How to Rest
Isaiah 30
30 “Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4 Though they have officials in Zoan
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame
because of a people useless to them,
who bring neither help nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.”
6 A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev:
Through a land of hardship and distress,
of lions and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,
their treasures on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
7 to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.
Therefore I call her
Rahab the Do-Nothing.
8 Go now, write it on a tablet for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.
9 For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
10 They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
11 Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!”
12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message,
relied on oppression
and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you
like a high wall, cracked and bulging,
that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
14 It will break in pieces like pottery,
shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
for taking coals from a hearth
or scooping water out of a cistern.”
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five
you will all flee away,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.”
18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
27 See, the Name of the Lord comes from afar,
with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,
and his tongue is a consuming fire.
28 His breath is like a rushing torrent,
rising up to the neck.
He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction;
he places in the jaws of the peoples
a bit that leads them astray.
29 And you will sing
as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;
your hearts will rejoice
as when people playing pipes go up
to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
30 The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice
and will make them see his arm coming down
with raging anger and consuming fire,
with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
31 The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;
with his rod he will strike them down.
32 Every stroke the Lord lays on them
with his punishing club
will be to the music of timbrels and harps,
as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.
33 Topheth has long been prepared;
it has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
with an abundance of fire and wood;
the breath of the Lord,
like a stream of burning sulfur,
sets it ablaze.
This Sunday’s Service can be viewed on our Facebook page @ Sunday, August 18, 2024
When you don't know how to do something, what's your strategy? Most of us these days go straight to google. Or they ask Siri, "Hey Siri, how do you...?" Or, we ask a friend, or maybe take out a good old instruction manual. And, then we find out how to, with some steps, and we attempt to do it.
Last week in worship we learned more about why God created rest in the first place, from His Word. And, we also learned why we need rest. When we are able to understand the why for something, we are then to apply meaning and purpose to it.
This week we will spend more time in God's Word, and applying the learning of other Rest seekers on how to rest.
The late Dallas Willard contributed so much that we are forever blessed by in the area of Spiritual Formation, and encouraged Jesus followers to follow Him wholeheartedly, in all the areas of our life. Here is one of many noteworthy quotes of his about Spiritual Formation:
"The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence." (italics mine).
The end of this quote is the part that catches me the most:..."steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence." This gives me hope as I follow Jesus, and I hope it gives you encouragement too. As we follow Jesus and learn from Him, He will help us to learn how to live in a way that brings His Kingdom into the here and now into every corner of our existence and gives us a taste of the joy to come. Rest is included in this!
On Sunday, we will be learning more about how to do rest- options for rest, and really starting at how to honor God first and foremost with a desire to rest and find our joy in Him. Once we discover that, we will be able to discern the rhythms and practices that will be life giving with the giver of Life- Jesus Himself.
If you're interested in some podcasts about Rest, check out these links:
https://www.propelwomen.org/content/podcasts/gn88b4?permcode=gn88b4&clarety_source=07325de4fd75f841eecb985778ff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNkzlg-9_mY
See you on Sunday!
In Christ,
Pastor Kari
GATHERING FOR SUNDAY
CAN BE FOUND AT:
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Following the worship gathering, worship services will be uploaded to our website and will be available at www.newdaycov.org/listen.
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Children's Coordinator Worship Opportunity-
Do you know someone who may be interested in a very part time position coordinating and leading our weekly Sunday morning Children's Worship?
We have been blessed over the past summer with Charlotte Florek's and Margret Jacott's leadership with our children on Sunday mornings. Thank you so much Charlotte and Margret!
As the school year approaches, we will be in need of consistent leadership for Sunday mornings.
If so, please reply to Julie Cunningham by September 29.
jimandjudes4hawks@gmail.com