This is too much

Intro

Good Morning

Shaun Wilson

Afresh Church

Pray over giving

Want to encourage you not to give out of abundance, but obedience

give so that it costs you something

Announcements:

Good Friday Worship Night

Happy Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday signifies when Jesus came into Jerusalem knowing that within 5 days he would be betrayed, beaten, arrested, … and ultimately crucified

And also the beginning of Holy Week, which consequently is the Sermon Series that we’re in right now!

Talking about the last week of Jesus’s life

RECAP:

Week 1: Palm Sunday

Israel welcomed their king, but they had their own version of who they wanted their king to be in their minds

Week 2: Maundy Thursday

Jesus up until his last moments was a servant

He lived his whole life and gave his last breath to serve you and me

Week 3: Good Friday p.1

even though Peter denied Jesus, Jesus never abandoned Peter

same with us

BACKGROUND:

Barabbas

Judas had betrayed Jesus

Peter denied Jesus

Jesus was abandoned by his disciples

He was enduring his unfair trial

and every false accusation

Because the religious leaders knew that

READ Matthew 27:11-26.

COMMENTARY:

17-18 He’s hoping that they will realize how envious they are

when they have to choose between a proven guilty murderer and someone who has done nothing but miracles, signs, and wonders

19 I get the feeling that everyone is feeling eerie about this

Do you want the murderer or do you want the healer?

BIG IDEA:

Jesus would then go on to make the most costly sacrifice that’s ever been made

I want to talk to us today from this thought:

why did Jesus need to die in the first place?

oftentimes we can become so numb to the Christianese we use all the time

Jesus died for my sins

Jesus gave his life for me on the cross

but I don’t think we fully grasp

He didn’t die because he was a

bad man

did bad things

was in the wrong place at the wrong time

He gave up his life for you and for me so that we could experience freedom

Because we can’t do it on our own

that the weight of our sin is too much to bear.

We NEED a savior

we need a perfect sacrifice

Too much to handle on our own

I want to title this message:

Too much to handle

touch your neighbor and tell them

This is too much to handle

other neighbor

you’re too much to handle

PRAY

I’M GETTING OLD

You know something that’s too much for me to handle?

I’m beginning to realize how old I’m becoming

For those who don’t know, I’m 27, heading for 28 and I’m feeling every bit of it

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been a dad for over a year now

added weight

I make noises when I go from a seated position to a standing position

My knees sound like glow sticks

There are certain things that I’m beginning to realize that I can’t do as well as I used to

Sleeping on the couch

When I do this now, even just for a few minutes, my neck and back become a mangled mess

Stephanie and I will both wake up like what have we done

Staying up until 3:00am

I used to play video games until 3:00am and get up at 7:00 then go to school

Granted, I slept through most of my classes but still

If I do that now, I’m tired for a whole week

My mind is not as sharp

I have to look up what certain slang words are now on Google

I had my nieces trying to explain to me what “yeet” meant a few weeks ago, talk about embarrassing

yeet

bussin’

on God

BAGGAGE:

Let me tell you the most shameful one - this was the telltale sign

When we come back from the grocery store

I can’t carry all of the groceries in one trip anymore.

I get too winded!

My arms are too weak

I’ve come to the realization that I’m going to have to make two or more trips.

But even though I know it’s going to be

painful

embarrassing

impossible

I will ALWAYS try

I’m THAT stubborn.

With how expensive groceries are now, it’s becoming more and more of a risk

if you drop the milk, that’s like $7 down the driveway

Stephanie likes drinking the Welch’s sparkling cider a lot

She’ll even put it in a champagne flute

She likes feeling fancy without feeling guilty

Last time I was at Costco, I picked up a 4 pack

and me being the stubborn man that I am, I tried to carry too much at once

I dropped it

shattered glass everywhere

made a huge mess

I was so upset

“I should’ve known I couldn’t do it all

shattered glass and sparkling grape juice all over my CROCS

Just shameful

I had to look around and make sure the neighbors did see me

As I went inside, took a deep breath, got a broom and came back out to start sweeping up the shards of glass

I felt the Holy Spirit speak to me on this

This is how a lot of Christians live their lives

You ever been so mad that like you’re not ready for a lesson from the Lord - this was me

what do you mean?

A lot of Christians are overloading themselves trying to handle something that we were never designed to carry.

I’m not lying when I tell you I almost fell on my knees all over those shards of glass

ITS SO TRUE!

Grocery bag illustration

begin picking up the bags one by one

We’re trying to carry everything in this life ourselves

“Don’t worry Jesus, I got this!”

Life’s challenges - we pick it up, “i’m good”

When Satan brings temptation our way, we pick it up

Exhaustion

envy - I can handle this

I can handle my own addiction

temptation

lust

watch my mouth

I can fix myself

my horoscope said to be strong - I’m being strong

insecurities

fix my own mess

and we look ridiculous trying to carry all this stuff

We’re left with more BAGGAGE than we can handle.

Drop the bag

This is what some of you look like coming in this morning

carrying the weight of your

shame

past

financial issues

the weight of your SIN

And you every intention of trying to take it with you when we leave.

THIS IS WHY WE COME TO CHURCH

We come to church trying to learn how to carry it better

We come expecting to learn how to deal with it instead of learning how to surrender it.

When we realize that we’re not getting anywhere with learning how to deal with it and carry it better

then we leave the church

I’m just not being fed

Yes you are

You’re just fed the stuff you don’t want to eat

Can I be mean today?

You want to know why so many

Christians have problems?

Churches die out

Pastors have affairs

Because we’ve taught the church for so long that we’d better get our act right.

We’d better be on our best behavior

We teach people to try to fix their own problems instead of relying on the Holy Spirit to help them

And every time we do that, we are going to fail.

The weight is too heavy

The load is too great

There’s going to be too much baggage

And God has never asked us to do this.

NOWHERE in scripture does it ever say,

“pick yourself up by the bootstraps and get yourself out of this mess you caused”

Somehow the Gospel has turned into

Do more

Be better

Show God how good you are

Don’t do this

So God won’t be mad at you

and you’ll get into the good place!

...

We’ve made the good news of the Gospel all about us instead of all about Jesus.

...

GOOD NEWS:

The reason I’m so passionate about this is because I see it all the time

I’ve seen people leave the faith because they believe they’re not good enough to follow Jesus.

you’re not!

We’ve taught people that it’s based on how well you do.

but this is not the gospel!

The Gospel mean GOOD NEWS

If the Gospel was based on our own abilities, that would not be good news.

I lose my car keys almost every day...

If my eternal destiny is based on my performance, then I should terrified

Not good news if based on our own performance

because your own performance was what brought you to the lowest point in your life

Maybe that was 10 years ago

Maybe you’re at your lowest point today

If the Gospel was dependent on our performance, that’s not good news at all.

What makes the Gospel so beautiful is our inability to perform.

BARABBAS:

The Gospel is so beautifully illustrated in the text that we read earlier

We have this random character named Barabbas

who we really don’t know a whole lot about him other than he’s a

murderer

thief,

leader of an insurrection/rebellion against the Roman government

He doesn’t even get any lines in the Bible, that’s how minor this guy is

We don’t know a lot about him

BUT WHAT WE DO KNOW is that he is on death row awaiting the death penalty.

his life is over

And I don’t want to skip over him just because he’s a minor character

because this was a real man

just as human as you and me

He had feelings/emotions/insecurities of his own

Just put yourself in his shoes for a moment

His punishment was a just punishment

He was going to get what he deserved

his bad decisions finally caught up to him

He knew this was the risk of breaking the law

Just imagine the weight of regret

as you’re waiting to have your hands and feet nailed to a wooden cross

and be surrounded by all the people you wronged as they watch you suffocate

Dying on the cross was not an easy death - it was torture

Once you’re on the cross, you hope to die as soon as possible

What’s so beautiful about this story is that even though Barabbas deserved the punishment that he was given

Jesus took his place anyway

Barabbas was let go, while Jesus suffered Barabbas’s punishment.

He sat there silently enduring the criticism

All Jesus had to do was explain the story

I need you to know this;

WE ARE BARABBAS

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Jesus took our place

when we didn’t deserve it

when we were drowning in our own sin/mistakes

The price of sin is costly.

We could live a million lifetimes and never pay it back

Why would Jesus take our place?

Because we can’t pay it.

He took on our sin

he took on our shame

endured the criticism

on the cross

and the whole time he was hanging there struggling to take a breath he was thinking of you and me

thinking that it’s worth it to him

Every time he was whipped it was worth it

every time flesh was ripped out of his body it was worth it

spit on

mocking

This whole time, he’s got an army of angels ready to be deployed if he wanted to

but endured it for you and for me

He took our place because sin is costly

I love what Paul says in Romans

Romans 5:6–11 NLT

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

'You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.' - Jonathan Edwards

We would be foolish to say that Jesus took our place because of all the good things I did

of how I fixed myself

WE DID NOTHING TO EARN THIS

We are Barabbas, we did nothing right to be let free

We were just in the right place at the right time.

Through his death, we have life.

not through our good deeds

not through giving 10%

knowing all the lyrics to the songs on Sunday

Through Jesus’s death burial and resurrection. That’s it.

He made us innocent in the eyes of God

he tore the veil - don’t have time to read it today

There was a curtain in the temple separating the presence of God

holy of holies

priest could only go in once a year

had to be holy

perform all the right purification rituals

tied a rope to his leg in case he died in the presence of God

nobody but the high priest was allowed back there

Jesus became our high priest

when he paid for our sin on the cross that temple curtain was torn from top to bottom

exposing the presence of God to all of human-kind

only this time, it didn’t bring death - but through Jesus’s blood it brought life

So now you and I are righteous in the sight of God through the blood of Jesus - and ONLY the blood of Jesus

but hear me, and I need you to write this down

on mirror

save it as your lock screen

STOP TRYING TO IMPRESS GOD

.

For some reason we get in this mindset where we don’t want to lose our right-standing with God

so we think after we receive forgiveness, then it’s based on performance

I don’t want God to be mad at me because I can’t get my sin problem under control

and it’s like we’re trying to win over the love of God

But there is nothing good enough or bad enough that will make God love you any more than he does now

Even if you reject him today, he still loves you.

Thank God that God isn’t as shallow and petty as we are

BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU

He gives us the ability to live a holy life.

through the Holy Spirit

I think we underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit

When Jesus left the earth he gave us a gift

The Holy Spirit

Comforter

encourager

Guide

Advocate

The reason he gave us the Holy Spirit is because WE AREN’T CAPABLE of doing it all right

but he is

And when we have a relationship with Jesus

claim the blood

The Holy Spirit dwells within us

and gives you a supernatural empowerment to live a holy-righteous-set apart life

stop trying to show him how much you can carry yourself

we don’t have to compete for his love.

then let’s say there’s a situation where you NEED a miracle

We can easily get in this mindset that God owes us one

we will use it as merit

Look I’ve been suffering for you

Hebrews 4:16 NLT

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Come boldly, not nervously, scared, timid

why? because we’re right in his eyes - we’re his kids whom he loves

Mercy is not giving us what we do deserve

Grace giving us what we don’t deserve

When we try to impress God, we are saying that everything that Jesus did on the cross wasn’t good enough.

I’m here to say

LET JESUS BE ENOUGH

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You ever been out with a friend or family member at a restaurant

and once the bill comes you want to pay for it

and they make a scene like no

reaching across the table to grab the bill

becky chill

I just want to do something nice for you and you can’t accept it

this is what it looks like when we don’t let Jesus be enough

Jesus gave his life for us on the cross, and he offers us forgiveness of sins

we make a scene

oh no Jesus I could never, I’ve got to get my life right first

I’ve got to get my sin problem under control

I need to be worthy of your sacrifice - you aren’t

If you’re waiting to get your life right before you surrender it to Jesus, you’ll never going to surrender it to Jesus.

If you could fix yourself you wouldn’t need Jesus

DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU’RE CLEAN

Judah

woke up at like 6:00am - covered in poop

If you would just let me clean you up, you would be so much better off

I just heard the Lord say, yeah, I feel the same.

Let Jesus clean you up

Let the blood cover you

Let Jesus’s sacrifice be sufficient, because it is.

He’s already paid the price, and we don’t have to try to pay him back

all he wants is your heart.

.

Matthew 11:28–30 NLT

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.”

MSG

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

He didn’t say come to me

All who are perfect

all who have their life figured out

all who can carry their own burdens/baggage

Let Jesus be enough

Don’t render his sacrifice useless because you keep trying to add to it

If you brought some baggage in with you this morning

please don’t take it home with you

stop trying to handle the weight you were never designed to carry

surrender it to him

just follow him

There’s nothing too great that he can’t handle

There is no shame in coming to Jesus

Romans 8:1 NLT

1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

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COMMUNION:

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Isaiah 53:7–12 NLT

7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. 9 He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. 10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. 11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. 12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

This represents Christ’s body that was broken for you

This is Christ’s blood that was poured out for you

because you’re incapable of doing it yourself

He gave his life not because he had to, but because he wanted to

Do you plead the blood, or your good works?

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