Sermon Notes | May 8, 2016

Series | Find Your Rest

Speaker | Nathan Miller, NathanM@ChristCommunityKC.org

Spiritual growth does not happen by running faster. What keeps many of us from growing is not sin but speed... We are going as fast as we can, living life at a dizzying speed, and God is nowhere to be found. We’re not rejecting God; we just don’t have time for him. We’ve lost him in the blurred landscape as we rush to church. We don’t struggle with the Bible, but with the clock. It’s not that we’re too decadent; we’re too busy. We don’t feel guilty because of sin, but because we have no time for our spouses, our children, or our God. It’s not sinning too much that’s killing our souls, it’s our schedule that’s annihilating us. Most of us don’t come home at night staggering drunk. Instead, we come home staggering tired, worn out,

exhausted, and drained because we live too fast.

The things you do when you’re tired—like reaching for the fourth cup of coffee, the remote, the cupcake(s)—are almost never the things that’ll get you untired.

1. Trust the Lord of Rest.

2. Redefine your way to rest.

3. Embrace better rhythms of rest.

Psalm 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves.

CONVERSATION STARTERS – Olathe Campus

ICEBREAKER: What wears you out the most?

DISCOVERING ASSUMPTIONS: Finish the sentence: “I would really rest if…”

READ THE TEXT. Matthew 12:1-14.

ENGAGING EMOTION: How do you feel when you hear, “Real rest is a Person to know, not a habit to embrace”? Does this idea excite you? Frustrate you? Confuse you?

CONSIDERING YOUR CALENDAR: When was the last time you gave yourself permission to step back from your responsibilities to delight in God?

RESTING IN WORK. Jesus teaches that “real rest” is not just about saying no to relentless activity, but also about embracing opportunities to do good. Have you ever experienced rest while engaged in work? What were you doing? What made that work restful?