Question: 27% of singles say you should never do this while on a first date. What is it?

Answer: Check your phone!

Makes sense, doesn’t it? It’s hard to feel connected to someone when they’re constantly distracted by their device. On some level though, the devices are created to keep us distracted. They are constantly sending us notifications, updates, messages and emails. There’s an endless supply of apps and games to keep our brains engaged. It’s not just our devices that keep us engaged and distracted. Our jobs, our families, the to do list, the news cycle, and even Church can fill our minds and souls and bodies with stress, pressure and anxiety if we let them.

There’s an endless stream of need and want that we were not meant to contain, and it leads to weariness and burnout when we try. In His mercy, our good good Father invites us to pull away from all the things this life throws at us, be still and know that he is God, to find rest for our weary bodies, minds, and souls. That’s the subject of today’s sermon. Pastor Jill kicks off a new sermon series called “The Summer Slow Down,” and part 1 is “An Invitation to True Rest in Community.”

Painting referenced in sermon (unknown artist):