Avoiding Burnout

SERMON: 2004-02-29--is4014--avoiding-burnout SOURCE DURATION: 01:32:05.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 2 CONFIDENCE: 0.40 APPROVED: false REASON: The opening segments are greetings and music (non-sermon). The closing segments are sustained acoustic music (non-sermon). I select the first conversational segment [1] as the start boundary and the last musical segment [1351] as the end boundary, assuming the main sermon material was contained between these points. Acoustic segmentation found sustained music at the start and end edge and moved the boundary to the adjacent transcript segment. 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How is everyone? Good summer? Yeah? Wet summer? It's good for a duck. Okay, well, why don't we all stand and greet one another? Celebrate. (crowd chattering) (rock music) ♪ I'm trading my sorrows ♪ ♪ I'm trading my shavings ♪ ♪ I'm laying them down for the joy of the low ♪ ♪ I'm trading my sickness ♪ ♪ I've treated my pain ♪ ♪ I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ And we say yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord ♪ ♪ Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord ♪ ♪ Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord, amen ♪ ♪ I've treated my sorrows ♪ ♪ I've treated my sins ♪ ♪ I've laid them down for the joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ I've treated my sickness ♪ ♪ I've treated my pain ♪ ♪ I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ And we say yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord ♪ ♪ Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord ♪ ♪ Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord, amen ♪ ♪ I've treated my sorrows ♪ ♪ I've been working here tonight ♪ ♪ So calm but not so sure ♪ ♪ I am blessed beyond the curse ♪ ♪ For His promise will endure ♪ ♪ That His joy is gonna be my strength ♪ ♪ Oh, the sorrow may last all the night ♪ ♪ But joy comes with the morning ♪ ♪ I've treated my sorrows ♪ ♪ I've treated my sins ♪ ♪ I've laid them down for the joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ I've treated my sickness ♪ ♪ I've treated my pain ♪ ♪ I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Good morning, congregation. - Good morning. Welcome to this place of worship. Scripture says all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ Jesus. And on this Labor Day weekend, our call to worship comes from 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where the apostle Paul says, "Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain." Let's join together in opening prayer. Father, on this Labor Day weekend, we gather together in this place to find our strength and our hope for the coming season in you. We're so grateful that even though we, in and of ourselves, are weak, you are strong, and that as we acknowledge our weakness and our need of you, you have promised to lift us on wings like eagles. So Lord, we welcome you here, and we pray that the words of our mouths, the meditations of our hearts may make you glad, for you are our rock and our redeemer. God greets us with these words of grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the mighty working power of God's Holy Spirit. Amen. (gentle guitar music) ♪ Your love, oh Lord ♪ ♪ Reaches to the heavens ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Stretches to the sky ♪ ♪ Your righteousness is like a mighty mountain ♪ ♪ Your justice flows like the ocean's tide ♪ ♪ And I will lift my voice to earth ♪ ♪ And worship you, my King ♪ ♪ And I will find myself in the shadow of your ways ♪ ♪ Your love, oh Lord ♪ ♪ Reaches to the heavens ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Stretches to the sky ♪ ♪ Your righteousness is like a mighty mountain ♪ ♪ Your justice flows like the ocean's tide ♪ ♪ I will lift my voice to worship you, my King ♪ ♪ And I will find myself in the shadow of your ways ♪ ♪ In the shadow of your ways ♪ ♪ I will lift my voice to worship you, my King ♪ ♪ And I will find myself in the shadow of your ways ♪ ♪ In the shadow of your ways ♪ ♪ Your love, oh Lord ♪ ♪ Reaches to the heavens ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Stretches to the sky ♪ (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ Over the mountains and the sea ♪ ♪ Your river runs with love for me ♪ ♪ And I will open up my heart ♪ ♪ Let the healer set you free ♪ ♪ I'm happy to be in the truth ♪ ♪ And I will daily lift my hand ♪ ♪ For I will always sing ♪ ♪ When you're looking down ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Your love ♪ ♪ Over the mountains and the sea ♪ ♪ Your river runs with love for me ♪ ♪ And I will open up my heart ♪ ♪ Let the healer set you free ♪ ♪ I'm happy to be in the truth ♪ ♪ And I will daily lift my hand ♪ ♪ For I will always sing ♪ ♪ When you're looking down ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Over the mountains and the sea ♪ ♪ Your river runs with love for me ♪ ♪ And I will open up my heart ♪ ♪ Let the healer set you free ♪ ♪ I'm happy to be in the truth ♪ ♪ And I will daily lift my hand ♪ ♪ For I will always sing ♪ ♪ When you're looking down ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ I know I feel like I'm missing ♪ ♪ This foolishness I know ♪ ♪ When the world will see the light ♪ ♪ They will dance me to a lullaby ♪ ♪ Dance me down ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ (gentle music) ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ Nothing in our condition ♪ ♪ Could ever separate us from your love ♪ ♪ Said nothing in our condition ♪ ♪ Could ever separate us from your love ♪ (gentle music) For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ♪ And I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ And I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ And I can sing of your love forever ♪ ♪ Over the mountains I see ♪ ♪ Your river runs with love for me ♪ ♪ And I will open up my heart ♪ ♪ Let the healer set me free ♪ ♪ I'm happy to be in the tomb ♪ ♪ And I will daily lift my hands ♪ ♪ For I will always sing of when your love came down ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Thy Father in heaven ♪ ♪ Holy is your name ♪ ♪ Your kingdom come on earth ♪ ♪ As in heaven ♪ ♪ Our Father in heaven ♪ ♪ Reveal who you are ♪ ♪ Your will be done on earth ♪ ♪ As in heaven ♪ ♪ Feed us today ♪ ♪ What we need to live ♪ ♪ Forgive all our sins ♪ ♪ As we forgive ♪ ♪ And keep us safe ♪ ♪ Our Father in heaven ♪ ♪ Holy is your name ♪ ♪ Your kingdom come on earth ♪ ♪ As in heaven ♪ ♪ Our Father in heaven ♪ ♪ Reveal who you are ♪ ♪ Your will be done on earth ♪ ♪ As in heaven ♪ ♪ Feed us today ♪ ♪ What we need to live ♪ ♪ Forgive all our sins ♪ ♪ As we forgive ♪ ♪ And keep us safe ♪ ♪ The kingdom is yours ♪ ♪ And the power is yours ♪ ♪ And the glory ♪ ♪ For heaven ♪ ♪ The kingdom is yours ♪ ♪ And the power is yours ♪ ♪ And the glory ♪ ♪ For heaven ♪ ♪ The kingdom is yours ♪ ♪ And the power is yours ♪ ♪ And the glory ♪ ♪ For heaven ♪ ♪ The kingdom is yours ♪ ♪ And the power is yours ♪ ♪ And the glory ♪ ♪ For heaven ♪ ♪ The kingdom is yours ♪ ♪ The power is yours ♪ ♪ And the glory ♪ ♪ For heaven ♪ ♪ The kingdom is yours ♪ ♪ And the power is yours ♪ ♪ And the glory ♪ ♪ For heaven ♪ ♪ Our Father in heaven ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Our Father in heaven ♪ ♪ Our Father in heaven ♪ ♪ Our Father in heaven ♪ - Yes, well we just pray that you would reveal who you are to us here this morning. And I've been singing a lot this morning about your love, and how there's nothing that can separate us from your love. I just pray that you would reveal that this morning. I wanna speak to your spirit here, you gathered here this morning. And I know that in our minds, it's easy to read that and accept in our minds that nothing can separate us. And yet inside, deep down somewhere in our heart, we say, that can't be true. 'Cause you don't know what I've done. You don't know the way I think or my past or, there's just things that stand in our way. And I just, I wanna speak to your spirit and I say nothing. There's nothing, not in the past, not in the future, can separate you from his love. And he sings over us, and I've been contemplating this week, just a simple verse in Nehemiah that says, that the joy of the Lord will be our strength. And I'm telling you, I haven't felt either much joy or much strength this week. But I wonder, 'cause in elsewhere in scripture, it says he rejoices over us with singing. I don't recall reading anywhere in scripture, it's saying our happiness will be our strength. And I've heard lots of teachings about the difference between joy and happiness and all that, but I'm beginning to wonder if it's not because God takes joy in us. That when we call on him, that's where our strength come from. I don't know, I'm not a scholar, but that's what, that's what I've been thinking, you know? So would you stand with us and we're gonna sing this next verse, it's another song about God's love. And how he rejoices over us. And I believe he has a song. And it's not just a song that he sings over his people, but he has a song that he sings over each and every one of you. (gentle piano music) ♪ And you dance over me ♪ ♪ Well, I am blown away ♪ ♪ You sing all around ♪ ♪ But I never hear the sound ♪ ♪ You dance over me ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ How you love me ♪ ♪ You paint the morning sky ♪ ♪ With miracles in mind ♪ ♪ My hope will always stand ♪ ♪ For you hold me in your hand ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ How you love me ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ How you love me ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ How you love me ♪ ♪ How wide ♪ ♪ How deep ♪ ♪ How great ♪ ♪ Is your love for me ♪ ♪ How wide, oh how wide ♪ ♪ How deep, oh how deep ♪ ♪ How great, oh how great ♪ ♪ Your love for me ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ How you love me ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed by you ♪ ♪ How you love me ♪ (gentle guitar music) ♪ Lord, I'm amazed ♪ ♪ By you, Lord, I'm amazed ♪ ♪ By you, Lord, I'm amazed ♪ ♪ By you, how you love me ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm amazed ♪ ♪ By you, Lord, I'm amazed ♪ ♪ By you, Lord, I'm amazed ♪ ♪ By you, how you love me ♪ ♪ How you love me ♪ ♪ How you love me ♪ (gentle guitar music) (gentle guitar music) (gentle guitar music) - Lord, I'm amazed by you, how you love me. I wanna make a prophetic declaration this morning that ties into the songs that Sean and team have picked for this morning's service. For the last two weeks or so, it's been a deep conviction in my heart as a church community, we're entering into a new season of God pouring out his love upon us and giving us the ability to receive it. For many of us, it's been a season of dryness. We've wondered, God, where are you? We've learned to walk by faith. But I think that as we're learning to walk by faith and as we're learning to lay hold of some of the things that Dave talked about last week in terms of being anointed by the Holy Spirit, and sealed, and having received the first fruits of the Holy Spirit, God is wanting to move us into a new dimension where we know of his love, as Sean was saying earlier, not just intellectually with our heads, but at the very depths of our heart, because God's love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And I think one of the things that we ought to be praying for, one of the things that we ought to be stepping in together is just praying for the Lord to help us to open up our hearts so that he can truly come into all the places and all the recesses where we do our living so that indeed we may be filled with the spirit of God. Because it's God's intention that we should mount up on wings as eagles, we should walk and not be weary, we shall run and not be faint. How about it? - Amen. - I think that's the word of the Lord. (audience applauding) Nice to be back with you. We've been gone for some period of time, as most of you know. We had a really good vacation. We did a lot of traveling. We spent about 10 days on PEI, where all of my family lives. Celebrated my oldest brother's 50th wedding anniversary. Visited also with my brother Gerard, who, as you know, has terminal cancer. He's pretty weak, but he is at home and comfortable. And we will see what the Lord will do. We then spent about a week in Nova Scotia. My second pastorate, as you know, was there. We have a lot of friends there. Had a really good time reestablishing those connections. And then did something we've never done before. We took the ferry from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to Maine. That has just been reestablished this past year. It's a nine hour cruise, but the waters were calm. Which was really good because I get seasick really fast. So it was quite enjoyable. Then we went down to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. That, as many of you know, is home to Sight and Sound. They put on these huge biblical productions. The production this year is Moses. And we watched all the Egyptians drown in the waters of the Red Sea. And that was quite a celebration. Then we made our way up to (laughs) God's people got safely through. So that was also the celebration. (audience laughs) Then we made our way up to Willard, Ohio. Chances are you've never heard of it. It is just half an hour to 45 minutes south of Lake Erie. And I have a nephew of mine, a son of my brother Gerard, who pastors a CRC church in Willard, Ohio. So we had a chance to spend time with him and his wife and six kids, great family. And then eventually we made our way back home and we're pleased to be with you once again. Thank you for your prayers. (audience applauds) Number of congratulations are in order this morning. This was missed last week, but Gord and Marilyn Vroegdenhiel celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary last Sunday. (audience applauds) And this coming Tuesday, Lord willing, Egbert and Jean celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary. (audience applauds) And Dineke van Roon celebrating her 80th birthday, also on Wednesday. (audience applauds) And I might just mention in passing that Lord willing, Michelle and I will be married 42 years this coming Wednesday. (audience applauds) Number of people in hospital this morning. Henk Voss has been hospitalized this past week and is receiving treatment at Belleville General. In the room next to him is Harry Mudd, who is also receiving treatment. And I don't know how many of you here remember John Velttoon. John worshiped with us for a number of years and years gone by, works for Neil Bauma presently, I understand, has a blood clot in his brain, not treatable apparently, so don't know what the latest status is, but we certainly commend him to the Lord. Then of course we want to pray for our youth and young people as they head back to school, also those of us who are teachers in public or Christian school, school season starting up. And Mary Lynn Folds has asked that we pray for her. She goes into the hospital on Tuesday morning for what's called a heart ablation, that is where they burn the nerves that are causing the irregular heartbeat in order to try to stabilize her heart condition. So lots of things to pray about, let's do that together. Father, your word says we're two or three, let alone many more gathered in your name, there you are. And Lord, we believe by faith that you're here. And as our Father, you care for us, you understand us more deeply than we can imagine, and you're more anxious to help us than we can believe most of the time. And so we come to you both with our prayers and with our petitions, with our thanksgiving, and with our requests. Father, we're so grateful that a season follows upon season. We're grateful that at the end of summer, our kids can go back to school. Don't know if they're grateful for that, but I know parents are. And we pray for our young people as they attend school at varying levels, including the university level. Father, keep all our hearts and minds in Christ. May we truly shine as lights. We pray for those who teach, whether in public or Christian school settings, and pray, Father, that this will be a season in which our youth can be discipled by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We think of Mary Lynn as she goes in for the treatment on Tuesday. We pray that you prosper that and bless it and cause her heart condition to be healed. We think, Lord, of those who are hospitalized. We think of Hank Voss and Harry Mudd and John Welthood and Lord, others that are known to us, some of which are perhaps just shut in at home. And we pray that whatever our condition, we might know your hand upon us. We pray for family and for relatives when times are anxious and uncertain. And we pray for your grace to lift us up, even in times of difficulty. And then, Lord, there's lots of things to celebrate. We think of Gord and Marilyn, and thank you for them and pray for your ongoing blessing on their lives and on their marriage. We thank you for Egbert and Jean, for their faithfulness, their steadiness, and the blessedness of their marriage. Lord, continue also to prosper them. And we think of Deenika as she celebrates a significant birthday, and Lord, many others, as we just celebrate your goodness and your faithfulness. And then we're reminded that we live in a world where there is much trouble. We think of the situation in the Ukraine and the potential for conflict there. We think of the ongoing struggles in the Middle East, the wars that rage, the many that are displaced, the many that have lost their lives and their livelihoods. And we acknowledge again, Lord, that we're grateful for the stability of our own land, but we know how fragile even that is. And we pray together that as life goes on and we are about the work of our hands, that you will bless it. We pray that you bless us in our families, that you bless us in our jobs. And the places, Lord, where we're looking for work or where life is exceedingly difficult, we pray that you open up ways, that you will pour down your blessings upon us. We claim the covenant that you made with Abraham, that you would not only bless us, but that you would also make us a blessing. And so Father, we're grateful to be your children, and we just pray that more and more you will increase the capacity of our hearts to receive the love that you have for us. And we'll be careful to give you the glory for you are worthy of everything that we can give you. And now as we bring you our tithes and offerings and present those to you gladly, Lord, may you bless them, may you multiply them, may your kingdom come and your will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven. We thank you for hearing us. We pray together in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed and said amen and amen. We worship the Lord with our tithes and offerings for the cause of local Christian education. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) ♪ I'm finding myself ♪ ♪ At a loss for words ♪ ♪ And the funny thing is ♪ ♪ It's okay ♪ ♪ The last thing I need ♪ ♪ Is to be heard ♪ ♪ But to hear ♪ ♪ What you would say ♪ ♪ Word of God speak ♪ ♪ Would you pour down like rain ♪ ♪ Washing my eyes to see ♪ ♪ Your majesty, to be still and know ♪ ♪ That you're in this place ♪ ♪ Please let me stay and rest ♪ ♪ In your holiness ♪ ♪ Word of God speak ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ I'm finding myself ♪ ♪ In the midst of you ♪ ♪ Beyond the music ♪ ♪ Beyond the noise ♪ ♪ And all that I need ♪ ♪ Is to be with you ♪ ♪ In the quiet ♪ ♪ To hear your voice ♪ ♪ Word of God speak ♪ ♪ Would you pour down like rain ♪ ♪ Washing my eyes to see ♪ ♪ Your majesty, to be still and know ♪ ♪ That you're in this place ♪ ♪ Please let me stay and rest ♪ ♪ In your holiness ♪ ♪ Word of God speak ♪ ♪ Would you pour down like rain ♪ ♪ Washing my eyes to see ♪ ♪ Your majesty, to be still and know ♪ ♪ That you're in this place ♪ ♪ Please let me stay and rest ♪ ♪ In your holiness ♪ ♪ Word of God speak ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ Finding myself ♪ ♪ In the midst of you ♪ ♪ Beyond the music ♪ ♪ Finding myself ♪ ♪ At a loss for words ♪ ♪ And the funny thing is ♪ ♪ It's okay ♪ - Thank you, Sean and team. Word of God speak. Well, it's hard to believe the summer is pretty much over. Labor Day marks a transition between summer and fall season. Many of us, though I'm sure not all of us, have had an opportunity for some rest and recreation, but school season and church season restarts, and with it, demands on our time, talents, and treasure. And the question is, how can we run the race successfully long term? How do we avoid running out of steam, or as is the title of my message this morning, how can we avoid burnout? I wanna talk about that a little bit with you this morning, and we'll do that on the basis of a scripture passage that you will all have heard many times. Isaiah chapter 40 will read together the verses 27 to 31. This is the word of the Lord. Why do you say, oh Jacob, and complain, oh Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord, my cause is disregarded by my God? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak. And then these words, and these are the ones that you will remember, even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. This is the word of the Lord. Pray with me. Father, we come to you this morning, sitting comfortably in this place, recognizing too that we have been saved to serve. We've been saved to serve you, we've been saved to serve each other, we've been saved to serve the world. And that's very different from the philosophy of the world where it's all about me and all about my needs and all about my happiness and my satisfaction. But Lord, we confess that giving of ourselves to you and giving of ourselves to each other and to the world sometimes causes our resources to be depleted. And then when we run out of steam, we get discouraged, we fall by the wayside, we throw in the towel, and Lord, we give up. And it's my prayer this morning as we share these words from your scriptures together that that will not be the case for each of us sitting here, that as we hope in you, our strength and youth will be renewed like the eagle, that we will mount up on wings as eagles, that we may run and not be weary, that we may walk and not be faint. And Lord, we'll be careful to give you the glory. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. The words that we've read together this morning from Isaiah chapter 40 are a study in contrasts, are they not? It is a contrast between strength that we have in the natural and strength that comes from God. Listen again to how the text is worded by Isaiah, verses 30 and 31, "Even youths grow tired and weary, "and young men stumble and fall, "but those who hope, or as other translations have it, "wait on the Lord will renew their strength, "they will soar on wings like eagles, "they will run and not grow weary, "they will walk and not be faint." A clear contrast there between young men and youths who grow tired and get weary, and those who wait upon the Lord and who renew their strength. Now the youths and young men referred to in this particular passage are of course seen as the epitome, the high point of human strength and endurance. I read somewhere not very long ago that a human's strength in many areas reaches its high point around the age of 24 or 25. After that it plateaus until you're about 40, and after that I'm sad to tell you it is downhill all the way. Many of us know that reality, don't we? Now that's not to say, here's a very interesting little thing. In sports, for example, many of the championships are not won by the young ones at the epitome of their strength. In cycling, for example, the average age of the Tour de France winners are 28 years of age. The reason for that is that even as they have reached the peak of their strength and perhaps they're starting to decline, they supplement their strength by the strategy that comes from years of experience. And so there is wisdom in getting older. But what Isaiah says here then in this passage is that there are times in life when even the strongest and the smartest of us run out of steam and can no longer put one foot in front of the other. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. Now for Israel, one of the times in which that happened was when they were in exile in Babylon. If you know the Old Testament history of Israel, you will know that when God entered into covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai, he said, "I'm going to give you a land "flowing with milk and honey that is your inheritance, "but if you break covenant with me, "the land is going to spit you out." You know the history? First, the ten tribes broke covenant with God, and around 722 BC, they were carted off by Assyria into exile, most of them never to come back. And then about 150 years later in 586 BC, the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land and began carting off the Israelites of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin to the Babylonian captivity, and there they languished, and there they lost hope, and there all their dreams came crashing down around them. And verse 27 really captures their despair when it says, "Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain of Israel? "My way is hidden from the Lord. "My cause is disregarded by my God." Keep that verse up for just a moment. Notice their complaint is twofold. First of all, God isn't paying any attention to us. My way is hidden from the Lord. He doesn't see me. He doesn't know my pain. He doesn't understand my suffering. The second complaint is that God's not interested in doing anything about it. My cause is disregarded by my God. And so they languished, and they grew weary until even their strongest young men and young women were ready to throw in the towel and say, "We have no future. "We have no hope." Even youths will grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. Now, it's obvious to those of us who are sitting here in the comfort of this auditorium, we have not experienced what they have experienced in terms of exile. Although I need to point out to you this morning that many people around the world know that reality today. I did some research this past week. Would you believe the number of refugees worldwide today is more than 50 million people? Can you imagine that? Kicked out of your home, in many instances kicked out of your land, in many instances robbed of your-- 50 million people in Syria alone. And you've heard about the war there and the ongoing civil war and now the threat of ISIS and all the other stuff that's going on. Out of a population of 23 million, 9.-something million have been displaced. Many are refugees, a lot of them outside of the country, the rest displaced in the country. About half of those are children. Can you imagine what that does to each of them? There are multitudes around the world who know the reality of, "God, where are you and why is this happening to me?" Now, you don't need to be able to identify with being in exile to know that even in our world, there are times when we come to the end of our tether when the pressures of life are more than we can handle. And as I thought about that a little bit this past week, it occurred to me there were at least two situations in our own time where even the strongest of us will sometimes find that we have come to the end of our tether, so to speak. One is when life is hard. Because the reality is that no matter how blessed you are and how much one can enjoy life, none of us is totally immune to experiencing the difficulties of life. Sometimes the trouble is financial. Sometimes the trouble is relational. Sometimes it's natural disasters. Sometimes it is issues of health. And as Michelle and I were out east visiting family and friends, both in PER and in Nova Scotia, I was struck by two areas where people were experiencing afresh the realities of living in a broken world. One was the number of illnesses in people that I know. Perhaps it's a function of my getting older, being part of an older demographic, but becoming aware afresh at how much difficulty there is in the world health-wise. You know about my brother Gerard. Also found out afresh that I have a nephew, the oldest son of my brother who just celebrated their 50th anniversary, who about a year ago was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. He's had all kinds of treatments now. None of them have had any effect. You'd never know it looking on him. But the prospect, medically speaking, as you can well imagine, is not good. Heard the story, too, of a man. A grandfather went into the hospital in Halifax for open-heart surgery. Two or three days later, his son received word that their young daughter, who was turning ill, had been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of leukemia. And so that whole family is now moving to Halifax for the duration of her treatments. You can imagine what kind of an upheaval that is in the life of the family. And, you know, none of us is immune to that. There are simply those seasons where we go through times when life is hard. The other thing that I really was struck by as we were out there is how the very creation groans in travail under the power of the curse. As you know, PEI grows a lot of potatoes. What you may not know is that in PEI, and indeed across much of the country, but worse in PEI than most places, there is a thing called the wireworm infestation. Don't know if you've ever heard about it. The wireworm is the larva of a click beetle. Don't be grossed out by this, but it looks like this. You see the worm there, and you see the beetle. Each of those beetles lays about 300 eggs. So you can imagine how that spreads. Well, this larva has a nasty habit of digging into tuber roots, not only potatoes, but carrots and the roots of many, many other plants. And here's a picture of what that does to your potato. That potato is unmarketable. And talking to my nephew, he told me that at one particular point last year, one of his fields, 50% of the spuds were infected in that fashion. You don't stay in business very long if that can't be stolen. This is compounded by the fact that one of the chemicals that can be used to protect your harvest against this is being taken off the market. The farmers want to fumigate their fields, but the government won't let them for fear of polluting the water table. And so now they're trying a natural process of brown mustard, the roots of which are fumigants, and they hope that if you grow that for two years in between, it will get rid of the wireworm. So when we got to Nova Scotia, we discovered that the Nova Scotia apple crop is being plagued by what is known as a thing called fire blight. And what fire blight does is it invades the leaves. You can see that here. They're shriveling up, and you can see how it is impacting the whole tree. It's called fire blight because it looks like the tree has been on fire. Well, that's caused by a little bacteria, and that bacteria has done damage to multitudes of orchards in the Annapolis Valley because of Hurricane Arthur. I was talking to a friend of mine who is quite the apple grower. I happened to innocently ask the question, "Did Arthur impact you by blowing apples off the tree?" That's what I thought it would have done. Well, it didn't, but it did two things. It spread these bacteria all over the valley, and then the wind damaged the leaves microscopically for the bacteria to take root. And so now you have the kind of picture that I just showed you. You have trees that are loaded down, and if that is not treated, the tree will die. So they've been going at it like crazy, trying to get rid of all of those branches, and, of course, that puts them behind in terms of the rest of the work that has to be done in the apple-growing season. And it struck me again that we live in a world where all creation groans. Nobody is entirely free from the troubles of life. Sometimes there are just those seasons where life is hard, and it doesn't seem to stop. Many of us, I'm sure, can identify with that. It doesn't always stay that way because life is seasons, but if you're in that kind of a season, where it's a season of illness or a season of financial difficulty, those seasons look interminable when you're in them. And how many of us don't cry out in the middle of that? In the words of the Israelites here, "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my cause is disregarded by my God." God, where are you? Now, interestingly enough, there's a second area where I think particularly Christians are prone to run out of steam, and that is as we participate in the mission of Jesus, when we are engaged in the mission of Jesus. What is the mission of Jesus? Well, it's to make disciples of all nations. It's summarized for us very clearly, I think, in our vision statement to be a biblically functioning community through which God's redemptive purposes for the world can be realized. We've talked about this many times. When God called Abraham the father of all believers and said that God would bless Abraham, it was never an end in itself. It was always that through Abraham, the nations of the world would be blessed. And you and I, when we're joined to Jesus and we share in the power of the Holy Spirit, we share in the mission of Christ and the mission of the Church, among other things, is to make disciples of all nations. And so our mission statement, as you know, summarizes it this way in terms of what it is we're called to as a Church, reaching the lost, restoring the broken, equipping the saints, releasing the workers. It is a process of taking people from their places of unbelief and rebellion against God and bringing them to a place of obedience and submission to the authority of God. That's why we exist, among other things, as a community that is participating in the work of Christ. Now, here's the rub. If ever you've participated in that ministry, as many of you have, by means of time, talent, and treasures, you will know that while sometimes it is the most rewarding thing that you can engage in in all the world, sometimes it is just really tough. Wouldn't you agree? Not every unbeliever that you're working with wants to come to faith. Not every broken person that you're trying to lead to the fountain of living water so they can experience the healing of Christ is ready to embrace the healing of Christ. Many prefer to stay where they are over the risk of having Jesus accomplish what it is that He wants to accomplish. Not everybody wants to discover or cultivate their gifts. Some would rather bury their gifts instead of using them for the service of God. And not everybody is interested in becoming a worker in the kingdom. There's lots and lots and lots of people that want to take, they want to absorb, they want the blessings of the kingdom, but they want none of the responsibilities. Isn't that true? And if you've ever been in any one of those situations, if you've ever interceded for the church to be all that the church is intended to be, if you've ever taken somebody by the hand, if ever you've invested time, talent, and treasure in somebody's life and they've slapped you in the face, they've turned their backs on you, then you know how easy it is to echo the words of this text, "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall." Isn't that true? Isn't the path of the church littered with the carcasses of those who one day stepped out to be followers of Jesus and who, like Israel of old, ended up dying in the wilderness because they didn't have the perseverance to see it through and to inherit the kingdom, as the book of Hebrews says, through faith and patience. So how do we stick it out? How do you keep going when you're tired? How do you overcome when you're weary? How do you find new resources when you have run out of resources? How do you pick yourself back up when you feel that God has failed you, when you feel that people have failed you, when you're disappointed in those who are closest to you and everything inside you says this road is simply too hard? How do you keep on going? Well, Isaiah says it's not that complicated, really. It is to get our focus off our problems, off our own issues, and onto the covenant God of Israel. Listen again how Isaiah puts it. "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall." But now notice the transition "but." Big word here. "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and grow weary. They will walk and want faint." Again, note the contrast. "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not be faint." The picture here is that of an eagle renewing its youth, catching the draft of air, and soaring high in the sky, virtually effortlessly, because it is driven by forces other than its own. Now, there are some Bible commentators who think this is a reference to a very old Jewish belief that every ten years, eagles would fall into the sea, lose their feathers, rebuild new ones, and then soar again. And they would do this ten times until they reached the age of a hundred before they would plunge and die. Most commentators don't believe that that's what Isaiah is referring to. But what Isaiah is really picking up on is that there's a place in covenant relationship with God where there is a supernatural strength that comes upon us that enables us to walk by faith and to accomplish the purposes of God in our generation. One commentary that I consulted put it this way. It has been found in the experience of thousands and tens of thousands that by waiting on the Lord, the heart has been invigorated. The faith has been confirmed, and the affections have been raised above the world. Strength has been given to bear trial without complaining, to engage in arduous duty without fainting, to pursue the perilous and toilsome journey of life without exhaustion, and to rise above the world in hope and peace on the bed of death. Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. See, to wait upon the Lord and to hope on the Lord is to get your mind off the problems. It's to get your mind off your own resources. It is to focus on who God is, what God has committed himself to, and then trusting that he is true to his word and that what he said he would do, and that when the time is right, he will come to our aid and to our salvation. Now, practically speaking, how do we do that? Four suggestions. Don't know if we can do all of them this morning, but let's at least start on them. Number one, we need to know who God is. Come back with me for a moment to the text. What was Israel's complaint? Verse 27, "My way is hidden from the Lord. My cause is disregarded by my God." Remember, God doesn't see me, and even if he sees me, he doesn't care. How often don't we find ourselves in that situation where even if intellectually we know better, in our hearts there is the distinct feeling, God, you're no help to me. I don't think you know me. You don't see me. And if you do know me, and if you do see me, why do my prayers go unanswered? Why is my pain unresolved? Why do my difficulties not disappear? God, where are you? Remember, as we read the passage, what's God's response to Israel's complaint? Very significant. Listen with me to these verses, 28 and 29. This is God speaking now. "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Without spending too much time on that, please note three things that Isaiah is saying in that particular passage. Number one, he says, "The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth." That is to say, God has always been there. Because God has always been there, everything that is in the universe comes from his hand. He is almighty. He is all-powerful. He is God overall. Over the holidays, I happen to watch a program on the Discover Channel, which I can never pick up at home, talking about the origins of the universe. And if you know anything at all about astronomy, then you know that everything in the universe spins. The moon spins around the earth. The earth spins around the sun. The sun is part of a galaxy, the Milky Way. And the Milky Way spins, and nobody has ever been able to figure out why the Milky Way spins or how the galaxies have come to be formed, except now of recent they have discovered, get this, at the center of galaxies are huge, gigantic black holes. Black holes are black because all the light is held back by the power of gravity. Nobody can see them. They can only discern them in a secondarily fashion. But now the theory is that all galaxies are formed by black holes that spit out these galaxies and that give order to the galaxies. And now guess what? The whole galaxy revolves around the black hole. And somewhere in there, God is trying to teach the human race that everything revolves around God. So Isaiah says you've got to understand that God knows everything, he sees everything, and he is bigger than anybody, including the Babylonians, including illness, including death, including finances, including God knows what. That's the first thing. But there's a second thing, and that is the fact that God is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. Now that's not immediately evident in the text, but it is included in the names of God. For notice the usage of names here. It says the Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. Now if you know your Old Testament, you will know that whenever you see the Lord in capital letters in your Bibles, that is in place of the name of the Lord God who revealed himself to Moses, namely Yahweh. Because remember the name was holy to the Israelites. And so whenever they ran into the name Yahweh, they would substitute Adonai, which translates into Lord. But who's the Lord? Well, he's the God who came to Moses in the burning bush, revealed himself as I am that I am. The everlasting God has always been there, whose intentions never change. This is the God of our salvation. This is not only the God, the creator, who by his power made this whole great wide universe. This is also the God who comes to his children in the middle of the brokenness and the tragedies of life, and he says, "You know, I know you've made a mess. "I know you deserve to die. "I know you don't deserve my salvation. "In fact, you have so rebelled against me "that I could smite you and send you all to hell." But God says, "You know what? "I love my creation. "I love you. "And even though it's gonna cost me everything, "I am going to enter into covenant with you "like I promised Abraham many years ago, "and I'm gonna deliver you out of Egypt "and bring you into the promised land, "and I'm gonna give you an inheritance "which is imperishable, undefiled, "and unfading, kept in heaven for you." And we know from the New Testament that this is fulfilled in the person of Jesus, who left the glories of heaven to be one of us, who died on the cross, was raised from the dead, sits at the right hand of God Almighty. As Dave pointed out so well last week, in him, we are established in God. We are anointed with the Holy Spirit. We are sealed with the seal of God, which biblically speaking, by the way, is baptism. And through the Holy Spirit, we have the first fruits. We have the deposit of the inheritance that is to come. How do I know that I can hope in God? Well, he not only made me, and so I'm valuable to him by virtue of his creation, but more than that, he has committed himself to saving me. He has done everything that needs to be done to give me whatever I need in order to be able to run the race and to stand before him one day without blemish or wrinkle or spot or any such thing. That is the good news of the Gospel. Nothing can separate us from that love of that God in time or in eternity. And our hearts just need to explode wide open so that we can take that Ian, because it will transform us from the inside out. So, God says, "I'm your creator God." God says, "I'm your Redeemer." No matter how big the mess you've made, how deep the pit you've dug, how messy the world is, I've come into the world. I guarantee that I'm going to move heaven and hell and all of history to deliver you and to present you before me in glory. And then, of course, the third thing to notice here is that because he is who he is, he has infinite resources to give us whatever it is that we need. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. And then, verse 29, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." And that is the mystery of the Gospel as an end. When we know that we're weak, when we know that we've come to the end of our tether, when we can no longer handle it on our own, but we cast ourselves upon the mercies of God. When the time is right, when God has chosen, He comes and He delivers. He did that for Israel. When the time was right, He acted in history and brought the stragglers back to the promised land. He did it in the person of Jesus. When the time had fully come, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law. And He has done it every day since. When the time is right, He comes into the presence of His people, He snaps His fingers, and all of a sudden we are lifted up on the wings of eagles. And one of the reasons why sometimes life is difficult is because it is through the difficulty that God wants to manifest His grace and His power. And I want to end this morning with this quotation of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians, Chapter 1, verses 8, 9, 10, and 11, because he illustrates the principle here so profoundly. We do not want you to be uninformed brothers about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Next time you think life is hard, think back to the Apostle Paul and the situations that he found himself in out of obedience and service to God. He says we were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death, but this happened, that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope, that He will continue to deliver us as you help us by your prayers. It is not God's intention that we should go halfway on the journey of the Christian life and fall by the wayside. It is God's intention that we should soar on wings like eagles. We will run and not grow weary. We will walk and not faint, and we can do it only in union with Christ, who gives us the Holy Spirit. That's where we'll stop this morning, Lord willing. We'll pick it up next week. There are three additional practical steps that I believe you and I need to take if we're to be faithful to God in the journey that He places before us, so that when we stand before Him on that final day, we can hear those incredible words, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over little. I will put you over much." Amen? [PROPOSED CUT 2 START at 01:27:34.800; remove through 01:32:05.000] ( [CUT]gentle music) ♪ Lord, I come to you ♪ Let my heart be changed ♪ Renewed ♪ Flowing from the grave ♪ What I found ♪ In you ♪ And Lord, I've come to know ♪ The weaknesses I see ♪ In me ♪ Will be stripped away ♪ By the power of your love ♪ Hold me close ♪ Let your love surround me ♪ Bring me near ♪ And draw me to your side ♪ And as I wait ♪ The rise of my being ♪ And I will soar with you ♪ Your spirit leads me on ♪ In the power of your love ♪ Lord, unveil my eyes ♪ Let me see you face to face ♪ The knowledge of your love ♪ As you live in me ♪ And Lord, renew my mind ♪ As you will unfold ♪ In my life ♪ In living every day ♪ By the power of your love ♪ Hold me close ♪ Let your love surround me ♪ Bring me near ♪ And draw me to your side ♪ And as I wait ♪ The rise of my being ♪ And I will soar with you ♪ Your spirit leads me on ♪ In the power of your love ♪ Hold me close ♪ Let your love surround me ♪ Bring me near ♪ And draw me to your side ♪ And as I wait ♪ I'll rise up like the air ♪ And I will soar with you ♪ Your spirit leads me on ♪ In the power of your love ♪ And I will soar with you ♪ Your spirit leads me on ♪ In the power of your love [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 2 END at 01:32:05.000; resume after this marked segment]