Mark Wilson, pastor of Hayward Wesleyan church in Hayward Wisconsin, is one of the most delightful and servant-minded pastors in the Wesleyan Church today. In this sermon he is preaching after the guest speaker Matthew Sleeth came to speak about Sabbath In many of the sermons we post on Wesleyan Sermons we are seeking to pull out homiletical lessons for how to preach. In this sermon there are things we could certainly pull out related to preaching. This week though, we actually want to deliver content to pastors who read and follow this site. For the next two months we will deal with burnout and stress among pastors. If there is one common struggle to pastors in North America that seems to cross over church sizes, models, denominations, and geographies it is burn out.
We decided not to start with articles about burnout. We will have some of those from Wesleyan preachers. Instead we want to start with someone preaching toward the root of burnout in different ways. This sermon focuses on Sabbath as a mode of prayer and rest. As you listen to this conversational style sermon on Sabbath allow God to speak to you about your need for prayer and rest. Listen through the sermon to God for what God may want to say to you about your spirit and it’s need for restoration.
Now before you listen and simply nod your head to the sermon. Ask yourself, minister, has your soul struggled with the level of stress you are bearing? Have you been secretly wrestling with God for some unknown personal struggle? Perhaps you will want to pause and let the spirit highlight your need this week before you listen to this sermon.