Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] It's good to be with you. We are our summer kickoff. Make sure to get a snow cone, all that kind of thing. And, Church, God willing, this will be our last summer in this place.
[00:00:12] Yes.
[00:00:15] So I know it gets a little warm in here this summer, but we're just gonna endure.
[00:00:20] We'll have AC One day.
[00:00:23] But it's good to be with you, Church. And let me say a prayer for us, and then we'll get into the message today.
[00:00:29] Father, we thank you for your goodness and your kindness to us. Lord, I pray that you would strengthen us today.
[00:00:38] I pray, Father, especially those of us who just come into the room and we are weary, we are exhausted, we are tired.
[00:00:47] I pray we could experience a renewal that comes only from you.
[00:00:54] And I pray, Father, that it would give us the strength we need to live the life and be the man or woman you're calling us to be. So bless us with this great gift, Lord. In the name of Jesus, I pray.
[00:01:06] Amen.
[00:01:09] Well, I don't know about you, but I've been enjoying this nice weather. Anybody else? I mean, what a. I love Ohio.
[00:01:17] You just go from one extreme to the next. You know, we're like winter now. We're in summer.
[00:01:24] But I'm enjoying it. And I like to be outside a lot this time of year. I like to just tinker around the yard and do landscaping and just kind of enjoy that kind of thing. Anybody else?
[00:01:37] Yeah, two of you. Great.
[00:01:39] Three. Praise God. We're building momentum.
[00:01:44] And just this week, I was carrying some pavers around.
[00:01:48] I don't know if you've carried pavers recently.
[00:01:51] Yeah, but those things are heavy.
[00:01:54] And I was trying to, you know, like, vice grip them like this and just sort of carry. And that worked for a minute, and then my grip wore out pretty quick.
[00:02:06] And then, you know, the rest of the time, you're moving them. I'm trying to, like, adjust my grip the whole time and change it. Cause I can hang on for a little bit, but then my grip starts to.
[00:02:18] I start to lose it, and then it gets fatigued and it gets even worse. You know what I'm saying? And this. We all understand this, and this is part of life and part of our bodies and everything like that. But I also think that our souls kind of work like that, too.
[00:02:36] That we try to hold on to our lives, and we try to hold things together and hold people together and make everything go right the way that we want. And sometimes in life, the grip that our souls have.
[00:02:54] Have you ever seen that start to wear out?
[00:02:57] Have you ever feel like, man, I'm just tired.
[00:03:00] I'm trying to keep everything together. I'm trying to keep everyone happy. I'm trying to keep everything going in the right direction. And, man, I am exhausted.
[00:03:11] Anybody ever hit those moments?
[00:03:13] I need to talk to some weary people today.
[00:03:17] If you came in tired, you're in the right place. But if you're, like, fully caffeinated and ready to attack the day, this sermon's not for you.
[00:03:26] But we all hit those moments, don't we? And one of the struggles about being weary and being fatigued is many times no one seems to care how tired you are. You ever notice that? Like, when I'm just really wore out, I've never seen my kids wake up and be like, you know what, guys, let's take it easy on dad today.
[00:03:51] He seems. They've never said that. They've never thought that.
[00:03:56] That is a completely foreign idea in their minds. In fact, I suspect it's just the opposite. Hey, Dad's tired. Let's ramp it up. I don't have proof of that. I just believe it in my heart. Anybody else?
[00:04:09] When you are fatigued, people at work oftentimes don't know, right?
[00:04:17] And you would love for them to be like, wow, you know, this person's caring a lot.
[00:04:22] Let's maybe send these problems somewhere else.
[00:04:27] But that doesn't usually happen, does it? Church and life doesn't look at us and be like, oh, you know what? You've had a really tiring six months.
[00:04:37] I'm gonna make sure everything goes smooth from here. Wouldn't that be nice?
[00:04:43] And one of the struggles about fatigue and weariness is not just that you're fatigued and weariness, but it can feel like no one really cares like you need them to, or sees like you need them to.
[00:05:00] And it makes the struggle even more. You with me on this church. And today I wanna talk about it. And I have good news for us. Because although other people in our life might not see the way we want them to, might not acknowledge all that we're doing and all that's being taken out of us, the good news today is, is God sees.
[00:05:25] God sees the state of your soul.
[00:05:29] And God actually looks to people like you and me. And he says, if you are weary, if you are exhausted, I want to give you new strength.
[00:05:42] And I don't know about you, but I will take God up on that. How about you?
[00:05:47] I am open to that. And today we're gonna look at that. And this is in the book of Isaiah.
[00:05:54] And it's an Old Testament book that was written about 700 years before the time of Jesus. And Isaiah is speaking to a people that are tired, that are worn out, that are a little bit beat up. And in the midst of their difficult situation, God gives them these words and, and this promise. And I'm gonna begin at Isaiah, chapter 40, verse 28. And just listen to how powerful this is.
[00:06:23] Isaiah says, have you not known?
[00:06:29] Have you not heard?
[00:06:33] The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
[00:06:41] He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
[00:06:48] He gives power to the faint. And to him who has no might, he increases strength.
[00:06:58] Even youth shall faint and be weary. Young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
[00:07:17] Those are some powerful verses, aren't they?
[00:07:20] Isaiah is looking at his generation. He's saying, hey, haven't you heard about who your God is?
[00:07:29] He's like, well, maybe you've heard, but you've forgotten.
[00:07:33] Let me remind you. And he says, your God is the everlasting God.
[00:07:38] His strength is incomparable.
[00:07:42] He doesn't get tired.
[00:07:44] Says, I know you do, and I know you get wore down. But he doesn't. And in fact, he gives strength to the weary. He will renew those who wait. For these are powerful verses. Now, the good news is that these words were not just for the people of Isaiah's time.
[00:08:06] These words are for us today.
[00:08:10] And Isaiah says, first, you need to be open to this news that I have for you. Have you not heard? Have you not known? Now, if you were to read the next 10 or 15 chapters of Isaiah, you'll see this theme coming again and again. Like, don't you know?
[00:08:33] Aren't you listening?
[00:08:35] Haven't you heard? And this theme in Isaiah is, Isaiah is challenging his people. He's saying, hey, I have a good message for you.
[00:08:45] A good message from God.
[00:08:48] Are you willing to receive it? You might think, well, why would anyone not wanna receive a good message from God? Why is that challenging at all?
[00:09:01] Well, here's why.
[00:09:03] Because sometimes when you are so used to bad news and you're so accustomed to feeding on, actually is difficult then to begin to feed on something good. You with me on this. And during Isaiah's time, they were surrounded with a lot of bad news and a lot of challenge and a lot of difficulty and a lot of things to be afraid of.
[00:09:29] But what Isaiah's saying is, I want to call you to listen to something different.
[00:09:35] And I think that maybe there are some parallels from Isaiah's time and people with us today.
[00:09:44] When I look at our news cycle in our world, I don't sense that it's healthy at all.
[00:09:51] You ever notice our news cycle is sort of built on like slander, defamation, you know, pervasive negativity, like all these. I remember a couple years ago I was like constantly listening to some of these like current event type podcasts and stuff and I found myself just getting wound up and angry all the time. And then all of a sudden I realized, well, it's cause I'm just listening to this stuff all the time and it's sort of inflaming me.
[00:10:25] And I think that we're so used to experiencing news like that that it actually becomes hard to hear real good news.
[00:10:36] And in fact we get skeptical of it.
[00:10:39] Like, I don't know, where's, you know, when's the shoe gonna drop?
[00:10:44] Where's the negative angle on this? And Isaiah says, hey, have you not known? Have you not heard?
[00:10:51] I need to tell you who your God is and you need to be open to it and receive it. And I think in every generation and at multiple points in our life, we need to receive the reality of who God is in our souls in a very fresh way.
[00:11:16] We need to be renewed in our souls by the overwhelming goodness, power and reality of who God is. And that's what Isaiah's trying to do for these people. He's trying to bring it to them to say, listen, I know there's challenge in the world. I know there's darkness, I know there's evil. I know there's evil in your own heart.
[00:11:43] But you also need to know and remember the character and reality of who your God is. And we all need that. And I believe that we need to be people and a church that brings that to our world as well.
[00:12:03] I love what Isaiah says in Isaiah 52.
[00:12:07] He says, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns.
[00:12:28] Now the apostle Paul, hundreds of years later, would quote these very verses in the book of Romans.
[00:12:37] And he would say, God sees it as a beautiful thing when his people are willing to bring the good news of who he is to a world that desperately needs to hear it. He says, how beautiful are their feet.
[00:12:58] Now I imagine in the ancient world it was hard to have beautiful feet.
[00:13:05] You didn't have great Nikes to protect your feet, you couldn't go and get a pedicure.
[00:13:12] I don't know what the status of nail clippers were, but I'm guessing it wasn't great.
[00:13:18] And I could imagine feet being pretty dirty and gnarly and nasty, but he says, but anybody with me on this, let's move on. But he says, even there is a beauty when those feet are bringing a message about who God really is. And I was thinking about these verses and I was just thinking about this season that we're in as a church.
[00:13:45] And I was thinking about our building and what that means. And it reminded me, church, that's what we're doing.
[00:13:55] Everything we're doing as a church is so others would know the good news of Jesus Christ.
[00:14:03] On Thursday, I got to go stand on the construction site with our construction company and walk around a little bit. And I was standing right where the building will be. They've kind of, you know, padded down the dirt there. I don't know what the official language is.
[00:14:24] They've just sort of like, got it ready there. And I was just kind of standing there and I was just thinking about how visible it is going to be to thousands of people every single day.
[00:14:38] And I don't know if you caught it, but kind of the main focal point of our building is a 40 foot cross that, like, you cannot miss it from the highway. I was like, how cool is that that literally tens of thousands of people every day are gonna drive by and see that.
[00:15:01] I thought, what is God gonna do with that?
[00:15:04] How many times is God gonna stir someone's heart with that? And they're gonna come in and they're gonna hear the good news of Jesus and their life is gonna be turned around and their marriage is gonna be turned around, their family's gonna be different, their sense of joy, Everything's gonna be different.
[00:15:21] Because people like you and me cared enough to say in this time that we have, in this moment that we have, in this opportunity that we have, we're gonna try to bring the good news of Jesus to our world. I think that's awesome, church. And I don't want you to miss the sacrifice and prayer and heart that you have entered into to do that. I think it is beautiful in God's sight. Now Isaiah says, here's what you need to know. Have you not heard? Have you not known? The Lord is the everlasting God.
[00:16:00] Now what Isaiah's saying here, if you have a Bible today, and if you look at it Lord is capitalized.
[00:16:07] And the reason is, is because when we see Lord capitalized in English in the Old Testament, it means that it's a Hebrew name for God, Yahweh.
[00:16:19] Now, what's significant about Yahweh is Yahweh is the name that God gave to Moses long time before Isaiah. And Moses got called to go to Egypt and to bring out his people under Egyptian rule. And he said, God said to Moses, go speak to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt and say, let my people go. And Moses says, okay, I will, but what should I tell Pharaoh your name is?
[00:16:47] Because God is a generic name, right? God can refer to a lot of things. He says, well, you can tell him that I am who I am, sends you, and that's Yahweh. And that became the covenant name of God to the ancient Israelite people. And so Isaiah says, the Lord, Yahweh is the everlasting God. Now, why is that significant?
[00:17:17] Here's why. Because in the ancient world like today, there were a lot of other nations that claimed a lot of other gods.
[00:17:27] And all around ancient Israel, there were all these other people groups that says, no, no, this guy's God, this guy's God. This guy's God. Just like our world today, there's a lot of other religions that claim that, no, this is the real God. But what Isaiah says, he says, no, no. Yahweh, the God who has revealed himself to you is the one true God, is the everlasting God. All the rest are phonies.
[00:17:59] They're not it.
[00:18:01] Now, I think that's a really significant thing to think about in our day today. How do we, and maybe some of us today, if you're here and you're kind of exploring Christianity and trying to determine what you believe, many people, you know, we question this. We're like, how do I determine what religion is true? Who is the real God?
[00:18:25] And as Jackie had mentioned, we're going to do this equip summer institute, and I'm going to spend a couple days on that question, and I'm going to talk about the difference between Christianity and some of the the biggest religions in the world. Because I think Christianity is true. I think Yahweh, Jesus Christ is the real God.
[00:18:50] And there are ways to think about those and to talk about those and to share with others. And so anyway, if you're interested, I'll be talking about that in a couple weeks and you can join us. I don't have time today to go through all of that, although I know you're like, oh, that might be fun and interesting. Well, you're gonna have to come out on a Thursday night, Wednesday night.
[00:19:12] But that's what he's saying. Our God, the God that we know is the everlasting God. He is the creator of everything.
[00:19:22] I was just thinking about this recently.
[00:19:26] You know, human beings, we can create some cool things.
[00:19:32] And sometimes I'm, like, really impressed with human engineering and human ability. And then other times, I'm really underwhelmed.
[00:19:41] I was just.
[00:19:43] This week, there's a bunch of big, huge power lines by my house.
[00:19:50] And there was a helicopter with, like, a long rope and a massive chainsaw on it, and it was trimming the trees. You know, I heard, like, this huge commotion outside.
[00:20:04] I was like, what is it? And I go out and there's this little helicopter with this big, huge chainsaw just, like, running the lines of the power lines, trimming them. And I was looking at that, and I was like, that's our best idea for that.
[00:20:23] I was like, that feels like something me and, like, my high school buddy would have come up with. You know, like, dude, just give me a rope. Give me a chainsaw.
[00:20:31] Let's. I'm like, that's the best. 20, 26. Like, we got AI going and all this. And this is where we're at. We're just hanging a chainsaw.
[00:20:41] And it was funny. Like, a lot of people were going out to see it because it is a sight to see. You know how many times. That was the first time I ever saw that in person. And there were, like, kids in the backyards. And, like, part of me was like, wanted to say, like, kids, get away from this thing. Like, this just doesn't. This does look like the greatest idea here.
[00:21:03] And I think that as humans, we can create a lot of cool things, but we also have a tremendous amount of limitations, don't we?
[00:21:14] We also have a tremendous amount of things that we can't do and can't figure out. And Isaiah says, God is the one who has created everything your God, everything you see and experience, he has created. And he goes on, he says, and he does not faint or grow weary.
[00:21:38] He doesn't get tired.
[00:21:41] God never wakes up.
[00:21:44] He's like, ah, gonna take it easy today.
[00:21:48] God never looks at what's happening in the world and be like, oh, you know what?
[00:21:53] Last week was exhausting.
[00:21:56] Angels, you go figure this stuff out.
[00:21:59] He doesn't get weary. He doesn't tire. His understanding is unsearchable. And look at what Isaiah says. And he gives power to the faint and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Now I just love the pairing of this.
[00:22:17] Isaiah says this God is incomparably strong.
[00:22:22] He is incomparably wise.
[00:22:26] And in his strength and his wisdom, he helps tired and exhausted people.
[00:22:34] How cool is that?
[00:22:36] In his great strength, he doesn't look at people like you and me and be like, quit complaining.
[00:22:46] He doesn't look at people like you and me and be like, all right, get it together.
[00:22:52] But he gives strength to weary people. He gives strength to exhausted people. Isaiah says, even you shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.
[00:23:13] They who wait for the Lord.
[00:23:16] Now, when I was thinking about this, there's a great Isaiah scholar named J. Alec Matier. And he said that this idea of renewal is a theme in the book of Isaiah. And he said that renewal always kind of involves three things. It involves rest, trust, waiting.
[00:23:39] Rest, trust and waiting.
[00:23:42] And here he says, when Isaiah says they will wait on the Lord and they will renew their strength, he says, when we think about what that looks like in our lives, it's through those three things. Rest, trust, and waiting. And so today I just kind of want to play with those a little bit and think about what does it look like for us to enter into God's renewal. I think first it means entering into God's rest.
[00:24:14] See, interestingly, we see this theme again and again through scripture, that God created the world in six days and he rested on the seventh.
[00:24:24] And that all through the scripture there is this theme of Sabbath rest.
[00:24:31] Jesus, when he walked this earth, he said, the Sabbath was not created for God, but for man.
[00:24:39] Here's what that means. God invites us to create space for rest in our lives.
[00:24:48] God says, hey, get after it six days a week, but one day rest, one day worship rest and let me renew you.
[00:25:03] Now, I don't know about you, but that's easier said than done.
[00:25:08] And how many times in our life, if you're like me, do you find yourself absolutely over scheduled? Anybody?
[00:25:17] How many times do we just, you know, we just fill our lives and fill our lives and fill our lives and we only rest once. We are at our very end instead of rest being part of how we live our lives.
[00:25:35] See, I think there is wisdom in the way God created this world. There is wisdom in the teaching of Sabbath. And when we bring it to our lives, it brings renewal. And as we enter this summer, I want to encourage you to think about what does some proactive rest look like, see what the Sabbath teaches us.
[00:26:00] None of us are too important to not rest.
[00:26:07] See, when we practice the Sabbath, what we're saying is, look, God, the world runs because you exist, not because I exist.
[00:26:18] You know, sometimes we're afraid to stop or slow down. Cause we're like, well, everything is gonna come to a crashing halt.
[00:26:25] And the Lord reminds us and says, hey, look, you're not that big of a deal. You with me. You can relax.
[00:26:32] You can trust this all to me. And you can catch your breath because you are a human being, not a human doing.
[00:26:42] And you can stop and slow down and find renewal in me. And I think rest is something important to think about now. He also Matir also says that part of this is trust. He who waits on the Lord will renew their strength.
[00:27:04] And part of waiting is trusting God's timing and God's purpose in our life. I don't know about you, but I'm not the most patient person. I know you with me.
[00:27:19] I want everything to happen on my timeline. I don't like waiting for anything. I mean, anytime I'm at the store, I'm jumping lines trying to make it faster. It never works. It always ends up being slower. But I still try.
[00:27:36] It's not my strong suit.
[00:27:38] But part of waiting is trusting in God's purpose. In each of the seasons in my life.
[00:27:49] Every season, I want God to fast forward me through it.
[00:27:53] And it seems like for my whole life, I've been like, all right, Lord, I'm here, but I really wanna be there.
[00:27:59] Can we speed this up a little bit?
[00:28:02] What I've also learned is every season has a purpose.
[00:28:08] Every season, God is doing something my kids, you know, my daughter Emery, she's seven.
[00:28:15] She'll say, sometimes I can't wait to be a grownup.
[00:28:19] I'm like, girl, trust me, you can wait. Amen.
[00:28:24] It's not what you think.
[00:28:28] I can't wait to be a grown. Like, no, you're at a good season right now.
[00:28:33] Take naps, eat lots of applesauce.
[00:28:38] Let mom and dad do everything.
[00:28:41] In fact, girl, this might be the greatest season. I don't know.
[00:28:45] It's good. You don't need to rush through it.
[00:28:47] And what trusting means is, man, I trust where God has me right now.
[00:28:55] I trust what he's doing.
[00:28:58] And I'm not fighting it. I'm leaning into it.
[00:29:03] And I'm enjoying it. And I'm allowing him to help me and direct me and guide me.
[00:29:12] And waiting means expanding my confidence.
[00:29:17] And who God is, reminding myself that he is the creator of all things. He is the everlasting God.
[00:29:28] This week, Allie and I went.
[00:29:30] We went and did a little paddle board date on Lake Erie. It was awesome. And we kind of went around, like, sunset. And so I kind of got out of Rocky river, and. And right when I, like, got out of the river, like, the sun was starting to go down over the lake, and it was beautiful.
[00:29:49] I love Lake Erie.
[00:29:51] I know some of you are haters, and I pray the Lord forgives you, but I love. It's beautiful. It's amazing. And I just kind of, like, you know, had one of those moments where you just see just the sun and on the water and the breeze. It's just like one of those moments. You're like, man, this is. This is awesome.
[00:30:13] And to think that that is just a small fraction of what God has created is hard to comprehend.
[00:30:24] That's just one little sliver of what he creates and upholds and governs. And then you just think about that for a moment, and then you think about the problems and challenges in our life compared to the reality of who he is, and you're like, all right, I think he's got this. Amen. I think he can handle this. I think he is trustworthy. I think he is more than capable.
[00:30:57] And I think that my soul can be strengthened by him.
[00:31:03] And we expand our sense of who he is. He is. Jesus says all this so powerfully in Matthew 11. I just want to leave you with this today. He says, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
[00:31:22] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. I am gentle and lowly, and you will find rest for your souls.
[00:31:35] Just look how good our God is.
[00:31:39] He looks to us and he says, I know you're tired.
[00:31:43] I know you're wore out.
[00:31:45] I know you're exhausted because, by the way, life is exhausting.
[00:31:50] I know you have real limits.
[00:31:53] I know you get to the end of your rope. But he says, but I have the strength you need. The rest you need. Come to me and receive it from me.
[00:32:06] Let's do that right now. Let's pray.
[00:32:10] Father, I thank you so much, Lord, that you are the creator of all things, but you still care for us.
[00:32:21] I thank you, Lord, that you uphold the universe by the word of your power.
[00:32:31] And you also know every hair on her head.
[00:32:36] Father, you are both transcendent and near.
[00:32:42] You are almighty and gentle and lowly in heart.
[00:32:47] And Father, I pray that today we could be renewed by who you are, by what you do for us, I pray today, Lord, we could experience a sense of the rest that you offer to us.
[00:33:09] We could experience an increase in strength.
[00:33:14] And, Lord, it would give us what we need to keep moving forward in the life that you have for us. Bless us in this. Bless these good people with this. We ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
