SERMON NOTES:  

“Joining Jesus” – is His invitation for my participation in His Mission and my Transformation!

Matthew 11 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11  28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Romans 12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

“Joining Jesus” Helps:

·         Joining Jesus is not natural ….it’s faith.

·         As Jesus invites me to join Him every day in my transformation I will have to deal with the competing invitations of rebellion and resignation.

·         Joining Jesus in transformation takes effort….. which is different than earning!

·         What do I need to believe about Jesus and myself in order to join Him in changing me!

·         Daily and weekly spiritual rhythms create space in our lives for God to do His work. 

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS:

Monday:  Matthew 11:25-30
Tuesday:  Romans 8:1-4
Wednesday:  Romans 8:5-11
Thursday:  Romans 8:12-17
Friday:  Romans 8:22-27
Saturday:  Romans 8:28, 31-39