Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd
like to connect with HTV, go to htv .church forward
slash connect. If you feel called to give, go
to htv .church forward slash give. And if at
any time you feel called to make a change in
your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the
message. Hey, good morning, everyone. So good
to see you. So glad you chose to join us. If
you're joining us from home, thanks for welcoming
us into your space. Hey, can you all humor me
this morning? High five your neighbor and say,
you look like a mess. Doesn't that feel good?
Only at HCV. And the reason I do that and the
reason I asked you to do that is because our
theme for VBS 2026 or Kids Camp 2026 was What
a Mess VBS. And check out some of these images
from this past week. The kids had incredible
fun. We had tug -of -war into mud. We were squirting
people with colored paint. We were creating crafts.
We were worshiping Jesus. And on Friday, We all
got slimed. That's right. Think Nickelodeon.
And let me reassure you that the slime tastes
nasty, okay? Because it did happen to go in my
mouth. But that's okay. That's okay. It's all
for the kids. We love them. We appreciate them,
and we know that they had an incredible time.
Over 100 kids that we served, that we challenged
them to grow in their relationship with Jesus.
They are the next generation. They are the church,
and we are going to continue to pour into them.
So isn't it true that we live in a society that
has never had more conveniences than we have,
yet we've never been more exhausted? Think about
it. We have apps that save us time. We have devices
that keep us connected. We have technology that
accomplishes things in seconds as compared to
hours. Yet despite all of our advancements, all
the technology, people are tired. We're tired.
Not just physically, but emotionally, mentally,
spiritually. Many of us wake up tired. push through
the day with caffeine because we're tired, and
then go to bed exhausted. We take vacations hoping
to recover only to return to more exhaustion
because we have to catch up on everything we
left behind. We can sleep up to eight hours and
still wake up weary because the fatigue that
we are experiencing isn't just in our bodies,
but it's also in our minds. On top of that, some
of us are carrying the weight of financial stress.
Others are burdened by broken relationships,
the constant pressures of work. Oh yeah, we're
raising children. We're caring for parents. We
have guilt on our lives over past mistakes. We
have anxiety about the future. We're simply trying
to keep up with all the expectations of life.
What does the world tell us to do? Work harder.
Achieve more. Buy something new. Escape for a
while. You'll feel so much better. But many of
us know that those things are only temporary
relief. They can give us a break, yes, but they
cannot give us a rest. Real rest isn't found
in a place. Real rest isn't found in a thing.
It's found in a person. See, into a world filled
with exhausted people, Jesus extends one of the
most beautiful precious invitations in the entire
Bible. Come to me, all of you who are weary and
carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
And notice that Jesus doesn't say come to a religion.
He doesn't say come to church. He doesn't say
come when you've cleaned yourself up. He doesn't
say come when you've figured everything out.
He simply invites us to come to him. And today
we're going to continue our Promise Keeper series
for the month of July with encouraging talk focusing
on Jesus' promise to give us rest. And before
we jump into Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 through
30, I want to encourage you the context of these
words that Jesus is about to speak to us. We
must remember he's speaking to a crowd of people
who are heavy hearted. They're weighed down by
the burdens of life, many of them poor, many
of them not having enough food to eat, and also
by the burdens of religion that were placed on
them. They had to jump through all these hoops
to earn God's love. This message is a message
that can significantly change your life today.
And I want to encourage you. Open your minds.
Open your ears. And open your hearts to receive
Jesus' promise. Because you could leave here
different. Which leads us to our first thought.
See, Jesus never promised an easy life. He promised
his presence. Notice what Jesus says in Matthew
11, 28. He said, come to me, all you who are
weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give
you rest. He will give us rest. See, one of the
greatest misconceptions about following Jesus
is that faith removes life's hardships and struggles.
But see, Jesus never made that promise. However,
notice in the words that we just read, he still
promises to give us rest. And the rest that Jesus
offers to us and to the people that he was speaking
to is much deeper than physical relaxation. See,
it's an inner peace, a security. a confidence
that comes from being in a right relationship
with him. The Greek word for rest is antipostis,
which means refreshment, relief, or restoration.
See, this word conveys the idea of covering one's
strength after being exhausted. It re -encourages
us, reignites us. Jesus is inviting a weary and
struggling group of people to find renewal in
him, to find strength in him. Because, see, remember,
beyond their daily struggle and their religious
burdens, if you look back to the beginning of
the chapter, Jesus is referring to one of the
greatest prophets the world has ever seen. A
man, in fact, who Jesus called the greatest man
that was ever born, named John the Baptist. And
we find at the beginning of Matthew 11, John
was struggling with his faith. We read this.
John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about
all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent
his disciples to ask Jesus, are you the Messiah
we've been expecting, or should we keep looking
for someone else? See, John had been thrown into
prison. And by this time that we're reading these
words, he had been there for a while, and he
was confused, wondering, what was happening?
What is Jesus doing? Why am I not free by now?
See, John was questioning his faith. He had been
pointing people to Jesus. He's the Messiah. Follow
him. And now he's asking, are you really the
one? I mean, think about it. This is John the
Baptist, the greatest person to walk the earth,
according to Jesus. And now he's asking questions
and struggling with doubt in his faith. And see,
this is important for us to realize because when
we have questions, when we have doubt, when we
struggle in our faith, it doesn't mean we're
bad people. It doesn't mean we don't believe
in Jesus. It means we are human. It means that
we are broken people. Doubt is a part of everyone's
faith journey. Theologian Alistair McGrath says
it this way, doubt is natural within faith. It
comes because of our human weakness and frailty.
Unbelief is the decision to live your life as
if there is no God. It is a deliberate decision
to reject Jesus and all he stands for. But doubt,
doubt is something quite different. Doubt arises
within the context of faith. It is a wistful
longing to be sure of the things that we hope
for. But it is not. and need not to be a problem.
See, doubt is a unique problem for those of us
in a relationship with Jesus. It's going to happen.
It's a part of life. Think about it. John was
pointing people to Jesus, the one he thought
was the Messiah, and look where it got him. He
was thrown in prison. He was experiencing shame,
hunger, physical and emotional torment. Not only
that, there's these unmet expectations of what
John believed the Messiah would bring to the
world, to the Jewish people. Because see, in
the Old Testament, we read about Jesus or the
Messiah bringing liberty to the captives, opening
of prison doors, that Jesus would overthrow oppressive
Roman rule. And John, right, is experiencing
none of those. He's stuck in prison, and he begins
to question his faith. And many of us, if we're
honest, we experience doubt for the same reasons.
When we encounter difficulties in this life,
whether it be at home, at school, with family
and friends, maybe it's work, could be mental
struggles, emotional struggles, relational struggles.
Sometimes it feels like everything, all the above.
But how about those unmet expectations? See,
maybe we've tried to trust God for a season.
And it doesn't seem to be getting any better.
In fact, it's getting worse. So we begin to doubt.
We begin to question, God, are you there for
me? Do you love me? Do you care about me? God,
I think you are good, but why isn't anything
changing in my life? Why won't this struggle
end? And friends, we must remember that all of
us have a limited perception of reality, just
like John the Baptist. The greatest man to ever
walk the earth had no idea of the story that
Jesus the Messiah and how it would play out.
He had no idea Jesus was bringing a totally different
kind of kingdom to this world. See, this wasn't
about overthrowing the regime. It was about Jesus
changing the world as we know it. John didn't
know that. And in his human perspective, which
is small and just like ours, When we go through
these difficult seasons and we have these unmet
expectations, we must remember our perspective
on life is very limited. So there is this reality
that we're going to doubt. It's a part of having
faith. And not only are we going to doubt, but
listen to these words from Jesus that confirm,
hey, church, life is hard. And in this life,
we're not going to have all the answers. Look
at Matthew 7 from Jesus' famous Sermon on the
Mount. You can enter God's kingdom only through
the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad
and its gate is wide for the many who choose
that way. But the gateway to life, that means
a relationship with Jesus, is very narrow and
the road is difficult and only a few ever find
it. That's Jesus' words. He's telling us, hey,
if you're going to follow me, it's going to be
hard. It's going to be difficult, which is why
some people choose not to follow. And it's not
just there. Let's look at a few more. Matthew
10, 16 to 18 and 21. Look, I'm sending you out
as sheep among wolves. Now, think about it. If
you're a sheep, the last place you're running
is to a pack of wolves. Because sheep have no
defense mechanisms, and the only thing they can
do is run, and they're slow. That's not good
news for us, but Jesus says, you're like a pack
of sheep running towards the wolves. Let's continue.
So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves,
but beware, for you will be handed over to the
courts and will be flogged with whips in the
synagogues. You will stand trial before governors
and kings because you are my followers, but this
will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and
other unbelievers about me. Is that going to
be easy? Nope. Continuing on. A brother will
betray his brother to death. A father will betray
his own child. And children will rebel against
their parents and cause them to be killed. And
all the nations will hate you because you are
my followers. Isn't this all good news? Oh, let's
continue on. Matthew 10, 38 to 39, if you refuse
to take up your cross and follow me, you are
not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your
life, you'll lose it. But if you give up your
life for me, you will find it. Hey, church, go
be crucified. Lose your life. That's not easy.
See, we have to realize there's days, there's
going to be nights, there's going to be months,
there's going to be even seasons of life. that
we're going to walk through on our journey with
Jesus, that are hard. Faith is hard. Then on
top of that, we have all the burdens of this
world that we carry and weigh us down every single
day in so many ways. Again, it doesn't matter
if it's school, work, jobs, responsibilities,
financial burdens, physical burdens, sickness
like disease and pain, emotional burdens like
anxiety, depression, obsessive thoughts. Relational
burdens. Family, friends, coworkers, classmates.
Worldly burdens like wars and rumors of wars.
Religionist burdens. Like we saw in these verses.
So many people thinking they're not doing enough
for God and holding on to this guilt and shame
from their past. I mean, if we're honest, burdens
in this world are real. They're heavy. They're
painful. And they cause us pain. But we must
remember that Jesus told us that this would happen.
It's a part of faith. Look at John 16, 33. I
have told you all this so you may have peace
in me. Here on earth, you have many trials and
sorrows, but take heart because I've overcome
the world. So what I'm trying to explain to you
is we shouldn't be surprised by trials, sorrows,
and pain that we experience in this world. The
Bible tells us that we live in a fallen, broken
world. Jesus told us that these trials, these
sorrows are part of following him. So we live
in a fallen world. We know life can be messy.
The pain is real. And burdens are heavy to carry.
All of that leads us to the good news in our
next thought. When faith is hard and burdens
are heavy, Jesus doesn't add to life's burdens.
He helps us carry them. Notice Matthew 11, 28
to 29. Then Jesus said, Come to me, all you who
are weary and carry heavy burdens. I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you. That is not
the yoke that you ate this morning for breakfast.
Let me teach you because I am humble and gentle
at heart and you will find rest for your souls.
See, Jesus is painting a picture for us to see.
See, two oxen get into what is called a yoke
like this one together. For the purpose of carrying
weight. So take a look at this picture. In this
image, quite often, what farmers did was farmers
would take an ox who was weaker or younger and
they would put him in a yoke like this with an
ox who was stronger. So the strong ox, what?
Would carry the load and the weaker ox can learn
to follow. And trust the stronger ox. Now today
is the World Cup Championship. 3 p .m. And the
world has been captivated by these games. One
player that took center stage until they were
knocked out last week was the striking Viking.
Erling Haaland. Take a look at him. He's a Norwegian
6 '5 muscular goal scoring machine. that you
can see is very intimidating and aggressive.
Now, I want you to imagine for a second you being
yoked with Erling. Okay? There's not many of
you that are going to look at that man and say,
don't worry, Erling, I got this. I will lead
the way. I will carry us. You're not going to
say that if you see that guy. You're going to
say, hey, striking Viking, have your way. Lead
the way. So that is the picture that Jesus is
giving us here, except Jesus is infinitely greater
and infinitely stronger than Erling Haaland.
I mean, we're talking about Jesus here. God in
flesh. He created the heavens and earth. He upholds
the world by his power, and he's inviting us.
To get into the yoke with him. And don't miss
this. Jesus wants to carry our load. This isn't
50 -50. This isn't 80 -20. Jesus is God. And
he can handle the entire load that we carry every
single day. Jesus is saying to us today, I will
carry this weight with you and for you. You can't
carry it on your own. So we learned that faith
is hard. We learned that the burdens of this
world are tiresome and wearisome. And church,
you can't do it on your own. Burdens are too
heavy to carry in your own strength. And Jesus
is inviting us today, come to him. But the crazy
thing is, go back to that oxen picture. Even
this image is wrong. When it comes to our relationship
with Jesus. Because he doesn't come beside us.
He comes to live inside of us. Listen to Colossians
1, 27 and 29. For God wanted them to know that
the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles
too. And this is the secret. Christ lives in
you. Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance
of sharing his glory. So we tell others about
Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone
with all the wisdom God has given us. We want
to present them to God, perfect in their relationship
with Christ. Notice what Paul says here. That's
why I work and struggle so hard, depending on
Christ's mighty power that works in me. So you
hear that Paul is working. He is struggling.
And some of you, if you don't know, we learn
in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 that Paul had been
thrown into prison. He had been beaten with rods
to the point of death. He had been stoned, shipwrecked.
He was in danger from Jewish people, Gentiles,
robbers. There was danger in the city, dangers
in the wilderness, dangers at sea. He was experiencing
hunger, pain, exposure to the elements. And the
list goes on and on. And what Paul is trying
to explain to us is faith is hard. But he overcomes
all of it with Jesus. He says, life is difficult,
but the yoke is easy. Church, when we have the
supernatural power of Jesus living inside of
us. See, this is life -changing truth when we
embrace it. When we embrace the power of God
living inside of us. And unfortunately, there's
so many followers of Jesus, including some of
you gathered here today, that don't realize.
When you choose to follow Jesus, when you put
your faith in him, yes, he forgives us. Yes,
he reconnects us with the Father, but he also
fills us with his spirit. He puts the Holy Spirit
of God inside of us to comfort us. John 14, read
it. To strengthen us, Philippians 4, read it.
To give us wisdom when we need it, James 1 and
3, read it. To have victory over temptation,
Romans chapter 8. To help us with doubt and struggles.
Just read the book of Ecclesiastes. The Holy
Spirit empowers us to share our stories, Acts
1 and 2. It's all in there. See, we don't fight
the fight of faith in our own strength. Jesus
inside of us fights for us. We don't have to
carry burdens on our own. Jesus inside of us.
He says, cast your cares, your struggles on me
because I care about you. In fact, he says, I
care about you so much that I put my spirit inside
of you. We know that the Holy Spirit is known
as the comforter. I put the comforter in you.
I don't just give you help. I put the helper
inside of you. I just don't give you wisdom.
I put the spirit of wisdom inside of you. I don't
just give you guidance. I put the guide inside
of you. Jesus is saying, I put my hope, my strength,
my love in you. Jesus doesn't guarantee that
our life will be easier. In fact, he says, in
this world you will have troubles. But he does
guarantee we have the power to live beyond this
world. That his yoke is easy. And that his burden
is light. Which leads us to our third and final
thought today. See, Jesus' burden is light because
of his love for us. It's continuing. Matthew
11, 28 -30. He said, come to me. All you who
are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me
teach you, because I am humble and gentle at
heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I
give you is light. So if we choose to follow
Jesus and get into this yoke with him, that means
his commands that he's given to us are not a
burden. In fact, they are. Let's read 1 John
5, 2 through 3. We know we love God's children
if we love God and obey his commandments. Now
notice, loving God means keeping his commandments
and his commandments are not burdensome. So notice,
Jesus' commands are not burdensome. They're not
another thing that we have to do. So we have
to realize when Jesus says this, when he tells
us this, that we wouldn't carry any burdens.
We have to understand that we have to give them
to him. Because if I was to tell you, hey, I
need you to lift 500 pounds above your head,
I don't think there's many of us that could do
that, true or false. In fact, I don't believe
any of you could do it. I know I couldn't. But
as we already discussed, how being in the yoke
with Jesus gives us supernatural power to carry
out his commands. Because of Jesus' power living
inside of us, you can be free from addiction
in this world today. Because of Jesus' power
living inside of us, we can say no to sin. We
can say no to temptation. Because of Jesus living
inside of us, we can endure through suffering.
Because after all, the one that conquered all
sin, shame, Satan, and death lives inside of
us. So that makes the burden of following his
commands light and easy. All of us have things
we don't like to do. And it's those things that
feel like a burden. However, when we realize
how much God loves us, no command of his is a
burden on us. How much does God love us? Well,
1 John 4, 7 through 8, Dear friends, let us continue
to love one another, for love comes from God.
Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows
God, but anyone who does not love does not know
God, for God is love. God is love. So therefore,
the burden is light for us when we realize how
awesome Jesus is and how much he loves us. How
much did he love us? Well, for this is how God
loved the world. He gave Jesus, his one and only
son, so that everyone who believes in him will
not perish but have eternal life. Now, for many
of us, there is no greater love relationship
in this life than the relationship that we have
in our marriage, for those of you that are married.
See, the relationship that I have with my wife,
Jessica, is the greatest love relationship that
I've ever been in. In fact, I still remember
the first time that I saw Jess walking down the
aisle at Red Lobster, not at a church. I knew.
And I'm not making this up that I was going to
marry her. In fact, it was if I heard God say
that that is the woman you will marry. Now, I
didn't even know God then. I didn't even know
the Holy Spirit. I didn't even know what that
meant. But it was this inside of me, I just kind
of knew it. And because of that, I instantly
wanted to meet her, get to know her, and figure
out what she was all about. So I began to flirt.
ask her questions about who she was and what
she wanted to do with her life. I had no idea
that would lead me into a relationship with Jesus
because she shared Jesus with me. And because
of these interactions and because me coming into
a relationship with Jesus, my connection with
her only strengthened to be in a relationship.
However, Jess was not as confident as I was.
About our friendship, our relationship, our connection.
So she was constantly telling me she didn't want
a relationship. Boys are bad for me. She only
wanted to focus on Jesus. So we were just friends
for months. Years, in fact. We attended college
together every day. We encouraged one another.
We remained focused on growing our relationship
with God, not each other. And that led us going
on a mission trip together to Ecuador. And it
was there that God gave Jess a vision of her
and I's life together. And that is a story you
can get from her. That vision led to her saying
to me as soon as we got home, okay, we can get
married. Heck, I didn't even have to ask her.
I didn't have to buy a ring. I didn't do nothing.
But eventually I did those things. Yes, we were
young. Yes, we had no clue what we were doing.
But we stood in front of hundreds of people and
God, and we made a commitment to live together
for life. And let me tell you, that was not a
heavy burden. That was one of the greatest days
of my life. And for the last 29 years, we have
fallen more and more and more in love with one
another. And hear me out, it hasn't been easy.
Marriage is hard. But it certainly hasn't been
a burden for me. I want to be with her. I desire
to be with her. I can't spend enough time with
her because she is beautiful. I love her and
she loves me back. Now make the parallel for
a moment. Imagine not just standing next to me.
Imagine Jesus standing next to me right now.
Imagine Jesus standing next to you right now
because according to the Bible, he is right beside
us. Because the last time I checked, there's
more than two of us here. So therefore his spirit
is here. And as soon as I imagine that, yes,
my wife is great, but Jesus is infinitely greater
than she is. And that's no disrespect, because
I know she would say the same thing about me.
Jesus is love. He defines love. He is perfect
love. And neither me or Jess could ever do that
for one another. Jesus is God. He created me.
He formed me, my mother's womb. He knows me inside
and out, which means he knows what's best for
me. And I believe when we realize how much Jesus
loves us and cares for us, we won't see his teachings
as a heavy burden. We'll see them as a way of
experiencing a life of abundance, and we will
want to practice them. See, this truth, this
promise from Jesus changes everything. But unfortunately,
so many Jesus followers view a relationship with
God as simply a list of burdensome commands to
follow. Do this. Avoid that. Flee this. Do that.
And so many of us, we don't want to follow any
of those commands. We feel like they're burdens.
It's a burden to be pure. I love looking at women.
What do you mean we can't live together? What
do you mean we have to be married? I enjoy sex.
What? We got to read the Bible? Fast pray? I
got to give back to the church? So many people
think, well, I need to do that because I'm supposed
to. And after all, I don't want to go to hell.
And dare I say, that's not a relationship with
Jesus. If that's you, that's not a relationship
with Jesus. That's cultural Christianity. And
you've bought into that lie. that leaves so many
people completely empty and emotionless. If faith
feels like a burden for you, like it does for
so many, Jesus is calling you to experience rest
today. This passage is calling you and me to
wake up and see how beautiful, how powerful,
how lovely Jesus is. He is infinitely better
than anyone or anything in this world all put
together. He loves us so much. He created you.
He formed you inside and out. He knows what is
best for your life. And when Jesus tells us to
do something, realize that it is for our best.
It is not a burden. So I want to encourage you,
don't miss out on an encounter with Jesus today.
Be open to what the Holy Spirit wants to do.
Uncross your arms. Lift and raise your arms.
Wake up. Stop going through the motions, church,
of a religious routine because it has no life.
It has no meaning. It's just a box you check.
Be willing to encounter the God of love today.
See, the world that we live in wants to tear
us down, wants to pull us away from God, doesn't
want us to follow. We're constantly bombarded
with messages that tell us to live life on our
own strength. Do whatever pleases you. Eat, drink,
be merry. Focus on your finances. Get all the
things you want. Friends, it's just not God's
best. Jesus' promise for rest is for all of us.
And I believe all of us need it. Which leads
us to our three simple action steps responding
to the greatest invitation ever given to this
world. And the first is this. We're invited to
come. We're invited to come to Jesus. Then Jesus
said, come to me, church, all of you who are
weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give
you rest. And see, rest begins with surrender.
Before Jesus tells us anything to do, before
he tells us where to go, he invites us to be
in relationship with him in Revelation 3 .20.
He's standing at the door. He's knocking. If
you hear my voice and open the door, I will come
in and we'll share a meal together as friends.
And for often, many of us, we chase after distractions.
When we're tired and weary, we distract our lives.
We run to relationships. We run to money. We
run to entertainment and Netflix, hoping it will
just calm down our anxious hearts. We look for
recognition. We pursue achievement. When in reality,
Jesus invites us to bring everything to him.
We were never meant to carry that weight. We
were never meant to carry those burdens. He is
inviting us to partner with him instead of carrying
them alone. I want to encourage you. Stop trying
to fix yourself. Stop trying to do everything
in your own strength. Surrender your worries,
your fears, your guilt, your exhaustion. Surrender
them to God today. And I want to encourage you,
you don't have to clean yourself up before you
come. You simply have to come. Now I want to
pause there just for a second. Many of you know
that every single week we pray a simple prayer
here at HTV. We invite people to come into a
relationship with Jesus. Because that's the first
step in encountering real life change. So I'm
going to pause here during this time in our gathering.
I want you to search your heart. I'm going to
invite the Holy Spirit to come and I want it
to be awkwardly silent for a few seconds. Search
your heart. Are you in a real loving relationship
with Jesus? Are you simply going through a bunch
of religious activities that have become a burden
for you? Do you believe he releases abundant
life to you? Well, he is the way, the truth,
and life. And if you're not in that relationship,
pray this simple prayer with all of us today
and welcome home. Let's pray. Jesus, I'm broken.
I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin. Change
me. Forgive me. I believe you're God's son. I
believe. You died for me. I believe you're alive
today. Make me new. Set me free. Fill me with
your spirit. Help me, God, to serve others. In
Jesus' name, amen. So listen, if you prayed that
prayer for the first time today, see me, see
Rudy, go to the Welcome Hub. Let us know. that
you made that commitment. We want to get you
baptized at the end of August. We want to give
you some next steps so that you can learn our
second step, how to walk with Jesus. So we come
to Jesus, then we walk with Jesus. Then Jesus
said, come to me, all you who are weary and carry
heavy burdens, and I'll give you rest. Take my
yoke, remember the yoke, upon you, giving him
everything. Listen to the message paraphrase.
Are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion?
Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover
your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest.
Walk with me. Work with me. Watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't
lay anything heavy or ill -fitting on you. Keep
company with me and you'll learn to live freely
and lightly. Remember that yoke wasn't something
The ox carried by itself. It was two joined together.
So Jesus isn't asking us to carry life burdens
alone. He's saying, hey, let me come live inside
of you. Because when we're yoked to Jesus, he
carries the weight. He directs our steps. He
sets the pace. Because see, too often we race
ahead of God or we fall behind. And that's when
we try to do life in our own strength. Doing
life in our own strength doesn't allow us to
be yoked to Jesus, Colossians 2 .6. And now,
just as you accepted Jesus as your Lord, continue
to follow him. Let your roots grow down into
him and let your lives be built on him. Then
your faith will grow strong in the truth you
were taught and you overflow with thankfulness.
We're built on Jesus. Our lives are built on
that relationship. So I want to give you permission
today. Slow down. Slow down your pace of life.
You say, why do I need to slow down? Jesus lived
slowly. He walked everywhere. He took time to
escape, to pray, to get with God, his father.
He wasn't weighed down by everything that he
had to do. You have permission to slow down.
You can do the work tomorrow. Even today, I was
already thinking, oh, I got to fix the pool.
I got to fix the sink. I got to do all these
things this afternoon. I'm like, why? Why do
I have to do it? Because we're Americans. We
got to get it done. But we don't have to. I want
to encourage you, slow down your pace of life.
Connect with him daily through prayer and scripture.
Take it a step further. You have the Holy Spirit
living inside of you. Wake up before your feet
at the floor. Jesus, what are you doing today?
And how can I join you? How can I partner with
you? See, the goal of a relationship with Jesus
isn't simply doing things for Jesus. It's sharing
life with him. It's being in relationship with
him. Which leads us to our final step. We come
to Jesus. We walk with Jesus. We learn from Jesus.
Come to me, all you who are weary and carry every
burden. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you. Let me teach you. There it is. Because I
am humble and gentle at heart. And you will find
rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear.
And the burden I give you is light. See, Jesus
doesn't simply remove our burdens. He transforms
the person that is carrying them. He makes us
a new person. And the more we learn his heart,
the more we learn about his love, the more we
begin to think, respond, trust, forgive, and
love like him. See, the greatest classroom, I
believe, for a relationship with Jesus isn't
this building. It's Monday morning. That's your
classroom. It's your everyday life. That's when
we need to depend on Jesus. That's when we need
to read the Bible and apply it to our lives.
That's when we need to ask the Holy Spirit to
convict us of our sin, that we learn from our
experiences that are changing. 1 Peter 2 .21
says, For God called you to do good, church,
even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered
for you. He is your example, and you must follow
in his steps. So get in a Bible plan. Read it.
Apply it to your life. Read the Gospels every
single day. You say, why would I read the Gospels?
That's the story about Jesus' life. You learn
how he walked, how he talked, what he did, who
he served. That should be a part of our everyday
reading. You should be in a devotional and you
should be reading the Gospels. And you say, well,
Chris, you said you should. That's, you're trying
to guilt. No, I'm not trying to guilt you. That's
called falling in love with God. That's called
being a believer that takes Jesus' words and
applies them to our life and then becomes a different
person for the world to see. Ask the Holy Spirit
to shape your character. Say, God, I want to
be a reflection of you to others. When you have
a decision to make, involve God. Don't just do
it in your own strength. Don't just assume you
know the answers because chances are we don't.
See, the more we learn from Jesus, the more we
experience rest. And if we're honest, many of
us need that rest today. So here's how I want
to close. I'm going to ask you to take a step
of faith. I believe that many of you walked into
this place today That you were carrying something
that was too much for you to bear. And I could
list a thousand things, but I don't have to.
Because you know your heart. You know your mind.
You know what you're going through. Could be
a sickness. Could be relational, financial. Could
be anything. And I want to ask you to take a
step of faith and to experience rest today. So
if you brought a burden into this place that
you can't bear, that you can't carry, and you're
overwhelmed by it, I want you to stand up right
now. I'm Holy Spirit. Yes, God. Yes, God. Anybody
else? Okay. So church, if you're sitting, you're
the church. So if you're around or near someone
that's standing, go, introduce yourself, and
pray for them now. Stay still. No, you two stood.
You can't pray for each other. I want you prayed
for. Let's go. Be the church. Be the church.
Be the church. Be the church. Be the church.
Listen, if we can't pray for people in this room,
you're not going to pray for people outside these
walls. If there's no one praying for you yet,
put your hand up. Okay, I got two people up front.
I got three, five people back there. If you're
sitting, Wendell, Becky, go. Chris, go. I need
someone up here praying for John. I need a lady
up here. Three men back here. John, I need a
lady over here, please. I need two people. Hey,
hey guys. If you're sitting in a chair with your
arms crossed, God's telling you to go pray for
someone. Just saying. Over here. There's people
over here. People over here. Thank you. Thank
you. Come Holy Spirit. There's still a guy back
here that needs prayed for. A lady. Please. There
we go. Here we come. Mike's coming in. There
we go. Mike's coming in. There we go. Move, Holy
Spirit. Need a lady back here. Thank you. Thank
you, Jesus. God, I just speak freedom. I speak
healing, God. I speak restoration. I'm just grateful,
God. That we can be a part of a community of
faith where we stand together and we can lay
down our burdens. I choose as an act of my will
to lay down the burden that I'm carrying. Holy
Spirit, move in this place. Release your grace.
Release your mercy, God. We're grateful for the
testimonies that are going to come out of this
time of prayer, God. We speak healing. We speak
relational restoration. We speak hope, meaning,
life change. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name.
Now you can continue to pray for them. There
were several words of knowledge I want to share
with you that I received this week from the prayer
team. You have an irregular heartbeat. You have
muscle tension in the base of your neck. You
have inner ear infection or pain. You have a
painful left hip joint. You have nerve in the
right elbow that is pinched and causing numbness.
There's multiple people struggling with anxiety.
And you have a bulging disc in the vertebrae
of your neck that's causing you not to be able
to turn your head. So if any of those are you,
our prayer team would be on my right and my left
to pray for you. And before we go and encourage
you next week, we will close out our Promise
Keeper series, listening to Jesus's promise that
we will hear his voice. My wife will be here
sharing with all of you. God bless you guys.
Have a great rest of your week.