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Crossroads Community Church


Another lovely spring morning, God is truly gracious. We gathered to worship the Lord and seek His presence. Pastor Don welcomed us all, shared announcements and prayer requests. We keep in prayer the state of Oklahoma as they recover and heal from devastating tornadoes. Bob and the team lead us to the throne of God with beautiful praises.

Pastor Don came forth to share invitations, last week was an invitation to ask, come to God in prayer, this week is an invitation to learn and rest in the Lord. He said, “We can agree as believers our ultimate knowledge and authority on God is from Jesus Christ.” We read; “ Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn't repented of their sins and turned to God. “What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you. “And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today.  I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you,” Matthew 11:20-24. In this scenario Jesus was calling Capernaum and  Bethsaida out on the fact that even though He performed signs and miracles among them they rejected Him, however the other towns of Tyre, Sidon and Sodom never had Jesus in their midst so they did not know about Him so they would not be judged as severely. As Christians being rejected is part of our walk however me must continue to Plant, Encourage, Nourish and Share our faith in peoples' lives simultaneously with our own, (Acronym PENS).  When we reject Jesus we risk bringing judgement upon ourselves and become weary, our life becomes void of joy and peace.

So is it wise to receive Jesus and follow his word, the message is relevant today because God is constant, Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  Unlike human leaders, Jesus is unchanging and therefore trustworthy. So how do we receive Jesus and learn to rest on him? We are called to repent. The word repent may invoke skepticism ,but repent means to change your way of thinking to change your life . The famous motivational speaker Tony Robbins says conceive, perceive and achieve, there is some measure of wisdom there, but how should we be thinking and who should we trust to transform us? Scripture says in Romans 12:2, “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. ”Until we change what we think about sin we'll never be able to stop sinning and we won't really be living for Jesus. Repentance begins in the mind, if we believe what society says is acceptable chances are we will keep sinning, we need to get alone with God and let Him teach us what is acceptable. For most of us our changes were a process, none of us can claim to have given up our every sinful behaviour the moment we came to Jesus. Certain sins may have been instantly removed, but many of them remained and God has had to teach us to willingly and gradually turn away from sins. The more we read God's word the more the Holy Spirit changed us from within. Repentance has been a need since the beginning of time, we all have sinned and need to be delivered from its consequences, ( Romans 6:22,23). A Christian is not someone who cannot sin, it is a person who is no longer slave to sin, meaning we have a choice because we belong to Jesus. We no longer have to carry to weary burden of sin.

So here is the invitation; Jesus said, “Come to me, all of 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,” Matthew 11:28-30. This is from a compassionate God who understands our struggles, a God whose heart breaks for the hurting world. The desire to get ahead, greed, and self-reliance cause all of us to keep working and running but it seems we are never getting anywhere, we never find satisfaction, that can get very burdensome. Even the basic need to provide and survive drives us to strive and struggle without any rest. We all need rest then. If we need physical rest we can take a nap and if we are emotionally tired we can take a break from our routine but what about spiritual rest?This is the kind of rest  Jesus offers , to help us carry the loads of life and to find joy and eternal peace .

Matthew 11:28- Jesus said” Come to me , all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest.”  God never intended us to go it alone, He sent His Son to take our burden of sin to the cross and sent His Holy Spirit to be with us each day to help us. A yoke is an instrument to help two Oxen carry a load side by side more effectively.  Jesus in us is that instrument and he said his yoke is easy but he didn't say he would remove it. Being yoked with Jesus means he is there with us to help us carry the burdens of life. A yoke is still a yoke, it requires work and sacrifice and He says he is gentle and meek, which means He can identify with our lives and help us through it, he is our helper, our encourager and our faith builder, we just need to admit we need Him and cast our burden on Him, (Psalm 55:22). Once we are yoked to Jesus he carries the heavier portion, which makes ours lighter.  So Beloved come to Jesus, He is the most reliable life partner we will ever have and He is able to carry anything  we ask Him to carry. Call out to Him, He is always listening and willing to give us rest….Asherey Shalom!

 
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