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Thursday, April 7th
At 7:00 P.M there will be an Open Church Informational Meeting. This will be an opportunity to talk about the current state of WellSpring Church.
21 Maundy Thursday
A simple soup dinner and fellowship time around the Lord's Supper as part of preparation for remembering the crucifixion of Christ and Celebrating his Resurrection.
From Pastor Burt
Rest is not a reward but a necessity and a gift.
Matthew 11:28 is one of the most encouraging of all possible invitations. For a people given to much work, stress, frenzied activity, and anxiety, we sigh gratefully when we hear the Savior say, "Come to me and I will give you rest." There is a paradox or an inconsistency, however, between hearing the invitation with thankfulness and living it out with faithfulness. If this were not so, we would feel less fatigued. We would feel the weight of tight schedules, to do lists that are too long, and pressing deadlines far less than we do. Why is it if we are promised rest that we do not typically feel rested? Consider three truths that may change our restlessness and weariness into restedness.
First, we should realize and remember that rest is a gift from God. Jesus says, "I will give you rest." He does not say, "I will pay you with the rest you have earned." We do not receive rest or stop for rest because we have earned it. For many years I have struggled to stop and rest, even to go to sleep at night because I was afraid that I had not yet done enough in the day to deserve to go to sleep. There is always one (or more!) thing that could be done before stopping. This kind of thinking makes rest and sleep a reward. This kind of thinking does not take into account Psalm 127:2
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Here, I think, the emphasis is on anxious toil and not on necessary toil. Anxious toil is the frenzied, fearful activity and labor that is convinced that not enough is being done, that God will not be satisfied with this day's output, or even thinking, "if I don't do this, it won't get done!" There are tasks that must be done, but the number of these tasks may be fewer than we think. Do we believe the lesson in Luke 10:41-42 (You remember the frantic Martha?) "But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from he'." What compels us to be "anxious and troubled about many things"? What compels us to give ourselves to "anxious toil"? Perhaps it is merely that we have not fully understood that rest and sleep are the grace of God to his beloved. As a child of God, you are his beloved. His gift to to you is rest. Rest is not a reward-take it!
Secondly, we need to realize and remember that constant labor is a vanity. That is, in the long run it is emptiness and worthless and meaningless. Connected to this is the fact that God commands rest. Far too many of us do not take seriously the injunction for a Sabbath rest, a rhythm of one-in-seven for the resting and refreshing of our bodies, minds, and souls. It is not my intent here to defend a strict view of Sabbath observance for the New Testament saint, but I do believe that we have become dangerously lax in our weekly rest. (One of my favorite authors, Iain Murray, calls this laxness a "Calamity in contemporary Christianity.") It doesn't seem possible to me that we can be fully refreshed and re-energized spiritually with the limited time we give to weekly morning worship on Sunday, any more than a Sunday nap will refresh us fully from a hard week of labor. We need to seek rest with a spirit of obedience. Could some of our restlessness and fatigue be a result of rebellion and disobedience? If God says, "Rest" and I do not, what is this? Will he take in exchange for obedience our completed to do lists? Will he be gladdened and pleased with our spurning of His gift of rest? There is a good and proper Biblical work ethic, one that says that work is good and that whatever we do we are to do it earnestly as unto the Lord. At the same time there is an unbiblical and proud work ethic that says, "I'd rather burn out than rust out." God is not honored by either half of this false dichotomy. Take the rest that God not only offers, but also commands.
Thirdly we need to remember that both physical and mental rest come from spiritual resting. Faith and trust are nothing more than resting in and resting on the character and the promises of God. Consider Isa. 26:3,4 and Jeremiah 16:6 as instructions for a restful heart and a rested body. In the former we read,
You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
Is it possible that there can be restlessness of sprit and unrestedness of body when the Almighty is the focus of the labor of my body and the toil of my mind? Rest comes from resting in God and on his promises. Rest comes from a firm confidence in the person of the Almighty through a deep experience with Him and His Word. In Jeremiah 6:16 we are given another help to resting spiritually in order to have physical and emotional rest. There we read,
Thus says the Lord:
"Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
Rest comes from believing that God's ways are true, right, and beneficial to us. Saying that I will not walk in the way of the Word, living as though God's ways are not wise and that his Word is not for today, for me, or for this circumstance will not bring refreshment to our restless souls.
What will you do about your fatigue? Let's begin by accepting rest as a gracious gift from a loving Father whom alone gives perfect peace to the restless soul.
A reminder from Last week
Carrying the Cross is a Blessing from God. Charles Bridges, An Exposition of Proverbs, 1846 , writes on Proverbs 24:1,2 these helpful reminders for us as we continue to remember that affliction, suffering, and cross-bearing are a normal part of the life of true discipleship. "This evil spirit [of envy], if it does not bring the scandal of open sin, curses our blessings, withers our graces, cankers our peace, clouds our confidence, and stains a Christian profession. "The Christian is the only enviable person in the world. The seeming blessings of evil menare God s heavy curses; and the smart of the stripes is a favor too good for them to enjoy. To judge wisely of our condition, it is to be considered, not so much how we fare, as upon what terms. If we stand right with heaven, every cross is a blessing; and every blessing a pledge of future happiness. If we be in God's disfavor, every one of his benefits is and a judgment; and every judgment makes way for perdition In ad of envying sinnersin their successful wickedness, is therefore their character and influence to be dreaded no less than their end!" | 
