Building strong corners”
Part 1- Peace
I wanted this morning to continue on with our study of 1 Samuel and Real People with Real problems
More specifically with the miniseries knowing God
I have not abandoned that message and in fact it is already written and in my brief case as we speak
But
I try
Let me say again
Try- very hard
To follow God’s direction and seek his will when it comes to preaching his word
That is how we get to where we are this morning
I wanted vs God wanted
So I am shifting gears just a little
Ironically
While deviating from the text of 1 Samuel just a bit
We are still going to be covering real people with real problems
Just from a different angle this morning
Most of you I here and those listening this morning have had at least just a little experience with fence building
So you know
The corners are the most important part of the fence
Without good corners
You can spend money on the best materials
And the best labor
And have a fence that wills not stand the test of time
Without good corners
It will fail
So over the next however many years God blesses me with a preaching ministry you are periodically going to hear messages
Mostly from the New Testament
About building strong corners in our faith
Today I want to go back to the book of Matthew and use a verse I have preached many times
Matthew 11:28-30
Many of you know this verse by heart
It is a light in the darkness for me
And a place I go often when I need reassurance
Today
I like some of you need that reassurance
So
While it is always my prayer that you will get something that you can use to come to faith
Grow and mature in your faith
Or use to lead others to faith
This message is for me
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
You see
Often times we have a problem in this old messed up world
We know Jesus
We try to follow Jesus
We do everything we can to do the right thing
And no matter what
We miss the peace the God has promised
Why do we do that?
I wish I could stand up here and give you 2 points
Or 3 points
And tell you do this or that and you will find it
Many do just that
And I have no doubt that they suffer from the same problem as the rest of us
They just don’t want us to know it
Listen
When I came to the place of surrender
Not salvation
But
To a place where I said
Ok God
I’ve been driving my way- doing things my way for a long time now
And what I’m doing is making a bigger and bigger mess out of my life and my relationship with you
So you drive
As I said
I don’t have all the answers
I can tell you they are all right here
The problem is we may find the answers
But not really know what the question is
Let me give you an example
The answer is 147
147
That does not help you much if you don’t know what the question is right?
You see
Even though we know the answers
I think we often miss or don’t understand the question
Our human brains
And ideas often get in the way
So in today’s message
We are going to look at why we often miss the peace God wants us to have
In this ongoing series we are going to try an pinpoint and spotlight principals that if followed and applied to our lives
Will help us develop the type of corners that will withstand not only the weather
But the years
Even strong enough to be passed down through the generations to come
Many of you sitting here this morning
Are building on corners that we set for you by your parents – grand parents
Or even great and great -great grand parents
Others are building fresh
Getting a new start
So no matter where you are right in your relationship with the Lord
Prayerfully Jesus shows us how to build good corners or tie to strong corners that were set for you in the past
Today’s corner building principal is this
Peace begins when we relinquish control of our lives to God
Let me repeat that
Peace begins when we relinquish control of our lives to God
Now let me cowboyise that
Peace comes when we move over and let him drive
Listen
You may be thinking right now
Ok here comes the salvation message that I have heard 100- 1000 times
And yes
Part of this message is about finding peace through salvation
But
More of it is about finding peace daily through a continuing
Growing
Maturing relationship with Christ
Lou preached on the Lord’s Prayer last week
He only used 2 passages to begin showing us to pray
If you read on down to verse 3
“Give us each day the food we need”
The way I learned it is
“Give us this day our daily bread”
Give us this day
What we need today
What do we need today?
Peace
How do we get it?
By letting him drive
First in salvation
And then
Listen
Every day
Relinquishing control of our lives
All areas of our lives
To him
Jesus shows us three simple things that will help assure us that we can receive the peace that he wants for us
Actually
The peace he died to give us
They are so simple
That is absolutely ridiculous how knot-headed you and I can be
When it comes to applying them
Verse 28a covers the first one
Come to Christ
“Come to me,”
Come to me Jesus says
Come here
We must come when he calls
For salvation
For sanctification- Bona Fideness we call that
Come
Who does he call?
Verse 28b
“all of you”
All means all
Jesus died for all who will come
All who will receive
All who will accept his gift?
Jesus is all inclusive
Don’t ever let anyone tell you different
---- He died for all-----
That does not mean all are saved
It means all have the chance to be saved
So he says
Come
All
Who
Are
Verse 28c
“who are weary and carry heavy burdens”
All those who are tired and beat down
Sick and tired of being sick and tired
Heavy Burdens
We all got em right
Before salvation the fear of death
The fear of hell
The fear of the unknown
After salvation
Sin in our lives
Money problems
Family problems
Job problems
Healthy problems
All burdens every one
And heavy
Some heavier than others
Right?
Jesus says
Come to me
All
Of
You
Who
Carry heavy Burdens
Anybody hear that doesn’t carry heavy burdens
You are excused---
Just joking
Cause we all do
Come
And then he will do something amazing
Verse 28d
“and I will give you rest”
Peace
I will give you peace
No more fear of the eternal when you accept Jesus
And the power and ability to overcome daily
Give us this day
The burdens of this life
By giving him daily the reins to our lives
I know this is hard
I struggle in this area my self
I have been raised to get it done
Don’t ask for help
Cowboy up
And so have many of you as well
Jesus says come
And I will help you bear the burdens
He never said come and I will take them away
I need to make sure you understand
Believers and unbelievers alike have problems
But believers have help to deal with them and carry the weight of them
Matthew 11:28 again
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
So we see we must first come
Then
We get to
Exchange our yoke for his
Verse 29a
29 Take my yoke upon you.
A yoke is a heavy wooden harness
It is placed over the necks primarily of oxen
I have seen yokes for other critters and even a type of York that people use to carry buckets and suck
But the visual Jesus ids using here is that of an ox pulling a heavy load
And the extreme weight of this chuck of wood
Combined with the weight of whatever is being pulled
Jesus says we are to take his yoke
And let him once again drive
Take control
What are some of the yokes we put on ourselves
Guilt
Shame
Even disgust with ourselves and others
Disbelief
Lack of trust
Selfishness
The weight of trying to please God though our own works and feeling that you are failing
Worry--
We burden ourselves with heavy yokes
That we will grow very weary of trying to carry alone
Skipping to verse 30
30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
But Jesus’ yoke is easy
His burden is light
Jesus wants you to exchange your yoke for his
Unload the guilt and shame
Chunk off the worry and disbelief
Get rid of the lack of trust and stop trying to work your way to heaven
And take his yoke
You see you do not have to work for God’s favor
Jesus died to buy that for you
He laid down his life to free you from guilt and shame
Taking it all upon him on cavalry
His yoke is belief
His yoke is acceptance
His yoke is love
And his yoke is a path to peace
His yoke is easy and his burden is light
Then let Jesus lead
Let him have the reigns to your life
Let him drive
Surrender to his will and his plan
I can tell you straight up
This is the hardest thing of today’s message to actually do
He wants to give us rest
But we want to be in control
He wants to give us peace
But we choose turmoil instead
He wants to unfold his plan in our lives
And we have plans of our own
I get it guys
I struggle here as well
I pray for God to give me a sign
And then like Gideon I throw out a fleece
then
I don’t like the answer
Cause it does not line up with my selfish plans
So
I throw out another one
But see
Here in this passage Jesus shows us the path to peace
Let him take the reins
First in salvation
Then once again in every area of your life
Each day
Verse 29b
“Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart,
Come to me
Take my yoke and let me lead you
Then verse 29c
“And you will find rest for your souls.”
Listen
I don’t know what you are struggling with this morning’
But I do know you are struggling
We all are
Whatever the question is
Jesus is the answer
All heads bowed this morning
All eyes closed
As I close this morning
We want to pray for you
We want to help you learn to use what Jesus promised
And find what he wants to give you
We don’t do altar call
But I know some of you are struggling
I don’t want you to come forward
I don’t want to embarrassed you or call you out- we want to meet you where you are
I have asked Your Elders , Lay pastors and Men and women of the church who are seeking and sometimes finding peace to make themselves available to pray with you and talk to you this morning
Some are up here at the front
Others are at the back
If you want just raise your hand and someone will come to you
----What are you struggling with this morning----
Have you resisted the to call to come to salvation
Jesus says come
Have you fought to call to obedience through baptism?
Jesus says come
Are you still trying to do it all yourself and making a bigger and bigger mess
Jesus says give me the reins
Are you struggling with direction and guidance in your live?
Jesus says
Let me teach you
Give me the reins
Trust me
Are you resisting a call into ministry?
Are you fighting changes God wants for you?
Whatever the burden
Jesus says come
Come to me all who are tired and worn out
All those who are packing heavy loads
And I will give you rest- Today- Right Now- Right here
Today you can start setting new – strong corners
Close from the heart
Pray
