The Sycamore Message

Eric Burton
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The Sycamore Message from Pastor Eric Burton, Helping People See Jesus, Know God, Find Freedom, and Discover Purpose.

  1. 1d ago

    Ruth Part 1: Coming Back Changed

    Pastor Eric Burton | Sunday, August 9, 2026 Key Scripture: Ruth 1:1–5, 13, 20–22; 1 Corinthians 15:20 A Little Context for the Book of Ruth Ruth is significant because it is the first book of the Bible named after a woman. Ruth is not Jewish, and at the beginning she is not yet a worshiper of God. The story takes place during the time of the judges, when God raised up men and women to confront Israel’s sin. As in Judges, we see God carrying out redemptive work through unlikely people. Throughout this series, we will see God use the most unlikely person to bring redemption to a woman—and ultimately to the world. Although the book is named after Ruth, chapter 1 centers on Naomi, a woman who feels God has dealt bitterly with her. Her story begins much like Job’s: with tragedy. When Tragedy Strikes Ruth 1:1–5 Life is good when tragedy strikes. Naomi loses her community, her husband, and her sons. Chapter 1 Summary After all her loss, Naomi is left with her two daughters-in-law. She hears there is food back in Bethlehem and decides to return. Naomi tells both women to go back to their mothers, but neither wants to leave her. Naomi Comes Home Empty Ruth 1:20–22 Naomi comes from Bethlehem—a name that means “house of bread”—yet famine forces her to leave. In verse 21 she says, “I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty.” She feels empty-handed and ineffective. The people who gave her identity and purpose are gone, and the source of her livelihood is gone. In verse 13 she says, “Things are far worse for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me.” In verse 21 she says the Lord caused her to suffer and sent tragedy upon her. Like Job, Naomi believes God has testified against her and allowed her suffering. The Benefits of Being Empty Empty makes you hungry for God. Empty gives God room to fill you with His provision. Empty gives God room to receive the glory. When Naomi returns, her town is excited, but the people do not know what she has endured. They celebrate the Naomi they remember without realizing she is no longer the same. She is angry and disappointed with God for how she believes He has treated her. Life has changed her so deeply that she changes her name from Naomi, meaning “my delight,” to Mara, meaning “bitter.” Some of us want people to stop calling us what we were years ago. We are no longer the sweet, innocent idealists we once were. We feel God has dealt with us, and life has changed us. Coming Back at the Right Time It is humbling to come home empty. We may set out with great aspirations, believing we are too big for our city or that our town is a dead end. We leave for greener pastures, full of ourselves—but God brings us home empty. I am thankful that God brings us back. Naomi returned changed, but she returned at the right time. Ruth 1:22 says they arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest. The barley harvest was the first harvest of the year—a season of celebration and first fruits that points us toward Christ. “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.” — 1 Corinthians 15:20 Final Takeaway We may think we are useless after losing what once gave us identity. But if we let God empty us, we can come back changed. We can sit full of ourselves, yet God wants to empty us of ourselves. We often want to leave worship feeling full, but perhaps we need to leave empty so God can fill us with something better. Naomi left full, but she came back changed at the very moment new life was beginning. You may be bitter because of what life has brought, but you came back at the right time—a time of harvest.

  2. Aug 3

    Stirred Not Shaken

    John Barnett

  3. Jul 20

    Interns Rising

    The Sycamore Church Interns Rising Speakers: Grace, Sky, Branson, Brayden, Alonna, Oliver, Carter July 19, 2026 Grace Sherwin:  Luke 22:54-62 John 21:15-19 Romans 5:8 Romans 8:28 Sky Dean: Mark 4:35-41 Psalm 89:9 Psalm 107:29 Branson Barnett: Mark 5:25-34  Hebrews 11:6 James 2:17Brayden Barnett:  Proverbs 18:21  Mark 10:46-52 Alonna Snyder:  Mark 5:25-34• Matthew 17:20 Oliver Burton:  Romans 5:3-5 Carter Bell:  John 5:1-8  Luke 12:35-38  Proverbs 19:23

  4. Jul 12

    The Great Physician

    The Great PhysicianYou do not want to miss service next Sunday! It’s our first Young Communicators service. Story of Larry Miller led the Jordan shoe brand department at Nike. In 1965, when he was 16, he shot another young man in a gang rivalry.  Thrity-four years later, he landed as the president of the Jordan brand at Nike. But he was always afraid his past would catch up with him. He suffered with migraines and nightmares of getting arrested again… He finally told his daughter and Nike.  As soon as he told them, the headaches and nightmares stopped.   Luke 5:17-26Matthew 9:32-33As long as we are alive, we consist of body and spirit. Spiritual experiences can impact people so deeply that they transform them physically.  And I’ve seen physical trauma change the spirit of a person so deeply that they become bound and imprisoned by invisible bars. I’ve seen the spirit of infirmity convince people they will never be well. The Jewish people saw their sin and sickness as synonymous. Let me clear, not all sickness is because we sinned, but I have seen sin cause sickness. It’s been said we are not our sin, but I would push back on that because I’ve seen people become their sin.  I have seen it reduce them to a shell of who they used to be. We can see their view of sin and sickness in John 9 where Jesus heals a blind man.  The disciples asked who sinned, this man or his parents. It was prophesied that when the Messiah came, he would take away the sins of the world.   This means he was going to make right the wrongs that sin incurred on the world. Sin was the reason for the breakdown of men and families, or health, our nations, even the land we walk on.  Sin made the world sick.  Luke, who was a physician, implied that Jesus was the great physician. He records Jesus’ words  in Luke 5:31: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” We see that Jesus connects the need for a physician to helping those who are sinners.  Psalm 103:3: “ He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.”Sickness is  spiritual. Jesus once healed a man that was demon-possessed and mute. Matthew 9:32 says Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak. Jesus was addressing the spiritual to get to the physical.  We have been conditioned to address the symptoms of people but not the cause.   Jesus heals the paralyzed man in Luke 5 to show he has the power to forgive sins.  Christ’s healing in our lives isn’t just to give us comfort or convenience but wholeness.Jesus is able to bring this wholeness to our lives because he took the prescription meant for us. The unbelievers said in Matthew 27:42: “ He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!”They thought his condition was because of his own sin. They didn’t realize it was our disease and sin that put him on the cross.   Isaiah 53:4Our sin affected his body. But the wounds of his body are now the prescription for our sin. How do I get this healing? Like sin, we have to admit we are sick.  Healing and repentance are connected through confession. The admittance of sickness and sin. Jesus asked those who wanted healing what they wanted.  The admittance that you are sick is the beginning of faith. James 5:16 tells us to confess, pray, and there will be healed. Joanne’s story of freedom that brought healing.2 Chron. 7:14: Seek His face and pray. He will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.

  5. Jul 5

    Freedom Sunday: Citizen of Heaven

    The Sycamore Message

  6. Jun 28

    Summer of Sabbath: Rest and Restoration

    Summer of Sabbath: Rest and Restoration Rev. Tim Barber June 28, 2026 ========== We have often confused rest with comfort. Over the years, our idea of convenience has changed. We remember a time when life was not as easy as it is today — telephones attached to walls, window fans instead of air conditioning, feather mattresses, and drive-in theaters where you battled the heat and mosquitoes. Today, we enjoy reclining seats, climate-controlled buildings, and vehicles designed for comfort.The problem is that we have connected rest with having perfect conditions. We think rest comes when everything is quiet, peaceful, and nothing interrupts us. Our definition of rest has become, “Leave me alone. Don’t bother me. Let me rest.”But the rest God designed is much deeper than comfort.The Sabbath was created by God as a gift. It was designed for rest, trust, and restoration. But religious leaders added man-made restrictions and turned something God intended as a blessing into a burden. The story of manna reminds us that Sabbath was about trusting God’s provision. God provided enough on the sixth day so His people could rest on the seventh day.When we look at creation, we see God’s divine order. Adam was created on the sixth day, and his first full day was a day of rest in the presence of God. Before Adam ever worked, he rested. Before he fulfilled his assignment, he spent time with his Creator.We often get the order wrong. We think we must work hard so we can finally rest. But God’s design is that we rest so we can be restored and prepared for what He has called us to do.Rest does not mean inactivity. Even when we sleep, our bodies are still working. Healing and restoration are taking place. In the same way, even when we do not understand what God is doing, we can trust that He is still working. God never sleeps or slumbers. While we rest, He continues to move, restore, and provide.True rest requires trust. Anxiety and worry rob us of restoration. Rest is not escaping responsibility or doing nothing. Rest is a posture of faith that says, “I may not understand what is happening, but I trust the One who does.”Jesus demonstrated this kind of rest when He was in the boat with His disciples during the storm. While the disciples were afraid and fighting for control, Jesus was asleep. He could rest because He trusted the Father. The problem was not just the storm around them; it was the lack of faith within them.Rest is more than relaxation. Relaxation brings temporary comfort, but restoration comes from God. You can find a peaceful place, sit under a tree, or enjoy quiet surroundings, but if your soul is not resting in God, you will not experience true restoration.Jesus showed the true purpose of the Sabbath when He restored people. He healed the woman who had been bent over for years and restored the man with the withered hand. The Sabbath was never meant to restrict people; it was meant to restore them.The question we must ask ourselves is: What have we adjusted to instead of allowing God to restore?What pain have we learned to live with? What burdens have we accepted? What struggles have we made normal?Jesus still gives the invitation:“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”God desires to restore your soul, heal your heart, and lift your burdens.You may have arrived today tired, stressed, and carrying battles, but God wants you to leave restored, renewed, and refreshed.Receive the rest and restoration that God has for you today.

  7. Jun 22

    Summer of Sabbath: Redeeming My Rest

    Redeeming the Rest. Genesis 3:8-10My wife and I… but mostly my wife, like to take walks in the evening. Sometimes I’m tired and just want to stay home. It doesn’t feel like rest until we’ve returned home. But every time I go on a walk with Kamala, I get something back that would have been misused by just sitting on the couch. We used to have fun reading, running, and drawing.  We had fun at what we were good at until someone said you ought to do that to make money. All it takes for fun to become work is to make it mandatory.Children interrupt our work with requests to play in an attempt to connect. Relationship researchers John and Julie Gottman call these “bids for connection.”Play isn’t just fun; it strengthens relationships. The first playmate a child has is their parent, that also happens to be their provider.  Play is equated with rest, and rest is done with those they love.   Dads set the pace of rest. When dads don’t rest, the family feels like they can’t rest. When Dad is busy, the family feels busy. When you chill, they chill.  Children are trying to interrupt the labor of our lives to bring things back to a time when there was rest, play, and enjoyment. What we used to do for fun feels forced and awkward, like a suit with puppet strings. We used to have fun with God before it became mandatory.  Acts 15 all the fun in the church became “unfun” very quickly when some hyper-religious people came and told the new believers, “If you really want to be a follower of Jesus, you have to be circumcised.” Talk about taking the fun out of living for Jesus. Somewhere in time, that which God created for enjoyment became drudgery with rules.  The rules meant there would be expectations.  The expectations meant there would be disappointment.  The disappointment would drive distance between us and the one that loves us.  In Genesis 3, God is desperately attempting to connect with Adam and Eve.  God walked in the garden during the cool of the day. The “cool of the day” means the “Ruah or breath of God”.  It was the time of day Adam and Eve spent in the presence of God.  When they sinned, they didn’t feel they could rest with God anymore; instead, they hid. What once used to be fun immediately felt like disappointment and guilt. Guilt and shame force us out of the arms of the very one that can restore us. People hide from God in hopes to restore themselves before they return to Him.  They hid from God because they were naked. God asked them, "WHO TOLD you you were NAKED?” Pastor Clifton Lejeune told me, “when you see a relationship status say complicated, it means a 3rd party got involved.” "Who" told you you were naked? Somebody got involved in your relationship with God. God asks, where and who. But Adam answers back with what and why.  A good indicator of a bad relationship is the breakdown of communication.God knew where Adam and Eve were geographically.  He wanted to know where they were in relationally …. Like the game Marco Polo. I know you are here, but where are you in relation to me? Sin isn’t just a bad act. It’s what we do against a relationship.  It separates us from our peace, our spouse, our children, and most importantly, our God.  Proverbs 18:1 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;he breaks out against all sound judgment. (ESV)The Bible is a record of God’s attempts to reconnect a relationship that was lost.Our original purpose was to rest with God.God has been trying to redeem the time that used to be fun. He’s trying to exchange what was taken and used to separate us from Him to now connect us.  Lets get back to fun!Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.We can’t borrow time or steal time or get time back. To redeem is to exchange. Redeeming is to make wise and sacred use of every opportunity for doing good, so that zeal and well-doing are as it were the purchase money by which we make the time our own.Redeeming is changing possession by purchasing  what once belonged to you and using it for its original purpose. “Our Sabbath is not away from God but with God.” -Chad Ducote.  Don’t run from Him, run to Him. Sabbath is what restores our soul. We should rest with what loves us back!!! Zephaniah 3:17 For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”Our God loves to play.  He is a God that is rejoicing and singing over us. Rest and play doesn’t always have to have a point. This rest that Jesus came to redeem asks nothing of us.  Jesus has come to redeem (exchange possession) the time that once separated us from Him to now be close to Him.  It’s for redeeming and restoring what was misused.  Let’s go back to what we used to do before Christianity became a chore.  Let’s return to the fun we used to have with God. Sing unto the Lord a new song.  Let’s do something

  8. Jun 15

    Summer of Sabbath: Rest in the Waiting

    Rest in the waiting. We are in our sermon series, Summer of Sabbath. We want to learn how to rest.Sometimes we’re told to wait, but we’re readyto go. Our ambition is greater than our ability. Oh, I know what I want to do; I just haven’t realized I don’t know how to yet.Coming out of milestone experiences, we tend to be geared for the next one. We have a plan but no execution. When we’re forced to Sabbath (rest), we receive instruction and nourishment for what’s ahead.1 Kings 19: 3-8 Elijah has just come out of this high-octane experience on Mt. Carmel. He has a showdown with 400 false prophets and proves that Yahweh is the one true God. Elijah is intoxicated with victory until he realizes there are consequences for his anointing. Queen Jezebel is angry with him for killing her false prophets and swears to kill him by the next day.The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:8 that our faith journey goes from glory to glory, but life tends to bring us from glory to boring; from mountain top to valley bottom.The angel tells Elijah to rest at the brook and eat because he needed strength for the journey ahead. While Elijah is TOLD TO WAIT, he is receiving instruction and nourishment from God.Waiting is a discipline of restraint. You feel like going on, but you can’t. You have the energy to move but not the health. When I have to be still and wait on the next move, I tend to ask God what He’s doing. All of a sudden, I’m talking to God and asking for his next move. If it weren’t for having to be still, I’d forget to talk to God. This forced rest of waiting agitates me to prayer.Waiting is being still between the coming and going. Rest is not just the finishing of something but the intermission between two work weeks or the victories you had last week to the new battles coming this week. But instead of resting, we toil and strive using energy that is going to be needed for the journey ahead.Why does it matter? Because we make mistakes when we hurry from one thing to the next. We end up relying on a plan executed by the power of God last time to replicate it without God the next time.Waiting is boring. My son said his kids aren’t going to know what boring is. But boring is a gift from God. The older I get, boring looks better and better. Boredom is a gift created by disciplined rhythms. It’s the rest between your last and your next. Don’t underestimate the predictable, mundane moments in your life. Boredom stops our hurry and forces us to see what’s sitting still around us. Waiting on God requires stillness. He’s not trying to figure out what to do next; He’s waiting on us to be ready.Consider the lilies. Matthew 6:28 “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;”Jesus said check out how they grow. How do they grow? “After flowering, lilies die back inautumn and enter a dormant phase. During this time, the bulbs store energy for the next growing season.”They don’t do anything to add to God’s stature, yet they declare his handiwork. They don’t work, but they produce. They don’t strive to be beautiful; they just are. My favorite line from James Thurber’s, Secret Life of Walter Mitty, “the most beautiful things don’t ask for attention.” Beautiful things arrest and force us to stop and notice. God wants us to be still and know he’s God.Dan Allender says he was looking at Mt. Cook in New Zealand when a man interrupted his moment with, “Isn’t she incredible?” He was perturbed by the man and his comment because it didn’t need affirmation; it was obvious. It was a still and waiting moment that required no commentary.Acts 1:8: How long do I wait? Until you receive power! Wait to make that decision until you’ve received power.

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The Sycamore Message from Pastor Eric Burton, Helping People See Jesus, Know God, Find Freedom, and Discover Purpose.

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  • Creator
    Eric Burton
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
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    The Sycamore Message