July 18th, 2021

Give it a rest!

Psalm 23: 1-3 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.”
Mark 6: 31 “Jesus said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”

We all need rest. In the Old Testament, the very well-known Psalm 23 is about trusting in God as the shepherd of our lives, it is about the promise of eternal life, and it is about resting and restoring ourselves when we are weary. In the New Testament, we learn that Jesus and the disciples also needed rest and a chance to get away from the crowds who followed them. They needed to take the time to be renewed in body, mind, and soul.

Rest from our routines, from work, from stress, and from the busyness of life is necessary for our physical well-being, our mental and spiritual health, and for the benefit of our relationships with others. Rest may look different for everyone. Maybe rest for you is getting away in nature, having a nap, taking time for meditation and prayer, or turning off your technological devices. In these summer days, as we hope the pandemic is nearing the end, I encourage you to just ‘Give it a rest!” in whatever way that restores your body, mind, and soul.

Please join Knox Alliston, St. Andrew’s Mansfield, and Living Faith Baxter Presbyterian Churches for our ONLINE only worship service where we’ll rest in the presence of God, lift our hearts in prayer, and learn more about the hymns we sing.

Outdoor Fellowship at Knox

Come out on Wednesday July 21st at 10am with a lawn chair to enjoy some in-person fellowship. No need to register ahead and we’ll social distance as necessary. All welcome!