Cooperative Community Ministry

Learning Rest

‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while...

’As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them,because they were like sheep without a shepherd;

and he began to teach them many things. Mark 6:31,34

Working Breaks and Learning Rests are the staples of servanthood with the Lord!

ENTRANCE

...and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name,

like the name of the great ones of the earth (2 Samuel 7:9)

And now, let the weak say I am strong...Let the poor say I am rich...
Because of what the Lord has done for us...Give thanks!

CALL TO WORSHIP

Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.’ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? (2 Samuel 7:1-5)

Even a bright proposal—the right thing for the right reason—has to yield to God’s perfect plan!

So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near... So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.
(Ephesians 2:17-20)

God intends to enact reconciliation by bringing a wounded and divided world into one new humanity in
Jesus Christ. Only by leaning upon His everlasting arms may we find God’s chosen rest.

‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while...’ As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. (Mark 6:31,34)

Working Breaks and Learning Rests are the staples of a cooperative ministry with the Lord!

HYMN

Let There Be Peace on Earth

Let there be peace on earth, And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth, The peace that was meant to be.

INVOCATION

Precious Lord, We believe! Help our unbelief. Let us rest assured that you always unconditionally affirm us in your love. Amen.

“GLORIA PATRI”

CALL TO CONFESSION

If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my ordinances, if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments,

then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with scourges. (Psalm 89: 30-32))

SILENT PRAYER OF CONFESSION

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

But I will not remove from him my steadfast love, or be false to my faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant,

or alter the word that went forth from my lips. (Psalm 89: 33-34)

PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE

COMMUNITY CONCERNS

SCRIPTURES

First Lesson 2 Samuel 7 : 1-1

Psalter Psalm 89 : 20-37

2nd Lesson Ephesians 2 : 11-22

3rd Lesson Mark 6 : 30-36; 53-56

“BREAK THOU THE BREAD OF LIFE”

PASTORAL PRAYER

ANTHEM

REFLECTION

Learning Rest

I
“Man proposes, God disposes”

Even a bright proposal—the right idea for the right reason—has to yield to God’s perfect plan!

II
“Let there be Peace on Earth”

God intends to enact reconciliation by bringing a wounded and divided world into one new humanity in
Jesus Christ. Only by leaning upon His everlasting arms may we find God’s peace and chosen rest!

III
Learning Rest

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;
     He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary,
     He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
     He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again.
     He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN.

NOTE : If you are a Methodist, you’ll notice that the Apostles Creed above has one extra line compared to the Apostles Creed you find in your hymnal at church. Apparently the phrase descended into hell offended someone’s sensitivities early on in American Methodism and that clause got left out. The phrase into hell in older translations and the phrase to the dead both translate the phrase into hades in the original Greek of the creed.

The ancient teaching of the Church is that all who died before the time of the crucifixion, whether they were righteous or unrighteous, went to the same undifferentiated realm of the dead, where they wait for the resurrection and the judgment. This realm of the dead is called sheol in Hebrew and hades in Greek. Neither the word sheol nor the word hades connotes punishment. It’s just a waiting room for the resurrection and the judgment.

When Jesus died on the cross, He really did die. That really is the same as saying that He went to hades, because hades is the realm of the dead. However, while Jesus was dying, He promised to take the thief on the cross into Paradise. So the historic teaching of the Church is that when Jesus went to hades, He established a special waiting room for His own, called Paradise. He preached to the spirits who were already dead and took the Old Testament saints into Paradise also, along with the thief on the cross.

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him (1 Peter 3:18-22).

Anyone who dies after the crucifixion, such as you and me, therefore face a particular judgment at death to determine whether we wait for the resurrection and the last judgment in hades or in paradise. I have witnessed this particular judgment in a dying man.

Old translations of the Apostles Creed use hell to translate the Greek word hades, but nowadays we have a completely unbiblical belief that when we die, we just zip right off into reward or punishment, without waiting for the resurrection or the judgment. Many of us give lip service to the doctrine of the resurrection on the last day, without really believing it, because we don’t think things through as thoroughly as the ancients, and we don’t realize that finite creatures need a body of some sort in order to maintain a point of reference for their identity and their consciousness. So for us, the word hell has come to mean a realm of eternal punishment and the old translations of the Apostles Creed no longer make sense—after all, why would Jesus go to hell in the modern sense of the word?

Modern translations of the Apostles Creed say that Jesus descended to the dead. That is a more accurate translation of the word hades. It says that Jesus really did die, He didn’t fake it.

THANKSGIVING AND COMMUNION

OFFERING

And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more;

and evildoers shall afflict them no more... (Psalm 89:10)

DOXOLOGY

SENDING FORTH

CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP

‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ (Mark 6 : 31)

HYMN OF DEDICATION

In The Garden

I come to the garden alone While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear The Son of God discloses
And He walks with me And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there None other has ever known

I'd stay in the garden with Him Though the night around me is falling
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe His voice to me is calling
And He walks with me And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there None other has ever known

PRAYER OF DEDICATION

Lord God, humble our spirits that we may follow the lead of your Holy Spirit to take Your chosen rest leaning only on Your everlasting arms. Amen.

WORDS OF DISMISSAL

Go forth in peace and proclaim : As we walk with faith in our hearts and go on serving, learning, and resting with the Lord

we shall ever be blessed with the joy of the journey.

BENEDICTION

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.