WEBVTT 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:12.679 Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:15.279 Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:19.000 podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:20.820 you can have an encounter with Jesus that'll 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:24.379 change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring 00:00:24.379 --> 00:00:31.219 message from our preaching team. Jesus Christ! 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:39.359 It's a phrase which tradies love. It's a phrase 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:41.719 which has given so much power when it's used, 00:00:41.979 --> 00:00:44.299 and I've heard it used on Sundays in prayers, 00:00:44.820 --> 00:00:48.619 but I've also heard it used when people almost 00:00:48.619 --> 00:00:51.359 fall off roofs, or when people shoot themselves 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:54.500 with a nail gun. That sort of stuff. I wonder 00:00:54.500 --> 00:00:57.719 if Jesus' name comes out of tradies' mouths more 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:01.579 than Christians in the workplace. It makes you 00:01:01.579 --> 00:01:03.700 curious if these people are actually praising 00:01:03.700 --> 00:01:07.810 Jesus in their heads. or praising him for his 00:01:07.810 --> 00:01:10.590 provision that they didn't fall off a roof, or 00:01:10.590 --> 00:01:12.829 they didn't hit an artery with this nail, or 00:01:12.829 --> 00:01:15.150 it's just a simple lack of vocabulary because 00:01:15.150 --> 00:01:19.969 they're a tradie. Hi, my name's Tim, I'm a carpenter. 00:01:22.790 --> 00:01:25.069 I don't think it's a surprise when Jesus's name 00:01:25.069 --> 00:01:29.700 is used like that. Like when a plumber, a 54 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:32.260 year old plumber finds out, just finds all of 00:01:32.260 --> 00:01:34.159 your poo that you've blocked up a pipe with and 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:36.939 now he has to clean it out. Because Jesus' name 00:01:36.939 --> 00:01:43.359 has power. The man and idea of Jesus is one of 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:45.560 immense power and victory. Whether it's used 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:49.260 to bring joy or disdain and it holds power in 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:53.739 society and eternity. What do we really believe 00:01:53.739 --> 00:01:58.439 about Jesus? Who is he? What did He do and why 00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:02.099 does that matter? Because maybe you're here today 00:02:02.099 --> 00:02:06.060 and you're simply unsure about who Jesus is and 00:02:06.060 --> 00:02:08.479 why that matters and what He did and that's real 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:14.360 and that's perfectly okay. Questions are good. 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:17.479 I think when we stop asking questions is when 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:21.400 we stop growing. Or maybe you're here and you 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:24.360 feel like you know Jesus. You feel like you know 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:28.300 a lot about Him. I can promise you, there's more. 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:32.120 There's always more. Now this preaching series 00:02:32.120 --> 00:02:36.360 here at Henley is called Essentials. And we are 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:39.659 here, we're following the Apostles' Creed. So 00:02:39.659 --> 00:02:41.719 the Apostles' Creed isn't exactly in the Bible. 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:45.240 It's not a... everything in it is from the Bible, 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:47.539 but it's not in the Bible, if you know what I 00:02:47.539 --> 00:02:50.180 mean. It's a summary of what Christians believe. 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:54.199 It's a developed, baptismal confession of the 00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:56.979 early church, particularly in Rome. And it goes 00:02:56.979 --> 00:02:59.280 all the way back into the early centuries of 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:02.639 Christianity. And it was a way for people being 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:06.439 baptized to stand up and to declare, this is 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:11.139 what they believe. This is what I believe. It's 00:03:11.139 --> 00:03:14.240 something we recite here at before and baptism 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:16.599 is an encounter. And so it's a core part of what 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:18.800 we do here at Encounter, and I think this series 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:21.680 is really, really awesome in explaining what 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:24.780 that is and why we do it. It encompasses belief 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:27.360 in the Trinity and the saving power of Jesus, 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:32.639 the Church, forgiveness, God, Holy Spirit, internal 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:36.699 life. Now, I get the privilege today to talk 00:03:36.699 --> 00:03:41.259 about Jesus, which is always awesome. Tim's really 00:03:41.259 --> 00:03:46.810 given me a bit of a layup. I've been thinking 00:03:46.810 --> 00:03:48.810 about this and like, there had to be a pastor 00:03:48.810 --> 00:03:52.610 Tim here today, right? There had to be. And so, 00:03:52.610 --> 00:03:57.370 I am that pastor today. My name is Tim. It's 00:03:57.370 --> 00:04:01.310 a great time. The Creed goes like this. I'm going 00:04:01.310 --> 00:04:02.969 to read a bit of it today and then we're going 00:04:02.969 --> 00:04:05.849 to dive in. I believe in God the Father Almighty, 00:04:06.430 --> 00:04:09.430 creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, 00:04:09.830 --> 00:04:13.090 His only Son, our Lord, who is conceived by the 00:04:13.090 --> 00:04:16.279 Holy Spirit. born of the Virgin Mary, suffered 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:19.759 under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:23.660 was buried. He descended into hell. On the third 00:04:23.660 --> 00:04:26.680 day he rose again from the dead. He ascended 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:29.339 into heaven and is seated at the right hand of 00:04:29.339 --> 00:04:32.100 God the Father Almighty. From there he will come 00:04:32.100 --> 00:04:35.740 to judge the living and the dead." Now the Creed 00:04:35.740 --> 00:04:39.279 goes on. That's just, that's probably about two 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:41.680 -thirds of it. The Creed goes on and so to recap, 00:04:42.580 --> 00:04:44.899 To believe in Jesus means that we believe in 00:04:44.899 --> 00:04:48.459 this. We believe in what is being said in the 00:04:48.459 --> 00:04:53.939 Creed. Now Jesus's name, the name of Jesus, was 00:04:53.939 --> 00:04:56.139 popular back in the times when Jesus was named. 00:04:56.699 --> 00:04:59.420 It was a popular Old Testament name and it was 00:04:59.420 --> 00:05:02.040 normal for people to have heard this name or 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:08.660 to even have this name. Now, it's, so the thought 00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:10.879 is it's sacred and special but it's ordainly 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:14.560 human. The name of Jesus is ordainly human. The 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:18.600 name of Jesus is derived from Yeshua, meaning 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:27.560 the Lord saves. Now, Jesus is a human earthly 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:33.060 name. Christ is not. But Christ is not a surname. 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:36.240 Like my last name is Goldney, it's not Jesus 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:42.870 Christ. It's not His surname. Christ means Messiah. 00:05:43.290 --> 00:05:48.189 It means anointed one. Anointed one. And it's 00:05:48.189 --> 00:05:50.550 interesting that Jesus as a name is not mentioned 00:05:50.550 --> 00:05:54.050 in the Old Testament. He's not, He's not, He's 00:05:54.050 --> 00:05:56.449 not um, He's talked about, yes, but He's not 00:05:56.449 --> 00:05:59.629 talked about as Jesus. He's talked about as the 00:05:59.629 --> 00:06:03.410 Son, the Saviour, the Branch, the Emmanuel and 00:06:03.410 --> 00:06:07.449 the Messiah. And Messiah is one of His titles 00:06:07.449 --> 00:06:12.329 before He comes to earth. Messiah is a title 00:06:12.329 --> 00:06:15.110 and Jesus is His earthly name. So when we are 00:06:15.110 --> 00:06:18.350 calling Him Jesus Christ, we are calling Him 00:06:18.350 --> 00:06:24.110 by His earthly name and His title, the Saviour. 00:06:25.449 --> 00:06:33.750 Jesus, earthly name, Christ, His title. Jesus 00:06:33.750 --> 00:06:43.379 is fully God and fully human. He is both. He's 00:06:43.379 --> 00:06:48.540 not a 50 -50 mix. He's not a 100 % both therefore 00:06:48.540 --> 00:06:52.180 equaling 200%. Now that seems really confusing. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:56.019 That seems like a lot. And that's the kind of 00:06:56.019 --> 00:06:58.339 the point that it is. It's actually not meant 00:06:58.339 --> 00:06:59.959 to make sense, but bear with me because we're 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:02.480 going to talk about that a little bit today. 00:07:04.180 --> 00:07:07.160 Jesus was fully human. He was fully human. He 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:11.079 didn't just wear humanity as a costume. He didn't, 00:07:11.220 --> 00:07:16.240 he became fully human. He was born. He was a 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:18.160 child. I don't know if you ever think about that, 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:21.240 that Jesus was a child. Jesus would have had 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:24.980 mates that He played with growing up. I just, 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:26.699 every time I think about that, I always think 00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:28.879 about Jesus in ministry, right? We always think 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:30.920 about those years when He was in ministry or 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:32.240 the things that are written down in the Bible. 00:07:32.660 --> 00:07:36.860 But Jesus lived for 33 years. He was a man, He 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:42.199 was a child. Crazy. He experienced pain. He got 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:45.439 angry. He was sad when unjust things happened 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:48.759 or when he felt loss. He experienced rejection. 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:52.699 He was betrayed by his friend. He knew what it 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:56.699 was like to be overwhelmed. He felt feelings. 00:07:58.339 --> 00:08:00.899 So when we're feeling overwhelmed, when we're 00:08:00.899 --> 00:08:03.399 feeling tired, and when we feel like our lives 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:06.319 have no margin, when you feel like you're stressed 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:08.620 and you can't see your way through, when life's 00:08:08.620 --> 00:08:11.290 just beating you, is beating you continuously. 00:08:12.709 --> 00:08:16.750 And you maybe say that, God, the God, I believe 00:08:16.750 --> 00:08:19.129 in you but you don't know what this feels like. 00:08:20.029 --> 00:08:24.110 You have no idea what I'm going through. Look 00:08:24.110 --> 00:08:29.310 up. Because He probably has more of an idea than 00:08:29.310 --> 00:08:37.769 you think. Jesus was also fully God. He is divine. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:41.779 He existed before coming down to earth. It wasn't 00:08:41.779 --> 00:08:44.100 a birthed into existence when He came down to 00:08:44.100 --> 00:08:49.019 earth. No, He was birthed into humanity. John 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:53.000 1 .1 says this, in the beginning, the Word, in 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:54.820 the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 00:08:54.820 --> 00:08:58.559 with God, and the Word was God. The Word, meaning 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:03.379 Logos, is referring to Jesus. Jesus has always 00:09:03.379 --> 00:09:10.299 been. Christ always existed and was given the 00:09:10.299 --> 00:09:13.419 name Jesus when he descended and took on human 00:09:13.419 --> 00:09:17.379 form. He is the God man. Sounds like a superhero, 00:09:17.559 --> 00:09:21.580 right? He is the God man. 1 Timothy 2 verses 00:09:21.580 --> 00:09:24.860 5 says this, it says, for there is one God and 00:09:24.860 --> 00:09:28.840 one mediator between God and mankind, the man, 00:09:29.320 --> 00:09:33.519 Christ Jesus. Jesus in his humanity has the ability 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:36.330 to offer empathy. He has the ability to offer 00:09:36.330 --> 00:09:39.250 understanding of how hard this world is, how, 00:09:39.250 --> 00:09:42.129 how hard it is to be a Christian in this world. 00:09:42.490 --> 00:09:45.509 He was killed for it. He was killed for his belief 00:09:45.509 --> 00:09:48.049 and for, for saying that He was the Messiah, 00:09:48.070 --> 00:09:50.590 He was killed for that. He understands how hard 00:09:50.590 --> 00:09:55.350 it is to believe what we believe. We can connect 00:09:55.350 --> 00:09:59.149 with this part of Him, with this, with Jesus. 00:09:59.210 --> 00:10:02.279 We can connect with Him. and hear from Him and 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:05.159 read His stories and His struggles and His experiences. 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:08.179 And His humanity is what can draw us closer to 00:10:08.179 --> 00:10:10.799 Him. His humanity is so often what draws people 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:16.759 close to Him. But His divinity is the part that 00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:21.799 saves us. The divinity in rising again and defeating 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:27.539 death could only be done by one. He is our divine 00:10:27.539 --> 00:10:35.460 Saviour, our Friend. He is both. Jesus can be 00:10:35.460 --> 00:10:38.039 our friend and our Saviour and He wants to be. 00:10:38.700 --> 00:10:41.039 So spend some time with Him because He wants 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:45.320 to be your friend. He wants to be your friend. 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:49.860 He knows what it's like to have friends. He wants 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:56.580 us to be friends with Him. The truth is He had 00:10:56.580 --> 00:10:59.919 to be both. Jesus had to be both divine Saviour 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:02.700 and friend. He had to be both fully human and 00:11:02.700 --> 00:11:05.980 fully God to do what needed to be done. He had 00:11:05.980 --> 00:11:08.340 to be. He couldn't just be the anointed prophet, 00:11:09.779 --> 00:11:13.279 fully human. He couldn't just be that. He had 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:16.580 to be the divine Messiah so that He could save 00:11:16.580 --> 00:11:20.559 us. A prophet was not going to save the people. 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:22.460 It was God that was going to save the people. 00:11:22.899 --> 00:11:27.580 And so God in human form saves the people. saves 00:11:27.580 --> 00:11:31.960 us. We needed both. And I think that's so awesome. 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:39.019 This here is a Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant 00:11:39.019 --> 00:11:43.860 signed Logo Man card. For all you basketball 00:11:43.860 --> 00:11:45.580 fanatics out there, if you know anything about 00:11:45.580 --> 00:11:49.620 basketball, you know cards can be valuable. This 00:11:49.620 --> 00:11:58.419 card was sold in 2025 for $12 .932 million. You're 00:11:58.419 --> 00:12:00.120 looking at, that's everything that comes in the 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:03.779 card. $12 .93 million. But what makes this card 00:12:03.779 --> 00:12:07.600 so valuable isn't simply because it has two pictures 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:11.340 of the greatest players. It's not simply because 00:12:11.340 --> 00:12:15.100 it's signed. It's not simply because it has patches. 00:12:15.340 --> 00:12:19.460 It's because they're all together. There is literally 00:12:19.460 --> 00:12:22.500 no other copy of this card and there never will 00:12:22.500 --> 00:12:28.169 be one. Rest in peace, Kobe. But it has it has 00:12:28.169 --> 00:12:32.049 signatures photos badges game worn badges this 00:12:32.049 --> 00:12:37.049 card is Called the holy grail of basketball cards 00:12:37.049 --> 00:12:41.429 It's a one -of -one There's only one and only 00:12:41.429 --> 00:12:44.049 ever will be one of these cards and the point 00:12:44.049 --> 00:12:47.789 of this card Isn't the value of the card yet? 00:12:48.250 --> 00:12:50.769 That's might be what you remember is the 12 million 00:12:50.769 --> 00:12:53.830 dollars for one card The point is its uniqueness 00:12:56.030 --> 00:12:59.490 There's only one of this card and Jesus who does 00:12:59.490 --> 00:13:02.690 not have a dollar amount Not because he isn't 00:13:02.690 --> 00:13:04.549 valuable because he but because his salvation 00:13:04.549 --> 00:13:08.250 is free to everyone. There is nobody like Jesus 00:13:08.250 --> 00:13:13.429 Never has never will be Jesus is the ultimate 00:13:13.429 --> 00:13:17.929 one of one Jesus isn't half man or half God. 00:13:17.929 --> 00:13:20.210 He's fully God and fully man and that's what 00:13:20.210 --> 00:13:25.230 makes him one of one There will never be anyone 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:29.679 like Him. And we get the opportunity to have 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:34.980 a relationship with Him. Now the Creed continues, 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:38.379 as we go down, it continues and says this, it 00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:41.740 says, Jesus, oh we believe that Jesus was born 00:13:41.740 --> 00:13:46.460 of a virgin. In Matthew 1, 18 to 24, He is the 00:13:46.460 --> 00:13:51.139 only Son of God. In John 3, 16. His death, He 00:13:51.139 --> 00:13:54.019 died and He was resurrected. In 1 Corinthians 00:13:54.019 --> 00:13:57.129 15. and He ascended into heaven at the right 00:13:57.129 --> 00:13:59.830 hand, is now seated at the right hand of God. 00:14:00.570 --> 00:14:05.289 The Apostles' Creed, it tells the story of Jesus. 00:14:06.610 --> 00:14:09.509 The Creed focuses on the who and the what of 00:14:09.509 --> 00:14:13.830 Jesus, who Jesus is and what He has done. It 00:14:13.830 --> 00:14:16.190 declares belief that Jesus is fully God and fully 00:14:16.190 --> 00:14:19.529 man. He is the divine Messiah who saved us from 00:14:19.529 --> 00:14:22.490 the punishment and mistakes of our failures and 00:14:22.490 --> 00:14:24.879 saved us through His death and resurrection. 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:29.000 He did this out of love and love for each and 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:31.220 every one of us, to offer a relationship with 00:14:31.220 --> 00:14:36.039 us. When we deserved death, He chose us to have 00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:40.659 life. When we deserved death, He chose us to 00:14:40.659 --> 00:14:46.559 have life. And from the beginning, God has always 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:50.159 wanted to have a relationship with humans. He 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:53.000 created a perfect world free from sin, free from 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:56.940 all of this evil and stuff, and humans, what 00:14:56.940 --> 00:15:00.360 did we do? We destroyed it. And we gave into 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:02.740 sinful, hurtful patterns, and I know this wasn't 00:15:02.740 --> 00:15:04.879 us, but we are still humans, so it's still a 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:11.139 part of our genealogy, right? But God has always 00:15:11.139 --> 00:15:15.639 wanted to restore humanity. And God's chosen 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:17.399 people, the Israelites, were the front -runners 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:21.320 for this on many occasions. God has always spoken 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:25.000 to His people. He's always wanted to put people's 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:30.179 sin behind them. And a part of this Israelite 00:15:30.179 --> 00:15:33.799 custom that happened was called the High Priest. 00:15:34.580 --> 00:15:38.340 There was a High Priest who was a high -ranking 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:40.759 priest amongst the Israelites. And it was chosen 00:15:40.759 --> 00:15:44.080 by God as a religious leader. And once a year, 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:47.360 once a year on the Day of Atonement, I feel like 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:49.460 I... I sin a whole lot more than once a year, 00:15:49.460 --> 00:15:50.960 so I feel like I need the Day of Atonement a 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:54.139 lot. I don't know about you guys, but this would 00:15:54.139 --> 00:15:56.139 not have worked for me. I'm so glad we have something 00:15:56.139 --> 00:15:58.500 different. Once a year on the Day of Atonement, 00:15:58.580 --> 00:16:00.639 the higher priest offered a sacrifice to the 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:04.879 temple for the sins of the people. And this is 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:09.120 how it used to be. You sin, you sacrifice, and 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:12.639 you're clean again. God has always been a God 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:18.149 who can restore. God has and always will. restore. 00:16:19.769 --> 00:16:24.629 He's in the business of restoring. Now Hebrews 00:16:24.629 --> 00:16:27.909 4, which Josh wrote out before, says, Therefore, 00:16:28.289 --> 00:16:31.269 since we have a great high priest who has ascended 00:16:31.269 --> 00:16:34.830 into heaven, Jesus, the Son of God, let us firmly 00:16:34.830 --> 00:16:38.590 hold to the faith we profess. For we do not have 00:16:38.590 --> 00:16:41.029 a high priest who is unable to empathize with 00:16:41.029 --> 00:16:44.250 our weakness, but we do have one who has been 00:16:44.250 --> 00:16:47.990 tempted in every way, just as we are. Yeah, He 00:16:47.990 --> 00:16:53.509 did not sin. Let us approach God's throne of 00:16:53.509 --> 00:16:56.090 grace with confidence so that we may receive 00:16:56.090 --> 00:16:58.610 mercy and find grace to help us in our time of 00:16:58.610 --> 00:17:02.710 need. God doesn't give up on humanity. God tries 00:17:02.710 --> 00:17:05.509 to restore humanity. And the New Testament is 00:17:05.509 --> 00:17:09.109 the end of this because of Jesus. The Old Testament 00:17:09.109 --> 00:17:12.230 was, you sin, you sacrifice, and then you are 00:17:12.230 --> 00:17:18.079 made clean. And Jesus came and said that I am 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:21.480 the sacrifice for your sin. I will be that sacrifice. 00:17:22.299 --> 00:17:26.039 I will be the once -off sacrifice for your sins. 00:17:26.339 --> 00:17:28.700 For all of your sins that you've done and for 00:17:28.700 --> 00:17:33.779 all of the sins that you will do. Jesus is the 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:37.400 great high priest. He is the great high priest 00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:40.440 who sacrificed himself to atone for our sins. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:42.759 He broke the old covenant and gave us a new one 00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:50.009 of love and grace. Jesus is both the priest and 00:17:50.009 --> 00:17:56.349 the sacrifice. He is both. He is both. Now our 00:17:56.349 --> 00:18:00.349 salvation depends on who Jesus is. He had to 00:18:00.349 --> 00:18:04.150 be truly human to stand in our place and He had 00:18:04.150 --> 00:18:06.950 to be truly God to accomplish salvation and a 00:18:06.950 --> 00:18:10.390 radical forgiveness that we could never accomplish 00:18:10.390 --> 00:18:13.789 on our own. And because of this we can come to 00:18:13.789 --> 00:18:16.900 the throne of grace just as we are. Surrendering 00:18:16.900 --> 00:18:19.880 our failures and our faults without worrying 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:22.619 if our sacrifice is big enough to cover our sin. 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:27.720 Not fearing judgment, but we can come with confidence. 00:18:28.940 --> 00:18:34.460 Confidence in Jesus Christ, the Saviour and the 00:18:34.460 --> 00:18:40.700 Messiah. And this all matters. This all matters 00:18:40.700 --> 00:18:45.160 because we can come to God how we are. Jesus 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:48.720 understands what it's like to be like us. He 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:53.900 understands the temptations. He understands the 00:18:53.900 --> 00:18:59.519 way that we are. And He so deeply cares for us. 00:19:00.500 --> 00:19:03.160 And He so deeply wants us to live a better life. 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:06.579 It doesn't matter how many times we've messed 00:19:06.579 --> 00:19:08.799 up. It doesn't matter how many times you've done 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.240 that thing that you swore you were never going 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:14.750 to do again. God doesn't move away from you. 00:19:15.690 --> 00:19:17.970 He understands our weakness. He understands our 00:19:17.970 --> 00:19:21.569 flaws and our mistakes and yet He doesn't make 00:19:21.569 --> 00:19:27.410 us pay for them. That's the gospel. We don't 00:19:27.410 --> 00:19:29.089 have to clean ourselves up before we come to 00:19:29.089 --> 00:19:31.210 Him. We don't have to try and save ourselves. 00:19:31.789 --> 00:19:36.069 Jesus has done what we never could. Jesus is 00:19:36.069 --> 00:19:42.019 the ultimate one of one. We need to properly 00:19:42.019 --> 00:19:45.440 understand who Jesus is to understand what He 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:51.019 has done. We need to properly understand who 00:19:51.019 --> 00:19:56.519 Jesus is to understand what He has done and what 00:19:56.519 --> 00:20:01.839 that means for us. We can come to Him as a Saviour. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:06.019 We can come to Him as a friend. We can come to 00:20:06.019 --> 00:20:11.339 Him wanting fully God or fully man. because He 00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:14.039 is all of these things. We can come to the priest. 00:20:16.460 --> 00:20:19.019 We can come to the, we can come to all of these 00:20:19.019 --> 00:20:22.599 parts of Jesus because He is so big and loves 00:20:22.599 --> 00:20:26.079 every part of us. We needed someone who could 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:28.500 understand both. We needed someone who could 00:20:28.500 --> 00:20:33.359 understand us. We needed someone who could save 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:38.980 us. Because we've tried. I don't know about you, 00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:44.160 but I've tried to save myself. I've tried over 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:46.519 and over again to try and walk away from this, 00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:49.519 this pattern, this sin pattern. I've tried over 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:54.660 and over and over again, but I can't do it. I 00:20:54.660 --> 00:21:00.480 can't do it by myself. It's not possible. We 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:03.599 can think that we might have it sorted, but we're 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:07.059 not the Saviour. We're not the Messiah. There's 00:21:07.059 --> 00:21:10.259 someone who's done that for us. All we have to 00:21:10.259 --> 00:21:12.140 do is come to the throne of grace and accept 00:21:12.140 --> 00:21:21.119 it and receive. And that's why I believe the 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:22.799 Apostles' Creed doesn't just say that I believe 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:27.000 Jesus existed. It says I believe in Jesus Christ, 00:21:27.859 --> 00:21:31.700 His only Son, our Lord. It's a declaration of 00:21:31.700 --> 00:21:35.559 His divinity and His humanity. It's a declaration 00:21:35.559 --> 00:21:38.859 saying, I believe who He is. I believe He says, 00:21:39.099 --> 00:21:43.099 He is who He says He is. I believe He is both 00:21:43.099 --> 00:21:45.779 Saviour and Friend. I believe He is both fully 00:21:45.779 --> 00:21:49.480 God and fully man. I believe Jesus is both priest 00:21:49.480 --> 00:21:52.759 and sacrifice. I believe that He died for my 00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:55.839 sins. I believe that He is alive and on the throne. 00:21:57.140 --> 00:22:14.039 I believe in Jesus. Let me pray. God, we thank 00:22:14.039 --> 00:22:19.220 you. We thank you for doing what we never could. 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:23.240 What we've tried and tried and tried to do on 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:25.700 our own. Lord, you've been sitting there this 00:22:25.700 --> 00:22:31.019 whole time with the answer. You've saved us already 00:22:31.019 --> 00:22:36.480 and we can't comprehend that. Lord, I pray that 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:41.039 we, as humans in our flaws and foolishness, Lord, 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:44.400 that we can come to You. We can come to Jesus 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:52.200 Christ, the Saviour. Come and sit at the throne. 00:22:54.779 --> 00:22:59.720 Let me thank You that You are so wonderful and 00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:04.660 all of the things that we would ever need. and 00:23:04.660 --> 00:23:06.819 come and lay that before you. We come and lay 00:23:06.819 --> 00:23:15.099 ourselves before you. Now maybe you've come today 00:23:15.099 --> 00:23:19.940 not believing in Jesus. Or maybe you've come 00:23:19.940 --> 00:23:22.380 today with an alternate view about what Jesus 00:23:22.380 --> 00:23:26.420 does and who He is. Maybe you've believed in 00:23:26.420 --> 00:23:31.319 the existence of Jesus. But maybe not the true 00:23:31.319 --> 00:23:34.740 divinity of Jesus. Maybe you've believed that 00:23:34.740 --> 00:23:39.720 he is a man, but not God. Or maybe you've come 00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:46.259 believing that he is God and not man. Maybe you've 00:23:46.259 --> 00:23:52.500 lost sight of who Jesus is. I want to ask you, 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:55.720 would you put your trust in him again? Would 00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:58.779 you put your trust in Jesus, maybe for the very 00:23:58.779 --> 00:24:10.700 first time? I would love to pray for you. I would 00:24:10.700 --> 00:24:17.779 love to pray with you. In this very next moment 00:24:17.779 --> 00:24:19.759 as we enter into worship, I would love you to 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:23.880 come find me. Come tap me on the shoulder because 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:36.240 this Jesus is not one to be missed. And if you 00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:38.740 maybe believe all of this, everything that I've 00:24:38.740 --> 00:24:40.140 said to you, maybe you haven't heard anything 00:24:40.140 --> 00:24:41.759 new today, or maybe you've got a few different 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:44.859 bits and pieces, or maybe what I said at the 00:24:44.859 --> 00:24:48.900 start has really hit you. I wonder if Jesus' 00:24:49.099 --> 00:24:53.940 name comes out of a tradie's mouth more than 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:59.619 your mouth. I wonder if you struggle to live 00:24:59.619 --> 00:25:05.000 like Jesus Christ is your Saviour. I would love 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.000 to pray with you too. Let's team up the front, 00:25:09.079 --> 00:25:12.680 we would love to pray with you. Because Jesus 00:25:12.680 --> 00:25:31.910 is more than a man. Lift that up together. or 00:25:31.910 --> 00:25:34.210 if you're interested in how you can support this 00:25:34.210 --> 00:25:37.910 ministry, please go to our website encounteradelaide 00:25:37.910 --> 00:25:42.069 .com .au Thanks again for listening. God bless 00:25:42.069 --> 00:25:42.430 you.