The Way of Jesus

All right.

Well, it is great to see everybody this morning.

My name is Russ, and I'm one of the pastors here at Church at the Grove, and I want to say a big welcome to all of you.

We're always so glad to see our church family together.

But some of you might be here for the first or second time.

You are especially welcome.

We always want to want people to see warmth and friendship, but I'll tell you, my biggest desire, my biggest prayer is that you'll have an encounter with the Lord this morning.

And I I want to just start with prayer.

My heart's heavy with just things that are happening in our world.

There's a sweet lady named Charlotte Porter that attends our church, and she is from Jamaica, and she travels back and forth doing ministry.

And so I don't have anything like tangible to give you, but in the next few weeks, I think we'll probably have some tangible ways for you to give and support.

She probably doesn't want me to call her out, but there she is.

And I want us to pray for her and her family and the people that she ministers to.

And we're going to have opportunities to give.

And I'm praying that maybe God will open a door where some of us might be able to go and help.

But my heart's heavy for that.

My heart's heavy for our nation in general and our world.

There seems to be a lot of pressure, a pressurized environment.

And then there's just people.

There's people.

One of my best friends had surgery this past week for cancer.

And there's our it seems like our family has been stricken with a lot of people dealing with heavy issues.

And that's not to mention those of you that I don't know anything about what's going on in the most private areas of your life, but I would imagine that there's some hurt and pain and pressure and the circumstances that you're in.

And I hope this message today and the series that we're beginning today will speak and bring you into just the loving arms of our Savior Jesus.

Can we just pray together?

Let's pray together.

Father, thank you.

Thank you for your goodness.

And God, we start there.

You are good.

Despite anything we see, circumstances, the people, things in our life that are placing undue pressure on us.

Some of those things are so real.

Some of them are things that maybe the enemy wants to impose upon us.

Lord, we pray that you would be, God, our place of refuge, our place of rest.

God, you will wrap your arms around those that are hurting.

I pray for the people of Jamaica.

I pray for God, you to, number one, just that they would sense that you are with them.

And Lord, I pray for aid.

I pray for help.

I'm so thankful when I see organizations like Samaritan Purse loading planes and knowing that they're going to deliver practical needs, but they're also going to take the message of Jesus.

And so, Lord, lead us and guide us.

I pray that we can be a support to Miss Charlotte as she ministers.

I know her heart is heavy for her people, and God lead us as we can help her and help the people in Jamaica, Lord, open doors where we can minister in the best way possible.

God, just show up this morning.

Wrap your arms around every person here, Lord.

And there's some stories that I know about, but there's a lot of things that I don't know about.

I know that people need the touch of Jesus in their life.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Now, um, a couple things.

I know we're going to hear about this a little bit later, but I want to just you to be, I want this to be on your radar.

Operation Christmas Child's coming.

So I looked for boxes.

I think last week a lot of them got gone.

I hope we got more that'll be out here at the end of this service for you to grab a box.

And then Shop with a Heroes coming up Saturday, December 6th.

And it's an opportunity for all of us to serve together.

Also an opportunity for you to give and to exercise your generosity, and we're going to see God do some amazing things.

We've got a healing, a night of worship and healing service in a couple of weeks on November 14th.

Now, for those of you that come from a different background, uh, you know, when you hear healing service, it might scare you to death.

It's not, I, it's nothing to be scared of.

We're just trying to, as we read scripture, our leadership is saying, hey, in James, James said, hey, if you've got an issue or need healing, come and ask the elders to pray for you.

So we're just trying to provide an environment where we can do what the Bible says we should be doing.

And so we I'd love for you to have that on your radar as we as we approach that in a couple of weeks.

Now, I know some of you expect me to say some obligatory comment about an athletic event.

And listen, I'm not gonna get drawn into that.

I am not gonna, I'm not gonna talk about it.

I'm not gonna talk, no, don't don't bark.

I I don't have to say anything.

All I gotta do is drink my drink.

I love all of you.

Alright, so we're talking about the new series, Under Pressure.

Um listen, we're all we're we're all dealing with things that can add pressure in our life.

Add pressure.

I've got a friend in my neighborhood that walks and runs a little bit, and he's wearing this funny little vest.

I thought it was like a bulletproof vest.

I thought, man, I know the world's going crazy, but can you not run through our neighborhood without a bulletproof vest?

But I asked him, and it was a weighted vest.

And he was telling about how that extra weight, you know, you can walk or run without it, but that extra weight helps you get your heart rate up and get healthier.

I've got enough extra weight.

I don't need a weighted vest, but I do carry a heavy backpack sometimes.

And so we'll come back to that.

But we we we tend to carry a lot of extra weight, and and it seems to be overwhelming.

There's pressure that comes with that.

If you wanted to use a weighted vest or something like that, man, at the end of a long walk or run, you feel that pressure.

You feel it.

And we see it the same way in all of our lives, where we live lives, and there's life throws us challenges and responsibilities, and there's pressure.

There's pressure.

When you lay your head down at night, sometimes your mind is spinning.

I know it happens for me, and sometimes you don't get the kind of rest that you feel like you need, and you you wake up and you might even get an extra hour of sleep.

But you know something?

You don't, your kids run on a different clock.

So sometimes you think that extra hour's coming.

I'm an empty nester.

I really enjoyed my extra hour.

But what about the areas that aren't so tangible and easily identifiable?

Things that we might not be able to register, but man, they add pressure.

And I think all of us can identify with that.

There's pressure.

There's pressure that we have from the distractions in life, and a little, I pulled this out of my pocket.

That's this is a huge distraction.

Um adds pressure.

It's hard to get away from the pressure sometimes because it you you put it in your pocket.

Finances.

You know, I my heart hurts, especially for younger couples that just can't afford to go buy a house like some of us did when we were younger.

There's financial pressure.

I know many of us have things, things that we can't control.

Marriage.

Marriage is hard.

Marriage is rewarding and it's beautiful, and it's God's plan, but but it comes with challenges.

It's a tool that God, I think, uses to bring us into a place of sanctification.

Parenting.

Parenting brings with it some pressure.

Anybody?

Anybody with me?

You're staring at like cold blind people, like hang in there every now and then throw an amen, okay?

Just to let me know you're there.

Work, work.

How about just news?

Just sometimes you've got to cut off a TV or get away from what's going on and spend time with the Lord and in His Word.

Grief.

Grief.

There's a lot of people who experience loss and are still walking in that.

So, like a weighted vest or a packed backpack, we walk around carrying the weight and the pressure.

But here's something I've noticed.

Because of the pressure that we all face, we look for something in our lives that can help relieve the pressure.

Much like a plumbing valve, as the pressure increases, the valve needs to be turned to a point that it will release some pressure because if you don't release the pressure, something will explode.

So how do we cope?

How do we cope when there's pressure?

Sometimes we, it's just a short list of ways.

Sometimes we we escape.

We escape with entertainment.

Sometimes we escape with sports.

A lot of times these things are not bad or evil in and of themselves, but but when they become an idol and they're lifted up, they're not healthy.

Substance abuse is a way to relieve pressure, but it's not what God wants you to do.

Sometimes it's it's food or it's spending or or withdrawal.

Withdrawal.

And that hits home with me.

I've always considered myself somewhat extroverted.

And you know, you can correct me if I'm wrong, because y'all know me.

But I found that this year, maybe dealing with grief and loss, that I have been, it's easy for me to withdraw more than normal.

It's not healthy.

Cynicism, sarcasm, fantasy, flirtation.

I mean, you I could go on the list.

I mean, gambling, things that release these chemicals in our life, pornography, even anger.

Anger.

And so as we talk about this series, under pressure, we want to discuss how the Bible leads us to a place where all of this pressure can be relieved in a way that glorifies our Heavenly Father, but is also good for us.

And so the big idea for this morning is this Jesus does not remove the pressure, He carries the weight with you.

He carries the weight with you.

And so we're going to be in Matthew chapter 11 this morning.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

If you have a copy of God's word with you, Matthew chapter 11, and we're going to look at how Jesus is about midway through his ministry in the gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

He's speaking to the people of Israel.

And I can't imagine the pressure that they were under.

God's people, the people that Jesus is ministering to, what kind of pressures were they dealing with?

I think one of the pressures they were dealing with was religious pressure.

Undue pressure forced upon them by the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Zealots and the Essene, different groups that were very political-minded, and sometimes the political aspect trumped the relational part that we should have with our Heavenly Father.

They were pressured into performing, performing without necessarily a relationship, but not only religious pressure, it was the social and political pressure.

Rome, at this time that Jesus is doing ministry, Rome is the empire that's in control of most of the world at that point, and they did not get along with the Jewish people.

So, man, they kept their heel on the back of their necks.

And sometimes it was brutal.

It was brutal.

I mean, you look at the history of the Jewish people and their whole existence, they faced this type of pressure.

They were ruled with iron fists, they were heavily taxed over and above regular Roman citizens.

And so Jesus is speaking to this audience, and he is a breath of fresh air.

Not to mention what they're dealing with that we all deal with.

Our health, our marriages, our parenting, not all that they've got to add to the fact that they're under political and religious pressure.

And so Jesus is speaking to this audience that probably is a bit weak and feeble.

They're struggling with the pressures of life.

And you know what?

I think he's speaking to you, and I think he's speaking to me.

And so Matthew 11, 28, that's one of my favorite sections, just a few verses.

And here's what Jesus says: He says, Come to me.

Come to me.

All of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take up my yoke and learn from me because I am lowly and humble.

And this is the Christian standard Bible.

Other translations use the terms gentle and lowly.

He said, Because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Would you just say that last sentence, verse 30 with me?

Let's say it together.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Man.

You need to hear that.

I need it.

I need it.

It's profound.

Jesus is releasing the pressure.

He's not adding to the pressure.

He says an easy yoke is here.

There is rest.

This is the only time in all four of the gospels where Jesus gives you insight into his own heart.

He describes his own heart.

He says, I'm lowly, I'm humble, I'm gentle and lowly.

He doesn't talk about how holy he is right here, but Jesus is holy.

He is separate.

He is other than us.

He's the second person in the Trinity.

I may have said this a couple times the last several weeks.

You know, God, the Heavenly Father, is God without skin.

Jesus, the second person in the Trinity, is God in human skin.

And then the Holy Spirit is God in your skin.

And so, but today we're looking at the second person.

We're looking at Jesus.

Dane Ortland that writes a book.

And listen, I love to give you resources.

And I know a lot of people aren't readers, but you want a book that will encourage you.

It's written by Dane Ortland.

It's titled Gentle and Lowly, The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers.

And I tell you that because this it is a book that is profound, but it is easy to read.

And it has become my companion these last couple of years.

Dane Ortland says in his book, he says the posture most natural to Jesus is not a pointed finger.

But rather open arms.

That's the posture of Jesus.

Someone asked you to do something for a second.

Will you just close your eyes?

Would you take a deep breath?

And we're not about to do yoga.

I just want you to I want I want you to have a picture.

All of us probably have pictures of Jesus, maybe from a series we've watched or a movie.

But I want you to picture Jesus with a smile, or maybe even a laugh, in the middle of a laugh, as he opens his arms.

And I want you to think about anybody else that needs to step into that setting.

For him to wrap his arms around you.

I want you to think about you and what you're going through.

And he comes to wrap his arms around you.

Take one more deep breath.

And open your eyes.

Man, we could almost stop right there, couldn't we?

But I have so much more to cover.

So he invites us.

He's holy and he's just and he's powerful.

He's all-knowing.

But he says, I'm gentle and lowly.

When he describes himself, that's what he says.

And listen, Jesus is available.

He's not unapproachable.

Listen, he is not exhausted by your exhaustion.

He doesn't roll his eyes.

He doesn't point a finger.

He says, come.

He says, come.

I want to give you a few things to consider.

If you're a note taker, these are kind of pegs or ladders on a rungs on a ladder that hopefully you can tangibly join in this journey.

The first thing I want you to consider is this.

Jesus invited the pressure to come, not perform.

He invited the pressure to come, not to perform.

And I, man, that's a tough thing in life because there's always something to do, there's always things to complete, tasks complete.

And of course, sometimes we struggle in our humanity, even though we know the truth.

I think our default is behavior modification where we focus over on performance rather than the grace that God gives us.

So notice what Jesus says.

He says, Come to me.

He doesn't say get it together, you know, pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

He says, Come to me.

What's the qualification?

It's not strength, it's burden.

You got a burden?

He says, Come.

Come to me.

Jesus is inviting.

He invites those that feel like they're strong and they can handle life on their own, but he invites those of us who are at times weak.

And your struggles don't disqualify you from Jesus.

They're the reason he invites you.

And so if you are weary, you are wanted by Jesus.

If you are burdened, you are welcomed.

And if you feel the pressure life, you are the one that he's talking to in this passage.

1 Peter 5.7 says this.

He says, casting all your cares on him because he cares for you.

He cares for you.

He cares for you.

Listen, so Jonah, come out, help me out here, Jonah.

So I brought, I do carry a backpack, and it's almost like I'm afraid.

You know, it's the way I pack too when I go on trips.

Jill will come out with a bag about this big, and I come out rolling my suitcase.

I never, I'm I have this fear I'm gonna forget something.

Will you help put that on me?

I still have a shoulder issue.

Um and so but so, so, so listen, this is this is kind of representative.

Joan's gonna stay right here for a second.

This is representative of how we how we live life, right?

We're carrying our burdens, we're carrying all the weight of our issues and our problems and our sin and our shame.

And and we we want to get rid of it.

We might even hear the truth, but but for whatever reason, we have a hard time letting go.

It's all this stuff.

Sometimes we like playing the victim, or sometimes we like you know being weak and feeble.

We think maybe we'll get more attention.

But we hear a truth like this and like we love it, we love it.

Man, Jesus is gonna help me with my burdens.

And so I think this is kind of the first picture is hey, Jesus, will you help me?

Because I'm gonna hold on to this strap.

And Jesus, will you hold on to that strap?

And and and man, how many of you like this picture where Jesus comes along and we we hold one strap, he holds another strap?

Sounds good.

It's not biblical.

What's the gospel teaches?

Listen, he there is an exchange that takes place because of his work on the cross, where he doesn't partner with me.

He becomes my rescuer.

And he doesn't take a strap, he takes every bit of the weight, the shame, the burden, the hurts, and his promise is that he will be the one who bears it and he fulfilled that on the cross.

Yes, it's okay to clap, it's okay to clap.

Do I need to go back through the different kinds of claps?

The golf clap, the curvy smart clap, the hallelujah clap, man.

You're getting excited by Jesus.

And so Jonah, you can lay the burdens down for a second.

I like the beard, man.

You look a little bit like Jesus.

So he acts like him too.

And so Jesus, imagine a weary traveler.

We're all pilgrims on a journey.

And so somebody who has hospitality, they're willing to invite you in.

Jesus invites you in, but but you don't, we think we've got to get it all together.

Let me unpack my burdens in my bag.

No, he says, drop it, drop it and come unto me.

I said, man, that's good news.

And so the invitation is drop it.

Come to me.

So he says in verse 28, let's go back to the text.

Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you, what's the word?

Circle, underline that if you're a note taker.

And then he says, take up my yoke.

Take up my yoke.

And so as we're considering things, he says, first, we need to, he invites the pressure not to come, not to perform, but to come.

Just to come.

And so second thing to consider that the easy yoke is an exchange.

I just alluded to that.

It's not an escape, it's an exchange.

The life of the follower of Jesus is what we would say.

It's the exchange life where I hand my burdens and my sin and my shame over to Jesus.

He promises to take it.

He did.

He fulfilled the promise on the cross.

And he says, you don't have to carry that throughout your life.

He says, You can take my yoke upon you.

What is a yoke?

I mean, what's the first thought when you hear the word yoke?

I'm just going back to when I heard it first as a new believer.

An egg.

An egg.

I hope I have a couple pictures up here of an actual yoke.

What he's talking about.

So a yoke is a, it can be a piece of wood or leather where two animals, an oxen, oxen or horses, and they are able to harness them in a way that they can work together.

And I was thinking this morning, I should have done the math, but you could probably look this up very easily.

But but one oxen can pull a certain amount of weight, one horse can pull a certain amount of weight.

But if you add another horse or another oxen, that their load capability grows exponentially.

Exponentially.

And so Jesus says, hey, take my yoke upon you.

And what this says is, does it mean the life is without effort, that life is without some type of effort and work?

I mean, no, life, we have to carry on.

I have to depend on God by having discipline in my life, not to earn his salvation, but to grow in my sanctification.

And so I want to be yoked to Jesus.

He promises to relieve the pressure.

Listen, we're all yoked to something.

And some of it, some of you are yoked, you don't know it, which is sad because what happens is the world or circumstances or other people in your life impose a yoke upon you.

And so we're yoked to something.

Some of us are yoked to achievement.

We're chasing the next dollar, the next win, the next trophy.

Some of us are a yoke to approval, constantly trying to manage people's opinions and trying to perform and step up.

Some are yoked to control, some are yoked to hurry or to self-image or success, money, religion.

We could go down the list, but here's the truth: every other yoke adds more pressure.

Only Jesus comes to share and carry the load for you.

He comes.

He says, Come.

John Mark Homer says this.

He said, Jesus doesn't offer escape, he offers equipment.

An easy life isn't an option, but an easy yoke is.

And so if anyone has ever told you to come to Jesus and life will suddenly become easy, that is not true.

It's not true.

They're grossly misinformed.

They don't understand the brokenness of this world that we live.

Jesus is not promising pressure-free living.

He's promised, he promises us pressure-proof living.

And so how do you survive the pressures of life?

Go back to the text.

Verses 28 and 29.

He says, Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke and learn from me.

Take up my yoke and learn from me.

Learn from me.

Circle underline that.

Because I am lowly and humble in heart.

Here's the third thing I want you to consider.

To experience the life of Jesus, we must learn how to live the way of Jesus.

And so we we love the idea of Jesus.

We love the idea of forgiveness, but sometimes we're not willing to adjust our life, to surrender our heart, to jump into his yoke.

It's not a freedom from the responsibility of life, it's not a freedom from obedience to Jesus, to the Lord.

It's a promise that he will do in us and through us what we can't do in and of ourselves.

Jesus, do you think that Jesus carried a little weight?

I mean, I mean, imagine Jesus had a brother named James.

I mean, can you imagine being the brother of Jesus?

They have a little conflict.

Obviously, Jesus didn't sin in the conflict.

But James is like, you think you're so perfect.

Well, he is.

Mom! I mean, I just imagine.

We must learn the way of Jesus.

Jesus says, Learn from me.

You know what?

That's apprenticeship language.

That's discipleship language.

The Christian life is not just belief, it's a surrender of the way we live.

And the world disciplines us into hurry, hustle, and hiding.

Jesus disciples us in the presence of peace and purpose.

So we many people want the forgiveness Jesus offers, but they're not willing to consider the life that Jesus calls us to.

John Eldridge, probably one of the most influential writers and speakers, got to hear him years ago at a Promise Keepers event with men.

But John Eldridge, he talks about, he's a counselor, he's a pastor, preacher, and he's busy.

He's a busy person.

Lots of demands in his life.

And he's asked on a podcast, how do you deal with all this?

And he says two words.

I abide.

I abide.

And here's what he says: he said the secret is communion and union.

If the secret is vine and branch, then you begin to experience the provision of God, the provision of God in you.

And God is really fruitful.

He gets a lot of stuff done that we can't get done.

And he's talking about the way of Jesus.

The secret of being productive is not just trying in your own effort, it's by abiding in Jesus.

Let's go back to the text.

Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you.

Learn from me, which is language of an apprentice of a disciple.

Because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Learn from me.

And finally, he says this.

He says, what I believe we can learn from this passage is this soul level rest, not schedule level rest.

Soul level rest.

Sometimes you can't, you may not be able to do anything about your schedule.

I mean, life throws its demands at us.

But you can, in the midst of all the things you've got going, you can choose soul-level rest.

And that's being connected.

He is the vine and we are the branch.

We've got to abide in him, stay in him, remain in him.

And so we don't, we often we're we're we're burdened and we're consumed by our schedules.

But most of us don't have a schedule problem, we have a soul problem.

If life would just slow down, are you waiting for life to slow down?

I'm waiting for it, man.

It just doesn't come.

It doesn't seem to happen.

And the type of rest comes not from escape, not from numbing the hard things in life, not entertainment, not even a ball game of our favorite team.

It comes through soul-level rest.

Netflix might offer you a brief escape, but it won't give you soul-level rest.

A vacation might give you a little space, and those I'm encouraging I encourage people to do that, but sometimes it can't heal your spirit.

A night off might recharge your batteries, but it may not renew you.

Only Jesus can give you what you need.

Dane Ortland says in his book, he says, He never tires.

Listen to this.

Talking about Jesus, he never tires of sweeping us into his tender embrace.

It is his very heart.

It's his heart.

And so, now I I I preach on the holiness of God.

I preach on, I talk about the wrath of God.

It's a real thing.

If we don't know Christ, listen, I don't, let's not make any, let's not, let's not be confused here.

People outside of Christ will spend eternity in a place called hell.

So I'm not afraid of talking about the wrath of God.

But man, I love to be able to share about the gentle and lowly spirit of Jesus.

Both are true.

Both are needed to be part of what we teach and preach, but today we're talking about the fact when you walk in step with Jesus, the burden doesn't break you, the pressure doesn't crush you, the pace doesn't undo you, the weight will not define you.

If we live the way Jesus lived, you will find rest, and it's because Jesus promised it.

Doesn't mean all your problems are going to go away.

What it means is he promises that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

So what are you yoked to right now that Jesus never asked you to carry?

Where are you maybe running ahead of Jesus?

Where are the areas in your life where you're trying to experience the life of Jesus without abiding and really walking in the way of Jesus?

The reality is, and here's what I want to do in our closing time is I want to try to leave a little time for us to pray and to consider how God would want us to respond.

And so as we come to that point, the first thing I want to make sure you understand is that our first step into that yoke is simply saying yes to the invitation to come.

And the gospel teaches us that this world is broken, this world is messed up.

God created us in the image, in his image.

We're creating the image of God.

He created us differently than everything else on this planet.

He created us with the ability to understand that there's good and there's evil, there's right and there's wrong.

And for us to be aware that there is a creator that is beyond us, that transcends us.

We also learn that he has made himself available through his son Jesus.

And Jesus came, he lived a perfect life with no sin.

Because he had to be a perfect sacrifice for our sin.

And so he lived and then he surrendered his life.

We see that that place in the garden where he says, God, if it's your will, take this cup for me.

But but nevertheless, whatever your will is, I will submit to it.

Not my will, but yours.

And he surrendered himself and he was beaten cruelly and he was crucified on a Roman cross.

And in the beating and the crucifixion, in the middle of his broken body and his spilled blood, he is providing for the atonement of every one of our sins.

He died to forgive you, he died to bring you into right relationship with God.

He died so you couldn't have to carry the weight of sin, shame, and death throughout life.

And if you've never put your faith in Jesus, the very first step that you have in your life is to say yes as He asks you to come.

Can we just take a second?

Would you bow your heads for a second?

If that's you this morning, and you've never surrendered to Jesus for the first time, this morning I want to give you an opportunity to respond.

And if simply respond by saying, Yes, I want to give my heart to Jesus.

Just lift your hand up.

Lift it up.

Lift it up.

So, Russ, that's me.

I want my sin and my shame taken away.

I want to embrace forgiveness and redemption and the yoke of Jesus.

If that's you, slip your hand up.

Slip your hand up.

Anybody?

Last week we had, I think, seven or eight people that responded.

So let's add to that, if that's you.

Oh, I see that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Young lady way over here.

Anybody?

Now look up at me.

Look up at me.

If you raised your hand or didn't raise your hand, but that's a step you want to take, I want to encourage you to come to Jesus, talk to him.

There's no rope prayer, there's no memory prayer.

You just come to him and say, Dear Jesus, I know I'm a sinner.

I need you.

Would you come into my life?

And then tell somebody.

If you raise your hand, tell a friend, tell a parent, tell somebody this morning, tell me, tell Jonah, tell Pat, tell somebody, because the worst thing you can do is respond to something that the Lord leads you to and never ask somebody to walk with you through it.

Now for the rest of us, what's your need this morning?

What's your need?

I mean, what's the greatest need?

You say, Russ, my greatest need is you fill in the blank.

Is it forgiveness?

Is it freedom?

Is it to ask Jesus to remove the burdens?

To take your burden?

Is there conflict in your life?

Are you struggling?

Is there been a loss that you're dealing with?

Are you in the midst right now, just feeling like, man, we have been turned upside down with things in our family, things with work, and man, I just need Jesus.

I want to, would you all stand?

Stand with me.

Let's all stand.

And so our team is gonna lead us in a time of reflection and response.

And so I'm gonna invite Jonah is over here.

Pat, if if we could maybe get Pat up here at the front, and maybe one or two of our ladies that feel comfortable maybe praying with somebody, because that's to me, sometimes it's just coming and asking somebody just to pray with you a short prayer.

Maybe it's to come to the altar as a song.

Uh reflect as we reflect on this song.

Sometimes we just kind of come to the altar.

And I know we think of altar at the church as the place at the front of the church, but let me tell you, when we think biblically, an altar is always a place of sacrifice.

And so when we come to the altar, we're saying, hey, I need you, Jesus, but yes, I am coming to bring my heart and my life.

And I'm telling you, it's easy to sit in a seat and just say, I don't need to step out.

And in reality, there's no pressure for you to step out.

But sometimes that tangible response is what will cement in your heart what the Lord wants to do.

Father, as we close this time, as we reflect and ask you to lead us, would you lead each one of us and how we should respond and how we should uh ask for help?

One of the hardest things in our humanity is to ask for help, but that's you said you invite us to come, and God, we've got to be willing to come and ask for help.

Sometimes that's coming to another person that God's put in our life, put in front of us.

During this time, you might feel led to speak a word of encouragement to somebody else or pray over somebody else.

There's freedom in this room for you to do that.

Jesus, would you have your way?

God, as we come to the altar, the real altar as we think about coming to the front of the church, but also just coming to you by laying our hearts and our lives at your feet, Jesus.

Would you move?

Would you come and minister to the brokenhearted and bring healing?

It's in Christ's name we pray.

Amen.