Real rest isn’t a snooze

23 Apr Real rest isn’t a snooze

23 April 2026

Happy Thursday y’all!

Apologies for the late delivery of this week’s news…somehow Tuesday turned into Thursday and here we are!

Nonetheless…I shared the following with some folks this morning & it still seems worthy of more note… Grab your Bibles & turn to Matthew 11:28-30: Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary & carry heavy burdens, & I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble & gentle at heart, & you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, & my burden is light.”

I often hear this verse in the context of someone offering Jesus as a place of peace & quiet…like watching golf on TV where you can turn the sound down low & have a nap. But that’s not at all what’s in play here. To “rest,” as Jesus offers implies on-going life with him in his mission & purpose to the world. To “rest” here means that there’s still a “burden” to carry…the burden of offering life, hope, & his grace to a world in desperate need, but that often rejects the Physician who offers healing. To “rest” suggests walking daily with Jesus in such a way that his presence with you is what makes the burden light & the journey easy.

Too many of our earthly burdens are burdens precisely because we’ve offered our services & devotion to an earthly master who is in fact a tyrant who will chew us up & spit us out. How many people chase financial “rest” or social status “rest” or success “rest” but are always burning the candle at both ends? To “rest” in Jesus is to spend your days pursuing his purpose of revealing God’s Kingdom that trumps every earthly kingdom & promises life with the Father as its goal. To wear Jesus’ “yoke,” to follow him in his grace-filled mission to the people around you, is to serve in full devotion not a boss or taskmaster but a Saviour.

Now…How are some ways we’ll be doing that this week?

• Sunday 26^th April – Knowing the Why… our worship & teaching series continues through the book of Ephesians, Knowing Whom You Serve – have a look at Ephesians 3 to get you prepared!
• ALSO…Sunday 26^th April – Compassion International special guest! Our GBO this month supported our sponsored child in Mexico, Mesac. This week Di Male brings the stories of success & deep need so we get a clearer picture of what your gifts allow in the lives of those we support.
• Make note of the various ANZAC Day observances around town & the public holidays that go along with that. It’s important that we always thank God for those who have offered their lives in defense of the freedoms we enjoy in our world AND to stand steadfastly against every encroachment on those freedoms.
• We’ll have our May calendars out hopefully on Sunday. Note the places where you can serve all the places where a few extra helping hands will make a world of difference.
• We’ve been asked to provide a meal for the Campus Christian Fellowship again on Tuesday May 26^th. We’ll have more details as we get closer to the date & a sign-up sheet to help organize our efforts. Thank you in advance!

A FINAL THOUGHT…If you know someone who currently resides in a nursing home or care facility of some sort… Please make plans to go see them soon. As I visit around town I notice the huge smiles that greet me, even from perfect strangers, in the hopes that I am there to spend a few minutes with them. Take a friend with you so there’s plenty to talk about, and don’t think you have to stay long…30-45 minutes in probably long enough. Take a devotional book and read one of the devotions together. Take the local paper & talk about the headlines. If you have family photos on your phone, share those. One day…the other side of that conversation might be you or me & we’d sure want our friends to visit. Recent research says that people dread getting older because of the loss of that kind of contact from friends. The sadness is not just loss of capacity due to aging but loss of relationships due to lack of interest & investment. So…pray about whom you’ll go see next week.

And I’ll see you Sunday! John