Man, Reggie and the team, just incredible time leading us before
the throne and singing and worship, lifting up the Lord today.
Just thank you guys so much for what y' all do each and every
week. And by the way, worship doesn't end just because we've stopped
singing. Like, this whole time this morning that we're spending
together is a time of worship. Even as we've said to the Lord, great
are youe, Lord, there's none that compares to youo, God. Today
we surrender our all to youo, proclaiming great are you, Lord.
It's just a reminder. God brings blessings into our lives.
We need to surrender those to him as well. So I just want to remind
you, each time when we come into our church, we want to be faithful
in our giving to the Lord. Our voices, our bodies, our finances,
all that we are. You've been faithful this summer so far, giving
to the Lord. And thank you, church. Thank you for those of you
that are joining us online. By the way, you can give online real
easy. You've heard us say this week after week, my family and I
gives this way you can go to filter.org give or go to that same
connect code we had earlier and there will be a place there you
can select to give. But join us in furthering the gospel, the
work of Jesus Christ. Our students are at camp right now. I
told you that earlier. By the way, when you give to the general
fund, it helps to support them to be able to go offsets the cost.
We have people around the world right now sharing the goodness
of the gospel. And. And it's because of your faithfulness in giving.
So continue to give so that the Lord can do his work around the
world. Okay, Are you tired? It's Sunday morning. Did any of you
stay up way too late last night? Y' all are liars. Most everybody
probably stayed up Saturday night longer than you were supposed
to. Okay, two weeks ago, and I'll tell you a little bit more about
this, our church went in on a trip to Columbia. And. And that's
the country of Colombia, by the way. South America. So just to
be clear, on the way back, the flight was from 12:30am to 6:30am
to get here to Texas. Okay. I'm not young anymore. Like, there
was a day where I could do that and then be right back up and
be about things. But, man, I was tired from that. Like, it took
me. Well, today I fell back in order. Two weeks later. Did you stay
up on social media? Some of you did video games. Some of you
just said, I Was supposed to go to bed at 9, but then my movie
came on. Whatever it was. You just feel tired, by the way. There's
another kind of tired that a lot of us feel. It doesn't matter
how much sleep you get, how much time you can spend in resting,
but there's just weight that's always there, this pressure that
you feel that you just can't seem to get over, like something's
on your shoulders all the time. But this burden that just won't
let go, that's a different kind of tired. Jesus is actually
going to talk about that today in the passage that we're going to
study. We're in the book of Matthew. So if you have your Bibles
with you, take them out. Matthew, chapter 11. We're going
to start in verse 20. If you're just joining us, every week
we go through verse by verse, chapter by chapter. We're walking
through Matthew. So we're following up in chapter 11 here.
While you're looking that up, let me remind you a little bit of
the background from last week. So last week we learned that John
the Baptist actually questioned, is Jesus the Messiah?
He's trying to figure it out with all that's taking place. And
Jesus explains to him, look. Look at all the things I've done,
all the places I've been, all the miraculous work that has happened.
John, look at who I am. Jesus has healed the sick, raised the dead,
made the blind see, preach to those that needed hope. He is the
Messiah, and he's proved himself over and over and over. So
today, as we approach this scripture, Jesus has said, I'm it.
There is nobody else. I'm the Messiah. Look to me. And as the Messiah,
there's certain things that come along with Jesus. By the way,
you're going to discover today that he's a righteous judge as part
of being Messiah, but also as part of being Messiah, he wants to
show us the way to find healing and wholeness in God the
Father. He wants to point us to who God is in our life. So we're
going to define that out in the passage that we're going to read
this morning. Matthew, chapter 11. We'll start in verse 20. This
is Jesus here. Then he began to announce the cities where most
of his mighty works have been done. Remember, Jesus is now coming
as judge because what they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin.
Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works done in you had
been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented. Long ago
in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable
on the Day of Judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And
you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven. You will be brought
down to Hades, to hell. For if the mighty works done in you had
been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But
I tell you that it will be more tolerable on that Day of judgment
for the land of Sodom than for you. Man, Jesus, like, he doesn't
hold any punches back. Like, he goes after these cities, and there's
a reason for that. And you may be going, man, Jesus, you're a little
harsh here. What's the reason for it? So if you remember last week's
message, Pastor Jared, by the way, brought the word last week,
did a great job. And in case you're wondering past, Pastor Jason
is still on his mission trip today, so I get the privilege of
joining with you this morning, sharing God's word. Last week, Pastor
Jared shared with us that to doubt is not the sin. To doubt is
not the sin. It's what you do with that doubt. It either leads
you to faith in Jesus Christ or it leads you away from faith in
Jesus Christ. When it leads you away, that is the sin. Jesus
is now coming to these cities, going, I'm trying to tell you there's
something different in me. I am the Messiah. I've shown you a
different way of life. And yet they have chosen, as this passage
says, to not repent. What does repent mean? Some of you have heard
this word before. You've come to church. It sounds like a churchy
word. It literally means, if you're walking in one direction,
this is my way. I'm heading down this path where when you repent,
you turn completely in the opposite direction. I'm no longer
going that way. But now Jesus life, I am following after you. That's
what to repent means. And here you've got these cities that have
seen Jesus do this work. They've seen him do miraculous things,
and yet Jesus says specifically they did not repent.
Two of them he lists up at the front, Chorazin and Beth. By the
way, if you add Capernaum, some of the scholars would even call
these kind of the gospel triad. Like, Jesus went to each of
these cities to proclaim the gospel over and over again. These
two, Chorazin and Betha, he compares to two other cities, Tyre
and Sidon. Now, who in the world are those cities? I know you
know these things Backwards and forwards. But just for those
of you that don't, Tyre And Sidon are two cities that 600 years
earlier, God Almighty destroyed them, wiped them off the
face. They were Gentile cities, people who were not following
after God. As a matter of fact, they worshiped a God named
Bel. If, if any of you have read the Old Testament, you may have
heard of that God before. These were the cities that worshiped
other gods. And Jesus went to them to tell them about the good
news of the kingdom of God. He did miracles in their cities. And
then they still chose in the midst of all that to not follow after
him or to repent. So Jesus says these words right off the bat,
woe to you. Literally meaning warning of judgment and doom is coming
upon you. Not just a word when you translate it literally from the
Greek, it is a warning that Jesus says, you're going to face
judgment, you're going to face destruction. It is coming to you
because you have chosen not to repent. It's better for these other
cities than it is even for you. Jesus wants to say two things
as he's beginning to talk about these cities. The first one
is what we've seen in Bethsaida and Chorazin. The unrepentant
are liable to judgment every single time. When you are unrepentant,
when you choose not to repent, when Jesus calls upon you, you recognize
him and you don't repent. In that moment, you're saying, jesus,
I reject you, and there will be judgment that will come. Recognize
the warning that Jesus gives for those of you in your life. You
may have never chosen Jesus to follow after him. You've heard about
him, you know about him. And Jesus is saying, just like these
cities, be warned, there's judgment coming upon you as the Messiah,
he sees that in your heart and knows that. There's this other city
called Capernaum. Here. Capernaum they recognize as the place
that Jesus did the most miracles of any city. It was the
place that literally they were able to see the blind see again.
They were able to see the paralytics get up and walk when he
called out. They were able to hear the good news. The poor that
didn't have any hope, they heard it from Jesus over and over
again. And even the miracle of a resurrection took place in Capernaum.
And yet Capernaum kept about their daily business, chose not to
follow Jesus. And they had a different sin than unrepentance.
Theirs was indifference. They just didn't care. Jesus impacted
a few, but they said With Jesus, I just don't need you. I know
many of you. You come every single week. Praise the Lord. I know
you're online every week. I know you. Most of you don't. You're
probably out and about on the other Sundays. By the way, on occasion
we get to preach at different campuses. So I get to see like Sunday
morning, 11 o', clock, what the rest of the world is like. You
know, when you're not here, the world just keeps going. It is
indifferent to Jesus Christ. There's no care, there's no worry,
there's no concern. The world keeps passing by. By the way, the
warning that Jesus gives here to Capernaum, me and you, we often
hear the United States called a Christian nation. We're more like
Capernaum than we want to believe or realize. Jesus has revealed
himself to us and we're just like Capernaum. Worse than Sodom,
the city. Some of you have heard about that city. It was also
destroyed completely by God Almighty. And Jesus is saying here,
it would have been better for Sodom, who didn't hear of the gospel,
than Capernaum that did. And then chose to just ignore Jesus.
By the way, you can't ignore him. You can't be indifferent with
Jesus. There's always a choice. There's always a reality
to who Jesus is. And that'll bring me to the first truth that
I want you to realize today. Jesus is saying to each of us, indifference
towards Jesus is rejection of Jesus. Indifference towards Jesus
literally means you're choosing to reject him. When you
say, I can do this in my own ability and my own authority and
my own power. I don't need you, Jesus, I'll get to you on Sunday.
You're choosing to reject him. You're choosing to say, jesus, I'm
going to stiff arm you. I can do things better on my own. That's
exactly what the city of Capernaum was dealing with. And walking
through that, they had become prideful that they had a desire to
be independent. By the way, we do too. It's the American way. And
Jesus is going, you've ignored me, you've missed me. The Messiah
was in your presence and you still didn't choose me. Stark warning
from him hit me hard while we were in Columbia there, By the way,
it's Third World poverty. It's homes that are sticks, literally.
You can see right through the walls, dirt floor, it's corrugated,
metal roofs, and there's no insulation. None of that, just survival.
The rich have their areas of the part of the country and they've
pushed away the poor into these parts of the country that are
just. It's just horrible. It's horrible to look at, to see what
they're living through. I went as a part of Compassion to go and
meet one of our sponsored children. It's a boy there that we
sponsor. We sponsor other children too. But specifically while
I was there, I got to meet this boy again. I've written letters
to him and been able to spend time. I actually got to see him in
2019. He was seven. Now he's 13. So like, you know, he's grown
up. It's big deal. I got to spend an incredible day with him,
just getting as best I could and mi espanol, which is no good,
trying to talk with him through translators the whole time
and enjoying my time with him. There was a moment that his dad came
to pick him up and I got to, as a pastor, just talk with his dad,
just tell him I'd love to pray for him. I'd just given some gifts
to this boy and you know, it's a backpack, a toothbrush, which,
you know, 13 year old, so excited over. I did give him an American
football, by the way, and he had never, and even the adults never
thrown an American football. So it was fun showing them how to
do that. Gave him a soccer ball, a few other things. And here
this dad's seen that. I'm talking to his dad and his dad's
going, you know, I was trained as a butcher growing up, but there
is nothing here for me to do. I have no work, I have nothing. I
have a one room house. And I'd love to add on another room just
so we could have a separate place for a bed versus a kitchen
or other things. But I have no money, I have nothing. I have no
hope, no place. And he's desperate. And as a dad, I'm listening
to him tell about the things that he wants to do, how he wants
to step in, and man, my heart just begins to break. And the more
we talk, all of a sudden big tears just start rolling down his
eyes as he's looking at his son. He's thinking about his family,
how he could provide for them. Just like a knife, man, the Holy
Spirit begins to speak to me. Jim, you see the desperation that
this man has back in America, where you live, back here, you've
got it all figured out, by the way. I do. I can get in my car, I
can press the on button now. I can get the car rolling. It's got
gas in it air conditioning. Praise the Lord. Right now in Texas,
I go to a house, I pull in the garage. I walk in and I can open
a refrigerator. I can pull out food and eat the worst thing. You
know, a washing machine breaks. It's like the devastation
day. Oh, the washing machine breaks. I have a washing machine.
I have a roof over my head. I have a floor that's not dirt. When
things break, you know what I do? I don't ask the Lord about it.
I go to YouTube and try to figure it out. Any y' all do that,
too? A few of you, like, if I can get it fixed, I'll take care
of it. I don't want to pay somebody. That's because I know how
to do all this stuff. I know how to take care of things. And Jesus,
in that moment, as I'm sitting there with that dad, watching him
in desperation, knowing he had nowhere else to turn, God began to
speak to me and say, when have you been desperate for me? You got
it all figured out. Have you been indifferent towards me? Have
you ignored me instead of coming to me? And he's right. I have
been. And I'm a pastor. I can't imagine for you guys that are
on the daily life, you're trying to figure out life every single
day, and you're figuring out how to do it on your own. And Jesus
is going, you're forgetting about me. Warning, come back. I'm
trying to call you back again. Remember, he's a righteous judge
as Messiah. And he knows your heart. He knows what you're going
through. He knows you. Jesus is trying to tell us today, Stop
your prideful arrogance. Let it go. Come before him. He wants
to point us to God Almighty, the Father Himself, to show us there's
a better way of living. And that pathway points to Jesus every
single time. Let's continue. Matthew 11, starting back in verse
25. And Jesus will tell us about what this means, to take a
next step with God and who he is. At that time, verse 25, Jesus
declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you
have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and you've
revealed them to little children. Yes, Father. For such was
your gracious will, all things have been handed over to me by my
Father. And no one knows the Father except the no one knows the
Son except the Father. And no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. So what's
Jesus talking about? This is a little confusing. I mean, do we know
Jesus or Don't we? Because here it says, only the Father knows
the Son and only the Son knows the Father. What Jesus is explaining
here is they have a unique relationship. Jesus and the Father
are one. So my wife and I, by the way, she's at camp this week
helping out with the students there. So praise the Lord. I'm so
thankful. Love you, honey. You might watch this later. Keep going.
Get some sleep, please. I know you know it. Yeah. So my wife is
there helping. We've been married in August. 33 years. 33 years,
dude. It's okay. Please. Somehow she survived me. I don't
know, you know, it's like she made it through, so praise the Lord
for that. But 33 years. So I've actually lived with my wife,
married longer than I have been by myself, growing up with my
parents. 18 years at home, 4 years in college, 22 years. My wife
and I got married right at the end of college. So I have actually
been with her. You think I know her? I actually know her better
than anybody else. And you know what? She knows me. We've poured
into each other's lives. We walked each other together through
ups and downs, all of life's journeys. And now imagine Jesus Christ.
There's an eternal side to Jesus, and there's an earthly side
to Jesus. The eternal side. Jesus has been with the Father since
the beginning of time. Jesus and the Father are one. You don't
think that Jesus knows the Father better than anyone else and
that the Father knows Jesus better than anyone else? They have
a relationship that is more intimate, more unique, more special
than any relationship we could ever define. Like, you and I know
that's the kind of relationship that he's talking about
here. And then Jesus reminds us, look, God gave him Jesus all
authority, all power. The same power that God Almighty has. Jesus
has. Praise the Lord for that. Their relationship is that close.
The book of John reminds us of this. You don't have to turn there,
but in John 1, if you ever want to read it, it's a powerful
statement about the journey of seeing Jesus come to this earth.
The first part of it says, in the beginning was the Word. It's
referring to Jesus there. And the Word was with God, and the Word
was God, it says. And then a few verses later, it says, and then
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. That passage is reminding
us Jesus and the Father are one. They think the same. They know
each other so well. And Jesus is saying here, if anybody can reveal
you to the Father, it's me. I'M the only one. I know the Father
better than anyone else. And if you notice, the passage says,
whom Jesus chooses to reveal the Father. So who does Jesus reveal
the Father to? Well, praise the Lord. He wants to reveal him
to everybody. He wants you to know the goodness of who God is,
the gospel story. He wants you to know the grace that is given by
God. He wants you to know the Father. See, when we sin, the relationship
with a holy God, God the Father, when we choose to rebel against
Jesus, that sin separates us from a holy God. And Jesus has come
to say, I can right that relationship. I have come to show
you how to live a life that can honor God Almighty. If you would
just put your faith and your trust in me. Only those who want
to know the Father, who desire to pursue him, Jesus says, that's
the kind of person that I'll reveal things to. As a matter of
fact, in verse 25, Jesus praises God Almighty from hiding
these things from the wise and understanding because he knows what
we do. We try to figure it out. We will try to build our way
up to make things right with God on our own. And we can't. You're
not perfect, I'm not perfect. We can't encounter a holy God. Jesus
says, come like a child now, it doesn't mean you have to become
eight years old again. Some of you are eight years old. You can
come to know Jesus if you are. Praise the Lord. It's not about birth,
age, it's about a heart attitude. Before Jesus, it is saying,
God, I come with open arms, all that I have. Jesus, I choose
you. I believe in you with all my heart. I give everything I have
to you. Jesus, I surrender my all to you. And just like a child
coming to a father, Jesus is saying, if you'll come to him humble,
you come to him with open arms, surrendering all. You will
find God in your life. Jesus tries to remind us of that in this
passage. As a matter of fact, that's the next truth that I want
you to recognize today that Jesus refills the Father to the humble,
not the self reliant. Jesus reveals the Father to the humble,
not the self reliant. The heart is this. Come before Jesus
with open hands and open arms. When you go on your own, you try
to do things on your own. That's when Jesus will say, I see
it, I know it, and you're choosing to reject me. You're choosing
your own way. You're choosing your wisdom, your understanding,
and that will never get you there. Jesus knows what Each of us
needs and how we can pursue the Father. You see, we like things
being independent. We like things being self made. We like to
do things on our own. That's who we are. I thought about the some
years ago the army came out with a slogan. It said be all that
you can. Yeah, in the army. Well, if you heard that slogan, that
that's our fault. It's. I get what the army is trying to say. We
want to help you to be a better person, do these things. We
can train you, we can teach you. You can be a better person.
Be everything that you can be. God says, that's not my way. My way
is be everything Jesus can call you to be. There's so much more
power. There's so much more life. When you surrender to Jesus
and let him work in your life, the things that were once possible
will with God, all things are possible is what the scripture tells
us. Choose Jesus in your journey instead of your own abilities
and your own authority of your life. No hard work, not in strength,
not in your own power. Simply getting to a place that you say I
surrender. So if you're in that place like I was referring to
earlier, you just feel that weight in your life. You know, I'm
carrying some things that I can't just get off my shoulders.
No matter how much I try and do. That's a sign that you're starting
to become self reliant. You're trying to do it on your own. And
Jesus is calling you to something different. He actually
then addresses one of the most famous passages. Many of you know
this, starting in verse 28 of Matthew, would you look there with
me? Jesus says these powerful words to us. Come to me, come to
me. He says, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me. For I am gentle
and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Most powerful words that
Jesus could have said. He didn't say, go out and do a bunch
of work. He didn't say you have to learn a bunch of stuff. He
says, come to me. Different than any other religion out there,
all the other religions. You have to work order to gain glory.
Jesus says, no, I've already done it. Come to me, find rest in
me. Let me show you. I can point you to the Father. I can bring
all of this power and authority that I've been given and
pour it into your life if you would just simply come to me. And
then he says, I will give you rest. Not just physical rest, but
rest for. For your soul. He can remove those burdens and he can
place it on his own shoulders. As a matter of fact, he's trying
to say, you know, come at this time into my life. Come to me. And
you may be going, hey, you know, these cities, they actually
saw Jesus walk through. So what. What does it mean to actually
come to Jesus? How do I come to him when he's calling? Well, like
I told you earlier, come with open arms and say, jesus, I choose
to give you my all. I choose to surrender everything. I'm laying
my life down before you. But also Jesus says, come and take my
yoke upon you. Now, this is not yolk. It's spelled differently
than an egg. This is a different kind of yolk. I know we're
in Texas. Some of you may know what a yoke is like. But just in
case, let me show you a picture of what Jesus is talking
about. This is a yoke. It's right now put between two cattle.
Sometimes they'd use oxen. It was a place to be able to see power
and strength beyond just what one could do. So plowing a field,
pulling a cart. The people at the time knew exactly what Jesus
was talking about when he talked about a yoke. Now, here's
the thing you may not realize, because they could pull together
stronger, There was usually one of the animals that was stronger
than the other. That stronger was the lead. They would put another
animal with them that was not as strong. And when they yoked together,
the two of them could carry more than the one by themselves.
The stronger, by the way, would know the Master's voice. The
stronger knew the Master's commands. The stronger knew how to
go to the places that he would say go and how to stop when it was
time to stay still and time to move. And you get the illustration
here. That stronger carrying the load alongside the weaker that's
coming along. Jesus is saying to us, take, take my yoke upon you.
Let me be the stronger in your life. Let me carry those burdens.
And notice this with you. Sometimes we think when Jesus says,
come and lay the burdens upon him, that all the burdens go away.
That's not what he says here. He actually says he's going to make
your burdens lighter. It doesn't mean you're not going to
have hard times. If you're a Christ follower, you already know
that's true. If you're not a Christ follower, even more so. The
Struggles that you face day after day after day keep piling up.
And Jesus is going, come to me. Let me take those burdens from
you. Take my yoke upon you. Jesus reminders to us is simply saying,
let me be the stronger in your life. I can carry you through, I
can get you through this. I am the way. And when you surrender to
me, your life will be forever changed. You need to realize in this
moment, he's talking to Sadduce. People that have been like
harped upon by these folks called Sadducees and Pharisees. These
were people that owned the law of the day, the religious leaders
of the time. And more and more, these religious leaders knew
the laws of God. They knew the commandments that had been laid out
by him. And they actually added more laws on top of that to
try to keep you from failing in these laws. The more laws they
added, they had to add more and more and more and more until
where the people, there was no way they could ever fulfill the laws.
The sad thing, Jesus rails against the Sadducees and Pharisees.
You've got just a quick moment. You can Turn to Matthew 23
talking about what the Sadducees and Pharisees do. These
people that have put all these laws on the people. He says, the
scribes and the pharisees in verse 2 sit on Moses seat. So do
and observe what they tell you, but not the works they do. For
they preach but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens,
hard to bear, and they lay them on people's shoulders, but they
themselves are not willing to move with their fingers. Jesus knows
that these religious leaders have been pouring burdens over and
over again and knows that the people can't fulfill the law. There's
no way too many to carry. And Jesus is saying, you know what? Only
one could fulfill the law and fulfill it perfectly. And that's
me. Jesus is trying to say to each of us, he's the only perfect
one, the perfect Son of God, the Lamb of God that came to take
away the sins of the world. And sins are when we break those
laws. Jesus is trying to point us to him just to be reminded of
what we deserve. And we deserve judgment. Any of you tried
to memorize the Sermon on the Mount with us? We went through it
several weeks ago. Matthew 5, 7 Matthew 5. Jesus turns the tables.
It's not just the law. It's actually if you think it or you believe
it in your heart, whether you actually do it or not. Jesus says
the fact that your heart believes it you still have sinned
in the same way. And in Matthew 5, it tells us that you deserve
judgment being brought before the council. Even the hell of fire
itself is what you and I deserve because we can't fulfill
that law. Jesus is the only one. Jesus is saying here, come to
me, no one else. I'm the only one that can relate that relationship
with God the Father. So you've tried it. You've tried to do things
on your own. You've tried to say to Jesus, I got this. And all
we keep doing is rejecting him over and over. And this is the last
truth that I want you to remember today. Jesus calls us away
from dependence on our own work to rest in his work. He's already
done it. He's already gone to the cross for you and for me. He's
already died for our sins. He has come. He shared the good news
of the gospel with you and with me to be able to tell us Jesus
is the way, the truth and the life come to him today. Jesus has
done the work for each and every one of us. Praise the Lord.
That's actually the good news of the gospel for you and for me.
When we try to take this life and do it on our own, you're right,
you get worn out, you get tired. You won't be able to make
it. Jesus is the one saying, stop that. Come to me, all you are
weary, heavy laden and burdened. And I will give you rest
when you choose me. You see, when we get Jesus, we get all that
God Almighty gave to him. So right righteousness. We get through
Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God, we get through Jesus Christ.
We get pardons for sin, we get peace from Jesus, all that power
and authority that God gave, Jesus himself has. Jesus also says,
there's a part of this that you need to learn from me. Learn
the way that I lived. Learn the way that I walked with my Father.
That word learn that Jesus used here is the same word as disciple.
In Matthew 28, where Jesus says, go make disciples, it's the
same word, learn from me, Jesus says, and I will show you how
to find rest. So my question to you today is, I know you've been
working hard. I know you've been trying to keep up with everything
there is to do. I know you're pursuing the things that make you
happy. Where is Jesus in that picture? Who are you dependent on?
Are you dependent on yourself? Are you dependent on Jesus? And just
like we learned about earlier when we saw those cities that Jesus
came against, if you're Dependent on yourself. You're rejecting
Jesus. If you're dependent on him, you're surrendering in humility
before him. Search your heart this morning. Have you gotten to
a place that you've gotten so comfortable in the way you can do
things on your own? So tired, so worn out, with no other place
to turn, no hope to find. Jesus is speaking to you now, saying,
come to me. Would you lay it before me? Would you let me take
you and be the stronger in your life? Prayer is a powerful way
of turning that over to Jesus. I know many of you will come forward.
You come week after week seeking the Lord. Some of you, though,
choose not to even come, saying, I got this. Remember, Lord,
I could take care of this on my own. Prayer is a sign of dependence
on the Lord. It's. It's not saying some famous words that you
get things right. It's coming to Jesus saying, I have nothing.
I need you, Lord. Would you choose him today? For those of you
that have known Jesus, maybe he's reminding you you've gotten
off that course and you're trying to live it on your own. You've
become dependent on yourself instead of dependent on Jesus. This
Independence Day, would you choose dependence on Jesus? Just
a moment. Our pastors will be down front. The altar will be open.
Maybe you just need some time to say Jesus, I've tried it too long.
Please, please, Lord, today, take it from me. Would you want to
come in just a moment to do that? Have others to join you in
prayer to say, I need to turn it over to you. And then there's
some of you today that you have never chosen Jesus in your life.
You've rejected him all along the way. You've never had that moment
to say, jesus, just like a child, I come before you and I surrender
all. You choose to surrender all to him today. It is the beginning
of a new life for you. Jesus takes those burdens and he will guide
you and show you how to live a life that is honoring to God Almighty.
And your life will never be the same again. Again. Are you ready
for that today? Same way these pastors will be here ready to talk
with you, a prayer team will be here ready to talk with you and
share with you the goodness. By the way, have you noticed what
the words are when we have baptism at the end of our service?
It's exactly what Jesus was teaching. Jesus in my place. Place.
That's what he's saying here. Come to me. If you come today and
you surrender, the baptism is ready right now. It's a testimony
of what God would do in that change of heart that you'll have
in just a moment, giving your life to Jesus. We have a shirt ready
for you. We have shorts ready for you. You can come and be baptized
today and surrender your all to Him. The heavens will rejoice
and we will rejoice with you. Is it time to surrender? Time to
let go? Time to let Jesus take that for you. Pastors are coming
now. Prayer teams are coming now. Ask the Lord, who am I dependent
on today? God? Am I ready to lay it all down before you? Stand
with me. Let's join together. You come and seek the Lord this morning.
Come, lay it down before him. Come, say Jesus. I give it all to
you. I surrender everything simply in Christ alone. I give it
all to you.