WEBVTT 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:07.280 Welcome to the Awakening Church Podcast. 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:11.599 We exist to awaken this generation to a new life in Christ. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:13.039 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:16.399 To find out more, go to awakeningchurch.com. 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:20.160 Well, good morning, Church. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:22.399 It's so good to be with you this morning. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:23.679 My name is Christina. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:24.960 I'm one of our pastors here. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:27.600 Hey, if it's your first week with us, I just want to say hey. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:30.000 And I'm so glad you're with us this morning. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:30.879 And welcome. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:32.079 We're so glad you're here. 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:35.759 Church, it is our first week in our Advent series. 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:39.280 And I'm so excited I get to bring the message to you today. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:43.039 Advent is this season leading up to Christmas. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:46.000 Traditionally in the church, it's a time of waiting. 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:50.320 It's a time of anticipating Christmas and anticipating the birth of Jesus. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:01:03.359 It's a time of sitting in the in-between, a time of remembering the longing and the yearning and the suffering of the people of Israel as they waited for their Messiah 2,000 years ago. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:13.359 They waited hundreds of years, hundreds of years of hearing nothing from God, not having a king or a judge or a prophet bringing them the word of God. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:16.079 And they yearned for the promised Messiah. 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:23.040 They read and recited prophecies that God had given to them, knowing that their king was going to come from the line of David. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:25.840 And as they waited, they suffered. 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:33.280 Under oppression from a ruthless Roman occupation, being taxed and controlled, victims of a violent government. 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:42.400 They yearned for a redeemer as they lived under the weight and the burden of the Jewish law, the legalism of the religious leaders that was oppressive for them. 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:47.040 They waited and they suffered and they tried to hold on to hope. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:57.280 They tried to have faith that God was still their God and that they were still his people and that he would fulfill his promises and send them a savior. 00:01:58.079 --> 00:01:59.200 They waited. 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:02.159 Sounds a lot like 2020, doesn't it? 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:05.519 Likewise for us, this has been a year of waiting. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:09.680 A year that feels like we're in a holding pattern, wondering what's going to happen. 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:22.719 A year filled with so much worry and fear of this pandemic, how it will affect our bodies, our homes, our loved ones, our schools and our jobs and our bank accounts. 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:25.759 It feels sometimes like everything is paused. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:28.080 We feel stuck, we feel trapped. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:42.879 And some of us were suffering deeply, suffering from grief, maybe from the loss of jobs, the loss of the possibility of future hopes and plans, the loss of homes and loved ones. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:44.800 And some of us are worrying. 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:48.719 We're suffering under the weight of the anxiety and the worry. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:49.840 How will this end? 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:51.199 When will this end? 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:57.439 And some of us are suffering under the weight of depression and discouragement and loneliness and addiction. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:03.759 And some of us are just plain disappointed that Thanksgiving didn't look right, that it wasn't where the way we wanted it to be with the people we wanted. 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:10.240 And as we look to Christmas and all the emotions that are wrapped up in the holiday season, things just don't feel right. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:12.400 We're waiting for vaccining. 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:21.759 We're waiting for racial equality and justice, waiting to see how our government will transition, waiting to see how our economy is gonna withstand the shutdowns. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:27.360 We're waiting to get back to social lives and personal, in-person friendships and community. 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:30.639 Girls, we are waiting to put our kids back in school. 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:32.639 Parents, can I get an amen? 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:37.120 And we're waiting for our jobs to go back to some semblance of what they were. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:41.039 We wait, we make plans, and then we change our plans. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:44.800 And we're trying to hold on to hope and expectation. 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:48.319 But honestly, many of us, we just feel like we're enduring. 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:50.080 We're just hanging in there. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:53.360 2020 has beat us down and we're weary. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:58.319 As we were as a staff talking through what does our church need in this Advent season? 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:01.199 What should our series be entitled and what should we include? 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:06.000 We just we kept coming back to the lines from Oh Holy Night that talks about the night was born. 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:08.479 And the line is a thrill of hope. 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:10.960 The weary world rejoices. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:14.479 Because we feel weary and we can identify for that. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:17.680 We're desperately longing for hope. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:19.600 We desire to rejoice. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:21.360 We need Christmas. 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:22.959 How many times have I heard that? 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:24.000 We need Christmas. 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:31.920 I've loved watching people decorate their homes early this year, people getting ready for the holiday season way sooner than we have in the past. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:36.639 Because there's something about the warmth and the light and the joy that we long for. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:42.160 I think back to March when we first went into shelter and place and people were throwing up their Christmas lights on their houses. 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:51.279 And I know there was even some streets in Willow Glen that were putting up their matching decor, because there's something about the light and the joy and the hope and the cheer of the holiday that we long for. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:59.759 But in reality, not to be a scrooge here, but Christmas season will be gone in a month. 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:09.920 The lights will lose their bulbs, and our homes will feel cluttered with all the toys and all the gifts and all the cards and all the food and all the food. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:14.879 And my beautiful Christmas tree will be crispy and dead out on the curb. 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:18.959 And then we'll decide that we need something else. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:21.360 We'll need newness and we'll need freshness. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:23.120 Ah, we're gonna need a new start. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:35.120 We're gonna need to spring clean our homes and spring clean our bodies, and we're gonna need new to-do lists, we'll need resolutions, and we're gonna need goals and dreams and action plans and vision boards for 2021. 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:38.720 Church, we need Christmas because we're needy. 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:39.839 Hear me out. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:42.160 I love the holiday, and I'm all about it. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:44.959 I've been listening to Christmas music since November 1st. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:47.680 My husband does not love it, and I can attest to that. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:54.399 I love Christmas, but our need is not going to be fulfilled in a warm and beautiful holiday. 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:56.879 We're needy and lacking people. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:01.600 We're weary, needy, tired, worn out. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:11.360 We're searching for something that will bring rest, rest to our bodies and our souls, something that will bring joy and something that will delight our hearts. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:16.000 We want to escape our current reality, and really who could blame us? 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:23.360 But what we really need, it's not Christmas, and it's not even the hope of what 2021 will bring. 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:30.160 We don't need a band-aid to help us escape from the reality of this weariness. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:57.279 Now, church, we need a divine intervention from one who intimately knows us, who cares for us, who promises he will always be with us, one who walks us through the pain and the struggle, giving us hope, guiding and directing and leading us, giving us purpose, healing our deep wounds and listening to our pain and our struggle, kindly correcting, comforting, never leaving us. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:01.680 We need the same thing that the people of Israel needed 2,000 years ago. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:12.079 The prophet Isaiah, in the book of Isaiah, in the Old Testament, was given beautiful words of hope and prophecy from God of the coming Messiah and Savior. 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:13.439 I want to read them together. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:16.879 If you have a Bible or if you have a phone with a Bible app, grab it now. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:19.519 We're gonna go to Isaiah chapter 9. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:23.680 Isaiah chapter 9, and I'm gonna start in verse 2. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:27.759 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:32.240 On those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:35.839 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:42.480 They rejoice before you, as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:50.959 For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:58.240 Every warrior's boot used in battle, and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, and it will be fuel for the fire. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:01.439 For to us a child is born. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:14.639 To us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, and prince of peace. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:17.920 Church in 2020, that's what we need. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:24.160 We need a wonderful counselor, a mighty God, an everlasting father, and a prince of peace. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:28.319 We need the same thing that the people of Israel needed over 2,000 years ago. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:34.559 The only difference we're no longer waiting for God's presence to appear to us. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:38.240 We are waiting for the effects of his presence to us. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:39.919 Our Savior has come. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:43.440 We don't have to cross our fingers and we don't have to hold our breath. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:44.720 He has come. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:46.879 He is with us, he is here. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:57.120 And although there are many things we're waiting on, many things that we're sitting in on the unknown, that's where we find ourselves in this Advent season. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:07.600 In celebration of Emmanuel God with us, and also in living in a world where we still wait and we're still weary and we're still not at home forever. 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:26.240 Looking at these words of God, given through Isaiah, and then looking through the fulfillment of this prophecy through Jesus Christ and the story of his life in the gospels, we see the prophecy come to life through the loving power of God, through Jesus, his son, through the Holy Spirit. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:36.960 The gospel paints a beautiful picture for us of Jesus as our wonderful counselor, our mighty God, our everlasting Father, and our Prince of Peace. 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:46.000 So during our Advent season, during the next four weeks, today plus three more weeks, we're gonna spend one week on each of these descriptions of God. 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:52.639 Unpacking it and looking at it, learning more about our Savior who is already with us, Emmanuel. 00:09:53.679 --> 00:10:02.559 The people of Israel were waiting for a king, a ruler to overthrow the Roman government, to take power and conquer over their enemies. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:08.399 But instead, Jesus came as a tiny baby, born to a humble and poor couple. 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:14.240 And he grew to be a man, a carpenter, a rabbi, and a wonderful counselor. 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:23.039 Now, I don't know what images come to your mind or feelings come to your heart when you think of a wonderful counselor or a good counselor or of any counselor, honestly. 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:28.159 Some of us maybe don't have personal experience seeing a counselor, and maybe we don't even want to. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:35.440 Some of us we might think back to, I don't know, our childhood, maybe a hard time, maybe our folks got divorced and they put us in counseling. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:42.399 Or some of us, and we think of counseling, we think of a time in our lives when we drove ourselves because we needed help. 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:46.720 And then others of us thinking counseling, it's just a part of our life, it's a part of our health. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:48.240 It's what we always do. 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:51.039 Maybe you call your counselor by a different name. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:11:01.759 Maybe it's a life coach or a spiritual director or a therapist, maybe it's a social worker or just even a wise, godly friend, or a member, close friend. 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:08.159 Regardless of your experience with counselors, I want to paint a new picture. 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:14.399 When I think of Jesus as a wonderful counselor, here are some of the things that I think of. 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:23.200 I think of some of my friends who talk about their counselors like it's their lifeline with so much reverence and so much respect and so much honor. 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:32.960 Friends who have have hit their breaking points or their rock bottom, and the only way they found their way back was because of a wise and caring expert who spent time with them. 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:42.080 They say things like, I might not be here today if it wasn't for my counselor, or without my time in counseling, I would still be defeated by fill in the blank. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:47.519 My relationship struggles, my anger, my mental illness, my addiction, my eating disorder. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:52.639 Or couples who say, our marriage wouldn't still be standing if it wasn't for our marriage counselor. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:12:13.519 Or I think of a dear friend of mine who endured horrendous and unspeakable abuse in her home as a child, and really it's only because of God's power and his ability to heal and redeem and restore what was broken and shattered, and the help of an amazing expert counselor who walked with her to wholeness. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:17.919 And because of that, she has a beautiful life and she has a beautiful marriage. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:25.759 A counselor helps us walk the sometimes painful process of becoming who we are becoming. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:32.960 The path from brokenness to healing, it can be lonely, confusing, it can be defeating. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:41.600 A counselor walks beside us, helping shed light on the path, giving encouragement and skills and perspective, always present, always with us. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:48.639 I want to share a picture with us today of Jesus as a wonderful counselor in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 11. 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:52.000 You can grab your Bible, you can open up your phone app, whatever you want. 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:55.600 But Gospel of Matthew, chapter 11, is where we're gonna be. 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:59.679 And by the time we get to chapter 11, let me paint the picture for you. 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:01.200 Here's where where we are. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:05.759 We've seen the birth of Jesus, we've seen the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:10.000 Um, we've seen the temptation of Jesus in the desert, and we've read about his ministry. 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:11.919 He's called his disciples to him. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:14.879 We've heard him speak the Sermon on the Mount. 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:26.080 We've read Jesus' white teaching on salt and light, on anger and loving our enemies, on giving to the poor, on prayer and money and worry, and we watched him heal. 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:31.279 We've seen him restore sight to the blind and heal the paralyzed and immune. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:35.360 We've seen him driving out demons and ticking off the religious leaders. 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:38.320 And by this time, we've seen so much of his ministry. 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:44.480 And in Matthew 11, 28, these are the words of Jesus, the words to me that sound like a wonderful counselor. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:51.440 He says this Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 00:13:51.919 --> 00:14:00.320 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:04.639 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:06.399 Come to me, he calls. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:11.759 Don't run from me, don't hide from me, don't ignore me, but come to me. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:17.519 No matter how long it's been, don't let the shame and the guilt and the pride keep you from me. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:20.799 He doesn't say how we have to come, which I kind of love. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:25.120 It doesn't have to be with gladness or joy or praise or even repentance. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.759 Just simply an invitation to come. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:33.279 It's such a simple invitation, and yet oftentimes it's the very hardest for us. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:47.840 I don't know why it's so hard for us to respond to Jesus sometimes, but sometimes it just feels like such a battle to stop, to pause, to listen, even just long enough to hear him call to us and invite us in. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:53.120 In the Psalms, it tells us that in the presence of God is fullness of joy. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:55.919 It's the very fullness of what joy can be. 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:58.399 And yet we we just shy away. 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:01.519 And I think it's because also in his presence there's truth. 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:04.080 And we can't hide. 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:09.519 We are faced with our brokenness and our sin and our presence. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:12.399 The presence of God and in his holiness. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:14.559 There's nowhere to hide from him. 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:16.080 Come to me, he calls. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:18.399 And yet we don't want to come to Christ. 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:21.120 We don't want him to see our sin and our pain. 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:23.759 Our pride keeps us from wanting to acknowledge it. 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:25.120 It reminds me of a toddler. 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:31.360 Any of you parents out there today, we have had nine babies born during COVID season in our church, and we cannot wait to see y'all. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:39.200 But about a year from now, when your babies are toddling around, something that's so common that these little ones do, when they get a dirty diaper, they run and hide. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:42.240 It's so, so silly because everyone knows what's going on. 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:43.279 Everyone can smell it. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:44.639 I feel like that's how we are with God. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:49.919 Just want to run and pretend like it's not there instead of acknowledging, like, no, there's something here going on. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:53.440 We'd rather try to fix things ourselves. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:56.000 We don't want to just say, God, I'm not okay. 00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:58.159 I'm not okay and I need you. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:00.960 I find myself doing this often. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:08.320 And it reminds me of when my kids were little and when they were toddlers, so independent, so wanting to do everything themselves. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:10.720 They'd say, My, me do it, myself. 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:18.159 And I remember watching them, like trying to put a shirt on by themselves and forcing their head through the armhole, crying and angry. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:20.639 And I think it's exactly how I am with God. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:22.000 Like, God, I don't need you. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:23.759 I can do this, I can figure it out. 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:25.519 I'm capable, I'm independent. 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:28.240 All the while I'm crying and screaming, I'm a disaster. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:30.720 And he's like, just let me help. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:33.679 Come to me, he calls. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:35.200 Come to me. 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:41.440 Don't turn to other places, to other gods, to other sources of distraction or comfort. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:45.360 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened. 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:46.240 All you. 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:47.519 It's not exclusive. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:50.240 It's it's an open invitation to who? 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:52.399 The weary and the burdened. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:17:03.759 The weary, the worn out, exhausted, depleted, having exerted to the end of their strength, having no more stamina, endurance, tenacity, flexibility, or resilience left. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:04.400 None. 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:05.519 They are weary. 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:07.920 It sounds kind of like 2020. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:18.480 And to the burdened, those who are carrying a load, feeling the weight on their shoulders like a burden, the fear and the anxiety and the stress, maybe it's oppression. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:23.119 Maybe for some of us, we're honestly we're just burdened by our uninterest and our apathy. 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:25.200 That's the weight that we carry. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:30.880 And what King calls to himself, these worn-out, disastrous, depleted people. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:33.440 Jesus does. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:40.640 See, Jesus doesn't invite just the perfect and the holy and the noble and the beautiful and the smart and the accomplished into his presence. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:49.599 Unlike any other nobility who wants to be around the influential and the beautiful and the wise and the accomplished, Jesus calls the opposite. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:58.079 He doesn't say, get your act together, get insta-perfect, put on your best and throw on a good filter on your Zoom and show up in your best light. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:17:58.799 No. 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:04.400 See, we're welcome to the presence of Jesus with joy and gladness and celebration. 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:08.079 But also when we're just a wreck, we're welcome then too. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:15.680 And he says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:18.000 I will give it to you. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:25.839 He's giving to me. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:41.440 In a season where so many of us are wearing so many different hats, and we have so few boundaries between work and family and play and school, a season where many of us feel like there's just so many people that need so much from us all the time. 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:44.079 Jesus is saying, just come and receive. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:47.039 Just come and sit and receive. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:50.559 And here's the thing: Jesus doesn't promise to take it away. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:58.319 The weary, the burden, the pain, he doesn't promise that life is going to be easy or pleasurable without pain or work. 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:01.200 It makes me think back to Chip's message last week. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:04.400 If you were with us last week, you heard just a powerful message from Chipping Grimm. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.400 And if you weren't with us, go back and listen, friends. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:10.160 He talked through five pillars that we can go back to that know that are true. 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:11.680 The first one was, God is good. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:14.480 And the second one, life is hard. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:18.000 And it was so refreshing to just hear, like, that's actually the truth. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:18.960 Life is hard. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:22.720 And Jesus says, I'll be with you in the pain and the hardship. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:28.240 And he offers to walk with us in the struggle and to give us rest. 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:33.519 The rest that Jesus is offering is healing, it's love and peace. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:36.559 It's forgiveness from the sin that keeps us from him. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:43.279 It's supernatural restoration to the weariness of our hearts and our bodies and our souls. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:48.559 He goes on to say, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:51.839 We can understand his yoke to be two different things here. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:54.559 Both of them work, neither of which involve an egg. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:56.720 Just have to say that for the little ones in the room. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:13.440 But Jesus, as a rabbi, as a Jewish leader, with a following of disciples, his yoke was his teaching, it was his instruction, the way that he would live out his life according to the Jewish law, the prayers that he would speak, the rituals that he would observe. 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:16.240 A disciple would follow their rabbi. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:21.519 It is said they would follow him so closely that they would get dirty from the dust flicked off his sandals. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:24.480 His yoke was his teaching to his disciples. 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:27.519 He's saying, Take my yoke upon you. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:33.839 Likewise, a yoke would have been a wooden harness, still used, of course, for farm animals and such. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:41.440 It fits over the shoulders of animals, and it's usually attached to some kind of piece of equipment or machinery or something that they're gonna pull behind them. 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:42.960 That's also a yoke. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:49.039 But here's the thing that's interesting is a yoke doesn't just usually go over one animal, it usually goes over two. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:53.200 So what Jesus is saying here is, come yoke next to me. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:55.039 Step with me. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:59.039 He's not saying take this on you and pull this and be responsible for that. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:00.640 He's saying, come next to me. 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:04.400 Let's do this together, let's share the load together. 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:07.440 Like a counselor walking right with us through things. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.720 Jesus is saying, take on my yoke. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:12.559 Take on my yoke. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:14.319 Do life my way. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:19.440 Only put on your shoulders what I am asking you to put on your shoulders. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:30.559 This is a picture of surrender, surrendering to what he tells us in verse 30 is that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:32.640 Learn from me. 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:34.079 I have something for you. 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:36.559 Let me teach you, follow me. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:46.559 And he goes on to say, For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:57.839 Something that is so interesting about this statement that I absolutely love is that this is the only place in the New Testament where Jesus tells us specifically about his heart. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:59.759 There's other places we can read stories. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:05.519 And we can infer what he was like, how he responded to things, the words he said. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:07.920 People will even say, you know, he had compassion on them. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:08.960 We read things like that. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:14.559 But this is the only place that from the mouth of Jesus does he say, Let me tell you what my heart is like. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.400 And he says, I am gentle and humble in heart. 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:22.400 This is the counseling heart of God seen through Jesus. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:27.200 He gently and humbly approaches everyone in specifically the way that they need. 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:31.759 A couple stories I want to share with you about how we see Jesus do this in the Gospels. 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:36.400 In John 3, we see Jesus have this conversation with Nicodemus. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:38.160 If you know Nicodemus, you know this. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:43.200 And if you don't, let me tell you, Nicodemus was part of the Sanhedrin, part of the religious elite. 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:45.680 He wanted to meet with Jesus, but only in private. 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:48.960 So Jesus agreed to meet with him at night when no one would see. 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:51.440 And Jesus met him right where he was at. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:23:01.119 He spoke with him in exactly the level that he would have spoken at, theologically and heady, understanding the laws and all the religious Jewish tradition. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:03.200 Jesus met him right where he was. 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:12.240 And then just in the very next chapter, we see Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, and he treats her totally different than he treats Nicodemus. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:17.440 He comes to her with this great relationalness, this kindness and tenderness. 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:25.200 He teats her with dignity and honor, even though for him being a Jewish man and her being a Samaritan female, they would have never spoken. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:26.799 That would not have been appropriate. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:29.200 And yet he talks to her gently. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:31.440 He talks about her painful past. 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:33.200 He offers her living water. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:34.799 He brings her hope. 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:41.359 And then in Mark 10, another story of just a beautiful interaction between Jesus and a blind man. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:46.240 Jesus is passing by on a road with his disciples, and there's people everywhere following him. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:48.319 So much excitement going on. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:50.799 And there's a blind man on the road calling to him. 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:52.880 And the blind man is being rebuked by the people. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:54.480 Like, shh, just be quiet. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:56.480 Like you're kind of messing this up. 00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:59.200 This is a beautiful parade, and you're just over here messing it up. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:01.279 And he's he's calling and he's calling. 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:04.559 And Jesus says, Come, come to me. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:07.839 And he looks at him and he says directly, What is it you want from me? 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:09.519 What do you want from me? 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:15.680 And this blind man throws off his cloak and he runs to Jesus and he says, I want to see. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:17.039 I just want my sight back. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:19.279 And Jesus heals him right on the spot. 00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:22.559 Such a tender counselor. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:25.759 All throughout the Gospels, we see pictures of this. 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:29.759 We see Jesus calling the little children unto him when other people are shooing them away. 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:35.440 We read of Jesus weeping with Mary and Martha as they're grieving the death of their brother Lazarus. 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:47.039 And even though Jesus knows that he's going to call him back from the dead and that he has the power and authority to do that, seeing their grief, he sits and weeps and mourns, showing us his heart. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:52.960 The heart of a wonderful counselor, gentle and humble and present and available. 00:24:54.319 --> 00:25:00.880 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:04.160 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:08.000 For I am gentle and humble in heart. 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:10.480 You will find rest for your souls. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:14.319 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:21.519 Through these words of Jesus, through the life of Jesus, we see this prophecy of Isaiah coming to life. 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:39.680 What he had said, those walking in darkness, seeing a great light, our joy increasing, shattering the yoke that burdens, removing the bar across the shoulders, shattering that rod at the oppressor, giving unto us a child, a son, who would become our wonderful counselor. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:49.680 And in the same way that our Heavenly Father gave us a wonderful counselor in Jesus, he also gave us a wonderful counselor in the Holy Spirit. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:59.599 When Jesus was preparing to go to the cross, he had lots of conversations with his disciples trying to explain to him what was going to happen and that he was going to leave. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:06.799 And in John 14 and 15 and 16, he talks specifically about what his plan is when he leaves. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:16.400 Jesus says, And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counselor to help you and be with you forever, the Spirit of truth. 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:25.119 The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:38.720 And then he picks up in 26 and says, But this counselor, this advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything that I have said. 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:40.960 And then he leaves them with this. 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:43.680 He says, Peace I leave with you. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:45.519 My peace I give to you. 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:48.240 I do not give to you as the world gives. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:52.720 Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid. 00:26:54.160 --> 00:27:05.039 An advocate, a counselor, a helper, a constant presence with us forever, teaching and reminding us of the words and the teaching of Jesus. 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:07.039 That's what this verse promises us. 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:12.720 That as Jesus left, the Father was going to send the Holy Spirit to be with us. 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:16.559 And that with this counselor comes his peace. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:18.640 My peace I leave with you. 00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:21.440 My peace I give with you. 00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:27.200 Church, we have been given an invitation to the most wonderful counselor. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:39.359 Humble and gentle, loving and full of grace and forgiveness, and yet with the power to create the whole universe with a spoken word and with the strength to conquer death. 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:48.960 Church, we've been given this counselor, and I think some of us we're not really showing up for our counseling sessions. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:52.000 We're not coming to the Father. 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:57.119 When Jesus says to us, come, I think some of us we're not hearing him. 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:01.839 Or we're distracted, or we're running in the other direction. 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:04.880 Or maybe we didn't even realize he was calling. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:09.680 And in this Advent season, it's my invitation to you. 00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:29.920 An invitation, not homework, not something else to put on your list of things to do or be or accomplish in this season, but an invitation to listen to the voice of our wonderful counselor, saying, Come, come to me, come be with me, abide with me. 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:32.799 I think this looks really different for us. 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:37.200 For some of us, um, and some of us watching, like we've loved Jesus a long time. 00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:41.759 We've lived a long life of faith, and so we know exactly what to do to come to the presence of Jesus. 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:44.960 We know exactly how to hear the power of the Spirit in our lives. 00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:46.799 And some of us are newer at this. 00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:48.799 But here's some of the things that I do. 00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:52.240 And if it's helpful for you, I'd love for you to do it too. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:58.640 For me, there's something about stillness and silence that helps me be aware of the presence of Jesus. 00:28:59.039 --> 00:29:03.920 When things are loud and busy, I have a really hard time hearing. 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:06.640 So sometimes that's a walk alone. 00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:09.279 Sometimes that's getting up a little bit earlier. 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:10.880 I'm not much of a morning person. 00:29:11.119 --> 00:29:15.359 Sometimes that's just pulling myself away to have time with Jesus. 00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:24.799 It's getting in our scriptures, it's getting in this word that describes our Heavenly Father, that describes Jesus, our Emmanuel God with us. 00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:28.720 It's learning about him and letting our hearts be transformed by the word. 00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:36.880 It's sitting in his presence with no agenda, coming before him with great honesty, saying, Lord, I'm just here. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:39.359 I'm a hot mess and I'm just here. 00:29:39.599 --> 00:29:42.720 And just allowing him to be with us. 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:45.440 For me, it's also listening to worship music. 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:49.519 Sometimes it's just putting on worship songs and singing and proclaiming to the Lord. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:52.799 Sometimes that's in private, sometimes that's with the family. 00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:54.640 But here's what I know. 00:29:55.039 --> 00:30:05.359 When I'm coming to the presence of Jesus, when I'm allowing the wonderful counselor into my life, when I'm open to listening to the Holy Spirit, I'm a different person. 00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:09.359 The weight that I carry is different. 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:16.960 Not that it's all better, not that it's easy, but by the strength of God, with him with me, I can do it. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:21.279 I have peace in my life when I'm walking in step with the Spirit. 00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:26.640 A peace that, although things may go wrong, the Lord is going to be with me. 00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:32.960 There is peace and rest in his presence because he's a wonderful counselor. 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:36.000 Church, we can have joy. 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:38.160 We can have joy in this season. 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:53.759 Even when things don't feel joyful, even when things are kind of crummy, even when we don't know what the future holds, but we can have joy because we have a savior and a wonderful counselor that loves us, that wants to be in our lives and invest in us. 00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:56.240 Church, thank you for being with us this morning. 00:30:56.319 --> 00:30:57.359 And I'm so excited. 00:30:57.440 --> 00:31:00.640 We're gonna sing Joy to the World now, which is one of my favorite songs. 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:10.720 And friends, I invite you to sing loudly if you feel joyful, to soak in it if you don't, and to find time this week to meet with your wonderful counselor.