Invited - Week 1

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Morning, Christ Church, how we feeling, [00:00:05] Speaker B: man? [00:00:06] Speaker A: I was so glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord, man. What a wonderful morning. What wonderful people. What a wonderful savior in Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen, man. We're so glad to join in with you guys. For those who may not know, my name is Javon. I get the opportunity to serve as the campus pastor here at our old Brooklyn campus. I'm excited to be back, excited to preach. We're starting a brand new sermon series today. But before we jump into that series, before we jump into that talk, got some info for you. If this is your first time hanging out with us or if you have yet to connect with us and you want to know more about who we are as a church and where God is calling you, stop at our Connection Center. There's a bunch of people back there ready to talk with you, ready to connect you, ready to lead you, ready to assist you, ready to help you and whatever you may need in this season of life. So stop at our Connection center, fill out a connection card. [00:01:06] Speaker B: We would love to get to know [00:01:07] Speaker A: you and to help you as well. This Tuesday and for the last several Tuesdays, we're going to be continuing in our Bible study. We've been walking through the Gospel of Matthew. If you're looking to grow in your Bible study skills, if you're looking to grow to understand the Bible and whatnot, I want to encourage you to come this Tuesday right here at our old Brooklyn campus, 6:30pm Myself and a bunch of people got our Bibles. We're reading, we're studying, and we're growing. So if that's you and you want to grow and you want to know more, stop and hang. [00:01:40] Speaker B: Oh, sorry. [00:01:40] Speaker A: Come and hang out with us this Tuesday, 6:30pm but then also one more thing before we jump into our message. On October 25, we will be having our Fall Fest here at our old Book in campus after our 11 o' clock service that day, we're going to be celebrating baptisms, y'. [00:02:01] Speaker B: All. [00:02:02] Speaker A: We're gonna be doing baptisms that day. If you're someone who was interested in baptism and you want to know more about baptism, come and see us again. Stop at the Connection Center. Let us get you connected. We believe that when one comes to faith in Christ, the next step is baptism. And we want to help you in that journey. We want to assist you in what that looks like. But then also that day, we're going to be doing child dedications that Sunday as well. And we are super excited to partner with families and their kiddos on raising these beautiful, beautiful kids to be champions for Jesus Christ. Amen, man. It's gonna be a great day. Mark your calendar. But today, bring out your Bibles, Bring out your device. We're starting a brand new series called Invited, Invited. And we're gonna be looking at the Gospels and we're gonna be looking at several passages where Jesus invites people to venture with him in this thing called life. But it's a life of faith. We're gonna be looking at the moments in the Gospels where we see Jesus, Jesus inviting people, ordinary people like you and I. And today we're going to start off in Matthew, chapter 11. Go to Matthew, the first gospel that we see in the New Testament, the first book that we see in the New Testament, and Matthew, chapter 11. And I'm going to read some familiar verses, verses 28 to 29, 28 to 30. Once I'm done reading, I'm going to say, this is the word of the Lord in which you respond, thanks be to God. Matthew, chapter, chapter 11, beginning at verse 28 to verse 30 says this. [00:03:38] Speaker B: These are the words of Jesus Christ. [00:03:41] Speaker A: Come to me, all who are weary [00:03:46] Speaker B: and burdened, and I will give you rest. [00:03:51] Speaker A: Take my yoke upon you. [00:03:53] Speaker B: Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble and heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [00:04:04] Speaker A: For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. This is the word of the Lord. [00:04:10] Speaker B: Thanks be to God. [00:04:11] Speaker A: Will you pray with me? [00:04:12] Speaker B: Dear Father, we come to you through the name of Jesus Christ, Jesus, the righteous one, the Holy one, the faithful one, our advocate, our Savior, our deliverer, our shepherd, our provider, our protector. We come to you only through him. [00:04:35] Speaker A: And so, Father, I pray that today [00:04:38] Speaker B: people will catch a glimpse, in a sense of the majesty that is in Jesus. [00:04:43] Speaker A: I pray that today we are not persuaded by a man's words, but rather we are convicted by the power of your Holy Spirit, that your spirit would be present in our hearts, moving us towards and to become the people that you're calling us to become, to lead us and to form within us. So, Father, I pray today we would [00:05:07] Speaker B: have a humble spirit. Lord Jesus, you remind us, he who has ears, let him hear. And I pray, Lord, we would be open to hear, but not just open to to hear, but we would have a heart ready to receive, to produce fruit in our lives, to produce the good that you want to do in us, but also through us as well. [00:05:32] Speaker A: So, Lord, open up our hearts, help us to be receptive to what you [00:05:37] Speaker B: have to say, and let us walk in all that you call us to do to your Son's precious and holy [00:05:43] Speaker A: and wonderful name is who we pray. Amen, Amen, and Amen. Well, like I said, today we are starting a brand new sermon series titled Invited. We're looking at the moment where Jesus speaks to either a group of people or an individual, whatever it may be, and he issues an invitation. You ever been invited somewhere? [00:06:08] Speaker B: You really weren't too happy to go? Right. [00:06:12] Speaker A: Hopefully it wasn't church. You laugh because it probably was. Right? Right. But behind every invitation, there's a promise. Hey, I want to invite you to this to enjoy that. I want to invite you to this, to find this, whatever it may be. But in Jesus invitations, what we're going to see is that in his invitations, there's a few things that stand out. Number one, he doesn't force you to follow him. [00:06:42] Speaker B: He invites you to. [00:06:44] Speaker A: God is not a guy that says, hey, you know, he doesn't beat us up to follow him. He leaves it out on the table [00:06:51] Speaker B: and he says, follow me, Follow me and see what I have. [00:06:55] Speaker A: But in his invitation, we also find what he's like. But also through his invitation, we also realize what we are like and what we need. [00:07:08] Speaker B: But also we find out what he is calling us to. Right? [00:07:12] Speaker A: So those are the kind of the ways we're gonna frame this series. We're gonna be in this series for quite a few weeks, but we're gonna find out more about who Jesus is, more about who we are and what we're not. Right? And more about what he's inviting us [00:07:27] Speaker B: into and what that requires us more and more. [00:07:34] Speaker A: Not too long ago, my wife, she makes this wonderful, wonderful spaghetti dish. And she was making it for. It was a Sunday, it was a cheat day for me, and I was ready to eat, and she was making this spaghetti dish, and she didn't have all the ingredients. So she asked me after church, she said, hey, can you stop by the store and grab some ingredients that I don't have? Right? And I'm thinking to myself, of course, when I get there, I know where they are. I've been to the store before 100 times. I know the ingredients by heart. I know what to do. I got this. It's going to be 10 minutes in, and then I'll be home in less than, you know. And then next thing you know, I get to the store and I can't find the ingredients, Right? I couldn't find the stuff that she was telling me to grab. I thought I knew where it should be, but it wasn't there. I went to this aisle and then this aisle and then that aisle. What should have taken me 10 minutes took me 45 minutes, y'. All, I was so upset. I was so angry. And, you know, you're probably saying to yourself, javon, why didn't you just ask for help? You want to know why? Because in my mind, I don't need help, right? I walked through every Walmart employee. You know, the ones with the blue vest. You know, I walked by hundreds of them, right? And I kept getting more and more lost, kept wasting more and more time, kept becoming more and more frustrated. Not because I couldn't find the item, but because I refuse to ask for help. See, I think the one thing I want to admit. And maybe I'll help admit it for you, because you probably won't say it out loud. I think deep down inside, there is this thing that exists in all of us, and it's called, you ready? [00:09:19] Speaker B: Stubbornness. Don't look to the person next to you. [00:09:23] Speaker A: This is not that kind of a sermon, y'. [00:09:25] Speaker B: All. I'm talking to you. [00:09:29] Speaker A: I think one of our biggest problems in life is that there's this determination of, I got this. [00:09:35] Speaker B: This. [00:09:37] Speaker A: I can handle this. I've been through worse, right? And it's kind of our posture in life. And that's kind of how we've carried ourselves for most of our lives. In some ways, and I'll give you some credit, in some ways, it has worked for us, right? Ten toes down, toughing it out, grinding it through. Put your head down and keep moving. You got this. Keep going, whatever it is may be. And though that may work for a while, there's one thing that it does that we don't realize is that that [00:10:09] Speaker B: begins to have great impact on our souls. [00:10:14] Speaker A: And that's this thing called self sufficiency. While self sufficiency may be impressive, it actually depletes the soul. While self sufficiency may have its value in some ways, depending on how you see it and how you view and how you understand it. Self sufficiency, this life where you say to yourself, I got it. [00:10:37] Speaker B: I don't need help, what happens is it produces a restless soul. A restless soul. [00:10:49] Speaker A: You may get a lot done, but [00:10:51] Speaker B: you're getting it done weary. Isn't that like a lot of us, [00:10:57] Speaker A: you're getting a lot accomplished, but you're [00:11:01] Speaker B: irritated all the time. [00:11:04] Speaker A: You got a raise? Oh, I got a raise. I'm good. [00:11:08] Speaker B: But. But people have to walk around on eggshells. Around you. Right? Right. And here's what Jesus is going to do today. [00:11:18] Speaker A: Jesus is going to confront that way of life. He's going to confront that approach to life, and he's going to confront it. But the way he confronts it isn't [00:11:28] Speaker B: to lecture you, it isn't to beat [00:11:32] Speaker A: you up, but really he's going to confront it. [00:11:34] Speaker B: But he's going to also invite us to exchange. He's going to invite us to exchange our way of life for his, our [00:11:47] Speaker A: way of thinking for his, our way of living for his. [00:11:53] Speaker B: And today, Jesus has one person in mind throughout this text, and that's the restless soul. [00:12:02] Speaker A: And here's what Jesus is gonna say if you take it down. [00:12:04] Speaker B: Notes, write this down. Jesus is gonna tell us this, that [00:12:08] Speaker A: Jesus invites the restless soul to discover [00:12:11] Speaker B: true rest in him. [00:12:15] Speaker A: Let me just say that one more time. Jesus, he's going to invite the restless soul, the person that is striving, that is doing, but barely making it through, that is constantly on edge, that is just weighted by life. He's going to invite that person [00:12:36] Speaker B: to discover true rest that's found in him. [00:12:40] Speaker A: And that's what we're going to be walking through as we understand this text. I love this text. We have grown to know this text. Some of you know this by heart. Some of you have prayed this, this passage. Some of you have. Have allowed this passage to be an anchor for you throughout your life. And I want it to continue to be like. Be like that for you in usage [00:13:00] Speaker B: of how we're going to talk about it today. And here's what Jesus says again. Look what Jesus says. Let's look at the words of Jesus. He says this, Come to me, all who are crushed. [00:13:17] Speaker A: This word, weary and burdened. There's several ways of how people kind of debate it because it's got a meaning behind it, especially behind the context in which Jesus is using it. Jesus is speaking to people who aren't just anxious, although those who are anxious and struggling mentally. This is addressed to you, but it's a lot deeper than that. Jesus says, come to me all who are crushed by life. And what does that look like? And what does that mean? Well, come to me, all who are crushed by the sin that exists in [00:13:54] Speaker B: their lives, [00:13:56] Speaker A: come to me all those who are crushed by the constant pressure that they are under. You know, the one thing that I'm realizing more and more as I sit down with each and every one of [00:14:06] Speaker B: you, as I have phone calls with a lot of you, the one thing I know a Lot of us have is this thing called weight in our lives. [00:14:13] Speaker A: It's just not. It's a lot of things that you are carrying. You have to care for so many people, you have to do so many things. And little do you realize you don't have any time to give much care for yourself. You spend so much time extending and there's very little time investing in the self. Jesus speaks to the individuals. Those who are crushed, those who are weary, those who just life is lifing. [00:14:47] Speaker B: But I love Jesus. [00:14:49] Speaker A: I love Jesus. Can you hear his heart in this? [00:14:52] Speaker B: He says, come to me, all who are weary. You know what Jesus doesn't say? [00:14:58] Speaker A: Fix yourself. [00:15:02] Speaker B: You don't hear that, do you? [00:15:04] Speaker A: You know what Jesus doesn't say? Hey, idiot. If you would have just learned from your past, if you would have just did the right thing, if you would have just started off the right way. See, for us, we think to get somebody in line, we have to tell them all that they're bad at all of their wrongs. [00:15:25] Speaker B: But Jesus doesn't say any of that. You know what Jesus says? He says, you. Yeah, you. [00:15:32] Speaker A: Yeah, you. That is just tired. [00:15:34] Speaker B: That is crushed. [00:15:35] Speaker A: Yeah, you. [00:15:35] Speaker B: Guess what? Come to me. Jesus doesn't lecture them, he invites them. That's the Lord that we have now notice Jesus language. Jesus is not speaking like a typical man here, though he was fully man. Get a little theological on you. [00:15:58] Speaker A: When someone says, come to me and [00:16:00] Speaker B: I will give you rest, what does that sound like? Who does that sound like? Sounds like something God could only say. [00:16:09] Speaker A: Jesus doesn't say, hey, come to me and I will show you rest. Come to me and I'll give you some good advice. Come to me and I'll give you some strategies and we can go do a little TED talk together. No, he says, come to me. And here's the one thing that you will experience as you come to me. [00:16:29] Speaker B: There will be rest for you. There will be rest for you. [00:16:36] Speaker A: Right? [00:16:37] Speaker B: And he speaks to those who are weary. I love this because so many people [00:16:41] Speaker A: in Christianity, they think that. [00:16:42] Speaker B: Man, they get so tied up in their shame and in their guilt and in their past and in all the things that they've done. [00:16:49] Speaker A: They say to themselves, I'm a failure. Just God wouldn't want anything to do with me. [00:16:53] Speaker B: Can I just tell you right now, all that is off in you qualifies you to come to Jesus. [00:17:03] Speaker A: All that is off in you doesn't disqualify you. It actually is the place where Jesus says, yeah, you. [00:17:11] Speaker B: I want that. I want that person. [00:17:15] Speaker A: And he invites them to come to [00:17:17] Speaker B: him, to draw near to him where they particularly are. [00:17:23] Speaker A: Now, I love this because Jesus doesn't call us because we have something to [00:17:27] Speaker B: offer, but rather he calls us because he has something we desperately need. And that, friends, is Himself. [00:17:37] Speaker A: Jesus doesn't call us because we're impressive. Jesus calls us because we are weary. Not because we have something to offer, but because He Himself has something we desperately need. And what we desperately need is in the moments and in the seasons of where we feel crushed, where we feel the weight of the world on our shoulders, where our minds are constantly at war, and where we're thinking 100,000 things all at once, trying to navigate our way through life. What we need is Him. It's Him. That's the great gift that Jesus offers in these moments. And I love that Jesus says, I will give you rest. Notice that Jesus is not saying, I am an option for rest. No, no, no, no. [00:18:30] Speaker B: I am the source for rest. [00:18:33] Speaker A: Jesus doesn't say, hey, I'm an option among many options. No. Those who are weary, those who are crushed, there is rest awaiting for you, waiting for you. And that rest is in My presence, which means this. [00:18:51] Speaker B: And this is the part where we [00:18:52] Speaker A: have to understand, because you hear that, [00:18:53] Speaker B: you're like, all right, great. [00:18:54] Speaker A: I love that. [00:18:55] Speaker B: I want rest. I want peace. [00:18:57] Speaker A: I want contentment. I want to feel a state of assurance. I want that. I love that. All right, how do I do that? Here's how you do that. Are you ready? Here's how we do that. Coming to Jesus requires this. [00:19:10] Speaker B: I cannot manufacture the needs for my soul. What do I mean by that? Coming to Jesus requires a willingness to admit, I don't know what I'm doing. [00:19:27] Speaker A: I don't know what I'm doing. I don't have it all together. Right. I'm lost. Right? I don't have enough. I'm not enough. Right, Right. That's what this whole idea of finding rest because coming to Jesus isn't because we figured out life. It's that we finally got honest enough that we need Him. We got honest enough that we need him. And you have to be willing to admit that God is the only one who knows and who can meet the needs of your soul, which means this. [00:20:06] Speaker B: This is an act of faith expressed through humility. I have to continuously come under God and say to myself, God, I'm coming to you because I don't have enough, because I am not enough. I love the words of J.C. ryle. He says this, and if you're taking down notes. [00:20:32] Speaker A: Write this down. J.C. rao says this. [00:20:34] Speaker B: You will never come to Christ until you feel your need. [00:20:39] Speaker A: He says, you will never come to [00:20:41] Speaker B: Christ until you feel your need. And here's where the one thing I [00:20:46] Speaker A: want you to understand this. [00:20:47] Speaker B: And Jesus addresses about restlessness of the [00:20:52] Speaker A: state of our souls. [00:20:53] Speaker B: He says this. [00:20:54] Speaker A: I want you to understand this. [00:20:55] Speaker B: Your soul remains restless when you try to carry life apart from Christ. That's how the soul becomes restless, when [00:21:07] Speaker A: you try to say to yourself, I don't need Christ. Or you try to find what Christ can provide and what Christ can give apart from him. [00:21:18] Speaker B: And the soul remains restless when you try to carry life apart from Jesus. But you want to know the one thing that I love about this passage? Remember in this series we talked about what we're going to discover about Jesus? What did we discover about Jesus? You know what we discover about Jesus? Jesus isn't bothered by your need. He welcomes your dependence. How lovely is that? Friends, hear my words when I say this. Jesus, he's not bothered by your need. I have two kids that you guys know, and you want to know the one thing that I constantly hear all day. [00:22:00] Speaker A: Dad, dad. [00:22:05] Speaker B: Dad. [00:22:07] Speaker A: What? Can you give me some milk? Really, dad? What? Can I go outside? Dad, can you put my shoes on? Dad, can you wipe me? Wait a minute. How much dependence? What are we talking about here? Listen, that constant dependence is annoying. I love my kids. Hear me when I say that. I'm so thrilled to be a father. But they get annoying. [00:22:37] Speaker B: But Jesus doesn't get annoyed by your need. He doesn't get annoyed by your dependence. He welcomes that. [00:22:50] Speaker A: Jesus doesn't say to yourself, you should have just. You should have figured out life 10 years ago. You've been going to church for this long. You should have figured it out by now. You've been following me for this long. [00:23:03] Speaker B: No, his posture towards you is a posture that says, just come. Just come. And this tells us something about Christianity. Christianity is not outgrowing dependence. [00:23:21] Speaker A: It's not outgrowing dependence. Yeah, sure, you get older, sure you become a little bit more sufficient, but what true Christianity is and true Christianity looks like, it looks like this. The Christian life is learning to live with an increasing awareness that everything we need for life is found in Jesus. It's this increasing awareness that everything you need for life, in every manner of life, in every part of life, in every season of life, that everything you need, whether you're struggling, whether you're celebrating, whether you're happy or you're depressed, that everything you need is found. And the one who knows your need and the one who can fully satisfy [00:24:06] Speaker B: the need as well. [00:24:09] Speaker A: That's this whole idea of rest. Jesus wants you to have a life where not that you have less problems, but that your soul isn't looking elsewhere [00:24:21] Speaker B: to give you life that only he can give. That's what this rest looks like. A rested soul looks like this. I'm struggling, but Jesus is carrying me. That's rest. You know what rest looks like? The cancer is getting worse, but my King is still sovereign. That's what rest looks like. You know what rest looks like? My people have deserted me, but my God has never forsaken me. That's what rest looks like. That's this rest that he wants to give to us. And he says, those who are in this state of life, weary and burdened. I'm not intimidated by your need. I'm not annoyed by your need. I welcome that more and more. [00:25:15] Speaker A: He says, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. But then he also says something very interesting. He says this next part, and we see this in verse 29. Look at verse 29. He says, Take up my yoke. This is interesting. Take up my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble. Some of your translations may say gentle and lowly. Right? Either or is defensible. [00:25:40] Speaker B: Defensible. [00:25:41] Speaker A: For I am gentle and humble in heart. [00:25:44] Speaker B: And you will find rest for your soul. [00:25:49] Speaker A: So here's what Jesus is going to tell us. Jesus is going to say that rest, [00:25:52] Speaker B: the rest we are looking for and longing for, the rest we need begins by first coming to Him. [00:26:00] Speaker A: And it's coming to him in a state of dependence. [00:26:03] Speaker B: But now he's going to talk about rest is found in knowing his heart. Knowing his heart, right? Because rest grows through the knowledge of Jesus. [00:26:20] Speaker A: As I said before, and I want you to understand this, that when Jesus says rest, rest does not mean a removal of challeng or circumstances. But true rest is what Jesus means, is found in his presence. Because Jesus doesn't give rest apart from himself. Meaning rest. This peace, this contentment, the state of stability, the state where your soul is settled, it is found in knowing Him. And here's the one thing I don't want you to write down. The more you know Christ, listen to this. The more you know Jesus, the more you cease looking for life apart from Jesus. The more you know him, the more you see him, the more you behold him, the more you you look to him, the more you find him, the the more you, you cease from looking [00:27:20] Speaker B: to find life apart from him. What does it mean to find rest in Christ and what he means by this? He says, know my heart. Jesus isn't saying, trust me, bro, just trust me. No, he says, trust me. But also I want you to know who you're trusting, right? [00:27:51] Speaker A: Because you wouldn't just merely just trust [00:27:52] Speaker B: anything you don't have knowledge about, right? But sometimes that's what gets us in trouble, right? Jesus says, I'm not just telling you to trust me. I'm encouraging you to become familiar with me. Become familiar with the One who knows you, who created you, formed you, who calls you, who loves you. Jesus tells us, this is where rest looks like. It's resting in his character. It's resting in his character. What does it mean? What does that look like tangibly for us? What does that look like practically? You ready? Here's what it means to rest in the character of Christ. It means this. When you sin, which I'm sure all of us checked that box this week, you fall short of the glory of God. When you go back to doing that thing you hate doing, when you repeat those words you hate saying. When you have those thoughts in your mind, you hate thinking. When you have those moments. Here's what resting in this character looks like. You know what Jesus says to the sinner? Come and rest in my grace. Because Jesus has more grace in him than you have sin in you. Glory to God for that. When I sin, when I mess up, when I drop the ball, when I have my horrible, horrible moments and I feel the weight of shame and guilt [00:29:33] Speaker A: in my soul, I run to my [00:29:35] Speaker B: advocate and his name is Jesus Christ. And he was ready there to receive [00:29:40] Speaker A: me and to remind me who he [00:29:42] Speaker B: is to me and what he has done for me and who I am to Him. Now we rest. We rest in his grace. Here's what it also just looks like for some of you when you're confused and you feel uncertain about the future. Because we all feel that, don't we? [00:30:04] Speaker A: Right? We all get to that moment where you say to yourself, I don't know what the next step looks like. I don't even know what next week looks like. [00:30:13] Speaker B: Here's what. Here's what this means. Rest in his faithfulness. It's resting in his character. Because what is his character? He's a God of grace. He's a God who was faithful. I may be uncertain, but there's one thing that I know. Jesus is always sure. I may feel uncertainty. This is what it means. To rest. To find rest in him and rest. Looks like despite all that is happening around me, I know the one who is for me, that's what gives you rest. [00:30:57] Speaker A: When my kids, whenever. When my son started going to school, they would always. When again, when we dropped them off [00:31:05] Speaker B: from school, they would always scream as [00:31:08] Speaker A: they make their way out of the car. Parents, you remember these days, dropping your kid off at school? Yeah, I don't want to go. Right. [00:31:19] Speaker B: Talk about weary and burdened. [00:31:22] Speaker A: I don't want to go. And they're just screaming and screaming and screaming. You know, to me, I'm like, you're going to school. Right, Right. And I remember one day, there was a day where my. My oldest, when he was younger, he had a long, hard day. And it was just constant whining, constant crying, constant fighting, all of that. He just was so. He was just so besides himself until. Until the time came for me to [00:31:51] Speaker B: come pick him up. [00:31:53] Speaker A: And I remember watching and seeing his [00:31:54] Speaker B: face as I was walking towards the class. And I can see his face from the window. [00:32:00] Speaker A: And I look through the window, and [00:32:01] Speaker B: he's just still crying. I'm like, bro has been crying for six hours. [00:32:06] Speaker A: Good. [00:32:06] Speaker B: He's gonna nap in a car. [00:32:07] Speaker A: No, [00:32:10] Speaker B: as soon as I walk in, there's a sense of relief. There's a sense of relief to him, and he feels this sense of peace. And he asked me, can you buy me a toy? But you can, can you. Can you. Can you see a little boy's heart who was just saying to himself, I just. I want to be near my parents. I want to be so close to my dad. I want to be. So where are they? Where? Right? Because to his mind, being apart from me, it just didn't seem right. Right? And, and, and what gave him rest wasn't the toy. Well, eventually it was. Was that his father, Dad walked in. There was rest. There was rest for him. And that's what Jesus means by this rest. That's what Jesus wants us to understand by this rest. [00:33:22] Speaker A: But notice in this progression, Jesus says, come to me. That means you got to stop thinking you can live and do this life on your own. He says, come to me, number one. Come to me, number two, he says, know my heart. Because rest grows, contentment grows, peace grows through the knowledge of him, through understanding him, through becoming familiar with him. [00:33:46] Speaker B: But Jesus says something even more impressive. [00:33:49] Speaker A: He says this in verse 29. [00:33:51] Speaker B: Verse 29, he says, take up my yoke. [00:33:55] Speaker A: Now, we don't say this nowadays, but it's very interesting. Jesus says, take up my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest for your soul. And he goes on to verse 30. He says, for my yoke is easy [00:34:09] Speaker B: and my burden is light. Here's what Jesus is going to tell us. Point number three. Point number three, learn his ways. Which means this. What Jesus is going to present for us is this. See, rest is not found in Jesus helping you to maintain your way of life. Listen to me. But rest is surrendering my way of life in exchange for his way of life. Does that make sense? [00:34:42] Speaker A: See, Jesus doesn't say, hey, I'll give you rest, and you just keep doing what you're doing. The thing that's making you weary. Yeah, just keep doing it and I'll give you rest. Because Jesus doesn't say, hey, come to me only when life is hard. He doesn't say, hey, come to me. You know, when life isn't going your way, I'll help you out, and then you can go about your day. No. Jesus says, come, know and change. Come know and learn. And then he says, take on my yoke. Take upon my yoke. Now, again, we don't say that language today, but taking upon yoke, it's just representing coming under something. It could have meant coming under authority, direction, instruction, whatever it may be. Once the yoke was placed upon you, you are no longer determining the direction for yourself. And Jesus says, I don't want you just to come to me. I don't want you just to have rest. I want you to learn my ways [00:35:42] Speaker B: and adopt my ways, friends. [00:35:44] Speaker A: And this is what it means. Because once Christ. [00:35:47] Speaker B: Once Christ invites the one who is weary, he doesn't say, hey, keep doing what you're doing. No, change what you're doing by abandoning your way and adopting his way. [00:36:04] Speaker A: And that's one thing that you're gonna see throughout this series is that behind every invitation, there is a detachment from something behind every invitation. See, in order to come to Jesus means I need to turn my back onto something. It means I need to. My back needs to be towards something. It means that I'm leaving that behind so I can go towards. Because every movement towards him is away from something. You see what Jesus is doing here? He says, come know and change and learn my ways. And every invitation, Jesus calls us towards him. [00:36:46] Speaker B: It's always away from something else. [00:36:50] Speaker A: Meaning you cannot learn the way of [00:36:52] Speaker B: Jesus while holding tightly to your own ways. [00:36:56] Speaker A: It's learning to put things down. It's learning to put away the things that we are chasing to give to the soul what only Jesus can give us. Because here's the thing. The weary aren't just tired. The weary are striving after things apart from Jesus that is making them tired. Does that make sense? It's not just the weary and the burden himself. It's their pursuits. They're pursuing things apart from Christ that is allowing them to become weary, that they're pursuing control, want more control. I need to put away control in my life. Right? They're pursuing approval. They're pursuing performance, security, all of that identity apart from Jesus. [00:37:45] Speaker B: Jesus says, come, know and change. That means this coming to Jesus isn't just to be encouraged by him, but coming to Jesus is to be led by him. That's important because Jesus is not a therapist. When you're unhappy, he is Lord above all. Overall, you want to know one of [00:38:20] Speaker A: the reasons why I grow weary? [00:38:22] Speaker B: Because I'm the one doing the leading. [00:38:26] Speaker A: That doesn't mean that allowing Jesus to lead doesn't mean I won't have hard things. [00:38:31] Speaker B: It just means I will always have access to true rest, to real rest. There's rest that only he can give, and that's in him alone. And learning Jesus way of life, it produces rest for your soul. And the more you live under Jesus, the more you let Jesus lead you, the more the life of Jesus begins to be free, formed in you. See, here's the thing, friends. Jesus isn't just interested in the state [00:39:03] Speaker A: of our souls when it comes to [00:39:04] Speaker B: our weariness and giving us a word of encouragement. No, what he wants to do is to create transformation in you. And I've noticed this one thing. The more I'm coming to Jesus, the more I'm getting to know Jesus, the more that I allow Jesus to lead. [00:39:20] Speaker A: Not that I'm perfect. Not that I'm awesome at it. [00:39:22] Speaker B: Not that I do it willingly all [00:39:24] Speaker A: the time, every single day. [00:39:25] Speaker B: But I notice this. This. [00:39:28] Speaker A: The more that becomes a posture and [00:39:31] Speaker B: a way of life, the more I begin to adopt his way of life. Adopt his way of life. [00:39:39] Speaker A: You know, the one thing. [00:39:40] Speaker B: This may sound silly, y' all know, [00:39:43] Speaker A: some of you already know I love Chipotle. When I say I love Chipotle, I mean I love Chipotle. I'm obsessed with it. If you. If you're saying, Javon, what's your favorite cheat meal? Chipotle. Javon, what's your go to meal when you're upset and when you're weary and burdened? Chipotle. Right. Chipotle. Listen, Chipotle, has been in my life forever. And you know, the one thing I'm always hearing is people always tell me about these competing chains. They always tell me about Qdoba. Get out of here. Nobody wants Qdoba. They always tell me about Moe's. I'm like, nobody wants Moe's. That stuff is disgusting. I want Chipotle. I have been around Chipotle enough to know that if it doesn't taste like Chipot, I don't want it. If it doesn't, if I don't get that smell, if I don't smell that cilantro rice when I walk through the door and I don't get any. Like, I don't want it because I have been around it so much. I have appreciated it so much. I have devoured on it so much. I don't want anything else. [00:40:49] Speaker B: And this. I know it's a silly analogy, but when I think about my relationship with Christ, the one thing that I've noticed is that the more I come to him, the less I want things apart from him. Because I realize he is the true rest. He is what my soul was created for. He is what my soul has been looking for. That doesn't mean I will escape every problem. That means he will be my rest. When those problems show up, when those problems pop up in my life. Number one, stop being stubborn. You can't do this life alone. Adopt your ways for his ways. Abandon your ways to adopt his ways and love Jesus like Chipotle. Taste and see that the Lord is good. That apart from him, you have no good. Abide in Christ and he will give rest to a weary soul. Are you tired today? Are you weary today? Has your sin been crushing you? Has the expectations been weighing on you? Hear the voice of your shepherd. Come, don't sit in it. Come know and be changed. Let's pray. Dear Father, I pray today you will give us a humble heart that says yes. I pray this is not a message just of wisdom or encouragement or humor. I pray this is a message that produces a yes, a yes to the call. [00:43:16] Speaker A: And for many of us, Lord, this yes is a first time yes. For many of us, this is a yes for the first time. Where we've been hearing and sensing your spirit over time. And we've been realizing the things we need and the things we desire and the things that we long for and the things that we are seeking for satisfaction. Lord, I. I pray that we say [00:43:39] Speaker B: yes to that call in which you give to us. [00:43:47] Speaker A: For some of us, this is a [00:43:48] Speaker B: yes for the umpteenth time we've pursued [00:43:54] Speaker A: things in this world that we realize [00:43:58] Speaker B: that it over promises and under delivers and our souls are weary and crushed. And we realized we're not good at being the Lord, that we need the Lord. So would you help us? Would you help us to take that step of faith to say yes, to return and find rest? Would you help us not just to see you as the one who just gives us rest, but to see you as the one who is our rest? You are not just simply one who gives rest, Lord. Your presence alone is rest. So Lord, I pray that there would be a yes in this room today. There would be a yes online today. They will respond to the call. [00:45:00] Speaker A: This call, this invitation that was spoken 2,000 years ago, is still alive today [00:45:07] Speaker B: because you're still speaking, you're still moving, you're still working. And I pray that you would create within them a yes. Help them help us and bless us in your son's wonderful name. And so we pray amen and amen.