Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick opens by naming the exhaustion many people carry—weariness, burnout, a life that feels like a marathon with nothing left—and says the listener is made for victory rather than a mundane grind. He reframes victory as something received rather than fought for, with rest as the key word, described as countercultural and something to contend for.
The message turns to Matthew 11, where Pastor Keith reads Jesus' prayer of thanks to the Father, notes the warning to cities that did not repent, and arrives at the invitation to all who labor and are heavy laden. He defines repentance as a change of thinking, a turning from one's own way to God's way.
Pastor Keith structures the sermon in three points: rest is an invitation rather than a vacation, with Jesus as the giver and repentance as the key to rest; rest is a rhythm, pictured through the yoke that joins a younger ox to an experienced one, with the Holy Spirit as helper; and you choose the work, since Jesus calls his yoke easy and his burden light. He draws on passages from Peter, Paul, John, and the Psalms about casting anxiety, prayer, and peace ruling the heart.
Sabbath is presented as a gift rather than a burden, drawing on Exodus and on Jesus as Lord of the Sabbath. The message closes with two invitations: to anyone who has never surrendered to Jesus, and to anyone carrying a burden too big to bear, asked to stand as a posture of surrender. Pastor Keith briefly references a personal season of weariness and a sabbatical, and quotes from a book called Gentle and Lowly.
Take this with you
Victory starts with rest, not effort
In Matthew 11, Jesus invites all who labor and are heavy laden to come to him and find rest. Pastor Keith insists that victory is not a battle to fight but an invitation to receive, and that the key to it is rest. That runs against the instinct to try harder or earn God's movement; rest here means receiving what Jesus has already done rather than inactivity.
Come to Jesus as you are
The invitation in Matthew 11:28 is to all who labor and are heavy laden. Pastor Keith stresses that Jesus does not love a cleaned-up or religious version of you; he meets people in their honest need. The call is to come with the mess rather than waiting until you have it together.
Rest is a rhythm learned over time
Using the image of a yoke in Matthew 11:29, Pastor Keith describes rest as a rhythm learned by being connected to Jesus, like a younger ox trained alongside a stronger, experienced one. It takes practice, and in John 14:26 the Holy Spirit is described as the helper who teaches and reminds believers of what Jesus said.
Sabbath is a gift, not a burden
Pastor Keith presents Sabbath as a commandment God explains at length in Exodus 20 and gives for human good. The religious rules built around it, he says, distorted that gift. Jesus healed and moved on the Sabbath, and in Matthew 12:8 and Mark 2:27-28 he called himself Lord of the Sabbath, showing the day was made for people.
You choose which work you carry
There will always be work, Pastor Keith says, but in Matthew 11:30 Jesus describes his yoke as easy and his burden light. The counsel drawn from 1 Peter 5:7, Philippians 4, Colossians 3, and John 14:27 is to cast anxiety on Jesus and to let God's peace rule in your heart, choosing his way of working rather than your own.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
victory victory is what you are meant to live for you you are meant for a Victorious Life literally you're made for victory so what is stopping us what is stopping you from Victory you're tired you're you're broken you're beat down you're burned out wave after wave of we weariness seems to slap your soul life is like a marathon you've hit the wall and you can't get back up you're tired of looking into the future and only seeing futility you have no joy no peace seems to be no purpose no strength now if you don't have a clue what I'm talking about today or you say
man that preacher sounds like a Debbie Downer already if you're wondering what in the world is he talking about this m Mage today might not be for you but one day you will come to a point where you have nothing left and you're going to wonder what do you do next and if you've ever been to that place before if you've ever been down and deflated and you've got nothing to muster up inside of you I'm telling you today this message is for you you are made for victory you you're not meant just to live for normal you're not meant for mundane you're not meant to put your head down and just grind to get through this you're not meant to just suffer in this life you you are actually meant for the
miraculous you are meant to live in the authority of all that God has done and who he is that you are to walk in that power of authority and I'm here to tell you today if you've ever felt defeated it's time to take back your Victory someone shout victory Victory we've got to believe it like we mean it because you are meant for victory so the title of today's sermon is the invitation to Victory this is not a battle you need to fight to get Victory It's actually an invitation you must receive the invitation to Victory and this invitation is given by none other than Jesus he gives you this invitation
to receive Victory now this Victory may not look exactly like you think it should look how many of you have discovered that God's ways do not always work the way you think it should work out come on you you thought you had a plan you thought it would work out this way you thought it should look this way but when you asked God to do it he did it in a way that you didn't think he would do it you get really raw and honest with God say like that's not the way I would have done done it so here here's the key to Victory here's it's just one word and it's much more profound that it's going to sound like and it will change your life if you get this some young person in this room if you get this now you will not make the mistakes that hundreds of us have made for decades and we've destroyed our lives
here's the key to Victory it's it's one word rest rest just say the word rest rest I have you shout the word rest but it doesn't feel right we are living in an age where rest is nearly impossible it's it's counterintuitive it's not natural it's countercultural and so there's a huge warning for us that in the age in which we live in that the rapid Pace in which we live is not conducive to rest that this world is too loud it's too burdensome and and you will be too tired to even receive rest for many of us we want to go back to some point in our lives we want to
look back into our lives to who we were but last week we learned one of the points to the sermon is to put your past in the trash that is to to not look back to not live in who you were to not live like you used to live it doesn't mean you can't remember the past it doesn't mean you can't honor the past what it means in Isaiah 43: 19 is behold God is doing a new thing God's going to do something new in your life and I'm here to tell you he's going to restore victory in your life and it's going to come through rest and beware in the world that we live in there is no quick fix to this that you're not going to find this on Amazon or Instagram or Tik Tok
or or any try this for 30-day model this comes through the invitation to receive Victory that's found in Jesus this is absolutely unnatural to our soul so you need to actually fight for this we'll spend the bulk of our time today in the Book of Matthew chap 11 Matthew chap 11 I would like to read a few verses starting with verse 25 Matthew 11 verse 25 at that time Jesus declared when I hear that I wonder what was the tone of his voice like when he declared I thank you that's the first thing Jesus says in
this text I thank you there's no one more thankful than Jesus in fact next month during the month of November when we think about the holiday Thanksgiving we're going to spend a great deal of time as a church focusing on thanks living we're going to actually look at what does that mean to hunger after the things of God and if you actually look at Jesus prayer life he was incredibly thankful before he would multi multiply the miraculous of the Five Loaves and two fish he thank God before he called Lazarus out of the Tomb he thanked God and here we have just another image of Jesus I thank you Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that you have hidden these things from the wise in understanding and revealed them to little
children yes Father for such was your gracious will 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 did you catch that quick prayer break Lord would you please reveal it to us I ask right now that you you would have your way and reveal to us who you are and what you have for us in Jesus mighty name amen let's keep reading the text verse 28 Jesus continues and says come to me there's the invitation come to me all everyone shout all all who labor and are heavy laden
and I Jesus says will give you rest 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 for my yoke is easy Jesus said and my burden is light to really understand the context of this text and we will dissect This Much Greater in just a moment we've got to actually go back earlier in the chapter Jesus gives a warning of CL before he gives this invitation and
inspiration you just go a few verses earlier and Jesus is talking about a number of cities where he did Ministry and yet they would not receive almighty God In the Flesh just go a few verses earlier in Matthew 11:20 then he Jesus he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty Works had been done because they did not repent I mean he wasn't talking about a few people nor was he talking about a holy huddle he's talking about an entire city entire groups of people that heard who he was they had the opportunity to put their faith in him Jesus Christ the son of God Eternal God is there in the flesh and instead of putting their faith in
him they decided to do their own thing the key here is Jesus said they did not rep repent let let's just focus on the word repent for just a moment it is incredibly important word Jesus preached it it's it's his first message that he preached repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and so many have such a negative connotation of that word repent and it's not negative it's absolutely wonderful repent means to do a 180 in a literal sense the definition is to change your thinking that's what repent means so Jesus was preaching a mage change your thinking don't think like everyone else don't think like the majority think like God to repent means in some way before you repent you're doing things your way let's imagine you're walking this way to repent means you're going to turn and do things God's
ways and Jesus here denounces the cities he gives a massive warning to these cities in fact he he goes on to say this woe to you that's the last thing you want to hear from Jesus woe to you this this is a warning of judgment here's what Jesus is saying there is a consequence to your actions what you do in this life matters often we don't think it matters you don't think it matters what you think about you don't think it matters what you say you don't think it matters what you do for a living everything you do has a consequence and Jesus is giving us an opportunity to know the one that does the mighty Works to trust in him and it's in this place that Jesus gives this opportunity and we see this warning
and after this warning and after these woes Jesus follows up in verse 25 he declared look at verse 25 I thank you Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding what Jesus is saying is those who think they have it figured out have missed it those that think that they're smart those that look by the world's standards like they've got it all figured out they've actually missed what matters most and Jesus says I thank you God that you've actually done that because here's who you have revealed it to who little children he's not just referring to actual little children there there's a metaphoric picture here you've got to be like a child to receive the things of God put it in perspective this way if
God is God and you are not just in this imagery here you're more like a newborn infant and he's like the parent meaning you've got to have a complete dependence on God to receive the things of God meaning you've got nothing to offer God has everything to offer and Jesus says I'm so thankful God that who you use are those that say they need me that want me those who are willing to receive this for out of this Jesus says in verse 26 yes Father for such was your gracious will God wants you to know his will for your life because he's got a perfect plan for you and when you understand that God has a will for you what does that look like look at verse 28 here it is come to me
Jesus gives you a great invitation come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest rest I've got three points to today's sermon if you want to take notes each point also has a subo no it's not a six-point sermon it's a three-point sermon all right I want you to write these three points down I want you to see what Jesus is saying rest point number one point number one rest is an invitation it's not a vacation like so many of us think rest is an invitation come to me there's the invitation come to me the invitation the invitation is from Jesus now why Jesus I tell you there is no
greater gift than Jesus so if you really want to receive rest there's no one greater than to receive rest from than Jesus you can learn about the life of Jesus in four books found in the the scriptures Matthew Mark Luke and John and when you read about the life of Jesus you'll see that no one is a greater giver than Jesus he gives his time he gives words of affirmation he gives Miracles I mean Jesus is a great Giver he Reveals His heart in John 3 when he he speaks to a man in the middle of the night and he he reveals why he even came to this earth when he says for God so loved the world I often like to even think of my name in the scripture if it's a familiar scripture to you let not this become too familiar because it's absolutely awesome
God loves you for God so loved you for God so loved me that he did what he what gave there's no greater giver than God God gave his only son that whoever would believe in him that is to turn to him to repent to trust in Jesus whoever would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life that's a pretty big gift eternal life you start to study the life of Jesus it gets even better you get an inheritance you're a child of God you get everything God has wo you're going to spend forever getting to know how great God is that's a great Giver rest is an invitation but you've got to receive it it aren't you glad that Jesus did not come to this earth to give you
religion Jesus did not come here to say I came here to give you more rules because that's what you need Jesus did not come here to give us systems or doctrine Jesus came here to give you rest rest from what ordinary systems to recognize that the way of this world is not necessarily his world for he has a kingdom and this world has a kingdom and he came to to rescue you to give you rest from the ordinary he came to give you rest from sickness and disease H haven't you noticed how sickness just like seems to interrupt everything y'all forgot the pandemic already you know where we should have turned at the beginning of the pandemic
to Jesus the whole world should have humbled themselves on their knees gotten down and repented and confessed and said Lord we need you instead we tried to figure it out on our own how well did that work we're still divided over these things we're still divided should you get vs or not get vs wear a mask not give you meet with Jesus he doesn't want to talk about that that's right he wants to give you rest from that so if you want to fight about that it may not be in the place of Jesus he he actually is still healing today Miracle after Miracle he didn't just come to give us rest from sickness and disease he came he came to give you rest from your
past oh whatever that is that just seems to be Clinging On to you it's like baggage you can't get rid of some of you are still angry at people who are dead think about that they're not even alive but you're still bitter you're still angry it's still shaping you it's still making you you know what Jesus wants to do he wants to he wants to liberate you and give you rest from your past you know what he also wants to give you rest he wants to give you rest in your present to give you rest for your future Jesus was on to something he says which one of you can add an hour to your life by worrying I mean Jesus is so clever he knew that anxiety would actually kill you we don't need a doctor
a counselor to tell us that just listen to Jesus which one of you by actually being anxious can change your future Jesus wants to give you rest in the present he wants to give you rest from the future he says what don't worry about tomorrow Jesus said today has enough worries of its own Jesus wants to give you rest in the present reality but it's an invitation to allow Jesus to have his way so many of us have bought into a lie that we've got to do something for God to move in our lives it's a really simple lie and and we'll believe it like it's the logically sound it goes something like this you find yourself in trouble this is what you do you turn to God in prayer and you say something like this you get me out of this I'll do this for you okay only a few of us know that
prayer some of you have done it like this you want something you don't have so you say God I'll do this if you give me this I I need a spouse so hey I'll go to church say 10 times if you give me the right person we start to we start to think we actually start to think if I do this God will do this and may I just say today that theology is too big of a burden to bear you can't do it and here's why you can't move God you move because he's already moved this is this is the way it works and we're going to explain this more in just a moment Jesus has already done it for you so the reason you should move is
because of what he's done he doesn't move because of what you do or else you would be God and you can't tell God what God should do rather you should obey God and do what God wants you to do see there comes a point in your life where you can't do it on your own anymore I got to that place recently and I I went to the Elders of this church those are the really the overseers of this church and I got really honest with them I said something's not right in my soul I've got to make a change or it's not going to be good and the elders they they heard me and one of the elders his name is Brent told me about a book that he was reading for I believe the second
or third time called gentle and lowly it's actually taken from the text today and this this author focuses on this phrase that Jesus said about his own heart isn't it awesome that you don't have to guess how his heart is you don't have to wonder is Jesus angry with me who is this Jesus well Jesus tells us he's gentle and lowly the word lowly means humble and and I got this book and I devoured it because it's exactly what I needed because I had to remind myself who Jesus is now I I got a warning for those who are churchgoers who've been Christians a while you will never fully understand Jesus so if you ever get to the place of complacency like I think I have Jesus figured out you don't repent turn to
Jesus there's more to know of Jesus and as I as I read this book I I realized that victory was not in me doing more or being better or trying harder Victory is actually found in the very presence of Jesus he teaches us that when you're done when you're burned out when you can't do it when you find yourself in the pig slop and you smell in this life and you don't know what else to do and you're at the end of your rope that's the place Jesus says come on home I'm glad to have you here and I'm here to restore you I'm here to love you I'm here to make you who you're meant to be listen to how the author Dane puts this he he says we cannot present a reason for Christ to finally close off his heart to his own Sheep No Such
reason exists this this was profound to me listen to this every human friend has a limit every human has a limit if we offend enough if relationship gets damaged enough if we betray enough times we are cast out the walls go up but with Christ our sins and weaknesses are the very resume items that qualify us to approach him nothing but coming to him is required first at conversion and a thousand times thereafter until we're finally with him upon death I need you to see this Jesus does not love a cleaned up ver version of you a better version of you a good version of you a religious version of You Jesus doesn't
love you looking like you got your stuff together Jesus loves you getting honest saying I need you because I can't do it Jesus loves it when you come before him and say I just made a mess and a wreck of my life could you do something with this and Jesus says absolutely that's what he came to do if you don't understand what I'm saying you read the life of Jesus Matthew Mark Luke John read about this life Peter deny Jesus not once not twice but Thrice we say this once you do this to me that's my fault for trusting you two times you do it to me shame on me three times here's what I'm going to do to you Jesus says three times you do that to me I'm going to show the world what it's like to really ReStore in Grace and forgiveness and love he didn't give up on Peter think about Jesus on the
cross he was beaten he was whipped he was so blood blooded that he's unrecognizable and is there shaming him and belittling him and ridiculing him mocking him his prayer is Father forgive them they know not what they do that is as we are against Jesus he is for us if if you've ever been to a place where as as Jesus describes in this invitation come to me all everyone shout all all just just point to your neighbor this is for you this is for you not for me this is for you all all this is for you all who what labor there's a picture here of Labor you ever seen a woman in
labor It Ain't Easy for any woman in labor so like God gave it to women he knew that men couldn't do it there'd be no babies if men were in labor like I'm just not going to do it men might be stronger but we don't like pain if you're laboring in this life if you're pushing if you're if this life is hard and you're just wondering when is this life going to come out of me if you're so heavy laden as the scripture says in in Matthew 11:28 you're heavy heavy heavy laden I like other translations the uh the NIV puts it this way those who are weary and burdened do you feel burdened in this life or you take it a little further the NLT says come come all who are weary and carry heavy burdens a picture of this
heavy burden Eugene Peter Peterson powerfully and even poetically puts it this way in the message he says are you tired worn out burned out on religion come to me get away with me and you'll recover your life what a beautiful description of rest you'll recover your life that's when you need rest when your life no longer has life the invitation from Jesus hear this loud and clearly is not to try harder is not to do more the invitation is to rest you want to know where Victory is it starts with rest now here's the subo for Point number one repentance is the key to rest it's turning to Jesus if you've got sin in
your heart you cannot rest I don't care what that sin is John says if you confess your sins to Jesus he faithful and just he's going to forgive you he died on the cross once and for all for every one of your sins confess your need for Jesus turn to Jesus trust Jesus repentance is a key to rest you cannot do this without repentance that's why Jesus denounced the cities they thought they didn't need him we have a full dependence and need on Jesus which brings me to point number two rest is a rhythm rest is a rhythm you know this band up here aren't they incredible come on can you give just a little appreciation of this band stand up here they work so hard to come before you so that we can come to the throne and not even think about it but they work hard they've got click tracks in their ears that's why they wear those funny things on their ears they got something telling them stay on beat stay
on beat stay on beat stay on beat it's a little clicker it it's Rhythm it's Rhythm it's Rhythm because if some of Y all were up here we wouldn't know what to do I don't do I clap right what what do I do you know I rhythm rest is a rhythm Look what Jesus said in Matthew 11:29 he says take my yoke upon you I I want you to take my yoke upon you and learn from me so I'm going to be your Rhythm for I am gentle and lowly in heart I'm not going to yell at you I'm not going to beat you I'm gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls rest is a rhythm we don't often see yolks used in our world today but a yoke would be used to connect two large animals so that they would do work together often it was oxen and so you would take this yoke that would connect
the two animals and there would be more Synergy with the two animals than you would ever get out of one creature and what they would do with these yolks is they would actually take a younger oxen who who hasn't been trained yet they haven't been broken yet and they would put that younger oxin with the strong oxin that has been there and done that before and instead of the younger oxin going and doing their own way they would learn the rhythm of that work with the older oxin they would work together they would be trained train together they would be so connected that one can't go one wrong way or the other Jesus said I want you to yoke to me I want you to learn from me I want you to get get connected to me because if you do things on your own you're going to go this way you go too far this way you're going to find your own way you're going to think you got it figured out so I want you to yoke to me because if you don't yoke to me you're going to yoke to something
Paul puts it this way you're a slave to something you're a slave to someone you're a slave to sin he says but I'm a slave I'm a bonder servant to Jesus I'm connected to Jesus I want to learn from Jesus if you got a new job at a large company you go to this company you go to this organization on your first day they say and they say welcome hey we're going to make sure you get trained so here's who we're going to train you with it's this person's first day as well so you two first timers you're going to train each other that would be awful they would never do that that would be bad for an organization they would lose money that would never work if it's your first day on the job they hook you up with they train you with someone that's been there that's done that they want to provide someone with with some experience so that you would yoke with them that you would learn from them that you would become like this
Jesus says in this life I need you to learn from me and there are a lot of things that we need to learn from Jesus a lot months ago my wife and I were determined a part of our health Journey would be physical that we would start going to the gym together and how many you know that if you don't go to the gym regularly it can be intimidating there's so many spiritual parallels and analogies it's just too true you don't go to church very often it's going to be harder to go to church some of you are here today and that was courageous well done it takes courage to step through the doors of a place that you've either never been to before you haven't been in a while that takes courage and I started going to the gym and but then you realize you show up to the gym then you realize I don't know what to do there a lot of equipment here what which equipment do I do so here's what I did like to pretend like I knew what I
was doing I would get on the treadmill because there was like hundreds of them nobody wants to get on the treadmill so I'd get on the treadmill and I would actually watch everybody else I was spying on everyone I would look at the guys that look way better than me I'm like that guy's got some muscles so you know what I would do I would watch that guy I wouldn't know how to do it but I would watch him and then I would go try it afterwards I realized he made it look easy because he's gotten into the Rhythm he's been doing this so then I bought an app and I bought an app that did videos so I can rewatch that video over and over and over because I realized I look goofy because it's not a rhythm to me but after you do it for a while it becomes more natural and it becomes a a rhythm and Jesus said I I need you to see that rest is a rhythm you're going
to have to work on this you're going to have to yok to me you're going to have to get connected to me you're going to have to see that I'm going to work through you and in you how is Jesus going to do that through you and in you before Jesus was crucified he said I'm leaving his disciples were like say what we just gave our lives for you what do you mean you're leaving he says it's good that I leave because I'm actually going to give you someone to help you listen to John 14:26 but the helper the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name there's the image of one God in three persons we call this the Trinity the Holy Spirit he will teach you all things and bring to you remembrance all that I have said to you remember I said you can't do this but God can and moment where you want to
act out the holy spirit's going to remind you of his word in the moment you want to do things your way the holy spirit is going to remind you who you are in Christ I know you know what I'm talking about when you're tired it will really reveal what's inside of you how many of y'all have been a person you don't want to be when you're tired come on you just add that you're hungry there and now you're hangry you will be a person that you don't want to be you will say things you don't want to say you will do things you don't want to do but with the help of the Holy Spirit you are actually transformed and God actually makes you more like him you start to live a little more like Jesus do do you know why you become a bad person when you're tired because your soul is saying you
need what come on rest rest rest rest because you're made for rest that that's what you're made for rest from what well I tell you what the greatest rest is it's rest from your own sin it's rest from yourself it's rest from you having to try to figure out this life on your own one of my favorite Psalms is found in Psalm 103: 11 and 12 for as high as the heavens are above the Earth so great is a steadfast love for those who fear Him you know God's love is so great that you can never reach the end of it verse 12 says for as far as the East is from the West so far does our Lord God remove our transgressions from us transgressions are another way of saying sin do you you know that when you go to Jesus he forgives every single one of your sins you're no longer defined by your sin you're forgiven of every single
sin that if you really if you saw through the spiritual eyes of God and you went to look for your sin you couldn't find them do you notice what the psalmist says here he doesn't say as far as the north is from the south because if you look at the Earth we live on and this is so profound what the psalmist saying if you go north and you keep going north eventually you're going to get where South you're you're going to end up in the South Pole and you go south you keep going you're going to end up North but if you go east and you keep going east guess where you keep going east you will never hit West because you keep going east if you go west and you keep going west where do you go you keep going west you can't find your sin so quit looking for them you are forgiven Take Rest in your forgiveness
that it's not about who you are but what's been done for you now these words that Jesus says are steep in Old te Testament language he's actually going back to Jeremiah a prophet some 600 years before his birth this is what the prophet says thus says the Lord stand by the roads look ask for the ancient paths where the good way is and then walk in it and when you walk in the way you will find rest for your souls but the prophet warned but they said we will not walk in it and so Jesus comes with a warning you can have his way or you can choose not to walk in it
Jesus said in John 14 says I am the way the Ancient of Days God Eternal has revealed to us the way rest it's what he tried to give some, 1400 years before Jesus was born he rescued the Israelites and he took them from Egypt to a promised land and on that Journey God raised up a leader named Moses and he gave his word so that his people wouldn't believe they're slaves anymore but they would believe that they're children of God and so they needed these these Commandments this word from God himself and so he gave the law the Torah the instructions of God and in this he gave what we now refer to as the Ten Commandments it was on a journey From Slavery to Freedom and in that Ten Commandments one of the Ten Commandments here's what the Lord says in Exodus 28 remember the Sabbath day and keep it
holy it's one of the the top 10 things God says you need to do you need to keep one day separate from the others holy means set apart so treat one day unlike any other day take one day and you you make that a special day it's as if God knew it would be hard for us to follow his way so he had to make it a rule that you would actually find rest and of all the Commandments do you know that God explains this commandment more than any of the other Commandments you shall not murder he doesn't explain that he doesn't say like don't murder your in-laws or don't murder your kids or he doesn't he doesn't have to explain it he doesn't say don't murder your co-worker or your boss he doesn't explain that just don't murder hey you should keep the look at Exodus 28 remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy and then look what he
does let me explain this to you six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God and on it you shall not do any work if you're wondering who you your son your daughter your male servant your female servant the livestock the soer who's with you into your Gates everyone everyone shout all all take the Sabbath for in the six days God's going to explain this Rhythm remember rest is a rhythm for in the six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the sea and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy now let's just pause here what God is saying is I want you to look more like me and when when I made everything which by the way was really cool because I spoke and it just happened I did it all in six days and then on the seventh day I Sabbath now did the Lord God Sabbath
because he was exhausted did the Lord got Sabbath because he said I am so tired I am burned out I am done I can't do this anymore I think I'll take a day off that's how we think of days off we make so many jokes about wine and weekends and all these different things the worst part about Sunday is that Mondays the next day we all these jokes about I'm so tired I don't want to work I don't want to the Lord was not tired he was not burned out nor was he exhausted the Lord sat back and enjoyed all that he just created and in enjoying it he shows us what pleasure looks like is to be present he didn't jump on Instagram and look at reals he didn't see what's new on Tik
Tok he didn't see who was on Snapchat or where they were he he didn't go to the news and say what's going on in this world he sat back and found pleasure and the reality of what he created some of you have never enjoyed the fruit of your own labor you work so hard only to take a day off to work again you know the Lord's totally okay with you sitting back for some of you maybe grabbing glass of wine enjoying the company of the people around you thanking God for who he is for some of you you shouldn't grab that glass of wine because you take too many glasses of wine but what would give you pleasure what would give you rest what would find fruit in where you are so here's the subo to point number two Sabbath which
is a commandment of God is a gift from God it's not a burden Sabbath is a gift it's meant to be experienced that you would find rest it's why I took a sabatical the picture was Sabbath confession that your pastor needed to take a Sabbath and the reason I can preach this message to you is because I know you need a Sabbath and if you're here and you're stubborn and full of Pride saying I I don't think I need this message today there is going to come a moment where you're on your knees wondering what to do next and it's Sabbath but how many you know that sometimes we take something God gives us and we completely pervert it and mess it up we've done it with so many things sex money many other things and that's what
man did with Sabbath over the ages man began to wonder well what does that really mean to rest on the Sabbath let's make a bazillion rules of what not to do on the Sabbath and so by the time Jesus was born they completely wrecked the idea of finding pleasure and rest and and pleasure in God and so they had all these rules you can only walk so far from your house because if you walk anymore it's considered work you can't do this and you can't do that and Jesus came to shatter the idea that his Commandments were meant to be a burden they weren't they were meant to live in a right relationship with him and so on the Sabbath he would do all kinds of things that looked rebellious but he's showing us who he is he would heal people on the Sabbath he would walk places on the Sabbath in the very next chapter after chapter 12 his disciples which are his students they're picking wheat and eating it on the Sabbath and the religious leaders look at Jesus say hey your students are breaking the
Sabbath and you know what Jesus has to say to them in Matthew 12:8 for the son of man is the lord of the Sabbath he's saying I created this I think I understand how this works he explains this further mark 2: 27 and 28 when he said to them the Sabbath was made for man God gave Sabbath for us not man for the Sabbath so the son of man referring to himself is the Lord even of the Sabbath to put this in perspective God didn't give you a day of rest to be a burden he gave you a day of rest so that you would be refreshed so you would be restored in your soul look at the life of Jesus absolutely incredible he would talk to people he shouldn't talk to he he walked all over the place you know if if he had an an eyew watch or
Apple watch whatever these are called do you know how many steps per day Jesus would have had I mean like a 100,000 steps he went from City to City he had to go all over the place and he often did it on the Sabbath he would go into synagogues and he would heal on the Sabbath everywhere he went I mean this guy he walked on water for the first time there was no supping back then I mean he he like created this idea that you could be on top of the water and enjoy the water without going under the water he's walking on water everything he did do you know once he was in a storm and his students the disciples they were freaking out they were mad at Jesus they were mad at him because guess what he was doing in the boat sleeping have you ever been mad at somebody because they had rest and you didn't and so they wake him up angry
saying do you not care about us and you know what Jesus did he stopped the storm I wonder how many of you stop the storm I usually make storms worse I make storms bigger but Jesus made okay I I tell you all that about Jesus and there's so much more go read about it he did it all out of rest he spent time in the morning with the father he allowed the Holy Spirit to work through him I'm here to tell you we're going to do Miracles if we would only rest which brings me to the third and final point today you choose the work you choose it you choose it I can't tell you your parents can't tell you you choose the work here's what I mean by work there will be work one way or the another we go back again to Genesis chapter 3 because of the curse of sin there's work you pull a weed guess what you're going to come back the next
summer there's 10 more weeds there there will always be work you get in a relationship with someone I know it seems easy at first but it will require work there's work everywhere you go to work to get a paycheck guess what you're going to spend that paycheck and have to do more work there will always be work and this is what Jesus said in Matthew 11:30 he says you connect to me my yoke is easy and my burden is light here's what Jesus is saying you can work your way or you can work my way but my way is a lot easier I mean he's clear isn't he clear my burden it will still be a burden because you're going to have to work for this is going to be easy my my yoke is going to be easy my burden's going to be light so what does that look like let me just give you some practical application and you got to start this
immediately Peter remember Peter that denied Jesus he said this in 1 Peter 5 and hear his advice casting all your anxieties on him Jesus because he cares for you I feel lighter just saying that you ever step on a scale after you work out and you realize you just lost two pounds that's cuz you just sweat it off but then you go to lunch and you gain five more pounds listen listen you come to church if God refreshes you here you're lighter right but you leave here a lot more anxieties are going to come the devil's not happy you're here today so guess what you got to start doing cast it on Jesus cast it on Jesus cast on Jesus why Peter tells us he actually cares for you Jesus Loves You Philippians 4:6 and 7 this is Paul a different author he says
do not be anxious about anything do you see a theme here it's like the Lord knew in 2022 2022 that we would be so anxious don't be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your request be made known to God that means pray about everything pray about everything and here's the result of praying to the Lord the peace of God that's God's perfect Shalom will surpass all understanding and will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus see you got to work at this you got to work at this Colossians 3:14 and 15 and above all these put on love which binds everything together in Perfect Harmony and Let the Peace of Christ God's perfect peace is called shalom let God's peace rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body
and be thankful some things rule in your heart is it anger is it bitterness is it doubt is it fear what what's ruling your heart is it lust let peace rule the Prince of Peace be king of your heart you see when it comes to work you can choose his way that's Jesus way or your way I really want to warn you out of experience your way is not the right way it's too big of a burden you can't do it you can't do it you can try and if you have to try I'm so sorry and when you try and you're out you got nothing left keep coming back to Jesus hear his promise in John 14:27 peace I leave with you my peace I give
you not as the world gives do I give to you let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid Think Jesus is trying to teach us something peace of all the things he can give you peace would you receive that today peace peace if you don't receive it at some point you'll realize you don't have peace and the Lord might force you into sabatical he might force you to Sabbath you ever been forced to Sabbath it's like when you twist your ankle right before the Hawaii vacation all right it's where you try to do things on your own but God says I'm going to slow you down you get burned out you end up in the hospital because mentally you couldn't take it anymore they call that a mental
breakdown listen nothing's wrong with you that just means you're normal we want to talk about mental health today this is nothing new Jesus knew our mental health needed to be surrendered to him so at some point we're going to get real with God and say he's big enough for all all my problems all of them even my crazy and he takes you're crazy and he starts to restore you and he makes you right with him and makes everything better you know in Psalm 23 David describes the Lord as his Shepherd and he describes this beautiful imagery of a still water and Green Pastures but you know what he says about the Green Pastures he makes me lie down in Green Pastures I get so anxious I'm like start I try to Shepherd the other sheep and realize I'm just a the Sheep Shepherd comes and he sweeps my legs brings me
down in a headlock gives me an arm bar and says I I'm going to hold you down in this green pasture until you see it and then I have a different perspective oh I needed him to make me lie down I want to speak to two people today one is to the person that's never surrendered your life to Jesus I want to give you an invitation of trust and follow Jesus right now the second one is is to those that need rest you didn't expect this message today but the Holy Spirit just said wow I've been trying to get your attention and I had to get you to sit down and listen for an hour to that preacher so that you would hear me it wasn't me that was the Holy Spirit trying to speak through his word and I'm going to invite you right now to give a great exchange of giving God your anxiety in exchange for his rest so that you would leave different today so I want to talk to the person right now that needs Jesus you've
been trying to live your life on your own but right now you need to trust Jesus as your lord which means you do what he says to do and as your savior you receive for forgiveness of all your sins and when you do that you get so much more you get Grace you get eternal life you get God himself God actually says his holy spirit now wants to live in you you're his church he wants to live in you and if that's you I want to invite you to do that I want to pray with you prayer is a conversation with god you don't have to just pray at church you can pray anywhere at any time it's vital to your relationship with God and so today it's going to start with prayer and so I want to do that right now so if everyone would just bow their heads close their eyes we're going to do that out of respect for those that are going to make this decision if you want to surrender your life to Jesus right now I just want you to lift your hand up and say that's going to be me I'm going to I'm going to give my life to Jesus praise God anyone else you're saying right now I need
Jesus I just be bold right now I want to know who I'm praying with right where you are praise God anyone else you came today and you didn't expect this but God's been speaking to your heart and you're saying I want to trust in Jesus that's me you're never too young you're never too old it's never too late praise God praise God I love it Lord's so proud of you God's got a very special plan for your life I I want you to pray with me just in your heart I'm you don't need to say these words out loud but you do need to believe them in your heart the Bible says in Romans 10:9 if you believe in the Lord in your heart that he died on the cross for your sins and confess with your mouth that he rose from the grave you'll be saved so so you got to pray this in your heart now but now you got to tell somebody later today Lord today we trust you we ask for the Forgiveness
of our sins and we receive salvation we receive the gift of eternal life and the power of your Holy Spirit in us and we're so thankful for the life that you give in this posture of prayer I'm going to speak now to a person that's also coming here today and it could be the same person that just raised their hand to get saved but it also could be a person that's been saved for a long time you have a burden that's too big to bear and right now we're going to we're going to take a stand I'm going to ask you to actually take a stand physically I want to say if you want to exchange your burden for God's rest would you just stand right where you are it's just a posture of surrender to God it's something big it's Financial
it's Health it's relational it's a sin you just can't escape it's something that keeps tormenting you Clinging On right now Lord we come before you in a posture of surrender we stand right now in your grace Lord we want to receive what you have for us that we actually cannot fully receive rest without you your invitation is rest and that's where we receive Victory in Jesus name we we right now break off any strongholds or any demonic uh burdens that are clinging to us maybe from Generations Lord From This Day Forward we surrender everything to you all of our anxieties we cast on you right now in Jesus name I pray for a protection of those who right now are saying I want your rest Lord knowing that the devil's really upset the devil is shaking today because Jesus you get
the glory for what you're doing through your church you are still working it's never too late with you God today we're going to leave Freer because where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom and we live in that freedom Today We Live in it Lord wherever we go we receive it today we receive your grace that just in your heart right now would you confess to the Lord he he's faithful and just to forgive your sins confess it if if you need to ask for forgiveness if you need the power of God to forgive someone else confess it in your heart to the Lord receive his grace today receive his love today we receive it Lord we receive the invitation I pray today that there would be a new movement a Sabbath a restoration of your rules that they're not to be burdensome but to be good so
that we would know you a god that is good and you get the glory all God's people pray in Jesus name amen and amen
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Rest as a received invitation
Pastor Keith frames victory as something received rather than achieved, with rest as the key word. This section invites reflection on the difference between rest as a vacation and rest as an invitation from Jesus to those who are weary and burdened.
Matthew 11:28
- Where do you tend to treat victory or spiritual growth as something you must earn or fight for, and what would it look like to receive it instead?
- Pastor Keith distinguishes rest as an invitation from rest as a vacation. How would you describe the difference in your own life?
- What makes it hard for you to believe that Jesus would invite you to come as you are rather than cleaned up first?
Repentance as the key to rest
Before the invitation in Matthew 11, Jesus warns cities that did not repent. Pastor Keith defines repentance as a change of thinking, a turn from doing things your own way to doing things God's way, and argues that unconfessed sin keeps a person from rest.
Matthew 11:20-24
- Pastor Keith describes repentance as changing your thinking rather than as a purely negative word. How does that reframing sit with your experience?
- Why might a person find it hard to rest while carrying something they have not brought honestly to God?
- Where is God inviting you to turn—change direction—rather than simply try harder?
The yoke: learning a rhythm
Pastor Keith uses the image of a yoke joining a younger ox with a stronger, experienced one. Rest is described as a rhythm learned by staying connected to Jesus, with the Holy Spirit as the helper who teaches and reminds believers.
Matthew 11:29-30 · John 14:26
- What rhythms currently shape your week, and which of them make rest harder rather than easier?
- Pastor Keith says being tired reveals what is inside us. When have you noticed that in yourself?
- How might the Holy Spirit's role as helper change the way you approach a change you have been trying to make alone?
Sabbath as gift
Pastor Keith turns to Exodus and the Sabbath commandment, arguing that God explains it at greater length than other commandments and gives it for human good. Jesus is presented as Lord of the Sabbath, and the rules built around the day as a distortion of the gift.
Exodus 20:8 · Matthew 12:8 · Mark 2:27-28
- Pastor Keith describes Sabbath as a gift rather than a burden. What would receiving it as a gift change for you?
- Pastor Keith says God rested not because he was tired but to enjoy what he had made. How do you usually think about why you rest?
- What would it take for you to set aside one day differently from the others in your current season?
Choosing the work and living in peace
Pastor Keith says work will always exist, but Jesus offers an easier yoke and a lighter burden. Passages from Peter, Paul, and John on casting anxiety, prayer with thanksgiving, and Christ's peace are offered as direction for choosing his way.
1 Peter 5:7 · Philippians 4:6-7 · Colossians 3:14-15 · John 14:27
- What anxiety have you been carrying as if it were your job to resolve it, and what would casting it on Jesus look like?
- Pastor Keith asks what is ruling your heart—anger, fear, doubt, or something else. What would you name honestly if you answered that question today?
- Pastor Keith warns that trying to do things your own way carries a cost too big to bear. Where have you seen that play out?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
What does this sermon mean by victory?+
Pastor Keith reframes victory not as a battle to be won but as an invitation to receive. Victory is described as what people are made for, yet it does not arrive through trying harder or doing more. Instead it comes through rest—the rest Jesus offers in Matthew 11:28 to all who labor and are heavy laden. The key word for the whole message is rest, and Pastor Keith insists that if you get that, it changes everything.
What would it look like to treat rest as the way you receive victory rather than as a reward for achieving it?
Why is Matthew 11 the central passage of this message?+
Pastor Keith spends the bulk of the message in Matthew 11, reading from verse 25 onward. The passage contains Jesus' prayer of thanks to the Father, the declaration that things are revealed to little children, and the invitation to all who labor and are heavy laden. Pastor Keith also notes the warning to unrepentant cities just before that invitation, treating the warning and the invitation as connected rather than separate.
How does the warning to the cities shape the way you hear the invitation to come to Jesus?
What does Pastor Keith say about the yoke of Jesus?+
In Matthew 11:29-30, Pastor Keith explains, a yoke joined two animals so they could work together, and a younger, untrained ox was paired with a stronger experienced one to learn the rhythm of the work. Jesus' invitation to take his yoke is presented as an invitation to learn his rhythm rather than figure everything out alone. Pastor Keith stresses that Jesus describes himself as gentle and lowly, so the yoke is not harsh training but a relationship.
What does it mean practically to be joined to Jesus in an ordinary week?
How does Pastor Keith describe the Sabbath?+
Pastor Keith treats Sabbath as one of the Ten Commandments that God explains at unusual length in Exodus 20 because keeping rest is hard for people. Rest is described as a rhythm, and the Sabbath as something God gives for human benefit rather than as a burden. Pastor Keith points to Jesus healing on the Sabbath, and in Matthew 12:8 and Mark 2:27-28 Jesus calls himself Lord of the Sabbath; the religious rules built around the day, he says, had distorted the gift.
What keeps you from receiving a day of rest as a gift rather than an obligation?
How did Pastor Keith close the message?+
Pastor Keith offered two invitations. The first was to anyone who has never surrendered their life to Jesus, with a prayer of confession and trust, grounded in Romans 10:9. The second was to anyone carrying a burden too big to bear, who was asked to stand physically as a posture of surrender while Pastor Keith prayed. He described the moment as receiving God's rest and grace in place of anxiety.
