Sermon Preview: The Best Stay-cation You'll Ever Know
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Matthew 11:28-30
July is the height of the vacation season, and while we all need some time away from our routines for rest and relaxation, there are some years when at the end of our time away, we think that it would have been best just to have stayed at home. That growing sentiment among harried and hapless persons has led to a new alternative, the “staycation.” Instead of going somewhere and coming back spent in every way imaginable, these folk have chosen to stay closer to home on their summer break and try to find some sense of renewal in the familiar.
The more you think about it, the more you come to see that pursuing such a goal is not a bad thing to consider throughout the year, not just during our summer getaways. All of us yearn to experience peace and rest on an abiding basis.
Such yearning is best met through our commitment to Jesus. When you look at Jesus’ ministry, you see him meeting people at their point of greatest need and transforming their hurt and brokenness into health and wholeness.
Our text this Sunday focuses on Jesus’ promise to his disciples that by linking their lives to his they would know a source of peace that nothing or no one else could ever provide. Even though such linking meant dedication and sacrifice, what they would experience from it would return more than they could imagine. It’s the same way today. Trading our stress and tediousness for the abundant life Jesus offers brings rest and grace for our wearied and worn souls.
We best make such a trade through our experience of worship. So, if you’re around home this Sunday, join us for worship. The “sanctuary” worship provides has every chance of giving you the break you really need so that when you do go back to the routine, it will be filled with more life, joy, and peace than you ever thought possible.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my
yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Mathew 11:28-30 (NIV)