Come | Daniel Bentley

Jesus invites us to come to him. I love that. The very first word in this invitation is come. And this is where the gospel begins. Not with an admonition to go and clean yourself up or go and fix all your problems, but rather come to me. This is what Jesus says. You know, religion, it points a long judgmental finger and says, go first and deal with your problems or or or fix this and that in your life, and then come back once you're all cleaned up and nice and pretty. Meanwhile, Jesus spreads his arms wide and says, come just as you are. [00:02:51] (47 seconds)  #ComeAsYouAre

And knowing that, I think, helps broaden our understanding of what Jesus is really inviting us into here when he says, take my yoke upon you. In saying that, he's asking us to allow him to bear the weight of the burdens we've been carrying. Oh, doesn't that sound good? He's saying, instead of walking through life on your own, carrying these burdens on your own, link up with me. Walk beside me and let me do all the heavy lift lifting. [00:18:55] (33 seconds)  #LetJesusCarryIt

The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we learn how he navigates life, the more we will find our own journey being lightened. So how did Jesus do life? How did he know what needs to meet, where to go, where to preach, what to say, what to do? This is the trick, if you wanna call it that, that Jesus adhered to. He said, on two occasions, he said, I only do what I see the father doing, and I only say what I hear the father saying. [00:36:26] (36 seconds)  #FollowHisLead

Listen. Trying to earn God's acceptance by your own adherence to his moral standards of perfection is absurd. This is why Jesus came. We couldn't be perfect enough. We couldn't be good enough. And so Jesus lived the life that we could never live and then died the death that we deserved so he could gift us his righteousness. Praise the Lord. He was perfect for you, so you don't have to be. [00:30:53] (24 seconds)  #GraceNotPerformance

And that's what's so compelling about Jesus' invitation. It isn't just for the pretty people or the polished people or for the put together people. If anything, it's for just the opposite. The call to come goes out to the whosoever's and the anybody's of our world. He invites us to come with our quirks and our questions, with our problems and our pains, with our hang ups and our habits, with our wounds and our worries. We don't have to clean ourselves up or have everything figured out in order to come to him. [00:10:38] (35 seconds)  #AllAreInvited

When we try to carry the weight of our past sins, we find ourselves inevitably being crushed by condemnation. You know, you were never designed to carry the weight of your past sins. That's why Jesus came. David described the difficulty of trying to live under the crushing pressure of this weight when he wrote these words in Psalm thirty eight four. Let's go ahead and read them together out loud. My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. [00:27:22] (32 seconds)  #ForgivenNotCondemned

I once heard a preacher put it like this, if you live for men's applause, you'll die from their criticisms. You know the only person who will never let anyone down? It's Jesus. He's the savior of the world. That's his job, not yours. That's his job, and he's not accepting any applications. The the quicker we learn that lesson, the lighter and freer our lives will become. [00:29:54] (28 seconds)  #DontLiveForApplause

What's something that you've been carrying that the Lord is saying, let me take that from you? Identify it. Maybe you can it'd be helpful to picture it as a weight that you're carrying in a backpack. In your mind's eye, I want you to imagine yourself slipping your arms out of that backpack and handing it over to Jesus. [00:44:12] (27 seconds)  #UnloadYourBackpack

I suppose the other word I'm struck by in this invitation is the word all. Jesus doesn't tell only select individuals to come to him, but he says, come to me, all of you. That word is so broad and inclusive. It literally encompasses every person who has ever lived. It includes the spiritually curious as well as the hardened skeptic. Perhaps that would be you, and you don't even know why you're here in church. I just want you to know the Lord welcomes your presence in this place. Doubters are welcomed here. [00:07:30] (36 seconds)  #DoubtersAreWelcome

The contrast between the two figures couldn't be more stark. Right? Atlas towers four stories tall, but he's straining under the weight of what he's carrying. Meanwhile, just 80 yards away, little Jesus easily and effortlessly cradles the entire world in the palm of his hands. I can't help but see in those two images two different approaches to dealing with the burdens that life inevitably brings to us. [00:15:45] (32 seconds)  #AtlasVsJesus

When you read the gospels, Jesus never appears to be stressed out or overwhelmed. He's never short or curt or rude with anybody. He doesn't come across as frantic or agitated. In fact, when you read the gospels, you'll find him moving from scene to scene with an ease and a grace that is impossible to ignore. Nothing fazes this guy. [00:35:16] (24 seconds)  #CalmInChrist

If you've been searching and you're thirsty, his word to you is come to me and drink. If you're here and you're hungry, his word to you is come and dine. If you're here and you have questions, his word to you is come and see. And if you're here and your heart is weighed down by the burdens that life has placed upon it, His word to you is come to me and find rest. [00:08:21] (29 seconds)  #ComeAndFindRest

Oftentimes, we come here on Sunday mornings, and we do our best to to put a smile on our face. And during that brief moment where we turn around and greet one another, we shake hands, and it's all praise the Lord, and how you doing? I'm doing great, and all the rest. But the truth is we all come in here bearing different burdens. These burdens aren't visible, mind you, to the naked eye, but that doesn't make them any less real. [00:12:51] (28 seconds)  #HiddenBurdens

I suppose that's what makes Jesus' invitation to come so shocking. I mean, he's the king of the universe, the most important person in all the universe, and yet he bids us come. And we don't even have to present any credentials. We don't have to get a certain type of clearance. We don't even have to make an appointment to gain an audience with him. [00:05:56] (23 seconds)  #NoCredentialsNeeded

Did you notice he doesn't say come nervously or come timidly or fearfully? No. No. No. He says, come boldly. Barge right into the very throne room of heaven. And once you're there, what will you find? Not a judgmental condemning stare, but rather grace and mercy for times of need. Whatever the need is, God wants to meet you, and he bids you come. [00:07:01] (29 seconds)  #ComeBoldly

You know, worry is an exercise in futility too. I heard it put like this, it doesn't take away tomorrow's troubles. All worry does is rob us of today's peace. You can't control tomorrow, but you know who is already in the future? Jesus. And since he's already charted a path for your future, you can live stress free. [00:28:44] (25 seconds)  #TrustNotWorry

Since God is taking care of your tomorrows, you're freed up to enjoy today. Here's the third burden that I often see people being crushed by, the weight of others' expectations. If you're constantly trying to live up to the expectations of all the people around you, that's a recipe for disappointment on their end and frustration on your end. That's a weight you can't carry. [00:29:28] (26 seconds)  #ReleaseExpectations