Connect
Have you ever run out of gas while driving? If you have, what were the circumstances? If you haven’t, why do you think it has never happened to you?

View The After Party Video: https://youtu.be/xCGqeTgmq3c
Feel free to share this link with your Life Group to watch ahead of time or watch together as a group.

Engage
Read Matthew 11:28-30
If a yoke is a heavy wooden beam, how it is that taking on Christ’s yoke can be easy and light?
Scotty described the difference between rest and relaxation: Relaxation is about what you need a break from; rest comes from what you are connected to. He said that real rest is not a product of changing your circumstances, it is a product of changing your yoke.
What does it mean to “change your yoke”? How can you change your yoke without changing your circumstances? How can that lead to rest? What does it mean to you to take on Christ’s yoke?
Can you think of a time that you felt true rest despite stressful or difficult circumstances? Why was that?
Scotty said that to find rest we need to remember that Jesus is our source, not our resource.
How would you describe the difference between source and resource? What are some things that people may use as a source (of rest, hope, comfort, security, etc.) instead of Jesus?

Apply
Now is the time to take some inventory. Discuss the question that Brandon posed at the end of The After Party:
What are some things (resources) that you put your hope in to help you during difficult times? Be specific about things that you have used in the last year to cope. What did you expect them to do for you? If you were to put that hope in Christ as your source of rest, how would things change for you?

The rest of this sermon series will touch on ways that we can be connected to Jesus. Brainstorm together some ways that we can attach ourselves to Jesus as the source of our rest.

Pray
Begin with Hebrews 4:15-16:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

God, we are so grateful that we can boldly approach you with our lives, our weaknesses, and our requests because you know exactly what we are going through. We are thankful that you do not judge us harshly for our failings but that you offer us mercy and love. Forgive us for going to things other than you for our hope and our strength. They fail us every time but you never do. Please continue to draw us closer to you and give us the rest and hope that we desperately need and desire. Amen.