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“Come to Me, all you 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.”
Lately, I’ve noticed something—and I’m not alone. I’ve been talking to people, and many are saying the same thing: there’s a strange sense of detachment from the world right now. You look around and it feels heavy. Corruption everywhere. Division everywhere. Trillions of dollars wasted. Strife, injustice, and confusion on every side.
And yet, as believers, we live with this tension. We’re in the world, but we are not of the world.
We know how to quote that, but the real question is this: Does that truth actually saturate our thinking? Does it shape how we see ourselves when we look in the mirror? Does it shape how we respond when we watch the news? Because the moment we let ourselves be defined first by politics, economics, race, trauma, or any non-essential identity, we start living of the world rather than simply in it.
That’s not condemnation—it’s awareness. And awareness brings us to responsibility.
The world is dark. Injustice does exist. Pain is real. But the church was never called to be swallowed by that darkness. We were called to bring light into it.
And that’s where this message lands:
We are burden lifters.
Jesus Brought a Kingdom—and the Increase Has Already Begun
At Christmas, we talked about the truth that Jesus didn’t just bring forgiveness—He brought a kingdom.
Isaiah prophesied it plainly:
“Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given… and the government shall be upon his shoulder… and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end” (Isaiah 9).
Daniel echoed the same vision—a kingdom that would never end. When the angels declared, “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men,” they weren’t offering sentiment. They were announcing that the gap between God and humanity had been bridged in Christ.
From that moment on, the increase began. And that’s where we are now.
Yet so many believers are living burdened—negative, overwhelmed, exhausted—because they’ve forgotten who they are and what Jesus actually invited us into.
Religion Looks to Scripture; Relationship Comes to Jesus
Jesus addressed this directly in John 5:39:
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”
In other words, you can know the Bible and still miss Me.
When we’re confused, discouraged, or heavy-laden, the question isn’t whether we know verses—it’s whether we’re coming to Him. There is no substitute for an interactive, personal relationship with Jesus by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is alive and active—not just to perform miracles, but to help us experience the salvation we already have.
And that’s where the central invitation of Jesus comes in.
“Come to Me”: The Easy and Light Way of Christ
Jesus says in Matthew 11:28–30:
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me… For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
That word yoke is critical. In Jesus’ culture, a yoke represented the expectations of a rabbi—the way of life you were invited to walk in.
But a yoke also tells us something else: it is shared.
Jesus isn’t handing you a load and stepping back. He is pulling with you. He bears the weight. He provides the strength. Life itself may not always be easy—but following God is easy and light when Christ bears the burden.
That’s not weakness. That’s trust.
And this is why Jesus was so angry with religious leaders.
Why Jesus Was Angry: Religion That Makes God Hard
In Matthew 23, Jesus doesn’t hold back.
He confronts religious leaders who:
“Bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders” (Matthew 23:4)
Shut people out of experiencing the kingdom (Matthew 23:13)
Clean the outside while remaining dead on the inside (Matthew 23:25–28)
Jesus’ frustration wasn’t about holiness—it was about hypocrisy and burden-making. He had already said, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” So when leaders made following God confusing, fearful, legalistic, or exhausting, Jesus responded strongly.
Religion said, “Do more.”
Jesus said, “Come to Me.”
Religion created endless questions:
Have I repented enough?
Have I forgiven enough?
Have I done enough?
Jesus removed the burden entirely—by fulfilling the law Himself.
Righteous First, Then Fruit
This is why the gospel must be rehearsed continually.
Paul makes it unmistakably clear in 1 Corinthians 3:
“He himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
Your salvation is secure. Judgment is not about righteousness—it’s about reward. God is not scrutinizing you with fear; He is inviting you to live with purpose.
And that purpose isn’t measured by volume—it’s measured by quality. What you do in secret matters. Decisions no one sees are celebrated in heaven. That’s why quiet integrity transforms us.
As I said in the message:
“It’s not about what you accomplish. It’s not about saving the world. It’s about the internal—the day-to-day, the private obedience, the secret integrity.”
That’s where grace meets you. And grace is not permission—it is power.
Cleansed From the Inside Out
Jesus exposes the problem again in Matthew 23:25–28—whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, dead on the inside. But that is not who we are.
God has already cleansed us inwardly. He removed the old heart, removed the root of sin, and gave us a new one. As Romans 8 teaches, the weakness was never the law—it was the flesh. And Jesus fulfilled the law for us.
Holiness is not something we grow into—it is something we live from.
“He made you holy—and now you live in what He made you.”
And when you believe that, your desires change. Your peace increases. Your confidence grows. You stop making God hard—for yourself and for others.
Our Calling: Bear One Another’s Burdens
Here’s where it becomes practical.
We don’t just receive the easy and light yoke—we extend it.
We are called to:
Remove barriers
Lift burdens
Simplify the gospel
Bring people to Jesus, not systems
As believers, we owe it to the world to not be pulled down by its chaos. We are anointed, empowered children of God, and our lives are meant to make following Jesus look what it truly is: life-giving.
That doesn’t mean pretending life is perfect. It means living unburdened in our identity—so others can breathe when they’re around us.
Or as I said plainly in the service:
“We are burden lifters. We are kingdom bringers. We bring people to Jesus.”
Walking Into the New Year Unburdened
So as we move forward, the invitation is simple:
Come to Him.
Let Him carry the weight.
Live from righteousness, not for it.
And bear one another’s burdens—rather than making God hard for people.
Because life may not always be easy.
But following Jesus is easy and light—and it always has been.
And that’s the gospel worth echoing loudly, clearly, and joyfully to the world.
