Despite technical problems with the projector which meant we had to use a large screen to project the words of songs, we still managed to get through a variety of topics last night!
First of all, an important birthday!
Then, a sermon inspired by Psalm 68:19 and looking at Matthew 11:28-30 on loads and burdens and how God wants us to come to Him with our burdens and exchange the heavy yoke we carry daily for the light yoke which is available through Christ.
Rarely seen without a host of bags, Julie talked about the daily load she carries:
/>First, there was the exercise bag, complete with towel, shampoo, deodorant, MP3 player and headphones and gym equipment:
Then there was the work bag, containing useful guidelines for her job as a teacher, including GCSE specifications and the infamous yellow ICE booklet to help with conducting exams:
Finally, there was a rucksack, containing tapes and the lever arch folder that holds the weekly plan for each lesson taught:
At times, we too wrestle with a host of baggage that we ought not to be carrying around. We can help share each other’s burdens (Gal 6:1) as part of the church community, but there are also times when we must be prepared to lay down the burdens of wrong attitudes and thinking, sin and guilt and idolatry which God never intended us to carry.
Sin and guilt are burdens which will crush us: “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.” (Ps 38:4) With God, there is forgiveness from sin and no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1, just like a shower after exercise can wash away the sweat and dirt! Wrong thinking and attitudes have to be replaced by the truth of God’s word, so that our minds are renewed (Rom 12:1-2) – rather like listening to one’s own MP3 player at the gym instead of the music blaring forth from Kiss radio! And instead of relying on a over-full Lever arch folder of carefully constructed lessonplans, we need to face the fact that life was not meant to be lived solely under our control. We are not meant to be in sole charge of our lives. We don’t have to have everything neatly organised and tidily filed. Life is messy at times and we are not the ones who have to fix everything. Instead, we can come to Jesus and learn from Him who is gentle and humble in heart. We can rest in Him and exchange yokes. We can find rest for our souls.
Aaron Shust’s song ‘Come To Me’ takes the words of Matthew 11 and puts them to music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVa7nheT56Y