The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost - June 21, 2026 (Slides)
The M3 (Monday Morning Mail)
Just Rest...
In the Lord
Psalm 91 honestly assess life. Challenges of all kinds arise and make life difficult. The psalmist bids us to find rest in YHWH!
I began the sermon by retelling the story of going to Moab, Utah after my first year at the seminary. Having survived that year in a small 8' x 12' room, I was yearning to get out there into the wide open lands of Colorado. Alas, my dad and his friend from church and I decided to go to Moab, Utah. I showed an image of the glorious skies that often give Moab its eternal feel. Yet, the beauty may turn to danger quickly, as I recounted being caught in a downpour as we were biking in the "slickrock" canyons. The next visual was an example of the sudden flooding that can happen in Moab during a downpour. All the water runs off the slickrock quickly, filling the narrow canyons within seconds. Hiking or biking in the canyons when this happens suddenly becomes a deathtrap. This happened to the three of us. Thankfully, we found a niche in the rock, elevated high enough above the rising waters in the canyon. I then showed the quote from Exodus 33:21-22: "And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleW of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by…(Exodus 33:21–22, ESV).
I used this dramatic visual to capture what we often experience in life: its sudden challenges. I showed a multi-image slide of a bird caught in a net, an image of a microbe, one of three modern arrows, and the last of a soldier standing guard at night. The challenges of life often contain dynamics that these images portray: unexpectedness, unseeable, targeted, and uncertainty. No one expects to get cancer. No one can see that their children will struggle with addiction. No one thinks they will be targeted with multiple layoffs in their career. Uncertainty is constant in our electronically connected world!
Alas, YHWH-Jesus is our protection. Like a mother bald eagle protects her young, so YHWH-Jesus protects us. Like buckler deflects incoming arrows, YHWH-Jesus protects us. Because he is our promised-protection, we can just rest in Him!