Advent reveals God's heart for the marginalized through Jesus' birth story. God announced the Messiah's arrival to shepherds - society's outcasts - and chose a stable as the birthplace, showing His intentional movement toward the overlooked. Jesus continued this pattern throughout His ministry, choosing fishermen and tax collectors while barely speaking to the powerful. His miracles weren't supernatural interruptions but creation returning to its original design. We're transformed not by trying harder but by gazing at Jesus, and we're called to live the Advent lifestyle by moving toward those society considers unclean or forgotten.

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The Christmas story doesn't end with Christ's arrival—receiving Him correctly is equally important. The Jewish people missed their Messiah because they expected a military warrior, not a humble servant. Today, many create their own version of Jesus, focusing only on love and comfort while ignoring His complete nature. True discipleship requires studying Scripture to know Jesus as He really is, not as we want Him to be. When we receive Christ correctly through His Word, we become His children and carry His light into the world. The reward for receiving Jesus rightly isn't a better life—it's Jesus Himself.

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Advent is a four-week season of preparation that began in the 6th century when the church realized one day wasn't enough to celebrate Christ's birth. The word comes from Latin meaning 'the coming' and represents a time to anticipate Jesus rather than just go through holiday motions. Mary exemplifies true anticipation - when the angel announced God's plan, she responded with faith and made room for Jesus to dwell within her. Today, we often anticipate everything except Jesus, missing His presence just like the people of Bethlehem missed His arrival. True anticipation of Christ leads to spiritual preparation and transformation in our daily lives.

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Communion is far more than a symbolic ritual—it's a sacred sacrament that connects us to Christ's sacrifice and to one another through divine mystery. Rooted in the Old Testament Passover, where the lamb's blood provided covering from death, communion points to Jesus as our Passover Lamb whose blood saves us from eternal death. When Jesus established this practice at the Last Supper, He transformed familiar Passover elements into a new covenant meal. Through the Holy Spirit's presence, communion becomes true participation in Christ's body and blood, not merely remembrance. This sacred table requires both reconciliation with Christ and unity with fellow believers, as we examine our hearts and surrender our self-reliance to depend fully on Him.

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Baptism is far more than a religious ceremony - it represents a sacred participation in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Throughout Scripture, from Old Testament foreshadowing to New Testament practice, baptism marks genuine transformation and new creation. The early church understood this profound significance, requiring extensive preparation before baptism. According to Romans 6, baptism means our old sin nature is crucified and we become new creations with the power to overcome sin. For believers today, baptism is a declaration of dying to the old self and rising as a new creation in Christ.

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Pastors Devin and Jessalyn's four-year journey began with Isaiah 66:1 asking where God's resting place would be. Through multiple confirmations at conferences, scripture studies, and conversations, they discovered God's intent for the church to be His resting place. After seeking counsel and waiting for proper timing, they launched The Resting Place with a mission to make disciples who live in God's rest rather than constant striving. The church uniquely combines liturgical practices, charismatic gifts, and expositional preaching to create an environment where people can experience both physical and spiritual rest under Christ's reign.

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This sermon focuses on the ordination of elders at The Resting Place church and establishes the church's mission, vision, and values. Pastor Devin emphasizes that this is a new season for the church, with a mission to make disciples who live in God's rest and carry His presence. The church's five core values are outlined: unhurried discipleship, presence over performance, where He rests He reigns, His house/people/presence, and His command as our commission. The sermon culminates in the formal ordination of five elders, explaining the biblical qualifications and responsibilities of eldership, emphasizing that elders are under-shepherds accountable to Christ as the chief shepherd.

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This sermon explores the concept of God's rest throughout Scripture, focusing on five key places where God rests with humanity: Eden, the Tabernacle of Moses, Solomon's Temple, the Church, and the New Jerusalem. The pastor emphasizes that God's rest is not inactivity but the completion of His purpose and the assumption of His reign. In the current era, God rests with His people through the Holy Spirit, making the Church His living temple.

A crucial insight is that Jesus' death was not only about the forgiveness of sins but also about fulfilling the Mosaic Law and establishing God's rest among His people. Christians are called to both "come unto me" (receive rest from Jesus) and "go unto them" (take the gospel to others). The sermon concludes with four main points: believers are personal temples, the church is a corporate temple, Christians are called to live from rest rather than striving, and believers must both come to Jesus and go to others.

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Biblical rest is not about exhaustion but the completion of God's purpose, seen in five key moments throughout Scripture. Solomon's Temple represents a pivotal point in this pattern, where God's rest and reign came together in a permanent dwelling place. This divine pattern—chaos subdued, work completed, God enthroned—foreshadows Jesus Christ, the ultimate temple where God's presence dwells fully. When we live under God's reign, we experience His true rest, no longer striving in our own strength but living from His finished work, in His presence, toward His promised future.

Biblical rest is not inactivity but the completion of God's purpose and the establishment of His reign.

God's pattern of rest (chaos subdued, work completed, God enthroned) is consistent throughout Scripture and applies to our personal salvation.

The temple, like creation and the tabernacle before it, was a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, the true temple where God's presence rests permanently.

Many Christians struggle because they're holding onto sin rather than surrendering to God's rest and reign.

God desires to rest with us more than we desire to rest with Him, and He invites us into supernatural rest that our finite minds cannot fully comprehend.

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God's rest is not about inactivity but the completion of His purpose and the establishment of His reign. The Tabernacle in the wilderness served as God's dwelling place among the Israelites, guiding their journey with His presence visible as a cloud by day and fire by night. Moses refused to move without God's presence, understanding that true rest comes from alignment with God's direction. Today, many Christians experience burnout because they've removed themselves from God's rest, trying to accomplish things in their own strength rather than making God the center of their lives. As living temples of God's Spirit, we are called to recenter our lives around His presence.

God's rest and God's reign cannot be separated - they are synonymous. Where God rests, He also rules.

Biblical rest is not passive inactivity but the seat of authority and the command center from which God directs victory.

The Tabernacle shows us that God desires to be at the center of our lives, with everything else arranged around His presence.

Burnout often happens not because we work too hard, but because we've stepped outside of God's rest and try to live under our own authority.

Wherever God rests, His people advance - our victories flow from Christ enthroned in our hearts.

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