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Our souls need the rest of Jesus and the food of his Word. In this message, Pastor Mike Novotny discusses how we are inwardly renewed day by day with the spiritual fuel that we need to thrive in the year to come.
The episodes are the weekly sermons from 922 Ministries (St. Peter and The CORE) of Appleton, Wisconsin.
Burned Out
Week 2 - The CORE
Pastor Mike Novotny
Welcome everyone, welcome to week number two of this brand new sermon series called burned out. Its special guests are here for the first time ever, it was watching at home. So great to have you here as we gather around God’s will. If you left last week with some questions or objections, I don't blame you. Last week we kicked off this series about the Bible and burnouts, and we learned the simple truth, that the creator creates the rules. So God is a Creator, you're part of his creation because God is a Creator. He gets to decide the rules for how your body and your mind, how you emotionally and physically work. And obviously God designed you with a need for hard work and movements and also taking a break and resting and sleeping, he designed you with a need for food and drink. You don't get to decide in the morning like how your body is going to function. That's already been decided for you. The creator creates the rules. Now we live in this modern digital American sometimes Church, Christian culture that pushes and pushes for progress and profit and more and better but you and I don't get to decide the rules. We compromise and compensate, crash, no God, besides the rules. That's why Jesus 2,000 years ago, when he walked this Earth, He followed the rules. He served people and let me step back. He pushed really hard to love people in His Father's name and then he pushed pause. The Bible says that Jesus often withdrew to be totally by himself, just to be, with God, to recharge and to present what Jesus did. And that's what God wants you to do, too.
But if you heard that message last time around or you're just hearing it for the first time today, your hand might start to raise with a question or an objection. In fact, lots of you ask me questions and gave objections after last week's sermon. I'm think of the business owner, who said that sure, Mike, like honestly my biggest problem is not like I'm working too hard. It's that the people at my business don't work hard enough. I don't want to work 60 or 70 or 80 hours a week, but I can't get, especially some younger people, to work, 20, or 25 without feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. But isn't a problem. Not some of us working too much, but some people working too little. And I would say, Yes, yes, it's also true. You know, it's really great. That younger generations are talking about self care and mental health more than ever before I affirm that. But sometimes we're so aware of our stress levels. That when we get stressed, we never push past it. There are a lot of people, maybe some of you here today, who don't have the traits of endurance and perseverance. You won't survive the bootcamp or the farm. Because your brains have never been developed to push through really difficult things. The Bible says that you should be as tough as a farmer and to be able to work as hard as a soldier. And if this church today was filled, and if you're watching at home, and that was your struggle with laziness or perseverance, I preached a totally different sermon because that's a very valid objection. Or maybe your objection was more like this. Pastor Mike, aren't there times in life where you just have to break the rules? I got it, I hear what you're saying. God made my body to need sleep likely 7 to 9 hours a night but I just had a baby 7 to 9 weeks ago. And that baby did not raise this little hand and say, Amen after last week's service waking up every 20 minutes.
Like, aren't there times, like, when its final exams, if you're a student, or tax season, if you're an accountant, or in the medical field and there's a pandemic or you're a pastor and it's Holy Week if you have a three-month-old. If you just opened a business about a year ago, out there are just times when you can't find the time for rest and vacation and working out and sleeping enough. And to that, I would say. So true. I read 2nd Corinthians chapter 11, the Apostle Paul talks about some of the sleepless nights he had as he carried out the Gospel, read about the life of Jesus, and, you know, sometimes he got away and sometimes he was just harassed by very needy people and he made time for them. And I would say, that's valid in our lives that there's times when, by God's calling, a design, we can't do everything we want to do. But maybe the most important word in that phrase is seasons.
There are busy seasons of life but if you're finding that busyness isn't a season like winter is a season. If you're finding, the busyness is all of your seasons. Well, then God would want to push you a little bit about how hard you're pushing. How much you're doing. I'm yours. You're investing in the standards that you have for your daily life.
Or maybe, maybe your objection was the most common objection. The more I thought about burnouts and why some of us like, know the rules and know what we should do with our bodies. And yet we break the rules, I kept coming back to this. One thing I have a hunch if you're exhausted right now and tired and weary if I could dig and counsel you and pull back the layers, I would bet my favorite Bible then at the heart of it, is this one objection that almost every human shares that makes us compromise and push too hard and too fast the Sprint instead of running the race that God has called us to eat. Here's the objection. What pastor? I have to or someone will be mad.
You're right, it's too much. I'm too busy. Mostly I have to do this because if I step back from this, if I take a break from this, if I slow down with this, people will not be happy. They won't be proud of me for following the Biblical model, and Jesus' example that they won't clap, they'll scowl at the front. I have to be this busy, or someone will be mad.
I have a hunch for a lot of you here today, that's the reason you're running too fast.
If you go to your boss tomorrow and say, hey guess what? We're learning in church about burnout. I think I've been working too hard so I'm going to be doing less for our company.
You must have some words about that. That's great, good for you. I'm really, really proud to go take a nap. Take a break if you want. No, I mean, if your boss is driven by profit and the goals in the metrics and the investors that they're not going to care about that, they're going to care about their thing. And if you're a parent, right, who's living in, like, this crazy American Sports culture where everyone plays club and they're gone 58 weekends every year. Like, if you say to your kids, hey kids, I know all of your friends are playing on the team and I'm going to be in Chicago for the tournament, but our family's just too busy for that and I just want to make a home cooked meal and have you at the dinner table. You're competitive son is not going to be like, thanks Mom, he's such a good person. He's such a, you're so wise. No, he’s gonna be furious, going to stamp his feet and slam the door and say, “All my friends are. Why do you want to? Why are you the only parent who does this? If you're committed to like being at every birthday party for every cousin. If your business has been making this much money and now you're cutting back the hours. Like people, I don't know, people are going to be happy, get me mad, you can be disappointed. They’re going to think you're selfish, they're going to wonder why you changed. What's the difference. They're used to getting this much out of you and when you dial back to this to follow the Bible's example, not gonna We're going to clap for you. I think if I could see your schedule, I could just objectively say “well stop doing this, you really shouldn't be doing that. You would have margin in your schedule for this right now. There'd be something emotional in you that would say but if I do that, someone will be disappointed.”
And honestly, maybe the one who would be disappointed is you.
Feels pretty good when people clap. It's really nice to get the Vvolunteer of the Year award. All of us like to be appreciated or approved of. It's nice to not just make the team, but start. It's not just nice to work there and be an average employee. But the one that the boss respects, the one that you can count on. It feels really good when you serve someone and they appreciate it and they see it. It feels good. Just sort of step back to be less than you used to be, even for the sake of your own sanity. It's emotional.
I could visualize all of that like this.
I found these weights in my basement, remembering used to be false, there's a little 10 lb dumbbell. It's not 100 pounds, not 50 pounds or even 25 pounds. It's pretty light. I could easily lift it. Let's imagine that. This is like a responsibility you have in your life. It's not your only responsibility. You have these other responsibilities and this is enough you could lift both of these at the same time when someone else wants you to do more. So what if I do this well then I could do this other thing. I could volunteer on the side, I can help out my church. I could join the routine squeezing this extra thing and then someone else wants something from you.
Yeah, so I can pick this one up. I’ve room for this in my life and then someone else wants something else from you. And maybe if I do this then, I grab like this. Maybe I could. Yeah, I can do this. And honestly, I tried preaching like this the other day for about 30 seconds and I got super super one day. Not because I'm carrying 100 pound weights, but all the fives and the tens put together. So to feel it, my back, feel it, in my legs. If you looked at me right now, you'd say well, there's an obvious answer to your problem.
Set this down, slide these off, maybe one, maybe two, maybe all of it off. That feels better.
But do you know the problem?
Yeah, this feels like such a little thing. But if this was someone's thing and you set it down. If the coach wants you or your kid on the team to go to the camp to be in the club so you can make it to State, make the playoffs and you step back from their thing.
Is your boss has goals, profit that he or she wants to make? And you set down that they actually think they're not asking you to do that much. Just one more shift, just one more tournament. Just one more thing to sign up for at church, so then it doesn't feel like much, because it isn't, I'm not trying to be mean or oppressive to you. What they don't know is that you're not just carrying their little thing. You're carrying that thing and this thing and the other thing and the other thing, there's family stuff. There's friends stuff. Its life stuff. There's neighbor stuff. You're a kid, maybe your spouse, maybe you're dating someone, maybe you have grandkids, get this job. May be another side job and all these things put together, all these 5 and 10 and 15 pound weights leave you exhausted and you know from experience that if I set this down, if I stop doing all these things, someone will be so disappointed in me.
This I think is the real issue behind the issue. It's a tension that explains so much of our schedules. The answer to your burnout is likely very easy. But for you it is anything but easy, it is emotional. Because it involves the approval of people. At home or you're in church, grab a pen and write this down. I think the real tension is this. We feel like we have to burn ourselves out. We're going to let someone down.
I wish there was some easy solution, Pastor, but if I don't do this, wome will be mad. Burnout. Let them down and I hate letting people down. So I'm going to choose for another week, another season, another year, to push past my creator’s limits.
So, big question for you today is: What are you going to do?
You and I live in this culture that's going to push us in a thousand different ways. Slowing up another responsibility, ask us to do more and more and more encouraged us to make resolutions to do more and more and more. So, how will you personally resolve this tension? Well, today, I will help you find an answer. Today we're going to run back to Jesus because Jesus for all the things that are amazing about Jesus. I love this one that he doesn't just give us the perfect example. He also offers us the perfect solution.
Last week, we learned that Jesus was okay with disappointing people. We read that crowds of people came to be healed of their sicknesses. They were desperate for Jesus, can you imagine he heals heals heals heals and then it's finally returning and he says sorry, end of my shift.
He walks away with peace and joy in His heart, He's not bad as He knew that. God wasn't mad, he was honoring the rules of His body. He was okay with people not liking Him, being disappointed in Him every single day. Someone was disappointed in Him. That's a great example for you. But today, I want to tell you that Jesus is not just a great example. He offers you the perfect solution. He's offers you Biblical and divine and spiritual help at the level of your soul. Look with me in Matthew chapter 11, one of the most beautiful things, the best invitations that Jesus ever gave.
Jesus said, “Come to me. All of you who are weary and burdened. And I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.” It's all about first. Let's break it down real quick. First, Jesus has come, it's an invitation, the door's unlocked standing wide open at the ticket office. There's a ticket that's been paid for with your name on it. Jesus has come. Come to me. Don't come to a place or to some program, some list of things you got to do a checklist. Jesus says, I want to look you in the eye, “Come to me as a person.” I love this. All of you. Doesn’t matter who you are, doesn't matter how old you are, doesn't matter what you've done, doesn't matter your background, your mistakes, your sins. He says to all of you come to me and especially all of you who are weary and burdened. You've been carrying just too much for too long, even if you can't. Keep doing this, if your patient, and you've lost your joy and your fire for God could just weary in both Body and Soul come to me. He says, and I will give you Rest. Gentle, I'm humble and I will give you rest for your souls.
Now, that's an interesting little word.
I might expect him to say, come to me. If you're tired out, you're beat up, you haven't had a break and I'll give you a rest for your body.
But Jesus says, come to me, you will find rest. For your souls? What does that mean?
Apparently, Jesus isn’t offering you a year's supply of free bath bombs.
Isn't a paid for an all-inclusive trip to a Mexican beach that gorge yourself on the buffet and get away from the stresses of life. No, this is come to me and you will find rest for your soul.
Here's what I think this means, beautiful. What Jesus is saying at the deepest level of you at the level of your very Soul or spirit, He wants to offer you the love and approval of God. Apart from works.
It's my interpretation of that phrase. This isn’t “Come to me, I will give you this long list of things to do. I would give it to you, gift it to you, you don't work for it. I'm just giving it. And what am I giving you the inside? Like, you will just have this rest knowing that, God loves me. God likes me. God sees me and God smiles upon me. Jesus isn't saying to you, you know, come to me, I'll give you some things you can fix. Or come to me, I'll give you an update on your karma so you can do some good to balance out that bad.
He's not saying come to me. I'll give you a ladder so you can climb your way up to heaven. He said, if you come to me, if you believe in me, I will make you good with God, not by your works. But as a gift, I love how the Apostle Paul talked about the same concept in Ephesians 2. Paul said this. “For it, is by grace that you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by, say this with me, WORKS”. Not by works. It's not how this works, so that no one can boast. How are you saved from God's Disappointment, His disapproval, from God being mad or sad or done with you? How are you safe from His wrath? His judgment, his condemnation? Paul says, it is by grace that you've been saved, grace is God's free love.
Not something you work for and can boast about, it's just this gift that Jesus gives to you. Two thousand years ago. Jesus lived. Such a flawless, holy life. And He died, was perfect, a sacrificial death. And Jesus is saying, if I take away all of your sins and leave them at the cross, If I think is the perfect amazing life that I lived and put it on your account, if you come to me, God will look at you, smile. I'll see your profile picture. Click the little thumbs up. God will accept, you, approve of you, love you. Like you will Delight in you, He'll sing over you, he'll be proud of you and not because you've done enough work. But because I worked, lived and died for you.
Now some of you have heard that message ever since you were kids growing up in church but have you ever paused to think about how absolutely beautiful and liberating and unique and wonderful that message is? God likes me even though I haven't done enough work. Let me prove it to you when you were in school, if you wanted to make your teacher smile, what did you have to do? Answer: work.
If you didn't show up for school, if you didn't do your homework, if you didn't do the presentation, if you flopped, they would be disappointed in you. Want to make a teacher smile? You have to work and you get older and you get your first job. If you want to make your boss happy, what do you have to do? You have to work. If you don't show up for work it's not going to work. Are you to show off and you have to do the stuff and check the boxes and go the extra mile. Want to make the boss smile? You have to work and then you get into a relationship, you start dating someone, you get married, you want to make your spouse or significant other happy. What do you have to do. You have to work? Yeah, if you sit there on the couch and play Call of Duty for your entire marriage, she will not like you very much. All right you have to find out their love language, you have to speak it, you have to serve them, you have to go the extra mile in every area of life. If you want to see a smile on someone's face, you better work.
But then Jesus comes along. This is God. So you going to make God smile? Helping little old lady across the street. Come on, God. You could never do enough work. So, how about this? How about I do the work for you? How about I'm perfect for you. How about you? Just come to me, if you're tired at the very level of your soul, and I will give you a rest because you can know that today and tomorrow and for all eternity, God's. Now look at you, this face is going to light up. He's going to see you and he's not going to send you away. He's going to accept you, not with some asterisk, but His arms will be wide open no matter how deep and messed up your sin. That's what Jesus offers us. This is the Gospel that gives us rest. So write this down, grab a pen. So I mean, point for today, it is the Gospel, the good news of what Jesus has done, that gives rest to our soul.
Yeah, in the back. Faster. How do I know the rocks in the middle of your sermon? But I think you just pulled one of those like, Pastor sermon Jesus, Judo flips on us.
I would say, well, what do you mean? You say, well, we were talking at the start of your message about our schedule. And then you grab the Bible and started talking about our salvation. We were talking about disappointing my parents, or my kids, or my co-workers, or my boss. Like that's why I pushed too hard. And if you'd like to jump and start talking about Jesus, I see what you did there, Pastor. If we were talking about this tension, like I have to burn out or I'm gonna let someone down then, you opened. And you start talking about Grace and Faith in the cross and getting to heaven and making God happy. And that's, that's great. I love the Gospel that you didn't actually fix the tension, you didn't address the problem.
And I would object.
Believe it or not, I prepared an answer. See? We sometimes think that the Gospel is just the thing for then. The day you died. Your sins are going to be gone. God’s accept you into heaven. That's true. But the Gospel is actually so much more than that. The Gospel has benefits for right here, and right now that allow us to make the decisions we need to make. Let me connect the dots for you. Deep within your heart when God created you, he created a passion to be liked.
He did. You can be a pastor, you could be an atheist, the old, you could be young, male or female, all of us, all of us deep down, wants someone to see us and smiled, But some kids become the class clown because they want to be liked. And some of you pushed hard to never get a B+ because you want it to be light, some of you were amazing athletes or musicians because people were impressed and they liked you. Some of you have like those crazy birthday parties where your mom of the year because there's the fancy cake like the Legos on top the kid loves like, we like that. Some of us work hard on sermons. People to like us must work hard on our yard, our sneaker game, our fashion, our filters are Tik-Tok videos. Like all, why do we get? Why is it when you see that, someone likes your picture or comment. Something nice about you are compliments, why is your heart? Because God created within you a deep, deep desire for approval and acceptance to be liked.
But here's the problem. Most of us try to fill that hole in our hearts, with the approval of people. We work and we work and we work to get people to like us. We push and we push and we push to get people to like us feel so good when they do. I don't know if anyone's ever told you this. If you try to satisfy that craving of your heart with people, it will be both impossible and exhausting.
If your goal in life is to feel good because everyone likes you never wanted some possible that make everyone happy all the time and it's exhausting. My wife feels this all the time, she's super hard working, super responsible. She'll go the extra mile for these people and these people and these people, and then this person over here, still needs her help. How do I do all of it? She says, try to be a great employee. You push hard on the bosses, happy and then you come home, and you've been kind of an absentee spouse. Your spouse is not happy. It's impossible to make everyone happy, exhausting you. Push hard, you go the extra mile, you stay late. You come in early. You do this for him and her and them. But then what about these people? Most of us are trying at the deep level of our soul to find joy and acceptance to find peace by making people happy, but it does not work. It kills us.
In fact, I would say bluntly too many of you here today. If you are trying to find your joy and getting people to like you, you will put some of the most important things that God has given you as a sacrifice.
If you are trying to get this world to like you, your boss to love you, you will not be a present parent.
Know your job will pile you with weight and you'll have nothing left for the people who matter most. If you're trying to get people to like you by doing everything for everyone, you will not take care of your body, it will backfire on you. And people have to care for you because you haven't cared for yourself.
Every coach happy, the scouts happy, you're going to be gone every other weekend, you're going to start missing church and the things of your soul will start to shrivel. Like when we mess this up, I try to fill that space in our heart, with the approval of people, it kills us if possible. It's exhausting
And that's why Jesus says come to me. Are you weary? Have you been working so hard and someone still disappointed in you? It's never enough. Are you burdened? So all these responsibilities. All these things are hard to even sleep. You have to make sure everything's right in your head. He says come to me and I will give you rest. You God.
I will give you the smile of God. I will give you the applause of angels. I will make you holy so that all of heaven looks at you and their faces light up. I will give you so much more than a little like, a little click, a little compliment. I will fill your heart with gallons and gallons of God's grace and acceptance so whether you get this or not it doesn't matter. I have God. This is what Jesus knew. Why wasn't Jesus a slave to the opinions of people? Yeah, God He certainly served people, you wanted people to trust in him and follow him, but if the Pharisees were freaking out to Jesus freak out. They were people. He had God. And imagine if you got like a $20 parking ticket, but if you are dead broke, if you had no money, you'd freak out. I don't have money for this. If you were Elon Musk with billions in your bank account, you don't care. You have plenty of resources. This doesn't bother you in the same way. If you have no approval, if your heart is just aching. When someone doesn't give it to you, compromise, you push too hard to pronounce. But if you have God, Fall of God, the bigness and the love of God, the approval of God, you can close your eyes and see your Father in Heaven, His face shining upon you and looking on you with favor. I don't need these people to like me. I hope they do. I'm going to try to offend anyone or make them mad, but if they are, well, I'm following God.
It reminds me of the story of Bobby Reed. Back in 2021 Florida, businessman named Bobby Reed wanted to buy the small piece of property that was right next to the city water tower in the town where he lived. So he went to the city, they draw up the paperwork, I think he bought this little piece of property for 55 thousand dollars and then after the paperwork was signed, with Bobby in the city, found out something rather shocking that none of them knew According to the document Bobby Reed had not just purchased that little piece of land. He had also received The city water tower. Thought he was just getting this. He didn't even know, but he had actually gotten so so much more. Don't worry, he gave it back. All right, I think for a lot of you you didn't know this about Christianity. You thought that when you believe in Jesus, he just gave you heaven and you won't go to hell and you get to be with your loved ones and escape the pain. That's true. Praise God. But there is so much more that the Gospel gives to you. Right now, the love of God, the presence of God, the double thumbs up approval of God. A God whose face is shining on you, not one day, but right now because of what Jesus has done, You could spend your whole life burning out trying to make everyone happy or you could listen to this, come to me. All of you who are weary and burdened. You will find rest for your souls.
Is the best step I want you to take today, grab her pens. Last fill in the blank for today. I think an answer to burn outs so many Christians miss this, the schedule with the Gospel.
When you make your schedule, when you have this much work and this much rest, When you say yes, to these things in these people, and no to those things. And those people schedule with the Gospel, someone is mad or disappointed when you're not getting the approval and praise that you used to. You don't need it. Because the Gospel I have God and God is enough.
That means you have some homework.
I want to look like this year to schedule with the Gospel.
If you're tired and burdened, if you're weary, if you're doing too much, if you're not sleeping, not working out. If you don't have just down time for you and your loved ones to relax and just be if you're not like Jesus what do you change?
What would you step back from?
Would you say, you know, it's been an honor to serve but you need to be a little bit different this year.
What hard conversation would you have to have? It might be disappointing but after it's over, You could breathe and find rest.
As you think about it, let me tell you what I do. Many years ago, I got some brilliant advice that led me to the conclusion. It's best for me, my soul, my marriage, my kids, and my Ministry, if I work about 50 hours a week. Six, eight to nine hour days. One day of rest, feels very Biblical in Old Testament and for 50 years, that's what I've done. I try to push hard, so I'm not lazy. I'm not walking, I'm here to serve you. I'm going to work from Sunday to Friday to serve you in Jesus’ name. But then Friday, about 5:00 things change, Friday's date night. If you ask me to meet on Friday, I will ask you. Are you dying? If you say no, say sorry, it's date night, and if you say yes, I'll say call Pastor Michael. Thrives when week after week after week and I just have time to look each other in the eye and catch up. Take a walk. He could do all the things. It's just a non-negotiable for me and Saturday is the one day I just get, where you can't no belt, not shave, no hair product. It's just my kids. They say Dad you want to… my what else are we going to do, Riley? We clear what the schedule is just for rest and allowing just to cook good food, the other to go on walks together. That is just a non-negotiable for me on Sunday. When people say I'm going to be at church, can we meet the answer is no, like I got to give my best to this church. The most important thing I do is to stand up here and preach with a sharp mind and an active body. So we can find time to work. People ask me to play soccer all the time. I love playing soccer, but it's one night a week and it's not two. And you say, you really need someone to sub but that's not, that's not my jam, I'm sorry if you're disappointed. But if I say yes to you, I say no to my kids and family dinner. I've learned over the years that every time I say yes to a speaking engagement or an extra this or that I'm saying no to these nine things, many of which I really deeply care about. Well, It's hard at first, but you get the muscle of disappointing, people, actually people, maybe aren't as disappointed as you assume.
They didn't. Rhythms where you look at your sleep schedule. It's healthy. Look at how much you've worked out and it's healthy and think of how many times you're around the dinner table instead of the drive-thru feels right. Some of you might love that and respect that. Some of you might be disappointed in that. Like, I'm not working hard enough, but I'm okay if you're disappointed.
Years ago, I heard a pastor's wife say, “in life you will always disappoint someone. Don't let it be your kids. “
If I'm a mediocre pastor and a great dad, I will not die with regrets.
How about you? What do you think about what matters? Mostly your soul, your body, your family. What can you say yes to and what can you say No to? I don't know what your schedule will look like, but I do know this, whether people respect it or hate it. Whether they approve of it or shake their head at it, it really doesn't matter when you schedule with the Gospel. The good news of Jesus, who said come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. That's right.
It's tricky because we can't see your face but we can see theirs.
We can hear the angels applauding when we make wise decisions, but we can read people's comments and their text. And so, we really need your help today as the Bible says, to walk by faith and not by sight. Now we can see people's expressions and reactions. We can't see you. So Open the Eyes of our heart to see you by faith. To know that if your face is shining upon us today, we have everything we need. We have you. If the Lord is Our Shepherd, we shall not want. We shall not be in need. We will have learned the secret of being content and the secret of being balanced and not burned out. Father there, a lot of people here who are used to pleasing people. They're used to being that person who's always there to step up and step in. There's some people who are used to excelling and exceeding and impressing all of us. Those of us who are like that. God, we need you today to remind us. That what we have in Christ is so much bigger and so much better. We thank you today for Jesus. Love we, thank you today, for the gift of Heaven, which we will receive one day, and we thank you also, for the gift of God's approval, which we receive on this thing by faith. In Jesus name, it's through him that we ask and pray all these things.