The Shed
5.10.26 Mother's Day
  • feelingn mighty fine
  • this is the day
  • i will enter his gates
  • what a mighty god we serve
  • he'll deliver me
  • i want to know more
  • make room
  • Matthew 11:28–30 NASB95
    28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
    Happy Mother’s Day!
    Before I dive into the word the Lord has placed on my heart today, I want to pause and honor every woman in this room by saying: Happy Mother’s Day.
    Today, we celebrate not only biological mothers, but every woman who has carried the heart of a mother. To the mothers who have held children in their arms, and the mothers who held them only in their hearts… to the grieving mothers, foster mothers, adoptive mothers, stepmothers, single mothers, grandmothers, spiritual mothers, mentors, and even the women quietly praying and hoping to one day become mothers themselves—you matter, and you are seen.
    So if you fall into any of those categories, would you allow your church family and loved ones the honor of recognizing you today? For all the sacrifices made in private, for the prayers no one heard, for the tears nobody saw, for the strength you carried when you felt weak, and for the love you continue to pour out day after day—thank you.
    Many of you serve so faithfully behind the scenes that you would rather go unnoticed. But today, we choose to acknowledge you. We celebrate you. We cherish you. Your impact reaches far beyond what you may ever realize, touching not only your children, but every life around you.
    We see you, Mom. And today, we honor and thank you.
    OPENING PRAYER
    Story about kids carrying lots of eggs in baskets and how the weight over time makes it heavier and heavier.
    Mothers often carry more than anyone sees.
    Today this message isn’t just for the moms…
    God wants to speak to every single person in this room.
    IF we're willing to listen.
    Because while we may not all have carried children, every person in this room came in carrying something.
    (Grab empty basket)
    This basket represents our life…. (Pause)
    And these pebbles… represent the things that we pick up along the way.
    No one starts with a lot of things…. We start with one small thing…..
    (Drop one in…Let the sound land.)
    And then another…
    (Drop one in…Let the sound land.)
    And another….
    (Drop a few more slowly)
    And before we realize it… what felt small…
    (Empty a bunch into basket)
    has become really heavy.
    Jesus says in …
    Matthew 11:28–30 NASB95
    28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
    “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…”
    Not advice. Not a strategy. An invitation.
    An invitation to let go of what we were never meant to carry.
    So my question for you today is….

    What’s in your basket?

    1. Responsibility Turned into Burden
    In the beginning: God gives a mandate to Adam, to take care of the garden; basically saying be a good steward of it all.
    Genesis 2:15 NASB95
    15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
    Not weight, stewardship.
    He gives him responsibility.
    Genesis 3- aka The Fall
    This is where responsibility shifts from harmonious stewardship to a painful, heavy burden.
    Genesis 3:16–23 NASB95
    16 To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.” 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” 20 Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.
    Childbirth—the sacred gift given to women, where they carry life itself—became marked by pain and burden. Work, which was once a joyful purpose for man, became labor and struggle just to survive. And responsibility brought an awareness of shame, leaving humanity in need of God Himself to cover and clothe them.
    In turn our responsibilities turned into a burden.

    We pick up responsibilities, that turn into weight.

    Creation now subjected to frustration and decay, "groaning" under the weight of this change.
    Romans 8:20–22 NASB95
    20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
    As Mothers we feel that deeply don't we?
    The joy and excitement of becoming a mother—and even the literal weight of carrying a child during pregnancy— ultimately met with the pain of childbirth.
    And if we are really honest we have all experienced that shift.
    The weight of motherhood sneaking up on us.
    What was once highly anticipated, beautiful, joyous, and without pain, quickly turns into a crushing weight.
    And for some even a burden.
    Here’s how it happens…
    We start carrying it in our own strength.
    We stop asking for help
    —or maybe life forced us into a place where we felt like we had to handle it all alone.
    And little by little, the responsibility of motherhood becomes heavy.
    What once felt joyful and exciting slowly turns into pressure, shame, and even guilt.
    So we hide what we’re really feeling
    —that we’re exhausted, overwhelmed, feeling inadequate, or quietly wondering if we were ever truly cut out for this motherhood journey at all.
    So what do we do? We…
    (Pick up several pebbles slowly)
    ….pick up a few pebbles.
    The responsibilities. The expectations.
    The Fear. The pressure.
    The, “I have to hold it all together.”
    “I have to look perfect”
    “I don’t need anyone else”
    (Pause)
    The real confusing part of it all is….
    Most of us start carrying things God actually did ask us to carry;
    (Drop them in one at a time)
    Our families
    Our jobs
    Our calling
    Serving others
    Loving others well
    These are not bad things. Responsibility itself is not our enemy.
    But responsibility over time and without God,
    the help of the Holy Spirit,
    can slowly turn into burden.
    In part, many believers are confused about this because of these two verses in Galatians.
    Galatians 6:2 NASB95
    2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
    “Carry one another’s burdens…”
    That word ‘burden’ in this verse means an overwhelming weight. Something too heavy for one person to carry alone.
    This kind of weight is talking about:
    grief
    trauma
    deep pain
    crushing seasons
    God designed us to help one another through those moments. As the body of believers.
    But then just a few verses later…
    Galatians 6:5 NASB95
    5 For each one will bear his own load.
    At first glance, that sounds contradictory.
    But it’s not.
    The word “load” here means:
    a person’s “own proper burden,”
    a personal assignment
    Like a travelers backpack
    Aka our daily responsibilities/duties
    Meaning: There are things God has given us/you to steward.
    So here’s the balance:
    We are called to carry responsibility
    But we are NOT called to carry crushing weight alone
    (Lift the basket slightly)
    Somewhere along the way…
    many of us stopped carrying our assignments…
    and started carrying everything we thought we could fit.
    Now we carry:
    everyone’s emotions
    everyone’s expectations
    everyone’s outcomes
    And we’ve convinced ourselves that if we love people enough, we have to carry everything for them in our basket.
    But that’s not love. That’s overload.
    Example From Jesus
    Even Jesus understood this balance
    Luke 5:16 NASB95
    16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.
    Often…
    Crowds were demanding His attention.
    People needed healing everywhere He went.
    He was getting asked question constantly.
    Yet, Jesus would withdraw and pray.
    Why?
    Because even Jesus did not carry every expectation people tried to place on Him.
    He carried the Father’s assignment.
    Nothing more, nothing less.
    Prophetic Moment:
    Some of us are exhausted not because we’re disobedient…
    but because we’ve picked up assignments God never gave us.
    (Pause)
    You were called to love people. Not be everything for everybody.
    You were called to serve in the world. Not sustain it.
    You were called to trust God. Not replace Him.
    2. Guilt and Shame
    Another thing we pick up is … guilt and shame

    WE pick up guilt and shame

    (Pick up pebble)
    Something you said
    Something you did
    Something you didn’t do
    Something you wish you could just go back and fix
    (Drop it in)
    Some of us aren’t tired because of today; we’re tired because we’ve been carrying yesterday for years…
    David describes guilt as a burden that is "too heavy”
    Psalm 38:4 NASB95
    4 For my iniquities are gone over my head; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
    Or Judas…
    Matthew 27:3–5 NASB95
    3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” 5 And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.
    Judas saw Jesus,
    Felt condemned,
    Was seized with remorse to the point of death.
    This particular account of shame and guilt got me thinking about the season we just spent time in as as a church. In fact, we are still going through it in B+C… I’ll remind you…
    Ephesians 6:10–11 NASB95
    10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
    Not OUR own armor….
    Not the Pastors armor…
    Not your mommas armor…
    THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD! Amen?
    We have to put on the full armor, we have to put on Christ!
    Galatians 3:27 NASB95
    27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
    Not the weight of self, but rather the holy weight of Christ in us.
    Isn’t it strange how the more painful the weight is, the tighter we tend to hold onto it?
    Even when it’s the very thing crushing us beneath it?
    Yet when it comes to the holy weight of God;
    His armor
    The calling
    The responsibility of His presence
    Our healing
    Our freedom
    …We often avoid it because it feels heavy. We cling to the weights that destroy us, but resist the weight that was actually designed to strengthen us…
    3. Worry disguised as love
    Speaking of holding on tightly to something…

    WE pick up worry for people we Love.

    (Grab multiple pebbles)
    This one hits us deep mommas.
    (Drop)
    Your kids
    Your marriage
    Their safety
    Their futures
    Their choices
    We end up carrying people instead of God’s presence.
    Out of FEAR
    But in first Peter it says
    1 Peter 5:6–7 NASB95
    6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
    “cast all our anxiety ON HIM!”
    (grab pebble)
    But many of us don't cast,...
    (grip it tight)
    ...we clutch
    (Add pebble to basket)
    But worry is not protection,...its Pride disguised at concern.
    Matthew 6:27 NASB95
    27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
    You know what that means?
    Worry feels productive, but it produces nothing.
    Prophetic moment:
    Some of us in this room are carrying grown children like they are still toddlers.
    No, not just the ladies…
    And the Lord is saying: “Trust Me with what you cannot control.”
    Here is another thing….
    Carrying more weight is not a badge of honor.
    Greater weight doesn’t always mean greater strength…
    It simply means your endurance will run out faster.
    I looked up a summary of heavy lifting;
    The heavier the weight, the fewer repetitions your body can handle because the muscles fatigue faster under the pressure.
    Heavy weight may build strength, but it also shortens endurance.
    On the other hand, lighter weight with consistent repetitions builds stamina and endurance over time.
    Spiritually, some of us are carrying weights God never asked us to hold. We think heavier means stronger, but all it’s really doing is exhausting our souls faster.
    What does the bible say about endurance? To name a few...
    Isaiah 40:31 NASB95
    31 Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
    Or how about…
    2 Timothy 4:7 NASB95
    7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;
    And we can’t forget…
    Hebrews 12:1–2 NASB95
    1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
    These verses say it all!
    God is focused on our endurance in character.
    Character rooted in Him.
    Not on our strength and size.
    His chosen method is endurance.
    God’s Strength, not our strength
    Endurance comes from waiting on the Lord, not our willpower.

    4. Things That Were Never Ours

    WE pick up things that were never meant to be ours

    Just like Eve did in the garden, we are still doing today.
    (Hold up a pebble for all to see)
    This is the weight we didn’t choose;
    Someone else’s opinion.
    Someone else’s unkind words and reactions toward you.
    Family dysfunction.
    Emotional weight from past environments.
    Church hurt.
    Something spoken over you years ago.
    Your abuse.
    Your trauma.
    (Dump entire vase into basket; BIG PAUSE)
    And before you could even blink, your basket is full…
    Here is where the BUT GOD moment comes in…
    Isaiah 53:4 NASB95
    4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
    Not just your sin.
    Your pain.
    Your emotional weight.
    The things God never handed you.
    Carrying a broken yoke.
    A mess that didn’t even start with you.
    Things that…
    [Pause – Lift the Basket]
    (Struggle slightly under the weight—not dramatic, but noticeable)
    you never imagined filling your basket.
    How many of us do you think walked in today, carrying that?
    You’ve learned how to carry it… but you were never meant to.
    You were never meant to live like that.
    You were never meant to bear the load alone.
    Prophetic moment:
    While preparing this word from the Lord,
    I knew that there would be people in this room,... who’ve been calling it “strength”... but heaven is calling it “weight”
    (Pause)
    And the Lord is saying… “I never asked you to prove your strength by carrying what I already paid for.”
    Which bring me to my final point…

    Jesus doesn’t just help, … He carries.

    Matthew 11:28–30 NASB95
    28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
    Jesus says “Come to me…”
    And what we try to do is this…
    (Try to reach outward while still holding the basket awkwardly)
    (Set the basket down slowly)
    You can’t receive rest… while refusing to release weight.
    Jesus is the only person who carried what man couldn’t.
    He did it for;
    The woman at the well; He lifted her spiritual and social burdens
    The woman caught in adultery; He carried her shame
    Mary + Martha when their brother Lazarus died: He carried their grief.
    The woman who was bent-over and had been "crippled by a spirit" for 18 years; He literally took the weight off of her shoulders so she could stand straight once again.
    The man at the pool; He carried his hopelessness.
    The disciples; He carried their fear in the storm.
    Ultimately to us all; He carried the cross.
    Not just wood…
    Your guilt. Your pressure. Your fear. Your need to hold it all together.
    Think about Jesus in the Garden of gathsemane….
    Matthew 26:36–46 NASB95
    36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” 39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” 40 And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45 Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 “Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”
    This moment is powerful!
    Because it shows us something we don’t often think about…
    Jesus. Understood. Weight.
    It says He became “sorrowful and troubled,” and then goes on to;
    “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”
    This wasn’t small pressure.
    This was crushing weight.
    In that garden, Jesus was carrying:
    the coming cross
    betrayal from friends
    the weight of humanity’s sin
    separation and suffering He knew was ahead
    And what’s amazing is… Jesus didn’t pretend it wasn’t heavy.
    He didn’t say, “I’m fine.”
    He didn’t hide the burden.
    He brought it honestly before the Father.
    That matters because some of us think faith means pretending we’re not struggling.
    But Jesus showed us that surrender is not denial. He showed us a better way.
    Surrender is saying: “God, this is heavy… but I trust You.”
    Then Jesus prays something so powerful:
    “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
    What was the cup?
    The weight He was about to carry.
    And here’s the revelation:
    The reason Jesus carried the cross…
    ….is so you would not have to carry things alone!
    He carried:
    Your sin
    Your shame
    Your fear
    Your grief
    Your rejections
    The crushing weight of separation
    So when we keep holding onto things He already died to carry,
    we live weighed down by something He already paid for!
    (Return to basket….Look inside)
    Some of us are standing in our own version of Gethsemane.
    Quiet.
    Overwhelmed.
    Trying to hold everything together.
    And just like Jesus in the garden, we have a choice:
    Will we keep gripping the weight…
    …or will we surrender it to the Father?”
    Prophetic Moment:
    For some of you here today…
    You’ve been trying to survive internally…
    ...what God intended you to surrender openly.
    And today,
    God is not disappointed in your weakness.
    He’s inviting you into complete dependence on HIM.
    After the garden… Jesus walked toward the cross carrying what belonged to us.
    (Pause)
    So why are we still carrying what He already chose to bear?
    Prophetic moment:
    Some of you have been asking God for strength…
    But He’s offering you surrender.
    (Pick up basket full of pebbles)
    You don’t need a stronger back, or even a bigger basket….
    You need ….
    (DUMP THE BASKET on the table)
    …an empty one!
    Today isn’t about pretending your basket is empty. It’s about finally being honest about what’s in it.
    And what needs to be released.
    If you’re tired… if you’re heavy… if you’ve been carrying things you were never meant to carry…
    Jesus is not asking you to explain it He’s asking you to surrender it to Him.
    (Set basket on platform)
    Because Jesus doesn’t just help, he carries….
    Altar Call / First Response
    [Worship Cue #1 – Play Pad]
    So,...What are you carrying in your basket today?
    Because whatever is in it… He is inviting you to release it.
    This guilt…
    (pick up a few pebbles from table)
    …It doesn’t belong to you.
    This fear…
    (Toss one)
    …doesn’t belong to you.
    This pressure to be everything for everyone…
    (Remove another)
    …it DOES NOT belong to you.
    So here is what we are going to do…..
    Take out that pebble we gave you
    (Give them a moment to take it out, pass out more if needed)
    Now, I want you to close your eyes…
    We’re not going to rush past this moment.
    Getting to the cross took time and each piece and part was intentional…
    so our moments in reverence to God should also move with the same intentionality.
    And or some of you, this isn’t just a message.
    This is a moment of release.
    Let’s make this personal.
    (Slow your pace)
    With your eyes closed,.....and pebble in hand
    (Pause – 10 seconds)
    I want you to picture your basket…
    (Pause)
    What’s in it?
    (Pause 15–20 seconds)
    Not what sounds spiritual…
    Not what you think you should say…
    Or what you think God wants to hear
    What are you actually carrying?
    For some of you… it’s pressure.
    For others… it’s guilt….shame
    For some… it’s fear over your children… your future…
    And maybe for some… it’s something no one even knows about.
    [Worship Cue #2 – Pad switches to intro loop of “Run to the father”]
    Here’s what we’re going to do.
    In a moment, I’m going to invite you to respond—not emotionally, but intentionally.
    If you’re carrying something today… I want you to come forward with those pebbles.
    That pebble represents what you’ve been carrying.
    Hold that pebble tightly.
    As you hold it… I want you to attach something to it.
    That fear
    The guilt
    The pressure
    That person
    Some of you have held onto these thing for years.
    And today, God is not asking you to manage it…
    He’s asking you to release it.
    [Worship Cue #3 – Slight Build in volume]
    In just a moment… We're going to do just that. We are going to physically release it.
    Because sometimes your body needs to do what your spirit is deciding.
    This is where we really move from just listening to obeying; We are no longer just hearers but doers.
    I'm going to begin praying…When you’re ready… Come to the altar and drop that pebble in this basket.
    I want you to come and pray on your own. This is a moment between you and the Lord. Nobody else.
    Confess and repent.
    And leave it with Jesus.
    And in doing so, you’re saying: “Jesus, I trust You to carry what I cannot.”
    Are you ready?
    Let’s come….
    PRAY:
    Lord, right now…
    We release what we’ve been holding. The silent pressure. The hidden guilt. The constant worry.
    We lay it down.
    And we receive what YOU promised …rest for our souls….
    Jesus…
    You never asked us to carry this.
    And today—we give it back.
    Every burden… every hidden weight… every silent pressure…
    We release it!
    Lord, in its place…
    Give us Your rest…and an easy yoke
    In Jesus mighty name, AMEN
    [Worship Cue #4 – Play First Track]
    [While People Respond – Speak Softly Over Moment:]
    “Lay it down…”
    “Release it…”
    “You don’t have to carry it anymore…”
    “Jesus, we give it to You…”
    Second Response; Salvation
    Look at that altar….
    (Pause)
    That’s what we’ve been carrying.
    Mother’s, sons, daughters hear me….On this Mother’s Day…
    The greatest gift you can give your mom, your children, the people you love…and most crucially yourself…
    is a lighter basket in the hands of the savior.
    Some of you may have expected to feel something you didn’t necessarily expect.
    But what I sense God giving you is something deeper…
    Peace.
    A peace you have never experienced before.
    And Today, you weren’t just hearing a message….
    Your basket was getting emptied….
    You were being set free
    And God wants you to leave lighter…He wants you to be set free.
    Set free from the bondage of the sin in this world.
    That’s what He sent His son to do. He came for you.
    Courtney is going to lead us through one more song…
    This is your moment.
    If that’s you and you want to experience God’s peace beyond all understanding.
    The freedom he offers through His son Jesus Christ,
    I want you come forward and let me pray with you.
    Or raise your hand and i’ll come to you.
    I believe God wants to meet you where you are. And I hear Him calling out…
    Saying “I’m running to you”
    [Worship Cue #5 – Play Final Track]

      • Matthew 11:28–30ESV

      • Matthew 11:28–30ESV

      • Genesis 2:15ESV

      • Genesis 3:16–23ESV

      • Romans 8:20–22ESV

      • Galatians 6:2ESV

      • Galatians 6:5ESV

      • Luke 5:16ESV

      • Psalm 38:4ESV

      • Matthew 27:3–5ESV

      • Ephesians 6:10–11ESV

      • Galatians 3:27ESV

      • 1 Peter 5:6–7ESV

      • Matthew 6:27ESV

      • Isaiah 40:31ESV

      • 2 Timothy 4:7ESV

      • Hebrews 12:1–2ESV

      • Isaiah 53:4ESV

      • Matthew 11:28–30ESV

      • Matthew 26:36–46ESV

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