Many Sundays. Let me put it this way.
Almost, every Saturday night. I feel like the next day is
Christmas. For many reasons.
And one of those reasons is, I am eager to preach the word.
And even there, as I'm singing with you, I feel that excitement
and I pray and ask the Lord to help.
But there are also many Sunday's including this one, where I just
wish we can keep singing. We will continue to sing but for
now we will go to the word of God.
And so meet me in Mark chapter 6 As we look at three simple
versus today, Mark 6. It may be there in verse 30.
My goal today is to invite the Willing heart. to take the time
and to sit before this text and to stare at this snapshot of the
Lord Jesus Christ, long enough that you would be able to
comprehend on some level The mindfulness, the compassion and
the gentleness of Jesus. And that your heart would be
more convinced and more compelled regarding such
qualities in the Savior than ever before.
My Hope. And my prayer is that these
lingering observations over these three verses would
stimulate higher exaltation of Christ in your life and in mine.
That with every minute that passes by through the word of
God, this afternoon, the Lord himself would be elevated in our
affections elevated in our meditations and eventually
elevated in are imitations by his power.
And by his grace If you're wondering what the topic of this
sermon will be, if you're wondering what will dominate
this presentation, it's very simple.
It's very clear, it's very plain.
It's Jesus Christ. There is no greater subject than
him. He is the golden thread that
weaves through the holy scriptures.
He is the Bedrock that every narrative, every story, every
psalm, every proverb every prophecy every epistle, Is built
on. It's Christ, it's the Lord
Jesus, the son of the Living. God The Treasure of the father
and the object of our adoration. The great Apostles said
something and it is no wonder in Colossians 2 3, that Christ in
whom is hidden all all what the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. That wonderful Apostle also said
in Romans 16:25 now to him who is able to strengthen you,
according to my gospel and get this and the preaching of Jesus
Christ. Did you catch it?
There is a strength that is reserved for and imparted to the
Saints who are willing to give their ear to the preaching of
the man Jesus Christ. Iced.
There's something powerful about Christ, being heralded Christ,
being expounded, Christ being discovered, just Christ.
Just Jesus. And what do we have before us
today? That will help us no, this
strength that Paul speaks of let's read together.
And verse 30 in Mark 6. The apostles returned to Jesus
and told him all that they had done and taught.
And he said to them, come away by yourselves to a desolate
place and rest a while. For many were coming and going,
and they had no leisure even to eat.
Lord. May you bless us with the
strength that your servant Paul spoke of as we simply Behold The
Glory of your son. In Jesus name, amen.
The Holy Spirit. Has just finished concluding a
flashback concerning, John the Baptist martyrdom, the gruesome
execution that he experienced under the Filthy Hands of Herod
and herodias. And after giving us a very
detailed account, he now brings us back to real time and reminds
us that the disciples were sent out by Jesus on their first
Evangelistic campaign, and apparently they came back
successful. They came back with a completed
mission. And for the first time in the
gospel of Mark in verse 30 the Disciples of referred to as the
apostles and it's very fitting because these disciples fulfill
the very meaning of that word, the word Apostle simply means
one who is sent out? Or you can expound upon that.
Definition one, who is sent out with orders and these men
Faithfully fulfilled? Exactly.
That they were given a commission, they were given
orders, and they went out and they came I'm back.
Satisfying. What Christ had asked of them?
But these Apostles did not just go out.
They did use not fulfill what the desires of their master was.
No, we read here that they knew instinctively to come back to
Jesus. To return to Jesus.
A transitional comment here, that's worthy of Greater
meditation. Something that offers us more
than just an awareness that they were indeed faithful in what
Jesus told them to do. Here we have some kind of a
model here. We have some kind of a brilliant
example. Of the steps that we should
follow in in our service here we have some kind of a balance a
principle for us when it comes to serving God and I pray that
you want to serve him. I pray that you are serving him.
And what is that? Exactly.
These disciples who were committed to activity for
Christ. At the same time, did not lose
sight of their fellowship and their accountability to Christ.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for many people.
Many laborers in the kingdom of God today, they understand their
assignment They've been able to successfully identify the gifts
that they've been given by God. They know the holy orders
according to the word and they give their strength to observing
exactly what has been given to us and this sacred blueprint.
and yet, at the same time, they rarely report to the one who
commissioned them in the first place.
Not these men. What these disciples are
demonstrating here. And this one occasion is what
every believer should Endeavor to make a holy habit.
And that is to know a dependency upon the Lord.
And dependency upon the Lord is communicated through communion
with the Lord. No matter where he sends you, no
matter what you do for his name, you and I must have it
conviction of continually and regularly bringing before him
our successes. Our concerns.
Our worries, our fears, our confusion, especially your
ideas, and your plans. And at the same time, we must
not fail to come before him regularly to give him his due.
Praise. To bring it to spread before his
feet are anxieties. And to express our faith in him
for our tomorrow's. Come to Christ.
Come to him regularly. In the midst of serving him,
don't lose sight of that, wherever he sends, you think of
yourself as someone with a rope around your waist and that rope
is held in the hands of the Savior.
And he threw the messages like this.
Tugs on you. And to remind you the source of
all of this. And not to go, too far, and not
to go too long without returning to him and looking at him and
speaking to him. And telling him all that you've
done and saying all that you have taught and expressing
exactly what it is. That is going about in your
life, especially as you live under the banner of glorifying
him. The disciples did this more than
once the disciples did this. Again, when they were sent out
on another mission, this time, with dozens more namely 272.
And in Luke 10, we see a little closer look at what this kind of
dance of service and accountability to Christ looks
like, can I show it to you in, Luke, 10 17?
And Luke 10:17 says that the 72 returned with joy.
Saying Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.
They returned with joy. There are many dangers ahead for
the servant of Christ. There are many hazardous things.
There are many warnings, there are many challenges, but can I
tell you something the matter? How difficult it may seem no
matter what kind of things we see in the word of God,
concerning being hated for his namesake and being despised for
righteousness and persecution from our family.
In the difficult choices, in order to express our
consecration to the Lord. It's A Joyful thing to serve
him. It's a joy filled thing to serve
him. They returned with joy after
serving him. And if you're not experiencing
that Joy, not saying that you will not know difficulty, but if
you don't have joy, you maybe are doing it wrong.
Maybe for the wrong reason. And they come to Jesus.
Again, what a thing to imitate to remain connected to Christ.
Not just when you are in need, but also in your triumphs And
your accomplishments. With trophies that have been
placed in your hand with crowns that have been placed on your
brow, where do you bring those things?
Do you put them on the shelf of your self-confidence?
Do you put them in a glass casing for you to look at to
give you some worth. Or do you bring them to the feet
of Jesus? And give him the glory.
That is due his name. They come to him with joy and we
see that in this place of serving but also fellowshiping
of going. But also coming.
We see what crisis willing to give in principle in return for
the one who knows how to come before him.
Looking what we see here in Luke 10 again.
If you scroll down after verse 17, what Jesus says to them in
verse 18 and in verse 19 it says here and he said to them, I saw
Satan fall. Like, lightning from heaven.
Behold. I have given you authority to
tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the
enemy and nothing shall hurt you.
I see Revelation there, greater Revelation, I saw Satan fall
down like lightning from Heaven. Oh, there's a revelation of the
authority of Christ of the glory of Christ of the strength of
Christ, but more than just Christ's Authority.
There is this reassurance to the Disciples of the authority that
he's given them. M of the promises that belong to
them. The TaylorMade Graces that
belong to them. And this is what you can expect.
When you come to Christ greater revelation of him, greater,
assurances of his promises for you as his child.
He is faithful to do that and you need that.
I need that. I was reading Psalm 1:19 this
week. I'm in the Book of Psalms.
You heard me say that last time and when I was reading Psalm
1:19 that chap. I'm so familiar with that
chapter. Many of us are very familiar
phrase theologies and truths about the glories of the word of
God. But there is something.
Is that a surprise? There is something that I saw
and oh, did it stir me and it still stirring me now.
Go to Psalm 119. I have to share it with you.
I'm sorry. Verse 96.
I just want, I want you to believe.
That when you take time for the Lord, he will honor that and he
will meet you in one way or another.
And in Psalm 119 verse 9600, this blessed me This is this is
a commentary about the word of God and this is what the
psalmist says. I have seen a limit to all
Perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly, Broad.
What a verse, what is he saying here?
Well, and the realm of all creation. no matter what
terrain, you entertain, if you're in the realm of nature,
if you go to the Arts, if you go to the Sciences, if you look at
clever inventions, If you study scientific discoveries. if you
peek into the complexities and the joys of languages, All these
things have their limits. All these things have their
limits in their brilliance. They're exhilaration and their
stimulation but the psalmist says the word of God is
exceedingly Broad. Exceedingly brought it has no
borders. There are no Dimensions.
Climb as high as you will. You will not find a ceiling dive
as deep as possible. You will not find a bottom When
you come to the word of God, unlike the objects of this life
though, the author is the creator that we worship.
Realize this. You cannot exhaust, its
excellencies. You cannot say I've reached the
point of complete Revelation and application.
No, it's never ending. It is never ending in its supply
of aw. Humbles.
You it teaches you a comforts. You it makes you wiser than your
teachers. It brings light to your path.
It Whispers, wisdom. And it never ends all your
commandment is exceedingly. Broad.
Christ. When you come to him, he'll give
you, he'll give you Revelation, he'll give you Assurance.
He'll remind you of promises, but we see him even granting
more to the one who makes that habit, and that practice of
coming to him, not just serving him, not just doing things in
his name, but sitting before him coming to him.
Look at verse 20 of Luke chapter 10.
What does he say something that you and I are very familiar
with. He says here after talking about
their Authority. Nevertheless do not rejoice in
this that the spirits are subject to you, but Rejoice that
your names are written in heaven when you come to the word of
God, when you come before the presence of God?
Yes, there will be Revelation. Yes, he will grant you some
Assurance, but he also in his love bring correction.
And he'll realign your thinking, you see, they had this Joy but
Christ saw that, it was a misguided Joy, or that there is
a priority issue here in the object of their joy, and he
gently reminds them. The ultimate thing is my grace,
not what you do, not how you perform.
But what I have done, let that be the supremacy of your
Delight. And listen, if I'm saying this
because it's true, if you do not, I'm talking to the servant
of the Lord, if you do not make it a regular practice to come
before him. When I mean before, I mean his
word, his presence in the Simplicity of silence and
Devotion to him, then you can be misguided in your priorities,
even in your service. Then you can lose sight of what
really matters. You can begin to be tempted to
put your joy and the authority. He has given you instead of who
he is. And what he's done on your
behalf. So we see a wisdom here.
We some see something, wonderful.
These are more than just transitional comments in the
Gospels. If carefully interpreted there
is wonderful, instructions for the Saints.
And one might object to these kind of applications with these
verses and say brother you are you were trying to pull
something out of a time in church history, time and
Redemptive history. That doesn't apply.
They had access to Jesus. They could come to him at any
time. He was physically there to,
which I would respond. Do you think they were any less
dependent upon Christ after he ascended into heaven?
All, there's so many examples of that may give you one.
In Acts 15 when the elders came together to speak and to
converse it to come to a conclusion about how these
Gentiles who believe in this Jewish Messiah.
How should they live what? Jewish laws apply to them?
And there was debate, there was back and forth and finally,
there was a settlement, there was clear Direction and I love
with the letter, says the letters at the these elders and
leaders wrote to the Gentiles. And this is the part that I want
to draw to your attention, an axe, 15:28, it reads in that
letter quote for it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to
us to lay on you, no, greater burden than these requirements.
And then They spell out those requirements.
But did you see that? It seemed good to the Holy
Spirit. And to us.
Yeah, I get it this this is this is a clear indication that these
distinct representatives of Christ.
The apostles had access to divine revelation and direct
access to the Lord to have, what is necessary to lay the
foundations of the doctrine of the church.
I get it, but can you feel the familiarity and the intimacy of
that statement? It seemed good to the Holy
Spirit and to us as though the Lord was in their midst and was
numbered among them. As though, the Lord was present.
So, present in that vital crucial council meeting, As
though the Lord graciously. Was given access by these
Apostles. They had access to him with such
immediacy and availability and he was willing to bring a
comforting conclusion to this difficult time for the church,
it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us indicating
that. They consulted them indicating
that in that room filled with Saints.
They did not fail to turn to their God.
And to seek him and to ask of him and they receive something
from him. Is he any different today?
I'm not speaking about him, giving you more Revelations of
the word of God. That's a different Spirit
speaking to you. I'm speaking about how he is
there and he can speak and he can guide and he can lead and he
can illuminate. Surely he is the same.
He is with us now.
He's with you at all times. And this is one of the great
Thrills of our faith. We're coming to celebrate today
and this is one of the great Thrills of our faith.
Yes, the gospel, but who is our God, what kind of God is he?
Can I tell you what kind of God is?
He is a personal God. He is an approachable God and
more than that, he is a God. Who is acquainted with each of
us? He is acquainted with each of
us. And that is what you see in,
Mark, 6, and Mark 6 when these men came to tell them, all that
they had done and taught, Jesus said to them, come away by
yourselves to a desolate place. And rest a while.
What care, what attention? What love What's sympathy?
What understanding you know what I love about that?
This was Jesus. As idea this Retreat to rest was
not a protest from the disciples after a long journey out.
Preaching saying, Lord, we've been, we've been working really
hard. We need some kind of a vacation
here. Can you work something up?
Because we need a few days to just kick back and relax.
That's not what these disciples is.
This was the Lord Jesus who looked at his men and after
they've given him the account of their service, he says come
let's go. Now, that's rest.
Why? Because he knew that they needed
rest. There's no indication that these
men expressed that need or that desire.
And I think that's by Design, is to show us that the Lord was
aware of something that perhaps, they were not even aware of
themselves. And the lord gave them, what?
Perhaps? They did not know they needed.
He knew what his servants needed and he provided exactly what was
needed. That's Christ, he he just
doesn't send you off to do things.
And in says, I'll see you on Judgement Day to give you your
grade He's there observing and watching, as long as we are
close to him, we are safest and as long as we are close to him,
we will know. his presence in this way, I thought to myself,
looking at this, you know, when we think about the omniscience
of God, when you even here that the very word demands are right
on the emissions, that the the doctrine of God being
all-knowing, And usually what comes and what Spring sport in
the imagination. Is the massive implications of
that ability. God knows all things and when we
just even begin to entertain what that looks like.
We usually can't get Beyond his perfect awareness of the future
and his ability to solve every mystery and matter known to man.
And all of that is true. God knowing all things Christ,
knowing what was happening in the lives of their disciples and
beyond all of that. Should the man such amazement of
the, the depth and the breadth of that kind of characteristic.
Just like the other Omni characteristics of God. but you
know what, the Holy Spirit help David, recognize something about
the Omni omniscience of God, rather and what he realized
about the omniscience of God is that it was not just something
that was so Grand and powerful and Beyond what we can
contemplate, it was deeply personal And individually
applicable. You know, the text that I'm
perhaps referring to Psalm 139, Psalm 139, the plain reading of
it, alone can melt the heart. Let me read it to you.
And then, let me show you some things about it.
What is David say, as the Holy Spirit brooded over his mind and
showed him something, just something about the mind of God.
Well, this is it. Oh Lord, you have searched me.
And known me. You know, when I sit down and
when I Rise Up, you discern my thoughts from afar, you search
out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my
ways. Even before a word is on my
tongue behold O Lord you know it all together.
You hem me in behind and before and laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.
It is high. I cannot attain it.
Generally, it is not a comforting thought to know that
somebody is watching you all the time.
It's not usually a comforting thought to know that somebody is
evaluating and watching your every move.
And I agree. That's disturbing.
It really depends who's doing it and why they're doing it.
And when it comes to understanding how God
investigates, There is an element of that that should
cause a fear of God to arise in the heart of a rebel or a
hypocrite to reconsider their ways.
And yet David when this download comes to him, he understands
that this aspect of who God is is worthy of Wonder and
admiration. This is something that he's
enjoying as much as he is perplexed by.
He is enjoying it, he's writing about, he's writing a song to
it. And again, I just read it and
it's clear, it's obvious. But when you just take the time
to really pick it apart and see what this really implies, oh,
your heart would be stirred even more.
Let me give you a couple of examples.
Look, back at verse 3 of The Psalm.
He says you search out my path and my lying down and are
acquainted with all my ways. You know, the word search there
is not the same word, a search in the Hebrew as verse 1.
He says in verse 10 Lord you have searched me but that's not
the same word. Now our hebrew-speaking pastor
here is going to confirm that later on to me at least.
The word for search here. In verse 3 is the Hebrew word
Zara. A word that is associated in
that is winnowing, you know, the process of taking grain mixed
with Chaffin to throw it up into the air.
So that some kind of wind would Gus through it and remove the
chaff so that grain that the substance of Desire remains And
that is what David is using here when he says that he says you
search out my path, you are win, knowing you are casting off
certain things. You are removing certain things
about my path and when I, when I laid down, why that word?
Why bring that here at this point?
What is he trying to say? Well, I believe this is what he
is trying to say that in some way, when the Lord looks at you,
And the Lord's knowledge of you is so precise.
So true. So perfect that he is able to
distinguish in you that which is false and that which is true.
He is able to evaluate you to such a degree that he can make a
distinction between the insincere and the sincere, the
genuine and the disingenuine. He's Able with x-ray vision to
know, the truest of your motives, the deepest parts of
your thoughts, you may be able to fool your pastors, you may be
able to fool your wife, you may be able to trick your parents,
you may be able to put on a smile and convince the church or
the crowds or your employees. You may be able with your
introvert Tendencies to pull away from those who are closest
to you. But this God will scrutinize
you. He carefully examines you and it
takes him no effort to do so. Same brother.
That's kind of scary. Not if you think of it in the
right way. David is saying your knowledge
so penetrates whatever, shall I think is shielding me and you
are able to grasp my true substance, you know, it all And
yet you still want to walk with me.
You still want to provide for me.
You still want to lead me. You still want to fellowship
with me? You still want to use me.
Be honest. If some people even the closest
people knew, you knew just 10% of your deepest hearts, are your
deepest thoughts. They might want nothing to do
with you. But not this God.
He considers it all your imaginations, every passing
thought, every sigh, every idea everything that is there in your
heart, in the middle of the night.
And then you see this in verse 5.
What does he say? In verse 5, you hem me in behind
and before and lay your hand upon the you have Mian.
Something about surrounding. There's something here about
protection. Yes.
It's an idea of the omnipresence of God, but it's more than just
the presence of God surrounding me.
Remember, the context you're leading up to this point, it's
the knowledge of God that surrounds me.
Every area of who I am. Every thoughtless, step every
every word that I don't have intention to mean something.
Every plan, every idea, every everything that goes by the
quarter of my mind, all of that, you're there.
You're just there. I never, I never make you
surprised and I can't hide from you.
And what's so brilliant about verse 5 is that he goes from the
mind of God to the hand of God. And you lay your hand upon me.
Think about that, you lay your hand upon me, the idea of your
hand, his hand being Upon Us implies personal interaction,
you see, you need to understand that part.
If you're going to understand the omniscience of God, because
if you just hear the doctrine of the omniscience of God, you
might be tempted to think that all God is, is some Divine
supercomputer with a massive database that has no affection
tied to, or connected to the knowledge.
He possesses He's not just somebody who has surveillance
cameras in every corner of the universe and sits in some box
somewhere in the heavens. No, the very knowledge, the
great knowledge of God even with you.
Yes, you son of Adam, you son and daughter of a fallen parent,
Fallen parents redeemed in Christ.
Yes. Even that knowledge of all your
Brokenness in your inconsistencies, it doesn't
distance God from you, it draws him to you in a make some extend
his hand upon you that protection that provision.
That chastisement when it's necessary, that concealing of
you is all provided as a result of what he knows about you.
Everything about you. And yet still he comes to you
and he commits to you. And ultimately, we see that in
Jesus Christ, that he comes into the world.
With all that he knows about us. And he recruits, and he calls
for people to come to him. And when there's disciples that
do come to him, he displays his Shepherd heart and he said to
them, come away by yourselves to a desolate place, and rest
awhile. He's so real.
You and I can praise God. This afternoon that we don't
worship a cruel and insensitive unfeeling Taskmaster.
As much as he is concerned about how we serve him, he is
concerned about the servants. And he looks at you not just
what you do, but at you and he cares.
And in his Providence, he knows what to bring, what to remove,
what to add, what to subtract, he gets your attention.
He tries to get your attention when you do Veer off.
And in many ways, he communicates to us, primarily,
yes, through his word. He's just a glorious master.
Who deeply cares about us. You know, it's amazing.
How you forget some things. I'm 31 and I forget things.
And I heard it doesn't get easier as you get older.
But I was reading this late last night, I was looking over this
and I was just trying to, you know, it's very hard for
preachers. Have mercy on preachers.
To try to get up before people and to even attempt to
communicate, the excellencies of Christ is such a wearisome task.
I don't know of one true faithful preacher who who
attempts to preach on Christ and walks off the pulpit satisfied.
Satisfied yes and trying to be faithful to the text, but never
satisfied and attempting to try to color his glories with words
and with passion and with emotion, and more importantly,
by the power of the Holy Spirit. I was looking at this as
thinking about just the Lord, just Jesus Beyond Doctrine him
personally. And this this came to mind and
would, you know it? I forgot it and it came to mind.
So I'd get to journal some things.
Your brain will forget but paper doesn't And this is what came to
mind. Many years ago, just walking
with the Lord and I'll end with this testimony before we break
bread together. I remember those first first few
months that first year and a half so busy so wonderfully
busy. No, no complaints.
So wonderfully preoccupied with the things of Christ, so had
school had work but Friday's was Youth Night.
Friday's was youth night with some of the young adults where
we helped lead the youth and Saturday.
Saturday was evangelism night was prayer worship and we would
go out and then Sunday, we had church church not at 1 p.m. and
morning, 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. 11 a.m.
And then Sunday night, young adults meeting too late into the
night and in Fellowship afterwards, and then restart.
Heaven on Earth. Those days, heaven on Earth, and
remember that going week after week after week, and I began to
realize I'm human. And I actually need to eat and I
need good sleep. And so I was beginning to feel
the weight not of the difficulties of it, not of the
displeasures of it. No it was the most enjoyable
thing. You could not convince me to do
anything else on a weekend. There was a band of brothers and
sisters who felt the same way. And what began to happen was
because of wise people in my life older people.
Who observed. My Life, One in particular
reached out and said, brother. It's wonderful.
It's great but just consider how this might work out in the long
term. And I began to even feel that
weariness. And I would begin to talk to the
Lord about it, and I had to had to take a city bus to take the
subway to take the street train, just to get to the internship
for the week. And so this friend advised me he
just gave me biblical principles of rest not rest in the way you
and I understand dressed to go on a vacation somewhere for, you
know, it's amazing that you go on vacation thinking, you need a
break, you come back from vacation.
You need a vacation from your vacation because true rest true.
Rest comes from Christ. You're going to go on vacation
that's fine. Go on vacation with Jesus and
not from Jesus. And so the true rest.
True rest. There's a place for physical
Repose. I get it.
Don't hear me wrong here. And it should begin to talk to
it. Talk to about about these things
to the Lord. I was just walk to the bus.
I remember walking to the bus and just in my heart with my
backpack, just talking to the Lord, talking to the Lord about
it. Lord, this is where I'm at.
This is what I'm feeling. I have a wise brother, who's
speaking it to my life and telling me just to get a
different kind of rhythm going on and And it was challenging to
me, because usually, when you hear about people, taking a
break from serving the lord, they were using that even really
doing anything for the Lord. They want to take a break from
worldly Pursuits. They barely attend church.
They're not part of any Ministry yet.
They want to take a break. I'm aware of that and I don't
see serving Christ as a difficult thing, but just like,
in Mark 6, we're human. He remembers that we were
destined, but flesh. Spraying to the Lord about it.
And it wasn't a one-time prayer, was just a few days, praying and
even going to the next week, praying about this praying about
this. And what I want to serve you, I
want to do this for you. But how do I go about this one
day? I'm walking to the bus.
When I got on that bus, was the same bus at the same time.
I would always sit in the same seat.
If you take me to Etobicoke Ontario, now I can tell you
where I sat on that city bus. It's right there.
So clear in my mind and there I am.
The same prayers being prayed, trying to understand this
wanting to serve the Lord, but wanting to know his will in even
serving him. And as I get on the bus which
was usually empty at that time of the day, I went up and I
climbed the back of that bus where was elevated?
And I sat in my chair and when I look down on my seat, I saw a
pamphlet And when I looked at the pamphlet, I was stunned
because on that pamphlet is said Sabbath.
Biblical principles for rest. I looked around.
There is nobody around. I picked that pamphlet up, I
made sure it wasn't some weird thing as Seventh-day Adventist
kind of teaching about the Sabbath or anything like that.
So no this is sound. This is clear.
Put it down and I took a picture of and I send it to the person
who's been speaking to me for days and weeks and all these
sent back was something on the lines of God is loud.
The bus took off. And I sat there, looking at
this, you can interpret this however you want.
I thought to myself. You know me.
You search me and you know me,
you know, my going, you know, my coming, you know where I sit on
the bus. You know what I say on my way to
the bus? You care.
You don't just cross your arms in the heavens and look down and
say, you're going to actually even peep these kind of prayers
to me, you know what I did for you?
You better get busier. Your gentle Shepherd.
I just began to praise God on that bus.
And I put that away and I think it's somewhere, I don't know
where it is. I find it.
Maybe I'll show some of you show and tell.
He's so real. He's so close.
You're saying, yeah, but you're a Ministry and your impassive
know. I was 22 years old, finishing,
my advertising degree. Barely able to make spaghetti
for lunch. Not knowing what tomorrow holds
not knowing what I'm going to do with my degree, not knowing
where I'm going to live, not knowing what I'm going to not
knowing anything other than this is the word.
I want to live for him and love him and then that place of my
life. The Lord and some providential
way. Just gave me a nudge.
I believe. Again, you can interpret it how
you want but I'm here to tell you more than my testimony more
than any Authority. This word you can trust and this
word wherever you see of Christ, even that little Glimpse where
he says, come away, I know what you need.
I'll lead you all guide you. I'm here with you even when I
send you out, don't forget to come to me.
Don't forget to open your heart to me.
From time to time, I'm sure in many ways.
He'll remind you. He'll reveal himself to you.
He will instruct you. He'll correct.
You and he'll make you fall in love with him more and more.
Do we do? Thank you.
and we ask Lord that this afternoon, we would simply
Relish in the revelation of the personal Christ. and Lord, as we
prepared to partake in this meal, Help us remember that your
ultimate Act of love the very thing that started it all.
Was the cross. You died for us, you bled for
us. So that you can have us.
Pray for the weary heart. The heart that is weary for.
Natural reasons. Lord, pray that this time
together would have just given fresh strength to serve you with
greater Zeal and passion. I pray for the weary heart whose
we read by sin who does not know you who does not know how you
can make our burden light. Your yoke is easy.
I pray Lord, with my brothers and sisters for The Sinner.
To find that Sabbath rest in Jesus Christ.
And Lord, we pray that our hearts would be clean as we come
to this table. That you would not be grieved by
our motives, you who know all things.
Lord, we can always find something that makes us
unworthy, but for conscience unrepented, sin.
Show us your what we need to do before we eat and drink. would
you be blessed, would you be blessed as we remember, you
Faithfully soundly and with worship, we look to you now and
Thanksgiving. Amen.
Let's stand and Worship the Lord.
What are we singing about? We're singing about the truth of
the Gospel were singing about what he's done for us on that
night. When Jesus was betrayed, when
Jesus knew what he was going to suffer, when Jesus knew the
agonies of the Cross, we're told there that they sang A Hymn,
they sang A Hymn. Listen, how can someone sing
knowing what they are about to suffer?
And I think there's a principal there for us.
You can sing while you suffer, why?
Because he's worthy of your song, sing of his grace, sing of
his glories, because he is worthy.