What do you love to learn about? Where do you go to learn? What if you could learn how to see and hear things prophets and kings, scientists, philosophers long for and study? Who do you learn from? Who do you give credit to when someone tries your food, sees your handiwork, witnesses your moves on the court or the dance floor?

I’ve been making this breakfast favorite at the Pilgreen house for 18 years - sausage pinwheels. I have college students who would text me for the recipe when they’d come over during exam weeks when we did college ministry. I’ve shared this recipe with dozens of people. And the recipe is from a church cookbook by Kelly Smith in Louisiana. I learned this from her. She keeps getting the credit. You probably haven’t seen mine and Ben’s dance moves for many reasons, but we started lessons last year and give credit to Angela at a dance studio in the Dogpatch. Ben, by the way, we’re overdue for another lesson!

I surveyed groups of people here at Epic to see who you are learning from - have some fun with this. There’s always exceptions. The survey says our kids learn from Netflix and Disney plus, our students learn from YouTube. Our parents learn from bloggers. Our travelers learn from Instagram. Our DIYers learn from Pinterest and people my age just google search! A few weeks ago, we were helping some college students load a piece of furniture in their van and I’m looking for the owner’s manual in the glove compartment (that’s an outdated word) and the students are YouTubing how to take the seat out of this particular model of van. 

We are learners. No doubt. We’ve got access to so much learning it’s literally impossible to obtain it all. However, we’ve got time to learn. Time to learn what we want to know and need to know. 

Look at this list on the screen. We check these things to learn something. Rank the order you check these and rule out the ones you never check:

Weather

Latest news

Stock market

Work correspondence

Social media/networks

Text messages

Podcasts or streaming channels

Lots of our learning we have to have to function. At the same time, we prioritize and sometimes idolize our learning. 

‍Come Holy Spirit 

You didn’t come to church today or tune in online to see mine and Ben’s dance moves or find out the weather or see how the stock market is doing.

We believe you are here because you’ve found an authentic community who is learning from Jesus. We say and try to live in confidence that Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life and are seeking to orient our entire lives around Him. 

You might be here for the first time or a friend has you listening to this online and you think I’m narrow-minded to trust one source, to go to one faith. But some of you are exhausted from your search and are here and curious. As you continue your search for the truth, the way, and the life, keep showing up. Bring your friends. This is a place where we learn from Jesus.

I don’t know what He will specifically teach you in this message, but there’s a sure way to posture yourself so you can shift from head knowledge to applicable knowledge. 

We want to invite the Holy Spirit to teach us, let’s take a minute to privately ask the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds to the Scriptures. These are the living words of God. We invite the Spirit to guide us because He knows the mind of God and He knows our minds. Things happen when we pray and things don’t happen when we don’t pray. This might be the first time you’ve asked Jesus to speak to you. I’ve got faith He will. 

In a posture with outstretched hands demonstrating we want to be open, simply pray: Come Holy Spirit. 

We sang Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Think of what happens when you look at your phone when taking a picture and switch from photo to portrait mode. I want to set up the frame today so when you take a picture in portrait mode, you get a clearer, more focused encounter with Jesus. 

I invite you to stand as we look at two very similar texts, one in Matthew 11:25-30 and the other is Luke 10:21-23. Jesus says in this text, learn from me. We’re in this series called What’s the Plan? Jesus says the plan is to learn from him.

‍Matthew 11:25-30

“At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and released them to little children, yes, Father for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and LEARN FROM ME, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’”

You’ve heard parts of this passage before. We want His rest, but do we want His lessons?

Luke 10:21-23

“At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. 

All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.’

Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

We’ll spend most of our time with Matthew’s perspective, but I want to point out what Luke saw: 

Jesus had sent out 72 disciples to basically do what he had been doing: perform miracles, cast out demons, speak peace and heal the sick. And they did it. As they gather with Jesus again, I want to point out what Luke noticed about Jesus: 

Try and picture overjoyed Jesus because what he had been teaching and who he had been teaching was taking shape. This brought Jesus joy through the Holy Spirit. This brings Jesus joy through the Holy Spirit - any time we obey His teachings, display His power, proclaim His Name! His joy is linked to us learning from Him and practicing it. It’s at this moment Jesus clearly distinguishes between those who listen and those who don’t. 

What two groups of people? The wise and the children

The wise are the scribes, the Pharisees; those who seek praise rather than truth; wise in the world’s eyes but those who had rejected the Gospel.

The little children are disciples who received the kingdom in the spirit of a child coming under God’s authority and teaching; Matthew refers primarily to believers in general, including the tax collectors and sinners; Luke refers to the 72 disciples Jesus sent out. 

This isn’t wise versus unwise or smart versus uneducated. 

D.A. Carson, a Canadian biblical scholar, says, “the contrast is between those who are self-sufficient and deem themselves wise and those who are dependent and love to be taught.”

‍“The contrast is between those who are self-sufficient and deem themselves wise and those who are dependent and love to be taught.” - D.A. Carson (Canadian biblical scholar) 

We’re not connecting with God in a fantastical way or to be lost and abandoned to our own agency and responsibility. He is God of the universe. He speaks to us, meets with us, walks with us, and is with us.

Both Matthew and Luke say that this is what God’s pleasing and gracious will is - to hide truths from the wise and reveal them to children. 

Have you ever felt like a kid in your faith or young in your relationship with God? Maybe when you listen to messages here at Epic or with your small group leader and you wonder if everybody else gets all of this and is very wise in their faith and then there’s you. We actually want to always be learning, a never arrived mindset. 

Would you call yourself a learner, a follower of Jesus? Going a step further, would you say you come to God as a child or do you try and bring your credentials and polished self to Him?

We see this in other areas of our lives. If we manage a team, we love to have people who are eager to learn and grow. If we have kids, they are so much easier to parent if they are teachable…Amen?

This is a significant truth about God and Jesus. He has set our relationships up in such a way that He will reveal Himself, His ways, His will, His plan, His purposes to those of us who come as children, who are ready and eager to learn. 

You can’t learn from anyone you don’t follow.

Acts 4 demonstrates who is still learning and who’s not:

“And as they (Peter and John) were speaking to the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” Acts 4:1-2

If I’m not learning from Jesus, I’ve stopped following Jesus or haven’t decided to follow Jesus yet. If I stop following Jesus, I’ll eventually become bothered by His ways and teachings I once aligned with and annoyed by the Church and Christ followers.

If I’m learning from Jesus, I’m still following Jesus. If I’m still following Jesus, I will be bothered by politics, power, and priestly people and annoyed by those who try to stop the Church and Christ followers.

When Jesus said learn from Me, he was speaking to a learning culture of people who had specific rabbis as their teachers. But unlike the rabbis, Jesus offers refreshing work and actually easy work because it brings salvation as a free gift and comes with His strength through the Holy Spirit. 

As we continue this series on God’s Will, know that His will is to reveal Himself to those who will listen and learn. 

‍Change the Mind

‍Why should you want to learn from Jesus?

Jesus takes great care of His learners and not because He has favorites. It’s that His learners spend more time with Him and are up to date with Him.

So, why should you want to learn from Jesus…

• He wants you

• He reveals Himself to you 

• He’s gentle and lowly

• He gives you rest

• He died for you and is alive to have a relationship with you

I said earlier, We want His rest, but do we want His lessons? 

‍The rest is in the lesson.

Another similar passage to rest is Jeremiah 6:16, “this what the Lord says, stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” But you said, ‘We will not listen.’

Jeremiah goes on to record what happened because the people chose not to listen and he references Proverbs 1:31 – 

Since you refuse to listen

No one pays attention

Since you disregard

They will call but I will not answer

They will look for me but will not find me

Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurred my rebuke, 

They will eat the fruit of their ways of their schemes.

There’s God’s way and there’s man’s way. The path is clear. It’s messy, but it’s clear. 

Learning is showing up to listen. 

We really want to learn from Jesus, to follow Him if we are seeking to orient our lives around Him. What’s the hold up? We have too many teachers and are too distracted and we give our leftover time to Christ.

What we really want can be found in Christ alone. In a complex world, disciples of Jesus come across too simple and too trusting because we rely on one man, one book, and one faith. Yet it’s the prophets and kings who are missing out. 

The Jesus who devoted his life to helping the weak, who never had a home, who died on a criminal’s cross—this Jesus may seem weak to the world. One thing proves he is not weak: the gifts the Father has given him. Everything that God the Father has, he has placed in the trustworthy hands of God the Son. This is not obvious to the world, for the world knows neither the Father nor the Son. True knowledge of the Son belongs only to the Father. True knowledge of the Father belongs only to the Son. They do not, however, keep this knowledge selfishly to themselves. The Son has come from the Father into the world to reveal who the Father is. The Son has chosen to give this revelation to the world’s innocent. Why? They will accept the knowledge that the wise ridicule. When they become messengers of this knowledge to others, the glory will go to God and not to humans.

Jesus teaches us to Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33. When you get Jesus, you get it all! When we seek all the things, we end up missing Jesus. Where is He? He’s with the childlike who want to learn.

With Jesus, You’ll see and hear things that the people on earth deemed wise and brilliant and progressive don’t see and hear. 

Examples: you’ll make a decision at work because you’ve met with God in the Scriptures and asked for His wisdom on your commute or walk to work and God made clearer to you, like Pastor Will said, tempted to look outside of God for that independence. Jesus is not restrictive in order for you to learn less, but learn more. 

Name learners listed in Alpha week 1: Galileo the astronomer, Michael Faraday the scientist, Louis Pasteur the chemist, Johannes Kepler the astronomer, Francis Collins, the leader of the Human Genome Project. 

“I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 Jesus goes one to say if you believe in me you will do the works Jesus can do and whatever you ask in His name he will do it. John 14:12-14

‍Change the Heart

Do you want to say, Jesus is who I’m learning from the most?

It’s not that I can’t learn how to dance or cook or paint. It’s that Jesus is who I’m learning from the most. 

I’ve spent enough of my life learning ABOUT Jesus. I want to spend the rest of my days learning FROM Jesus. 

We bring our kids to church to learn ABOUT Jesus. They will choose to make a personal decision to learn FROM Him. Perhaps you grew up learning about Jesus and you think that’s enough - to know about Him. You’re missing out on a relationship. You’ve got religion. Today you can change that. Each of us has to make a decision to learn from Him. To follow Him and become His disciple. 

‍Change the Behavior

How do I learn from Jesus?

We position ourselves to learn from Jesus:

1. Come as a child. 
2. Have faith in Jesus
3. Become His disciple
4. Take it seriously (not ourselves, but our relationship with Him)

How do you like to learn? Experience. Reading. Listening. Community. One-on-one. 

Auditory. Visual. Kinesthetic. read/write. 

God made you and me and created us to learn in different ways. Raise your hands if you are an auditory learners. Visual learners. Read/write learners. Kinesthetic learners. God’s got you! Listen to the Bible. Read the Bible. Work out your learning in small group, in serving the city. 

Jesus made you and knows you best. You know how you learn best. But we all can attest that when head knowledge becomes applicable knowledge, something changes in our understanding and growth. 

Direct people to our website created for us to use. (Join a small group, watch past sermons, learn how to trust Jesus and be baptized, practicing the way, spiritual formation, right now media, serve the city, join a team) 

What will you do this week to learn from Jesus? 

Reconnect with your small group

Calendar time for Bible reading and prayer

Seek out time with a friend who is a disciple of Jesus

Jesus wants to reveal Himself to you.

Perhaps you’ve never given much thought to the reality you can learn from Him and He actually speaks to you.

Perhaps you think you’ve squandered or screwed up what He was doing in your life in a previous season or a few months ago and He’s removed you from the classroom. Cancelled you. 

Or your heart is burning to know Him more. Yes, this is what you want – more of Jesus in your life. His wisdom, His power to heal, speak, love, care, and give. You want to learn to pray, to share what He’s doing in your life. 

Whatever you’re feeling, let it be for your good and not your shame. Learn to hear God’s voice in this moment speaking to you, calling you. His is the gentle voice you hear. It’s never a condemning voice. He’s calling you back to Himself.

He’s inviting you to pick up your Bible and learn from Him.

He’s showing you that you’re surrounded by a group of people called the Church who are learning from Jesus, too.

His gracious and pleasing will is that you come like a child would come. Open hands. Hands up. Eager to learn. 

‍Here is God’s how and why - 

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave His Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.” John 3:16, The Message

You would say I’ve been learning ABOUT Jesus and today, in this moment, I make a decisive change (changing my mind, heart, and behavior) to learn FROM Jesus. He is who I want to learn from most. He is who I want to orient my entire life around. 

If you are making this decision today, we’d love to pray with you. Maybe you’re sitting by a friend who would love to pray with you. You see your small group leader and you want to let them know. Learning from Jesus is a commitment to be a follower, a disciple of Jesus. 

I know for me, I’m consuming lots of information and Jesus is getting my leftover time and attention. He’s not who you’re learning from the most. Take this time to reconnect and recommit to Him.