Gospel Rest

Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Matthew 11:25-30

If you forgot your Bible please use the one in front of you and if you dont have a Bible at all, please take home the one in front of you as a free gift to you

We are continuing our sermon series called Soul Care today

We started out by looking at what the soul is

And we found in scripture how mankind is the only living beings that have a soul

All other creation was created instantly - but with man, God formed the body and then breathed life into him

And God then distinguished and gave responsibility to both the flesh and the soul

That the flesh of man was to live and tend to the garden but the soul of man was to be unified with God through obedience

And the soul - to be unified with God is to be eternal

When we die, our physical body is buried but our soul lives on

And because of the fall of Adam and Eve, everyone born after them are born with a nature that is contrary and separated from God’s law

And from the very fall of Adam - God gave a promise that he would redeem Adam and Eve, that he would redeem his all of his people back to him

And God’s plan of redemption is that he would send his one and only son Jesus to earth - to live and walk among the people - fully man and fully God

We need to recognize that when we are born we are born with a physical body and a soul

But remember that Jesus’ mother Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit

That Jesus was not born from the seed of man, but from God as God

And so yes, Jesus had the physical body and bodily needs that we have

But his spiritual nature - being from God and being God, was not born seperated from the Father

And so being one with God, and being God, Jesus in his divinity lived a perfect life

He lived a life of no sin

He was a perfect spotless lamb

And yet - even though he had nothing wrong - he was unjustly sent to the cross

He was delivered by man, picked by man over Barabbas, and tortured by man

And Jesus, willingly submitted to the plan of the Father

Jesus willingly submitted to the love of his people

And Jesus willingly went to the cross to die

And what we know is that he did not stay dead, but arose from the grave on the third day

And because of his God nature, his death and resurrection solidified the conquering of sin and death

And in his conquering he redeemed all of his people

That as the Holy Spirit draws and changes hearts, the people see and understand, and realize they need Christ, so they put their faith and trust in Jesus, and they are forgiven of their sins

So when they die, and their soul is judged by God - Jesus says I know John Colunga

I paid the price for his sins

And the justification of Christ that declaration from Christ, is what eternally binds our soul with God in heaven

But dont miss this part - that while you are still here on earth

while you are still battling in the flesh

while you are still struggling in life

If God has changed you and you have put your faith and trust in him alone for salvation

Then you are declared righteouss right now

If you were to drop dead right now - you are saved

If you live thirty more years before you pass - you are saved

Whatever time you have left in this world - you can live in peace, you can rest in knowing that your soul is secure in Christ Jesus

Background of Passage

In our passage today, we are going to see these truths in the prayer and invitation of Jesus

Our passage comes from Matthew 11 where Jesus has been going city to city teaching and preaching

And along with his teaching and preaching, he is performing miracles

John the Baptist hears of this and sends his followers to Jesus to confirm that it is indeed Jesus - that it is indeed the Messiah

And Jesus responds to the messesngers by telling them to simply tell John what they see and hear - exactly what you witness - The acts of mercy healing the blind and deaf and lame

That Jesus isn’t just teaching to the rich and influential - but also to the poor

And as the followers leave, Jesus continues to teach a crowd of people

And in his teaching - he talks about John the Baptists role and responsibility in preparing the way for Jesus

That even though he was teaching and preaching Jesus - his message was rejected by many

And now that Jesus is here teaching and preaching - he is being rejected by many

And Jesus started to denounce cities there he teached and preached but also did many mighty works and yet,

they still didnt believe - they still didnt repent

And Jesus talks about what will happen to them on the day of judgement and it is not pretty

On the day of judgement - those whose hearts have not been changed - who have not believed in Jesus - have not turned away from their sin - their eternal punishment will be in hades

And Jesus from his own mouth relates the unbelief and unrepentance of these cities to those of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom

These cities in the old testament did not heed God’s revelation to them and therefore they will be destroyed

And here Jesus is saying that these cities who have seen the promised messiah, who have heard the son of God, who have witnessed the signs and wonders that prove Jesus is the Messiah in these cities-

Their punishment will be more severe according to God’s righteous judgement

The Question?

And if you are like me - you are tempted to say “Well thats not fair” - or man thats kind of harsh Jesus

If you are like me - you have to wrestle with the fact that a loving God allows, and wills, and judges those who are outside of his saving grace to various degrees of punishment in hell

And if you are like me - In the midst of knowing that there is judgement, in the midst of my limited understanding, in the midst of knowing that there are people that I love - who outright reject Jesus Christ -

How is it possible for our soul to live in the goodness, in the peace, in the comforting rest of Jesus Christ?

I can tell you that I do not have a close relationship with any person who is famous - movie star - music star - athlete

I have met shaken hands with some familiar names - mostly sports athletes

But I cannot say that I am friends with any of them

But what I do know - is that if I did and I shared that - someone may first question the extent of my relationship with them and more than likely the question that follows would be - what are they really like?

It is a question I would ask someone who says that they know someone famous

Because we have a quick glimpses on tv or in interviews but we do not know for certain who they truly are

And so it is a good question to ask to someone who is familiar with them

What are they really like?

And if we ask this question today, How is it possible to live in the goodness, in the peace, in the comforting rest of Jesus Christ?

We should first ask the question - what is Jesus like?

Most certainly we should ask this question about the theological nature of Christ

But what does Jesus say about himself?

How does his words show us who he is?

And what I love about our text today is that Jesus’ directly tells us who he is and his actions are evident of his words

The Text

I believe our text today has the answer - straight from Jesus himself

If you are able to stand, I ask that you please do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it as you follow along,

Matthew 11:25-30

25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

This is the Word of the Lord, you may now be seated

Prayer

Going to the Father

Our text today starts with a declaration and this declaration addresses God the Father

Jesus is praying a prayer of Thanksgivning

Ans he is thanking the Father for his sovereignty

He is thanking God the Father for being in control of all things

That what is limited to man, is known by God

That was is revealed to man, is revealed because of God

What is allowed by God, happens under his authority

Colossians 1:16–17 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Isaiah 45:7–9“I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things. “Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the Lord have created it. “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?”

God, the creator of heaven and earth has complete authority

Jesus declares and is thankful that everything God reveals and to whomever he reveals it to is under His own judgement and authority - no one elses

To put it bluntly - my opinion does not matter - my feelings on the subject do not matter

And we can and should wrestle with question as to why these entire cities were not changed

And we can and should wrestle with the fact that they will have a harsher punishment?

But at the end of the day we must submit that the saving is not up to us and is completly dependent upon God

I can share Jesus with other people and I can plead with them to put their faith and trust in Jesus

But if the Holy Spirit does not change them - If Jesus is not revealed to them by the power of the Holy Spirit

And if they do not come to professing faith in Jesus - why would I bang myself over the head?

Why would I focus on what I have no control over?

Jesus in our text does not ask the Father - Why?

Jesus does not blame the Father for not saving the entire cities

Rather, the focus here for Jesus is not on the judgement for those cities but for grace that God has on his children

That God does not hold it exclusively for the rich and influential

But God does reveal his word to His people and his people are of all nations, male and female, the old and young

He reveals himself as he wills

That God would save any man is a gracious act

In the midst of judgemement for the cities Jesus is thankful for those who did believe and become children of God

Thank you God for your grace to the people

That by God’s grace that the plan of redemption was created and carried out for his children

His plan was to send Jesus - and here Jesus is - the promised Messiah among the people - and again, Jesus points to himself

27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Jesus, being handed the responsibility of saving God’s people - does not exclude himself from the crowd - rather he continues to pursue the crowd

And so we find here that Jesus’ thanksgiving to the Father is for his sovereignty and for his plan

Jesus is giving thanks that by God’s grace

That Jesus would continue to point to himself as the Messiah

That Jesus would continue to point to his divinity

And that Jesus would continue to point to the love of God

Jesus is Rest

Heavy with Sin

Jesus’ purpose and mission is not lost on him

He has come for all who labor and are heavy laden

And he extends an invitation to the crowd and he tells the people who he is at the core of his being

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

And often this text is used when a person is going through a hard time

When there are stresses at work, challenges in the home, or in financial crisis

And while I do believe that Jesus is with you through those circumstances, what Jesus is referring to in the context of the passage, is far greater for your soul

Jesus is stating that had come for the circumstance of the soul

That the people are heavy laden because of their sin

That they work so hard to keep the law

The Pharisees had added so much to the law that the weight of obedience to the law was burdensome

And every time a person sinned there were steps inacted in order for the person to be forgiven

And the yoke Jesus’ talks about refers to the device that held two cows, or donkeys, or horses together in order to pull the plow

But in order for the plow to be effective, the yoke had to be on two strong or two alike animals

Otherwise, one would have to pull the weight of the weaker one

And so this word is found in other parts of scripture when its taught that the believers are not to be unequally yoked

That the believers were marry other believers so that there will be less problems or friction in the marriage

And Jesus here is teaching that right now the people are yoked to the law

And rather than the law helping and being a delight- they are feeling the burden of having obey and keep the law and it feels like they are pulling the plow all on their own

And Jesus says, be yoked with me. Let go of the law and follow me.

Dont be burdened with empty promises, selfish action, unfulfilled work

There is no work that can save you from this burden

But I can - Follow me

Follow my teachings - I am not burdensome - rather I am gentle and lowly

In the book, Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland, there is this quote - “In the one place in the Bible (Matthew 11:28-30) where the Son of God pulls back the veil and lets us peer way down into the core of who he is, we are not told that he is “austere and demanding in heart.” We are not told that he is “exalted and dignified in heart.” We are not even told that he is “joyful and generous in heart.” Letting Jesus set the terms, his surprising claim is that he is “gentle and lowly in heart.”

I’m not sure how you would describe yourself - I certainly would not immediately think of the words gentle and lowly to describe myself

But here - Jesus declares that that is who he is

He extends an invitation to the crowd and to those who believe and follow him - his nature of gentleness and lowlyness takes the heavy burden and replaces it with a light one

Application

So we ask the question: How is it possible for our soul to live in the goodness, in the peace, in the comforting rest of Jesus Christ?

Submit to the Sovereignty of God with thanksgiving

This means that you acknowledge, accept, and follow God as the Supreme Power or Authority

Wether we like it or not, he is the Supreme Authority and rightfully so

There is no way for us to live life our own way and for our soul to live in the goodness, in the peace, and the comforting rest of Jesus if we are not submitting to him and following him

And there are many reasons as to why we would try to live life our own way but looking at the text today - lets start with well I just dont like what it says

There are many times when we read books or watch movies and maybe we dont like when a particular character ends up marrying another

Or maybe we dont like when a particular character dies

And I dont know about you but I will often find myself commenting outloud - What are you doing!?

And many times - I think we are tempted to do the same with scripture

You know I dont like the way this ended - or I dont think God should be like that - Or I would do this instead

And we can start to bring our own human emotions and feelings into scripture

As I read the Old Testament I can feel myself being like Jonah - Ok God anytime now you can wipe these people of yours out - they are not getting the message!

God you gave them another chance?

Man if I were Jesus I would have zapped Satan right then and there for even trying to tempt me

And as we read and as we study we are going to come across hard texts like Matthew 11

And I will be the first to admit that there is so much in scripture to study and wrestle with

You can look at so many great pastors and theologians and see how their stances or views on theology has changed over their years

But a constant theme among them is that no matter their view point - they can defend their position with scripture and the entirity scripture

What is your defense or inclination when you come accross something you dont understand or something that doesnt seem right?

Well when you dont submit to God it is easy to just ignore it - you delete it - you choose to disregard it

But when you do submit to God, you admit that maybe you dont understand it, maybe your current position on the matter is wrong, and you seek to find the truth in what the text says

You do a deep dive study on the subject text

You use scripture with scripture and can use supplementary books by credible authors on the text

And all throughout you pray - You pray and ask God to reveal the meaning of the text

And you wrestle with it, count it a joy, count it a delight that you are not left alone to figure it out on your own

But because of your submission, because of your thankgiving, God will honor that and will bring you a conviction

Listen, I am thankful it is not up to me save souls and my soul in particular

I am thankful that it is not up to me to heal people

I am thankful that it is not up to me to define morality

And so I thankfully submit to a sovereign God who is perfect, who transcends time, and holds everthing together

Do you submit your soul to God and do you submit it with thankfulness?

Believe Jesus when he says that he is gentle and lowly

If you have not put your faith and trust in Jesus - Jesus is extending this invitation to you

Stop trying to be good enough

Stop trying to outweigh your good deeds with your bad deeds

Stop trusting yourself with the eternal state of your soul

Because when you give your soul to Jesus

You are not givng your soul to spiteful and deceitful Jesus

You are not giving your soul to an ambitious and demanding Jesus

Rather you are giving your soul to a Jesus who takes care of your heart in a way that matches his

He will treat your heart and soul with gentleness and lowliness

He will forgive you of all of your transgressions and not hold them against you

He doesnt call you to himself only to trick you and use you as his servant

Rather - Jesus himself became the servant for you - and the very purpose of his life was to live and die on a cross for your sins

That in his love for you he would give his life for you and then display his power and glory through his resurrection

That when you trust your heart and soul with him, his power and glory is enough to declare you righteous and eternally secure a place for you in heaven to be with him one day

And while you await that glorious day - as you live here on earth he still takes care of your heart with gentleness and lowlieness

And for all who put their faith and trust in him....

As you live on earth you are to follow him and his teachings

We still wear a yoke and we must be faithful in plowing

Notice how he doesnt completely take the yoke away

Rather he has replaced it He says 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

He has saved you and that is the hardest part

But to follow his teachings means that you are to be obedient to his teachings

And so I submit to you that we are to be like Jesus

In just our country alone today - we can name many many cities who are outright rejecting God

The people within the cities blaspheme his name

And although the very beauty of the earth is a testament to who God is

They trust in their own understanding to steward their soul

They trust their souls to other spiritual things

And as we walk out those doors, we have to recognize that in our cities, in our neighborhoods, we do not know who is or is not saved

We do not know who needs to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ - and just as Jesus cast an invitation to the crowd

So are we to share Gods grace to the multitudes - not being detracted by those who reject God

But focused on sharing Christ to the ones who will come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior

And when we fall into temptation and stumble ourselves - we know and experience Jesus’ light yoke as we repent and continue to plow

And the message we share with others is the same message we have experienced as believers

There is a gentle and lowly Savior who has paid it all to be yoked to you

Who wants to bring you goodness - he wants to bring you peace - he wants to bring you comforting rest

Submit - Believe - and Follow Christ

Announcements

Connect Card - Please fill out, we want to connect with you

We want to be Kingdom Minded what is your response? - giving, serving, response to Christ

Community Group Sign Ups - (Sept.) Meet Every Wednesday (1st Wednesday Midweek gathering)

September 6th is the first Mid-Week gathering

September 13th is the first community Group gathering individually

2 Groups (Deer Park/Pasadena and South Houston/Pasadena area)

Sign Up out in the foyer or Online

Next Sunday is Phillips last Sunday with us - we will have a reception after church for him

Saturday Sept. 9th - Party at the Park (Holly Bay Court Sports Complex 10am-12noon) We are going to the people

Sunday Sept. 10th - after church Colleen Hale the Student Baptist Minister will be doing a presentation

Marianne and I personally support her as she is starting and building a ministry at U of H Clear Lake sharing the gospel and building a Christ filled community

New Guests Connect Class - Starting Sept. 3rd 9:15am

‌New Day Reading Plan - Mon-Fri - 2 Corinthians 7-11

Ephesians 3:17-19 “May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Ordination

Dillon and Raquel please come forward

Church - this is Dillon and Raquel Trimm

And Dillon is coming before us to be ordained as our associate pastor

And we know that we live in a fast paced world and even church life can be fast paced

But I want us to take time and just reflect and honor this family and this moment because God is doing a work here

For Dillon, he has been praying over and discerning an aspiration to be in vocational ministry

At New Day Oak Forest he has been faithful in serving in the worship team and has stepped up whenever and wherever needed

And one thing that is apparent is that he has served faithfully and with passion

And in his serving - he has influenced people and elevated faith and encouraged everyone around him

In other words, Dillon is a leader

He has led in church and he has led his family well

And for us - we have been praying for and asking for another leader to come in help us to continue to build this church

You may not be aware of this but we have officially been New Day Pasadena for 1 year

We took the first 5 months to make necessary changes and to grow in unity as New Day Church

And then we launched in January to really let the community know that we are here

That we are committed to the gospel of Jesus

And we are committed to sharing that gospel with the community that everyone in this community may have a New Day in Jesus’ name

And I hope and pray that you as a body have seen the evidences of Gods grace and blessings towards us

And I believe that the Trimm family is another blessing to us and for us

And as Dillon comes I would like to give an exhortation to Dillon and to you the church

1 Timothy 4:6-16

A Good Servant of Christ Jesus 6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. 11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Dillon -

Train yourself for Godliness and then teach the people

Toil and Strive for this

Hope is always in Christ

Walk confidently in your calling

Be an example in speech - conduct - love - faith - purity

Do not neglict your gifts - be committed to scripture

God - Family - Ministry

Church

Be committed to godliness yourself (individually and collectively)

And in pursuit of godliness - God has placed Dillon as a Shepherd

Which means that there is a submission on your part to Dillons leadership

Anytime there is new leadership there is always a hesitency to submit

Is this mans leadership worthy of submission?

But I encourage you not to set conditions on this man

But to commit right now to support, encourage, and follow this mans leading as he continues to leads us towards godliness

I believe his character, his godliness, his love for God’s church will be evident and will be infectious

In a world that is desperate for young men to step up, to lead, and to submit to God’s calling on their life -

Dillon is answering this call of God to be here with us - Make a commitment to grow with him spiritually today

Commit to pray for him, for Racquel, for their boys

Call Deacons to pray

Will you now take your ordained place among the people of God, as a shepherd and light of the good news of Jesus Christ, serving them and not lording it over them, leading them in humility, compassion and patience?