May 12, 2025 • 41 mins
What if the physical bags we carry are a perfect metaphor for our spiritual journey? Pastor Celeste reveals this striking parallel in her Mother's Day message, taking us from the carefree days of a small clutch to the overflowing reality of a mom bag.
Remember when you first embraced faith? Your spiritual bag was light—filled only with prayer, joy, peace, and praise. You easily cast your burdens on the Lord because you truly believed Psalm 55:22: "Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you." But somewhere along the way, something changed.
Like the woman who transitions from a small purse to a medium-sized bag after marriage, we begin taking on burdens that aren't ours to carry. We pick up offenses for others. We stress about situations we can't control. We harbor hurts from years ago. Our spiritual bags become so heavy that we struggle to move forward in our faith journey.
"You are trying to fix problems that you cannot fix," Pastor Celeste explains. "It is not for you to fix, it is for Him." This powerful reminder echoes Jesus's invitation in Matthew 11:28-30 to take His yoke instead—a yoke that's easy and a burden that's light.
The image of being yoked with Jesus is beautiful. In biblical times, a young ox would be paired with a seasoned ox to learn how to plow. The experienced animal would bear most of the weight and guide the younger one. This is exactly what Jesus offers us—not a burden-free life, but a shared load with the One strong enough to carry it.
Ready to clean out your spiritual bag? It's time to return to the necessities: prayer, joy, peace, and praise. Leave the rest at Jesus's feet. What are you carrying today that was never yours to bear?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, good morning.
Well, I have a question for you.
What are you carrying?
A few years ago, jay and I andour kids were on an airplane and
we were flying inside of Europefrom one country to another.
We were flying on a reallycheap airline.
How many of you have ever beenon a saver plane where you have
to pay to breathe while you'reflying?
(00:21):
And so you don't want to takeanything on that plane, right?
So you want to go with theminimum that you can, and so we
were on this flight and we goton and we sat down, and then we
see this young lady approachingand she's coming down the plane
aisle and then she gets in therow in front of us.
She didn't have anything, shejust was carrying a really small
little clutch.
And I thought, wow, that'simpressive.
(00:41):
Either she paid a lot of moneyto check her bags or she just
doesn't need anything.
And so she gets in front of usand all of a sudden, I see her
take her bag and, as she'sholding this little clutch, she
unzips the bottom and this bigold bag appears.
So it went from a mini to along tote.
Now, all of a sudden, she putsthat bag down and I see her
(01:04):
begin to disrobe.
And I am telling you.
She had a blazer.
She took it off, folded it up,put it in the bag.
She had a couple of button-downlong-sleeve shirts.
She undid them, rolled them up,put them in there.
She even had her underwear inher pocket.
So she pulled that out, putthem in the bag and she pulled
(01:28):
her slacks off and she rolledthem up, put them in the bag.
And she pulled her slacks offand she rolled them up, put them
in the bag.
And by the time she removedeverything.
All she had left was a littlesummer dress and some tennis
shoes.
And then she zipped her bagshut, put it in the overhead and
sat down.
Oh, wow, that is impressive.
This lady is super woman and Igot to get me a bag like that.
How many of you women say amen,I got to get a bag like that.
So we are in a series calledEveryday Carrie, and today I
(01:51):
want to talk about a mom bag.
So, men, do not check out on meyet.
This applies to you as well,but I want to welcome you today
to Cornerstone.
If you're a guest with us, it'san honor to have you.
Our motto here is to be morelike Jesus, and you'll always
see this photo of Jesus walkingwith his disciples, and we
(02:11):
desire that you stay the pacewith God.
We don't want you running ahead, we don't want you straggling
behind somewhere, we don't wantto have to go back looking for
you and we don't want you toveer to the right or the left.
We want you to just stay withGod and keep moving where he is
leading you.
So that's our desire here atCornerstone.
(02:32):
We love God, we make disciplesand we reach the world, and we
just started a new series oflife groups this past week.
So you need to make time inyour life to be part of a life
group.
I'm going to say it again youneed to make time.
We have a lot of things goingon.
You have a lot of things goingon.
(02:53):
My month of May has every dayof the calendar full with
something extra, but I want totell you it is important in your
spiritual walk with Jesus thatyou surround yourself with
like-minded believers who willencourage you and walk the
course with you.
So get in a life group.
Okay, I don't want to have tobe mom.
(03:14):
I don't want to have to go,look through the list and see
who's not part of it and callyou.
Just join a group.
Okay, all right, that's my ranton the life groups.
All right Series Everyday Carry.
Two weeks ago we started thisseries and the whole series is
based on this scripture Luke9.23.
If anyone would come after me,let him deny himself, take up
(03:36):
his cross daily and follow me.
So in week one, pastor Jershared on are you prepared?
We are carrying your cross andwalking with the armor of God.
And I am always challenged whenI hear about the armor of God,
because there are many days thatI walk out of that house
without putting the full armorof God on.
How many of you can relate tothat?
(03:58):
Maybe we just put a couplepieces on, but scripture says in
Ephesians 6, 10, and 11,finally, be strong in the Lord
and in the strength of his might.
Put on the whole armor of Godthat you may be able to stand
against the schemes of the devil.
In week two, pastor Jay sharedon be ready, be ready with
(04:20):
Christ, be ready for what hewants to do in you and through
you.
He is not done with you yet.
Some of you sitting there likeI don't know what else I could
do.
I got a plan for you, but myplan is not as great as God's
plan, so stick with him.
It says in Philippians 4.13, Ican do all things through Christ
, who strengthens me.
(04:41):
Today we are going to carry onin everyday carry and we're
going to look at Psalm 55, 22.
It says cast your burden on theLord and he will sustain you.
He will never permit therighteous to be moved.
(05:02):
Happy Mother's Day.
Well, I am excited that you arehere.
I want to tell you thisMother's Day is one of those
days where there can be a lot ofmixed emotions going on in
every woman.
I don't know where you are inyour life personally, but
sometimes there's hurt,sometimes there's pain,
sometimes there's loss,sometimes you're grieving
children you do not have.
(05:23):
But I want to tell you thisHappy Mother's Day because you
are all women of influence.
All of you are women ofinfluence.
I love being a mom.
There's something special aboutbeing entrusted to help raise
and influence a life, but ourworld as a whole.
We need more women of God tolove, to guide, to support, to
(05:45):
pray for.
Let me stop right there.
Some of you are only herebecause you had a praying mom, a
praying grandma, a prayingsister, a praying niece, a
praying neighbor, and you'resitting in this seat today
because there was a woman whowas praying for you, and so we
need more women of God to prayand to raise up a generation of
(06:06):
kids and young people who willchange the world for Jesus, amen
.
So you are women of influence.
Do not stop caring for people,but you are Jesus with skin on.
That's what you are.
There are kids who come to ourhouse to visit our children.
I cannot tell you how hard theyhug me and my husband.
(06:30):
It's almost like they don't gethugged and they'll come in and
they'll be like Mrs Brown andthey'll just squeeze me.
And you are a woman ofinfluence, and so you take your
place today, on Mother's Day,and know that people are
watching you.
So we're going to go into this.
(06:51):
We're going to talk about a mombag.
Men, do not tune me out.
Young ladies who are notphysically holding a child, do
not tune me out, because thisapplies to everyone.
What are you carrying?
How many of you ladies havegone through a bag revolution?
You're already looking at yourbag like what am I carrying?
(07:11):
What did I bring in today?
What is she going to talk aboutA bag revolution.
It means you started off withone size and you have slowly
transitioned to something else.
How many of you are out theresay yes, transition to something
else?
How many of you are out theresay yes, that's me All right, I
want to tell you a little bitabout bags.
When I was young and I stillfeel like I'm young, so let's
(07:31):
just keep it like that when Iwas young you know, 18 through
my early 20s this was my bag.
How many of you had a bag likethis?
It was small.
It was small.
I only carried what Iabsolutely needed.
These were only necessities inhere.
So when you open it up, allyou're going to find in my bag
(07:56):
is lotion.
You're definitely going to findscrunchie.
You never know.
When you have to pull your hairback, you're going to find the
good old chapstick.
We live in Arizona.
You better have one of these inyour purse.
We didn't have paying by phoneopportunities when I was that
age, so we had to carry a walletor money, something inside, but
(08:19):
we only carried what weabsolutely needed, what we
absolutely needed.
These were things that weregoing to help me freshen up,
look good, because why?
I was young and single andeverybody was a prospect.
Let's just be real, everybodywas a prospect.
(08:43):
They're like did she just saythat?
Yes, I did.
I didn't get married till 27,27, was it 27?
28.
See, I don't even know.
There was a lot of carryingthis bag.
So I just carried a small bag,just the necessities.
That was all I needed to getthrough life.
Then came married life and thebag got a little bit bigger.
(09:05):
I know you women look at thisand go.
She's going to switch that injust a few minutes Because it's
already going to get heavy onthis arm.
When I got married, I moved toa medium-sized bag, so I took
everything I needed from thatbag, put it in here and then I
had to add the items that myhusband needed me to carry, and
(09:29):
I just want you to know that.
I cleared this with him beforeI came up here and he said truth
, so we're good.
What did I carry for Mr J Brown?
Well, let's look.
We would go to the movies.
Can you carry the snacks,because I can't put them in my
pocket?
Yes, truth.
He wears glasses, so he putsprescription sunglasses on and
(09:54):
when we go inside a building heneeds the non-sunglasses
prescription.
Can you carry my glasses for me?
Sure, why not?
Let's just throw them on inthere.
Also, do you mind carrying mykeys?
Okay, women, we have a key.
We don't even lock the house,we just have the car key.
This man has keys like this.
(10:17):
I'm like are you running a jail?
Like?
We got a lot of keys here, sothose would also go in the bag.
So I would take everything Ineeded from this bag and then
some things that my husbandneeded, and here we go.
We got the medium bag and Ididn't mind why.
We're in love, I don't mindcarrying anything for that man.
(10:40):
I will carry it.
To a limit, to a limit, I willcarry it, okay.
So then we went to the mediumbag and then, of course,
motherhood hit and we went tothe bigger bag, and I have to
tell you, when we get to thisbag, there's a lot of things
(11:02):
inside.
I want you to watch this videofor a moment.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Mom, where are your keys?
Uh, check in my purse.
She says I'm messy.
Goodness gracious, go and cleanout this purse.
Why is there so much junk inhere here?
Give it to me.
What in the world?
Hey, those are my specialmustards.
Uh, my turn these.
(11:28):
Help Dad with the menu.
Oh, I need some of that.
Ooh, I want candy.
No, not candy.
These are for Cammie, for whenshe has her coughing episodes.
Hey, girls, why do you need mypurse?
Keep moving.
Okay, slowpoke, you're theslowpoke.
Careful.
That's mom's prayer book.
(11:49):
It hits the spot.
This is gonna take all day.
It's just her purse.
It's not like it's her closet,it's like a bottomless pit.
I give up.
Huh, fruit snacks.
Everyone's chapsticks, becausesharing is gross.
(12:11):
Ruby's earplugs Also gross.
Dad's screwdriver Does she evenknow how to use that?
I think you forgot to use thisFor Dad's acid free flow Flash
card Duck tank Wallet.
Thank you, she's broke.
(12:34):
Does she even own keys?
How could she, when her purseis full of everything that takes
care of everyone else?
Okay, mom, I'll see you else.
Okay, mom, I see you.
That was good.
Should we put all this stuffback?
Nah, mom will do it.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
How many of you can relate to that purse?
So we get to the mom bag and asa mom, I have to say that you
start to realize that your stuffdoesn't fit in this bag anymore
and everything that you need nolonger goes in here.
But now it's full of otherthings and instead of filling it
(13:22):
with your items, you fill itwith the things that those
around you need.
I have three kids.
I got one.
That's always cold.
I gotta have a sweater or ahoodie of theirs.
I'm the mom with the snacks.
I don't care how old your kidsare.
They need a snack at some point.
(13:43):
So I have snacks.
Who knows where we're going?
But they need a snack at somepoint.
So I have snacks.
Who knows where we're going?
But we might need a rubber duck.
Maybe they're bored.
They want to go swimmingsomewhere.
We got to have something toplay with.
But everything in this pursestarts to be filled, filled with
other people's stuff.
(14:04):
What are you carrying?
Psalm 55, 22 says this castyour burden on the Lord and he
will sustain you.
He will never permit therighteous to be moved.
You see, the bag you used tocarry.
You selected it on purpose.
When you were young, you usedto plan your bag.
(14:27):
You used to put your outfit out.
You used to put the bag youwanted.
How does it carry on thisoutfit?
What color is it?
You put a lot of effort intothat bag.
Now you're at that point whereyou're like just give me a bag,
throw everything in it, let's go, and you get to your location
and the thing you need it isn'teven in there.
I have to tell you, I've showedup to work before without my
(14:50):
badge, and I work at a court,and that's not good.
So all of a sudden, everythingthat you were used to in that
bag is filled with somethingelse.
What are you carrying?
If I asked each of you to emptythe contents of your bag, what
would we find?
Not just your bag, but yourpockets.
(15:12):
What would we find?
I began to look at the contentsof these bags through a
spiritual lens.
Where am I at in my spirituallife and what am I holding in my
bag?
So let's start with the youngerversion of me, and I want you
(15:33):
to think of it as when you firstgave your heart to Jesus.
Your heart to Jesus.
You're a brand new believer inChrist man.
Anything is possible, anything.
Psalm 55, 22,.
(15:55):
Cast your burden on the Lordand he will sustain you.
He will never permit therighteous to be moved.
Man, anything that was in theBible believed it.
I believed it because it wasgod, the father, saying it to me
.
So I hardly carried anything.
As a new believer, I acceptedchrist into my life and I gave
him everything.
There was freedom, there wasvictory, the load was light.
(16:19):
I walked with a joy and a peacethat only he could give.
I only carried around thenecessities.
In my journey with Jesus, Icarried prayer because once I
found Jesus, I knew that if Ineeded anything I could go to
the father in prayer, that if Ineeded anything I could go to
(16:42):
the Father in prayer.
Scripture says you can godirectly to him.
I carried around joy, I carriedaround peace and I carried
around praise.
If you ever pass me on the road,I am always playing praise
music.
In fact, if you pull up to meat a stoplight, sometimes I look
to make sure they don't thinkI'm weird.
(17:03):
I'm making up songs, I'm doingmy own thing.
I'm having a concert inside mycar with me and Jesus.
And one day I'll probably be onsome weird Instagram Valley
uncensored account becausesomebody would be like if you're
driving by this girl you betterwatch out.
But I just have to make surethat there is a praise in my
(17:25):
heart.
And when you are first comingto the Lord and you're a new
Christian man, you only carryaround the necessities.
Everything else gets dumped.
Everything, you just leave itthere.
You leave it at the feet ofJesus.
You just leave it there.
You leave it at the feet ofJesus.
When you start walking withJesus a little bit longer, all
(17:51):
of a sudden, spiritually, youstart carrying around a
medium-sized bag.
Well, what's in that bag?
Somewhere along the journey ofserving Jesus, I begin to pick
up things and put them in thisbag that didn't belong in here.
Oh really, you're going throughthat.
Let me have it, I'm going tocarry it for you.
(18:12):
I got it, you just go, I'llworry about it for you.
Sound familiar.
All of a sudden, you have ananswer for someone Not you.
Sound familiar.
All of a sudden, you have ananswer for someone not you, but
you have an answer for someoneelse and you begin to take those
things and put them in your bagand you're like I got this,
I'll carry it for you.
You start picking up offensesand hurts that even they're not
(18:35):
even for you.
And you're like what did theysay to you?
Give me that, I'm going tocarry it for you.
I can't believe you're not mad,I'll be mad for you.
And you start putting it in yourbag and all of a sudden you
start putting things in herethat never belonged for you to
carry.
But you know what?
(18:56):
I don't mind why.
I love people and I would carryanything for them.
And my bag just keeps gettingheavier and heavier.
In fact, you're at the point ifyou're a mom, you know this
you're standing in line too long.
You just put your purse downLike, oh, my goodness, my
(19:26):
goodness, that's heavy.
The line starts to move, let'sgo.
No, just leave it, it's fine,I'll wipe it off later.
And it starts to get heavierand heavier and it's filled with
things that you didn't need tobe putting in here.
Maybe you've been a Christfollower for a long time.
I started following Jesus sinceI was about eight years old I'm
(19:47):
not going to tell you how long,because you're going to try to
add up my age.
That's not nice, okay.
So there are seasons and I'mgoing to be very honest with you
that in my journey with Jesus,my bag, my spiritual bag, got
very heavy.
It wasn't even fun to carry itaround anymore.
(20:10):
Instead, it was filled witheverybody else's stuff, and the
things that I had weren't evenin there anymore.
I had weren't even in thereanymore.
I just started grabbingeverything.
I found that my bag at timesbecame full of worry and fear
(20:30):
and control.
Oh, moms, I know about control.
I love Jesus.
But, man, there are times whenI think I can just do it myself.
Let me do it, I can get it donefaster.
Sweep the floor, never mind,I'm not even going to show you,
let me just do it.
I can get it done faster.
Sweep the floor, never mind,I'm not even going to show you,
let me just do it, I'll do itfaster.
I have an 18-year-old who justturned 18 last week and I still
have to learn to let go.
(20:50):
And I start putting all thesethings into my bag and it
started to get heavier andheavier.
And then one day I lookedinside this bag and I was
shocked at what I was carryingaround inside.
I was surprised that I'd beenholding on to all these things
(21:15):
and, just like any mom, youdon't just carry this bag.
Oh, come here, let me see, I'llhold your bag too.
And oh, that's okay, are youtired?
Let me hold it for you.
And then you start to look likethis and you're carrying not
just your bag, but you'recarrying other people's, maybe
(21:36):
your kids, maybe your siblings,maybe a family member, maybe a
neighbor.
You're carrying their stuff too, and it starts to get very,
very heavy.
How did all this stuff get intomy bag?
And then I realized I'm going tomake life easier.
I'm just going to get thebiggest bag I could find and I'm
(22:01):
going to put it all in there.
I'm so mad at them.
Why did they not even invite meto that thing?
I'm not talking to them anymore.
And they didn't invite myfriend.
Now I'm really mad.
My kids never listen to me.
I have all this stuff and theyjust don't help me.
I'm going to be mad at them forthe whole week.
(22:21):
Oh, what about this?
They said they were sorry andthey don't even act like they're
sorry.
That's it.
I'm putting that in the bag andthen you start adding more, and
you start adding more, and thenyou're seen walking around
spiritually like this and in thenatural.
(22:44):
It is very, very funny, becauseI am not Santa Claus, so I
should not be carrying this bag.
In fact I'm going to needprobably a massage after this.
But you start to carry itaround and in the natural it
seems funny, but in thespiritual you're doing it all
the time and you're walkingaround carrying this bag that
you should not be carrying it.
(23:05):
And I came to a place in mylife where I realized I needed
to clean the bag out.
Matthew 11, starting in verse28,.
We touched on it last week butI'm going to dive into it right
now.
It says this come to me all wholabor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learnfrom me, for I am gentle and
(23:30):
lowly in heart, and you willfind rest for your souls, for my
yoke is easy and my burden islight.
It says come to me all wholabor and are heavy laden.
Do you know what labor means?
Labor is another word for weary.
It means to be tired, not justin your body but in your soul.
(23:53):
It describes not justexhaustion, but exhaustion plus
exasperation, meaning it affectsyour mental and your emotional
state.
So you're spiritually carryingall this around and it gets you
to the point where you want togive up.
(24:13):
But God never asked you to becarrying this.
It says not only are you weary,but you are heavy laden.
It means to be carrying a heavyload for some time.
There are some of you that aresitting in here that have been
holding on to stuff for 5, 7, 10, 20 years.
(24:37):
Let it go.
Let it go.
Let it go.
It was not meant for you to becarrying the Lord's promise in
this.
Scripture says come to me and Iwill give you rest.
Do you know what rest is?
Rest is when you're restored.
It's when you have strengthagain.
(24:59):
It allows you to carry on.
The Lord says take my yoke uponyou and learn from me.
I don't know, because you'recity people, if you really know
what a yoke looks like, but ayoke is what they use to harness
two animals together.
Usually it's donkeys, horses,oxen.
But it enables them when theyput it on around their neck.
(25:21):
It enables them to pull cartsor to plow, and you'll see an
image behind me of what thatyoke looks like.
Scripture says that the Lord istelling you learn from me.
You see, a young oxen wouldlearn how to pull the plows by
being yoked with a seasoned ox Aseasoned ox.
(25:47):
So what they do is they put ananimal who's been doing it for a
long time, they put it aroundtheir neck and then they put a
young one next to it andwhenever a young ox suddenly
tried to turn, the seasoned oxwould stand still until the
young ox was ready to continue.
The young ox would learn fromthe seasoned ox whom he was
(26:12):
yoked to, as the two bore theburden together.
And the Lord is inviting you tobe yoked with him.
He's saying take my yoke uponyou.
So, spiritually, you're walkingaround holding all this and at
(26:36):
times I see heaven and I see Godlooking down, just going what?
What are they doing?
Why, why, why don't they justlet me help them?
Why?
It's like the mom getting thegroceries out of the car.
You just take all 15 bagsinstead of saying, hey, get out
(26:59):
here and help me.
And God is looking at you,going why?
I knew it was time to clean outmy bag, just like it's time for
some of you to clean out yourbag.
There are things that you areholding on to.
You are trying to fix problemsthat you cannot fix.
(27:21):
Let me tell you that you cannotfix them, but you are trying
with all your might and you arelosing sleep over it and you are
putting yourself in a stressfulsituation.
It is not for you to fix, it isfor him.
Not only that, but you'restressing out about decisions
(27:42):
that other people are making.
Okay, it's pretty funny whenyou think about it.
Why are you so stressed becauseso-and-so is going to do this?
Does that affect you?
No, but it just stresses me out.
And you're carrying thesethings that were not meant for
you.
You got to remove hurts andoffenses that may not even be
(28:07):
yours, something a neighbor did10 years ago.
Get over it.
Get over it.
Get it off of you.
Get it out of your bag, leaveit at the feet of Jesus.
The frustration that youexperienced trying to make
things right.
It was time to clean out my bag.
(28:29):
I had to learn to take allthese things and leave them at
the feet of Jesus.
Verse 30 says this for my yokeis easy and my burden is light.
Do you know why it says thathis yoke is easy?
It says this in scripturebecause anyone can come to him,
(28:54):
anyone.
The Bible is very clear that heis no respecter of persons.
He does not look at you and sayokay, you can come with your
stuff, not you, you can comewith your stuff.
I'm going to leave that wholerow out.
He doesn't do that.
But he just says come, justcome, come to me, come to me,
(29:15):
and you can just leave it rightthere with him.
His burden is light because hisstrength helps lighten the load
.
Do you know who he is?
We sing about it at times thathe is mighty, he is powerful, he
is our redeemer.
And when you're young in yourfaith, you believe all of it.
(29:37):
And then somewhere along theway, as you're a seasoned
Christian and you've been doingit for many, many years, you are
suddenly in that situation.
Where is he, my redeemer?
Will he answer this prayer?
If I leave it at his feet?
Will he take care of it?
Or do I need to step in againand do something?
(30:00):
Not only do you have Jesus, butyou have the Trinity.
You have Father God, who youare made in his image.
You have Jesus, who you havefull access to.
Scripture says that he isseated at the right hand of God,
making intercession for you.
And then you have the HolySpirit.
(30:21):
What would we do without theHoly Spirit, those simple nudges
in the middle of your day whenyou say something you're not
supposed to say and you feelkind of sick to your stomach.
He is working and moving andtrying to shape you and get you
on track and and he's sayingjust leave it here.
Time to take all of that stuffthat's not needed and go back to
(30:45):
the necessities.
Prayer, just pray, just pray.
If you turn in a prayer request,you better be praying too, do
you understand?
Because it's your faith.
It's your faith as the size ofa mustard seed.
God wants to know.
(31:06):
What are you going to do withyour faith?
That's great.
Turn it in, we will pray foryou.
But if you yourself are notpraying for the situation, I
don't know how you're going toexpect an answer.
Pray, go back to thenecessities of joy.
You know that no one can takeyour joy.
The world didn't give it to you.
The world can't take it away.
(31:27):
They can take away yourhappiness for a moment, but not
your joy.
That is yours.
The joy is yours.
The peace of God.
Scripture is is very clear.
It says my peace, I give you mypeace, I leave with you.
So if you're walking around,going, man, I'm so stressed,
that's on you Because you havethe peace of God, put it back in
(31:51):
your bag of necessities, andthen you better have a heart of
praise.
I've told you before, as a mom,the one thing I don't like is
when my kids come to me with Ineed, I need, I need and never
do.
They come and just give me ahug out of nowhere and when you,
as a child of god, come to thefather and you always come with
(32:13):
this and this and this and this,and they got that.
And how come I didn't get it?
Instead of just coming andgoing, I praise you Because of
who you are, because I'm stillalive today, breathing.
I'm still alive today making adifference in the world.
I'm here, you've pulled me outof some crud and you cleaned me
off, and sometimes I go runright back into it, but you keep
(32:38):
pulling me out, lord, I'mthankful and you have a heart of
praise.
Psalm 55, 22 says this castyour burden on the Lord and he
will sustain you.
He will never, never permit therighteous to be moved Never.
If the worship team would comeand join me, I want to ask you
(33:04):
what you're carrying today.
What's in your bag?
Maybe you're like man.
I just showed up because my mominvited me.
I have no idea.
You're not here by accident,but there's a God who loves you.
This life man.
(33:24):
It throws a lot of things at us, but I am not going to give in
to the things of this world.
I refuse, I refuse.
And every now and then I got tocheck what's in my bag.
I'm a doer.
You can ask my husband, you canask my kids.
(33:45):
They'll say mom, come, sit downand watch a movie with me.
And I got a list of things Igot to do.
I'm a doer.
It's hard for me to take abreather and sit down.
So when it comes to myspiritual life with God, I tend
to do that.
I tend to do that.
And then I walk around soridiculous with this big old bag
(34:09):
and he's saying, celeste, ifyou just leave it with me, just
let it go, just go back to thatlittle bag you had and just pray
, just sing, praise and just befilled with the joy and the
(34:29):
peace, and let me do the rest.
I'm going to ask you to standwith me If you're here today.
Maybe you've never had theopportunity to ask Jesus into
your heart.
I'm going to give you thatchance today.
There's something so beautifulabout the cross, and I love when
(34:51):
I see people wear the cross.
Sometimes I want to go up tothem and say what does it mean
to you?
Because there's somethingpowerful about the cross.
My whole life was changedbecause of that cross.
He endured a lot for me.
He endured a lot for you.
He would have gone andsacrificed himself if it was
(35:13):
just for you, and I know that'svery hard to believe.
But you were made in his imageand he didn't want to lose
anyone and so he did everythinghe could to make sure that you
had a second chance at eternity.
So maybe you're here thismorning.
I'm going to ask you to closeyour eyes out of respect for
anybody who is making thatdecision today, and I want you
(35:37):
just to search your own heartright now and maybe you're at
the place where you've neverasked Jesus to come in and be
Lord of your life.
Maybe you've never asked him,but in and be Lord of your life.
Maybe you've never asked him.
But also maybe you've asked himmany, many years ago.
And you look at your life rightnow and you say, man, I need to
get back right with the Lord,I'm carrying a heavy load and I
(35:57):
need to just give it to him.
Today's your day.
It says in Romans 10, verses 9and 10, because if you confess
with your mouth that Jesus isLord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from thedead, you will be saved.
For with the heart, onebelieves and is justified, and
with the mouth one confesses andis saved.
(36:20):
So with your eyes closed, ifyou're in this building today,
or maybe you're watching onlineand you want to ask Jesus to
come into your heart, I justwant you to slip your hand up.
I'm going to say a prayer.
I'm not going to embarrass you,but I just want to pray with
you and believe with you.
Today will be a change forever,amen, amen.
I want you to repeat this afterme Thank you for loving me,
(36:52):
thank you for sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you InChrist's name.
Amen, amen.
We rejoice with you if you madethat decision.
(37:16):
We want to get a Bible into yourhands.
So if you come and find one ofus after service or one of our
team members in the back, wewant to get you a Bible and we
want you to find a Biblebelieving church, that picture I
showed you at the beginning,with Jesus and his disciples.
You can't walk this journeyalone.
You got to have people aroundyou.
(37:38):
So please find a church thatyou can be a part of.
You are are always welcome here.
We would love to have you, butI want to open this altar for
you.
Maybe there's some of you thatif you started to do a little
introspection of your heart, youwould see that you've been
putting some things in therethat shouldn't be in there.
(37:59):
It happens to all of us.
We start carrying around thingsand we're like man, I'm feeling
it.
I'm feeling it.
I feel it in my body, I feel itin my spirit when I go to pray.
It just feels like a heavinessbecause there's so much that I'm
trying to control or take on.
(38:20):
And this morning he's justlooking at you, saying just lay
it down, just give it to me.
Maybe, if you're here with yourmom, pray with your mom.
If she comes up to this altar,surround her, encourage her.
Maybe you've been her headache,ask her for forgiveness.
(38:40):
But, man, I'm telling you, godjust wants you to let it go.
What are you carrying?
So, father, this morning as weopen up this altar, just like
first service, where many peoplewere just laying things down, I
believe that for this serviceas well, we are in a place where
(39:04):
we try to be veryself-sufficient, we try to do
things on our own, we don't tryto ask for help, and then we
look and we're all just bearinga load that seems overwhelming
and it seems like there's no endin sight.
So this morning, we want togive it to you, we want to lay
it down, we want to go back tothe necessities, where we are
(39:25):
focused on you and we let you beGod.
We let you be God and so, lord,this morning I pray for every
person that walks up here thatyou would begin to bring freedom
and victory to their lives.
In the name of Jesus, amen.
This altar is open.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Weren't you so blessed by the word that Pastor
Celeste brought today?
I know I was.
We're so very thankful for thatand what it means to us.
Man, it's exciting.
We have a lot of great thingshappening.
We have life groups that arehappening and today, for all the
ladies, we have a special giftfor you Grab a suite on your way
out, a book for you on your wayout.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
Gentlemen, let them have the sweets.
That'd be a blessing to us.
I want to let you know that ifyou have anyone in your family
who is graduating maybe highschool, college, a trade school,
anything let us know.
You can go on the app, let usknow.
We're going to honor them in acouple of weeks and so we don't
want to miss anyone, so pleasemake sure you let us know.
And also we're having babydedications in a couple of weeks
.
If you want to dedicate any ofyour children, sign up on the
app.
You can call the office if youhave questions, but we are going
(40:33):
to dedicate them to the Lordcoming up soon.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Amen.
Before we go, we're going toplace a blessing over us.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
Lord, make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
(40:58):
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love up to
those around us.
We pray all this in thepowerful name that is Jesus
Christ.
Amen, amen, know this.
We love you very much here atCornerstone.
God bless you and happyMother's Day.
Well, good morning.
Well, I have a question for you.
What are you carrying?
A few years ago, jay and I andour kids were on an airplane and
we were flying inside of Europefrom one country to another.
We were flying on a reallycheap airline.
How many of you have ever beenon a saver plane where you have
to pay to breathe while you'reflying?
(00:21):
And so you don't want to takeanything on that plane, right?
So you want to go with theminimum that you can, and so we
were on this flight and we goton and we sat down, and then we
see this young lady approachingand she's coming down the plane
aisle and then she gets in therow in front of us.
She didn't have anything, shejust was carrying a really small
little clutch.
And I thought, wow, that'simpressive.
(00:41):
Either she paid a lot of moneyto check her bags or she just
doesn't need anything.
And so she gets in front of usand all of a sudden, I see her
take her bag and, as she'sholding this little clutch, she
unzips the bottom and this bigold bag appears.
So it went from a mini to along tote.
Now, all of a sudden, she putsthat bag down and I see her
(01:04):
begin to disrobe.
And I am telling you.
She had a blazer.
She took it off, folded it up,put it in the bag.
She had a couple of button-downlong-sleeve shirts.
She undid them, rolled them up,put them in there.
She even had her underwear inher pocket.
So she pulled that out, putthem in the bag and she pulled
(01:28):
her slacks off and she rolledthem up, put them in the bag.
And she pulled her slacks offand she rolled them up, put them
in the bag.
And by the time she removedeverything.
All she had left was a littlesummer dress and some tennis
shoes.
And then she zipped her bagshut, put it in the overhead and
sat down.
Oh, wow, that is impressive.
This lady is super woman and Igot to get me a bag like that.
How many of you women say amen,I got to get a bag like that.
So we are in a series calledEveryday Carrie, and today I
(01:51):
want to talk about a mom bag.
So, men, do not check out on meyet.
This applies to you as well,but I want to welcome you today
to Cornerstone.
If you're a guest with us, it'san honor to have you.
Our motto here is to be morelike Jesus, and you'll always
see this photo of Jesus walkingwith his disciples, and we
(02:11):
desire that you stay the pacewith God.
We don't want you running ahead, we don't want you straggling
behind somewhere, we don't wantto have to go back looking for
you and we don't want you toveer to the right or the left.
We want you to just stay withGod and keep moving where he is
leading you.
So that's our desire here atCornerstone.
(02:32):
We love God, we make disciplesand we reach the world, and we
just started a new series oflife groups this past week.
So you need to make time inyour life to be part of a life
group.
I'm going to say it again youneed to make time.
We have a lot of things goingon.
You have a lot of things goingon.
(02:53):
My month of May has every dayof the calendar full with
something extra, but I want totell you it is important in your
spiritual walk with Jesus thatyou surround yourself with
like-minded believers who willencourage you and walk the
course with you.
So get in a life group.
Okay, I don't want to have tobe mom.
(03:14):
I don't want to have to go,look through the list and see
who's not part of it and callyou.
Just join a group.
Okay, all right, that's my ranton the life groups.
All right Series Everyday Carry.
Two weeks ago we started thisseries and the whole series is
based on this scripture Luke9.23.
If anyone would come after me,let him deny himself, take up
(03:36):
his cross daily and follow me.
So in week one, pastor Jershared on are you prepared?
We are carrying your cross andwalking with the armor of God.
And I am always challenged whenI hear about the armor of God,
because there are many days thatI walk out of that house
without putting the full armorof God on.
How many of you can relate tothat?
(03:58):
Maybe we just put a couplepieces on, but scripture says in
Ephesians 6, 10, and 11,finally, be strong in the Lord
and in the strength of his might.
Put on the whole armor of Godthat you may be able to stand
against the schemes of the devil.
In week two, pastor Jay sharedon be ready, be ready with
(04:20):
Christ, be ready for what hewants to do in you and through
you.
He is not done with you yet.
Some of you sitting there likeI don't know what else I could
do.
I got a plan for you, but myplan is not as great as God's
plan, so stick with him.
It says in Philippians 4.13, Ican do all things through Christ
, who strengthens me.
(04:41):
Today we are going to carry onin everyday carry and we're
going to look at Psalm 55, 22.
It says cast your burden on theLord and he will sustain you.
He will never permit therighteous to be moved.
(05:02):
Happy Mother's Day.
Well, I am excited that you arehere.
I want to tell you thisMother's Day is one of those
days where there can be a lot ofmixed emotions going on in
every woman.
I don't know where you are inyour life personally, but
sometimes there's hurt,sometimes there's pain,
sometimes there's loss,sometimes you're grieving
children you do not have.
(05:23):
But I want to tell you thisHappy Mother's Day because you
are all women of influence.
All of you are women ofinfluence.
I love being a mom.
There's something special aboutbeing entrusted to help raise
and influence a life, but ourworld as a whole.
We need more women of God tolove, to guide, to support, to
(05:45):
pray for.
Let me stop right there.
Some of you are only herebecause you had a praying mom, a
praying grandma, a prayingsister, a praying niece, a
praying neighbor, and you'resitting in this seat today
because there was a woman whowas praying for you, and so we
need more women of God to prayand to raise up a generation of
(06:06):
kids and young people who willchange the world for Jesus, amen
.
So you are women of influence.
Do not stop caring for people,but you are Jesus with skin on.
That's what you are.
There are kids who come to ourhouse to visit our children.
I cannot tell you how hard theyhug me and my husband.
(06:30):
It's almost like they don't gethugged and they'll come in and
they'll be like Mrs Brown andthey'll just squeeze me.
And you are a woman ofinfluence, and so you take your
place today, on Mother's Day,and know that people are
watching you.
So we're going to go into this.
(06:51):
We're going to talk about a mombag.
Men, do not tune me out.
Young ladies who are notphysically holding a child, do
not tune me out, because thisapplies to everyone.
What are you carrying?
How many of you ladies havegone through a bag revolution?
You're already looking at yourbag like what am I carrying?
(07:11):
What did I bring in today?
What is she going to talk aboutA bag revolution.
It means you started off withone size and you have slowly
transitioned to something else.
How many of you are out theresay yes, transition to something
else?
How many of you are out theresay yes, that's me All right, I
want to tell you a little bitabout bags.
When I was young and I stillfeel like I'm young, so let's
(07:31):
just keep it like that when Iwas young you know, 18 through
my early 20s this was my bag.
How many of you had a bag likethis?
It was small.
It was small.
I only carried what Iabsolutely needed.
These were only necessities inhere.
So when you open it up, allyou're going to find in my bag
(07:56):
is lotion.
You're definitely going to findscrunchie.
You never know.
When you have to pull your hairback, you're going to find the
good old chapstick.
We live in Arizona.
You better have one of these inyour purse.
We didn't have paying by phoneopportunities when I was that
age, so we had to carry a walletor money, something inside, but
(08:19):
we only carried what weabsolutely needed, what we
absolutely needed.
These were things that weregoing to help me freshen up,
look good, because why?
I was young and single andeverybody was a prospect.
Let's just be real, everybodywas a prospect.
(08:43):
They're like did she just saythat?
Yes, I did.
I didn't get married till 27,27, was it 27?
28.
See, I don't even know.
There was a lot of carryingthis bag.
So I just carried a small bag,just the necessities.
That was all I needed to getthrough life.
Then came married life and thebag got a little bit bigger.
(09:05):
I know you women look at thisand go.
She's going to switch that injust a few minutes Because it's
already going to get heavy onthis arm.
When I got married, I moved toa medium-sized bag, so I took
everything I needed from thatbag, put it in here and then I
had to add the items that myhusband needed me to carry, and
(09:29):
I just want you to know that.
I cleared this with him beforeI came up here and he said truth
, so we're good.
What did I carry for Mr J Brown?
Well, let's look.
We would go to the movies.
Can you carry the snacks,because I can't put them in my
pocket?
Yes, truth.
He wears glasses, so he putsprescription sunglasses on and
(09:54):
when we go inside a building heneeds the non-sunglasses
prescription.
Can you carry my glasses for me?
Sure, why not?
Let's just throw them on inthere.
Also, do you mind carrying mykeys?
Okay, women, we have a key.
We don't even lock the house,we just have the car key.
This man has keys like this.
(10:17):
I'm like are you running a jail?
Like?
We got a lot of keys here, sothose would also go in the bag.
So I would take everything Ineeded from this bag and then
some things that my husbandneeded, and here we go.
We got the medium bag and Ididn't mind why.
We're in love, I don't mindcarrying anything for that man.
(10:40):
I will carry it.
To a limit, to a limit, I willcarry it, okay.
So then we went to the mediumbag and then, of course,
motherhood hit and we went tothe bigger bag, and I have to
tell you, when we get to thisbag, there's a lot of things
(11:02):
inside.
I want you to watch this videofor a moment.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Mom, where are your keys?
Uh, check in my purse.
She says I'm messy.
Goodness gracious, go and cleanout this purse.
Why is there so much junk inhere here?
Give it to me.
What in the world?
Hey, those are my specialmustards.
Uh, my turn these.
(11:28):
Help Dad with the menu.
Oh, I need some of that.
Ooh, I want candy.
No, not candy.
These are for Cammie, for whenshe has her coughing episodes.
Hey, girls, why do you need mypurse?
Keep moving.
Okay, slowpoke, you're theslowpoke.
Careful.
That's mom's prayer book.
(11:49):
It hits the spot.
This is gonna take all day.
It's just her purse.
It's not like it's her closet,it's like a bottomless pit.
I give up.
Huh, fruit snacks.
Everyone's chapsticks, becausesharing is gross.
(12:11):
Ruby's earplugs Also gross.
Dad's screwdriver Does she evenknow how to use that?
I think you forgot to use thisFor Dad's acid free flow Flash
card Duck tank Wallet.
Thank you, she's broke.
(12:34):
Does she even own keys?
How could she, when her purseis full of everything that takes
care of everyone else?
Okay, mom, I'll see you else.
Okay, mom, I see you.
That was good.
Should we put all this stuffback?
Nah, mom will do it.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
How many of you can relate to that purse?
So we get to the mom bag and asa mom, I have to say that you
start to realize that your stuffdoesn't fit in this bag anymore
and everything that you need nolonger goes in here.
But now it's full of otherthings and instead of filling it
(13:22):
with your items, you fill itwith the things that those
around you need.
I have three kids.
I got one.
That's always cold.
I gotta have a sweater or ahoodie of theirs.
I'm the mom with the snacks.
I don't care how old your kidsare.
They need a snack at some point.
(13:43):
So I have snacks.
Who knows where we're going?
But they need a snack at somepoint.
So I have snacks.
Who knows where we're going?
But we might need a rubber duck.
Maybe they're bored.
They want to go swimmingsomewhere.
We got to have something toplay with.
But everything in this pursestarts to be filled, filled with
other people's stuff.
(14:04):
What are you carrying?
Psalm 55, 22 says this castyour burden on the Lord and he
will sustain you.
He will never permit therighteous to be moved.
You see, the bag you used tocarry.
You selected it on purpose.
When you were young, you usedto plan your bag.
(14:27):
You used to put your outfit out.
You used to put the bag youwanted.
How does it carry on thisoutfit?
What color is it?
You put a lot of effort intothat bag.
Now you're at that point whereyou're like just give me a bag,
throw everything in it, let's go, and you get to your location
and the thing you need it isn'teven in there.
I have to tell you, I've showedup to work before without my
(14:50):
badge, and I work at a court,and that's not good.
So all of a sudden, everythingthat you were used to in that
bag is filled with somethingelse.
What are you carrying?
If I asked each of you to emptythe contents of your bag, what
would we find?
Not just your bag, but yourpockets.
(15:12):
What would we find?
I began to look at the contentsof these bags through a
spiritual lens.
Where am I at in my spirituallife and what am I holding in my
bag?
So let's start with the youngerversion of me, and I want you
(15:33):
to think of it as when you firstgave your heart to Jesus.
Your heart to Jesus.
You're a brand new believer inChrist man.
Anything is possible, anything.
Psalm 55, 22,.
(15:55):
Cast your burden on the Lordand he will sustain you.
He will never permit therighteous to be moved.
Man, anything that was in theBible believed it.
I believed it because it wasgod, the father, saying it to me
.
So I hardly carried anything.
As a new believer, I acceptedchrist into my life and I gave
him everything.
There was freedom, there wasvictory, the load was light.
(16:19):
I walked with a joy and a peacethat only he could give.
I only carried around thenecessities.
In my journey with Jesus, Icarried prayer because once I
found Jesus, I knew that if Ineeded anything I could go to
the father in prayer, that if Ineeded anything I could go to
(16:42):
the Father in prayer.
Scripture says you can godirectly to him.
I carried around joy, I carriedaround peace and I carried
around praise.
If you ever pass me on the road,I am always playing praise
music.
In fact, if you pull up to meat a stoplight, sometimes I look
to make sure they don't thinkI'm weird.
(17:03):
I'm making up songs, I'm doingmy own thing.
I'm having a concert inside mycar with me and Jesus.
And one day I'll probably be onsome weird Instagram Valley
uncensored account becausesomebody would be like if you're
driving by this girl you betterwatch out.
But I just have to make surethat there is a praise in my
(17:25):
heart.
And when you are first comingto the Lord and you're a new
Christian man, you only carryaround the necessities.
Everything else gets dumped.
Everything, you just leave itthere.
You leave it at the feet ofJesus.
You just leave it there.
You leave it at the feet ofJesus.
When you start walking withJesus a little bit longer, all
(17:51):
of a sudden, spiritually, youstart carrying around a
medium-sized bag.
Well, what's in that bag?
Somewhere along the journey ofserving Jesus, I begin to pick
up things and put them in thisbag that didn't belong in here.
Oh really, you're going throughthat.
Let me have it, I'm going tocarry it for you.
(18:12):
I got it, you just go, I'llworry about it for you.
Sound familiar.
All of a sudden, you have ananswer for someone Not you.
Sound familiar.
All of a sudden, you have ananswer for someone not you, but
you have an answer for someoneelse and you begin to take those
things and put them in your bagand you're like I got this,
I'll carry it for you.
You start picking up offensesand hurts that even they're not
(18:35):
even for you.
And you're like what did theysay to you?
Give me that, I'm going tocarry it for you.
I can't believe you're not mad,I'll be mad for you.
And you start putting it in yourbag and all of a sudden you
start putting things in herethat never belonged for you to
carry.
But you know what?
(18:56):
I don't mind why.
I love people and I would carryanything for them.
And my bag just keeps gettingheavier and heavier.
In fact, you're at the point ifyou're a mom, you know this
you're standing in line too long.
You just put your purse downLike, oh, my goodness, my
(19:26):
goodness, that's heavy.
The line starts to move, let'sgo.
No, just leave it, it's fine,I'll wipe it off later.
And it starts to get heavierand heavier and it's filled with
things that you didn't need tobe putting in here.
Maybe you've been a Christfollower for a long time.
I started following Jesus sinceI was about eight years old I'm
(19:47):
not going to tell you how long,because you're going to try to
add up my age.
That's not nice, okay.
So there are seasons and I'mgoing to be very honest with you
that in my journey with Jesus,my bag, my spiritual bag, got
very heavy.
It wasn't even fun to carry itaround anymore.
(20:10):
Instead, it was filled witheverybody else's stuff, and the
things that I had weren't evenin there anymore.
I had weren't even in thereanymore.
I just started grabbingeverything.
I found that my bag at timesbecame full of worry and fear
(20:30):
and control.
Oh, moms, I know about control.
I love Jesus.
But, man, there are times whenI think I can just do it myself.
Let me do it, I can get it donefaster.
Sweep the floor, never mind,I'm not even going to show you,
let me just do it.
I can get it done faster.
Sweep the floor, never mind,I'm not even going to show you,
let me just do it, I'll do itfaster.
I have an 18-year-old who justturned 18 last week and I still
have to learn to let go.
(20:50):
And I start putting all thesethings into my bag and it
started to get heavier andheavier.
And then one day I lookedinside this bag and I was
shocked at what I was carryingaround inside.
I was surprised that I'd beenholding on to all these things
(21:15):
and, just like any mom, youdon't just carry this bag.
Oh, come here, let me see, I'llhold your bag too.
And oh, that's okay, are youtired?
Let me hold it for you.
And then you start to look likethis and you're carrying not
just your bag, but you'recarrying other people's, maybe
(21:36):
your kids, maybe your siblings,maybe a family member, maybe a
neighbor.
You're carrying their stuff too, and it starts to get very,
very heavy.
How did all this stuff get intomy bag?
And then I realized I'm going tomake life easier.
I'm just going to get thebiggest bag I could find and I'm
(22:01):
going to put it all in there.
I'm so mad at them.
Why did they not even invite meto that thing?
I'm not talking to them anymore.
And they didn't invite myfriend.
Now I'm really mad.
My kids never listen to me.
I have all this stuff and theyjust don't help me.
I'm going to be mad at them forthe whole week.
(22:21):
Oh, what about this?
They said they were sorry andthey don't even act like they're
sorry.
That's it.
I'm putting that in the bag andthen you start adding more, and
you start adding more, and thenyou're seen walking around
spiritually like this and in thenatural.
(22:44):
It is very, very funny, becauseI am not Santa Claus, so I
should not be carrying this bag.
In fact I'm going to needprobably a massage after this.
But you start to carry itaround and in the natural it
seems funny, but in thespiritual you're doing it all
the time and you're walkingaround carrying this bag that
you should not be carrying it.
(23:05):
And I came to a place in mylife where I realized I needed
to clean the bag out.
Matthew 11, starting in verse28,.
We touched on it last week butI'm going to dive into it right
now.
It says this come to me all wholabor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learnfrom me, for I am gentle and
(23:30):
lowly in heart, and you willfind rest for your souls, for my
yoke is easy and my burden islight.
It says come to me all wholabor and are heavy laden.
Do you know what labor means?
Labor is another word for weary.
It means to be tired, not justin your body but in your soul.
(23:53):
It describes not justexhaustion, but exhaustion plus
exasperation, meaning it affectsyour mental and your emotional
state.
So you're spiritually carryingall this around and it gets you
to the point where you want togive up.
(24:13):
But God never asked you to becarrying this.
It says not only are you weary,but you are heavy laden.
It means to be carrying a heavyload for some time.
There are some of you that aresitting in here that have been
holding on to stuff for 5, 7, 10, 20 years.
(24:37):
Let it go.
Let it go.
Let it go.
It was not meant for you to becarrying the Lord's promise in
this.
Scripture says come to me and Iwill give you rest.
Do you know what rest is?
Rest is when you're restored.
It's when you have strengthagain.
(24:59):
It allows you to carry on.
The Lord says take my yoke uponyou and learn from me.
I don't know, because you'recity people, if you really know
what a yoke looks like, but ayoke is what they use to harness
two animals together.
Usually it's donkeys, horses,oxen.
But it enables them when theyput it on around their neck.
(25:21):
It enables them to pull cartsor to plow, and you'll see an
image behind me of what thatyoke looks like.
Scripture says that the Lord istelling you learn from me.
You see, a young oxen wouldlearn how to pull the plows by
being yoked with a seasoned ox Aseasoned ox.
(25:47):
So what they do is they put ananimal who's been doing it for a
long time, they put it aroundtheir neck and then they put a
young one next to it andwhenever a young ox suddenly
tried to turn, the seasoned oxwould stand still until the
young ox was ready to continue.
The young ox would learn fromthe seasoned ox whom he was
(26:12):
yoked to, as the two bore theburden together.
And the Lord is inviting you tobe yoked with him.
He's saying take my yoke uponyou.
So, spiritually, you're walkingaround holding all this and at
(26:36):
times I see heaven and I see Godlooking down, just going what?
What are they doing?
Why, why, why don't they justlet me help them?
Why?
It's like the mom getting thegroceries out of the car.
You just take all 15 bagsinstead of saying, hey, get out
(26:59):
here and help me.
And God is looking at you,going why?
I knew it was time to clean outmy bag, just like it's time for
some of you to clean out yourbag.
There are things that you areholding on to.
You are trying to fix problemsthat you cannot fix.
(27:21):
Let me tell you that you cannotfix them, but you are trying
with all your might and you arelosing sleep over it and you are
putting yourself in a stressfulsituation.
It is not for you to fix, it isfor him.
Not only that, but you'restressing out about decisions
(27:42):
that other people are making.
Okay, it's pretty funny whenyou think about it.
Why are you so stressed becauseso-and-so is going to do this?
Does that affect you?
No, but it just stresses me out.
And you're carrying thesethings that were not meant for
you.
You got to remove hurts andoffenses that may not even be
(28:07):
yours, something a neighbor did10 years ago.
Get over it.
Get over it.
Get it off of you.
Get it out of your bag, leaveit at the feet of Jesus.
The frustration that youexperienced trying to make
things right.
It was time to clean out my bag.
(28:29):
I had to learn to take allthese things and leave them at
the feet of Jesus.
Verse 30 says this for my yokeis easy and my burden is light.
Do you know why it says thathis yoke is easy?
It says this in scripturebecause anyone can come to him,
(28:54):
anyone.
The Bible is very clear that heis no respecter of persons.
He does not look at you and sayokay, you can come with your
stuff, not you, you can comewith your stuff.
I'm going to leave that wholerow out.
He doesn't do that.
But he just says come, justcome, come to me, come to me,
(29:15):
and you can just leave it rightthere with him.
His burden is light because hisstrength helps lighten the load
.
Do you know who he is?
We sing about it at times thathe is mighty, he is powerful, he
is our redeemer.
And when you're young in yourfaith, you believe all of it.
(29:37):
And then somewhere along theway, as you're a seasoned
Christian and you've been doingit for many, many years, you are
suddenly in that situation.
Where is he, my redeemer?
Will he answer this prayer?
If I leave it at his feet?
Will he take care of it?
Or do I need to step in againand do something?
(30:00):
Not only do you have Jesus, butyou have the Trinity.
You have Father God, who youare made in his image.
You have Jesus, who you havefull access to.
Scripture says that he isseated at the right hand of God,
making intercession for you.
And then you have the HolySpirit.
(30:21):
What would we do without theHoly Spirit, those simple nudges
in the middle of your day whenyou say something you're not
supposed to say and you feelkind of sick to your stomach.
He is working and moving andtrying to shape you and get you
on track and and he's sayingjust leave it here.
Time to take all of that stuffthat's not needed and go back to
(30:45):
the necessities.
Prayer, just pray, just pray.
If you turn in a prayer request,you better be praying too, do
you understand?
Because it's your faith.
It's your faith as the size ofa mustard seed.
God wants to know.
(31:06):
What are you going to do withyour faith?
That's great.
Turn it in, we will pray foryou.
But if you yourself are notpraying for the situation, I
don't know how you're going toexpect an answer.
Pray, go back to thenecessities of joy.
You know that no one can takeyour joy.
The world didn't give it to you.
The world can't take it away.
(31:27):
They can take away yourhappiness for a moment, but not
your joy.
That is yours.
The joy is yours.
The peace of God.
Scripture is is very clear.
It says my peace, I give you mypeace, I leave with you.
So if you're walking around,going, man, I'm so stressed,
that's on you Because you havethe peace of God, put it back in
(31:51):
your bag of necessities, andthen you better have a heart of
praise.
I've told you before, as a mom,the one thing I don't like is
when my kids come to me with Ineed, I need, I need and never
do.
They come and just give me ahug out of nowhere and when you,
as a child of god, come to thefather and you always come with
(32:13):
this and this and this and this,and they got that.
And how come I didn't get it?
Instead of just coming andgoing, I praise you Because of
who you are, because I'm stillalive today, breathing.
I'm still alive today making adifference in the world.
I'm here, you've pulled me outof some crud and you cleaned me
off, and sometimes I go runright back into it, but you keep
(32:38):
pulling me out, lord, I'mthankful and you have a heart of
praise.
Psalm 55, 22 says this castyour burden on the Lord and he
will sustain you.
He will never, never permit therighteous to be moved Never.
If the worship team would comeand join me, I want to ask you
(33:04):
what you're carrying today.
What's in your bag?
Maybe you're like man.
I just showed up because my mominvited me.
I have no idea.
You're not here by accident,but there's a God who loves you.
This life man.
(33:24):
It throws a lot of things at us, but I am not going to give in
to the things of this world.
I refuse, I refuse.
And every now and then I got tocheck what's in my bag.
I'm a doer.
You can ask my husband, you canask my kids.
(33:45):
They'll say mom, come, sit downand watch a movie with me.
And I got a list of things Igot to do.
I'm a doer.
It's hard for me to take abreather and sit down.
So when it comes to myspiritual life with God, I tend
to do that.
I tend to do that.
And then I walk around soridiculous with this big old bag
(34:09):
and he's saying, celeste, ifyou just leave it with me, just
let it go, just go back to thatlittle bag you had and just pray
, just sing, praise and just befilled with the joy and the
(34:29):
peace, and let me do the rest.
I'm going to ask you to standwith me If you're here today.
Maybe you've never had theopportunity to ask Jesus into
your heart.
I'm going to give you thatchance today.
There's something so beautifulabout the cross, and I love when
(34:51):
I see people wear the cross.
Sometimes I want to go up tothem and say what does it mean
to you?
Because there's somethingpowerful about the cross.
My whole life was changedbecause of that cross.
He endured a lot for me.
He endured a lot for you.
He would have gone andsacrificed himself if it was
(35:13):
just for you, and I know that'svery hard to believe.
But you were made in his imageand he didn't want to lose
anyone and so he did everythinghe could to make sure that you
had a second chance at eternity.
So maybe you're here thismorning.
I'm going to ask you to closeyour eyes out of respect for
anybody who is making thatdecision today, and I want you
(35:37):
just to search your own heartright now and maybe you're at
the place where you've neverasked Jesus to come in and be
Lord of your life.
Maybe you've never asked him,but in and be Lord of your life.
Maybe you've never asked him.
But also maybe you've asked himmany, many years ago.
And you look at your life rightnow and you say, man, I need to
get back right with the Lord,I'm carrying a heavy load and I
(35:57):
need to just give it to him.
Today's your day.
It says in Romans 10, verses 9and 10, because if you confess
with your mouth that Jesus isLord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from thedead, you will be saved.
For with the heart, onebelieves and is justified, and
with the mouth one confesses andis saved.
(36:20):
So with your eyes closed, ifyou're in this building today,
or maybe you're watching onlineand you want to ask Jesus to
come into your heart, I justwant you to slip your hand up.
I'm going to say a prayer.
I'm not going to embarrass you,but I just want to pray with
you and believe with you.
Today will be a change forever,amen, amen.
I want you to repeat this afterme Thank you for loving me,
(36:52):
thank you for sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you InChrist's name.
Amen, amen.
We rejoice with you if you madethat decision.
(37:16):
We want to get a Bible into yourhands.
So if you come and find one ofus after service or one of our
team members in the back, wewant to get you a Bible and we
want you to find a Biblebelieving church, that picture I
showed you at the beginning,with Jesus and his disciples.
You can't walk this journeyalone.
You got to have people aroundyou.
(37:38):
So please find a church thatyou can be a part of.
You are are always welcome here.
We would love to have you, butI want to open this altar for
you.
Maybe there's some of you thatif you started to do a little
introspection of your heart, youwould see that you've been
putting some things in therethat shouldn't be in there.
(37:59):
It happens to all of us.
We start carrying around thingsand we're like man, I'm feeling
it.
I'm feeling it.
I feel it in my body, I feel itin my spirit when I go to pray.
It just feels like a heavinessbecause there's so much that I'm
trying to control or take on.
(38:20):
And this morning he's justlooking at you, saying just lay
it down, just give it to me.
Maybe, if you're here with yourmom, pray with your mom.
If she comes up to this altar,surround her, encourage her.
Maybe you've been her headache,ask her for forgiveness.
(38:40):
But, man, I'm telling you, godjust wants you to let it go.
What are you carrying?
So, father, this morning as weopen up this altar, just like
first service, where many peoplewere just laying things down, I
believe that for this serviceas well, we are in a place where
(39:04):
we try to be veryself-sufficient, we try to do
things on our own, we don't tryto ask for help, and then we
look and we're all just bearinga load that seems overwhelming
and it seems like there's no endin sight.
So this morning, we want togive it to you, we want to lay
it down, we want to go back tothe necessities, where we are
(39:25):
focused on you and we let you beGod.
We let you be God and so, lord,this morning I pray for every
person that walks up here thatyou would begin to bring freedom
and victory to their lives.
In the name of Jesus, amen.
This altar is open.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Weren't you so blessed by the word that Pastor
Celeste brought today?
I know I was.
We're so very thankful for thatand what it means to us.
Man, it's exciting.
We have a lot of great thingshappening.
We have life groups that arehappening and today, for all the
ladies, we have a special giftfor you Grab a suite on your way
out, a book for you on your wayout.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
Gentlemen, let them have the sweets.
That'd be a blessing to us.
I want to let you know that ifyou have anyone in your family
who is graduating maybe highschool, college, a trade school,
anything let us know.
You can go on the app, let usknow.
We're going to honor them in acouple of weeks and so we don't
want to miss anyone, so pleasemake sure you let us know.
And also we're having babydedications in a couple of weeks
.
If you want to dedicate any ofyour children, sign up on the
app.
You can call the office if youhave questions, but we are going
(40:33):
to dedicate them to the Lordcoming up soon.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Amen.
Before we go, we're going toplace a blessing over us.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
Lord, make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
(40:58):
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love up to
those around us.
We pray all this in thepowerful name that is Jesus
Christ.
Amen, amen, know this.
We love you very much here atCornerstone.
God bless you and happyMother's Day.
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