WEBVTT 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:06.679 Hey all, Pastor John here. Thanks for tuning 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:09.759 in to the weekly sermon podcast. We pray this 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:12.519 message encourages you, strengthens your faith, 00:00:12.660 --> 00:00:15.080 and helps you to take your next step with Jesus. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:18.239 If this content blesses you and you'd like to 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.339 be a part of helping us continue to bring the 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:22.760 gospel to life, we'd love for you to consider 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.760 supporting the ministry of Village. Your generosity 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:28.339 makes it possible for us to keep creating and 00:00:28.339 --> 00:00:31.510 sharing resources like this podcast. You can 00:00:31.510 --> 00:00:35.250 give safely and easily by visiting sacvillage 00:00:35.250 --> 00:00:39.090 .org slash give or by heading to our website 00:00:39.090 --> 00:00:43.109 at sacvillage .org. Thanks again for listening. 00:00:43.570 --> 00:00:54.990 Now let's dive into this week's message. All 00:00:54.990 --> 00:00:57.170 right, let's make our way back to our seats this 00:00:57.170 --> 00:01:00.310 morning. How are we doing, Village? All right. 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:04.219 Way more awake than first service, like way more 00:01:04.219 --> 00:01:08.079 awake. It was crickets. Well, I hope when you 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:10.340 came in, you thought, I'm going to my seat, and 00:01:10.340 --> 00:01:12.359 then you found that there was a reserve seat 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:15.260 sign in your seats. That was the point, right? 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:19.079 We are heading into Easter week. We are looking 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:22.900 to next Sunday, and next Sunday is Easter, Resurrection 00:01:22.900 --> 00:01:25.280 Sunday. Do you know what that is in the Christian 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:29.879 calendar? Super Bowl. Next week is Christian 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:33.519 Super Bowl and we are stoked to get to celebrate 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:36.819 the resurrection of Jesus Christ because if the 00:01:36.819 --> 00:01:39.200 tomb is empty, as one pastor says, if the tomb 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:42.359 is empty, then anything is possible and everything 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:47.299 has changed. Amen? And we put these signs up 00:01:47.299 --> 00:01:49.640 because this isn't my friend or my neighbor. 00:01:49.700 --> 00:01:52.319 This is your friend and your neighbor and we're 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:56.450 saving a seat for them in this house. Maybe it's 00:01:56.450 --> 00:01:59.049 your dad who is far from the Lord and needs an 00:01:59.049 --> 00:02:02.049 opportunity, just a door open for him to step 00:02:02.049 --> 00:02:05.689 back and take a step toward Jesus. We saved him 00:02:05.689 --> 00:02:09.099 a seat right next to Gail, right there. He can 00:02:09.099 --> 00:02:11.800 come and sit next week. Or maybe it's your brother 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:14.740 or a friend who you've been working on. You've 00:02:14.740 --> 00:02:16.460 been talking. You've been planting seeds. You've 00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:18.840 been watering. You've been hoping that the gospel 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:20.659 would begin to bloom. And you're like, hey, I 00:02:20.659 --> 00:02:22.539 want to get them where the gospel is going to 00:02:22.539 --> 00:02:24.979 be preached, where Jesus is going to be exalted 00:02:24.979 --> 00:02:27.139 and glorified, and where they can have an opportunity 00:02:27.139 --> 00:02:30.180 to respond and enter into the kingdom of heaven. 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:33.460 I'm telling you, this is the Super Bowl for us. 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:37.620 Just don't come looking crazy or wearing some 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:40.620 like face paint or something, okay? We wanna 00:02:40.620 --> 00:02:42.439 be welcoming too to the people who are coming. 00:02:42.580 --> 00:02:46.180 So we obviously have plenty of chairs. We set 00:02:46.180 --> 00:02:48.020 up all the chairs we fit in here. This is about 00:02:48.020 --> 00:02:52.379 156 chairs right here. We can obviously fill 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:54.819 in the gaps that are here. And then we've got 00:02:54.819 --> 00:02:57.319 an overflow where we can add another 20, 30 seats 00:02:57.319 --> 00:03:00.360 in the back. And I think every one of them is 00:03:00.360 --> 00:03:03.569 a one more. Every one of them is a lost. soul 00:03:03.569 --> 00:03:06.229 or a wandering soul or someone who walked away 00:03:06.229 --> 00:03:11.569 a prodigal and it's time to come home and not 00:03:11.569 --> 00:03:14.210 only just come home not in in some private corner 00:03:14.210 --> 00:03:17.090 somewhere but come home to the family of God 00:03:17.090 --> 00:03:20.949 and we we got room and we're going to make space 00:03:20.949 --> 00:03:22.669 for them you know there's one thing to have room 00:03:22.669 --> 00:03:24.330 right it's one thing to have a seat but it's 00:03:24.330 --> 00:03:27.129 another thing altogether to make space for someone 00:03:27.129 --> 00:03:29.930 to make space for someone you have to make space 00:03:29.930 --> 00:03:32.979 in your heart first You have to say, actually, 00:03:33.060 --> 00:03:36.340 I want you here. I actually wanna make myself 00:03:36.340 --> 00:03:38.860 available. I wanna move toward you to make sure 00:03:38.860 --> 00:03:41.199 that you can be here. We gotta make space for 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:44.180 all that God is going to do. And I believe that 00:03:44.180 --> 00:03:47.419 God will fill that space. He will move in a powerful 00:03:47.419 --> 00:03:50.319 way and we will get to interact with more brothers 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:52.539 and sisters as a result of it in the kingdom 00:03:52.539 --> 00:03:54.939 of heaven that we get to spend eternity with, 00:03:55.099 --> 00:03:58.219 reconciled to their God creator through the blood 00:03:58.219 --> 00:04:01.169 of Jesus. That's what we wanna be. All about. 00:04:01.949 --> 00:04:03.650 All of it. That's what it means to be a great 00:04:03.650 --> 00:04:06.449 commission church. We take seriously what God 00:04:06.449 --> 00:04:09.069 said when Jesus said, go into all the world and 00:04:09.069 --> 00:04:11.689 make disciples of all nations. We want to do 00:04:11.689 --> 00:04:14.629 that. Can we be that people? So we've got the 00:04:14.629 --> 00:04:16.529 challenge out there. Amen. It's a bring three 00:04:16.529 --> 00:04:19.569 challenge. It's keep working. Keep working the 00:04:19.569 --> 00:04:22.589 ground. Keep tilling the soil. Keep watering. 00:04:23.629 --> 00:04:26.790 If you find that some soil is too hard and they 00:04:26.790 --> 00:04:29.139 want nothing to do with it, move on. There's 00:04:29.139 --> 00:04:31.259 other soil out there. There are far too many 00:04:31.259 --> 00:04:34.800 people in this world who are lost and many of 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:37.699 them are dying each and every day. And you have 00:04:37.699 --> 00:04:41.500 the key to everlasting life in the gospel of 00:04:41.500 --> 00:04:44.180 Jesus Christ. We can point them to it. We should 00:04:44.180 --> 00:04:45.899 be doing this all the time. We're taking Easter 00:04:45.899 --> 00:04:48.800 as an opportunity to refocus and be all about 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.480 it, amen? Join me in praying as we go to our 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:54.199 time in the word. Father, we pray for Easter. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:57.360 We pray for the celebration. We pray for village 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:00.970 that. we would be one of many beacons of hope, 00:05:01.029 --> 00:05:05.889 many ambassadors, many embassies around the city 00:05:05.889 --> 00:05:09.350 and around the state and around the world who 00:05:09.350 --> 00:05:11.730 are opening their door and making space for one 00:05:11.730 --> 00:05:14.970 more, one more sister, one more dad, one more 00:05:14.970 --> 00:05:18.529 friend, one more neighbor, one more coworker 00:05:18.529 --> 00:05:23.290 to take their next step with Jesus, to step into 00:05:23.290 --> 00:05:26.529 eternal life. I pray that our heart would tune 00:05:26.529 --> 00:05:30.009 to your heart. Father, if we've been off by a 00:05:30.009 --> 00:05:33.029 couple degrees, if we've been listening to 107 00:05:33.029 --> 00:05:36.149 .1, but we need to be listening to 107 .5, you 00:05:36.149 --> 00:05:38.350 would tune our hearts today, Lord, to your heart. 00:05:39.029 --> 00:05:43.129 That our heart would be in frequency, receiving 00:05:43.129 --> 00:05:45.670 the message, receiving the hope, receiving the 00:05:45.670 --> 00:05:48.029 love, and receiving the power of the Holy Spirit 00:05:48.029 --> 00:05:53.410 to go and be the kingdom of God here on earth. 00:05:54.930 --> 00:05:57.990 as we go with the gospel of Jesus. Lord, I pray 00:05:57.990 --> 00:05:59.730 that you continue to form and shape us, that 00:05:59.730 --> 00:06:01.689 your word would do your work and your people 00:06:01.689 --> 00:06:03.949 this morning. We ask this in Jesus' name. We 00:06:03.949 --> 00:06:08.069 all say it. Amen. All right. Well, we're in our 00:06:08.069 --> 00:06:11.069 last installment in our series, One Anothering. 00:06:11.709 --> 00:06:14.069 And did you know that every relationship in your 00:06:14.069 --> 00:06:19.519 life is doing something to you? Every relationship 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:23.240 in your life is doing something to you. Some 00:06:23.240 --> 00:06:26.899 relationships encourage you, some challenge you, 00:06:26.939 --> 00:06:31.699 and others drain you. And so hear this, you are 00:06:31.699 --> 00:06:34.259 not neutral in your relationships and your relationships 00:06:34.259 --> 00:06:38.439 are not neutral toward you. They are forming 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:42.879 you. And the question is not if you're being 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:47.620 formed, it's how and by whom. Listen to what 00:06:47.620 --> 00:06:50.379 Proverbs says, two different passages in Proverbs. 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:53.939 Proverbs 13, 20 says, the one who walks with 00:06:53.939 --> 00:06:58.800 the wise will become wise, but a companion of 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:03.899 fools will suffer harm. Proverbs 22, 24, and 00:07:03.899 --> 00:07:06.899 25 says, don't make friends with an angry person 00:07:06.899 --> 00:07:09.959 and don't be a companion of a hot -tempered one, 00:07:10.100 --> 00:07:13.379 or you will learn his ways and entangle yourself 00:07:13.379 --> 00:07:17.899 in a snare. But most people don't think about 00:07:17.899 --> 00:07:22.259 this. Very rarely do we stop and ask, what are 00:07:22.259 --> 00:07:26.480 these relationships actually doing to me? Are 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:29.819 they helping me become more like Christ or less? 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:33.000 And this is where we're going this morning. God 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.759 has not designed you to grow in isolation. He 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:39.300 has designed you to be formed through people. 00:07:41.300 --> 00:07:44.660 Not just through sermons. Not just through your 00:07:44.660 --> 00:07:49.759 own private Bible reading or quiet time, but 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:52.540 through real, intentional, sometimes uncomfortable 00:07:52.540 --> 00:07:56.720 relationships. And that's exactly what we see 00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:58.920 in Hebrews chapter 10, which you can turn over 00:07:58.920 --> 00:08:00.620 there if you're gonna follow along in your Bible, 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:03.899 Hebrews chapter 10. In Hebrews 10, you start 00:08:03.899 --> 00:08:07.379 off with this deep theology about Jesus, his 00:08:07.379 --> 00:08:11.579 sacrifice, his finished work. And our access 00:08:11.579 --> 00:08:13.879 to God through what Christ has done. And then 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:16.160 suddenly the author turns and says, now consider 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:24.819 one another. Not consider God or focus only on 00:08:24.819 --> 00:08:28.699 your faith. But in the flow, he says, now look 00:08:28.699 --> 00:08:30.740 at the people around you and take responsibility 00:08:30.740 --> 00:08:35.500 for who they are becoming. So you won't give 00:08:35.500 --> 00:08:38.100 an account for their lives, but you are a part 00:08:38.100 --> 00:08:42.399 of their story. Who you are shapes who they are 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:47.860 becoming. And most of us have asked the question, 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.039 man, how do I actually keep going in the faith? 00:08:51.259 --> 00:08:58.580 How do I not drift away? How do I not fall on 00:08:58.580 --> 00:09:03.779 the path? And his answer is this. You don't just 00:09:03.779 --> 00:09:07.480 need better personal spiritual habits. You need 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:11.279 the right people around you. So let's look at 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:12.820 this together. Hebrews chapter 10, beginning 00:09:12.820 --> 00:09:17.019 in verse 19. Therefore, brothers and sisters, 00:09:17.259 --> 00:09:20.080 since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:23.100 through the blood of Jesus, he has inaugurated 00:09:23.100 --> 00:09:25.740 for us a new and living way through the curtain 00:09:25.740 --> 00:09:28.259 that is through his flesh. And since we have 00:09:28.259 --> 00:09:31.600 a great high priest over the house of God, let 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.519 us draw near with a true heart in full assurance 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:37.720 of faith. With our hearts sprinkled clean from 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:40.679 an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.460 water, let us hold on to the confession of our 00:09:43.460 --> 00:09:46.480 hope without wavering since he who promised is 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:50.259 faithful. And let us consider one another in 00:09:50.259 --> 00:09:53.580 order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting 00:09:53.580 --> 00:09:55.580 to gather together as some are in the habit of 00:09:55.580 --> 00:09:58.500 doing, but encouraging each other and all the 00:09:58.500 --> 00:10:03.019 more as you see the day approaching. This is 00:10:03.019 --> 00:10:07.440 God's word. So let's look at the flow of Hebrews 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:09.639 chapter 10, because if you don't see the flow, 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:13.039 then verse 24, 25 will feel somewhat random. 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:16.700 They're not. They're the conclusion. And the 00:10:16.700 --> 00:10:19.500 author has just spent this entire chapter building 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:23.120 one massively big idea, and that is Jesus has 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:25.659 done what nothing else and nobody else could 00:10:25.659 --> 00:10:30.139 do. Amen? I was scarred by first service. I'm 00:10:30.139 --> 00:10:31.659 going to need a little bit of feedback here on 00:10:31.659 --> 00:10:34.519 second service. I gotta make it through. You 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:35.899 gotta help me make it through here, all right? 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:38.460 Help me make it through. Jesus has done what 00:10:38.460 --> 00:10:42.059 nothing else and nobody else could do. Amen, 00:10:42.179 --> 00:10:44.480 amen. That's too much, too much. Settle down 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:47.679 a little bit. Goodness gracious. That's not sustainable, 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:50.779 people. You've gotta find a nice little rhythm 00:10:50.779 --> 00:10:54.120 in the middle. I liked it, but it's not sustainable. 00:10:54.620 --> 00:10:59.649 Let's go the distance here. Marathon, okay? No, 00:10:59.669 --> 00:11:01.350 really, that's the idea he's been developing. 00:11:01.590 --> 00:11:04.470 It's the big idea that nothing else, nobody else 00:11:04.470 --> 00:11:08.090 could do what Jesus has done. He is supreme over 00:11:08.090 --> 00:11:10.629 all. Everything else that has come before, he 00:11:10.629 --> 00:11:14.809 is it. Under the old covenant, well, sacrifices 00:11:14.809 --> 00:11:18.090 had to be offered over and over again, but they 00:11:18.090 --> 00:11:22.110 could never fully deal with sin. And you might 00:11:22.110 --> 00:11:25.929 wonder, what is sin? Well, sin is rejecting God's 00:11:25.929 --> 00:11:29.039 authority. And in choosing to define and direct 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:35.519 my life on my own terms. We sin when we live 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:38.759 our lives contrary to the will of God, which 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:43.200 is revealed to us through the word of God. But 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.840 Jesus, through one sacrifice, took our place 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:48.720 under judgment, carried our sin, paid for it 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:51.279 completely, so we could be brought back to God. 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:58.429 Amen? That's good. And because of that, everything 00:11:58.429 --> 00:12:03.250 changes. Everything has changed. And so in verse 00:12:03.250 --> 00:12:06.490 19, the author says, we now have confidence to 00:12:06.490 --> 00:12:09.269 enter the holy place, the most holy place. And 00:12:09.269 --> 00:12:13.169 that's huge. Because the most holy place was 00:12:13.169 --> 00:12:16.870 where God's presence dwelled. It was restricted. 00:12:16.909 --> 00:12:19.690 It was dangerous. It was inaccessible. Only the 00:12:19.690 --> 00:12:22.350 high priest could enter once a year on a specific 00:12:22.350 --> 00:12:24.529 day. He went in with blood from a sacrifice. 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:28.539 as a way of dealing with sin. Because the understanding 00:12:28.539 --> 00:12:32.419 was this, that God is perfectly holy and we are. 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:35.919 And if you entered his presence without your 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:38.519 sin being dealt with, you wouldn't survive it. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.059 And so even the high priest went in with caution, 00:12:43.139 --> 00:12:49.159 with reverence and fear. This wasn't a comfortable 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:53.769 place. It was a place that reminded you there 00:12:53.769 --> 00:13:02.070 is a real barrier between you and God. But now, 00:13:02.110 --> 00:13:06.990 Jesus took our place. The perfect lamb of God 00:13:06.990 --> 00:13:09.830 who takes away the sins of the world, carried 00:13:09.830 --> 00:13:13.230 our sins, paid for it in full. What was once 00:13:13.230 --> 00:13:18.350 closed off to us is now wide open. Not just for 00:13:18.350 --> 00:13:22.220 a priest, but for you and me. You don't need 00:13:22.220 --> 00:13:24.580 to stand at a distance from God anymore. You 00:13:24.580 --> 00:13:26.960 have access, not because you cleaned yourself 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:32.259 up, but because Jesus made a way. You didn't 00:13:32.259 --> 00:13:36.159 have to learn some super secret code word. You 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:39.419 didn't have to do a series of feats in the gauntlet. 00:13:40.620 --> 00:13:44.500 But a person, Jesus, who the author of Hebrews 00:13:44.500 --> 00:13:50.710 says is a new and living way through him. Full 00:13:50.710 --> 00:13:53.789 access. And not only full access, but your access 00:13:53.789 --> 00:13:57.950 is secured. The work is finished. It's completed. 00:13:58.669 --> 00:14:03.850 You've been brought all the way in. And now, 00:14:03.870 --> 00:14:06.549 based on that reality, the author then gives 00:14:06.549 --> 00:14:10.990 us three responses. How should we respond to 00:14:10.990 --> 00:14:13.970 this new reality? You see it in the repetition. 00:14:14.330 --> 00:14:21.240 Let us, let us, let us. Not the vegetable. The 00:14:21.240 --> 00:14:27.120 two words. Let us. My wife got a lettuce wrap 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:29.000 last night at In -N -Out, and I just keep thinking 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:31.100 of that every time I say, let us, let us, let 00:14:31.100 --> 00:14:38.740 us. Let us eat. Right? Mmm. No, you can see it 00:14:38.740 --> 00:14:40.519 there. He has three of them. You probably noticed 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:42.279 it as we were reading through the chapter. He 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:45.159 starts off by saying, first, let us draw near 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:48.379 with a true heart in full assurance of faith. 00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:52.679 In other words, don't hold back. Don't keep your 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:55.000 distance. Draw near to God with confidence. You 00:14:55.000 --> 00:15:00.320 have access. And the second, he says, let us 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:03.799 hold fast to the confession of our hope without 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:08.950 wavering. Hold fast means to grip tightly, to 00:15:08.950 --> 00:15:14.690 cling, don't release. Why? Because he holds you 00:15:14.690 --> 00:15:21.490 fast. Hebrews says he is faithful. And because 00:15:21.490 --> 00:15:23.690 he is faithful, because it is secure, because 00:15:23.690 --> 00:15:26.610 access has been granted, I want to now hold tightly 00:15:26.610 --> 00:15:30.129 to it. I don't want to lose what's been given 00:15:30.129 --> 00:15:34.419 to me so freely. Confession of our hope, well, 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:38.240 that's what you believe and publicly hold to 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:42.340 about Jesus, who he is, what he has done, what 00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:44.659 he has promised. That's your confession of our 00:15:44.659 --> 00:15:47.960 hope. And he says, do it without wavering, not 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:51.799 being pulled off course. And so let us draw near 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:54.440 and let us hold fast. And then the third lettuce 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:59.679 is let us consider one another. And there's the 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:05.190 turn, right? He now points you to people. Why? 00:16:06.549 --> 00:16:09.169 Well, you see, drawing near and holding fast 00:16:09.169 --> 00:16:12.289 are not just personal issues. They are community 00:16:12.289 --> 00:16:17.850 issues. Let us consider one another. The word 00:16:17.850 --> 00:16:21.350 consider means to think carefully, to think intentionally 00:16:21.350 --> 00:16:26.679 about others. Not just be around people, but 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:30.200 actually pay attention to them. Know where are 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:36.220 they struggling? Where are they drifting? What 00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:39.620 lies are they believing about God or about who 00:16:39.620 --> 00:16:44.399 they are in Christ? Where is their faith confession 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:49.480 not showing up in their life? Consider one another. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:53.860 Understand one another. Discern one another. 00:16:55.990 --> 00:16:58.210 Why? Why should we consider one another? Is it 00:16:58.210 --> 00:17:00.830 just for people watching? Man, I'm all for people 00:17:00.830 --> 00:17:03.690 watching. Anyone like to people watch? You park 00:17:03.690 --> 00:17:05.509 me somewhere on a bench and put a bunch of people 00:17:05.509 --> 00:17:06.910 in front of me, I can sit there for a while. 00:17:08.809 --> 00:17:12.009 Oh, you know, you're heading somewhere. You're 00:17:12.009 --> 00:17:16.369 on a mission. You look weird. Like, hey, I get 00:17:16.369 --> 00:17:20.829 to do it every Sunday. You guys are great. You 00:17:20.829 --> 00:17:25.619 guys are. You guys are a great group to people 00:17:25.619 --> 00:17:27.319 watch. That's what I'm doing behind the scenes 00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:31.619 right now. It's like, hmm. That's a choice right 00:17:31.619 --> 00:17:37.480 there, yeah. No, he doesn't say do this so you 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:39.980 can people watch, does he? He says consider one 00:17:39.980 --> 00:17:44.460 another. Why? In order to provoke love and good 00:17:44.460 --> 00:17:54.059 works. Whoa. Well, what is provoke? It literally 00:17:54.059 --> 00:18:01.160 means to irritate. Consider one another in order 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:06.700 to provoke, to irritate, to sharply disagree 00:18:06.700 --> 00:18:09.740 is another meaning of it, or to sharply confront. 00:18:12.779 --> 00:18:19.099 Some of you are experts at this already. No, 00:18:19.259 --> 00:18:22.630 if you knew this scripture before, You know that 00:18:22.630 --> 00:18:25.170 this scripture used to, one of the translations, 00:18:25.430 --> 00:18:27.509 maybe it's NIV, I didn't look it up before I 00:18:27.509 --> 00:18:29.569 came up here, but it said, consider one another 00:18:29.569 --> 00:18:36.390 in order to spur love and good works. It's the 00:18:36.390 --> 00:18:38.829 same word, right? An irritant in the side of 00:18:38.829 --> 00:18:43.410 a horse. Spur one another on toward love and 00:18:43.410 --> 00:18:48.250 good deeds, right? To provoke means to intentionally 00:18:48.250 --> 00:18:51.779 press one another toward. love and obedience, 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:55.220 even when it's uncomfortable, even when it might 00:18:55.220 --> 00:18:58.160 be somewhat costly in the relationship, to provoke 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:01.579 one another, to move people toward love and obedience, 00:19:01.700 --> 00:19:04.039 to love someone enough to not let them stay where 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:06.539 they are, but to move them toward love and good 00:19:06.539 --> 00:19:11.480 works. Remember, the human heart is naturally 00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:16.759 bent in on itself. It seeks comfort. It seeks 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:19.859 self -satisfaction, self -justification. It avoids 00:19:19.859 --> 00:19:25.819 anything that calls it to change. And Tim Keller, 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:28.960 he had a sermon on Hebrews chapter 10, and he 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:33.400 shares a moment in the story of Odysseus. Odysseus 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:36.640 is out of the Homer's Odyssey. It's a story in 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:38.460 Homer's Odyssey. I think it was book 12 in Homer's 00:19:38.460 --> 00:19:41.970 Odyssey. And Odysseus, I think this story captures 00:19:41.970 --> 00:19:44.509 it perfectly. Odysseus is on his journey home. 00:19:45.309 --> 00:19:48.970 And he knows he's going to pass by the island 00:19:48.970 --> 00:19:53.009 of the sirens. What is a siren? Just think Starbucks, 00:19:53.190 --> 00:19:55.950 the logo. That's a siren. And it has the same 00:19:55.950 --> 00:19:59.970 effect on me. You'll see, right? He knows he's 00:19:59.970 --> 00:20:02.890 about to pass the island of the sirens. And the 00:20:02.890 --> 00:20:06.190 sirens have this reputation. Their song is so 00:20:06.190 --> 00:20:11.109 beautiful. It's so alluring that anyone who hears 00:20:11.109 --> 00:20:14.910 it would be drawn into it. They would steer their 00:20:14.910 --> 00:20:17.849 ships to get closer and closer to this song that 00:20:17.849 --> 00:20:20.069 they're singing, only to crash their ship on 00:20:20.069 --> 00:20:25.589 the rocks and die. And so Odysseus, he doesn't 00:20:25.589 --> 00:20:28.670 trust himself. He's about to pass by the island 00:20:28.670 --> 00:20:30.809 of the sirens. He doesn't trust himself. He knows 00:20:30.809 --> 00:20:32.930 that when he hears the song, he will want to 00:20:32.930 --> 00:20:37.160 give in. And so before they get there, while 00:20:37.160 --> 00:20:40.259 still in his right mind, he tells his crew this. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:43.119 He says, bind me to the mast of the ship as we 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:47.579 pass by. And no matter what I say, no matter 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:52.599 how much I beg, do not untie me. For I will take 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:54.400 over the ship and steer it right into the rocks. 00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:59.579 And then he has them put wax in their own ears 00:20:59.579 --> 00:21:05.680 so that they won't hear the song. And when they 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:09.200 pass by, it happens. He begins to hear the song. 00:21:09.460 --> 00:21:13.460 He hears the music. He hears the singing. And 00:21:13.460 --> 00:21:16.460 he begins to shout, let me go. Let me out of 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:24.160 here. Untie me now. But his crew refuses. They 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:29.579 don't listen to his momentary desire. They hold 00:21:29.579 --> 00:21:34.220 him to his earlier commitment. They tighten the 00:21:34.220 --> 00:21:39.220 ropes. They keep him and the ship on course. 00:21:40.700 --> 00:21:42.960 And that's exactly what Hebrews 10 is getting 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:47.359 at. Provoking one another means there are moments 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:52.480 when you won't want what's good for you. There 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:55.059 are moments when you won't want what's good for 00:21:55.059 --> 00:21:57.720 you. There are moments when your desires will 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:02.299 pull you off course from your confession. And 00:22:02.299 --> 00:22:05.079 you need people in your life who won't listen 00:22:05.079 --> 00:22:10.940 to your momentary voice, but will hold you to 00:22:10.940 --> 00:22:15.779 what is true of your confession. People who will 00:22:15.779 --> 00:22:18.799 say, I know what you're feeling right now, but 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:21.140 I also know where that leads and I'm not going 00:22:21.140 --> 00:22:27.359 to let you drift off course. And so we are called 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:31.390 to consider one another so that we might... provoke 00:22:31.390 --> 00:22:34.170 love and good works. What are love and good works? 00:22:34.250 --> 00:22:40.269 Love, love for God. Adoration, worship for God 00:22:40.269 --> 00:22:43.710 and worship for others. I mean, love for others, 00:22:43.769 --> 00:22:48.309 works for others, good works. Good works are 00:22:48.309 --> 00:22:51.210 active, compassionate service of others, helping 00:22:51.210 --> 00:22:53.509 one another, helping the marginal, helping the 00:22:53.509 --> 00:22:56.809 helpless. In other words, your heart bent outward, 00:22:56.910 --> 00:23:01.400 not inward. We're to take hold of our hearts, 00:23:01.420 --> 00:23:03.900 one another, and provoke one another to bend 00:23:03.900 --> 00:23:06.579 that heart outward toward others and toward God. 00:23:09.059 --> 00:23:12.539 And Hebrews says we need to be provoked to have 00:23:12.539 --> 00:23:15.920 a living faith. We need to be provoked to have 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:22.259 love that acts, not a dead faith. And so on to 00:23:22.259 --> 00:23:24.700 that, right after that, he adds, not neglecting 00:23:24.700 --> 00:23:27.299 to gather together as some are in the habit of 00:23:27.299 --> 00:23:31.269 doing. Which means some already were. They were 00:23:31.269 --> 00:23:34.190 pulling back. They were falling away. They were 00:23:34.190 --> 00:23:37.990 disconnecting from the people of God and from 00:23:37.990 --> 00:23:41.970 the confession of their faith. And the author 00:23:41.970 --> 00:23:48.490 says, that's dangerous. That's dangerous. That's 00:23:48.490 --> 00:23:50.569 getting off course. That's heading for the rocks. 00:23:52.549 --> 00:23:55.210 But instead, he says, encourage one another. 00:23:58.279 --> 00:24:02.819 It says strengthen, call forward, remind one 00:24:02.819 --> 00:24:07.079 another of what is true. And we have to be careful 00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:09.500 that we don't read our definition into the word 00:24:09.500 --> 00:24:15.019 encourage. It's so easy. We can hear encourage 00:24:15.019 --> 00:24:19.660 and we can think compliments. Or we can think 00:24:19.660 --> 00:24:27.039 niceness. Or emotional support only. Here's how 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:30.119 I would frame encouragement. Encouragement isn't 00:24:30.119 --> 00:24:36.140 shallow positivity. It is truth -saturated strength 00:24:36.140 --> 00:24:41.519 that keeps us from drifting from Christ. You 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:44.859 might replace truth with even Scripture. Scripture 00:24:44.859 --> 00:24:48.519 -saturated, truth -saturated strength that keeps 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:50.559 us from drifting from Christ. That's what encouragement 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:55.680 is. The Bible tells us that we have full access 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:57.759 to God through Christ, but it also tells us that 00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:00.440 you need people around you who refuse, even at 00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:02.980 the risk of being uncomfortable, to let you drift 00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:08.759 from him. So I want to give you a way of seeing 00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:11.640 this in real life. I'm going to call it the community 00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:15.210 matrix. It should be up here on the screen. You 00:25:15.210 --> 00:25:17.170 see on the community matrix, there are two axes. 00:25:17.349 --> 00:25:20.150 There's the one axis up and down, which is provoke 00:25:20.150 --> 00:25:22.789 on both ends with a plus or a minus. We might 00:25:22.789 --> 00:25:26.670 call it high provoke and low provoke. And then 00:25:26.670 --> 00:25:30.690 on the cross axis here, I don't know my Ys and 00:25:30.690 --> 00:25:34.690 Xs, but you have encourage and you have a minus 00:25:34.690 --> 00:25:37.529 and a plus. We might call it low encourage, high 00:25:37.529 --> 00:25:44.059 encourage. And I wanna show you. That encouragement 00:25:44.059 --> 00:25:46.819 reminds you of who you are in Christ. Provocation 00:25:46.819 --> 00:25:50.220 calls you to live like it. And every community 00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:52.799 of people, whether it's two people, three people, 00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:56.920 10 people, or 100 people, fall somewhere in this. 00:25:58.579 --> 00:26:00.720 So let me walk you through it. First, in the 00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:04.279 bottom left -hand corner, in that quadrant, we're 00:26:04.279 --> 00:26:09.960 gonna call it the just show up community. Uh 00:26:09.960 --> 00:26:17.789 -oh. Yeah, we'll make it. We'll be okay. Hold 00:26:17.789 --> 00:26:20.269 fast. We can get through it. Here we go. The 00:26:20.269 --> 00:26:24.950 just show up community. Low encourage, low provoke. 00:26:27.509 --> 00:26:29.910 We might even call it the nothing happens community. 00:26:31.329 --> 00:26:34.750 Nobody is speaking into your life. Nobody is 00:26:34.750 --> 00:26:38.190 encouraging you. Nobody is challenging you. You're 00:26:38.190 --> 00:26:40.990 around people, but you are not, no one is forming 00:26:40.990 --> 00:26:45.740 you. It's hangout time, it's easy time, it's 00:26:45.740 --> 00:26:50.180 surface level time. And it produces one thing 00:26:50.180 --> 00:26:55.980 over time for sure, and that is drift. Over time, 00:26:56.119 --> 00:27:00.000 you just slowly become less serious about taking 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:05.599 your next step with Jesus. It's just show up, 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:09.720 community. And second, we have high -encouraged, 00:27:09.799 --> 00:27:11.559 low -provoked, and we're gonna call that the 00:27:11.559 --> 00:27:15.319 here -only community. People remind you of who 00:27:15.319 --> 00:27:17.099 you are in Christ. They're supportive and they 00:27:17.099 --> 00:27:18.940 provide words of strength when you go through 00:27:18.940 --> 00:27:21.940 trials or temptations or difficulties, even sometimes 00:27:21.940 --> 00:27:23.960 when those difficulties are the result of your 00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:26.559 own foolishness and sin, but they never challenge 00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:30.940 you. They just encourage you. They never ask 00:27:30.940 --> 00:27:33.619 questions or the hard questions. They never call 00:27:33.619 --> 00:27:36.160 you to move forward beyond where you're stuck. 00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:43.039 And so you feel loved, but you never grow. Sin 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:45.859 will stay unaddressed. Obedience is always delayed. 00:27:46.019 --> 00:27:48.640 It's a community of immature believers, maybe 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:50.740 even with a lot of knowledge, but they still 00:27:50.740 --> 00:27:58.900 bent in on themselves. The next quadrant, low 00:27:58.900 --> 00:28:03.400 in courage, high provoke. We'll call it the try 00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:09.289 harder community. Oh, there's challenge. There's 00:28:09.289 --> 00:28:12.910 correction. There's always a push to do better, 00:28:13.009 --> 00:28:18.089 but there's no strength or support. There's no 00:28:18.089 --> 00:28:22.809 warmth. There's no grace. The gospel gets inverted 00:28:22.809 --> 00:28:25.529 to a sort of work harder and God will accept 00:28:25.529 --> 00:28:29.230 you. Or some form of work harder so that you 00:28:29.230 --> 00:28:31.970 can achieve next level Christianity, a higher 00:28:31.970 --> 00:28:33.470 plane of Christian life, and then you can look 00:28:33.470 --> 00:28:37.559 down on everyone else. A sort of self -righteousness. 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:41.640 Instead of the true gospel of the finished work 00:28:41.640 --> 00:28:43.839 of Christ and the life of Christ that is available 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:46.319 to every believer, whether it's their first day 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:53.700 in the faith or their last day. The real gospel 00:28:53.700 --> 00:28:55.940 where we work from our new position of being 00:28:55.940 --> 00:28:59.079 accepted, having access to the Father, not in 00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:03.059 order to be accepted. And what is this? What 00:29:03.059 --> 00:29:06.640 is... What does the try -harder community produce? 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:14.240 Well, in some, it produces hiding. I can't measure 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:18.460 up, so I'm going to withdraw. In others, it produces 00:29:18.460 --> 00:29:22.200 self -righteousness. They're very proud of all 00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:28.640 they do for God and how God must have a special 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:34.319 place in his heart for them. Some pretend everything 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:38.440 is okay, on the surface at least, and some burn 00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:43.319 out from trying to earn their place. It's a try 00:29:43.319 --> 00:29:45.920 -harder community. But then there's the fourth, 00:29:46.220 --> 00:29:50.500 high encourage, high provoke. We're going to 00:29:50.500 --> 00:29:54.000 call this a gospel community. This is what Hebrews 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:56.339 10 is describing, people who will strengthen 00:29:56.339 --> 00:30:01.160 you and people who will spur you on. A gospel 00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:03.859 community that reminds you of who you are in 00:30:03.859 --> 00:30:08.839 Christ and calls you to live like it. People 00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:12.339 who say, I'm for you. I'm 100 % for you. And 00:30:12.339 --> 00:30:14.900 because I'm for you, I will not let you stay 00:30:14.900 --> 00:30:20.440 where you are. See, God saves us through Christ. 00:30:21.240 --> 00:30:24.240 God saves us through Christ alone. And this. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:27.880 This gospel community through love and encouragement 00:30:27.880 --> 00:30:31.279 and provoking, this is how God sustains us in 00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:38.579 Christ. Most people don't live here. Most people 00:30:38.579 --> 00:30:40.299 settle for one of the other three. Me and my 00:30:40.299 --> 00:30:42.299 wife were talking about past church experiences. 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:45.619 We've been in every one of those churches, every 00:30:45.619 --> 00:30:50.759 one of those communities. You either stay comfortable, 00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:52.960 you stay distant, or you stay under the pressure. 00:30:53.529 --> 00:30:56.109 without support. But Hebrews 10 says, well, you 00:30:56.109 --> 00:30:59.509 have to have both. We have to be a community 00:30:59.509 --> 00:31:02.829 where our one another includes encouraging, reminding 00:31:02.829 --> 00:31:06.230 us who we are in Christ, what is already true 00:31:06.230 --> 00:31:08.349 of us, and provoking, telling us it's time to 00:31:08.349 --> 00:31:12.970 take a step forward. And so let's bring this 00:31:12.970 --> 00:31:15.109 down to real life really quickly in some application. 00:31:15.349 --> 00:31:18.750 First, yourself. You are not just being shaped 00:31:18.750 --> 00:31:21.109 by others. You are constantly shaping your own 00:31:21.109 --> 00:31:26.250 soul. Did you know that? You are both the encourager 00:31:26.250 --> 00:31:31.630 and provoker of your own life. Pastor Paul David 00:31:31.630 --> 00:31:33.990 Tripp says, when life doesn't make sense, you 00:31:33.990 --> 00:31:36.670 will always preach to yourself some kind of gospel. 00:31:38.390 --> 00:31:41.970 Either the true gospel of God's goodness, his 00:31:41.970 --> 00:31:44.869 grace, and his presence, or some kind of false 00:31:44.869 --> 00:31:50.730 gospel, a distorted, misshapen gospel. The gospel 00:31:50.730 --> 00:31:54.519 you preach to yourself will shape you. And so 00:31:54.519 --> 00:31:59.759 ask yourself, do I only comfort myself? Do I 00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:01.960 only remind myself of all the things that are 00:32:01.960 --> 00:32:04.619 true of me in Christ? Do I excuse things that 00:32:04.619 --> 00:32:08.500 I know I shouldn't? Do I avoid obedience because 00:32:08.500 --> 00:32:11.960 it's hard or because of fear? Do I tell myself 00:32:11.960 --> 00:32:17.200 it's not that big of a deal? Or do I only provoke 00:32:17.200 --> 00:32:21.980 myself? Am I constantly critical, always bagging 00:32:21.980 --> 00:32:26.720 on myself how short I'm falling? No grace, no 00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:32.279 rest, all earning, no assurance. The gospel, 00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:36.440 the true gospel gives you both. It tells you 00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:39.200 you are fully accepted in Christ and now you 00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:42.680 are called to walk in obedience. And so you need 00:32:42.680 --> 00:32:44.680 to learn to preach to yourself encouragement, 00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:48.099 who you are in Christ, and provocation, and now 00:32:48.099 --> 00:32:51.880 what he calls me to be, how he calls me to live. 00:32:51.940 --> 00:32:53.720 And so that's yourself. The second one is the 00:32:53.720 --> 00:32:55.880 church, and that's the direct context of Hebrews 00:32:55.880 --> 00:33:01.680 chapter 10. He's writing to the church. Do you 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:08.140 have people who actually know you here? Do you 00:33:08.140 --> 00:33:11.779 actually know others? Not just a name or a face, 00:33:12.019 --> 00:33:17.720 but life on life. Do you have people who will 00:33:17.720 --> 00:33:22.819 provoke you and who will encourage you? Who will 00:33:22.819 --> 00:33:26.640 provoke you to love God more and who will encourage 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:29.759 you to do good for others in the strength that 00:33:29.759 --> 00:33:33.480 God provides? Who will help you to confront sin 00:33:33.480 --> 00:33:36.740 and get over it, even as its beck and call is 00:33:36.740 --> 00:33:40.119 like the island of sirens? Come, crash on the 00:33:40.119 --> 00:33:42.299 rocks again. Someone who says, don't do that. 00:33:42.920 --> 00:33:45.920 I know your confession. I know you're standing 00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:49.299 before God. You have access. Don't do that. Don't 00:33:49.299 --> 00:33:55.460 drift away. Or do you just live in a just show 00:33:55.460 --> 00:34:00.359 up community? Sitting, leaving no one close enough 00:34:00.359 --> 00:34:04.480 to speak into your life. Hebrews says that's 00:34:04.480 --> 00:34:08.139 not safe, friends. That's not a safe place to 00:34:08.139 --> 00:34:12.960 be. That's how people drift. And so this means 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:16.000 you don't just attend, but you engage. You begin 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:18.719 to grow gospel -shaped friends, the kind of friends 00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:21.000 who will speak encouragement and will speak life 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:23.480 and will provoke you toward love and good deeds. 00:34:25.260 --> 00:34:27.480 Maybe you get connected if you're looking for 00:34:27.480 --> 00:34:30.059 an easy route to just get together with people 00:34:30.059 --> 00:34:32.320 who are all in this struggle together, all moving 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:35.219 forward, trying to love Jesus and get over their 00:34:35.219 --> 00:34:40.539 stuff. Hop into a disciple group. Get into the 00:34:40.539 --> 00:34:47.780 mess with everyone else. Are you all bent in 00:34:47.780 --> 00:34:50.360 on yourself and you have no room or no margin 00:34:50.360 --> 00:34:54.539 in your life for serving others? And I would 00:34:54.539 --> 00:34:56.760 say that biblically, if you read all the scriptures 00:34:56.760 --> 00:34:59.519 about service, and again, we confuse this word, 00:34:59.559 --> 00:35:05.320 but what does ministry mean? Service. Ministry 00:35:05.320 --> 00:35:09.400 means serve. We're all called to ministry. We're 00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:11.420 all called to minister to one another. We're 00:35:11.420 --> 00:35:13.179 all called to serve one another. And you might 00:35:13.179 --> 00:35:15.380 say, but I do serve. I serve the whole world. 00:35:16.840 --> 00:35:22.079 Oh, that's cute. But the Bible calls you first. 00:35:22.699 --> 00:35:26.900 The premise is to serve your brothers and sisters. 00:35:28.460 --> 00:35:33.000 For this very reason, prone to wander, prone 00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:36.800 to drift, need encouragement, need provocation. 00:35:40.659 --> 00:35:42.760 Open your life up to people. And then third, 00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:45.159 your family, your home. Did you know that your 00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:49.579 home is a community? Your home has its own culture. 00:35:51.659 --> 00:35:54.400 The question is, what kind of culture? What kind 00:35:54.400 --> 00:35:58.300 of community? Is it all encouragement and no 00:35:58.300 --> 00:36:02.659 challenge? Where everyone is strengthened, but 00:36:02.659 --> 00:36:05.440 no one is called forward? Is it all provocation 00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:08.980 and no encouragement? All pressure, all rules, 00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:14.539 all lists, no warmth, no joy, no grace. Because 00:36:14.539 --> 00:36:18.579 neither produces maturity on its own. When your 00:36:18.579 --> 00:36:20.659 home, what your home is, your home needs both. 00:36:21.289 --> 00:36:23.929 It needs to speak life. It needs to remind one 00:36:23.929 --> 00:36:26.349 another of the truth. It needs to call people 00:36:26.349 --> 00:36:28.829 back, your family members, you, your spouse, 00:36:29.130 --> 00:36:30.969 your kids, whoever's in your home, call them 00:36:30.969 --> 00:36:33.130 back to their confession. Continue to anchor 00:36:33.130 --> 00:36:35.570 them in who they are in Christ and call them 00:36:35.570 --> 00:36:39.070 to live that out in everyday life. Your home 00:36:39.070 --> 00:36:43.610 is a place to celebrate what is good. And parents, 00:36:43.610 --> 00:36:47.389 this matters deeply. If you're a parent in this 00:36:47.389 --> 00:36:49.690 room, your kids don't get the same choice of 00:36:49.690 --> 00:36:52.650 who they spend time with. They have to spend 00:36:52.650 --> 00:36:56.849 time with you. Which means they're being formed 00:36:56.849 --> 00:37:03.449 and shaped by you. So, how are you forming your 00:37:03.449 --> 00:37:07.349 kids in this every single day? Are they living 00:37:07.349 --> 00:37:11.750 in a gospel community at home with you? And remember, 00:37:11.849 --> 00:37:14.949 a gospel community, if you go, oh, a gospel community, 00:37:15.090 --> 00:37:17.130 everything's perfect, I can't ever fail, I can't, 00:37:17.130 --> 00:37:19.670 no. Now you're back in the try harder category. 00:37:22.010 --> 00:37:24.949 It's the recognition that the gospel is Christ 00:37:24.949 --> 00:37:27.530 and what he has done for us, which means that 00:37:27.530 --> 00:37:33.150 I still fail, I still trip up and fall into all 00:37:33.150 --> 00:37:36.070 kinds of things. But what do I do when I'm there? 00:37:36.570 --> 00:37:38.409 We talked about it last week. Do you go to your 00:37:38.409 --> 00:37:43.989 kids and say, Mom was wrong. I shouldn't have 00:37:43.989 --> 00:37:46.710 said it that way. I shouldn't have raised my 00:37:46.710 --> 00:37:48.449 voice. I shouldn't have expected that in the 00:37:48.449 --> 00:37:52.449 way that I did. Or dad, dad was wrong. When I 00:37:52.449 --> 00:37:54.849 did that, when I came in hot and heavy and I 00:37:54.849 --> 00:37:57.289 was angry, I shouldn't have done that. God did 00:37:57.289 --> 00:38:00.349 not want that for me. And will you forgive me? 00:38:01.789 --> 00:38:04.369 That also models a gospel culture, doesn't it? 00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:08.059 What kind of culture is growing up at our home? 00:38:08.139 --> 00:38:11.059 What kind of place is our kids being raised in 00:38:11.059 --> 00:38:15.280 and formed in? Is it a gospel community? Is it 00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:19.119 a try harder? Is it a truth only or here only? 00:38:20.719 --> 00:38:24.059 Or is it a just show up? Everyone just passing 00:38:24.059 --> 00:38:27.420 in the wind. Just a good hang, but nothing else. 00:38:29.019 --> 00:38:32.360 So let's wrap it up now. Hebrews 10 doesn't start 00:38:32.360 --> 00:38:35.840 with community though, does it? Hebrews 10 starts 00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:40.940 with Christ. It starts with the reality that 00:38:40.940 --> 00:38:43.679 through one sacrifice, Jesus has dealt completely 00:38:43.679 --> 00:38:48.760 with your sin. You now have confidence to enter 00:38:48.760 --> 00:38:50.860 the presence of God, that you are not trying 00:38:50.860 --> 00:38:53.719 to earn your place. You've already been brought 00:38:53.719 --> 00:38:58.809 all the way in if you're in Christ. And in Christ, 00:38:58.809 --> 00:39:02.010 you are known completely. You are accepted and 00:39:02.010 --> 00:39:06.869 you are welcomed all the way in. And so you don't 00:39:06.869 --> 00:39:10.230 need to hide anymore. You don't need to pretend. 00:39:10.349 --> 00:39:12.230 You don't need to protect your image. You are 00:39:12.230 --> 00:39:14.949 free to be known because you are already fully 00:39:14.949 --> 00:39:20.250 known. And not only that, Jesus is not just the 00:39:20.250 --> 00:39:22.909 one who saves you. He is the one who sustains 00:39:22.909 --> 00:39:27.309 you. And one of the primary ways he does that 00:39:27.309 --> 00:39:33.630 is through his people. So when someone encourages 00:39:33.630 --> 00:39:38.090 you, someone speaks the truth about who you are 00:39:38.090 --> 00:39:40.929 in Christ, that is Christ strengthening you. 00:39:42.909 --> 00:39:46.510 And when someone provokes you to a living faith, 00:39:46.789 --> 00:39:56.099 love in action, that's Christ keeping you. Not 00:39:56.099 --> 00:40:00.460 just a good hang, not just an awesome time together, 00:40:00.659 --> 00:40:04.019 a fellowship, but this is a means of grace. What 00:40:04.019 --> 00:40:06.500 is a means of grace? All it means is, another 00:40:06.500 --> 00:40:09.820 word for it is, it's one of God's chosen mechanisms. 00:40:11.500 --> 00:40:14.179 For how he decided he wants to distribute the 00:40:14.179 --> 00:40:16.820 grace that is accessible to all believers, again, 00:40:16.880 --> 00:40:19.400 whether it's day one or the last day on earth, 00:40:19.539 --> 00:40:22.400 this is the means by which God wants to distribute 00:40:22.400 --> 00:40:24.920 the grace he has available, all of it to his 00:40:24.920 --> 00:40:29.719 people, and he uses means of grace. And community 00:40:29.719 --> 00:40:32.760 is one of those. The people of God is one of 00:40:32.760 --> 00:40:34.199 those. In other words, if you're disconnected, 00:40:34.380 --> 00:40:37.340 you're just outside of one of the ways that God 00:40:37.340 --> 00:40:40.139 has ordained and authored to distribute the grace 00:40:40.139 --> 00:40:44.449 to his people. It's right here. It's right in 00:40:44.449 --> 00:40:53.010 this room. He wants you to have it in a gospel 00:40:53.010 --> 00:40:54.750 -shaped community of people who will encourage 00:40:54.750 --> 00:40:59.690 and provoke you. This is amazing grace. And this 00:40:59.690 --> 00:41:06.010 is how God holds his people fast. Because Christ 00:41:06.010 --> 00:41:09.500 has secured you and is sustaining you. step into 00:41:09.500 --> 00:41:13.920 the kind of community he uses to keep you. Be 00:41:13.920 --> 00:41:16.940 known, be encouraged, be challenged, because 00:41:16.940 --> 00:41:19.340 the credibility of the witness of the church 00:41:19.340 --> 00:41:24.940 is directly connected to how we one another, 00:41:25.260 --> 00:41:29.920 how we love and serve, as we talked about in 00:41:29.920 --> 00:41:34.739 the first week, how we confess and forgive, as 00:41:34.739 --> 00:41:37.539 we talked about last week, and how we encourage. 00:41:38.230 --> 00:41:42.130 and provoke one another toward love and good 00:41:42.130 --> 00:41:42.469 works.