BRO. DIDOY LUBATON:
This is a safe place. May I see a raise of hands if this verse resonates with you– because you feel burdened with heavy concerns and you need God’s rest?
If the person beside you raises a hand, tell him or her, “God will give you rest.”
This is not part of the plan, but I will sit down while preaching because if I stand, I don’t look like I’m restingJ
REST. The holistic importance of REST. It is a necessity, not a luxury.
I’d like to give Five Types of Rest so that we may have ideas, practical ways of what we are going to do after being inspired by The Feast talk. What lessons may we apply..
Your body is not just an artificial machine.
It’s a supernatural, beautiful, and wonderful creation. It’s created to rest too.
Your body needs time to repair, regenerate, and recharge.
Simple. First, get good sleep. Sleep is the charging station of your body.
You will develop chronic illnesses if you don’t sleep well. Your allergies are related to that.
I’m wearing my medical doctor’s hat as well as my preacher hat as I speak now.
Your moods are affected by your sleep. Please sleep. But not now.
Second, do active rest. Wow, weird– active rest.
Yes, slow and gentle movements– such as walking in nature, stretching, and deep- breathing exercises.
Those are good for you. They recharge you.
Physical rest is not just reclining with your mouth wide openJ No. Go, walk…
Inhale, exhale…
Remember, St. Paul said that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit:
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?… God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. — 1Corinthians 3:16-17 NLT
When we rest, we honor God. Taking care of our bodies is not just a necessity but it is a spiritual responsibility.
The moment you wake up, what’s the first thing you hold? Your phone…?
When I was younger, it used to be the Bible. Well, okay, now the Bible is already on the phone.
Our minds are constantly bombarded with information and tasks leading to mental fatigue. Have you ever felt that at times, your mind is simultaneously loaded with concerns in the family, profession, and business? Everything– what’s in the news, even showbiz news.
We need a mental break. When I’m in the office, I leave my cubicle not only for water breaks and bladder breaks.
I leave my cubicle to walk and to talk with some people.
Sometimes, your desk can also be toxic to you when you’re sitting there for a long time. You need to unplug –which means you need to literally take off from the Internet. Turn off your laptop. When we’re putting our laptops off, it’s a sign that we are trusting God.
Recently, in my office, we unplugged and recharged just for one day. Among top officers in my 700+ organizations, a dozen leaders, including me, hied off outside Manila.
It’s good for our well-being when we unplug and recharge elsewhere. We cannot expect the same thing happening all over again and expect the same result.
Once in a while, you need to withdraw– not just from your (ATM) Automatic Teller Machine) account but from your current mental situation– as Jesus often did even if He is God already.
We too, must find moments of solitude to rest our minds and reconnect with our inner peace… >
Your heart needs to rest too.
Let’s allow ourselves to feel and process our emotions without judgment.
Nothing to fear. No walls up. Guards down.
How do we do that?
First, we need to express our feelings.
Find someone or a few people that you can talk with candidly. Go to people where you feel safe. Loneliness kills. Emotional rest doesn’t mean you need to be alone.
If in any case, you can’t find anyone where you can be vulnerable, look up to Heaven and cry to Him.
Second, we need to set boundaries. Learn to say No. I get a lot of invitations, but I need to say no to some of them.
If I say yes to all of them, I will not have that full yes to everything and everyone.
So, we might even lose who and what matters most.
You have emotional burdens? Cast your burdens unto Him. We find emotional rest in His embrace, knowing that we are not alone in our struggles.
Elbow the person beside you and say:
“You are not alone.
Jesus is with you, and I am with you.”
Aaahh, this is good. We need social rest, Brothers and Sisters. You need to rest with friends. Social rest doesn’t necessarily mean avoiding people– but surrounding yourself, again, with supportive and energizing relationships. Life is all about relationships.
Your joy, sorrow, success, happiness, and triumph are not just from your titles but from your relationships.
Quick, practical steps for social rest:
Quality over Quantity. Be choosy with your environment. Veer away from toxic people. Distance is good. Let’s permit ourselves to be alone.
Whenever I need to be alone I say to those inviting me, “Sorry, I need to be alone.”
My friends understand that. And my Community understands that.
I love Blessed Sacrament Adoration time. I sit. I stay silent. I don’t think about anything, but I know Jesus is there– physically Present in my midst.
Being alone helps. Try it.
So, we are launching Feast Bay City next week. In preparation for the launch, on a Sabbath weekend, we didn’t have the usual operations. Instead, we set the Sabbath for building relationships. Along with our leaders and coordinators, we went to a house surrounded by nature, ate vegetables, organic lechon. We had a team building session but it turned out to be a team eating session.
Even Jesus has a circle of friends — His disciples.
He spent time alone with them when He needed to recharge.
Maybe you need some social rest. Spend some time alone with the people who recharge, and energize you. You get to choose– because it is also good for you.
There is no real rest without rest in God.
There is no real peace until you rest with the Prince of Peace.
How do we do it?
Through prayer time. Meditate through the Scriptures. It is our Catholic practice We’re grateful for the Sacraments.
Think about it… How is your spirituality? Maybe, it doesn’t just need more energy but real spiritual rest.
Our spirits need to be rested, not restless. Check, check, check our spiritual Community. Do our servants feel rested, or do they feel restless?
What kind of Community we’re building here?
And I love it, Psalm 23 reminds us: He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.
So, Five Types of Rest. What type of rest do you need starting today?
I’m wearing pink today. It’s the birthday of my wife and of our daughter in the coming days. I wanted to honor them. I normally wear black, blue, and white.
In pink, I greeted my wife, “Happy Birthday!” She said, “That’s nice, thank you.”
This is a long-sleeved shirt but my wife told me, “Roll up the sleeves so you’ll look rested.”
I know my wife means well.
But I asked myself, “Do I really have to look rested?”
But then again, resting is a symbol of trusting. You can rest because God is doing the rest of what you need.
God bless us all.
Let us pause once again for a minute of silence. Close your eyes and rest in God’s embrace.
BRO.TONY VALENZULA:
BRO.TONY VALENZULA:Breathe in. Breathe out. Delight. Bro. Alvin shared about Stop.
Doc. Didoy shared about Rest.
Allow me to share about Delight.
Psalm 37: 4 says:
I don’t know about you but whenever
I hear the word delight, I think of only one thing: dessert.
Normally, we have dessert at the end of the meal. But if we reflect on Psalm 37, Delight means something else when it comes to God’s perspective:
Take delight in the Lord, and He will give your heart’s desires.
Delight in the Lord comes first.
How often have you been focused on your heart’s desires first? Does it happen to you?
You are like, “Lord, I want a big house, a car, a promotion. Lord, my lovelife…” Then after expressing your desires, that’s the only time you focus on the Lord.
There’s nothing wrong with that. But what if we put God first as our delight— before our heart’s desires?
Your perspective will change. The Lord will open your mind, heart, and spirit. When you rest, what do you focus on? We immediately think of vacation, beach, buffet dinner, Korean drama, Netflix, or staying in bed, sleeping for two extra hours.
Maybe these are parts of your rest as Doc Didoy said earlier.
But I believe that rest is seeking God’s pleasure first before your own
God’s Pleasure
Now the question is: What is God’s pleasure?
I believe it is always God’s pleasure to be with you.
He loves it when He is with you. When you realize that it is God’s intention to always be with you, won’t you feel grateful?
Close your eyes for 30 seconds. Think of one thing you’re grateful for today…
Now, open your eyes. Hold on to what you’re grateful for. Realize that the things we are grateful for come from God.
Recharge by focusing on God’s love for you and all the gifts and blessings, He already has given you. You just have to pause and take delight in those blessings. When you start to maximize your attitude of gratitude, you’re always recharging yourself. Weren’t you recharged within those 30 seconds? Only 30 seconds — yet you were already recharged. How much more if you’re thankful more and more every day?
When you recharge, you’re focusing on God’s love for you. Those blessings are already there even before you acknowledge them. You just have to pay attention, take a moment to pause, delight in them, and be grateful. And you start to smile.
You start to share your blessings, you start feeling uplifted.
When you spend time with the Lord, you’ll also realize what’s valuable in your life because you’re grateful for it.
Later, my wife and I will have our “Sundate.” We will watch a movie. We didn’t have our “Saturdate” because we attended a baptismal party. Sunday is not just a quality time but a personal time with each other– aside from enjoying Wolverine versus dead wolvers. No spoiler intended.
Taking delight in the Lord is the whole reason for the Sabbath. We need to put God first not only during the Sabbath day but every day. And you start to realize that being open to God’s Presence, being grateful for all His blessings, yes, you delight in the Lord.
BRO. AUDIE VILLARAZA:
Imagine if I sat or lay down here for 15 minutes without saying a word. Would you stay? Would you take a nap? Would you start fidgeting with your phone?
That’s the reality of life. We like it when something is always happening. Maybe, we can sit still for 15, 20, 30 minutes… But how about for an hour, for two hours? Just sitting still, doing nothing.
I wonder how many of you will feel the need and the urge to do something like get your phone to play a game, send an email, or log off if you’re watching at home.
We feel restless when nothing is happening.
How many people can resonate with this? The truth is that this is how our world operates now. With so many options on what we can do, we think we need to fill our space with what we need to accomplish
The sad reality is that the world is so noisy already. So much noise coming from your home and your office. People are constantly talking. The TV is on. The radio is on. And to drown out the noise, you create more noise. Sometimes, you like to have music in the background, or you like to play.
Not all noises, by the way, are bad. Some of you like to listen to inspirational music or educational podcasts. But here’s the thing: Sometimes in the process of drowning out the noise, you also drown out God’s voice. You’re unable to hear His voice simply because there is so much noise in your life.
Why People Get Tired
Do you know what is the leading cause of burnout in Ministry? Why people quit serving the Lord?
I have been serving in Ministry for decades. People have approached me saying,
“Bro. Audie, I’m tired of serving. I am exhausted.
I want to quit. I want to take a break. I want to rest.”
My usual answer to them is this: “How is your relationship with the Lord?”
The reason people get tired of serving is “overserving.” It’s possible. Remember the story of Mary and Martha?
Let’s read Luke 10:38:
38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.
When Jesus came into town, He was not looking for a free meal. He wanted to visit His friends. And here comes Martha– she sees that as an opportunity to showcase her cooking skills. So, she started preparing food in the kitchen. The more she prepared, the more she wanted to serve, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s good to serve the Lord.
But as she served the Lord in the kitchen, she started complaining to Jesus and she said, “Lord reprimand, Mary. Tell her to help me…”
But Jesus said No. Mary chose the better thing. I will not take that away from her.”
What did Mary do? She sat down at the Lord’s feet.
Listen to me, my Friends.
If ever you have arrived in that position where you are burdened already for overserving, my message to you is this:
Doing for God is not the same as being with God. I know that you’re busy.
You’re like, “On Sunday, I also have to work. I’ve got to prepare for Monday because they’re expecting me to work”
Yes, I know that you’re busy. Bills need to be paid. Mouths need to be fed.
Things need to be made. Emails need to be sent.
But at what cost is your busyness affecting your soul? Jesus says:
You might be successful in what you do– but at what cost? You might be forfeiting your soul. Our worst mistake is when we think we’re winning in the world but we’re losing in Heaven. You’re so busy serving the Lord that you forget that it’s different when you’re with the Lord.
Some of us here need to hear this message: You are winning in life.
You’re succeeding in life. Your life may be improving, your accomplishments are increasing– but then your soul is languishing.
I don’t mean to be overdramatic, but I don’t want you to be listening to the talks, and you’re like “Wow, what Bro. Alvin, Bro. Didoy and Bro. Tony talked about– they’re all inspiring!”
But then tomorrow you come to work still stressed– simply because you didn’t take the time to contemplate what God said. You just sat there, you heard the talks. But then on your way to the parking lot, you would be quarreling with someone who perhaps blocked your way.
That’s how the enemy will snatch the Word. Why? Because you didn’t bother to sit down and really listen to what God was trying to tell you. You let the enemy snatch that message.
Two Ways To Follow Jesus
If you want the Word of God to really change your life, you need to be fertile ground so that God’s Word will create roots, so that one day, it’ll bear fruit.
The Bible is such an amazing book. When you read the Bible regularly, when you contemplate God’s Word, you’ll realize it has all the wisdom that you need to journey in this world.
One thing that people are forgetting, however, is that the Bible is not just a book that will inspire you.
The Bible is also a biography. It chronicles the life and death of Jesus. The Gospel writers wrote about what Jesus did every day.
As I close this, I say that if you want to follow Jesus, don’t just look at the Bible as though it’s an inspirational book. But look at the Bible as a biography in the sense that if you want to be like Jesus, then you follow what Jesus did. Jesus showed us what He did. He practiced the Sabbath. He stopped, rested, delighted, and contemplated God’s Word, and He prayed.
Jesus invited His disciples to follow Him and today, He invites us to do so. There are two ways to follow Jesus.
First, is the physical. Like you follow what Jesus did. Like what He said to His disciples: “Follow where I go. Follow me where I will make miracles. Follow me where I will preach.”
It’s physical.
Another kind of following Jesus is literal… Jesus is simply saying, my dear Friends, if you need something to copy… Let’s say some of you are tired of the way you’ve been living your life and you’re tired of carrying your cross there is a better way to do so.
Jesus is simply teaching all of us today a new, better way to carry our crosses. He says, “Follow Me. Do like I did. Pray how I prayed. Live how I lived.”
Jesus is telling all of us: “You don’t have to carry your problems all by yourself.
I carry your burdens with you. I get to carry the heavier part of the cross.
All you’ve got to do is follow me step by step by step. Come to me. Take my easy yoke. Follow me and I will give you rest.”
That’s Jesus. He will give you rest but you must follow Him.
BRO. BO SANCHEZ:
Let’s worship the Lord. In this entire series, Everybody say, “God spoke to me. I want you to put your arms around somebody beside you and tell that person, “Let’s rest with God together.”
If there is one thing that I know about God, He wants you. He looks at you and He says, “I love you.
I want you with me. I like you. I delight in you.
I want to rest with you.” Pray with me today.
Worship!
BRO. NICO CAUNCA:
We continue to serve our God. That no matter what happens, whatever storm that comes our way we continue to trust in God, that He will give us rest. That for every breath of our life He is there and He will not abandon us.
Brothers and Sisters, let’s continue to worship the Lord. Continue to proclaim His mighty Name. His Holy Name and we will trust. No matter what happens , we will trust in You.
Whatever part of our life , in moments we are busy, and with our mistakes you make us stop so that we can breathe. We will trust in You, Lord, in your power
