what's up and I'm so grateful to have this opportunity to connect with you man through YouTube you're about to watch a message from a series called goated I want you to know when it comes to the person that can teach you how to live life in a way that's consistent with human flourishing it's a goat named Jesus the goat is a lamb it's one thing to let Jesus save you it's another thing to let Jesus train you this message is going to teach you how enjoy the message so from now until Easter every day I've I've given you the scriptures you're supposed to read every single day the only thing we're reading is the gospels cuz that's how you learn about the goat the goat is in the gospels don't just tell me what the Bible say tell me what the goat says right okay so it you can go to life change.org and you can download it it's set to start tomorrow or if if you wanted to come right to your phone uh you can text the word goated to the number on the screen it's going to come to your phone and you'll see uh this goated Bible reading plan that we're going to be in until Easter um I want to call our attention to the Book of Matthew chapter number 11 beginning at verse 28 listen to the words of Jesus here he says come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest somebody say I want that I want that take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest not for your body for your soul how many know what it feels like for your soul to be tired that's when no matter how much sleep you get you don't get rest for my yoke is easy my burden is light I want to stop the reading of scripture there and talk from this subject in our time together I want to talk from the subject the third way I see do we have any more chairs in this building we have no more chairs anywhere are any of the men in here willing to stand up so that some of the sister we have people standing up three services on in on New Year's Eve my soul can't take it I'm just a a a Baptist preacher with the Holy Ghost and I just uh y'all let's let some of these sisters sit down y'all okay if it's a little organized chaos for a minute all y'all don't have to get up brothers everybody don't have to get up I just don't want people standing I don't want anybody standing unless the brothers we can we can sit on the floor if we want to in this style amen we're straighten it out clap your hands for these brothers that are willing to willing to help us here amen I [Applause] don't I want to talk from this subject today y'all going to have to lean in all month did you hear what I just said I'm not gassing you from now to Easter no gas only Maps I want to talk from this subject the Third Way the Third Way clap your hands in anticipation that God's going to speak to us through his word the Third Way this past week NBA superstar LeBron James surpass Michael Jordan in the amount of 30 point games in an NBA career this accomplishment reignited the argument of who is the goat for some people it is the sixth time NBA champion right six time NBA Finals MVP former Defensive Player of the Year perennial Allstar Michael Jordan for other people it is the time NBA champion most versatile player to ever play the game of basketball the inimitable LeBron James let me hear who believes this LeBron in the building let me hear who believe is MJ in the [Applause] building regardless of where you stand in this argument both of these men's careers are evidence of an axim that they would articulate if you ask them they would tell you you can't be your best self by yourself I say if you were to have and I were to have the privilege of engaging in a conversation with these two men who both have legitimate arguments to be dubbed and designated as the greatest basketball players of all time as great as they are as accomplished as they are with the degree of expertise that they have demonstrated in the area of professional basketball these men who are arguably goats would tell you you can't be your best self by yourself they will tell you that there comes times when someone other than you has to help you bring out the best in you that there will be seasons and situations where you have the ability but you don't have the experience or you got the experience but you don't have the ability or you got the will power but you don't have the wisdom or you got the energy but you don't have the expertise or you got the desire and you don't have the development and in these situations and circumstances we need God by his grace to send us a gift on two legs that helps pull out of us what He put on the inside of us and our ability to recognize these relationships see our need for this relationship and manage these relationships properly will determine if you progress into purpose or if you stay stuck at a level that is less than God's best LeBron would tell you Mike would tell you Kobe would tell you tiger would tell you Serena would tell you Venus would tell you Tom Brady would tell you Jerry Rice would tell you Wayne gresy would tell you you can't be your best self by yourself God puts it in but very often God will use others to pull it out and ladies and gentlemen this is true watch this not just for the game of basketball this is also true for the game of life you cannot be your best self by yourself and if you were having a conversation with MJ who's my goat if you were having a conversation with MJ MJ would tell you if you want to be MJ you need to get you a TIm Grover MJ will tell you the greatness that you saw in me on the court was tied to the greatness I submitted to off the court he would say did you hear what I just said he would say that you wouldn't be calling me a champion on the court if I had not submitted to the expertise of Tim Grover off the court Darius who is Tim Grover Tim Grover is a man that MJ came into relationship with and solicited his Services after MJ kept losing to a team called the Detroit Pistons they were called The Bad Boys I'm talking about y'all too young for this I'm talking about Isaiah Thomas Joe Dumars Bill lambir Vinnie the microwave Johnson they were called the bad boys because they played basketball like it was football do I have a witness in here yeah they had what was called the Jordan rules and that is every time MJ came into the paint make him feel it when he comes into the paint put him on the ground and MJ was bullied and beaten and battered and bruised but one day so come on now if I had a Baptist Church they would they would have knew what to do right there but one day that's it that's it one day he got sick and tired of being sick and tired one day he realized that I got the skill but I don't have the strength so I need to solicit the expertise of a person who specializes in strength and conditioning and so his name was Tim Grover and he started working with Tim Grover and Tim Grover gave him the strength to marry to his skill and he went from losing chronically to the Detroit Pistons to becoming a perennial NBA champion and finals MVP and Kobe if I had a Baptist Church Kobe wanted to be like MJ but then Kobe heard who made MJ like MJ and Kobe said to Tim Grover if you did it for Mike hit me one time toio I said if you did it for Mike you can do it for me do I have a witness in here I said do I have a witness in here yeah they had Grover on the court but you got Jesus off the [Applause] court you got the skill but you need some strength and when you marry your skill with Jesus's strength there are some things you can do after Jesus that you couldn't do before Jesus you are my strength strength like no [Applause] other listen to this God put some things in me that it takes others to draw out of me wherever there is greatness you do see very often they submit to the greatness of someone you don't see listen to me every goat at some point was a lamb did you hear what I just said every goat at some point was a lamb and many people when it comes to the Game of Life aren't experiencing life as God intended because they won't let Jesus do for them what Grover did for Mike watch this they let Jesus save them but they won't let him train them yeah being saved determines if you get to heaven being trained determines what life is like here on Earth did you hear what I just said you can be saved and stuck you can be saved and sad you can be saved and stagnant the state of being saved but not being trained is what the Apostle Paul calls carnal and I want to know am I talking to anybody in 2025 who's con conviction is whose persuasion is I don't want to just be saved I want to be trained yeah what Grover did for Mike in the game of basketball I want Jesus to do for me in the game of life because I got a revelation that it is not the intention of my Creator in my creation for me to live a life where I'm just sinking or surviving ah the thief comes but to Ste kill and destroy but I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly that's not sinking that's not surviving that's thriving I feel a thrive in 2025 does anybody feel a thrive in 2025 we call it human flourishing that no creator creates anything he does not intend to flourish good you don't need training for existing cor they didn't hear me you don't need training for existing you do need training for flourishing so the question is this not has Jesus become your Redeemer but has Jesus become your rabbi because in the text he's extending an invitation to his people to be more than their redeemer but to be their Rabbi to be more than the person that gets them to heaven but to be the person that trains them on how to live on earth Matthew 11 allows us to ease drop on a conversation where Jesus is extending an invit to be more to people than they've allowed him to be did you hear what I just said he's ex he's saying to them I am more than what you've been experiencing let me go let me I'm getting ready to run the New Jersey he he's saying to them I am more than what you've been experiencing do not limit the totality of my existence to the limitations of your experience the god you you see is the god you get but the god that you get is not always all that I am come on here you've heard me teach this before in Mark chapter 6 Jesus goes back to his hometown in Nazareth and he is teaching in the synagogue and the people who are listening to him teach say these words is this not the carpenter son isn't this Joseph's son isn't this Mary's son watch this because they saw him as a person who was the son of a carpenter and in that historic context you followed in the footsteps of your father when it came to the family business so all they saw was a carpenter and the Bible [Applause] says he could not do many miracles there only lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them so a few people got what was available for many because some people saw a carpenter other people saw Christ if you see a carpenter you can get your house [Applause] fixed but if you see a Christ you can get your life fixed cuz the god you see is the god you get some people are just settling for salvation but do I have anybody in the room that says I'm not just settling for salvation I got to have transformation I want exceedingly and abundantly why should I be bound when Christ has Set Me Free he's extending an invitation to him say hey I'm more than what you're [Music] experiencing so listen to his words come unto me he said come to me come to me see here's what you got to understand he is positioning himself as a rabbi said now I know my daddy wasn't a rabbi so you think I'm not one I know I didn't take the traditional path to rabinal leadership so you think I'm not one you think I'm illegitimate I don't have the Seminary degree I don't have the things that you think qualify me for this so he's positioning himself as a rabbi because rabbis had to extend an invitation for people to become their disciples did you hear what I just said yeah yeah so he he he is he is extending to them an invitation to come learned from him watch this rabbis were more than teachers of the Torah they were masters of spiritual life they taught the word of God for the purpose of showing you a way of life so Jesus here come on here is positioning himself as a rabbi and saying to them if you are weary and burdened let me show you another way I want you to see how specific he is because some of us need to learn from Jesus all of us all of us everybody everybody needs to learn from Jesus here because Jesus specificity in the text is a lesson it is a revelation for you and I not to try to force feed people help they haven't demonstrated they have an appetite for it come on in here he says if you don't have the selfawareness to know that you are weary and heavy burden don't come to me y'all missed it come on here because you cannot add value to people who are unaware that they need value added to them you can't help people and convince people they need help at the same time you can only help people that have been convinced they need help and some people aren't weary enough some people aren't burdened enough he's speaking to people he's saying hey I can't help you unless you have a revelation that the way you living your life is only leading to weariness and burden come on here when he says weary he's not talking about physical fatigue is he yeah because if he was talking about physical fatigue he wouldn't say come unto me if you weary he would say take a [Applause] nap now don't tempt me with a good time you start talking about naps let me see let me see if I let me see if I got the right crowd in here yeah some of you are in a season of life where you get excited about going outside the others of us we're in the season of life we get excited about going inside we be like oh this sleep I'm about to get today where you going [Applause] inside woo has anyone ever asked ask you to do something and you committed to it and then the time comes around to do it and you're saying to yourself why did I commit to do this and then by the grace of God they text you and say they can't make it you said oh man I was looking forward to [Applause] [Music] [Applause] going he's not talking about that kind of rest he's talking about emotional and spiritual exhaustion he's saying the way you are living life is wearing you out the way you are managing your relationships is wearing you out the way you are managing conflict is wearing you out the way you're handling betrayal is wearing you out the way you dating in these streets is wearing you all the way out come on here it is wearing you [Music] out he says come to me because your way is not working no it a and he says if you come to me here's what I'm going to give you rest now watch this this isn't rest from work he says cuz the way I'm going to teach you to live is going to require work but it is rest from work that'll never work for you come on here church he says the way you've been working it's never going to work for you working harder this way doesn't work so please don't go into 2025 trying to work harder the wrong way cuz hard work only works if you're working hard at the right thing he said I'm going to give you [Music] rest from a way that don't work is that what he says come on he says take my yoke upon you and learn from me how long have we been quoting this without even asking what's a yoke I mean we quote it and Shout take my y Oh shando e d d i e I'm coming in a [Applause] Honda a Yol was a beam with like these harnesses on the inside that you would put over the neck of an ox and you would pair oxen under the yolk because the yolk was the way the human controlled the ox God Almighty I feel good in Baptist this morning we ain't got time I might feel I feel a little hoop on me this [Applause] morning to turn the ox you had to turn the Yol there's no way you could turn the ox without turning the Y y there's no way you could turn the ox without turning the yolk now I'm not preaching about this but singles con 20125 that's not that's not a cute conference that's a real conference there yeah I'm preaching we got yeah it's going to be a whole situation I'm see this is the imagery Paul is using when he says don't be unequally yolked come on here unequally Yol means you got a ox on one side and a donkey on the other [Applause] the ox is compliant and submitted to the voice of authority the ox is temperamental the I mean the donkey is temperamental and the donkey is Moody and the donkey can be stubborn and the donkey can have its own mind so when the Bible says don't be unequally yolk he's telling you if you're Ox do not get underneath the beam with a donkey because when the master say come the ox is going to try to move but you don't know what the donkey's going to [Applause] do Jesus says get out from underneath what's been guiding your behavior he says take that off of you here's what we call that repentance a change of mind that leads to a change of Direction a disavowing and a renunciation of that which is guiding me in ways that's inconsistent with God repentance isn't remorse repentance is a change of mind repentance is preceded by a revelation this killing me I'm better than this I'm called for more than this this not working for me this is less than God's best get off me I need another yoke I'm going say that one more time I need my Pentecostal church right here get off me I need another yoke Jesus said take my yoke upon you so is he literally saying he got a wooden beam he want us to get under no rabbis use the term yoke to describe a set of teachings the way in which they read the scriptures and the way in which they modeled Mastery of the scriptures in the way that they live their life so rabbis were more than Educators they were examples which is why you had to be with him to learn from it Peter you can't keep fishing and learn from me cuz there's some stuff you're only going to learn by walking with me did you hear what I just said yeah yeah it's certain stuff you're only going to learn by walking with me if you you you you heard if you heard of the term The Lord's Prayer wave at me wave at me I father what are in heaven you heard of that okay do you know that that prayer is in response to a question that the disciples asked that Jesus never sat them down and said let me give you a six-part series on prayer do you know if you go to Luke 11 you will see that they saw him pray and after seeing him pray they said teach us how to pray in other words we've been praying we're Jewish men we're sons of the Commandment we've been through Bar Mitzvah but I'm saying and you pray and when you do it you get results that I don't get so your greatness has exposed my deficiency in an area I was satisfied with until I got introduced to the third way come on here Jesus's yoke is what I'm calling the Third Way the third way to do what live life you got cultures way not praying at all churches way praying ritualistically then you got the King's Way praying because of relationship a Third Way see because it's only it's three ways you can live your life culture's way that's the world's way Church's way that's religion's way the King's Way that's the way of the rabbi you've met Jesus the Redeemer for the next three months I want to introduce you to Jesus the rabbi you need Jesus the Redeemer to get saved you need the rabbi after you've been saved and many of us are saved but don't know the third way because the Christian faith is a way of life it is not God just changing ing something in my life it is God changing the way I live my life which is why he says take my yoke up on you and learn from me now that makes sense doesn't it he says learn from me now contextually I'm not going to bother this Reggie but contextually do you know who Jesus was talking to here he was talking to religious people he say learn from me you learned some stuff in church but learn from me oh my cuz everything you were taught wasn't from [Applause] me and you only get the life I promise when you live life my way so now you're saying my way don't work cuz you're following religion's way and you think it's mine so you quit me and I ain't disappoint you come on here and here's what's scary everybody has rabbis most people just don't know who they are all of us are being taught we just hadn't CH chose who taught us so if I to ask the average believer hey how you managing your relationships they're going to tell me and if I would say where you get that from it's probably not Jesus but whoever is influencing whoever's the dominant influence in the way you manage your relational life that's your Rabbi some people's Rabbi is music I'm not even going to bother this this is why music in church should be put through through the filter of a theological mind watch this cuz most Christians theology comes from music they know way more songs that ain't no scripture I'm me I know I'm right about it you say quote a scripture they can't give me a song they no songs so if the Theology of the song is [Applause] [Music] off they're believing God to perform something he never promised and so they leave him over break over him breaking a promise he never made he said I want to teach you the Third Way and most of us are second way believers who thinking we are third way because of our tenure tenure doesn't get you third weight teaching does it doesn't matter how long you how long you've been a Believer it is have I gotten exposed to [Applause] teaching that does more than teach me to like Jesus but to be like Jesus why don't you want to be why wouldn't I want to be like the goat the greatest human to ever live why wouldn't I want to live that way it's like trying to play basketball and not want to be like LeBron or Kobe or Mike why wouldn't I want to learn from the best to ever do it we all have rabbis many of us just don't know who they are well I think I ought to what Jesus say I don't know and that's because for many of us we've been taught to like Christ but not what Christ is like so I'mma need at least the Easter to tell you what the rabbi has to say about prayer and what the rabbi has to say about fasting and what the rabbi has to say about managing conflict and what the rabbi has to say about managing relationships my goat is not grova it's Jesus listen to me he says take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and humble in heart this is what he says this sets Jesus apart from the religious leaders whose pride and harshness made approaching God seem impossible here's what he's saying I'm gentle and humble in heart are y'all ready for this I'm wrapping up here but I got to give you this do you want it here it is he's suggesting I'm GNA help you reach a spiritual standard yeah I know I got my foot on a stronghold and I ain't backing up devil I'm going to help you ex um Jesus is going to help you reach a spiritual standard without you experiencing spiritual abuse listen to me don't clap listen to me the fact that many people confuse spiritual standards with spiritual abuse says something about the absence of emotional health in the body of Christ the reality that many people are attracted to spiritual abuse is an indication of the absence of a whole soul you are spiritually trauma bonding [Music] he's comparing his yoke to the Yoke of the Pharisees and he's like this is burdensome it is abusive it is spiritual bullying it is toxic but you think it's a standard and he says so you got to be talked to that way to grow I mean everything I just said if you have to be insulted and abused something is wrong and if you have to abuse and insult people then something is deficient in your soul also if you have to be pejorative to be persuasive then that's a larger problem because the fruit of the spirit shouldn't just be emanating from your life it should be demonstrated when you're trying to help other people change their life as well [Applause] he says my yoke is easy my burden is light and you will find rest for your soul Jesus is offering himself as the teacher I'm done tario I said he is offering himself as the teacher he's your savior yes he says now I want to I want you to let me be your teacher he decides if he is a teacher you decide if he's yours but the teacher can only help the teachable so one of the primary goals of this foundational message it's just foundation work we're just Excavating etical excavation that's all we're doing here it's important here because the purpose of this message is not just to get us to see Jesus as a teacher it is also to get us to look at ourselves and see am I teachable this means we must be intentional about identifying and addressing issues that impact our teachability and there are three that I see that are P pervasive in the body of Christ I'm sharing them with you and we're out number one this is what gets in the way of our teachability prideful dismissiveness syndrome this is an illogical overestimation of One's Own wisdom or ability which causes a person to dismiss information they need because they arrogantly and ignorantly assume they don't need it I don't need that series on prayer I don't need that then there's past success syndrome which is where there's great pass Sugg syndrome it's a over uh no that ain't it guys y'all okay that on the screen there there we go okay lower third that's right an illogical overreliance on past success that inhibits an individual's ability to see that what got you here won't take you there now now here's the thing many of us have an emotional attachment because of the Nostalgia our previous experience previous spiritual experiences uh uh bring to us you got an emotional attachment to the kind of way of practicing your faith that gave you your foundation and you should honor that but a foundation is all it could give you it ain't working the way you think it's working now having Church ain't enough now to hold a marriage together woo we had some church it's not enough to raise children it's not enough come on here so some of us some of us are like we want to go back to the oldtime way that way has given you all it can so you're trying to resurrect something that God wants to stay buried he doesn't want another isua he want to do a new thing he doesn't want to Old Awakening he want to do a new thing but sometimes that allegiance to what worked in the past is keeping you from the third way and then last but not least process preference syndrome this is an illogical attachment to the way things are done at the expense of results it's an irrational commitment to a specific method of process even when it hinders achieving the desired results it's I want stuff done a certain way more than I want results so when the way of the rabbi teaches me to do something a way I don't prefer I sacrifice the results CU I prioritize the way come here Karate Kid wax on wax off why you teaching me I didn't come here to wash your car I came here to learn karate wax on wax off non I want to be healed go go dip in the Jordan we can't find another River over than the Jordan it's one of the reasons I love our New Jersey family so much right now they're watching the Simo cast cuz they don't have processed preference syndrome they said I'll prefer my pastor to be standing on the stage there physically but I would rather hear from my man of God on a screen than somebody else that's not my man of God in person y'all missed it cuz what do I want I want the word I'm not at a circus he's a preacher of the Gospel I need the message and some stuff God's trying to do trying to teach us a third way but our process preference gets in the way Lord make me teachable I want to learn the Third Way I Know Church way and I'm weary it's woro me out I know the world's way I'm trying your way I turn from every other way I Repent because the King's Way is at hand father I pray that you give us the grace the courage and the wisdom to follow you into the Third Way break Pride break preference break past success syndrome and make me open to the new thing you want to show me about you you are more than what I've experienced and I pray the prayer of Moses Show Me Your Glory show me a side of you I haven't seen not by [Music] might not by power but by my spirit says the Lord in Jesus name amen really quickly if you're here today Hey listen I hope you were blessed by this message I hope it encouraged you and I want to encourage you to do one thing if it bless you just share it with somebody else hit that share button send it to somebody else so that it can add value to their life also and if you want to sew back into the field that you're harvesting from ways to give are on the screen now all right take care God bless [Music]