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Matthew 11:28–30

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Come to

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me, all who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.

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Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me, for

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I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.

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For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light.

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Well

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hey, everybody.

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Welcome to the weekend
gathering at Christ Community Chapel.

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I'm so glad that you've joined us.

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Welcome to those of you here in the gym.

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If you're seeing this on video, it's
because I'm out in the tent

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preaching out there,
and the weather is much better than than

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it is right now
because it's pouring down rain.

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My name is Jimmy Kozy.

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I'm one of the pastors here at CCC,
and I'm really glad

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to have the opportunity to be with you
for a little bit this evening.

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Before I get into the message.

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You know,

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this was mentioned
in the pre-service video,

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but we have something to celebrate
as a church this weekend.

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I'm wearing a shirt for The Park Church
in Chagrin Falls Park up

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in the northern part of Ohio,
and we set a goal when we started Orchard

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NEO seven years ago that we would plant
60 churches in communities all around

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Northeast Ohio by the year 2050,
and the Park church launches this weekend.

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On Sunday, there are first service
there, opening services Sunday at 6:15

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at the Sugar and Falls
Park Community Center.

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The Park Church is the 12th church
planted out of Christ Community Chapel,

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which is an amazing thing
for Pastor Brandon and for that church.

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Really excited for that.

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And we are in between sermon
series here at CCC.

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So we just finished
the More Than Religion series

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last week, and in the fall,
we're going to be launching into a series

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where we're going to be going
through the book of acts together.

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It's going to be a blast.

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Really looking forward to all that
God has for us in that series.

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But the topic today is rest,
and you heard the verses from Matthew

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chapter 11, verses 28 to 30, read prior
to the sermon, prior to the sermon.

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And maybe when you listen to those,
the idea that Jesus can give your soul

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rest.

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I don't know about you, but
when I hear that, I lean in a little bit.

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That sounds appealing to me.

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That's something that I would want.

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It's important for us to understand
what that would actually look like.

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And so in order for us to understand that,
I have three points for us.

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This will serve as my outline today
and also give us a little bit of structure

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for our time.

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They are as follows.

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First is needing rest.

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Second is understanding rest
and then third is getting rest,

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needing rest, understanding rest
and getting rest.

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So we'll start with that first point
which is needing rest.

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So I had an encounter
with a wild animal recently.

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And I'd like to tell you
a little bit about it.

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So something you ought to know about me is
that I'm a very routine oriented person.

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I my day, when I look at the day,
I like to know what's going to happen

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every minute of the day.

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I have a pretty tight schedule, and
my schedule is what organizes me and it.

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Part of it comes from the fact that,
you know, I have a job, I have four kids.

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They have to get to school.

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Our household
just needs to run on a routine

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and in order for everything to work.

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But part of my routine

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is that every morning
I work out pretty early in the morning.

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And so in order to be as efficient
as possible a few years back,

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I ended up buying a treadmill
and putting it in our basement

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so that have to drive to a gym.

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I didn't have to worry about the weather
if I was going to run outside.

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It was perfect.

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It makes everything efficient
and so it's in a room.

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In our base of our basement
is a walkout basement onto our patio.

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And so one morning recently,
I was downstairs.

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It was super early in the morning,
so it's dark outside.

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The house was warmer than it was outside.

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So I decided that while I was running
on the treadmill, I would pop

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open the door to the walkout basement so
there's some cool fresh air would come in.

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Make it just a better overall experience
running on the treadmill.

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As good as it can be running in the dark
like Batman, that's what I was doing.

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So I did my run and I finished up
and I went outside and,

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you know, every morning
after I finished my workout, I have about

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what I would call ten minutes of peace
before the day

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tips over the top of the roller coaster,
and then there's no getting it back.

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And so I was in that ten minutes of peace,
sitting outside on a chair,

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playing with my phone outside our walkout
basement, and I looked up from my phone,

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and about six feet away
from me, there was a skunk.

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And so the skunks backside was toward me.

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Which I don't know

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if you're familiar with skunk anatomy,
but that's the wrong end of the skunk.

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That's not the end you want to be.

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I don't think you want any end of the
skunk to be facing towards you. But.

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So I didn't know what to do.

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I froze
and I started to panic a little bit,

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so I tried to stand up and move away
and luckily the skunk did not spray me,

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but he did notice me
and so he kind of wandered off.

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And then I watched in horror
as he wandered

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down the side wall of my house,
and then slipped right in the open

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basement door that I had left open
when I came in to sit outside.

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So in
this moment, I had no idea what to do.

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I'm going to be honest with you.

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So I ran over to our other basement door,
and I'm happy

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to say that for the first time
in their entire lives,

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my kids had locked the basement door

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after they were playing outside,
so I couldn't get in there.

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I thought maybe I could head off the skunk
at the past, scare them back out.

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And so I realized there's a skunk.

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It's pitch black outside.
There's a skunk on the loose in my house.

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I'm the only person in the family
whose awake, and there is only one entry.

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It is a dark doorway
in which a skunk has just entered.

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And so I realized, with great courage
and great bravery,

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that I was going to need to find a weapon
and go in and defend my family.

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And so I did.

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So I found what I could find,
which ended up being a pool noodle.

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And so if you can imagine me
shirtless, sweaty,

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barefoot, tentatively walking in a pitch
black basement with an iPhone flashlight,

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poking things with a pool noodle,
trying to see if I could find this skunk.

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So I searched my basement
for about 10 or 15 minutes.

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No sign of the skunk,
and so nothing's going on.

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I stopped, I couldn't hear anything,
no rustling, no odd smells.

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And so I did what anybody would do.

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I pulled out my phone and I asked ChatGPT,
what should I do next?

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And Chad told me, what you need to do is
you need to go upstairs,

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leave the basement door open,
close the door and go about your day

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and hope that the skunk will
leave your basement on its own own terms.

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So that's what I did.

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So I went upstairs
after about ten minutes of searching

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and I decided I'm done
searching for the skunk.

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This skunk is on its own.
Hopefully it leaves on its own.

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And then I went to work.

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So you can imagine what
that goodbye conversation with my wife

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was like when I said to her, hey,
I'm leaving for work for the day.

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I'll be back sometime after five.

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I'll see you then. One small thing

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I can't say that

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there is isn't a skunk in the basement,
or is a skunk in the basement.

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There may be a skunk in the basement.

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Okay, to make a long story short, well,
at this point it's been over a week.

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There is no evidence that the skunk
is in my basement, so I think he's gone.

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But neither have I actually seen him leave
my basement so he could be down there.

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I don't know, but I think he's gone.

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But the reason I tell you that is because,
like many of you.

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My life has organizing principles.

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I have a career, I have children,
I have things that need to happen in a day

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that dictate for me what my priorities
are, that help me to make decisions.

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And all of us have organizing principles

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and all, and our organizing principles
are good things.

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There are things like our career,
our family, our relationships, our money.

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There are things that we should have

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and that we should care about,
and that should inform our priorities.

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But the reason we're tired
and we need rest

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is because we have a tendency
to take organizing principles

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that are a part of our lives
and make them way more important.

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And the way that we do that
is that we turn them into scoreboards

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by which we assign
meaning in value to ourselves.

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And because of that, we're tired.

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And the problem with scoreboards
is scoreboards always create pressure.

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Here's what I mean by that.

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If you look at the scoreboard
and you're ahead,

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that immediately creates pressure
because the next thought you will have

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is, well, I need to do
whatever it takes to stay ahead.

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If you look at the scoreboard
and you realize you're behind,

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then of course that creates pressure,
because what you think is,

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I need to do
whatever it takes to get back ahead.

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And so your kids, for example,
are a great organizing.

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They should be an organizing principle
for your life.

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But if your kids become a scoreboard
by which you determine

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your meaning, that's going to change
everything it's going to make.

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Every time
something goes wrong with your kids, it's

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going to feel like a devastating failure
on your part.

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As a parent, if your career, a great
and important organizing principle,

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becomes your scoreboard
by which you determine your meaning

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and worth,
a negative performance review or a missed

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promotion becomes an existential crisis.

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If you if your money,
which is an organizing principle

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for all of us, becomes your scoreboard,
then you'll measure your worth

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and let it rise and fall with your salary
and your bank account balance.

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Because when we do that,
we're taking things

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that were never meant to serve
as our source of meaning and worth,

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and we're putting them in a position
that they were not meant to be.

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And that's what makes us tired.

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And that's why
when we read what Jesus says

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in Matthew chapter 11 verse 28, it's
so compelling to us.

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Listen to what it says.

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Come to me, all who labor and are heavy

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laden, and I will give you rest.

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Jesus calls this laboring
and being heavy laden.

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The idea that we need rest.

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But what he says
next is somewhat unexpected.

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And that leads me to my second point,
which is understanding rest.

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So we need rest.

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Now let's understand it.

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Let me read for you
from that same passage, verses 28 and 29.

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Here's what it says.

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Come to me, all who labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.

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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and lowly in heart,

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and you will find rest for your souls.

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So in this, in these verses,
Jesus says two things that are unexpected.

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The first thing that he said,
well, let me let me say this.

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If I were talking to somebody
who was struggling with feeling burdened,

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feeling like they're laboring
and being heavy laden,

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this is not how I would talk to them.

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I wouldn't say I would say something
like, oh,

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you're feeling I can take your burden,
I'll carry it for you.

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I'm strong, I'm mighty.

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But that's not what Jesus says. Here's
what he says.

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The first thing he says, this unexpected.

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He says, take my yoke upon you.

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And he's using farming terminology.

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But what he's really saying
is, I have a burden for you.

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Take this burden of mine.

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So he's he's talking to people
who he's saying you are a laboring

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and are heavy laden
and he's giving them work to you.

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Why does he say that?

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Then the second thing that he says is, for
I am gentle and lowly in heart.

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And again, what I might expect Jesus
to say in this instance, to speaking to

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somebody who's tired is to say,
I'm strong, I'm mighty, I'm powerful.

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I can carry it for you.
But that's not what he says.

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He says, you take my yoke, for
I am gentle and I am lowly in heart.

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And I think what Jesus

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is getting at here
is that we need to understand

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what rest actually is,
because what rest is

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is not connected to activity or inactivity
or the things we do,

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but it's rather connected to what
our lives are organized around.

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Rest is connected to who Jesus is
and the role that he plays in our life.

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This is why he describes himself.

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This is interesting
that this is one of the very,

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very few times in the Bible that Jesus
actually describes his character.

227
00:12:06,544 --> 00:12:10,498
He talks about his role
and what he came to do plenty of times,

228
00:12:10,498 --> 00:12:12,266
but this is one of the few times
where he actually

229
00:12:12,266 --> 00:12:13,701
describes himself in his character.

230
00:12:13,701 --> 00:12:18,306
He says, I am gentle and I'm lowly,
and that's interesting.

231
00:12:18,306 --> 00:12:20,791
This is intuitive to us in the workplace.

232
00:12:20,791 --> 00:12:24,979
You know, the experience of carrying
a burden is directly

233
00:12:25,179 --> 00:12:28,015
the quality of the experience of carrying
a burden is directly

234
00:12:28,015 --> 00:12:31,018
connected to the person
giving you the burden.

235
00:12:31,018 --> 00:12:34,221
It's like if you have if you've
if you've worked in any job, you know

236
00:12:34,221 --> 00:12:37,992
that the experience of work
can be vastly different

237
00:12:37,992 --> 00:12:42,863
depending on your relationship
with your direct supervisor or your boss.

238
00:12:42,863 --> 00:12:47,751
So you can have the same role, same title,
same office, same responsibilities,

239
00:12:47,785 --> 00:12:48,786
same workload.

240
00:12:48,786 --> 00:12:52,506
And if you have a great boss, it can be
a joyful and wonderful experience.

241
00:12:52,506 --> 00:12:55,342
Very meaningful, impactful and great.

242
00:12:55,342 --> 00:12:57,177
If you have a bad boss,
it can be terrible.

243
00:12:57,177 --> 00:12:58,311
It can be miserable

244
00:12:58,311 --> 00:13:01,381
because the quality of that experience
is not dependent on the work

245
00:13:01,431 --> 00:13:04,868
you're doing itself, but
rather on the person you're doing it for.

246
00:13:04,901 --> 00:13:09,906
And Jesus is saying, when it comes to
rest, the same thing is true in our lives

247
00:13:09,940 --> 00:13:13,943
that we were meant
to organize our lives around him.

248
00:13:13,943 --> 00:13:18,431
But that's actually good news for us
because of who he is

249
00:13:18,465 --> 00:13:20,667
and the kind of person that he is for us.

250
00:13:20,667 --> 00:13:24,103
He is gentle, he's lowly, he's caring.

251
00:13:24,587 --> 00:13:28,591
You know, it's interesting
the people that Jesus is talking to here,

252
00:13:28,591 --> 00:13:32,545
they would have been contrasting him
with the other religious leaders

253
00:13:32,545 --> 00:13:34,580
of the time,
who were known as the Pharisees

254
00:13:34,580 --> 00:13:37,350
and the Pharisees.
The way that they approached

255
00:13:37,350 --> 00:13:40,069
the relationship with God
was kind of like a ladder.

256
00:13:40,069 --> 00:13:44,106
They would say, you know, you got to do
as many good things as you can.

257
00:13:44,106 --> 00:13:47,226
And by doing those things, you climb
the ladder and the higher you want

258
00:13:47,426 --> 00:13:50,496
are on the ladder, the more likely it is
that God will accept you and love you.

259
00:13:50,496 --> 00:13:53,182
And Jesus says, no, no, no,
that's not how it works.

260
00:13:53,182 --> 00:13:54,984
It's not about being high and mighty.

261
00:13:54,984 --> 00:13:56,418
I am gentle and lowly.

262
00:13:56,418 --> 00:13:59,388
That's the kind of leader
that I'm going to be for your life.

263
00:13:59,388 --> 00:14:03,142
And so what Jesus is saying
is that what it means for us to rest

264
00:14:03,175 --> 00:14:06,779
is to find a new organizing
principle in him,

265
00:14:06,779 --> 00:14:10,782
to allow him to reorganize our lives
and in so doing,

266
00:14:10,899 --> 00:14:15,587
separate our sense of meaning, value,
and worth from what we accomplish

267
00:14:15,587 --> 00:14:19,458
and what we achieve
in different areas of our life and attach

268
00:14:19,458 --> 00:14:22,627
to what he says is true about us.

269
00:14:23,261 --> 00:14:26,431
So then the next question we would ask
is naturally, okay,

270
00:14:26,464 --> 00:14:29,467
how do we actually get this rest?

271
00:14:29,467 --> 00:14:34,656
And that leads me to my third point,
which is getting rest in.

272
00:14:34,656 --> 00:14:37,776
In order to understand this,
we have to look a little bit further back

273
00:14:37,776 --> 00:14:42,830
in the passage, the three verses that
precede the verses we read already today.

274
00:14:42,864 --> 00:14:47,151
Let me read these for you
Matthew chapter 11, verses 25 through 27.

275
00:14:47,151 --> 00:14:47,902
They say this.

276
00:14:47,902 --> 00:14:51,706
At that time
Jesus declared, I thank you, father,

277
00:14:51,739 --> 00:14:54,375
Lord of heaven and earth,
that you have hidden these things

278
00:14:54,375 --> 00:14:58,496
from the wise and understanding,
and revealed them to little children.

279
00:14:58,546 --> 00:15:01,549
Yes, father, for such
was your gracious will.

280
00:15:01,616 --> 00:15:06,187
All things have been handed over to me
by my father, and no one knows the son

281
00:15:06,270 --> 00:15:09,390
except the father,
and no one knows the father

282
00:15:09,390 --> 00:15:14,545
except the son, and anyone
to whom the son chooses to reveal him.

283
00:15:15,379 --> 00:15:19,667
So in those verses, Jesus says
two interesting things that help us

284
00:15:19,667 --> 00:15:24,071
understand what it actually looks like
to get the rest that he's talking about.

285
00:15:24,071 --> 00:15:25,105
The first thing he says

286
00:15:25,105 --> 00:15:29,510
is that the son reveals the father,
and the father reveals the son.

287
00:15:29,510 --> 00:15:32,029
And what he means by this,
what he's saying is,

288
00:15:32,029 --> 00:15:36,099
if you want to know what God is, he's
making an enormous claim about himself.

289
00:15:36,149 --> 00:15:40,470
He's saying, if you want to know
what God is like, you look at me.

290
00:15:40,670 --> 00:15:41,855
If you want to know

291
00:15:41,855 --> 00:15:45,141
what kind of relationship
he wants with you, if you want to know

292
00:15:45,141 --> 00:15:49,262
his character, his actions, how he wants
to interact with you, you look at me.

293
00:15:49,262 --> 00:15:53,983
That's why later he's saying, for I am
gentle and lowly in heart, and you can.

294
00:15:54,017 --> 00:15:56,269
And my my yoke is easy
and my burden is light.

295
00:15:56,269 --> 00:16:00,190
He's saying, look, if you want to know
what God is like, look at me.

296
00:16:00,256 --> 00:16:01,307
But then the other thing

297
00:16:01,307 --> 00:16:05,461
he says that's interesting is
that God has revealed these things.

298
00:16:05,461 --> 00:16:07,547
The way to rest, the way to to peace.

299
00:16:07,547 --> 00:16:09,899
He's revealed these things
to little children.

300
00:16:09,899 --> 00:16:13,669
And I think it's important
for us to understand what that actually

301
00:16:13,703 --> 00:16:15,588
what does he mean?
What does he mean by that?

302
00:16:15,588 --> 00:16:19,859
Maybe another way of saying that is,
what do you little children know

303
00:16:19,909 --> 00:16:21,110
that adults don't know?

304
00:16:21,110 --> 00:16:25,898
Because it can't be that Jesus is saying
only little children can understand God.

305
00:16:25,898 --> 00:16:27,149
What he must be saying

306
00:16:27,149 --> 00:16:30,669
is something about
how we approach our relationship with God.

307
00:16:30,703 --> 00:16:34,390
So the question is, what do little kids
understand that it else don't?

308
00:16:34,506 --> 00:16:36,976
Well, speaking
as a father of four little kids

309
00:16:36,976 --> 00:16:40,095
between the ages of six and 11,
I may not be an expert,

310
00:16:40,095 --> 00:16:43,982
but I do spend a lot of time around
little children, and so maybe I can figure

311
00:16:43,982 --> 00:16:44,783
out some things here.

312
00:16:44,783 --> 00:16:47,903
So I have a six year old daughter.

313
00:16:47,903 --> 00:16:50,389
Her name is Elena.
She's a twin with her brother James.

314
00:16:50,389 --> 00:16:51,106
He's also six.

315
00:16:51,106 --> 00:16:54,059
That's how twins work.
So she's six years old.

316
00:16:54,059 --> 00:16:58,463
I so over the last couple of months,
we have fallen into a little bit

317
00:16:58,463 --> 00:17:00,265
of an unfortunate pattern in our house

318
00:17:00,265 --> 00:17:04,419
where every night,
sometime between the hours of 12 a.m.

319
00:17:04,419 --> 00:17:06,104
and 2 a.m.,

320
00:17:06,104 --> 00:17:08,590
we will hear
Elena's feet thump on the ground,

321
00:17:08,590 --> 00:17:10,425
and then she'll come running down the hall

322
00:17:10,425 --> 00:17:14,179
and wake us up and climb into orbit,
and she'll say, I can't fall asleep.

323
00:17:14,179 --> 00:17:16,464
I'm totally unable to fall asleep.
I can't do it.

324
00:17:16,464 --> 00:17:19,868
I need somebody to snuggle me
until I fall asleep.

325
00:17:20,218 --> 00:17:23,821
So my question is, why does she think
that it's okay to do that?

326
00:17:24,339 --> 00:17:27,742
Like, let me put it this way,
if I showed up at your house tonight

327
00:17:27,775 --> 00:17:31,979
2 a.m., walked into your room, climbed
into your bed and said, I can't sleep.

328
00:17:31,979 --> 00:17:34,982
I need somebody to snuggle me
until I fall asleep.

329
00:17:35,016 --> 00:17:36,300
Totally different conversation.

330
00:17:36,300 --> 00:17:37,585
So what does Elena.

331
00:17:37,585 --> 00:17:40,137
No. Well, she knows a couple of things.

332
00:17:40,137 --> 00:17:42,657
The first thing she knows is
she can't do it on her own.

333
00:17:42,657 --> 00:17:43,658
She knows she's helpless.

334
00:17:43,658 --> 00:17:45,826
She's aware of her helplessness.

335
00:17:45,826 --> 00:17:47,311
She can't do it.

336
00:17:47,311 --> 00:17:50,631
But then the second thing she knows
is that we love her.

337
00:17:50,631 --> 00:17:52,183
And so because of that,

338
00:17:52,183 --> 00:17:55,936
she trusts that we will accept her
and that we will help her.

339
00:17:55,936 --> 00:17:59,306
It's not as if Elena stands in the hallway
outside our room

340
00:17:59,306 --> 00:18:02,509
and says, wait a minute,
was I a good enough six year old today?

341
00:18:02,509 --> 00:18:04,311
Did I eat enough Cheerios?

342
00:18:04,311 --> 00:18:07,264
Did I play enough?
Did I do all the right things?

343
00:18:07,264 --> 00:18:09,016
Maybe she doesn't think that at all.

344
00:18:09,016 --> 00:18:10,350
She just knows.

345
00:18:10,350 --> 00:18:12,019
She knows she's helpless.

346
00:18:12,019 --> 00:18:13,470
She knows we love her.

347
00:18:13,470 --> 00:18:16,423
She knows we accept her.
So she just comes.

348
00:18:16,423 --> 00:18:21,111
She comes believing that she will be loved
and that she'll receive the help

349
00:18:21,111 --> 00:18:22,179
that she needs.

350
00:18:22,179 --> 00:18:24,030
And I think that's so important for

351
00:18:24,030 --> 00:18:27,467
for us to understand that when it comes
to how we approach our relationship

352
00:18:27,467 --> 00:18:32,188
with God, the way to find rest in
Jesus is to come just like that.

353
00:18:32,222 --> 00:18:35,742
I think that's what Jesus means
when he says that God has revealed

354
00:18:35,742 --> 00:18:37,510
these things to little children.

355
00:18:37,510 --> 00:18:42,148
He's revealed to these things to those
who approach God with an understanding

356
00:18:42,232 --> 00:18:46,019
of their helplessness
and expectation of his love,

357
00:18:46,069 --> 00:18:49,072
leading to his acceptance of us.

358
00:18:49,255 --> 00:18:50,139
Another way.

359
00:18:50,139 --> 00:18:55,378
Another way of saying this is that Jesus
has reversed the order of performance.

360
00:18:55,545 --> 00:18:59,699
What I mean by that is our other
organizing principles are other burdens.

361
00:18:59,699 --> 00:19:03,819
They ask us to pour ourselves out for them
if we make them our scoreboard.

362
00:19:03,819 --> 00:19:05,738
So if you make your career,
your scoreboard

363
00:19:05,738 --> 00:19:07,740
and define your meaning
and worth by your career,

364
00:19:07,740 --> 00:19:09,658
it will ask you to pour your life out.

365
00:19:09,658 --> 00:19:12,111
Everything will be on the table
for your career.

366
00:19:12,111 --> 00:19:13,145
Same with your kids.

367
00:19:13,145 --> 00:19:16,899
If they become your scoreboard,
everything in your life will be poured out

368
00:19:16,899 --> 00:19:19,501
in order that your kids will be
where you want them to be.

369
00:19:19,501 --> 00:19:20,936
If it's your money,
the same thing is true.

370
00:19:20,936 --> 00:19:23,906
But what Jesus has done
is he reverses the order of that.

371
00:19:23,906 --> 00:19:28,227
Jesus poured himself out for us
when he went to the cross,

372
00:19:28,227 --> 00:19:31,463
that we might have relationship with God.

373
00:19:31,463 --> 00:19:35,667
And so what that means
is that our rest comes from the knowledge

374
00:19:35,667 --> 00:19:39,988
that we don't have to achieve anything
in order to have meaning and value

375
00:19:39,988 --> 00:19:44,743
and worth, and that everything
that we ever needed to do to receive

376
00:19:44,776 --> 00:19:49,431
God's love and his acceptance
has already been done for us by Jesus

377
00:19:49,431 --> 00:19:54,185
and credited to us through his life,
death, and resurrection.

378
00:19:55,070 --> 00:19:58,506
Second Corinthians 521 says this.

379
00:19:59,941 --> 00:20:00,625
It says,

380
00:20:00,625 --> 00:20:06,264
for our sake he made him talking about
Jesus to be sin who knew no sin,

381
00:20:06,381 --> 00:20:10,017
so that in him
we might become the righteousness of God.

382
00:20:10,385 --> 00:20:13,221
What that's saying
is what I just said, that

383
00:20:13,221 --> 00:20:16,307
Jesus, when he went to the cross,
he became sin.

384
00:20:16,307 --> 00:20:20,945
And his righteousness,
which was perfect, was credited to us

385
00:20:20,945 --> 00:20:23,781
so that we might have relationship
with God.

386
00:20:23,781 --> 00:20:27,551
And what that means for us
is that we no longer

387
00:20:27,551 --> 00:20:31,539
have to attach our value
to our achievement, to our accomplishment,

388
00:20:31,539 --> 00:20:34,625
to the scoreboards
all around our lives that we look to

389
00:20:34,658 --> 00:20:36,710
to tell us how good we are,
whether we're good enough,

390
00:20:36,710 --> 00:20:38,429
whether we've made it,
whether we've done it.

391
00:20:38,429 --> 00:20:42,816
Instead, our meaning and value
have been defined for us already,

392
00:20:42,950 --> 00:20:47,221
through the fact that Jesus perfect life
has been credited to us through his death

393
00:20:47,304 --> 00:20:48,539
and his resurrection.

394
00:20:48,539 --> 00:20:51,341
And because of that, we can rest.

395
00:20:51,341 --> 00:20:55,178
We can come knowing that
the one who is gentle and lowly

396
00:20:55,178 --> 00:20:59,699
has already paved the way for us
to be accepted by God, to be loved by God.

397
00:20:59,699 --> 00:21:03,670
And we can rest
knowing that our worth and our meeting

398
00:21:03,670 --> 00:21:06,189
are not attached to our accomplishment,
to the things that we do.

399
00:21:06,189 --> 00:21:11,461
If we never accomplished one more thing,
God would love us just as we are.

400
00:21:11,461 --> 00:21:16,099
If we come to him knowing we're helpless,
but presuming on his love

401
00:21:16,099 --> 00:21:20,336
and affection toward us in Christ Jesus,
that's what it means to rest,

402
00:21:20,386 --> 00:21:25,775
to be free of achievement, knowing that
Jesus has already achieved for me.

403
00:21:25,908 --> 00:21:27,143
Let's pray together.

404
00:21:28,511 --> 00:21:29,429
Father in heaven, we

405
00:21:29,429 --> 00:21:32,498
thank you for your goodness
toward us in Jesus.

406
00:21:32,582 --> 00:21:35,585
We thank you that through him,
everything we ever needed to do,

407
00:21:35,585 --> 00:21:37,019
you've already done for us

408
00:21:37,019 --> 00:21:40,139
and given to us through his life,
death, and resurrection.

409
00:21:40,139 --> 00:21:42,508
We pray that we would believe that.

410
00:21:42,508 --> 00:21:46,228
We pray that we would fight to believe
that when everything around us

411
00:21:46,228 --> 00:21:49,615
tells us we need to achieve more, do more,
be more, create more.

412
00:21:49,982 --> 00:21:52,618
Lord, we pray that we would see
the goodness of Jesus

413
00:21:52,618 --> 00:21:56,388
and know that no matter what we achieve
or don't achieve,

414
00:21:56,455 --> 00:21:59,224
his love has already achieved everything
for us.

415
00:21:59,224 --> 00:22:02,144
That we need to be known and loved by you,
and we thank you for that.

416
00:22:02,144 --> 00:22:05,697
We thank you for your goodness
toward us in Jesus, in whose name we pray.

417
00:22:05,781 --> 00:22:06,281
Amen.