Tract: Stressed? Find Rest

Our Pastor, Bill, 

could see that we needed something more in the entryway of our church building. He thought: "A tract would fill the gap. What concerns people today? Stress and worry are everywhere, I will ask John to write a tract telling those stressed people that Jesus will help".

The tract is now available, with instructions, to be downloaded, printed, cut and folded, then given away. You may download PDF copies of from:
 
www.sdac.org.au/tracts/rest
 
We are happy to say that we now leave a small stack of these tracts on the coffee table and people take them. We keep having to print off more. Praise Jesus that His love, salvation and hope is helping stressed people, even today.
 
The tract comprises six panels, can be read in a few minutes, and will fit in a shirt pocket. Be blessed. Amen.
 
 

Tired? Stressed? Jesus can give you rest for your soul

 
Front panel – the invitation
 

Many people discover that Jesus helps them find rest. This may sound impossible or weird but it is true. It is spiritual. The spiritual world is real, Jesus and our Father God rule that world with love; they also rule our world here on Earth. For me, my spirit has come alive and I have found rest since I welcomed Jesus into my life. When I was a new Christian I saw that big changes were occurring in me, changes on my insides and on my outside too. Once I knew (and believed) that Jesus is my Saviour, He brought me into His family, forever. I am now eternally safe here. You too are welcome to join us because our God cares for you. Our centre is our heart, this is where we want to find rest. 1

 
2^nd panel – page 1
 

There is always trouble and pain in the world for everyone. Christians know this too. Jesus gives us a new soft heart which is resilient in all our troubles, we develop a new view of everything, centred on love and faith, a new perspective or worldview. Only when we are in the will of God can we know complete rest. Jesus is always in our Father’s will and He is always at rest. He says we can share our burdens with Him and learn from Him: “for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls” (Bible, Matthew 11:29). We can learn to be at rest. For me it has been a journey over many years, but happily, always with positive growth. 2

 
3^rd panel – page 2
 

Jesus saves us from death and sin, He gave His life for us; His death paid for our sin, all our wrong-doing, meanness, wickedness and pride. When we repent of our sin Jesus forgives us, sets us free and defeats death in us. This brings our spiritual change and our new life. We learn to look to Jesus. He gave us the Bible which tells His story and the whole story of humankind, and also teaches us how to live and get along with one another. We can be encouraged that we are not alone. Together with Jesus we can experience life in fullness and beauty despite all our difficulties. 3

 
4^th panel – page 3
 

We can think about our heart and care for it. No worldly success will satisfy our heart, but Jesus can; we find this in His people, in other like-minded Christians. We can have a full heart and know joy. “My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be shaken” (Bible, Psalm 62:5-6). Bless you. Bless us all. Amen.   By John Greenaway. © Southern Districts Alliance Church, 267 Warton Road, Canning Vale, 6155, Western Australia. You may download a PDF of this tract from: www.sdac.org.au/tracts/rest to give away Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible. 4

 
5^th panel page 4
 

How to become Christian? Ask God. So many testimonies of coming into relationship with Jesus and our Father God begin with desperation, The person is at, or beyond, their own strength, or has become terribly convicted of their sin, their wrongdoing;. They cry out: “God if you are there, show Yourself to me”, or, “.. Help me please Jesus”. Soon after, they experience a deep change in them-self and their life. This is spiritual. The person sees and knows that the God of all Creation is with them and is helping. Jesus has responded with love to their cry. People always smile as they speak of these moments. “You shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart” (Bible: Jeremiah 29:13, God of Heaven speaking). 5

 

6^th and final panel – The “other” invitation, "How to become a Christian". 

Postscript: The Making Of A Tract
 
I quickly found that tract writing is not for the faint hearted. There are so many needs and constraints. Fortunately, friends were happy to help. O, and my friend Jesus was a lovely and constant inspiration.
 
The specific "tract" needs I sought to meet were many - it needed to:
 
• be simple yet attractive - people decide to take one, or not, in an instant
• address a real "felt need" in people

• offer real hope
• be non-threatening - not "churchy"
• reveal Jesus
• address salvation
• address sin in all of us
• address the reality of the spiritual world
• address trouble and also truth
• address worldview
• address the reality of the need of change in us
• contain meaningful Bible truths
• show how to become a Christian
• use clear language
• be physically small and quick to read
• be easily printed on regular A4 paper anywhere in the world
• be free, no cost to the Christian giving them, or the person receiving
 
Some of these needs were pointed out by friends after I thought the job was done, so I had to make room for the new thought/concept/element to be included. In a finite space that means deleting something, or being more concise by using fewer or "better" words. Challenging. 

To make the tract personal, it starts with testimony, "Many people find ..", and later includes testimony of my journey and other people's seeking. I love testimony, having been blessed so often by others' true stories of Jesus healing, salvation, love and grace, so I trust that Jesus will bless others as I have been blessed.
 
Because it is a public document I felt it needed copyright. Our local church were happy to hold copyright and to host the tract. (PsalmsOfJohn.com is not set up for downloads).
 
The Bible verses needed attribution. I love the WEB; it comes free with free PC Bible software I have used for decades: e-Sword. (For a birthday I asked family members to pay for other translations too). WEB is a fine translation, and requires the simplest of attributions; space was at such a premium, my decision was easy (after careful research).
 
For the sake of simplicity I chose to use half an A4 page, lengthwise, folded into three. When I first tried this, people had trouble following the path through the document. So we played with different layouts and concluded that what is now presented is simple and clear to most people. This was frustrating and fun at the same time. The "chunks" of text had to be discrete "panel sized chunks". I would often play with a couple of sentences for an hour or more, changing words and phrases to get what-needed-to-be-said into the panel nicely. Challenging. 

Some tracts have a space where the Christian or local church can put their details. I chose not to do this, mainly because I believe that Holy Spirit will guide new believers to the local church of His choice. I have heard many testimonies of people who found a church and walked in, full of doubt and skepticism, only to be met by Jesus Himself, in His people there. Their testimony shows Jesus' love and readiness to grow His people.
 
This was a labour of love. Already people are reading these thoughts and Bible verses. I pray that our lovely Jesus will reveal Himself and draw them to Himself. Such blessing. Praise Jesus. Amen.
 
Favourite Bible Verses
 
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14).
 
"And so you will bear testimony to me” (Luke 21:13).
 
"For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus" (Revelation 19:10b).
 
Bless us all. Come Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20). Amen.
 
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