This week, I’ve been away from home at a deserted farmhouse a couple of hours out of Waco working on my presentations for the upcoming Alleluia Conference at Baylor. Perhaps in future columns, I’ll share some of the substance of these sessions; however, this week I’ve been reflecting on the theme of our Sunday’s worship – rest. The sermon centered on Jesus’ instruction to the disciples in Mark 6 to pull away from the crowd and rest.
If you’ve read the passage recently, you might recall that while Jesus could have kept the disciples on-task serving the people, he commanded them to take care of themselves and rest. During worship, we sang about rest, prayed for rest, and we asked forgiveness for trusting ourselves too much and God too little. In all my years of music ministry, I don’t remember ever planning a service around this theme, and as a person who doesn’t rest often or well, it became a convicting experience for me. Consequently, I’ve been ruminating on this subject, and I’m searching for ways that I can intentionally participate in moments of Sabbath more frequently. Here are a few ideas that have been percolating inside me.
If you’ve read the passage recently, you might recall that while Jesus could have kept the disciples on-task serving the people, he commanded them to take care of themselves and rest. During worship, we sang about rest, prayed for rest, and we asked forgiveness for trusting ourselves too much and God too little. In all my years of music ministry, I don’t remember ever planning a service around this theme, and as a person who doesn’t rest often or well, it became a convicting experience for me. Consequently, I’ve been ruminating on this subject, and I’m searching for ways that I can intentionally participate in moments of Sabbath more frequently. Here are a few ideas that have been percolating inside me.