Work/Rest Pendulum
Purpose: The Work/Rest Pendulum serves a two-fold purpose of helping the individuals in our group to find a healthy rhythm in their Work/Rest life balance and in their Abiding rhythms.
Scriptures:
— ABIDING —
John 15:1-8 - Abiding vs. Fruit
15 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. 2 Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.
Matthew 7:16-20- Knowing them by their fruit.
16 You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.
— WORK vs. REST—
Mark 1:35-39 - Resting to do the work.
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place. And He was praying there. 36 Simon and his companions went searching for Him. 37 They found Him and said, “Everyone’s looking for You!”
38 And He said to them, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.” 39 So He went into all of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Mark 6:30-32 - Resting to do the work.
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. 32 So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place,
Genesis 1:23-31,2:1-3
2:1 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.
Teach:
Apart from me, you will do nothing.
Say: “We want a life that produces fruit. Jesus tells us clearly that we cannot produce fruit unless we abide. Jesus says that out of our abiding, we will produce much fruit, so this becomes a rhythm for life. Mike Breen captured this idea of work and rest in his book “Building A Discipling Culture” with the picture of a swinging pendulum.
Read John 15:1-8 together as a Group
ASK: Why must we abide with Christ?
What are some ways we Abide with Christ?
What happens if we do not Abide?
Jesus is clear in John 15 when someone draws closer to Him, He will produce much fruit. In the same way a swinging pendulum creates more momentum the further it is pulled back, we will produce more fruit the deeper we abide with Him.”
Draw the illustration of the Work/Rest Pendulum - Labeling the proper ends of the horizontal axis. In addition, read Matthew 7:16-20 to show the importance of having “good fruit”.
Say: “In addition, we want to be fruitful in the way we handle our time. Intentional times of rest allow us to work at a greater capacity. Instead of working to rest, scripture offers a different perspective that challenges us to rest for more fruitful work. Mark 1:35-39 & Mark 6:30-32 shows us how important this philosophy was to Jesus and His disciples. Genesis 2:1-3 also shows us how God rested from His work in creation. When we take intentional time of rest and abiding this strengthens us to then take on the work we have before us.
Group Action Steps:
Ask your group to evaluate themselves on how well they are doing in these two areas. Are they abiding in a manner that produces much fruit? Do they have a healthy rhythm of rest in their schedule to work effectively?
LEADER TIP: To make this illustration even more effective, you can take an item on the end of a string and create a pendulum to show the cause and effect of making effort to abide. If we deeply abide then we will be more fruitful with our kingdom efforts.
Questions to ask:
How well are you doing in this area of Abiding?
Is your pendulum pulled back to its greatest capacity?
How is God currently pruning areas of your life?
Do you have a healthy rhythm of rest in your schedule?
Do you take any type of Sabbath or intentional rest each week?
What steps can you take this week to help deepen your rest with the Lord?
