Rhythms of Peace | Week 2 | Message · Rewind

Pastor Bill Bush · May 5, 2025 · 45 min watch · 3 min read

Rhythms of Peace | Week 2 | Message

Big Idea

True rest is not found in ceasing activity but in surrendering your identity to the holy God who loves you enough to save you.

Pastor Bill argues that the weariness most people feel — even believers — is not primarily physical but spiritual, rooted in a misplaced identity. Drawing on Matthew 11:28-30 and Isaiah 6, he contends that real rest is not rest from work or responsibility but rest in the wonder of who God is. When we see God's infinite holiness clearly, we see ourselves clearly, receive His forgiveness freely, and find the renewed identity in Christ that empowers us to take on His yoke, say 'Here am I, send me,' and walk through hard seasons without growing weary.

Key points

1
1Rest is not an excuse to avoid responsibility — God still calls us to bear His yoke and engage in His mission.
2
2The problem is not our pace but our direction — running away from God, no matter how slowly, only deepens our weariness.
3
3Real rest renews our identity in Christ, not just our energy — we must find out who we are by seeing God for who He really is.
4
4Seeing God's holiness — 'holy, holy, holy,' the only attribute tripled in Scripture — is the necessary starting point for genuine rest and peace.
5
5Recognizing our own unholiness before a perfectly holy God is what makes His forgiveness and grace genuinely transforming rather than taken for granted.
6
6A renewed identity in Christ — knowing you are forgiven by the holy God — is the power that enables a willing, energized 'Here am I, send me' response to God's call.
7
7Jesus does not offer rest as a day off but as a relationship — and in that relationship even the hard and exhausting seasons become meaningful and worth celebrating.

Application

Pastor Bill's closing challenge is direct: stop being 'stumped' by weariness and become the stump — the person who surrenders to God's love precisely because they have seen His holiness. Practically, this means refusing to pull off Jesus' yoke when life gets busy, and instead leaning into what He has called you to do: serving, giving, and engaging the mission. It also means coming to worship not to parade but to genuinely encounter the holy God, let that encounter reveal who you really are, and walk out renewed. If you have never trusted Christ, the invitation is to ask someone to show you how. If you have trusted Him but drifted, the call is to say again — with Isaiah — 'Here am I, send me,' trusting that He will take care of everything else.

Take it into your week

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“what is real rest? Well, we know that it's it's it's it's a few things when Jesus talks about it in Matthew chapter 11 verse 28. He says, come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens”
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From the transcript
“rest is not an excuse to avoid responsibility. Like I said, God's already given us work. Thessalonians says, if you don't work, don't eat. And and I see a lot of younger Christians”
From the transcript
“Matter of fact, Psalm forty six ten was written as a worship psalm song. They would sing it in a time of chaos, in a time of, like like like a time of today where you're, you're worried about prosperity”
From the transcript
“the lines, forty six ten says this, be still. We get that part right. A lot times, you know, I'm tired. I'm gonna be still. And we forget the second part, and know that I am God”
From the transcript
“And so where am I gonna be at? Isaiah chapter six. Isaiah chapter six. And what's happening is Isaiah's book, it's written about a time as he's a prophet”
From the transcript
“he says here in verse one, it was in the year that king Uzziah died that I saw the lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the temple”
From the transcript
“Verse five, he says, then I said, Jesus is a friend of mine. This is great. He's my buddy. Why is he not and I have all these questions I'm gonna ask him”
From the transcript
“Who is this that he's seeing? He says, the king, the lord of heaven's armies. Every time he describes that, and John already answers the question 12 when he says, Isaiah saw the glory of Christ”

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7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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There is a kind of tired that a good night's sleep cannot fix. Most of us know it — the weight that is still there when we wake up, the sense that something deeper than the body is running on empty. Pastor Bill named it plainly: the weariness most of us feel is not primarily physical. It is spiritual, and it is rooted in a misplaced identity. We have been looking for rest in the wrong places. Jesus does not say, 'Come to Me and I will give you a day off.' He says, 'Come to Me and I will give you rest' — and then, almost immediately, He hands us a yoke. That is not a contradiction. A yoke is not a punishment; it is a partnership. The rest Jesus offers is not the absence of work or responsibility. It is the presence of a relationship with the One carrying the other end. When we are connected to Him, even the hard things become bearable — because we are no longer pulling alone. If you are weary today, the invitation is not to stop. It is to come. Come to the One who knows the full weight of what you are carrying, and let Him reorient what you are carrying it for. That reorientation is where real rest begins.

For reflection

Where have you been looking for rest lately, and how has that been working?

Pray

Pray for the honesty to name where you have been seeking rest apart from Jesus, and the courage to bring that weariness to Him today.

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Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message centers on a surprising idea: that the weariness so many of us feel isn't fixed by sleeping in or slowing down, but by seeing God more clearly. Take a moment to think about what 'real rest' has meant to you — we'll unpack what Pastor Bill says it actually looks like.

Discussion questions

1
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus invites the weary to come to Him — and then immediately talks about taking on a yoke. What do you think Jesus means by pairing an offer of rest with an image of shared work?
2
Pastor Bill drew a distinction between the direction we're running and the pace we're running. What's the difference between those two things, and why might direction matter more than speed when it comes to weariness?
3
In Isaiah 6, Isaiah sees God on His throne and the seraphim crying 'holy, holy, holy' — and his immediate response is a cry of undone-ness about himself. What do you think the connection is between seeing God's holiness and seeing ourselves more honestly?
4
Pastor Bill pointed out that 'holy' is the only attribute of God tripled in Scripture. Why might the writers of Isaiah and Revelation reach for that kind of repetition — what does the triple emphasis seem to be trying to communicate?
5
After Isaiah's confession in Isaiah 6, God responds with forgiveness — and Isaiah's next move is 'Here am I, send me.' What does that sequence suggest about the relationship between receiving grace and being willing to step into hard or costly things?
6
Pastor Bill challenged us to 'become the stump' — to surrender to God's love because we have genuinely seen His holiness — rather than being stumped by weariness. As a group, what might it look like practically to come to worship with that kind of posture, rather than coming to perform or to check a box?

Pray together

Asking God for eyes to see His holiness clearly, hearts that receive His forgiveness freely, and the renewed identity in Christ that makes us ready to say — again — 'Here am I, send me.'

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Rhythms of Peace

Week 2 · 4 messages

Where these passages are preached

Matthew 11 2 Thessalonians 3 Psalm 46 Isaiah 6

Explore related topics

God's Forgiveness God's Holiness Identity in Christ Rest in God Surrender

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