Sermon and Worship Resources

Dictionary: Rest

Leisure time offers a respite from work, those essential duties of life such as paid employment and maintaining a household, to pursue other activities. Such nonobligatory pursuits range from entertainment to fine art, from peaceful relaxation to physical activity.

From the beginning, humankind was intended to work (Gen. 1:28; 2:15), but God also set apart one day per week for his creatures to share in his divine rest (Gen. 2:2–3; Exod. 20:8–11). This weekly rest should bring to mind God’s creation and the final rest in the age to come (Heb. 4:9–11). Although leisure time and Sabbath observance are not identical, both are opportunities to give thanks, worship, and put hope in God. They also refresh and enrich earthly life.

Indeed, every good thing is a gift from the Father (James 1:17), including time off from daily duties. How one uses leisure time is thus a matter of stewardship, much like one’s use of money and working time (cf. Matt. 25:14–30). Thus, although the Bible does not discuss playing sports or writing poetry, it does proclaim Christ as Lord over all spheres of life. Therefore “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

Synonyms: relax, take a rest, ease up/off, let up, slow down, pause, have/take a break, unbend, repose, laze, idle, loaf, do nothing, take time off, slack off, unwind, recharge one's batteries, be at leisure, take it easy, sit back, sit down, stand down, lounge, luxuriate, loll, slump, flop, put one's feet up, lie down, go to bed, have/take a nap, nap, catnap, doze, have/take a siesta, drowse, sleep, lie, be laid, recline, be, be placed, be positioned, support, prop (up), steady, balance, lean, lay, set, sit, stand, position, place, put, be based on, be grounded in, be founded on, depend on, be dependent on, rely on, hinge on, turn on, hang on, pivot on, be contingent on, revolve around, centre on, relaxation, leisure, ease, inactivity, respite, time off, time out, breathing space, break, interval, interlude, intermission, base, holder, stay, prop, brace, rack, hook, frame, shelf, bracket, trestle, tripod, plinth, pedestal, foundation, bed, foot, substructure, a standstill, a halt, a stop, remainder, residue, remaining part/number/quantity, part/number/quantity (that is) left over, others, those left, remains, remnant, remnants, rump, surplus, difference, extra, excess, superfluity, overflow, overspill, additional people/material/things, extra people/material/things, remain, continue to be, keep, persist in being, carry on being, go on being

Antonyms: work, motion, movement, struggle, rage, go mad, have a fit, see red, hit the roof, toil, be active, labor, effort, agony, activity, do, blow one's stack, blow a gasket, do one's nut, go ape, go wild, lose it, drive, action, move

Showing 4351 to 4375 of 4986 results

4351. Nearly Done

Illustration

Staff

A stranger entered the church in the middle of the sermon and seated himself in the back pew. After a while he began to fidget. Leaning over to a white-haired man at his side, evidently an old member of the congregation, he whispered: "How long has he been preaching?" "Thirty or forty years, I think," the old man answered. "I'll stay then," decided the stranger, "He must be nearly done."

4352. How Do We Please God?

Illustration

David Hocking

... Christ, His Son (Matt 3:17; Col 1:15-19) By proclaiming the message of the cross (I Cor 1:18-2:5) By believing in God and his promises (Heb 11:6) By asking for wisdom (1 Kings 3:10, Col 1:9-14; James 1:5-8) By staying away from sexual sin (Eph 5:3,4,10; 1 Thes 4:1-8) By sharing the gospel with unbelievers (I Cor 9:14-27, 10:31-33) By giving to others in time of need (Phil 4:10-20; Heb 13:16) By submitting to authority (Rom 8:7 ...

4353. Waiting for Disaster

Illustration

... family was unexpectedly transferred onto the gigantic liner for its maiden voyage. The woman was the mother of seven-year-old Eva Hart, who recalls that her family was saved from tragedy because of Mrs. Hart's spiritual convictions. Throughout the voyage, Mrs. Hart stayed awake at night waiting for disaster to strike, and thus was able to move her family to an upper deck almost immediately after the ship collided with an unseen iceberg. Because of her vigilance, the family did not join the 1,500 others who ...

4354. Searching for Delaware

Illustration

Staff

... You would have thought that his whole life depended on finding a Delaware license plate! When we stopped to eat in a cafeteria near Yellowstone Falls, my son begged me to let him look for license plates. Please, I don't want to eat," Larry said. "Can't I just stay here in the parking Lot?" "No," we told him, "you have to eat." So he went inside and ate as quickly as he could get the food down and then headed out to the parking lot. No sooner had we finished our meal, however, than Larry came bounding across ...

4355. Steer a Straight Course

Illustration

Robert Schmidgall

Living without Christ is like driving a car with its front end out of line. You can stay on the road if you grip the steering wheel with both hands and hang on tightly. Any lapse of attention, however, and you head straight for the ditch. Society, its general educators, political leaders, and parents, exhorts us to drive straight and curb our destructive tendencies. But it is a ...

4356. Art from Ruins

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

... artists. The practice began after a pitcher of soda water was accidentally spilled on a freshly decorated wall and left an unsightly stain. At the time, a noted artist, Lord Landseer, was a guest in the house. One day when the family went out to the moors, he stayed behind. With a few masterful strokes of a piece of charcoal, that ugly spot became the outline of a beautiful waterfall, bordered by trees and wildlife. He turned that disfigured wall into one of his most successful depictions of Highland life.

4357. Wide Awake

Illustration

Staff

After a preacher died and went to heaven, he noticed that a New York cabdriver had been given a higher place than he had. "I don't understand," he complained to St. Peter. "I devoted my entire life to my congregation." "Our policy is to reward results," explained St. Peter. "Now what happened, Reverend, whenever you gave a sermon?" The minister admitted that some in the congregation fell asleep. "Exactly," said St. Peter. "And when people rode in this man's taxi, they not only stayed awake, they prayed."

4358. Influence from Without

Illustration

F.B. Meyer

It is often argued that we should stay in the midst of churches and bodies whose sins and follies we deplore, in the hope of saving them for God and mankind. Such reasoning has a good deal of force in the first stages of decline. A strong protest may arrest error and stop the gangrene. But as time ...

4359. Think Twice Tactics

Illustration

Hester Mundis

Things you should never let come out of your mouth without first thinking twice: It's no trouble at all. love dogs. We have plenty of room. Call me any time. Is there anything I can do? My husband is a doctor/lawyer/accountant. I'll try anything once. Of course, bring the kids. Why don't you stay for dinner? If worst comes to worst, you can use mine. Don't worry there's more where that came from. Over my dead body, you will!

4360. Keep Up the Pace

Illustration

Grant Lovejoy

... chase. Sometimes Christians seem to have the cheetah's approach to ministry. We speed into projects with great energy. But lacking the heart for sustained effort, we fizzle before we finish. We vow to start faster and run harder, when what we need may be not more speed, but more staying power, stamina that comes only from a bigger heart. Motion and busyness, no matter how great, yield nothing unless we allow God to give us the heart.

4361. The Want to Believe

Illustration

Staff

... of Darwin's theory of evolution, was a well-known agnostic. He was with a group of men at a weekend house party. On Sunday morning, while most of them were preparing to go to church, he approached a man known for his Christian character and said, "Suppose you stay at home and tell my why you are a Christian." The man, knowing he couldn't match wits with Huxley, hesitated. But the agnostic said gently, "I don't want to argue with you. I just want you to tell me simply what this Christ means to you." The ...

4362. How Big of a Risk Would You Take?

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... convinced that the kind of God people have determines how willing they are to risk great things for God. If you are here this morning out of fear, you probably don’t enjoy worship very much. You’re here because you’re afraid that God will punish you if you stay home. No wonder there is so little joy and power to your faith. God is looking for people who love Him and enjoy Him and are willing to do great things for Him. It’s like a story that author Mike Barrett tells. Mike is a dedicated surfer. In ...

4363. You Know It's a Bad Day When…

Humor Illustration

... and the first four things down the ramp are motorcycles. Your 14-year-old daughter insists that Jesus never preached against pierced noses. Your church treasurer says, 'The IRS called me the other day about some of your donation totals!''" You sink your teeth into a beautiful steak and they stay there.

4364. Still Jumping High

Humor Illustration

Bill Carlisle was a country-western singer many years ago. He was well known for his exciting performances in which he would jump up and down all over the stage while playing his guitar. Even after Bill reached retirement, his fans didn't forget his great performances. One devoted fan got to ask him, "Bill, do you still jump as high as you used to?" After a moment's reflection, Bill answered, "Yep, I can still jump as high as I ever did. But, to be honest, I don't think I stay up as long anymore!"

4365. When You Need An Excuse….

Humor Illustration

Whenever you need an excuse for getting out of something you don't really want to do, remember these. It starts out, "I'd love to, but . . ." The man on television told me to stay tuned. I have to check the freshness dates on my dairy products. I'm observing National Apathy Week. I'm being deported. I've come down with a really horrible case of something or other. My Psychic Friend advised against it. None of my socks match. My chocolate-appreciation class ...

4366. Traveling Groomer

Humor Illustration

A young man, lost on the road, stopped at an old farmhouse to ask directions. The farmer and his family asked the young motorist to stay the night. The next morning, the young man woke up and went out on the back porch to get ready. He shaved and lotioned his face, gargled with mouthwash and brushed his teeth, trimmed his mustache and fixed his hair. The farmer came out on the porch to watch all ...

4367. Under Control

Humor Illustration

... it on to the Washingtons one night at dinner. "I saw your portrait the other day, a capital likeness," said Lee, "But Stuart says that you have a tremendous temper." "Upon my word," interjected Mrs. Washington, "Mr. Stuart takes a great deal on himself to make such a remark." "But stay, my dear lady," he continued, "he added that the President had it under wonderful control." Washington smiled, "He's right." Note: From P. Boller, PRESIDENTIAL ANECDOTES

4368. How's Business?

Humor Illustration

Some of you can sympathize with the owner of a small motel in a sparsely populated area in the southwest. A recent graduate of a prestigious business school, eager to show off his new knowledge, was staying in the motel. "How's business?" he asked the owner. "Not very good," the tired looking man answered. "Well, what's your next step?" asked the business major. "What's your plan to rectify the situation?" "Well," said the owner drily, "I've never made enough in this business to ...

4369. Office Inspirations

Humor Illustration

Sayings we'd like to see on office inspirational posters: Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings . . . they did it by killing all those who opposed them. If you can stay calm, while all around you is chaos . . . then you probably haven't completely understood the seriousness of the situation. Doing a job RIGHT the first time gets the job done. Doing the job WRONG 14 times gives you job security. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into ...

4370. Back To The Fifties

Humor Illustration

... to hire outside help at the store. When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 50 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage. Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail haircuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls. Also, their music drives me wild. This ''Rock Around The Clock'' thing is nothing but racket. I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they ...

4371. Electric Switch

Humor Illustration

A new boy from way up in the hills came to school. He was eager to learn and asked questions about everything he saw. In the new school he saw some electricians at work. "What are those men doing?" he asked his teacher. "They are putting in an electric switch." The boy started up in alarm. "I'm going back to the hills," he exclaimed. "I won't stay in a school where they do the switching by machinery."

4372. Marvelous Martha

Humor Illustration

... , I must run. I need to finish the buttonholes on the dress I'm wearing for breakfast. I'll get out the sled and drive this note to the post office as soon as the glue dries on the envelope I'll be making. Hope my breakfast guests don't stay too long. I have 40,000 cranberries to string with bay leaves before my speaking engagement at noon. It's a good thing. Your Friend, Martha Stewart P.S. When I wrote this note I wrote it on an old fashioned typewriter and for the typewriter ribbon, I used 1 ...

4373. Answered Prayers

Humor Illustration

... able to swim to a small, desert-like island. The two survivors, not knowing what else to do, agreed that they had no other recourse but to pray to God. However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island. The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the island, and he was able to eat its fruit. The other man's parcel of land remained barren. After ...

4374. Coffee Break Is Over

Humor Illustration

... from the first two. In this room, dozens of people stood around drinking coffee. The floor was covered in two feet of thick, gooey, greasy, gloppy, stinking slime. The condemned man said, "The stuff on the floor is horrific, but this room is much better than the others. I'll stay here." The devil said, "Then this is where you will spend eternity." As he was leaving, the devil turned back and yelled, "Coffee break's over, people. Go back to standing on your heads!"

4375. The History of the World?

Humor Illustration

... high that they couldn't climb over to see what their neighbors were doing. When they fought with the Persians, the Greeks were outnumbered because the Persians had more men. Eventually, the Romans conquered the Greeks. History calls people Romans because they never stayed in one place for very long. At Roman banquets, the guests wore garlic's in their hair. Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Nero ...

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