WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:13.679 Over the next four weeks uh throughout November, I really want to look at four different texts that I just hope to shape the life of our church and for it to be a space where we look at these texts and go, This is what I want. 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:23.039 Um for me as the pastor, and then what I believe Jesus wants as like just something to shape what this church looks like, feels like, breathes like, and acts like, and those things. 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:28.000 And so today, the first text that I want to look at is from Matthew 11, 28 through 30. 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:31.359 It'll be on the screen, but you can also turn to it in the Bible. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:34.159 That's what Jesus says. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:40.399 He says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:47.039 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. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:50.240 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:51.679 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:53.280 --> 00:01:00.560 I heard this story uh a number of years ago, um, maybe it was in high school, but of Odysseus and the sirens. 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:11.760 And if the sirens were these creatures in the water that would sing this song and captivate people ultimately to bring them from their ships and their boats into a space of death. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:28.719 And um and so Odysseus, being warned of these sirens, uh, does this thing where he binds himself to the ship, he ties himself up, and his crew ties him up, then he uses wax to cover the ears and clog the ears of uh his crew, and then they pass by the sirens. 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:36.319 And the crew doesn't hear what's out there because their ears are clogged up, and then he hears it, but he's because he's tied down, he wants to go. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:40.560 He is seduced by the siren song, but because he's tied down he can't go. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:42.719 I thought that was a really cool story. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:46.159 But then I heard another story about Orpheus and the Sirens. 00:01:46.319 --> 00:02:06.959 And Orpheus, same idea, going past the siren song, but instead of like binding himself to the ship, instead of trying to like tie himself down and make sure that you know he can't get there, instead of clogging the ears of his people, all he does is he takes out a leer and he starts playing a song and he just plays a more beautiful, more captivating song. 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:14.639 And all of a sudden the people don't even they they pass by in safety from the sirens, having never even heard the seductive, destructive song. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:20.800 They didn't even hear it because they were so enraptured and captivated by this other song that was happening in front of him. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:23.759 And when I heard that, I was like, man, what a better way to do life. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:28.400 Versus like trying to tie people down and shove their ears full and make sure you don't hear that. 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:31.039 And I felt like it was two different ways of doing church. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:42.960 One way of doing church is like, let's tie them down with fear, let's scare them so that they have to stay here, let's try and hold them so that because the culture's bad out there, and so let's try and clog their ears, clog their eyes so that they won't even see it and hear it. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:47.360 And then what they're testifying to is culture is actually more captivating. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:49.360 Just don't let them see it or hear it. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:50.400 And then they won't do it. 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:51.360 That's one way of doing church. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:59.919 And I was like, man, but the other way of doing church is like just lift up the more beautiful thing that we have and hold it in front of their eyes. 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:09.280 And then they'd be enraptured and captivated by this other space where they go, like, I I I'm not even I'm not even tempted to look out there because we have the more beautiful thing. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:11.919 We have the better story, we have the better song. 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:15.199 And so to me, I'm like, this is that is what Jesus has been to the church. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:27.439 And any church that has ever turned away from Jesus has turned to other tactics and other fear things and all this other selling points to try and keep people in the church when really all they had to do is like, you have the better story, you have the better news. 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:29.280 There's nothing that can compare. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:35.360 We we we have this space where Paul says, like, everything else pales in comparison to knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:38.240 Like there's something that we have that they can't even touch. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:51.280 And if we just lift that up in front of people and just have it before them and to reveal who he is, the captivating beauty of Jesus, everything else is like, yeah, I'm sorry, I didn't even actually see what was out there because I was so captivated by this other man and this relationship that I have with him. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:04:02.879 And so I love this text because to me, Jesus has this space where he reveals that beauty and that captivation that he wants other people to actually see about him. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:08.800 And I just want to look at three different things that Jesus says about himself that we see in this text. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:13.680 So that hopefully we'll see, like, man, there's something here that's far greater than anything that's out there. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:21.519 And so that we can say with Paul, like everything else that I've ever experienced and everything I've turned away from, nothing compares to the greatness of knowing Jesus. 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:26.319 And so I want to look at three things that give us just a renewed vision of who he is and what he's like. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:28.319 So the first, quickly. 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:33.199 The first thing we see is that Jesus is always inviting us into something greater. 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:35.600 Always inviting us into something greater. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:39.199 Jesus says, Come to me, you who are weary, and I will give you rest. 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:40.560 I have something better for you. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:49.519 You're tired and worn out, you're burdened, and you've been trying real hard, and I'm really, really excited that you've tried so hard, but you're tired and I have something better for you. 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:51.279 Would you please let me give you this rest? 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:53.519 He's inviting them into something better. 00:04:53.839 --> 00:05:12.160 And I think for many of us, it's so easy to see Jesus' commands and his demands and all the stuff that he calls us to and all the things that he says in the scriptures, and we just we read in our history or other pastors or other experiences that we've had with the church or something like that, and we read it in and we see like Jesus, we think that he's saying, like, don't do this, do that instead, stop doing this. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:12.959 What's wrong with you? 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:13.759 Why are you doing this? 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:14.639 Don't do that, do this. 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:20.160 And we, when I talk to people about Jesus, I'm like, it's like the rules are just so, just so many of them, and there's so many things. 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:25.439 I was like, all of this, everything that he's doing, is just inviting us to experience more. 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:27.519 It's not that, and that's not what he's saying. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:29.360 He's not saying, don't do this, do this. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:32.959 He's going, I I promise I have something better on hand for you. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:36.000 I'm inviting you to experience something that's here. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:49.120 And I believe that every command and demand, he's not against commands or demands, but he's using them as a way of going, hey, I just want you to know that if you do this, I'm inviting you in to experience something better than you currently can experience by yourself. 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:51.279 So for instance, I want to run through a couple. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:53.519 One of the things that Jesus says is repent. 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:56.079 Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:00.560 And it's easy to hear the word repent and see and this image come to mind. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:02.800 You can't really see it, but it says repent or else. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:04.000 And then there's flames under there. 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:05.439 It's a really creative sign. 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:16.480 This is what, I mean, if you hear the word repent, if somebody walked into your office, it's like, hey, uh, let's have a time of repentance, and you repent to me, you'd be like, that's worse than cuss words, like, no, thank you, I'm okay, I'm okay. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:19.040 But like, this is what the image that can pop into our mind. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.439 But this is the image, like what it used to look like. 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:22.959 Go to the next slide here. 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:24.720 Repentance used to look like this. 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:31.040 This is the uh prodigal coming home to the Father and just resting in the arms of the Father. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.480 And this is what repentance, like repentance was supposed to mean you get to come home. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:38.879 You're not out forever. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:40.160 Like there's a way back. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:45.360 It used to be this beautiful thing that we had where it was like when Jesus said repent, it was like, oh, thank God. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:46.879 There's another option available. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:50.560 It's not somebody yelling at me with a sign saying, repent or else, return or burn. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:51.120 It's not that. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:51.759 It's repent. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:53.120 You can, you want to come home. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:55.040 You're tired, you're weary, you want to come home. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:57.040 I have this available for you. 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:09.839 Uh Dallas Willard, uh, this author and professor and philosopher, talks about repentance and really illustrates what Jesus is getting to when he is trying to get people to repent and inviting them into that. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:12.240 And he gives this illustration about his childhood. 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:14.399 It's a rather long quote, but stick with me. 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:15.680 This is what he says. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:22.399 He says, as a child, I lived in an area of southern Missouri where electricity was available only in the form of lightning. 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:31.040 But in my senior year of high school, the REA extended the lines into the area where we lived, and electrical power became available to households and farms. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:35.759 And when those lines came by our farm, a very different way of living presented itself. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:46.240 Our relationships to fundamental aspects of life, daylight and dark, hot and cold, clean and dirty, work and leisure, preparing food and preserving it, were then vastly changed for the better. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:52.399 But we still had to believe in the electricity and its arrangements, understand them and take the practical steps involved in relying on it. 00:07:52.720 --> 00:08:08.160 He says, You may think this comparison rather crude, and in some respects it is, but it will help us understand Jesus' basic message about the kingdom of heaven if we pause to reflect on those farmers who, in effect, heard the message, repent, for the kingdom of electricity is at hand. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:16.800 Turn from your kerosene lamps and lanterns, your ice boxes and cellars, your scrubboards and rug beaters, your woman-powered sewing machines, and your radios with dry saw batteries. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:23.600 The power that can make your life far better is right near you, where by making relatively simple arrangements, you could utilize it. 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:26.639 Repent for the kingdom of electricity is at hand. 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:28.319 I love that idea. 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:29.360 Like, what is repentance? 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.199 What is Jesus calling us to when he's saying repent? 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:33.759 He's like, there's something better available now. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.639 It wasn't available before, but it's available now. 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:38.559 I'm ushering in a new thing. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:47.679 And so when I'm calling you to repent, I'm not cussing at you and I'm not demanding or commanding, I'm just going, hey, you might not know this, but something far better is available to you now. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:55.919 And just if you would just repent, if you just turn and come home, I promise I'll lead you into something that you're actually longing for that you can't seem to find out on your own. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:58.320 Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:00.320 Repent for the kingdom of electricity has come in. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:00.960 I love that quote. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:02.879 I think it explains it so well. 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:06.000 And I think Jesus is offering us that invitation when he says those things. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:07.759 I think it's the same when he says, do not worry. 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:12.399 He's not like, do not worry, and then he gets mad at you about your anxiety, and he's like, Oh, I can't believe you're anxious. 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:13.600 Don't you know I'm trustworthy? 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:14.320 It's not that. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:17.519 He's like, I don't want you to worry because at one, it does nothing for you. 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:19.360 You can't add anything to your life by worrying. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:21.519 It messes with your mental health, which I care about. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:22.639 Like, don't worry. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:23.600 And I'm trustworthy. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:24.399 Like, you don't have to. 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:25.679 Something's available now. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:27.440 You don't have to worry anymore. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:34.639 You can just trust me, and then those things don't have to riddle your mind and keep you awake at night and make you worry about the future and all those things. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:35.279 Don't worry. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:38.720 It's an invitation to experience something that's actually peaceful. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:44.320 When he says, confess your sin, he's not saying like tell them how wrong you are and feel ashamed by it. 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:48.960 He's like, confess your sin one to another and then pray for each other so that healing may come about. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:56.639 Ray Ortland, uh, this book of a couple of guys of us read uh called The Death of Porn, uh, we read this book months ago. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:04.879 Uh, but one of the things he said is like, he says, you need to confess your sin because in confessing your sin one to another to save people, that's how you kill your sin. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:06.480 You confess it to death. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:11.200 And what you do is you shoot little arrows of light into the darkness by bringing it to the light. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:15.679 And then all of a sudden, that thing that had a grip on you and had hold on you in the dark no longer has hold on you in the light. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:26.320 And so when Jesus says, confess your sin, all of it, find people you're close enough with that you can talk about the dirty stuff that you hide everywhere else, he's like, I'm not doing it to shame you, I'm trying to do it to set you free. 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:27.759 Confess your sin. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:29.759 Go and sin no more. 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:32.000 He says this a lot, go and sin no more. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:35.440 We think sin is bad, but he knows, he's like, sin is poison. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:37.279 I'm not telling you don't do that because I said so. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:40.720 I'm saying don't do this because if you drink that, it's poison. 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:42.159 It will kill you slowly. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:44.960 Small doses, large doses, but sin is poison. 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:49.200 And so again, he's like, I'm just inviting you into a space where you can experience life. 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:52.799 I'm not just telling you what to do because I just like dictating rules to you. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:54.080 That's not what this is. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:11:01.840 Every single thing, with every command, these are invitations of Jesus to come to him to experience the rest that we're actually longing for. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:03.279 And this is what he's doing. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:13.039 One of my favorite authors and thinkers is Brennan Manning, and every time I read his books, I'll read them throughout the years just consistently because he just makes me love Jesus because he loved him so well. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:16.559 But he says this thing, he says, we have to stop picturing God. 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:23.279 We have to stop picturing God as a small-minded bookkeeper, a niggling customs officer rifling through our moral suitcase. 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:34.080 We have to stop picturing God as a policeman with a club who's going to bat us over the head for every time we stumble and fall, or as a capricious and cantankerous thief who delights in reigning on our parade and stealing our joy. 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:43.840 He's like, we have to stop picturing him that way because if we don't, if we continue to picture him as TSA at the airport, no one loves TSA. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:46.320 No one likes, like, oh, I can't wait to go there. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:48.480 We should have a party and just bring everybody to TSA. 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:52.559 Like, if that's what we think of Jesus, why would we ever want to spend time in his presence? 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:57.519 We want to get in and get out, and even when we know we don't have anything they're looking for, we're still a little nervous. 00:11:57.679 --> 00:11:59.039 Like, what if they find something? 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:01.600 What if they take my, what is it, like her makeup or something? 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:03.679 Like, I don't know, my water bottle. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:04.960 Like, we hate that kind of thing. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:07.519 And if we see Jesus that way, it's like, I don't want to go into your presence. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:09.679 You'll find something wrong with me and they make me feel bad about it. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:11.679 It's like, but that's not what he's like. 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:16.320 Everything he calls us to is an invitation to experience more of what he has for us. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:26.159 And so anytime there's a command or a demand, and you're like, oh, that's heavy, that's burdensome, John would say it's it's not burdensome because if you would actually lean into it, you would experience more life from it. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:29.120 It would actually give you something more than it takes away from you. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:30.480 So that's the first one. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:36.399 Everything that Jesus does, he's always inviting us, always inviting us to experience something better than what we can get on our own. 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:43.600 The second is Jesus wants you to be his student, his student, not his convert. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:46.159 He wants you to be his student, not his convert. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:58.879 I actually have some students here from the church I was at, and I preached this to them, at them, for them for six years, going, He does not want you, he calls you us to make disciples, not converts, to very different words. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:00.879 He wants you to be his student. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:04.159 Um he says, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:07.200 A yoke was a way of going about life. 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:08.879 Um John Mark Comer says it this way. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:14.240 It was like a yoke was this Jewish idiom, it was basically a rabbi's set of teachings on how to be human. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:23.919 It's also the thing like an agrarian culture, but for Jesus, it was like this thing, it's like, these are my set of, take my set of teachings on you so that I can teach you how to live. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:30.639 And so what Jesus is saying when he's saying, take my yoke on you and learn from me, he's saying, I want you to be my student, not just my convert. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:34.320 I don't want you to just believe in me, make a decision to believe in me, and then okay, I'll never see you. 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:36.559 He's like, I actually want you to spend time with me. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:51.279 The idea that he's presenting is the idea of like an apprenticeship where you're actually learning and spending time with a master teacher, and then over time you watch them work, and then you do some work, and then over time you become more and more and more like that person. 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:52.399 That's the idea. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:56.399 And this is why he's not running through the gospels going, convert to me. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:13:57.519 Convert to me. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:13:58.399 Like he doesn't do that. 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:02.240 He's saying, follow me, come with me, be with me. 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:04.480 I want you, I don't want you just to believe one thing. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:08.480 I want you to believe all, I want you to believe a ton of stuff, but I want to do it slowly and I want to do it with you. 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:09.200 Follow me. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:10.960 Let me lead you and you just follow. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:20.960 And the reason, the reason he calls us is that is because he knows, he's like, if you will follow me, if you'll be my student, you will actually be somewhere, you'll actually spend time with me. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:28.159 And in spending time with me, you will slowly over time become like me the way an apprentice becomes like its master teacher. 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:30.639 Because he's the social proximity effect. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:32.720 You become like the people that you're around. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:40.559 Um Harvard social psychologist said that like 95% of your life is determined by the people you habitually spend time with. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:46.080 And so the idea that Jesus is getting at is like, look, I just want you to fall under my leadership. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:52.320 Yes, I do want you to do that, but it's so that I can lead you into a space where you become more and more and more like me. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:55.759 So the idea is spend time with me so that you become like me. 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:56.720 You're anxious. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:58.399 And he's like, I'm not. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:00.159 I'm filled with peace. 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:09.600 And if you would spend time with me, my peace would be something that ultimately works its way into your heart and into your life, and you would become less and less and less anxious. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:11.440 It's not stop being anxious. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:13.679 It's like, spend time with me. 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:15.200 I will rub off on you. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:16.320 I'm good like that. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:18.399 And he's like, I want you to spend time with me. 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:19.519 You are you're fearful. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:21.039 He's like, I'm courageous. 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:22.960 Your fear riddles you and it kills you. 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:29.279 And he's like, But I'm courageous, spend time with me, and my courage will be something that ultimately envelops your fear and helps you navigate them. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:32.320 You're joyless, spend time with me. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:34.399 And my presence is fullness of joy. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:39.279 My joy will just overflow and spill over into your life and it will shape your heart as well. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:43.120 He says, You're struggling to forgive. 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:46.639 He's like, I offer forgiveness freely to people no one deserves. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:47.759 I offered it to you. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:49.039 You're struggling to forgive. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:51.039 I do that freely, spend time with me. 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:55.759 It will be something that's formed in you, not something you have to willpower up and like, I just gotta forgive them. 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:56.720 It's like, no. 00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:59.120 I will develop that in you slowly. 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:02.000 You're riddled with shame and guilt. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:03.600 I'm filled with loving kindness. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:06.879 You have a you have struggle just even loving yourself or forgiving yourself. 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:10.559 He's like, I have forgiven you, I have cast your sins as far as the east is from the west. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:13.519 I am filled with compassion and loving kindness, spend time with me. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:22.559 Let my love that I have for you ultimately reform and reshape your heart so that you can actually walk forward, not in shame and guilt, but in freedom in life. 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:23.759 Do you understand? 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:28.879 Like this is why he's going, I want you to be my student, not just someone that just believes the right thing and then I never see again. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:35.200 I want you to stay with me, be with me, so that my life is ultimately formed in yours to me. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:49.519 One of the, and just in my experience, one of the reasons people leave the faith, leave Jesus, leave the church or whatever is because when they came to those things, they came to like a set of beliefs or doctrines. 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:51.200 They didn't come to Jesus Himself. 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:58.480 And so they they they changed their belief on something, but then and then they were told, like, hey, now you believe the right thing, now act like you believe. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:01.120 And so you believe the right thing, now act in accordance to your belief. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:04.559 And it's like, man, the gap between I believe this and I can act that way or completely. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:07.680 I mean, there's super, there's a chasm in between those things. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:10.480 And the great news is like that's not what Jesus calls us to. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:11.359 That's not what he's saying. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:13.359 He's like, I actually have something way better than that. 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:15.440 That yoke is heavy and burdensome. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:16.480 Mine is easy. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:22.480 I just want you to come to me and let me lead you, and then your life will slowly form into a space that I actually have for you. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:23.759 This is what he wants for you. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:33.119 My dad is here, and um he used to do this thing as a kid, he probably still does it, but he used to do it as a, and as a kid, I hated it, and now I love it. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:41.680 Um but as a kid in our house, if if you would say anything that reminded him of lyrics of a song, he'd start singing that song, and so I'd walk in and be like, oh man, every light in the house is on. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:47.680 He'd be like, and I was like, oh dad, stop, you're killing me. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:48.559 Stop it. 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:51.119 But then, but then last so I didn't like it, right? 00:17:51.279 --> 00:18:02.559 And then last week it was uh Halloween, and Teddy dressed up as Mario and he was like, Dad, you should have been Luigi, and I was like, And I was like, I'm my father, like it happened. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.119 And Teddy looked at me and was like, oh, why do you do that? 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:09.680 And I was like, because I was I grew up in a house where I was formed by the man that I was around. 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:12.960 I didn't even want to be formed in that way, and it just happened. 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:16.880 Like I didn't even want that formation, and now I'm actually glad that I have it. 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:19.920 But it's one of those things, like, yo, it just happened naturally. 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:21.119 There was no work. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:26.000 If there was work, it was trying not to do that in my life, and yet it's still formed in me. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:27.440 And this is what Jesus is trying to get at. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:31.599 He's like, look, I just want you to be formed into my image. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:36.160 I want you to actually experience the change and the things that you have that you're longing for and looking for. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:38.160 I'm like, how I just want this to change. 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:39.920 And he's like, great, me too. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:41.119 Spend time with me. 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:43.279 Let's do it slowly and let's do it together. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:45.039 Don't try and do this on your own. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.720 It's not do this, do that, do that, and then all of a sudden you change because of your willpower. 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:50.640 That'll last for just a little bit. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:57.519 But it's like, be transformed into my likeness because I have nothing but fullness to pour out, and you're empty. 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:01.119 Spend time with me and let my fullness actually shape who you are. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:05.119 David Guzick in this uh talking about this idea says this. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:07.119 He says, Everyone wants to know how can I change? 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:08.400 How can I change? 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:09.680 How can others change? 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:15.200 The best and most enduring change comes into our life when we are transformed by time spent with the Lord. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:29.279 There are other ways to change, such as guilt, willpower, or coercion, but none of these methods bring change that is as deep and lasts as long as the transformation that comes by the Spirit of God if we spend time in the presence of the Lord. 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:31.759 This is God's great design in our salvation. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:37.839 For whom He predestined He predestined us to be conformed into the image of His Son. 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:39.839 This was the goal all along. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:43.920 You're not only made into my image, but I want to, I want to then sin broke it. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:46.720 I want to reform you back into how I created you to begin with. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:48.880 There's these longings and the stuff that's in there. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:54.480 He's like, I can shape you, I can form you, and I can change that stuff, but I can do it, and you don't have to do it alone. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:56.240 Don't just believe the right thing. 00:19:56.319 --> 00:19:57.680 Spend time with me. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:02.160 And this is why I spend so much time in prayer, and why I try and get other people to spend so much time in prayer. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:09.680 I want you to sit among this person who's real and living and active, and his spirit is present with you, and wherever two or three are gathered, in my name, there, I'm there with you. 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:18.799 I want us to just sit there in his presence and just talk to him and be spoken to so that the things in us that we're going, God, I just need this to shift and change in them and in me. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:21.039 And I don't know how to do it, and everything I try, I can't. 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:22.799 I do it good for a little bit and I can't do it. 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:26.480 It's like, just sit with him and be with him. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:29.359 And then those things will naturally, over time, just be. 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:30.400 And he likes to go slow. 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:31.920 He's a three-mile-an-hour God. 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:33.519 He likes to go real slow. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:38.160 But he wants to do that, but he's not also putting pressure on you and be like, you should change this so fast. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:40.960 And we do this with people when we try and get them saved or something like that. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:45.039 It's like, hey, do you agree that everything that you've ever done in your entire life from here on for out is sin? 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:47.200 It's like, uh, maybe. 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:47.680 I don't know. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:48.400 I'm not totally sure. 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:52.400 It's like, yeah, just let them follow him, and then he will point out things. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:54.640 It's like that, this year, that right there. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:55.680 Let's deal with that thing. 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:01.200 Let's deal with it slowly and compassionately with loving kindness and all those things, and you can be formed in my image. 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:03.279 That is my favorite point of all time. 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:06.880 I could keep going on that, but I'm gonna move on because it's time to keep moving on. 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:12.000 The third thing that I want us to see in this text is that Jesus wants to give you rest. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:14.160 Jesus wants to give you rest. 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:16.400 I don't know what you think Jesus wants to give you. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:19.119 Guilt, shame, make you feel bad about something. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:19.759 I have no idea. 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:21.440 I don't know your background, I don't know your story. 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:24.400 But he says it twice here just in case you missed it the first time. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:27.359 He's like, hey, come to me and I will give you rest. 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:28.640 I want to give you rest. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:34.319 And then he says, Follow me, spend time with me, and then you will find rest with me for your soul. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:38.480 He's like, I just want you to know what I'm after for you is rest and then more rest. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:40.160 I want you to experience those things. 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:43.119 And you actually see this consistently in the scriptures. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:47.200 God, when he creates Adam and Eve, he creates Adam and Eve on day six. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:48.720 Day seven is rest day. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:49.519 It's the best. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:50.720 Rest day is the best. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:52.480 It's like day six, you're created. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:53.759 Day seven, do you want me to get to work? 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:57.200 I really you've been doing a ton, you know, five days of really strong work, God. 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:58.799 Do you want us to do something now that we're here? 00:21:58.960 --> 00:21:59.119 No. 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:04.319 I want You to take your first day on earth, planet earth, and I want you to just sit with me and enjoy time with me. 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:05.680 Just rest with me. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:12.000 But then something happens and sin gets in the way, and the sin exiles them from the place of rest that God created for them, for them. 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:15.119 And then you get to Exodus and God's giving them a new way to be human. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:16.640 He's like, I'm going to give you 10 commands. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:19.920 And one of the commands is make sure you remember to rest. 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:22.160 Take a day off of what He commands it. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:24.079 He doesn't command any other spiritual discipline. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:25.279 He commands that one. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:26.640 Make sure you Sabbath. 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:29.920 Make sure you take a day off and spend it just with me. 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:30.960 I like you. 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:33.680 I want to be with you, and you need to be with me. 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:35.119 Take some time, make sure you do that. 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:39.279 But then they're disobedient to the commands and they don't do those things, and so they don't experience the rest there. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:41.200 And then he says, Hey, I'm going to take you in numbers. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:42.559 I'm going to take you to the promised land. 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:44.799 And this land will be a space where there's no slavery. 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:46.160 There's no, you can just rest. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:47.519 I will protect you from your enemies. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:48.400 I will provide your food. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:49.519 I'll provide your water. 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:51.920 You get to go into a land of rest. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:54.000 All you got to do is go in. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:55.680 And they, again, sin gets in the way. 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:57.519 And they're like, I don't believe he's going to take us there. 00:22:57.599 --> 00:22:58.640 I don't think it's going to work. 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:01.039 And so sin gets in the way, and they don't go into the promised land. 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:06.079 And they're constantly being offered rest and then constantly missing it because of their sin. 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:10.079 And so then you get to Jesus who's like, I want to give you rest. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:12.720 What I want for you is to experience rest. 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:14.319 But your sin keeps getting in the way. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:17.200 So here's what I'll do: I'll take it on myself. 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:29.759 I'll take your sin and crush it and kill it as I'm crushed and killed on the cross so that you can ultimately experience this thing that God from creation to the end has been trying desperately to give you and can't because your sin's there, but I'm going to take care of your sin. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:32.960 I'll remove your sin so that you can enter into the rest that I actually have for you. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:36.160 I'm that committed to giving you rest, to lay down my life for it. 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:37.759 And this is what he does. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:41.279 And for me, this is the vision of Jesus that I want our church to have. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:43.680 This is the vision of Jesus I want us to experience. 00:23:43.839 --> 00:24:00.000 This is what Peter ultimately gets to in Acts 3 where he says, Hey, look, now, because of what Jesus has done, he goes, You can repent and you can turn to God and you can have your sin blotted out and removed from you, so that times of refreshing may now come. 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:05.200 Like this thing's been getting in your way over and over and over again, and now it's no longer in your way. 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:07.279 Now you can just experience the rest. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:13.519 This is who Jesus is, this is who he says that he is, and this is who he is, and this is who I want us to see him to be. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:18.240 I have these conversations with people about Jesus, and I love those people. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:21.599 Um, but I just feel I'm like you don't see, you don't see it. 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:23.440 You don't see how wonderful he is. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:29.279 This time with him, this space with him, like the things that he's offering to you, like you just don't see it. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:34.000 What was what was sold to you was like you need to believe so you don't burn in hell, and it's like, oh my gosh. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:38.400 You skipped 80 years of glory, like in between to get to know this man. 00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:43.039 You you you skipped all of the space where you could actually, all of the fears that you have could be relieved. 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:47.200 All of the spaces, the things that you're like, I want this to change and I can't, those things can begin to shift. 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:52.880 All the things that give you dread and just the longings that you feel, all of that stuff can be like you missed all of it. 00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:57.279 Anybody that's saying you need to believe, and then you can have this thing later on, it's like, what about now? 00:24:57.359 --> 00:24:58.160 What about in this space? 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:00.000 And Jesus is going, walk with me. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:03.599 I want to lead you into a space where you experience the longings in your heart. 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:06.480 This is why David would say, delight yourself in the Lord. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:12.240 Spend time with him, and then he will actually fulfill the longings of your heart, the real ones. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:16.799 But if you delight in anything else, you're gonna be searching for something to fulfill you and never finding it. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:19.759 And Jesus is going, so come, come to me. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:22.160 I can do those things. 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:24.160 I can actually lead you into that space. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:27.359 Jesus is always inviting us into something greater. 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:34.799 He longs to be with you so that you don't have to sit there and try and fix yourself, but that he can shape you and form you into who you're supposed to be. 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:36.799 And that he longs to give you rest. 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:57.839 I want our church to be a space where people can be delivered from the hard lifestyle of obligation to God and ultimately experience this space where they enter into a space of fascination with the person of Jesus and the things that they're longing for and and looking to see ultimately take shape because they're just captivated by this man. 00:25:58.640 --> 00:25:59.839 So, but this is what I want. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.279 This is what we're gonna pursue together, and we're gonna talk about this more in coming weeks. 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:05.359 But let me pray for us and then we'll take communion. 00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:09.039 Father, thank you uh for your word. 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:20.319 Thanks for this day, for the people in my life, um, just to be kind to me and pray over me and um just say these beautiful things and to remind us of what's true and real and good. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:35.920 Um Lord, there was this space in the Gospels where people were just looking for the hem of your robe, and I just everything that they wanted, they were just like, all I need is the hem of his robe. 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:38.000 And uh, Lord, that's how good you are. 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:41.839