Relief from Keeping Up: Jesus the Good Shepherd

He says that grace is born out of an abandonment of control. When we release that control, our faith can bloom. It's when we realize Jesus truly is there for us. Unfortunately, that can happen sometimes when we're at the end of our rope desperate for an answer, when we figure out we can't plan or strategize or analyze our way out of this problem and there's nowhere to go. But God will meet us there. He'll always meet us right where we are. Amen. [00:29:15] (32 seconds)  #GraceInSurrender

I say this pace of our world is the thief and the robber. This has come to steal our joy and our peace. That's what Jesus wants us to have. Every day, a full abundant life. The message of Easter is that Jesus offered a single permanent sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. He came to bring us relief from the pressures of this world, not because we deserve it, not because we're doing things right and checking every box off our list, not because we can run really fast or that we have a really good handle on things. [00:39:32] (49 seconds)  #AbundantLifeInChrist

Jesus came to interrupt us in this twenty four seven three sixty five crazy pace of a life to offer us something different. Now maybe you're retired and you don't hurry anywhere you go, although I've seen some of you retirees and you're the busiest people I know. Or maybe you're still in the rat race and, you know, this maybe sounds a little bit familiar. Jesus is calling us to slow down. He's calling us to take a break. [00:38:29] (42 seconds)  #SlowDownWithJesus

The church is meant to resist the powers of this world. Right? Jesus said we are set apart, we are different. And in order to gain relief from keeping up, the author says, what we need to do is rest. Now God invented rest. Right? He created the whole world in six days. We are made in his image and on the last day he rested. [00:34:30] (28 seconds)  #GodInventedRest

Not because we deserve it, but because he's God. He came because he loves us. He came to relieve the pressure and offer us a different way of life. He is offering that to us. It's there for the taking. Amen. [00:40:22] (21 seconds)  #GraceNotEarned

The author talks about how the systems of this world are kind of built upon a meritocracy. You win and you lose depending on how hard you work. That sounds fair. Right? Balanced. But Jesus came to turn that system upside down. In Jesus' accounting system, life isn't really fair. The recipient doesn't match the gift. Jesus still gives. He doesn't wait for us to, you know, repent or be generous or call out to him. He gives. [00:30:07] (33 seconds)  #GraceOverMerit

He wants us to have this picture of him as the good shepherd, the one who leads the sheep, the one who knows us by name, the one who calls us, the voice that we recognize, the one that protects us, provides for us, the one that when we wander off to investigate what the world has to offer and get into trouble, he comes looking for us. Our nature really kind of opposed to God's law, just like sheep, we can easily go astray. Following whatever crazy notion the world can drum up at this time, That can happen to all of us. [00:26:36] (42 seconds)  #GoodShepherdKnowsYou

So today we've been kind of want stepping through this book, the big relief. The big relief is Jesus. Jesus came once and for all to provide one sacrifice, a single permanent sacrifice for our sins, for our forgiveness. And his idea with this gift of grace was that we live in this peace and this confidence that whatever crazy thing goes on it in our lives, he's still there for us. He's still providing for us, protecting us. [00:27:32] (32 seconds)  #JesusOurRelief