Restfulness vs. Restlessness

In one paragraph

Tribe gathered on Palm Sunday weekend to observe Passover a week early, saving the following Sunday for Resurrection Sunday. Brian walked the congregation through the Exodus story and landed on a single theme: the yoke of restlessness that the world keeps trying to put back on our necks, and the restfulness that Jesus offers in its place. Brian opened by explaining why Tribe marks the Lord's...

Read together

1. Exodus 12:1-14 read aloud by congregation members as the foundational Passover text for the sermon
2. Exodus 5:1-18 read aloud to show Pharaoh's oppressive labor demands and the theme of restlessness
3. Luke 10:38-42 Brian read the story of Mary and Martha to illustrate restfulness versus restlessness
4. Matthew 11:29-30 quoted as Jesus offering his yoke in contrast to Pharaoh's yoke of bondage
5. Romans 6:1 cited to show that sin is no longer master over those who are saved
6. Psalm 23:1 used as a breath prayer, inhaling 'the Lord is my shepherd' and exhaling 'I shall not want'

What was said

• Grab one of the Easter invite cards from your seat and think of one specific person to give it to this week.
• Sign up for the Bradley Taggart Lake hike on Saturday before Easter Sunday service.
• Look up the essay 'Why Work?' by Dorothy Sayers and read it.
• The next time an old temptation pulls at you, say out loud that sin is no longer your master, then call someone and tell them you got the victory.
• Set aside a block of time this week to Sabbath rest with the Lord, not as a list of rules, but as an intentional break from the restlessness of your calendar.

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about why most of us grew up in churches that never celebrated the Lord's feasts, and offered three reasons for leaning back into them: to rehearse, to recalibrate, and to remember. Which of those three resonates most with you right now, and why?
2. When Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, his response was to pile more work on the Israelites so they would have no bandwidth to hear God's voice. Where in your own life do you notice busyness doing the same thing to you?
3. Brian read from Luke 10 about Martha and Mary, and said restfulness is more about mindset than output. What does restfulness actually look like for you in a practical, daily sense, and how is that different from just being idle?
4. Brian said that even after the yoke of restlessness has been broken off, we often find ourselves back under it without realizing it. What tends to be the thing that slides it back onto your neck, and what has helped you notice it sooner?
5. Romans 6 came up with the idea that sin is no longer our master, and Brian talked about bossing yourself around as a way to resist falling back into old patterns. Where do you find that hardest to believe in your own life, and what would it look like to actually live from that freedom this week?