The Promise Keeper Part 3 | Tired of being Tired with Chris Schlotterbeck

Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd

like to connect with HTV, go to htv .church forward

slash connect. If you feel called to give, go

to htv .church forward slash give. And if at

any time you feel called to make a change in

your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the

message. Hey, good morning, everyone. So good

to see you. So glad you chose to join us. If

you're joining us from home, thanks for welcoming

us into your space. Hey, can you all humor me

this morning? High five your neighbor and say,

you look like a mess. Doesn't that feel good?

Only at HCV. And the reason I do that and the

reason I asked you to do that is because our

theme for VBS 2026 or Kids Camp 2026 was What

a Mess VBS. And check out some of these images

from this past week. The kids had incredible

fun. We had tug -of -war into mud. We were squirting

people with colored paint. We were creating crafts.

We were worshiping Jesus. And on Friday, We all

got slimed. That's right. Think Nickelodeon.

And let me reassure you that the slime tastes

nasty, okay? Because it did happen to go in my

mouth. But that's okay. That's okay. It's all

for the kids. We love them. We appreciate them,

and we know that they had an incredible time.

Over 100 kids that we served, that we challenged

them to grow in their relationship with Jesus.

They are the next generation. They are the church,

and we are going to continue to pour into them.

So isn't it true that we live in a society that

has never had more conveniences than we have,

yet we've never been more exhausted? Think about

it. We have apps that save us time. We have devices

that keep us connected. We have technology that

accomplishes things in seconds as compared to

hours. Yet despite all of our advancements, all

the technology, people are tired. We're tired.

Not just physically, but emotionally, mentally,

spiritually. Many of us wake up tired. push through

the day with caffeine because we're tired, and

then go to bed exhausted. We take vacations hoping

to recover only to return to more exhaustion

because we have to catch up on everything we

left behind. We can sleep up to eight hours and

still wake up weary because the fatigue that

we are experiencing isn't just in our bodies,

but it's also in our minds. On top of that, some

of us are carrying the weight of financial stress.

Others are burdened by broken relationships,

the constant pressures of work. Oh yeah, we're

raising children. We're caring for parents. We

have guilt on our lives over past mistakes. We

have anxiety about the future. We're simply trying

to keep up with all the expectations of life.

What does the world tell us to do? Work harder.

Achieve more. Buy something new. Escape for a

while. You'll feel so much better. But many of

us know that those things are only temporary

relief. They can give us a break, yes, but they

cannot give us a rest. Real rest isn't found

in a place. Real rest isn't found in a thing.

It's found in a person. See, into a world filled

with exhausted people, Jesus extends one of the

most beautiful precious invitations in the entire

Bible. Come to me, all of you who are weary and

carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

And notice that Jesus doesn't say come to a religion.

He doesn't say come to church. He doesn't say

come when you've cleaned yourself up. He doesn't

say come when you've figured everything out.

He simply invites us to come to him. And today

we're going to continue our Promise Keeper series

for the month of July with encouraging talk focusing

on Jesus' promise to give us rest. And before

we jump into Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 through

Matthew 11:28–30

30, I want to encourage you the context of these

words that Jesus is about to speak to us. We

must remember he's speaking to a crowd of people

who are heavy hearted. They're weighed down by

the burdens of life, many of them poor, many

of them not having enough food to eat, and also

by the burdens of religion that were placed on

them. They had to jump through all these hoops

to earn God's love. This message is a message

that can significantly change your life today.

And I want to encourage you. Open your minds.

Open your ears. And open your hearts to receive

Jesus' promise. Because you could leave here

different. Which leads us to our first thought.

See, Jesus never promised an easy life. He promised

his presence. Notice what Jesus says in Matthew

11, 28. He said, come to me, all you who are

weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give

you rest. He will give us rest. See, one of the

greatest misconceptions about following Jesus

is that faith removes life's hardships and struggles.

But see, Jesus never made that promise. However,

notice in the words that we just read, he still

promises to give us rest. And the rest that Jesus

offers to us and to the people that he was speaking

to is much deeper than physical relaxation. See,

it's an inner peace, a security. a confidence

that comes from being in a right relationship

with him. The Greek word for rest is antipostis,

which means refreshment, relief, or restoration.

See, this word conveys the idea of covering one's

strength after being exhausted. It re -encourages

us, reignites us. Jesus is inviting a weary and

struggling group of people to find renewal in

him, to find strength in him. Because, see, remember,

beyond their daily struggle and their religious

burdens, if you look back to the beginning of

the chapter, Jesus is referring to one of the

greatest prophets the world has ever seen. A

man, in fact, who Jesus called the greatest man

that was ever born, named John the Baptist. And

we find at the beginning of Matthew 11, John

was struggling with his faith. We read this.

John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about

all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent

his disciples to ask Jesus, are you the Messiah

we've been expecting, or should we keep looking

for someone else? See, John had been thrown into

prison. And by this time that we're reading these

words, he had been there for a while, and he

was confused, wondering, what was happening?

What is Jesus doing? Why am I not free by now?

See, John was questioning his faith. He had been

pointing people to Jesus. He's the Messiah. Follow

him. And now he's asking, are you really the

one? I mean, think about it. This is John the

Baptist, the greatest person to walk the earth,

according to Jesus. And now he's asking questions

and struggling with doubt in his faith. And see,

this is important for us to realize because when

we have questions, when we have doubt, when we

struggle in our faith, it doesn't mean we're

bad people. It doesn't mean we don't believe

in Jesus. It means we are human. It means that

we are broken people. Doubt is a part of everyone's

faith journey. Theologian Alistair McGrath says

it this way, doubt is natural within faith. It

comes because of our human weakness and frailty.

Unbelief is the decision to live your life as

if there is no God. It is a deliberate decision

to reject Jesus and all he stands for. But doubt,

doubt is something quite different. Doubt arises

within the context of faith. It is a wistful

longing to be sure of the things that we hope

for. But it is not. and need not to be a problem.

See, doubt is a unique problem for those of us

in a relationship with Jesus. It's going to happen.

It's a part of life. Think about it. John was

pointing people to Jesus, the one he thought

was the Messiah, and look where it got him. He

was thrown in prison. He was experiencing shame,

hunger, physical and emotional torment. Not only

that, there's these unmet expectations of what

John believed the Messiah would bring to the

world, to the Jewish people. Because see, in

the Old Testament, we read about Jesus or the

Messiah bringing liberty to the captives, opening

of prison doors, that Jesus would overthrow oppressive

Roman rule. And John, right, is experiencing

none of those. He's stuck in prison, and he begins

to question his faith. And many of us, if we're

honest, we experience doubt for the same reasons.

When we encounter difficulties in this life,

whether it be at home, at school, with family

and friends, maybe it's work, could be mental

struggles, emotional struggles, relational struggles.

Sometimes it feels like everything, all the above.

But how about those unmet expectations? See,

maybe we've tried to trust God for a season.

And it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

In fact, it's getting worse. So we begin to doubt.

We begin to question, God, are you there for

me? Do you love me? Do you care about me? God,

I think you are good, but why isn't anything

changing in my life? Why won't this struggle

end? And friends, we must remember that all of

us have a limited perception of reality, just

like John the Baptist. The greatest man to ever

walk the earth had no idea of the story that

Jesus the Messiah and how it would play out.

He had no idea Jesus was bringing a totally different

kind of kingdom to this world. See, this wasn't

about overthrowing the regime. It was about Jesus

changing the world as we know it. John didn't

know that. And in his human perspective, which

is small and just like ours, When we go through

these difficult seasons and we have these unmet

expectations, we must remember our perspective

on life is very limited. So there is this reality

that we're going to doubt. It's a part of having

faith. And not only are we going to doubt, but

listen to these words from Jesus that confirm,

hey, church, life is hard. And in this life,

we're not going to have all the answers. Look

at Matthew 7 from Jesus' famous Sermon on the

Mount. You can enter God's kingdom only through

the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad

and its gate is wide for the many who choose

that way. But the gateway to life, that means

a relationship with Jesus, is very narrow and

the road is difficult and only a few ever find

it. That's Jesus' words. He's telling us, hey,

if you're going to follow me, it's going to be

hard. It's going to be difficult, which is why

some people choose not to follow. And it's not

just there. Let's look at a few more. Matthew

10, 16 to 18 and 21. Look, I'm sending you out

as sheep among wolves. Now, think about it. If

you're a sheep, the last place you're running

is to a pack of wolves. Because sheep have no

defense mechanisms, and the only thing they can

do is run, and they're slow. That's not good

news for us, but Jesus says, you're like a pack

of sheep running towards the wolves. Let's continue.

So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves,

but beware, for you will be handed over to the

courts and will be flogged with whips in the

synagogues. You will stand trial before governors

and kings because you are my followers, but this

will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and

other unbelievers about me. Is that going to

be easy? Nope. Continuing on. A brother will

betray his brother to death. A father will betray

his own child. And children will rebel against

their parents and cause them to be killed. And

all the nations will hate you because you are

my followers. Isn't this all good news? Oh, let's

continue on. Matthew 10, 38 to 39, if you refuse

to take up your cross and follow me, you are

not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your

life, you'll lose it. But if you give up your

life for me, you will find it. Hey, church, go

be crucified. Lose your life. That's not easy.

See, we have to realize there's days, there's

going to be nights, there's going to be months,

there's going to be even seasons of life. that

we're going to walk through on our journey with

Jesus, that are hard. Faith is hard. Then on

top of that, we have all the burdens of this

world that we carry and weigh us down every single

day in so many ways. Again, it doesn't matter

if it's school, work, jobs, responsibilities,

financial burdens, physical burdens, sickness

like disease and pain, emotional burdens like

anxiety, depression, obsessive thoughts. Relational

burdens. Family, friends, coworkers, classmates.

Worldly burdens like wars and rumors of wars.

Religionist burdens. Like we saw in these verses.

So many people thinking they're not doing enough

for God and holding on to this guilt and shame

from their past. I mean, if we're honest, burdens

in this world are real. They're heavy. They're

painful. And they cause us pain. But we must

remember that Jesus told us that this would happen.

It's a part of faith. Look at John 16, 33. I

have told you all this so you may have peace

in me. Here on earth, you have many trials and

sorrows, but take heart because I've overcome

the world. So what I'm trying to explain to you

is we shouldn't be surprised by trials, sorrows,

and pain that we experience in this world. The

Bible tells us that we live in a fallen, broken

world. Jesus told us that these trials, these

sorrows are part of following him. So we live

in a fallen world. We know life can be messy.

The pain is real. And burdens are heavy to carry.

All of that leads us to the good news in our

next thought. When faith is hard and burdens

are heavy, Jesus doesn't add to life's burdens.

He helps us carry them. Notice Matthew 11, 28

to 29. Then Jesus said, Come to me, all you who

are weary and carry heavy burdens. I will give

you rest. Take my yoke upon you. That is not

the yoke that you ate this morning for breakfast.

Let me teach you because I am humble and gentle

at heart and you will find rest for your souls.

See, Jesus is painting a picture for us to see.

See, two oxen get into what is called a yoke

like this one together. For the purpose of carrying

weight. So take a look at this picture. In this

image, quite often, what farmers did was farmers

would take an ox who was weaker or younger and

they would put him in a yoke like this with an

ox who was stronger. So the strong ox, what?

Would carry the load and the weaker ox can learn

to follow. And trust the stronger ox. Now today

is the World Cup Championship. 3 p .m. And the

world has been captivated by these games. One

player that took center stage until they were

knocked out last week was the striking Viking.

Erling Haaland. Take a look at him. He's a Norwegian

6 '5 muscular goal scoring machine. that you

can see is very intimidating and aggressive.

Now, I want you to imagine for a second you being

yoked with Erling. Okay? There's not many of

you that are going to look at that man and say,

don't worry, Erling, I got this. I will lead

the way. I will carry us. You're not going to

say that if you see that guy. You're going to

say, hey, striking Viking, have your way. Lead

the way. So that is the picture that Jesus is

giving us here, except Jesus is infinitely greater

and infinitely stronger than Erling Haaland.

I mean, we're talking about Jesus here. God in

flesh. He created the heavens and earth. He upholds

the world by his power, and he's inviting us.

To get into the yoke with him. And don't miss

this. Jesus wants to carry our load. This isn't

50 -50. This isn't 80 -20. Jesus is God. And

he can handle the entire load that we carry every

single day. Jesus is saying to us today, I will

carry this weight with you and for you. You can't

carry it on your own. So we learned that faith

is hard. We learned that the burdens of this

world are tiresome and wearisome. And church,

you can't do it on your own. Burdens are too

heavy to carry in your own strength. And Jesus

is inviting us today, come to him. But the crazy

thing is, go back to that oxen picture. Even

this image is wrong. When it comes to our relationship

with Jesus. Because he doesn't come beside us.

He comes to live inside of us. Listen to Colossians

1, 27 and 29. For God wanted them to know that

the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles

too. And this is the secret. Christ lives in

you. Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance

of sharing his glory. So we tell others about

Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone

with all the wisdom God has given us. We want

to present them to God, perfect in their relationship

with Christ. Notice what Paul says here. That's

why I work and struggle so hard, depending on

Christ's mighty power that works in me. So you

hear that Paul is working. He is struggling.

And some of you, if you don't know, we learn

in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 that Paul had been

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

thrown into prison. He had been beaten with rods

to the point of death. He had been stoned, shipwrecked.

He was in danger from Jewish people, Gentiles,

robbers. There was danger in the city, dangers

in the wilderness, dangers at sea. He was experiencing

hunger, pain, exposure to the elements. And the

list goes on and on. And what Paul is trying

to explain to us is faith is hard. But he overcomes

all of it with Jesus. He says, life is difficult,

but the yoke is easy. Church, when we have the

supernatural power of Jesus living inside of

us. See, this is life -changing truth when we

embrace it. When we embrace the power of God

living inside of us. And unfortunately, there's

so many followers of Jesus, including some of

you gathered here today, that don't realize.

When you choose to follow Jesus, when you put

your faith in him, yes, he forgives us. Yes,

he reconnects us with the Father, but he also

fills us with his spirit. He puts the Holy Spirit

of God inside of us to comfort us. John 14, read

it. To strengthen us, Philippians 4, read it.

To give us wisdom when we need it, James 1 and

3, read it. To have victory over temptation,

Romans chapter 8. To help us with doubt and struggles.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Just read the book of Ecclesiastes. The Holy

Spirit empowers us to share our stories, Acts

1 and 2. It's all in there. See, we don't fight

the fight of faith in our own strength. Jesus

inside of us fights for us. We don't have to

carry burdens on our own. Jesus inside of us.

He says, cast your cares, your struggles on me

because I care about you. In fact, he says, I

care about you so much that I put my spirit inside

of you. We know that the Holy Spirit is known

as the comforter. I put the comforter in you.

I don't just give you help. I put the helper

inside of you. I just don't give you wisdom.

I put the spirit of wisdom inside of you. I don't

just give you guidance. I put the guide inside

of you. Jesus is saying, I put my hope, my strength,

my love in you. Jesus doesn't guarantee that

our life will be easier. In fact, he says, in

this world you will have troubles. But he does

guarantee we have the power to live beyond this

world. That his yoke is easy. And that his burden

is light. Which leads us to our third and final

thought today. See, Jesus' burden is light because

of his love for us. It's continuing. Matthew

11, 28 -30. He said, come to me. All you who

are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will

give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me

teach you, because I am humble and gentle at

heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I

give you is light. So if we choose to follow

Jesus and get into this yoke with him, that means

his commands that he's given to us are not a

burden. In fact, they are. Let's read 1 John

5, 2 through 3. We know we love God's children

if we love God and obey his commandments. Now

notice, loving God means keeping his commandments

and his commandments are not burdensome. So notice,

Jesus' commands are not burdensome. They're not

another thing that we have to do. So we have

to realize when Jesus says this, when he tells

us this, that we wouldn't carry any burdens.

We have to understand that we have to give them

to him. Because if I was to tell you, hey, I

need you to lift 500 pounds above your head,

I don't think there's many of us that could do

that, true or false. In fact, I don't believe

any of you could do it. I know I couldn't. But

as we already discussed, how being in the yoke

with Jesus gives us supernatural power to carry

out his commands. Because of Jesus' power living

inside of us, you can be free from addiction

in this world today. Because of Jesus' power

living inside of us, we can say no to sin. We

can say no to temptation. Because of Jesus living

inside of us, we can endure through suffering.

Because after all, the one that conquered all

sin, shame, Satan, and death lives inside of

us. So that makes the burden of following his

commands light and easy. All of us have things

we don't like to do. And it's those things that

feel like a burden. However, when we realize

how much God loves us, no command of his is a

burden on us. How much does God love us? Well,

1 John 4, 7 through 8, Dear friends, let us continue

to love one another, for love comes from God.

Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows

God, but anyone who does not love does not know

God, for God is love. God is love. So therefore,

the burden is light for us when we realize how

awesome Jesus is and how much he loves us. How

much did he love us? Well, for this is how God

loved the world. He gave Jesus, his one and only

son, so that everyone who believes in him will

not perish but have eternal life. Now, for many

of us, there is no greater love relationship

in this life than the relationship that we have

in our marriage, for those of you that are married.

See, the relationship that I have with my wife,

Jessica, is the greatest love relationship that

I've ever been in. In fact, I still remember

the first time that I saw Jess walking down the

aisle at Red Lobster, not at a church. I knew.

And I'm not making this up that I was going to

marry her. In fact, it was if I heard God say

that that is the woman you will marry. Now, I

didn't even know God then. I didn't even know

the Holy Spirit. I didn't even know what that

meant. But it was this inside of me, I just kind

of knew it. And because of that, I instantly

wanted to meet her, get to know her, and figure

out what she was all about. So I began to flirt.

ask her questions about who she was and what

she wanted to do with her life. I had no idea

that would lead me into a relationship with Jesus

because she shared Jesus with me. And because

of these interactions and because me coming into

a relationship with Jesus, my connection with

her only strengthened to be in a relationship.

However, Jess was not as confident as I was.

About our friendship, our relationship, our connection.

So she was constantly telling me she didn't want

a relationship. Boys are bad for me. She only

wanted to focus on Jesus. So we were just friends

for months. Years, in fact. We attended college

together every day. We encouraged one another.

We remained focused on growing our relationship

with God, not each other. And that led us going

on a mission trip together to Ecuador. And it

was there that God gave Jess a vision of her

and I's life together. And that is a story you

can get from her. That vision led to her saying

to me as soon as we got home, okay, we can get

married. Heck, I didn't even have to ask her.

I didn't have to buy a ring. I didn't do nothing.

But eventually I did those things. Yes, we were

young. Yes, we had no clue what we were doing.

But we stood in front of hundreds of people and

God, and we made a commitment to live together

for life. And let me tell you, that was not a

heavy burden. That was one of the greatest days

of my life. And for the last 29 years, we have

fallen more and more and more in love with one

another. And hear me out, it hasn't been easy.

Marriage is hard. But it certainly hasn't been

a burden for me. I want to be with her. I desire

to be with her. I can't spend enough time with

her because she is beautiful. I love her and

she loves me back. Now make the parallel for

a moment. Imagine not just standing next to me.

Imagine Jesus standing next to me right now.

Imagine Jesus standing next to you right now

because according to the Bible, he is right beside

us. Because the last time I checked, there's

more than two of us here. So therefore his spirit

is here. And as soon as I imagine that, yes,

my wife is great, but Jesus is infinitely greater

than she is. And that's no disrespect, because

I know she would say the same thing about me.

Jesus is love. He defines love. He is perfect

love. And neither me or Jess could ever do that

for one another. Jesus is God. He created me.

He formed me, my mother's womb. He knows me inside

and out, which means he knows what's best for

me. And I believe when we realize how much Jesus

loves us and cares for us, we won't see his teachings

as a heavy burden. We'll see them as a way of

experiencing a life of abundance, and we will

want to practice them. See, this truth, this

promise from Jesus changes everything. But unfortunately,

so many Jesus followers view a relationship with

God as simply a list of burdensome commands to

follow. Do this. Avoid that. Flee this. Do that.

And so many of us, we don't want to follow any

of those commands. We feel like they're burdens.

It's a burden to be pure. I love looking at women.

What do you mean we can't live together? What

do you mean we have to be married? I enjoy sex.

What? We got to read the Bible? Fast pray? I

got to give back to the church? So many people

think, well, I need to do that because I'm supposed

to. And after all, I don't want to go to hell.

And dare I say, that's not a relationship with

Jesus. If that's you, that's not a relationship

with Jesus. That's cultural Christianity. And

you've bought into that lie. that leaves so many

people completely empty and emotionless. If faith

feels like a burden for you, like it does for

so many, Jesus is calling you to experience rest

today. This passage is calling you and me to

wake up and see how beautiful, how powerful,

how lovely Jesus is. He is infinitely better

than anyone or anything in this world all put

together. He loves us so much. He created you.

He formed you inside and out. He knows what is

best for your life. And when Jesus tells us to

do something, realize that it is for our best.

It is not a burden. So I want to encourage you,

don't miss out on an encounter with Jesus today.

Be open to what the Holy Spirit wants to do.

Uncross your arms. Lift and raise your arms.

Wake up. Stop going through the motions, church,

of a religious routine because it has no life.

It has no meaning. It's just a box you check.

Be willing to encounter the God of love today.

See, the world that we live in wants to tear

us down, wants to pull us away from God, doesn't

want us to follow. We're constantly bombarded

with messages that tell us to live life on our

own strength. Do whatever pleases you. Eat, drink,

be merry. Focus on your finances. Get all the

things you want. Friends, it's just not God's

best. Jesus' promise for rest is for all of us.

And I believe all of us need it. Which leads

us to our three simple action steps responding

to the greatest invitation ever given to this

world. And the first is this. We're invited to

come. We're invited to come to Jesus. Then Jesus

said, come to me, church, all of you who are

weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give

you rest. And see, rest begins with surrender.

Before Jesus tells us anything to do, before

he tells us where to go, he invites us to be

in relationship with him in Revelation 3 .20.

He's standing at the door. He's knocking. If

you hear my voice and open the door, I will come

in and we'll share a meal together as friends.

And for often, many of us, we chase after distractions.

When we're tired and weary, we distract our lives.

We run to relationships. We run to money. We

run to entertainment and Netflix, hoping it will

just calm down our anxious hearts. We look for

recognition. We pursue achievement. When in reality,

Jesus invites us to bring everything to him.

We were never meant to carry that weight. We

were never meant to carry those burdens. He is

inviting us to partner with him instead of carrying

them alone. I want to encourage you. Stop trying

to fix yourself. Stop trying to do everything

in your own strength. Surrender your worries,

your fears, your guilt, your exhaustion. Surrender

them to God today. And I want to encourage you,

you don't have to clean yourself up before you

come. You simply have to come. Now I want to

pause there just for a second. Many of you know

that every single week we pray a simple prayer

here at HTV. We invite people to come into a

relationship with Jesus. Because that's the first

step in encountering real life change. So I'm

going to pause here during this time in our gathering.

I want you to search your heart. I'm going to

invite the Holy Spirit to come and I want it

to be awkwardly silent for a few seconds. Search

your heart. Are you in a real loving relationship

with Jesus? Are you simply going through a bunch

of religious activities that have become a burden

for you? Do you believe he releases abundant

life to you? Well, he is the way, the truth,

and life. And if you're not in that relationship,

pray this simple prayer with all of us today

and welcome home. Let's pray. Jesus, I'm broken.

I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin. Change

me. Forgive me. I believe you're God's son. I

believe. You died for me. I believe you're alive

today. Make me new. Set me free. Fill me with

your spirit. Help me, God, to serve others. In

Jesus' name, amen. So listen, if you prayed that

prayer for the first time today, see me, see

Rudy, go to the Welcome Hub. Let us know. that

you made that commitment. We want to get you

baptized at the end of August. We want to give

you some next steps so that you can learn our

second step, how to walk with Jesus. So we come

to Jesus, then we walk with Jesus. Then Jesus

said, come to me, all you who are weary and carry

heavy burdens, and I'll give you rest. Take my

yoke, remember the yoke, upon you, giving him

everything. Listen to the message paraphrase.

Are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion?

Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover

your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with me. Work with me. Watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't

lay anything heavy or ill -fitting on you. Keep

company with me and you'll learn to live freely

and lightly. Remember that yoke wasn't something

The ox carried by itself. It was two joined together.

So Jesus isn't asking us to carry life burdens

alone. He's saying, hey, let me come live inside

of you. Because when we're yoked to Jesus, he

carries the weight. He directs our steps. He

sets the pace. Because see, too often we race

ahead of God or we fall behind. And that's when

we try to do life in our own strength. Doing

life in our own strength doesn't allow us to

be yoked to Jesus, Colossians 2 .6. And now,

just as you accepted Jesus as your Lord, continue

to follow him. Let your roots grow down into

him and let your lives be built on him. Then

your faith will grow strong in the truth you

were taught and you overflow with thankfulness.

We're built on Jesus. Our lives are built on

that relationship. So I want to give you permission

today. Slow down. Slow down your pace of life.

You say, why do I need to slow down? Jesus lived

slowly. He walked everywhere. He took time to

escape, to pray, to get with God, his father.

He wasn't weighed down by everything that he

had to do. You have permission to slow down.

You can do the work tomorrow. Even today, I was

already thinking, oh, I got to fix the pool.

I got to fix the sink. I got to do all these

things this afternoon. I'm like, why? Why do

I have to do it? Because we're Americans. We

got to get it done. But we don't have to. I want

to encourage you, slow down your pace of life.

Connect with him daily through prayer and scripture.

Take it a step further. You have the Holy Spirit

living inside of you. Wake up before your feet

at the floor. Jesus, what are you doing today?

And how can I join you? How can I partner with

you? See, the goal of a relationship with Jesus

isn't simply doing things for Jesus. It's sharing

life with him. It's being in relationship with

him. Which leads us to our final step. We come

to Jesus. We walk with Jesus. We learn from Jesus.

Come to me, all you who are weary and carry every

burden. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon

you. Let me teach you. There it is. Because I

am humble and gentle at heart. And you will find

rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear.

And the burden I give you is light. See, Jesus

doesn't simply remove our burdens. He transforms

the person that is carrying them. He makes us

a new person. And the more we learn his heart,

the more we learn about his love, the more we

begin to think, respond, trust, forgive, and

love like him. See, the greatest classroom, I

believe, for a relationship with Jesus isn't

this building. It's Monday morning. That's your

classroom. It's your everyday life. That's when

we need to depend on Jesus. That's when we need

to read the Bible and apply it to our lives.

That's when we need to ask the Holy Spirit to

convict us of our sin, that we learn from our

experiences that are changing. 1 Peter 2 .21

says, For God called you to do good, church,

even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered

for you. He is your example, and you must follow

in his steps. So get in a Bible plan. Read it.

Apply it to your life. Read the Gospels every

single day. You say, why would I read the Gospels?

That's the story about Jesus' life. You learn

how he walked, how he talked, what he did, who

he served. That should be a part of our everyday

reading. You should be in a devotional and you

should be reading the Gospels. And you say, well,

Chris, you said you should. That's, you're trying

to guilt. No, I'm not trying to guilt you. That's

called falling in love with God. That's called

being a believer that takes Jesus' words and

applies them to our life and then becomes a different

person for the world to see. Ask the Holy Spirit

to shape your character. Say, God, I want to

be a reflection of you to others. When you have

a decision to make, involve God. Don't just do

it in your own strength. Don't just assume you

know the answers because chances are we don't.

See, the more we learn from Jesus, the more we

experience rest. And if we're honest, many of

us need that rest today. So here's how I want

to close. I'm going to ask you to take a step

of faith. I believe that many of you walked into

this place today That you were carrying something

that was too much for you to bear. And I could

list a thousand things, but I don't have to.

Because you know your heart. You know your mind.

You know what you're going through. Could be

a sickness. Could be relational, financial. Could

be anything. And I want to ask you to take a

step of faith and to experience rest today. So

if you brought a burden into this place that

you can't bear, that you can't carry, and you're

overwhelmed by it, I want you to stand up right

now. I'm Holy Spirit. Yes, God. Yes, God. Anybody

else? Okay. So church, if you're sitting, you're

the church. So if you're around or near someone

that's standing, go, introduce yourself, and

pray for them now. Stay still. No, you two stood.

You can't pray for each other. I want you prayed

for. Let's go. Be the church. Be the church.

Be the church. Be the church. Be the church.

Listen, if we can't pray for people in this room,

you're not going to pray for people outside these

walls. If there's no one praying for you yet,

put your hand up. Okay, I got two people up front.

I got three, five people back there. If you're

sitting, Wendell, Becky, go. Chris, go. I need

someone up here praying for John. I need a lady

up here. Three men back here. John, I need a

lady over here, please. I need two people. Hey,

hey guys. If you're sitting in a chair with your

arms crossed, God's telling you to go pray for

someone. Just saying. Over here. There's people

over here. People over here. Thank you. Thank

you. Come Holy Spirit. There's still a guy back

here that needs prayed for. A lady. Please. There

we go. Here we come. Mike's coming in. There

we go. Mike's coming in. There we go. Move, Holy

Spirit. Need a lady back here. Thank you. Thank

you, Jesus. God, I just speak freedom. I speak

healing, God. I speak restoration. I'm just grateful,

God. That we can be a part of a community of

faith where we stand together and we can lay

down our burdens. I choose as an act of my will

to lay down the burden that I'm carrying. Holy

Spirit, move in this place. Release your grace.

Release your mercy, God. We're grateful for the

testimonies that are going to come out of this

time of prayer, God. We speak healing. We speak

relational restoration. We speak hope, meaning,

life change. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name.

Now you can continue to pray for them. There

were several words of knowledge I want to share

with you that I received this week from the prayer

team. You have an irregular heartbeat. You have

muscle tension in the base of your neck. You

have inner ear infection or pain. You have a

painful left hip joint. You have nerve in the

right elbow that is pinched and causing numbness.

There's multiple people struggling with anxiety.

And you have a bulging disc in the vertebrae

of your neck that's causing you not to be able

to turn your head. So if any of those are you,

our prayer team would be on my right and my left

to pray for you. And before we go and encourage

you next week, we will close out our Promise

Keeper series, listening to Jesus's promise that

we will hear his voice. My wife will be here

sharing with all of you. God bless you guys.

Have a great rest of your week.