Podcast Summary

Podcast: ONE | A Potter's House Church
Episode: Balanced ONE - Ebenezer Quaye (Wednesday Bible Study)
Date: May 9, 2025
Host/Teacher: Ebenezer Quaye (Pastor EB)
Passage Focus: Matthew 11:27-30

Overview

This episode of the ONE Podcast, led by Pastor Ebenezer Quaye, centers on the theme of "Balance" as revealed in one of Jesus’s most comforting invitations—Matthew 11:27-30 ("Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden..."). Pastor EB unpacks what it means to find rest in Jesus and explores how carrying Jesus’s "yoke" produces true, spiritual balance instead of the crushing overload of legalism or self-reliance. The episode features a deep dive teaching, rich practical analogies, and an interactive Q&A dealing with real-world faith challenges.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. True Rest Comes from Jesus (01:00–07:30)

• Jesus promises "rest for your souls," not merely rest for the body or mind. True spiritual rest is foundational for all other forms of wellbeing.
• "Some of us are looking to Jesus for rest in the body. Some...for rest in the mind. And yet he says, what I came to give you is rest in your soul." (03:50, Pastor EB)

2. The Prerequisite of Relationship (07:30–15:00)

• All things are delivered to Jesus by the Father; access to these things comes through relationship with Jesus.
• The process is not accidental: "No one here stumbled upon Jesus...He chose you." (12:30)
• The will of the Son and the will of the Father are perfectly aligned, symbolized most powerfully in Gethsemane: "Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done." (14:45)

3. Living as the “Chosen” (15:00–20:50)

• Emphasizes the idea that every believer is specifically chosen by Jesus, challenging listeners to view themselves and others with this honored perspective.
• Notable quote: "What would we all look, sound, and act like if we treated ourselves and each other as if we were all chosen by Jesus?" (17:25)

4. Identity and the Series Theme (20:50–22:20)

• As part of an identity series, this study is titled "Balanced ONE," focusing on how balance is crucial to spiritual identity and health.

5. Rest as Balance, Not Just Escape (22:20–32:40)

• The "rest" Jesus offers is an active rest—a restoration of spiritual balance, not just a chance to stop and sleep.
• Explores what it means to be "heavy laden" (overburdened, especially by spiritual anxiety and religious legalism), referencing the Pharisees and Sadducees whose added religious laws crushed people’s spirits.
• Many believers bear invisible, unnamed burdens, and Jesus’s invitation is to release those by taking up his way instead.
• "If you have an encounter with the Word and you don’t get closer to God, something we missed." (30:50)

6. The Meaning of the Yoke (32:40–45:00)

• Explains two types of yokes:
  • The oxen yoke, connecting two animals, symbolizing shared load.
  • The porter’s/milkmaid yoke, a beam that helps one person carry balanced loads—in this analogy, it’s not about partnering with Jesus, but taking on the way and the balance that is Jesus himself.
• "Jesus is that bar. Jesus is the beam. Jesus is the one who balances your burden." (41:00)
• Rather than carrying burdens directly, we are called to carry Jesus, who can bear them.

7. Jesus’s Easy Yoke & Light Burden (45:00–53:00)

• The yoke Jesus offers is "easy" (meaning useful, gracious, kind) and the burden is "light" (quick, agile, not just lightweight).
• Many of our burdens are hidden, added "two pounds at a time," but with Jesus, the "invoice"—what you carry—is clear and honest.
• "Some of us have been tricked into the burdens that we carry. ... Jesus does not trick you into anything." (39:10)

8. Balance as a Measure of Spiritual Health (53:00–1:10:00)

• Unbalanced living (carrying more than we should) is an abomination to God (Proverbs 20:23).
• To be balanced is not to be burden-free, but to carry the right things, in the right way, starting with Jesus as the central yoke.

9. Q&A Highlights (53:00–1:15:00)

On Jesus’s Gentleness & Humility (53:05)

• Jesus chooses "gentle and lowly in heart" to highlight humility and approachability—“Gentleness and humility are the easiest things to take on.” (53:25)

On Evangelism & The Chosen (55:40)

• "It is not up to us to know who...our job is to just do [the evangelizing]." (55:57)

On Trust and Childhood Trauma (58:28)

• "My prayer is that your childlike nature be restored... sometimes you have to say no to you in order to say yes to him." (59:27)

On Discernment: Spiritual Anxiety vs. Discipline (64:27)

• "When you’re doing anything out of obligation, there’s angst. ... Once it becomes a stressful thing, like you’re losing sleep because you didn’t pray, you and God need to have a conversation about what prayer really means." (65:10)

On Transition and Hearing God (68:36)

• Testimony of a former pro athlete learning to walk with God: after a hard “yes,” you enter a season of “without form and void.” You hear God’s whisper because you cultivate an environment of quiet presence. (70:30)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On burdens:
  "Some of us are carrying two pounds at a time. Burdens, got tricked into them. … Jesus is saying, my burden is light. My invoice. You’re going to know what you’re getting into when you are with me." (39:10)
• On discipline vs. anxiety:
  "Our time with the Lord should feel like [a vacation]. When it starts to not, that's when it’s obligation." (67:45)
• On spiritual exhaustion:
  "If you have ears to hear, please hear it, fam. Take Jesus as your yoke, and when you put him on, then the load that you carry will be balanced and you will be refreshed enough to carry a balanced load." (51:00)
• On spiritual growth:
  "We were called not to walk overburdened, but to walk balanced. ... And that balance comes from taking on Jesus as our yoke, not the world." (46:00)

Key Timestamps

• 00:54: Introduction to the teaching, reading Matthew 11:27-30
• 03:50: Distinction between rest for soul, mind, body
• 12:30: “He chose you”—emphasizing the chosenness of each believer
• 14:45: Gethsemane—Jesus aligning his will with the Father
• 30:50: Relationship over ritual: drawing closer to God is the purpose of the Word
• 41:00: Analogy of the barbell/porter’s yoke—balancing burdens by carrying Jesus
• 53:05: Start of Q&A on gentleness, humility, evangelism, trauma, and anxiety
• 65:10: Difference between spiritual anxiety and authentic discipline
• 70:30: Hard "yes", transitions, learning to listen for God's quiet voice

Conclusion

Pastor Ebenezer Quaye’s "Balanced ONE" study is a heartfelt and practical exploration of spiritual rest, the burdens believers carry, and the way of Jesus as the center of balance. The call is to re-examine what burdens we carry, lay down those not meant for us, and intentionally take on the yoke and way of Jesus—humble, gentle, and balanced. The Q&A session addresses deep real-world struggles, from trusting God after trauma to distinguishing spiritual discipline from anxiety, making the teaching both accessible and transformative.