Key Passage: Matthew 11:25-30

Topic: Christian Living

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28, ESV)

Don't those words make you feel relaxed and relieved? They're so compassionate. You know that Jesus is Someone who understands and wants to give you rest from all the worry and fear you haul around daily.

Jesus tells us in the next few verses to "take His yoke": trade in the cares, oppression and confusion you're carrying for the yoke that He is offering.

What is His "yoke"? It's serving and obeying God. It's believing that God wants a relationship with you and that He loves you.

Certainly, during the time Jesus was physically on earth, obedience to God was easier than breaking under the burden of all the imposed rules the religious teachers piled upon their people.

Certainly the requirements to follow Christ (to believe He is God's Son and receive Him into your life) are lighter than the massive weight of sin and guilt we have to bear before we come to know Jesus.

But maybe what makes this yoke that Jesus gives easy is that He helps us bear it. He never leaves us or forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5). And we bear the yoke of obedience to God out of love for Him.

We have a relationship with Someone who loves us and, therefore, we love Him.

theuprising.net/

Titus 1:7-9^{:    7}Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. ⁸Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. ⁹He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. (New International Version)

As I come to an end of my time as CEO of Bible Society New Zealand I am finding myself thinking a lot about my leadership.  I absolutely love being a leader!!  I love being able to inspire others towards the fulfilment of a dream.  To see people realise that more is possible, that a mundane reality is not permanent and that they can truly be great.  And under Jesus all things are possible!!  Why not dream big?  Why limit God?

It is essential to have dreams, big dreams, but even more important than this is the ability to make those dreams a reality.  And this is leadership – the ability to make a dream a reality.

And a massive part of leadership is seeing our work as God’s work.  And from this flows an awesome responsibility as a Christian leader (or a leader who is Christian)  Titus lays the challenge out, to be blameless, not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. At the root of these is the leader abusing their power, taking their authority and using it for personal gain.  Whereas Godly leadership isn’t focused on what the leader can get, but what the leader can give.  As Paul shares in Titus, a leader must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. These are qualities that positively affect others, are thoughtful towards others, not about me gaining anything but about you realising your dream.

And this is achieved through holding firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, to knowing the Bible intimately.  Wow!!

 (1) You were not made to carry the weight of your sin. Trying to carry it yourself will cause internal fissures you don’t have the build integrity to sustain.

 (2) Christ came to carry the weight. He paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.

(3) We must decide to live at the foot of the cross. It’s at the cross where you understand your value to God.

Up early  breakfast pancakes,  eggs, sausage.  Now heading on over to Quest for Sunday services.  You can watch  LIVE online if you like.  at www.questcommunity.com

Key Passage: Matthew 9:27-34

Topic: Faith/Trust

Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." (Matthew 9:29, ESV)

What would it be to like to be born blind? It's really difficult to even imagine if you haven't experienced it.

But what if it happened to you, or to someone you love, a brother or sister maybe? How would it affect your life if you never saw a sunset? A cloud? A mountain or the ocean?

Then one day you learn about a physician who could restore your sight. You hear the stories about the miracles this guy can do. What if you had to travel to another country just to see Him, would you go?

Let's say you got an appointment, walked into his office and said, "Please help me." And he replied, "Do you believe I can make you see?" What would you say? Something like, "Well, other people say you can." Or, "I don't know, seems a little impossible." And the doctor said to you, "I can't help you because you don't believe."

That's similar to these two guys in the Bible, but their story had a happier ending. Both were blind. Both heard about Jesus and the miracles He could do. So they found Jesus and ask Him for help. And Jesus heals them!

Now here's the crazy part of the whole story. Jesus says they're healed because of their faith. Because they believe Jesus can, He does. Jesus says it's all about faith. Jesus didn't heal everyone--and He still doesn’t. But we’re called to have faith--not in miracles but in who Jesus is.

So what about you? Do you believe? Do you have faith? Do you believe Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins? Do you believe He will never leave or forsake you? Do you believe He can change your life?

Got faith?