Preacher: Jeremy Herbert

Text:  Acts 18:18-23

Theme: Reflect, Refresh, & Renew

Notes:

Refreshing the Body and Soul

* The Sabbath rest is for everyone

* The pattern of resting one day out of seven precedes the giving of the Law

* Genesis 2:1

* Mark 2:27-28, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

* The Sabbath was given:

* As a rest

* As a remembrance

* Rest restores our identity

* The Sabbath was given as a distinctive mark for God’s people

* It shows that our bodies, our time, and our finances belong to God

* That He will provide because He is good

* That while He commands us to labor, He is not dependent on our labor

* Rest reminds us that it is about relationship

* A God-initiated relationship

* The rest we enjoy is Christ’s rest, because it was Christ who labored for our salvation–not us

* Rest restores the soul

* We need physical rest–but we also need spiritual and emotional rest

* Our weekly church attendance is part of that spiritual and emotional rest

* Psalm 23:1-3

* “He makes me to lie down”

* There are many times when God not only leads us to rest–but makes us do it

* How many times have we overlabored until God providentially allowed sickness to force us to rest

* Schaeffer, even good activity can be idolatry

* Chambers, waiting & rest indicate a healthy faith

* Rest should be purposeful

* If relentless labor produced changed lives, then we don’t really need faith

* There are lazy people that need to work harder

* There are working people that need to rest

* God is glorified by faith-fueled labor AND faith-fueled rest

 

Live It Out!

* Take intentional time to refresh your body and soul

* You need physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual rest

* Depending on what your normal job is, rest might be different for you than others

* Take rests from media and screens:

* to rest and reset your attention span

* to rest & redevelop your thinking skills

* to quiet your soul

* There are consequences to NOT resting:

* physical: health

* spiritual: relationships

* You can’t steal sleep–you can only borrow it

* Owning stuff can be labor as well

* Every thing you own also owns you