Gentleness Crucifies Pride

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 Happy Easter. What a joy to be here today. Matthew chapter 11. It’s tradition for us around here. When we first begin to read scripture in honor of his word, we like to stand. So can you join me in standing as you turn to Matthew chapter 11, and no matter how your week went this Easter weekend, we’re here to remind you that God loves you.

Jesus Christ is supreme and sufficient, and the Holy Spirit can transform your life from the inside out if you let him. Let’s read Matthew chapter 11, starting in verse one. When Jesus had finished giving instructions to his 12 disciples, he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns. Now, when John, which is John the Baptist, heard in prison with what the Christ was doing, he sent a message through his disciples and asked him, are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else?

Jesus replied to them, go and report to John what you hear and see the blind receive their sight, the lame walk those with leprosy or cleanse the deaf here, the dead or raised and the poor are told the good news and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me. Let’s pray. Father, thank you for this Easter weekend.

Thank you that because that tomb is empty for us. This is a day of victory for those who trust and believe in you. I God, I pray just for your spirit of gentleness to come into this room. For those who are far from you, God, may they feel and experience your love. It’s such a profound way that their life is forever changed.

In Jesus’ name, everybody says, amen. Amen. You may take a seat. Blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me. These are the words of Jesus. A few weeks ago, we’ve been, by the way, going through a series on the seven deadly sins, and so Pastor Caleb in his time shared about his fascination with late night hosts.

Anybody there to hear about that? And he mentioned how he’s a sloth and pray for him, and he spends countless hours. Check this out, watching reruns and learning about his idol. Conan O’Brien. My vice is similar, but I like real comedy. So I am a sloth and I binge standup comedy. Occasionally I watch a special to study the craft of communication.

I find it fascinating. How do they use callbacks? Uh, they’re cadence. They speed up, but then they slow down. They make someone cry and then laugh. And you think those skills would rub off on me? I’ve been studying these things for years. I usually only get laughs when I mispronounce a word incorrectly. I didn’t mean to or tell you by the way, guys.

That was funny. Please laugh. Thank you. Uh, it’s the only time thing I got, but more than watching specials, my favorite pastime is watching podcasts of comics, talking about the art of comedy. And they talk about finding their voice, writing new jokes. What’s that process look like? You know, I know I’m no comic, but just this idea of creating something to share.

There’s some commonalities here. And so I love to talk. Uh, I don’t talk to any of ’em. I love to listen to them. Just this week I was listening to Jim Gaffigan and his process, any fans of him, my wife will say a big no, that, um, ha ha pocket, she hates that. It like makes your skin crawl. So I like put my headphones on listening to Jim Gaffigan because that happy wife, happy life.

Now the number one topic though, if you do listen to those podcasts like me, that comics talk about is this tension of offending people. Comics talk constantly are talking about, it’s kind of ad nauseum at this point, how they’re being canceled for crossing these invisible lines. And then they talk about this tension where if you remove a fence, nothing’s funny.

Like the whole point we’re laughing is because that is a bit offensive. And so we laugh. So that we don’t cry at times, right? That’s kind of the whole point of comedy. Now, to be sure I am a pastor, I need to say I believe some comics are way too crass and crude. I am very selective about who I listen to, but aren’t we in an interesting cultural moment of high offend ability, Jonathan, he and his great work, the coddling of the American mind, he blames what he calls safety is.

He says, the reason we’re so triggered and offended is because we were raised as Americans to believe that words could equal violence, not physical violence, but like we just associate it all the same. Carl r Truman, we’ve quoted him a lot recently in his book, the Rise and Triumph of The Modern Self. He argues we’re easily offended because, quote, the West has transitioned from a culture of dignity to a culture of victimhood.

In other words, and we hon, we honor there. There can be victims here in the room. Don’t hear me wrong. But we now get social credit for being offended. So we’re quick to claim offense so that people can pat us on our backs. It’s a weird cultural moment. Edward Freeman and one of my other favorite books, the Failure of Nerve.

He blames our offend ability, uh, on our anxiety. Look at the following quote. He says, A major criterion for judging the anxiety level of any society is the loss of its capacity to be playful. Now, while there, while there’s merit to safety, is victimhood and anxiety being the source of our offense, the Bible goes much deeper.

Our biggest problem isn’t just emotional fragility, which we have, or anxiety. It’s actually the oldest sin in the book, and it’s the deadly sin of pride. Since the beginning of March, our church, it’s been so fun. We’ve been talking about sin. Seven deadly sins plus one. We’ve been talking about fickleness, which was last week.

We’ve looked at envy, anger, gluttony. Pastor Caleb talked about sloth. And I wanted to present to you a church discipline situation. I found Mike and Grace were hanging out with a sloth   📍 on the other side of the world recently,  and I think we need to call ’em out on their sin, uh, for enjoying sloth. I was going to do that until next slide.  📍

Me and Pastor Caleb, apparently were hanging out with  sloths guys. The detail, the fact that they printed these things out, cut them out, attach them to Popsicle sticks, flew across the world and took a picture from, you have to bravo that. That is amazing and hilarious. And that is Mike and Grace in a nutshell.

And it’s sin. No, I’m kidding. Um, that made my week. I thought that was so funny. I’ll give you a better picture next time. Just ask. Um. See comedy still working on it, but towering above all the sins is pride. Saint Augustine, he puts it this way, he says, pride is actually the beginning of all sin at its root is pride.

Bernard of Clairvaux, a mid-century theologian, sorry, a medieval age, theologians, put it this way, pride in slaves, the soul, more than any tyrant. Jeff Cook. Jeff Cook, a really helpful author and theologian that’s helped us in this seven deadly sins. He wrote in his book, he says, pride spurs me to view myself as the only one in the entire world who matters.

To think that I have somehow earned the prime spot in the universe, and now all of creation is a grand symphony celebrating me. Anybody met those people before? It’s you. No, I’m kidding. Maybe, maybe not. This is what the Bible says about pride. In Proverbs 1618, pride comes before destruction and an arrogant spirit.

Before a fall, which is why if we understand Easter correctly, this is the most offensive day of the year, at least if you’re proud. ’cause what does the cross and resurrection communicate? You are so dead in your sin. God had to leave heaven, come down and die in your place. You cannot save yourself. Your sin has severe consequences.

You cannot heal yourself. You cannot forgive yourself. Happy Easter. It’s offensive, but it’s true here in Matthew chapter 11. What I love, if you read this chapter in its entirety, Jesus just wants to offend everyone. Even as followers, even John the Baptist. So here in verses one through six, which is how we began, John the Baptist asked Jesus if he is the Messiah.

Now he knows it’s the Messiah. There’s a whole great sermon here. The fact is that he’s having a moment of doubt, which we’re allowed to have, and he’s doubting that Jesus and Jesus is dealing with him in his doubt. But John the Baptist is doubting because he’s in prison. So he has been thinking, Hey, if you are who the prophet Isaiah says you are, I shouldn’t be here right now.

Jesus, interestingly enough, responds to John the Baptist. Verse five, the blind received their sight, the lame walk those with leprosy or cleanse the deaf here, the dead are raised. The poor told the good news. This is all evidence. He’s saying, I’m the Messiah. What Isaiah said, I’m already doing this. But you know, he left out one line from Isaiah and that one line he left out was, and the prisoners go free saying, I’m in the Messiah, I’m doing all this stuff.

But John, you’re still in prison. This also probably offended him. This is why Jesus says blessed, happy are those who are not offended by me. What John the Baptist was doing is what you and I tend to do as well. They were sharing in a Jewish expectation that the Messiah, if he really were to come, everything would be made right, completely.

He shouldn’t be in prison. There should be no more death. Everything is figured out. It’s important. I do this every single Easter to make this distinction. Look at the following image. It shows, uh, uh, uh, the present age. Perfect. You got it. Okay. So look at the top.   📍 When people in the Old Testament, when the old t testament was being written, they understood in Messiah would come, but in their understanding  since Genesis three, sin entered to the world, yes and amen.

We agree to that as well. This present age is ruled by Satan and death. Yes. Humanity now is opposed to God. Scripture say We’re even enemies of God. We deserve his judgment and we’re unable to save ourselves from this condition. So that’s what we call this present age. That’s why we, we have grief. It’s why we groan.

Now in the Jewish expectation, though, they believe this present age would be done. Once the Messiah came, then would come eternal life, then would come, shalom, then would come peace. There’d be no more tears, no more crying, no more death, no more pain. Jesus comes and he says, my kingdom is not of this world.

And he subverts people’s expectations. If you remember last week, Palm Sunday, Jesus comes in. Everyone’s excited ’cause they think he’s gonna announce that he’s king and this new age would come. Jesus says, yes, but not how you think it’s gonna come. When he’s resurrected. He does usher in the age to come.

We do have peace. We do have eternal life. We do have hope. But we are in, see that little square on the bottom? We are in this little rectangle called the in-between where we are living from the victory of the empty tomb. But we’re also looking forward to the second coming. So this is why we can say, I have peace that passes understanding.

I have hope even when this seems to be a hopeless situation, because yes, we acknowledge we are in this present age for John the Baptist. You are still in prison at the same time, John, you’re in prison, but your soul is free. You are freed from your sin, but you’re still in prison. You see that contrast? So some of us get disappointed with Easter saying, why are we saying it’s a time of victory?

I feel nothing but defeat. Well, no, there is victory in the middle of defeat. Jesus won the war, but you and I have these little battles along the way, which is why we are longing for his second coming. But now we can choose love, joy, and peace. In the midst of a world filled with hate, grief, and shame. See that theologians call that the already, but not yet.

We are in the in-between. Jesus says, don’t be offended, John. This is the era we’re in now. There’s still hope. Don’t be offended by me. Lean in. Okay, so now Jesus goes from verse one through six. He offends John probably, but now he goes to defend John. Let’s keep reading. He’s pointing out the arrogance of the crowd.

Fun time if you are there, and verse 18, Jesus says to the people, for John again, John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he has a demon. What’s happening is John, he was kind of a strange guy. His diet was locusts, right? He lived in the wilderness. He didn’t party, he didn’t hang out with people.

He was not a fun person to be around. His job was to proclaim repentance, and they had a problem with him. They’re saying, you’re a demon. There’s something wrong with you. You’re not fun. Jesus comes onto the scene. Look at verse 19. He says, the son of man, which is another phrase for Jesus, came eating and drinking, and they say, look, a glutton and a drunkard.

You see the difference? So one didn’t eat, and he’s like, you’re a demon. Jesus is like, I came eating. Oh, you’re, you’re a glutton. You’re a drunkard. They’re never satisfied. He says, A friend of tax, collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. In other words, Jesus is pointing out, if you have the deadly sin of pride, you will always find a way to resist God.

God came through John, he’s a demon. God came literally through Jesus. He’s a drunkard. You’ll always find a way out. Now, Jesus continues to offend us, especially our modern sensibilities. In verse 20, then he proceeded to denounce the towns where most of his miracles were done, because they did not. Repent.

Repent. Here is this word metanoia. It means to change your mind or to change your outlook on life. So for all of us, we are sinning. We’re trusting in something other than Jesus. To repent is to recognize our depravity, to turn completely to Jesus and be saved. They were not doing this even though all these miracles were happening.

Let’s continue. Verse 21, woe to you. This is a judgment. This is, that’s a heavy phrase. Woe to you, Corin. Woe to you, Beth Saya, for if the miracles that were done in you had been done entire inciden, they would’ve repented in s sat cloth and ashes long ago. But I tell you, it will be more to tolerable for Tyra and sadden on the day of judgment than for you and you, Capernaum.

Will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will go down to Hades for if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would’ve remained until today. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment. Then for you. Alright, you guys ready for Easter? Offensive truth number one, Jesus is judgmental.

Look at Jesus here. He’s performing miracles in these towns. He’s doing this so that they drop their pride and believe instead they’re resisting all the more. And so Jesus is giving them a wake up call saying judgment’s coming and it’s not looking good for you. And he mentions outside of Babylon, these are the three most evil wicked cities in the Old Testament.

When you grew up a Hebrew boy or girl, you learned about these three cities and they were terrifying. We obviously didn’t grow up in this context. Let me give you that context tire, for example. You can read about it in Ezekiel 28. It’s known for being wealthy and arrogant and God has stored up judgment for that city.

What’s fascinating about Ezekiel 28, it describes the wickedness of King Tire, but it’s so wicked. Most theologians believe it’s not just a depiction of this wicked king and tire. It’s also a picture of Satan. It’s the story of Satan as well. This shows you how bad this was. So it’s a metaphor. It’s like it means for this present day king, but it’s also a picture of the, the ruler Satan.

Satan, same thing. They’re known mainly for Paganism. They were the ones who introduced bowel worship to the people of God. It’s because of Jezebel, and you’ve heard of Jezebel before. It’s not good to be called to Jezebel. I’m just saying it’s just one of the worst characters in the Old Testament. You can read about that in one King, 16.

But her, she was able to bring a lot of the people of God towards wickedness. This is a bad city, and Ezekiel also proclaims judgment on sight, himm. But of course most of us know this one Sodom, like Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed in Genesis 19 for their sexual morality, but also their violence and their injustice to the poor.

That’s a lot. But notice this. Jesus reserves his strongest judgment, not for the pagans, but for the privilege who have seen Jesus and heard his truths. He’s saying Sodom was wicked, but they never saw my miracles. If Sodom saw this, they would’ve repented. You saw it, and you still haven’t done anything. So he’s looking to Cozen Beth Bethsaida Kaepernick.

These towns saw the miracles. They heard the sermons. They shook hands with the Messiah, but they still didn’t repent. They were around the things of God, but never surrender to God, which is of course also a huge temptation in America today. So Jesus says, if Sodom saw what you saw, it would still be standing.

What’s the point he’s making? Jesus is judgemental. To the resistant. Here’s the story of the Bible. God created us to be with him. And yet quickly in Genesis chapter three, we chose sin and darkness. And because we went against God’s design, we were separated from God, which was righteous of God to do. And the consequence of sin is death.

This is physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death. And here’s the worst part. Our sins cannot be removed by good deeds. There’s nothing you and I can do to save ourselves or to heal ourselves. But the good news, even in Genesis three 15 and onward throughout the Old Testament, is that God promises a messiah, a savior will come to do what you and I can never do in our own power.

And so these towns were raised to watch for this coming savior. This savior’s coming and look out for him. Look out for his miracles. He speaks with authority. This is exactly what Jesus does. And yet they resist. They say no. Why? In part because of the deadly sin of pride. Here’s what pride does. Pride resists Jesus by clinging to three things.

If you were just raised in a normal American home, here’s the three things you and I typically find our trust and hope in. Number one is what I can have. So we’re constantly on a chase to gain status, to increase our wealth. We’ll feel like we are worthy people if we have a lot of things. Number two is what I can do.

Some of us have found that in our career paths, our performance or success metrics. If I succeed enough, I will be loved and I will love myself. And number three is what others think of me, which is a terrible prison to be in because people’s opinions change like the winds. But our whole life is about image and reputation.

And so pride says, look, if I come to Jesus, I’m admitting I don’t have enough. I’m admitting I can’t do enough. I’m admitting it doesn’t matter what others think of me. And for some of us, we can never let go of these idols. Pride says it’s way too hard to admit that I am not good enough, that I don’t have enough, and that others think poorly of me.

C. S Lewis in his chapter on Pride in Mere Christianity. If you haven’t read that book before, such a high recommendation. He put it this way, quote, as long as you are proud, you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things in people, and of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.

He’s looking at Cosin Beth, Thea Kaepernick saying, look up. See, pride is the deadliest sin because it keeps us from receiving the greatest gift. But Jesus isn’t done offending people. Happy Easter. Okay, there’s another group of people, so maybe you’re here thinking I’m not offended so far. Let me try one more time.

Let’s keep reading in verse 25. Verse 25 says, at that time, Jesus said, I praise you, father Lord of heaven and earth because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and reveal them to infants. In other words, this isn’t some high lofty religion. It’s really simple, actually. Yes, father, because this was your good pleasure.

All things have been entrusted to me by my father. No one knows the son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the son. This is an exclusive claim. You cannot be with God. You cannot be promised heaven if you think it’s any other way other than the person and work of Jesus Christ and anyone to whom the son desires to reveal him.

And I love verse 28. Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me because I am lowly and humble and hard, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. We’ve spent a lot of time at our church. We will continue to to talk about what the yoke is, but for now, are you ready for offensive Easter?

Truth number two, Jesus is gentle. This actually offends more people. The Pharisees, for example, they think they could earn their salvation, and the Pharisees have a tear. They say, okay, the tax collectors, the sinners, the prostitutes, those people, they’re really low. And so if Jesus is kind and humble and gentle to them, that is wrong.

Jesus. No, I am good. I deserve to be loved. Not those people over there. And so it made the Pharisee so angry that Jesus was gentle with the worst of these and the least of these, that they decided to kill him. That’s how offensive it was. This is actually one of my favorite verses in all of scripture. I spent a lot of time meditating on it because it’s the one place where Jesus describes who he is.

There’s a lot of place that describes what he does, but verse 20 says, he says, I am two words lowly and humble. CSB says that I love the ESB translation. He says, I am gentle and lowly. What does that mean? Gentle, for example, is not harsh. Jesus is a God who’s not reactionary. He’s the most understanding and patient person on the planet.

Here’s what I love about Jesus. You can come to him with your doubts. We have many examples of that in the Bible. You can come to him with your damage. You’ll see those stories over and over. You can in fact come to him with all of your darkness and he won’t push you away. He’s lowly, which means he’s accessible.

He doesn’t have 30,000 security guards guarding him, and you can’t just come to him and come to his feet. He is easily accessible. You can take 10,000 steps away from him. It always only takes one to come back. He is so accessible and loving and gentle. But who is he gentle with? First of all, he said, come to me.

All, all who in verse 28 who are weary, unburdened, or I would say who are weary and crushed, weary, weary from being exhausted by religious efforts. Some of you have tried to gain God’s approval. You feel like God hates you because you forgot to pray. You didn’t give, you forgot to get baptized. All these, no, no, no, you’re weary and God has grace for you, for the crushed.

Some of us are crushed with the weight of our own guilt and shame and our sin, our failures from our past that we can’t seem to move beyond. Jesus is talking to you and saying, come to me. I will give you rest. He’s gentle with you. There’s one more passage that talks about his gentleness. It’s Hebrews chapter five, verse two.

Hebrews five, two says, he is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray since he is also clothed with weakness. In other words, Jesus hear me as gentle with the weary. The crush, the wayward, and the clueless, the wayward. Those who intentionally rebel Jesus is actually gentle with those who have literally purposefully gone astray because he’s gentle.

When you come back, those who are clueless. I love meeting people in our church who’s like, look, this is the first time I’ve ever been around the Bible. I don’t even know what chapter five verse two means. I just gotta watch it on the screen. I feel clueless. No one told me about God. Hear me. Jesus is so gentle with you.

Don’t feel bad that you don’t know what’s going on. Half the time, he is so happy you’re here. This is the God we serve. My question is that, does that describe anyone in this room? If we are honest and humble enough, we should probably all claim all four. And here’s the shocker. Jesus is not mad at people like that.

If he loves to be gracious and kind. One of my favorite, um, I guess you’d call it a meme or a Instagram post I saw years ago. I think about it. Every Easter he talks about, you know, the difference between like knowing Jesus versus knowing any other type of religion. He says, when you mess up, when you mess up, what do you say?

Oh no, I messed up. Please don’t call my dad. Or, oh no, I messed up. I need to call my dad. The way of Jesus is I need him. In my worst moments, in my biggest sins, in my biggest disappointments, actually Jesus is there for me. He’s actually happy for me when I just tell him all of the junk. This is who Jesus is gentle with.

Please hear this gospel truth. Jesus is judgmental with the resistant, but Jesus is gentle with the repentant And I want you to notice this. This is the same chapter. He was judgmental and now he’s gentle. This is the same crowd. It’s the same scene. This is what the gospel is. Jesus first tells you, woe to you. You deserve judgment. Wake up, look at your sin. And many of us in our pride, we leave and don’t let him say the rest.

But Jesus continues with the crowd and says, woe to you. However, come to me and I will give you grace. I will wipe away all of that sin. I’ll take that judgment on my own shoulders. That’s how salvation works. It’s called good news, but you need the bad news in order to know the good news. And here’s the bad news again, happy Easter.

You are more sinful and wicked than you could ever think or imagine deserving of judgment eternally. However, here’s the really good news. You’re more loved. Than you could ever imagine or hope for God in His grace loves to pour his grace upon you if you’re willing to receive it. See if you’re proud and resistant, you’ll hear Jesus say, woe to you and you’ll walk away.

But if you’re humble and repentant and stay around, you’ll hear Jesus say to you, just come to me. It wasn’t a series of things you have to do. Just come to me. And this Easter Sunday, I just wanna ask you, which one are you? Have you pridefully, walked around, offended at Jesus, offended at the things of God?

Or are you finally ready to humbly draw near Dane Orland that I suggest this book all the time, gentle and lowly. He put it this way, he says, what elicits tenderness from Jesus is not the severity of the sin, but whether the sinner comes to him, whatever our offense, he deals gently with us. If we never come to him, we will experience a judgment so fierce.

It will be like a double edged sword coming out of his mouth at us, as it says in Revelation. And if we do come to him as fierce as his lying, like judgment would’ve been against us so deep will be his lamb like tenderness for us as a citizen revelation in Isaiah, we will be enveloped in one or the other to no one will Jesus be neutral.

So the cross and the resurrection demands a response. And my question to you is, will it be resistance or will it be repentance? The reality is, is our resistance is why you and I are restless. So he is calling out the judgment saying, look, come to get rest. Your resistance is why you can’t even sleep at night.

I am what I have is probably why you fear death. You gained all the riches. Have you seen billionaires? They’re trying to figure out how to live forever because this is what they think life’s all about. And guess what? When you die, you can’t take any of it with you. Some of us are afraid of death because we think we’re gonna become the next Elon Musk.

We think we’re about to make billions. So I gotta stay alive in order to see it happen. I am what I do, man, that makes you restless because you are crushed under the wilt the gate, uh, the wilt gate, the weight of guilt and shame again. That’s how the only time I get laughs. The weight of guilt and shame though, because here’s the thing, you can boast in your winds, but you know, deep down, if I boast and put my trust in how I do well, I have to be honest about when I do bad.

And those bad, I cannot outrun those. I feel that guilt and shame. I am what others think of me. You are enslaved to the opinions of others. You’re stuck trying to manage the crowd. You’re trying to please everyone. You’re trying to impress someone, and it’s exhausting. Repentance is turning away from trusting in those things and finding your hope in the resurrection of Jesus.

Hear me? The resurrection frees us from the fear of death because guess what? The tomb is empty. Jesus has promised that resurrection to you and to me, the weight of guilt and shame is paid for Jesus. On the cross says it is finished. It’s completely done. It’ll always be done if you put your hope and trust in him.

The slavery of sin, the weighing down by the opinions of others. No, you are loved and approved in Christ Jesus. It’s not because of what you’ve done, but because of what Jesus already did. Hear me. This is a free gift. It sounds too good to be true, and if you’re prideful, you’ll think it’s too good to be true and you’ll never accept it.

This is why, uh, God in three different places, James one, Peter and Proverbs says, God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Blessed is the one who is not offended. By me. In your pride, will you stay offended or in your humility will you be set free? That’s the hope of Easter. I invite you to stand.

We’re gonna respond together as the music starts to come up. I just want you to use this as a time of reflection.

We really believe in the presence of God. We really believe God is already in this place, and we believe if we have ears to hear, we can hear him. And so I just ask you just to kind of steal your heart and ask God, speak for I am listening.

Maybe you were here and man you haven’t been honest before, but you can be honest now. You are weary from trying to prove yourself.

Maybe you haven’t had words before, but the Holy Spirit showing you today, you are crushed by the weight of guilt and shame.

Maybe you’re even terrified to come to church today because you’re wayward. You’ve been rebelling against God. You know what’s wrong and you’ve still been running the other way,

and maybe you’re in here clueless, you’ve never heard the gospel before, but you’ve heard it now and you’re wondering what to do.

Let me encourage you. Jesus does not push you away.

He gently pulls you in. He says to you, come to me and I will give you rest.

And so we want to give you that opportunity today. Will you respond to the resurrection? Will you resist him and stay restless or will you repent and receive rest with every eye closed? If you have never made that sort of profession before and you feel like today is the day that you are so overwhelmed and there’s nothing you can do to defeat sin satan, and death in your own power, there’s so many ways to get saved as far as like saying a prayer or just coming forward.

We don’t do this often, but I feel led. I wrote out a prayer, and so if this is you where you feel like the Lord is calling you to turn to him for the first time, just pray, repeat after me in your mind, these following words. Jesus, I admit it. My pride has kept me from you. I’ve tried to save myself to prove myself.

To even crown myself. But today I lay it all down. I am weary. I am crushed. I have wandered, I’ve been blind. And I need you. I believe you died for me, not just to forgive me, but to free me. You rose again to offer rest. Not to the proud, but to the humble. So I come to you. Save me, be my Lord. Be my rest. I trust you.

I wanna follow you from this day forward. Amen. Amen. If you prayed that, I really believe the angels are rejoicing, celebrating, you’ve gone from darkness to light, that your destiny was that of sin, Satan, and death. But now it’s the kingdom of light and joy and forgiveness. And if you did do that, I’d love to call, talk to you, fill out in the u card I, I accepted Jesus on the next steps or come forward, but also for the rest of us, I want this to be a response.

I know that there’s people in here obviously who have made that decision before, and let me just pray this over you. Father God. We are also as saints, often restless. But God, today, this holy weekend on Easter Sunday, we just re declare this truth. That you are good, that it’s your love that endured forever, that in you we have life and life in abundance.

And so God, as we walk out of these, this cafeteria in a couple minutes, we just ask God that we feel that sense of rest and peace, and we walk in it throughout this week. Thank you, Jesus. You love us. I pray for those who are saved, but yet we’re so afraid to bring you to our sin. Jesus, I pray that you break away that stronghold.

Help us see. You are good. You love when your children confess, and I just pray this would be a holy moment where we get honest with each other, where we get humble before you Lord, and allow you God to do what only you can do. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.