help others look more like him.

And then three at the end of the day,

what would it look like for me at the end of the day if I arrested and recovered?

All for the purpose of doing it again the next day.

So what what would my day look like if I realize God had given me a job if I got to work on that job,

and then I came back and rested for the purpose of doing it all over again.

Here's what I think.

It might potentially look like okay,

and then this will be our sort of application points for all of this and then and then we'll be done.

So here's what it might look like in my day.

If I took seriously if I realized that God had given me a job God Almighty creator of the universe.

Spoke everything we see into existence has given me personally a job to do that's to reflect him.

And have others reflect.

Him as well to come to know him and reflect who he is.

Here's what it might look like for me personally and maybe for us as well.

Wake up.

Step one wake up.

Pray.

And thank God.

For another day of a life of purpose.

Enjoy a following Jesus.

And doing what he has called me to do love him.

Love people and spread the truth of the gospel message throughout my through my words and how I live.

Step one wake up and pray.

Thank God that he's given me a job to do and a purpose in this life.

This life is not meaningless.

I don't just wake up and be like well,

I got nothing to do today.

We have we have purpose and meaning in life that God Almighty has given you.

So wake up pray and thank God.

Next up eat breakfast.

Okay, because it's the most important meal of the day

and I want to be physically fit and healthy in order to have the energy.

I need to do to do what God has called me to do.

All right. This is a little bit of a personal preference me.

This is you know, this is not really in the Bible,

but I believe breakfast is very important.

Okay, and we want to be healthy and have the energy to do what God has called us to do.

I'm half joking and but I'm mostly serious.

Okay, and we see God.

We see Jesus eating breakfast in the Bible as well.

Okay. But seriously, we want to be rested enough.

We want to have energy to go throughout our day to do what God has called us to do to love him

with all our heart soul mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

We want to have the energy to do that.

So we need to do whatever that looks like in order to make that a reality in our lives.

Okay, so wake up.

Really the next step spend some time reading God's word and praying God's word.

Because I need I need the very word of God to renew my mind each

and every day to remind me of who he is his character his nature.

What his purpose for me is his love for me.

I need to be reminded of these things each

and every day in his plan for the world

and his plan for me and I need it to deeply penetrate my heart.

Down to the very core of who I am.

I need I need God's word deep in there.

And I need it each and every day.

Because this is how God speaks to us.

He has he has spoken through his word and we always have access to it.

I need that to get deep deep down into my heart.

Okay, we when we see Jesus say that man does not

live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

So more important than eating breakfast is reading God's word.

Okay, I'll admit that so we wake up spend time reading God's word doing whatever we need to do to be to have the energy to go about our day.

Now next I go to school or work.

And on my way I am listening to a podcast

or I'm listening to of a quality.

Sermon or something that's going to get my mind right

or I'm listening to music that is going to orient my heart

in my mind toward God or as a family on our way to school.

We're spending time together praying out loud as a family in the car about our day

and what what today is going to look like

and for the people we're going to come in contact with

and for ourselves to remain unstained from the world and to be God's image bearers.

We spend time in prayer as a family on our way to school.

That's what that what that.

Might look like or for me personally,

maybe I'm listening to music or a podcast

or something that's orienting my mind around the things of God before I really get into my day.

Okay, then I walk into school or work or wherever I'm going with fresh eyes

because now my mind has been renewed by the by the by the word of God.

Now I walk in with fresh eyes to see people the way that God sees them.

And then throughout the day,

I do all I can to meet the needs of others regardless of my own personal preferences.

I count others as more significant than myself.

I had the mind of Christ Philippians 2 to meet the needs of others.

I talk about the things of the Lord with my friends that know him or that don't know him.

Right out and I talk about Jesus to people

because I desire to see them know him more and to reflect his image and be like him

and have.

Their lives changed for eternity.

Just like mine's been changed.

I do everything I can each and every day wherever I am school work to see disciples make disciples.

So that's that's the school day.

Whatever whatever that looks like you do that in class.

Seek to meet the needs of others see people the way that God sees them then.

Whatever is next at your extracurricular activity,

whatever you do after school or

or work you work hard at it.

Because my work ethic and my attitude that I bring to work to school to practice is a reflection of who I am

and ultimately is a reflection of who God is.

If I proclaim to be a follower of Christ my actions

and my attitude reflect what I believe about God

and is therefore going to reflect what other people believe about God.

So my my attitude my work ethic of each

and every day that I bring to school to work.

Whatever is a reflection of me,

which is ultimately a reflection of God.

Okay.

Now don't don't think that like to be a sold-out follower of Christ.

You have to be in full-time ministry in some capacity.

That is simply not true.

Whatever you're doing student.

Or you work every day what whatever it is that you do.

If you do it well all to the glory of God.

That's what God calls you to do.

You don't you don't have to be in full-time ministry to somehow like be an all-out follower of Christ.

You can be an all-out follower of Christ in whatever you're doing.

Okay, so I know also throughout the day.

I keep a constant attitude of prayer.

I pray without ceasing as the Bible calls me to you as I seek to rely on the spirit to walk in the spirit

and not the flesh each and every moment of every day.

I go to practice my game.

Right my after-school club or gym or whatever and continue to work hard to love others

so that they see Jesus in me and I take opportunities to talk about the Lord.

Okay.

Then I go home after this and I serve my family in whatever capacity.

I can do the dishes after dinner.

I clean my room.

I do the things that my parents ask me to do or I serve my wife or I play with my kids.

I do I do whatever it takes to serve.

I serve my family.

In each capacity I can and then I talk about Scripture

and the things of the Lord with my family as well around the dinner table as much as possible.

I'm I'm talking about what God is doing in my heart

and my life in an effort to see the rest of my family do the same.

And then at the end of the day, I go to my desolate place, right?

Which is what Jesus pulled his disciples.

A way to do go back to my desolate place.

It's quiet.

There's not a lot of people right?

Side note Instagram is not a very desolate place.

Is it no?

I'm not I'm not talking about just scrolling on my phone by myself.

That's not that's not really a desolate place.

That's that's that's a world filled with distractions and temptations, right?

And our world does that it fights against us having real true true.

Desolate place.

Our world doesn't like that.

Our world is go go go go go a life of following Jesus's work

and then and then rest go to it go to a desolate place.

Right? So I find mine whatever it looks like and I seek to reflect on my day to look back on

what happened and where I may have missed the mark.

Right and I and I seek God's forgiveness for that

and I get back into the word and see how else I might be able to grow

and become more like Jesus.

Then I thank God for his goodness in providing me another day

and the joy that he gives us in Christ.

Then I go to sleep.

And then I wake up and then I do it all over again.

Now. Sounds crazy.

Maybe to some of us sounds a little crazy.

It's definitely countercultural and this is not what my day looks.

I mean,

rip this up is not what my day looks like every every day,

but it's an example of maybe what it would look like for us

and whatever capacity were in to do everything.

We can to reflect Jesus and everything we do

and to help others know him and look like him as well.

A life of following Jesus is going to look different.

It's going to look different than everybody else.

It'll look different than the world.

But it's worth it, right?

It's worth it to love people and to serve them

and to sacrifice our own personal preferences to talk to other people about what Jesus has done

and then to rest.

Ultimately to rest in him in him alone.

So that we might know him and serve him better.

Okay, and so so what we've what we focused on.

Here is the physical rest that Jesus gives his followers.

So Jesus he calls his disciples.

To work hard for him to go out and do their job

and then to come back and physically rest

and recover for the purpose of going out and doing it again.

Okay, Jesus also provides another type of rest.

Right and that is ultimate spiritual rest.

Right and when we follow Jesus we can we can rest

and know that because of what God has done through the life death

and resurrection of Jesus.

That has secured my eternity simply by my faith in him.

I can rest I can rest in that knowing that my eternity is secured

through what Jesus has done for me simply through my faith in him

that provides a rest unlike any other that is ultimate spiritual rest

that we can get when we come to Jesus believing in him.

And what he has done.

Okay, I'm going to ask our the band to come back up

and we're going to respond today in a couple different ways.

We're going to we're going to respond in worship.

We're going to sing another song.

That I hope is a song of response for you

and thankfulness to God for what he has done for us

and the person and work of Jesus Christ securing our eternity.

Okay.

So so let's let's worship in that way now,

maybe maybe you need to use this time to ask God to refocus your mind

in your heart to focus primarily on your primary job of loving God

with all you have all you are into loving others around you.

You need to focus on your primary job of looking more

and more like Jesus every day and helping others to do the same.

Okay, maybe you need to take this time and sort of refocus your mind

and pray and ask God to make that happen for you

or maybe you need to physically rest.

Maybe you don't do that.

You work too hard.

Maybe you need to find your desolate place figure out what that looks like

and you need to get away and recover and learn from Jesus just like the disciples did.

You need to find your desolate place that is just you

and you're alone with God and you allow yourself to recover physically

from everything that you've been doing.

Okay, or maybe for the first time today,

you need to trust in him for that eternal rest that we're talking about.

If you have never come to Jesus spiritually,

if you never come to him in faith believing in him for the promises

that he has offered and maybe today's the day.

Okay, so believe in Jesus.

That's all it takes.

Believe in who he is that he has come lived a perfect life life

that you could never live paid for your sin

and paid the debt that you could never pay him by faith, right?

You trust him and follow him.

Thanks so much for joining us today.

We pray that the truth of God's word is both encouraging

and uplifting to you.

If you'd like more information about our church service times or locations,

or if you have a question about what you heard today

and you want to connect with someone,

I want to encourage you to visit us on our website at championforest.org.

Have a great day and God bless.