How do you rest?  We all know we need rest, but that it can be hard to find, schedule, enjoy and protect.  Resting doesn’t always come naturally, even though it should.

That’s what we’ll look at this week, because our strategies for rest don’t always work.

How many times have you said “I need a vacation?”  Unfortunately, it’s not always the best thing for us!  Did you know that studies have shown going on vacation, you face an increased risk of road or sports accidents, and depending on where you go, digestive ailments.  Employees with high levels of stress show a greater incidence of colds, poor mood and minor physical ailments in the first three days of vacation.

Sometimes we need a vacation after the vacation.  Earlier this year, my family had a return flight bumped on us, and we could move it to the day before or the day after, and either shorten our time away by a day or lengthen it.  We loved our time away, and were having fun, but still voted to shorten it and enjoy a day or two of recovery from vacation before everyone went back to work and school.

We needed a vacation from the vacation!

Question: How do you find rest?

Ryan Sim - July 18, 2013

Thursday - Act On It - Originality

There is some teaching, especially when it's unoriginal and shallow, that you can take under advisement. You can simply say, "That’s interesting" and then move on with your life. We read stuff like this all the time. Magazine articles. Newspaper. Blogs. Facebook posts. Some people are very skilled at rehashing other people’s research in entertaining and interesting ways. I often read things that are of little value to me. They're just interesting, and not going to change my life. I hope the Sermon on the Mount we've been studying is not that way for you. We saw last week – hearing and living these words is like building upon a stone foundation for life. Hearing and ignoring these words is like building on a sand foundation that washes away. How you hear the Sermon on the Mount is like the difference between a wedding announcement and invitation. With a wedding announcement in the newspaper or on Facebook, you say, "Oh, look, they’re getting married, how nice". An invitation is quite different, since it has your name on it. It’s for you. We want you to come. The Kingdom of heaven is often described as a party, and it would be a party with the most original, profound teacher ever at its centre. The very source of truth, wisdom is the attraction. His way of life would now be the only reality. The kingdom he’s been describing, would be there in living colour. He’s issued that invitation to you. Come to my kingdom, my celebration, my party. And this is not just a future reality, somewhere else. It’s something we are called to start practicing now, really living it out, to be ready for the full production . Life on earth is meant to be a practice party, and you’re invited. We're establishing a new church, or Christian community, in Ajax – and it will be built on the model of a party with Jesus at the center. It will be like nothing you've ever experienced before. We're planning our first party for this fall. Challenge: We're running a poll right now, that you can find in our app or here on our web site: http://bit.ly/15B2yry Tell us what kind of party you could RSVP to!

From Series: Sermon on the Mount | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

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