Rhythm Over Resolutions

Are you exhausted from living at the mercy of pace and constantly trying harder to keep up?

In this sermon on Mark 6:30–31, we launch a new series called "Words to Live By" with a look at the word rhythm. Moving beyond the trap of New Year's resolutions, the message explores the difference between being driven by pace and living according to the four-part biblical rhythm modeled by Jesus and His disciples: exertion, community, rest, and leisure. Discover how arranging your days around God's pattern transforms workaholism, restores your soul, and makes you truly available to those around you.

In this episode, we cover:

• Pace vs. Rhythm: Understanding how pace focuses on efficiency while rhythm focuses on availability and who you are becoming.
• The 4-Part Rhythm of Jesus: A breakdown of exertion (work), community (deep connection), rest (physical restoration), and leisure (enjoyable soul restoration).
• A Biblical View of the Day: Structuring your schedule to prioritize presence, worship, and intentional connection at home.
• True Biblical Community: Finding people who refresh you, accept you, and keep you centered on the gospel.

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This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist. Helping people to know, joy, and glorify God. For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandProquay.org.

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Let's pray together. Yeah, you can clap for that. You can clap for that. Amen. Amen. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, thank you that your rule and reign is never going to end. The government is upon your shoulder, not ours, so the pressure is off. And your kingdom is ever increasing. It's getting bigger every day. And we get to be a part of bringing the kingdom to bear on this world. The Bible tells us that the kingdoms of this world are becoming the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. And so this happens not through effort, but through intimacy. And so we're going to open this cup of kindness that we call a Bible. And we want you to illuminate the scriptures, Holy Spirit. Reveal to us the truth that sets us free. Find us and unwind us today with the good news of the gospel. As we talk about something that we don't talk about enough in the church in America, it's the Holy Spirit lead us into the truth, just like Jesus said you would. This is our prayer. We ask it in Christ's name, and everyone said, Amen. You can have a seat. If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Mark chapter six. Mark chapter six. And I want to say hi to my friends in Kansas, Larry and Joyce, uh, who pray for me. I need the prayers. Keep praying, okay? Mark chapter six, I want to talk to you about this morning. We're starting a new series uh called Words to Live By. Hence the big graphic behind me. We live in a culture that you just get unundated. Uh basically, it's it's a narrative, is what it is. Culture and media sends us a narrative, uh, and that narrative comes in the form of different words. And if you're not careful, if you listen to everything you hear out there in the airways, you just get overwhelmed and hopeless, and you start to think, what does it matter? And one of the ways you push back against this cultural narrative is you get some get you some words that you're willing to live by for the rest of your life. Like today, the word I want to talk to you about is rhythm. Rhythm. And I'm gonna preach a sermon entitled Rhythm Over Resolutions, because most people this time of year, what they do is they make resolutions and try harder, and that's the worst thing you could do. And instead, I want to say that what you're gonna see in the Bible is this rhythm that Jesus and his disciples lived according to. And I'm gonna ask us to consider setting our life up here on the first of the year to live on this rhythm. Uh, now you say, What do you mean? One of the problems when you talk about rhythm is that we don't understand that because we're addicted to pace. We love pace. Pace is about accomplishment, uh, and rhythm is about understanding. Matter of fact, there's four uh things I want to say by way of introduction uh to help you understand the difference between rhythm and pace. And so here's the first one pace thinks about how much we get done, while rhythm thinks about how connected we were in the doing. Uh secondly, pace is the speed of something, rhythm is the pattern of something. Uh thirdly, pace thinks about what we can accomplish while rhythm thinks about who we are becoming. Uh, and then finally, pace makes you efficient while rhythm makes you available. Uh, pace makes you efficient. You get a lot done, rhythm makes you available. What do you mean? Ask yourself this question: how interruptible are you? How many times can people interrupt you while you're trying to just knock it out and get everything off your to-do list before you get offended and be like, really? Can't you see I'm doing something important here? See, this is the difference of rhythm and pace. People that live on rhythm are always available. You can call them and be like, hey, okay, great, sure, I'll be right there. There's nothing they can't set aside when they need to to be where they need to be with the people they need to be with. This is what you see in the life of Jesus. He's constantly interrupted and he never takes offense at. He's like, Oh, okay, sure, sure, your daughter's dying. I'll come, I'll come. Yeah. And his disciples are just walking behind him, like, oh, okay, I guess we're going over here now. Because Jesus did not live pace, he lived rhythm. He that's when he got word that his friend Lazarus was dying. And he, two days later, he shows up. And they're like, he was, he's never lived at the tyranny of the urchin. He always lived in this sense of rhythm. Let me read the text. Mark chapter 6, starting in verse 30, it says the apostles returned to Jesus and told him all they had done and taught. And he said to them, Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile. For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. There it is. Did you get it? Do you see the rhythm? That four-part rhythm that's demonstrating the life of Jesus? Let me read it again. Verse 30. 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. The rhythm that you see in the gospels in the life of Jesus and his disciples was simply this four-part rhythm. Exertion, community, rest, and leisure. Exertion, community, rest, and leisure. And that's what I want to point to and talk about this morning. Let's take the first one, exertion. Exertion is that part that says the apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. They've been exerting themselves. Exertion is a big word for work. And for the disciples, they were doing the following. If you want to see what they what kind of work they were doing, they weren't building fence, they weren't digging ditches. Uh, look up in chapter six to verse seven. And this is the kind of work they were doing. It says that he called the twelve and he began to send them out two by two, and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them with taking nothing for their journey except a staff, no bread, no bag, no money in their belts. Stopped right there and be shocked by that. Let me say that again. And he charged them to take nothing for their journey. That's like telling your wife we're going on vacation and you can't pack anything. No money, no credit cards. Let's just go out there and see what God may have. Now look at me. By doing this, God is not saying be dependent on the generosity of other people. He's saying be dependent on the uh on the faithfulness of me. No bread, no bag, no money in their belts, but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place, if in any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake the dust that is on your feet, uh shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them. And so they went out and they proclaimed that people should repent, and they cast out many demons, and they anointed uh with oil many who were sick and healed them. Now they preach repentance, okay? Uh they cast out demons and they healed people. Incredible work, amen. I mean, if you just imagine Jesus saying, here's what I want you to do, here's what we're working on today. You're gonna preach repentance, tell people to repent. Uh, you're gonna cast out demons and you're gonna heal people. Would you ever want that day to end? I mean, but even as good as that is, even that kind of work is exhausting to these people. I mean, that'd be like being, hey, having a superpower. I can be invisible or I can fly and say, you know what, I'm not gonna use that today. I mean, these guys, this is incredible. It's exhilarating, it's fulfilling, it moves their soul, and at the end of the day, they are exhausted. They come back and they tell Jesus all they had done and taught, and he said, Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. Why? Because they have exerted themselves. One of the reasons for the epidemic of mental health in our country is we don't exert ourselves anymore. Especially if you're under the age of, I'd say, 25. Now, I'm not picking on people under the age of 25. It's just easy to sit and look at a screen all day. Some of you work at a job where you sit and look at a screen all day, and then you operate a two billion dollar piece of machinery, but you look at a screen all day. And here's what happens when you lack exertion. What happens is that all this emotional and physical energy that builds up inside of you, it turns inward on you instead of outward for you. You're not ruling over creation and subduing it. You feel as if creation is ruling over you and subduing you. And you slowly but surely kind of become cranky and irritable because you are not exerting yourself. When you exert yourself, when you work the way God created you to, uh, you release chemicals like endorphins and serotonin that kind of improve and regulate your mood. But see, here's the the the downside. There's always a negative fruit to every one of these, if you're not careful. The negative fruit of exertion is pride or self-pity. He said, What do you mean? It's pride when you begin to notice how much you're doing. Like when you look around and you think, does anybody at this company work as hard as I do? When you look around somebody in your work group, at the engineering firm you work for, you just think, I cannot believe that guy gets a check every two weeks. I mean, how does he not feel dirty for being so lazy and getting paid to be lazy? I bet he votes Democrat. You would never think those things. I know, I know, and relax, I'm not picking on the Democrat. Some people look, I bet he I bet he votes Republican. No, but it's pride when you begin to look around and you realize and notice how much you're doing. It's self-pity when you begin to notice that nobody else is noticing how much you're doing. And then you start kind of feeling sorry for yourself. Now, if you're not careful, exertion this whole work thing gets out of out of whack, and we become what's called a workaholic. I brought you a graphic to help you understand what should rescue you from this, okay? Uh uh, this is how people in the Bible structured their days. It wasn't a 24-hour period in their mind, it was two 12-hour periods. And the first 12-hour period starting at six in the morning, went to six at night. That green right there. Now, I'm not saying you should work from six to six. I'm saying this is when you get ready for work, you get up, you get ready for work, you go to work, you come home, you kind of decompress for a little bit. So just the green part is exert yourself. Now, men, this is where you make a mistake. You come home and you think, I'm done, I've worked hard, get up off of me, wake me up when supper's ready. You eat supper, you go back to sitting down or your home office or whatever, and just yeah, I'm just gonna do a little bit of work. I'm just, hey, listen, I my job is 24-7. Someone texted me last night at 148. Yes. And so I know it's always with us. And see, but here's what you should do. When you get home, you see how you should structure your day. This ensures rhythm. Six in the morning to six at night. Hey, I'm working. When I get home, that little red zone right there, especially if we got little kids, you got three hours with them before they go to bed. And so, really for the people in the biblical days, their day started at 6 p.m. It did not start when they went to work. They worked. That's what they had to do to get what they wanted to do. The second 12-hour period starts at 6 p.m. It goes from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The thing on the right, the red, the white, and the black, that was the part they lived for. They worked just to pay the bills. They lived for, that's why a typical Jewish family uh dinner was at 6 p.m. or that sometime thereafter, they called their dining room table their Mikdash Miat, which means my miniature sanctuary. An Orthodox Jew to this day will meet you for a donut or a cup of coffee. They will not invite you into their home because this is where they worship God with their family, with food and family. And so when you come home, man, what you have to do is say, you know what? My day is just starting. It is, I get home at 5 o'clock, 5:30, 6 o'clock, whatever. I got three hours with these kids. I am going to make the most out of this because they're going to be in bed. And then that next little white part is what we call connection. Verbally, emotionally, and physically. I'll say it like that, okay? Now, some of you are kind of like, I wish I had more connection. You know what your wife wishes? She wishes you know what to do with that red zone right there. Because if you come home and you sit on the couch and like, click, let me know when dinner's ready. When it comes time to connect, you better be on Facebook or Instagram. That's all the connection you're getting. Because you you've got your days backwards. You think your day starts at 6 a.m. and you get up and go work. It doesn't. Your day starts when you get home and you get to worship and lead your family, men. And so you engage your children. I mean, I mean, in everything. You come in and you say, Hey, what do you need from me? You're cooking supper, what can I do to help this process? And whatever she says, you do. That was a lady in the back that went, Amen. Under her breath. Yes. Is it hard? Yes. Yes. I used to come in off the road before I became the pastor. I traveled, I was on the road 195 days a year. I would come in off the road, fly home on an airplane. You people that think people that never travel think traveling is sexy. Are you kidding me? I remember sitting on the runway at Atlanta Harshfield Airport for four hours because a thunderstorm blew through. It smelled like Europe on that plane. I got home, I drove home to my house, I got two little girls there who've been there all week, sucking the life out of their mom, and I had this thought because I'm such a selfish pig, I thought, there is no way she's as tired as I am. There is no way. My plane was supposed to get in at two, now I'm getting in at 6:30. There is no way. And I thought when I walked in, she would say, Oh, you've had a rough day. Sit down and let me serve you. No, I opened the door, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay. I get one, I get the other one. My wife's like, Yeah, if you could just take them outside and play with them, I'm trying to get dinner ready. And I'm trying not to resent you right now. But this little voice in my head said, Hey, let's practice what we preach. So I said, Come on, girls, let's go outside. When I side, I put one in the bucket swing, pushing her, others jump on the training. Dad, look, dad, look, dad, look, dad, look. I'm looking. Dad, God, God, God, God. I'm looking right at you. And then from the kitchen, my wife yells out, Hey, why don't you watch her? I'm watching her, won't you shut up? I didn't say that, I just thought it. Yeah, here's what I'm saying. It's not easy, but think of it this way. You got 18 summers with that baby from the time it's born, and they're gonna leave your house. That red zone is the most important part. If your kids are under now, by the way, I'm not naive. They get to be about 13, 14, they're like, What are you doing here? Tina Faye says it's like having a workplace crush. Hey, we're gonna get together and eat. It's called dinner. Would you like to no, never mind, stay in your room? Okay. So you've got to lay the foundation when they're little to where they enjoy you and want to be around you. Then you connect, then you go to sleep. This is what keeps you from being a workaholic. And worshiping your work, working at your play, and playing at your worship. I'm not saying jobs are bad, they're great, but your identity is not in what you do for a living, it's in who you are and who you're becoming. So the first thing, first rhythm you see in Jesus is he exerted himself. They work, so there's exertion. Secondly, there's community. He says to them, Come away by yourselves to a desolate place. Those two words, by yourselves. By yourselves. It's a reference to the 12 disciples. Because if you look back in Luke chapter 6, Jesus spends the night praying to his father, but then the next day he calls his disciples to him, and he from among them chose 12 of them. If he chose 12, it stands to reason there were more than 12. See, Jesus did not believe in fair, fun, positive soccer where everyone gets a trophy. He says, Listen, I can invest myself in 12 men and make a difference. And he invested himself in 12 men. Look at me. You are in this room today because of that investment. Yes. Yes. And so he said, You said, What do you mean? I don't believe in relational socialism. Where every relationship, you gotta have the same kind of relationship with everybody. No, you don't. You have great relationships after church here in just a little bit. My wife and daughter and I are going to go on to go to first watch with some friends and have brunch. And when they said first watch 20 minutes ago, I was like, oh, that's all I can think about right now. It's a big Belgian waffle. Can we just have a share of time and leave? No. So we have but we have a relationship with these people. We enjoy these people. And they got little kids. I don't have little kids anymore. I enjoy their little kids. Why? Because you have a relationship. But you can't have the same depth and level of relationship with everybody. That's what I call relational socialism. He said, come away by yourselves. Biblical community is where you experience three things, okay? Number one, you're refreshed. You're refreshed. Not a commonly used word. When's the last time somebody said, hey, I spent I spent time with Billy Bob, and that was refreshing. Like, hey, hey, bro, we don't talk that way. But you're refreshed. It's just like, oh man, I feel better about myself. Refreshed is a Greek word, anopsuko. Anopsuko. Uh it tells us suko is from the realm of psyche. It's not about physical as much as emotional and spiritual, having to do with the psyche. The greatest example for me is in 2 Timothy chapter 1, where the apostle Paul says this he says, May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Nesporus, for he has often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. But when he arrived in Rome, he searched for me earnestly and found me. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. And you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus. Now, a little sidebar here, talking about community. If you want to understand who your community is, uh, there's three things in this verse right here that will identify you for you. Hey, these are the people that I have community with. Just ask three questions. Number one, who refreshes you? Who refreshes you? Because he said, Hey, this guy ones for us, a guy with a funny name, he refreshes me. So who refreshes you? Who is it when you spend time with them men and you walk away? Your wife's like, I like it when you spend time with that man. You're a better man when you're with that man. More time with him, less time with your deer hunting knucklehead friends that drink too much. Second question you should ask is who's not ashamed of your chains? Paul says this about onesphoras. He goes, hey, he often refreshed me and he was not ashamed of my change. You say, I don't have any change. Yes, you do. You wouldn't language it that way. You got a past, you got mistakes, you hope never get out in the public eye, you got struggles, you got addictions that are kind of knocking at the door, wanting to get in. Your community, that's an overused word these days. My my convention is that most people, everybody talks about community, but few people really experience community. Especially if you're under the age of 18. It's hard because it's so competitive and everyone's comparing and competing, and it's just it's it's a carnivorous environment. And no one's just kind of like, hey, hey, you know what? I know that about you, and I'll never hold it against you. Matter of fact, it frees me up to face some of my own junk when I hear you talk about yours. So, community, your community is the people that refresh you, the people not ashamed of your chains. And here's the one where here's the kicker. Who searches for you? Who searches for you? And he said, What do you mean? Right there in 2 Timothy 1, verse 16. He said, He's often refreshed me, he's not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome, he searched for me earnestly and found me. Who misses you when you're not around? Those are the people you're in communion with. And when you think about it in those terms, if you're not careful, for a lot of you, you'll get sad. And I don't want you to get sad. I just say this: turn it around on yourself and say, you know what? I want to be a refreshing person. I want to be the person when people tell me about their change, I'm not embarrassed. I'm not like, oh, don't you read the Bible? Don't you love Jesus? Instead, you say things like, Man, that is so sacred. Thank you for telling me about that. I'm gonna steward that well. Is it I think I know how to pray, but is there any way you want me to be praying specifically about that? And you be the person that searches for people. I prayed this last night, this weekend for our student ministry, that they would just become a place. You couldn't build a building big enough to hold all the kids in Fortman County that would want to be a part of a place where they get refreshed, where they can talk about their past, their change, and and and they're sought for, they're sought after. People are looking for them. Hey, we miss you when you're not here. See, the first thing that happens in community is you get refreshed. Secondly, you get reoriented. You get reoriented. You say, What do you mean? It's the people what you know what if you know what a level is, say amen. Level's a thing, it's got a little glass tube in it, it's got a little air bubble. And the way you know something, it's got two lines, and the little bubble is right in the middle. That means it's plum, it's flush, it's level. Uh, you ought to have people in your life that when you're about a half a bubble off, you sit down with a cup of coffee with them or lunch or breakfast or whatever, and you say, Yeah, I was kind of leaning towards my flesh, what I wanted to do, but you know what? I had lunch with her at La Madeline's, it was great. We had a Caesar salad and strawberries Romanoff, and it was lovely, and we chased it down with a mimosa because we're sinners anyway. But you walk away and you're like, you know what? I was a little I was a little tilted on the inside, but I feel kind of I'm back level. That's what it means to be reoriented. It's the people that reorient you back towards God and the gospel and and away from your flesh and what you really want to do when you're angry. The third thing you experience in community is you're refueled. You're refueled, you you walk away fuller. You're like, hey, when I sat down with this guy, my little, my little, uh the light on my gas gauge was on. I I was like, I got I I'm I'm I'm close to being empty here. But you walk away, you're like, you know what? I I think I'm gonna be okay. Now, why do I talk so much about community? Because in community and rest are the two places you experience what you need uh to endure the unexpected. Let me say that again. In community and rest, the next one we'll talk about is where you experience what you need to endure the unexpected. Because what's the unexpected? Jesus says to these guys, hey, come away by yourselves to a desolate place and let's rest. Okay, this is gonna be great. Not so much. They get in the boat, they go across the lake, hordes of people beat them to the other side of the lake, like, aha, you bearded wonder, don't try to get away again. And this is what we call in Bible talk the feeding of the 5,000. Can you imagine your boss saying, hey guys, we're going away, we're going to Barton Creek in Austin for a corporate retreat for three days. We're gonna just play golf, eat steak, hang out by the fire pit. It's gonna be awesome. And you get there and your customers are there, and you're like, Oh guys, I've got to make sales calls. Community and rest is where you experience what you need to get you ready to endure the unexpected. This is why you need to have a deep sense, uh a biblical understanding of what community is. You see, uh, we need Never know when the crowd's gonna find you, so you always need to be practicing a rhythm so that when they do find you, you're not offended. I really you're needy again? I gave you some Bible verses in a prayer two weeks ago. What's wrong? No, they they just by the way, the negative fruit when you don't experience community is envy and comparison. The negative fruit that manifests in our life when we do not experience community is envy and comparison. It's called social media. Yes, it's just a platform for comparison. Some of you went last night, oh look at the Joneses, they're in Vegas doing a flyover in a helicopter. Yes, I knew I should have married the banker instead of the plumber. We're sitting here on the couch watching Dick Clark's Rocket Eve. Did you see that? Oh, look, they ate. Oh, look at this restaurant they ate at. It's just you just look and you just think. Here's what social media tells you every money is skinnier, prettier, and richer than you, and they live better lives. Yes, that's what they think. It just sends you the message hey, you are not a good person. Your life is lame, you're missing out. Let me just share this. I've never been on any social media, and I think I live a very satisfying life. I never look at anybody, I've never been on Instagram. I told somebody there's a Dutch Brothers coffee right over here, and the guy was getting off in my space. I thought, hey, bro, get out of my truck, okay? I don't want to smell your hair care products. And he's like, hey, well, brother. He's like, hey, would you like to try? I said, I've never even been here. He goes, What? You've never been to Dutch Brothers? I said, I've never bought anything. And I'm just here buying something for my kid. And I said, Since we're talking about things we've never done, I'm 58, I've never taken a selfie. He was like, shut up. And I said, Oh, it's worse. I'm not on any social media either. He's like, Are you serious? I said, Yes, you act like I'm the one committing a crime. Hey, by the way, kids, TikTok means China has all your personal information. And they're gonna be hacking your mom and dad's credit card any day now. Yes, yes, our illustrious leader, President Biden, just forbid, he just banned all government employees having TikTok on their personal devices. It's not what you think it is. Well, yeah, you get on Instagram, you get on all these things, you just kind of look and you go, Yep, it's confirmed. I'm a loser. Yes. That's the bitter fruit when you don't experience community, and you think everybody else is. Hey, look at me. Busyness and entertainment is not community. It's not. The negative fruit we don't experience community is just envy and comparison. Here's the third part of this component of this rhythm of Jesus: exertion, work, community. Come away by yourselves. Now everybody can come. This is just us 12, us 13, you 12 and me. Here's the third component: rest. Rest is what you do to restore your body physically. You see, one of the problems of our culture is that we cannot rest. We just we don't know how to rest. And there's a pharmaceutical company that's going, hey, this is only you got uh uh uh what what's the what's the guy that's always on Fox selling relaxium, uh, the former Huckabee, Mike Huckabee. Hey, take this pill and you can sleep at night. Look at me. If if you would exert yourself on a daily basis and spend time in community, you'll sleep a lot better. You just will. You say, why? Because you go, you get if you get in real community, you'll realize, man, I'm not the only screwed-up broken person. I feel better about myself. And you just go to sleep. You don't need a glass of red wine to go to sleep, you just fall asleep. You're just like, oh, this is so good. See, uh, let me give you three things that facilitate rest, okay? Uh, number one, God is good at God's job of ruling the world, therefore I don't have to be. God is really good at God's job of ruling the world. One of the reasons this is gonna sound crazy and kooky, you guys are gonna talk about me at your lunch today, okay? And I'm okay with that because I'm not on social media. I won't even know what you said. Uh uh one of the reasons there's so many lost people in America is because they know so many people who try to be God. They never have to deal with or be confronted by the reality of God because they got 50 people between them and God, and they're giving them advice and this, that, and the other. And it really was manifested to me about two months ago, a lady came to see me for counseling. And I said, Well, tell me why you're here. And she tells me, and she goes, you know, I talked to my sister and I talked to this person and some girlfriends at work and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And while she's talking, I resolved in my spirit, I'm not going to give you any advice about this at all. But I didn't tell her, I let her talk. She said, Well, so what do you think? I said, I think you've got so many people between you and God, you don't have to feel the consequences for your horrible sin. And she said, What did you say? I said, What you did was horrible and it was sinful. And now you got a bunch of would-be therapists between you and God. And so I just think we should drink coffee and just chit-chat. Well, that's not why I came. I know, but you you need to face and feel your life, not get more advice on it. Well, my girlfriend said you're helpful. It's not helpful at all. Oh, this is gonna be transformative. Let's just drink up. And so she hemmed and hauled and asked more questions and we talked more, and she got distracted and started talking about whatever. And I said, We got about 10 more minutes. Is there anything else you'd like to just riff on before we're done? Well, I didn't started yet. I told you, I am not gonna get in the line of people. You do not need advice, you need an experience. And not with me, but with God, because you sinned against God when you did what you told me you did. And I'm not mad at you. I love you, but I I can't forgive you, only God can. Well, my girlfriends took me out to dinner, and then uh the other night we went out and had drinks, and I said, Listen, if you can sin and get this much attention, why should you ever stop sinning? So I started making that noise back. She says, What are you doing? I said, I'm mocking you. This is why you should never come see me for counseling. I'm not good. I am not good, I'm not. And I just he said, I've never I've never experienced this in my life. And I said, How does it feel? Look at me. Stop rescuing people from having to feel and face, feel their life and face God for it. And she said, Well, it's different. And I said, Ah, I'm our time's up. Let me pray. Well, I'm not, I'm not sure I'll come back. That's okay. I think you've got a lot of people that are trying to fix you. Yeah. See, look at me. God is good at God's job of running the world. That ought to help you rest. Second thing, help you rest. God's not worried about the state of the world. He's not. He doesn't watch CNN and Fox and then be like, oh my gosh, what's gonna happen now? Oh, Vladimir Putin, what am I gonna do with him? No, he's not. God is not worried about, he said, How do you know that? Read your Bible. In the last days, men will be lovers of themselves. Hello? Yes, Matthew 24. You hear wars and rumors of wars, but the end is not yet come. This is just the beginning of birth pains. Stop being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, every new revelation. No, God's not worried about the state of the world. Thirdly, this ought to help you rest. God has promised me a future and a hope. It's a four-word prayer. You should pray for your kids. I've prayed over my girls since they were born. I go in their crib and reach over and put my hand on their back and say, Lord, you you promised this little girl a future and a hope. And it's my responsibility to provide for her, but you have a plan for her life that's better than anything I come up with. She has a future and a hope in your eyes. A future and a hope. You have failed as a parent if your kids don't leave your house, understanding that they have a future, and they can have hope about that future because their future is in God's hands, not yours. Now look at me. If you don't, if you fail to prepare your kids for the future, you have to prepare a future for your kids. You've got to save a lot of money and bail them out the rest of their life. But God says in Jeremiah 29, hey, I have plans to give you a future. My plan involves giving you a future and a hope. And so it is love to say to your kids on occasion, hey, I know God has a future for you and a hope. Well, I'm not experiencing it. Well, I don't believe I believe that. You're not experiencing it because you're living in sin. And for God to give it to you, it make God look like he doesn't know what he's talking about. Well, God has a future, and you can have hope about that. It's a great forward prayer to pray for your kids. Now, by the way, when you don't get enough rest, we produce a negative fruit of self-medication and self-motivating. When you don't rest enough or properly, the negative fruit that gets produced is uh self-medication, everything from energy drinks to amphetamines and self-motivation. I'm just pulling myself up by my bootstraps and just get it done. Uh basically, you're compensating in unnatural ways for the fact that you're not getting what you what should come naturally. I couldn't tell you how many 14, 15, 16, 19-year-olds I talk to that get about four hours of sleep a night. And pound energy drinks. And I just like I don't think this is working. Here's the last component of a rhythm that you see in Jesus. It's exertion, community, rest. Here's the last one: leisure. Leisure, leisure. This is the unclaimed time that you use to do whatever you want because it restores your body, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Leisure. Let me ask you a question. How long can you do nothing before you feel guilty about it? And let me tell you, for me, it's a long time, I'm like pink. I can go for miles if you know what I mean. I don't feel guilty. Yesterday, somebody texts me, hey, what are you doing today? You want it? Nope, I don't want to do nothing. I want to lay on my couch and watch college football late into the night. Because if I if if I would have done that, I would have missed Ohio State kicker gagging up and just duck hooking it. I'm like, dude, I can kick it from there. You got a scholarship for this? And then I bowed my knee in prayer for my friend Andy, who's from Ohio. And I thought, well, how about them horn frogs? Amen. The eyes of Texas are upon you, baby. Yeah, yeah. Leisure. Look at me. Look at me. This is what gets me kicked out of the preacher's club. If you like to go to the bay and go bait fishing, you should go. Yes. You should save your money and buy a boat and go fish and watch the sun go down while you're fishing and look at your fishing buddies and go, we should be burning in hell right now, but we get to fish in my boat. Is God good or what? Yes. You should go play golf. And after the first 18, you should look at your buddies and go, run it back. And tech, don't text, call your wife and say, hey, it'd really be meaningful to me if I just played 18 more. Are you okay with that? And if you're connecting with your kids, your wife's gonna be like, absolutely. You play 36. Enjoy yourself. Why? Because you were created for leisure. Now, if you don't learn to enjoy leisure, you always have to explain your use of it. You always have to explain your use of it because it causes you to question yourself. You start thinking things like, oh, if I was really spiritual, I wouldn't need this. No, no, no, no, no. You need it because you were created for it. Yes, absolutely. And so you gotta have a plan for exertion, for work, for community, for rest, and for leisure. Leisure is the time, and I leisure is like, hey, some of you like to travel. Glory to God. My friend just went to Hawaii a couple weeks ago. I was like, oh man, glory to God. Here's how you know you can rest and you enjoy leisure. When other people do things that fill them up, you can rejoice with those that rejoice. You're not envious. You're not like, oh, I can't believe that. Man, I bet they don't even tithe. I remember standing out in front of him one time. One of our men pulled up in a brand new truck. I could smell it from the road. And he pulled in, and a guy sitting standing there beside me, I said, You think he tithes? Probably took all that money and bought that truck. And he went, Well, them things are expensive. I mean, probably so. And I said, Listen, I don't care. I don't know who gives what. Uh, but I'm so excited. And I saw him after church. I said, by the way, I saw you in your truck. He goes, Oh, Pastor, I got a new, I got a great deal, and blah, blah, blah. Hey, look at me. You don't have to explain that to me. I want you, I want you to flourish. I want you to enjoy that new vehicle. That's the most expensive smell you'll ever smell in your life. So enjoy it. But look at me, we're done. Most people feel guilty when it comes to leisure. Here's how you know you don't have a good theology of leisure. Like, here's one of the questions you should ask yourself at lunch. What is your theology of leisure? Here's how you know you don't have a good biblical theology of leisure. You have to explain yourself. You should never explain why you're experiencing something the Bible says you were created for. Okay? Let's pray together. Let's take a moment if you're a guest. We like to teach the Bible and give you some space to think about it. Some questions come up on the screen, and we'll just think and reflect for a minute, and then we'll get out of here and go to first watch and have brunch with bacon. Million-dollar bacon. Yes, sir. God, thank you for bacon and for the Bible. It's a cup of kindness, and we've drank deeply from it today about a topic we don't talk about enough in the church. Because God, the church is the worst, some of the worst organizations that just exerts people and wears them out. But God, we don't, we're not that kind of church. We're a church that believes in rest and leisure. We believe in hard work. Get up and get after it. But also soak your soul in community with people that get you, and they they're not ashamed of your chains. They know there was a time you almost left your husband, and they just they they they get wet-eyed over how God's acted in your marriage. And so, Holy Spirit, just brood over us for a minute. Press in on us what's necessary, let everything else fall to the wayside as we think and reflect now in Jesus' name. God, there's so many words that are flying in the atmosphere these days from our culture and from the media. Therefore, we need some words we can just get our arms around and live by. We can hold on to when it gets crazy. And it will. We can't control that. We can control our response to it. At the center of the storm, the eye of the hurricane, we want to be a people of rhythm. Pace burns us to the ground. Rhythm is like that rain that comes and just kind of nourish us so our roots go down deep. So, regardless of how hard the wind blows, we don't tip over. God, I pray for men in this room that they would work hard, engage their children, connect with their wives, and then rest. But show us how to structure our lives in such a way that we experience by nature what we are created for. This is our prayer. We prayed in Christ's name, and everyone said, Amen, amen. If you're our guest today, I want to say thanks for being here. You're always welcome here. My name is Neil, I'm lead pastor at Grand Park Way. We have two other teaching pastors and other pastors on our staff that preach and teach on occasion. And so we're typically going through a book of the Bible, okay? But we like to take a break every once in a while and do a topical series. That's what we're doing now with this series called Words to Live By. Uh and so I'd love for you to come on this journey with us. Uh, we've also got a lot of things going on in the life our church wants you to know about. So give your attention to the screens right now.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church. If you're new, text welcome to 281-626-5707. This way we can know you're here and get you connected with the church. Ray Ortland will be joining us next Sunday, January 8th, to teach on learning your true identity in Christ. Make sure you're here that Sunday and bring a friend. Our men's breakfast is back this semester on January 24th. All men are invited. Midweeks begin January 10th and 11th. We'll have classes for everyone in every stage of life, so be sure and check them out at grandparkway.org and sign up. While you're on our website, you can find information about staff, upcoming events, and what we believe. Also, be sure to give us a follow and a like on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you know we have a church app? Find it wherever apps are available for your devices. If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

SPEAKER_01 39:17

I'm glad that's not water. Uh now, y'all did better than the first service. The first service tried to keep it in. Until one lady in the back broke. Absolutely. Hey, social media is not bad as long as you're on the church website. Amen. I think most things, uh, well, no, I won't say that. Never mind. Uh anyway, uh, yeah. Well, there you go. Social media. Instagram, chat face, book snap, all that stuff. It's good. I'm on MySpace. I find there's a lot of room there, so come on. I was like, where'd everybody go? We're making a comeback. We've been here for years. Anyway, uh, we'd like to conclude our service with a spoken blessing. So if you would stand to your feet. Baptist hypocrites. Hold your hands out. Your God is so good and so in charge of the world that you don't have to be. You don't have to live at the mercy of pace. You can be people, men and women, students of rhythm. It's a highly evangelistic reality we get to display to the culture around us. So depart now and live in rhythm. In the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen. Bless you.