Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Well, good morning. Good morning, Christchurch.
[00:00:04] Good to see you today.
[00:00:07] Yeah, lots of exciting things happening in the life of our church, as Tina said. I want to say a big thank you for our Adventure of Faith campaign. We celebrated it last week and our church gave and pledged about 150,000 towards. Yeah. So that's in addition to all that's been raised and all that's been pledged before. So thank you so much for that. That helps tremendously. We had a goal, 500,000, but we knew we were swinging for the fences on that. You know, sometimes you just gotta do that.
[00:00:45] But we are so thankful and looking forward. Be praying. We're just waiting on some construction docs, some bids. It's a lot of hurry up and wait. So pray that gets wrapped up soon because I want to get a shovel in the ground as soon as possible.
[00:01:01] Yes.
[00:01:02] So be praying for that.
[00:01:05] We're getting there. We're getting there.
[00:01:07] But, yeah, next Sunday is our final Sunday in this chapter of our church's history. And it's been an awesome chapter.
[00:01:18] I'm so thankful. We're gonna celebrate it and celebrate just every person. Because the church is not a building. It's people and it's all the people. It's all of you.
[00:01:29] So many others that have just made this a special place. And I feel like, very grateful to close this chapter. Cause I feel like we've squeezed a lot of ministry out of these four walls here.
[00:01:43] And I'm excited to go to the next chapter. And we're gonna figure out how to squeeze out as much ministry as we can out of that Willow Prep building.
[00:01:52] Probably once we get that figured out, we'll move to the new place, but.
[00:01:57] But I'm looking forward to that. And it just also kind of occurred to me.
[00:02:02] So the Willow Prep School, it deals with students that have a lot of behavioral challenges. So it's a tough place for the staff and families and the students. And I was just kind of thinking about that and I thought, what a great opportunity for us to try to find ways over the next year to support the staff, the students, the families, to pray for them and to bless them and to just bring any light and strength and courage. So I want us to be praying for that now, that not only would it be a great place for us, but it'd be a great place for us to bless others. You with me on this?
[00:02:42] I think God has something in store for that. So let's pray and we'll get into the message. Father, thank you so much for all the blessings in this. In this great chapter that you've written in our church, Lord, help us just to write this final page with you in the best ways and prepare us for the next chapter. And, Lord, we just trust you in it. We look forward to it. And Father, I pray today we could just receive from you the blessing of rest that you have for our souls.
[00:03:14] Help us, Lord, to be open to it, to understand it, and to move towards you. And I ask this in Jesus name, Amen.
[00:03:23] Well, we're in this series called Breathing in the Goodness of God. And the whole idea of this is that God has stuff he wants to give us.
[00:03:34] God has really good stuff he wants to give us. But sometimes the problem is our ability to receive it, which seems like a weird thing.
[00:03:45] But have you ever noticed in life that sometimes it actually is hard to receive help?
[00:03:50] Like, you need help, but it's like the. You will die before you ask for it. Anyone like that, or like someone gives you a compliment and you can't take it.
[00:03:59] You're like, well, no, but you're great, too. And you're like, yeah, just be quiet and take it. You're like, I can't. Anybody?
[00:04:07] No. Anyone alive today?
[00:04:09] Anybody?
[00:04:11] Just, hey, just make a movement.
[00:04:15] But there is something that we struggle with sometimes, and that is to receive good things that are freely being offered to us. And today we're gonna see Jesus talk so powerfully about this, and he's gonna say, man, I have something that you need, and I want to give it to you, but you need to come to me. You need to receive it from me, but I want to give it. So we're gonna talk about that. And I read this week a few articles about how exhausted people are.
[00:04:52] And I know you can't relate to that. I know you're like, yeah, man, that's so different from my life experience right now, but just go with me on this. And one of the articles I read was by this kind of. This social commentator named Cal Newport. And he wrote a couple years after Covid.
[00:05:12] And in the article, he talked about this idea of the great exhaustion.
[00:05:18] And he said that America is experiencing a great exhaustion. And he said it's because of all that kind of we went through and all the things that change and all. And it kind of like took a couple years to catch up to us. But we said, people are just worn out and wiped out. And then last year, there was another article in Time magazine that kind of went along those same lines. And the title of it was, why Are we so Exhausted? I Don't know if you've ever asked yourself that, but the author, she brought it down to these things. She said this. She said the three factors that are commonly overlooked but I believe are contributing the most are unsustainable lifestyles, exposure to stress outside of our control, and financial insecurity.
[00:06:08] These are facets of our lives that we've managed to normalize. And so what she's saying is that those three things create a real recipe for exhaustion.
[00:06:23] And I think there's some truth to that, don't you? I mean, I think there's definitely some realities to all of that. And all the articles that I read about this, but they all kind of went along similar lines, that we're exhausted because of work, because we're constantly connected to work.
[00:06:40] Anybody like you can't resist looking at your email, even when you shouldn't. And so you're always connected.
[00:06:47] It's always on your mind. It just wears you out.
[00:06:50] And then obviously, there's financial pressure, there's all these things. And all the articles kind of hit on these issues that a lot of our exhaustion is. It's physical, it's vocational, it's financial, it's relational, it's emotional. And I think that is all true.
[00:07:12] But I think there's one layer that was missed.
[00:07:16] I think it's also spiritual.
[00:07:19] And that was one that was not talked about. But I think that's actually at the center of it.
[00:07:25] And I think that exhaustion is not a modern issue as much as we might think it is.
[00:07:32] But I think part of being a human being in this world is that you will get exhausted at the soul level.
[00:07:42] And because you are more of a soul than a body.
[00:07:47] Yes, you're a body, but that's not really who you are. That just kind of holds who you are. You are a soul. And when you're exhausted at the soul level, then it kind of works itself out into all these other areas.
[00:08:03] And what we're gonna see today is that Jesus addresses this problem and he's talking to people 2,000 years earlier, but guess what? They were exhausted, too.
[00:08:13] And he says, I have what you need, and I want to give it to you if you are willing to receive it from me. And we're gonna look today in Matthew 11, and I'm gonna start at verse 25, and we're gonna see this prayer of Jesus. Because what Jesus is gonna actually do in this is he's going to pray. He's praying that we would come to him to get rest.
[00:08:42] I just find that kind of Funny in a way. Like, would you just come to me so I can give you rest?
[00:08:50] Like, why would we ever say no to that? You know, it's like, if my parents are ever like, hey, would you mind dropping off the kids? I'm like, absolutely, I will drop them off. Should I leave now?
[00:09:03] Any.
[00:09:05] Does that make me a bad parent? I don't know.
[00:09:08] But why would we ever resist something like that? But yet Jesus said, it's this weird thing. We actually resist this. And he's praying we win. So here's the verses. It says this. At that time, Jesus declared.
[00:09:22] He declared, but this is really a prayer. You'll see it. He says, I thank you, Father. So he's praying, lord of heaven and earth, that you've hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Now, what Jesus is saying there is that you have to come to him with a humble spirit if you're going to understand him.
[00:09:46] And I'll talk more about the context in a minute. He says, yes, Father, for such was your gracious will, all things have been handed over to me by my Father, who no one knows the Son except the Father. No one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. But now look at these verses.
[00:10:04] Come to me.
[00:10:07] All who labor and are heavy laden, all who are tired, they're laboring, they're exhausted or heavy laden. You feel like there's just tremendous weight on your life.
[00:10:22] Jesus says, if you meet one or two of those categories, come to me and I will give you rest.
[00:10:30] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly. Or we could say gentle and humble. We don't use that word lowly too much. I'm gentle and humble in heart. And you will find rest for your say it with me, souls. You'll find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
[00:10:54] So these verses are so powerful. Now, I just want to talk about three things today in this I want to talk about the example of Jesus in these verses, the offer of Jesus and the heart of Jesus. So let's talk about the example first in Matthew 11.
[00:11:10] So in this whole chapter, it begins with a story about a man named John the Baptist.
[00:11:18] And John the Baptist was Jesus cousin.
[00:11:23] And John the Baptist, he knew Jesus not just from being part of his extended family, but he knew that Jesus was sent from God, that he was the one who has come to redeem and restore everything. Like John, he knew that with crystal Clear vision.
[00:11:46] In fact, we see that when Jesus went to get baptized, he went to John.
[00:11:52] And John sees Jesus coming towards him and he says, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
[00:12:01] In other words, John.
[00:12:03] John knew exactly who Jesus was in a deep spiritual way that most of the people around Jesus did not know or were not able to see.
[00:12:13] And yet in Matthew 11, John gets confused about it all because he gets thrown in prison and it's not looking good for him. It's looking like he might end up getting killed in prison. And so he's in this difficult place and this confusing place, and he sends a message to Jesus. He says, hey, are you the one who is to come or should we expect another? In other words, what he knew with complete clarity before prison, he's now confused on.
[00:12:48] He's now like, wait, my life has changed.
[00:12:52] Is this who you really are? And Jesus is being misunderstood by someone close to him. I don't know if you've ever been misunderstood before.
[00:13:03] Probably not, I'm guessing.
[00:13:06] But if you have that, that's a frustrating thing, isn't it?
[00:13:10] And Jesus is gravely misunderstood by one of the few people that really got it and that was close to him. But then Matthew 11 gets worse. He then goes to these cities and people don't misunderstand him, they reject him.
[00:13:26] Like, we don't want anything to do with you. We don't want to hear you, we don't want to listen to you. We certainly don't want to follow you. Any experiences. We wide scale rejection.
[00:13:39] Now, again, I don't know if you've ever felt rejection before.
[00:13:42] We've all probably been perfectly welcomed and accepted all of our lives, right?
[00:13:47] But you know the feeling of that, it's miserable.
[00:13:51] And when you're misunderstood and when you're rejected, what do you do?
[00:13:57] Here's what I do. I reject people back.
[00:14:01] But I try to do it harder.
[00:14:04] I'm like, you don't like me? Well, I really don't like you.
[00:14:08] And then I make up reasons why I don't like them.
[00:14:11] Anybody else messed up like me here?
[00:14:14] I return rejection with rejection.
[00:14:18] You don't understand me. Well, I don't understand you and I don't want to.
[00:14:24] And I just give it right back. Now what Jesus does here is, is he does not do that.
[00:14:31] And this is why he's such a great example for us. One of the many reasons is that Jesus does not return rejection with rejection. But he prays, he goes to this prayer.
[00:14:43] That's what I just read to you. That was his response. Which, by the way, when people misunderstand you, when they reject you, when they don't like you, prayer's a great place to go.
[00:14:57] A great place to go.
[00:14:59] And by the way, here's what I love about Jesus too, is that he doesn't let the opinions of people deter him from his divine purpose.
[00:15:11] And that's true in life. Look, some people are gonna like you.
[00:15:15] Some people aren't gonna like you.
[00:15:17] Some people are gonna understand us. Some people are not gonna understand us.
[00:15:22] Some people are gonna be more approving, some are gonna be disapproving. But you cannot let that stop you or control you from what God has for you.
[00:15:32] And so Jesus prays.
[00:15:34] And what his prayer is, is a prayer that says, come to me and I will not reject you.
[00:15:44] See, that's what this prayer is. He's saying, look, come to me, everyone, come to me.
[00:15:50] I won't reject you.
[00:15:52] You will get rest from me and you will get an easier path. It's the completely opposite response to everything Jesus is experiencing in these verses. And I think it's so powerful. And so he says, come to me and I will give you this thing. Now, here is his offer.
[00:16:17] Whether you reject me or not, whether you understand me or not, come to me. And here's what I will offer to you. I will give you rest.
[00:16:26] Now, one of the cool things about this is this shows in some ways the standards that Jesus has for who he receives and who he doesn't.
[00:16:40] Now, when I was in high school, I had a friend that was just like a really high achiever.
[00:16:47] He was a really gifted cross country runner. And he. I can't remember if he won states or he got like, second, but he was right up there, which is a very, very difficult thing to do. He was also an incredible track runner. And he did some events and he was like, you know, super high achieving in that. So just an absolute amazing athlete.
[00:17:12] He also was a great student. He was in, like, all the advanced classes, you know, very diligent, did all his homework, got good scores on the ACT sat. Just the total package.
[00:17:26] And he told me, he's like, hey, at our senior year, he's like, I'm gonna apply to some Ivy League schools.
[00:17:34] And I was. And I said, I was like, well, dude, you gotta be who they're looking for.
[00:17:38] Like, you're an athlete, you're a mathlete. You know, you're like, you got it all going. Like, that's. I would imagine that's the kind of people that goes to the school. So he applied to those schools in a couple weeks. He got letters back. And he told me they all rejected me.
[00:17:55] And I was like, who do they accept?
[00:17:58] You gotta walk on water.
[00:18:01] And I still don't know the answer to that. Cause I was like, that was like our best and Brightest man, class of 03. That was it.
[00:18:09] It's downhill from there.
[00:18:11] And he got rejected by them all. Like, what is the standard here? What more could you ask?
[00:18:19] And here's what I love that Jesus is showing. He's saying, here's what you need on your resume to come to me. You need to be tired and burdened.
[00:18:31] If you are tired and burdened, you're in.
[00:18:35] I'm like, I can do that.
[00:18:37] Anybody else?
[00:18:39] I can do that. And tired means that.
[00:18:43] That's the active exhaustion.
[00:18:46] That means that I'm tired from what I'm doing.
[00:18:50] And I don't know about you, but I can easily make life harder, more difficult, more tiring. Like, I'm really great at doing that.
[00:19:00] Jesus said, if that's you, you're in now. Burden is more the passive side.
[00:19:07] That's that your life is way down. Maybe not because of what you're doing, but maybe because what others are doing or what others have done to you.
[00:19:16] And that happens in life, too, doesn't it? We get hurt, we get wronged, all these things. But Jesus says, whatever is making your soul exhausted, if you are exhausted, you are welcome. You are free to come to me. And he says, and I will give you rest. That's the offer.
[00:19:42] I will give you rest.
[00:19:44] He says, but here's how you receive it from me.
[00:19:47] You learn from me.
[00:19:50] Now, it's interesting that in the original language, these verses are written in all these verbs that Jesus uses. Come and learn and take my yoke. They're all in a tense, which is called the imperative tense.
[00:20:08] And that's not normally the tense that you would expect in verses like this. Because what an imperative is, is. It's a command.
[00:20:16] It means. So Jesus here is saying, look, you must come to me.
[00:20:22] You must learn from me.
[00:20:26] You must take this yoke upon me. There is an intensity to it. There's an urgency. This is kind of like, I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. It kind of reminds me when my kids get overtired, and I'm like, go to bed.
[00:20:44] I'm not tired. You are completely tired. Close your eyes and do not move. You know, it's that imperative. You're commanding it. And so Jesus is looking at and he's saying, if you are an exhausted soul, then you must come to me. You must learn from me. You must receive from me. And what's interesting about this whole imagery in these passages is when he says, take my yoke upon me. Like, kind of imagine that old, like, wood thing that sits on, like, an oxen or some kind of animal, and they're gonna pull it through the field. I don't know if you've hung around oxen lately, but just Wednesday, I was. No, I'm just kidding.
[00:21:30] But you can picture that in your mind, right? And that's a yoke. But in the ancient world, a yoke, it meant that I was going to learn from you as a student.
[00:21:41] So it was a metaphor that was used to say, like, we would say today, apprentice.
[00:21:47] And kind of taking the yoke is like, I'm gonna be an apprentice. I'm gonna take their yoke. So Jesus is saying, apprentice me for your life.
[00:21:58] Learn how to do life from me. That's what he's ultimately inviting us to. He said, and if you learn from me how to do life, you will find rest for your souls.
[00:22:13] Now, I think that that just shows us something interesting about our souls and our spiritual life, that we are meant to approach that journey as a learner, as a student.
[00:22:28] And if you're learning anything in life, there's kind of some core components to it, isn't it? Like, number one, you have to listen to someone.
[00:22:37] You have to either hear what they say in a lecture or a book or a group or a training or whatever. Then you have to practice what they say.
[00:22:49] Most of us, when we're learning anything, you don't become great at it immediately.
[00:22:54] Well, some of you really gifted people do.
[00:22:57] And I don't like you people. You make me feel bad about my life.
[00:23:03] But even you really gifted people, there's gonna be some things that don't come so naturally to you, right? And you have to practice.
[00:23:10] And that means that when you're practicing and you're learning something new, do you know what step one of learning anything new is? Is being really bad at it, is stinking, is not being good. But then what do you do? You keep practicing. You adjust. You get more coaching, you get more insight, you get more feedback. You bring it in, you reflect on it, and all of a sudden you go from bad to not bad.
[00:23:40] That's not the worst I've ever seen. You know, you go there and then you get okay, and then you get good. And if you keep going, you get really good. And Then you get excellent and. And there's a whole process to it. And what Jesus is saying, he's saying, if you're gonna learn from me, that's gonna be a journey like that. And I think so many times we think about our spiritual lives that I either have it or I don't.
[00:24:06] I either am a person who prays well or I don't.
[00:24:12] I'm a person that loves people well, or I have self control or I don't. But all these spiritual things, Jesus says, you need to learn in them, you need to grow in them. You need to go. It's not just either you have it or you don't. It's, are you maturing and progressing and are you learning this all from me? It's the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.
[00:24:41] And so many times in life we think, oh, well, I'm just the way that I am and I'm never gonna be different.
[00:24:49] Well, number one, the scriptures and science would both say that's probably not really true.
[00:24:54] You can grow and learn a lot more than you think you can.
[00:25:00] A lot of our life and our. It's not as fixed as we think it is.
[00:25:05] If we're willing to learn and grow, there's a lot of progress that can be made. And so Jesus says, I want you to learn from me. And what you'll find when you learn from me is that it will bring rest to your souls.
[00:25:20] Because Jesus is not saying. He's not saying that rest comes from doing nothing.
[00:25:28] And I think that's one thing we think, well, if I had no responsibilities in life, then I would actually be at rest and at peace.
[00:25:37] But the problem is not responsibilities and obligations.
[00:25:42] The problems is the wrong ones.
[00:25:44] Those are what exhaust us.
[00:25:46] Jesus says, look, you're still gonna have a yoke on you.
[00:25:51] You're still gonna have something on your shoulders. But this is the right one.
[00:25:56] And that's where real freedom, that's where real rest is, is to say, it's not that I just cast off all responsibility, but I put myself under the right ones, and that's where the rest is. You with me on this church. And then my favorite part. Thank you for the two people that are with me.
[00:26:17] And my favorite part of this verse is where Jesus talks about his heart.
[00:26:25] I love these verses because this is one of the only times where Jesus says, this is what my heart is like.
[00:26:37] And he says, it's gentle and humble.
[00:26:42] Now, when you think about those two qualities, I don't think anyone would have guessed that's what Jesus would say.
[00:26:51] I'm gentle and I'm at the core of who I am, God in the flesh. I am gentle and humble. I would think like it would just be different words like I'm holy and righteous, powerful and majestic. There's so many other two words that I would think of there. But Jesus says, if you learn from me, if you draw near to me, if you receive from me, you will find two things about the core of who I am. I am gentle and humble. And I find that so powerful. And here's what it means for our life.
[00:27:28] If you are a follower of Jesus, then those two qualities should continue to be reflected in our lives too.
[00:27:37] Because as I'm following Jesus, it means that I'm slowly becoming like him.
[00:27:45] And what does it look like to be like Jesus? Well, he tells us it's gentleness and humility.
[00:27:52] Now let me just talk about these for a minute. Here's a good definition of gentleness.
[00:27:58] Gentleness is sensitivity of disposition, kindness of behavior, founded on strength and prompted by love.
[00:28:10] Now just kind of notice a couple things. Gentleness is not weakness.
[00:28:14] Jesus was not a weak man.
[00:28:17] He was strong. I bet he could probably do a lot of pull ups. He would just, you know, grow up that way, eat that good organic food.
[00:28:25] He could knock out some pull ups. And he was not weak.
[00:28:31] He was not passive either.
[00:28:35] But it's controlled strength. That's controlled by love, that's directed by it. Now what's interesting about gentleness is I was just kind of like looking at the times of the New Testament where it talks about gentleness.
[00:28:53] And one of the main ways that gentleness comes out is in sharing your faith with other people, that that word is referred to again and again. Now let me explain that for a second.
[00:29:08] If you're a follower of Jesus and you want other people to connect to him through you, maybe it's a spouse, maybe it's a family member, maybe it's a friend, maybe it's a co worker and you're like man. I want them to know the goodness of God. I want them to know Jesus. And you know, I want to be open to God, using me in that in any way. Interestingly enough, one of the main things that the scriptures point you to as an aim is to be gentle in how you do that, in the way that you do that, in your tone and in your heart. In fact, I'll just give you two scriptures just to show you. Second Timothy 2. This is the Apostle Paul. He says, and the Lord's Servant must not be quarrelsome.
[00:30:04] A lot of Christians have missed that verse because there's some quarrelsome Christians out there. But kind to everyone. Look at that.
[00:30:17] Able to teach, patiently enduring evil.
[00:30:22] And look at this. Correcting his opponents with, say that word, gentleness.
[00:30:28] God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. It's an ugly thing to see a harsh Christian. It's very off putting.
[00:30:40] It's an ugly thing to see an unkind one.
[00:30:45] Here's what the apostle Peter said.
[00:30:49] But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason, for the hope that is in you. But look at this. Yet do it with, say it with me. Gentleness. Do it with gentleness and respect.
[00:31:05] I find that interesting, but it kind of makes sense, doesn't it? Jesus is like, if you want people to know me, show them my heart through you.
[00:31:16] You with me.
[00:31:18] If you want people to know me, show them my heart. And what is this heart? Gentle.
[00:31:24] See, I think in our world today, we ought to pray for that.
[00:31:29] Lord, help us to be a gentle witness for you. You the, you know, hard charging, getting in people's face, yelling. None of us respond to that.
[00:31:42] You don't listen to anyone who treats you that way.
[00:31:45] Don't care what their message is, right?
[00:31:47] But there is. Gentleness is the aim. Now here's the second one is humility.
[00:31:55] And humility is just. It's thinking about others. It's not focusing on yourself, but it's focusing on others and God. CS Lewis, he has this great quote about humility. I want to read it to you. He says, do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man, he will be what most people call humble nowadays.
[00:32:16] He will not be a sort of greasy, swarmy person who's always telling you that of course, he is a nobody. And what Lewis is saying is that humility is not self hatred, that's not being humble.
[00:32:29] Humility is not telling everyone, oh, I stink, I'm a loser, because that's actually drawing the attention to you. You with me. What that is is another form of pride which is like a wounded ego.
[00:32:44] But Lewis says that's not humility. He says this and said probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap. I wish I was English so I could say words like that.
[00:33:02] An intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him.
[00:33:08] If you do dislike him or her, it will because you feel a little envious. Of anyone who seems to enjoy life as easily.
[00:33:16] He will not be thinking about humility. He will not be thinking about himself at all. You see that humility is about man. I'm gonna focus on others.
[00:33:29] When I was growing up, I dated this girl in high school, and her dad was such a cool guy, and when he would, like, enter a room, he would light up the room.
[00:33:39] People were so excited to see him and to talk to him.
[00:33:44] And he was a great conversationalist. Like, as a teenager, I was like, man, this guy just, like, converses with people in such a powerful way. So one day I asked him, and I said, like, I notice you're a really great conversationalist.
[00:33:59] How do you do that? Cause, like, I kind of would like to be better at that. And it's also just really stands out. And he said, well, he said, it's really simple. What I found is that people like to talk about themselves.
[00:34:12] And so I just ask them questions about themselves, and I show interest and I get interested, and then all of a sudden, people feel seen and cared for. And I thought, that's actually a really good, simple picture of humility right there.
[00:34:29] And so I got a fun humility challenge for you this week in your conversation.
[00:34:36] Just make it totally about the other person.
[00:34:39] Just ask them questions about their interests, what they're doing, their thoughts, their hopes or dreams. Just follow that. As long as you can have some awkward conversations after church.
[00:34:52] What are you doing? What are you doing?
[00:34:56] You know, and just kind of keep going.
[00:35:03] It's like, dinner. What do you want to eat tonight? What do you want? Just.
[00:35:09] But that really is honestly a good way to practice humility, to really turn the conversation on them. And then Jesus says this. He says, look, at the end of the day, if you receive from me, it's lighter and easier.
[00:35:30] Don't miss how powerful that is.
[00:35:33] Jesus says life with me is easier.
[00:35:38] He doesn't say life is easy, but he says, with him, it is easier.
[00:35:45] And I found that to be true.
[00:35:48] He says, so receive from me.
[00:35:52] Learn from me.
[00:35:53] Listen to me.
[00:35:57] Apprentice me.
[00:35:59] Let me give you this great gift.
[00:36:04] In other words, Jesus is looking at all of us and he's saying, don't make it harder than it has to be.
[00:36:12] Don't make it harder.
[00:36:14] I think about my daughter, Abby.
[00:36:17] We battle over meals, kid.
[00:36:21] I don't know how she's a beetler because she doesn't like to eat.
[00:36:25] You're the first beetler in history that doesn't like to eat. Like, what? I can't even relate to you.
[00:36:32] And so, you know, we're always, like, you know, battling over meals. And she gets up from the meal and she runs, you know, to play with her toys or to do this. And many days, I'll just say to her, I'll say, abby, you are making this harder than it has to be.
[00:36:49] Eat five bites.
[00:36:52] I'll take a nibble.
[00:36:54] It doesn't even have to be a full. You know, my burden is light, too. I'm not asking for much here. Just. And then, you know, you're making. And then you can go play. You can do whatever you want. I don't care, but just do this. It'll take you four seconds and never seems to work, but it's the only tool I got.
[00:37:18] Like, you're making this so much harder, so much harder than it has to be. And I wonder if that's God's perspective on us.
[00:37:27] Like, son, daughter, you are making this harder than it has to be.
[00:37:32] You're trying to do this without me.
[00:37:35] You're trying to figure it out without me.
[00:37:39] You're looking everywhere else and I have what you need.
[00:37:46] Come to me.
[00:37:48] Learn from me.
[00:37:50] And today I just want to invite you to do that. Because we can do that in prayer.
[00:37:54] We can do that in the quietness of our heart today.
[00:37:58] Don't leave here today without going to him and saying, lord, I am tired, I am burdened.
[00:38:06] I got a lot on my plate. There's a lot going on in my life and I want to do it with you.
[00:38:15] I receive your help.
[00:38:17] I receive what you have. Show me what that looks like. Show me the ways I'm fighting you. Show me the ways I'm running from you. Show me the ways I'm avoiding to you and I'll make a change.
[00:38:30] I just want you to just don't leave here without inviting his help. He's saying, I want you to come to me so I can give it to you.
[00:38:40] What a great God.
[00:38:42] Let's pray.
[00:38:44] Father, we thank you for the generous offer that you give to each of us.
[00:38:51] Help us not to pass it up.
[00:38:54] Help us to receive from you the rest that our souls desperately need.
[00:39:05] Lord, sometimes we can be running on fumes so long, we don't even know how exhausted we actually are at the soul level.
[00:39:15] Help us, Lord, to not be afraid of that, but to see the solution of it in you.
[00:39:23] And help us just to move towards you today, to receive from you, to learn from you, and to become like you.
[00:39:35] We ask all this in Jesus name, Amen.
