SonRise Community Church Morning Sermons

God builds His Missionary Church

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Community

So community, what is it? Community is a word that gets used loosely in our world today. It can either refer to a neighborhood, a social media group, a fan base, or any gathering of people with something in common. In the broadest sense, community simply means a group of people bound together by shared location, interests, or identity. People gravitate naturally towards others with similar perspectives and values, and society creates gatherings around common purposes all the time. Community in that general sense can be understood as togetherness, fellowship, camaraderie, or simply the absence of being alone. But the Christian community, our community, is something altogether different. It does not form around shared preferences or demographics. Christian community can be defined as lifelong fellowship with other believers in Jesus, a fellowship that Jesus himself won for his people, and that the Holy Spirit maintains through the Word, and that God ordains to the best, to be best expressed in local churches. It is a community composed not of people who chose one another, but because, or because they were compatible, but of people who love Jesus and therefore find themselves in fellowship with one another. The original Christian community was known for four things, mostly what we are to be known for as members of Sunrise. They were known for devotion to the apostolic pr- uh, preaching and teaching, fellowship, attending. They were, uh, known for prayer and love for one another. The local church is the primary place where believers put these callings into practice and where shared faith becomes concrete acts of love and mutual care. So when we talk about community this morning, I'm not talking about something casual or optional. I'm talking about something that Jesus purchased with his very own blood, and that the Spirit sustains, and that God designed to be the ordinary context for the Christian life. Which raises the question, what does God actually expect of us within this community? So this morning we'll be turning to Ephesians 4:1-16, if you can turn there in your Bibles or your devices, to understand... But first, before we go there, we gotta understand where Paul is going. To understand where Paul is going here in Ephesians 4, we first need to understand where he's been. So in Ephesians 1:1-3, Paul lays down a theological foundation. He unfolds God's great work of redemption, and all of it according to his eternal plan, reconciling sinful men and women back to himself through the blood of Christ. He writes of Jews and Gentiles who were once divided by deep hostility now being made into one new body, one new community in Christ. He writes of a mystery hidden for ages and now revealed that God's manifold wisdom would be displayed through the church. Three chapters of some of the richest and deepest doctrine in all of Scripture. And he begins... But here in chapter 4, Paul turns a corner, and after three chapters of doctrine, he begins to address the everyday practical implications of the gospel that he's laid out. And the very first thing that he begins with is community. So this is the start of the second half of the letter, the part that teaches us how to live in light of God's glorious grace together. So the hinge on which everything turns is a single word in the start of verse one, as you see, therefore. This is one of the weightiest therefores in all of Scripture, and to feel its full weight, you have to know what it is pointing back to. In chapter 1, Cr- in chapter 1, he establishes the spirit- our spiritual resources available to every believer, which is adoption into God's family, redemption, forgiveness, and the full riches of their inheritance in Christ. In chapter 2, Paul describes God's transformative work, moving from people who are spiritually dead to life, sealing them in the heavenlies, and reconciling formerly hostile groups into a single community in which social, racial, and economic distinctions are dissolved. And in chapter three, it reveals God's intention for the church, to display His manifold wisdom through believers committed to Jesus, grounded in salvation by grace alone, and united as one body. And that is what this therefore is gathering up. God's blessings, His saving grace, unity in the body, the full sweep of the gospel, and saying, "Given all of that, here is how you live, together." So what God has done always grounds itself in what we are called... I mean, what God has done always grounds what we are called to do. Grace comes first, and the call, the community follows. So the main idea of this passage is this: Paul exhorts us, the community, to maintain unity and to grow into spiritual maturity. And these two things are not separate goals. They're deeply connected. A community cannot mature while it is divided, and a community that is truly maturing will be marked by unity. And notice, the very first thing that Paul addresses after three chapters of doctrine is not personal devotion and isolation, but it is community, how we live with one another, and how we function together as one body. So this morning, I wanna walk through three things that this passage calls the community of Sunrise to, and every congregation that bears the name of Jesus. They unfold in a natural progression. First, a community's walk, second, a community's identity, and third, a community's contributors. So first, let's read the text. Read along with me. "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ g- gift. Therefore it says, 'When He ascended on high, He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.' In saying He ascended, what does it mean but that He had also descended into the lower regions, the Earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that, so that we may," excuse me, "no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined together and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." Whew. Okay. So our first point this morning will be a community's walk. Let's look at Ephesians 4:1-3. So Paul opens Ephesians 4 not with a command, but with a, an appeal. He says, "I urge you." In some, um, translation it says, "I, uh, beseech you." He's appealing to us. He's urging us. What is he urging us to? There is a pastoral tenderness here, even though what he is about to ask of us as his, as, uh, as the Christian community at Sunrise is nothing short of profound. Notice also how Paul identifies himself as a prisoner for the Lord. He's writing from chains. He's in prison, bound to a prison guard, not from a comfortable study or a place of ease. And yet, in this moment, Paul's concern is not for his own circumstances, but for how we walk together. And that itself models the very posture he's about to describe. He says to, "Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been ca-" Called. So here the word calling carries the full weight of chapters one through three. He says, "You were dead, and God made you alive. You were strangers, and now you're fellow citizens. You were far off, and now you've been brought near by the blood of Christ, brought into community with God and with one another." Jews and Gentiles, once divided by hostility, were made into one new humanity and one new community, and that is your calling. So Paul's exhortation is that your walk within this community should match that calling. So Paul then gets specific. He gives us four qualities, and together they describe both the heart and the hands of the community walking worthy of its calling. The first three are matters of the heart, humility, gentleness, and patience. Paul leads with humility because nothing unravels a community faster than pride. When we're more concerned with being seen, or being right, or being first than with one another, then the whole thing starts to come apart. Humility simply chooses to put others ahead of yourself, as we heard from Chad preach when he was, um, talking about serving. To treat the person next to you as more important than your own comfort and reputation. And then gentleness. Gentleness grows from that same root. It's not a soft personality type, it is the Spirit's work in your life. It is shaping strength into something that serves rather than dominates. And then patience. Patience is a long fuse. It is what keeps you from saying things that you regret, from writing off someone who has let you down again, from walking away when community gets hard. It keeps bearing, it keeps forgiving, and it keeps showing up. But Paul does not let us stop at good intentions. He adds a fourth quality that moves from the heart into action. It is bearing with one another in love. This is not putting up with people. It is choosing to carry their weight, their struggles, their failures, their rough edges, and Lord knows I got some rough edges, as an act of love. It is the moment when everything internal becomes visible. And here's what makes all of this amazing. Paul is not asking SonRise to build unity from scratch. Christ has already secured it. The Holy Spirit already gave it, and these qualities are not the foundation, they're how we protect what has already been laid. And there's something beautiful in how they work. The more we practice humility and love, the more these qualities will grow in us, and the more they grow, the more naturally we extend them to others. It feeds itself. Then Paul gives this whole vision a name in verse three. He says, "To be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." The unity is already there, established by Christ and given by His Spirit, and our job is to guard it. Notice the word bond. We sang about the bond this morning, bonds of grace, bonds of love. Paul opens this chapter by calling himself a prisoner, literally bound in chains, but there's something in- intentional in that, I believe. The same man who is physically bound to a prison guard in chains, turns around and calls this community to be bound to one another. Not in chains, but in peace, in love, in grace, as we sang this morning. One commentator said that, "The peace that Christ gives is the rope that ties people from every different background, every temperament and story, into one unified whole." That bond is not, is, is not fragile by nature, but it's fragile in our hands, 'cause we can loosen it every time we choose being right over choosing love. So guard it. Think of a, a sports team. Think of your favorite sports team, doesn't matter who it is, and on that team, you may inherit a player who's always late, or the one who hogs the ball, or the one who second-guesses every play call. Now, some teams do try to remedy that and solve that problem by trading away, you know, every imperfect player until they have the perfect roster that they're satisfied with, and we've all seen how that usually works out. But the church doesn't have that option. God does not give us a transfer window, He- Gives us this community with all its friction and imperfections, and calls us to develop the character to walk worthy within it. The goal is not a perfect roster. The goal is humility, gentleness, patience, and love being practiced right here among these people as we are. So consider this honestly. Is your walk within this community marked by the qualities that Paul describes here? Or are you depending on others to be patient or gentle, bearing with ones while you remain unchanged? And if our walk is the ground on which the community stands, it raises a deeper question. Why should this particular group of people, why should we, with all our differences, be bound to one another at all? So Paul answers that in my next point, which is a community's identity in verses four through six. So after calling the community to walk in humility and love, Paul pauses, and rather than adding another list of commands, he reminds us, the community, of what is already true about our identity. So notice the structure that Paul has built across these verses. He lays out three grounds on which the unity of our community rests. A divine calling shared by every believer in verse one. Christ-like conduct lived out among believers in verses two to three. And now a shared gospel confession held in common by believers in verse four to six. This third ground is bedrock. The community's unity, our unity, built upon shared personality or preferences is fragile. It shatters the moment people disagree. Our unity, the unity of this community, built on shared confession of who God is and what He has done, is foundational. So if you notice in verses four to six, he says one seven times. Paul repeats the word one. He says, "One body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and in all and through all." And this is not Paul dropping bars, as the young folk may say. This is, this is a declaration of shared identity. Paul is not saying, "Wouldn't it be nice if this community was unified?" No, he's not saying that. He's saying you already are. The unity of this community is not a goal to still be achieved. It is a present reality to be believed and lived out. So why does this community, why does this, why, why does our unity require agreement on these realities specifically? Well, think about it this way. If a member of, of a community disagrees about who the Lord is, they're not actually worshiping together. They mer- they're merely just oc- occupying the same room. Or if they hold different understandings of what faith is or what baptism means, they could possibly be operating from an entirely different gospel. But what holds this community together is not shared culture or shared preference, but shared truth. And this is why doctrine matters in the life of the community. Not as a academic exercise and not as a weapon to divide, but as the very ground beneath our shared identity. And the more clearly a community understands and holds these truths together, the more genuine its unity will be. And this also reshapes how we understand belonging within the community, because our culture tells us that belonging is earned, that we fit in because people like us or because we're similar enough. But Paul reverses that. He flips it on its head, and he says that you belong to this community not because you earned your place here, but because Christ himself has already placed you here in one body by one Spirit. So the question before us today is not whether we belong to one another. It is a question of whether we will live like it. Picker, pic- picture, picker. Picture a, uh, a bridge, a suspension bridge. I think the Skyway is a sus- suspension bridge. It has cables. Anyway, a suspension bridge held up by a series of cables, right? So each cable, let's imagine that each one of those cables represents the realities that Paul has listed here in this, i- in, uh, verses four to six. One faith, one Lord, one baptism, and the rest. So if someone comes along and begins cutting those cables one at a time, saying, "Well, this one doesn't really matter," or, "That one doesn't really matter," what happens to the bridge? It doesn't simply just weaken at one point. The entire structure becomes unstable- And will eventually collapse. So doctrine functions for us in the same way in the life of our community. It is the cable system that holds everything together, and if you remove enough of it, unity does not bend, it will break. So is your sense of belonging to Sunrise rooted in the unchanging reality, realities that Paul lists in verses four through six? Or has it been resting on preferences of personalities and circumstances that can shift at any moment? And if identity is what binds us together as a community, then the next question follows naturally, then what is each member of this community actually expected to do with what God has given them? And Paul now turns from who this community is to how it grows in verses seven through 16. A community's contributors. So Paul moves from identity to function, from what is true of this community to what is expected of each contributor within it, and he grounds the entire shift in the person and work of Christ. In verses seven through ten, Paul describes Christ's descent, and there's different views on this, so I would... My view is, let's think the incarnation. He came down. His death on the cross, his resurrection, and his ascension as a vic- victorious king with all authority. And from that position of triumph and victory, he gave gifts to his people, gifts meant to equip an entire community, not just a few individuals. So Paul is echoing here the imagery of Psalm 68, which is a victory hymn describing a conquering king distributing the spoils of battle to his own people. And Jesus did not just simply save this community and leave us to manage ourselves on our own. He ascended as king and poured out gifts on the Church, extravagant generosity flowing from a position of total authority so that every member of this community will have something to contribute. This matters because our gifts are not random. They're not merely a by-product of your personality or your upbringing. They are deliberate endowments from a victorious king who has a specific purpose for you within this community. Verse seven, "But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift." Notice the word each. Not only pastors, not only elders, not only staff or the most visibly spiritual member in the community. To each one, every person in this room has received grace, not only saving grace, but a gifting grace equipping you to contribute to this community. And Paul then lists the gifts that Christ gave to the Church. He says, "The apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers." And then he states their purpose plainly, which is, "To equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ," in verse 12. This is one of the most significant and most misunderstood verses in the New Testament. The pastor's task is not to perform the ministry on behalf of the community. The pastor's task is to equip you, the m- the community, to do the ministry, and the work of this community belongs to all of us, not only those in paid roles, although we love our pastors who we, who are in paid roles, Andrew, Adam. Thank you, guys. We are all contributors. We are all called. We are all needed. So what is the purpose of this equipping? Verses 12 and 13 tell, answers that. It says, "Works of, works of service and the building up of that community," which is Sunrise. But what is the goal? What is it aimed at? It is aimed at verse 13. The goal is this, "Until we obtain to the unity of the faith," the oneness, "and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Every gift, every role, every act of service within this community points towards one destination, Christ-likeness. Think sanctification. We are all growing together into Christ-likeness, not in, not just individual maturity, but the whole community growing together in- Into the fullness of Christ. Let's skip down to verse 16. This completes the picture. It says that when each part is working properly, it makes the body grow, so that it builds itself up in love. We grow when each of us contrib- when each one who is contributing is functioning, and it is stunted when contributors remain idle. Every uninvolved member is a part not doing its work, and the whole community feels the effect. And there's a beautiful paradox here, because you grow most when you contribute most. The member who serves this community grows faster than the one who merely observes, and the one who teaches often learns more than the students, and the very process shapes the one who disciples the other. So contribution shouldn't be looked at as a burden imposed on the community, but it is a pathway to the community's own maturity. Think of the human body. And I know, um, Scott already brought this verse out, but I'll touch on it again. Think of it. The heart doesn't finish its work and then rest while the lungs take a break, or the liver doesn't pause while the kidneys cover a double shift. Every organ, every system functions simultaneously, and when one part stops working, the whole body suffers for it. And this is precisely what Paul's picture was that, uh, Scott pointed out in 1 Corinthians 12. I'm starting at verse 14. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I'm not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I'm not an eye, I do not belong to the body," and that would not make it any less part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing bing? Be. Or where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell? But as it is, and this is important, but as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." But on the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God, I love those two words. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there be, there, there may be no division, get the words out, in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. Think about that. Isn't that amazing? Now, you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. So this community grows and builds itself up in love only as each contributor does their work. And when members withhold their gifts, the whole community feels the absence, even when no one can name exactly what's missing. Think of this. If you stepped away from this community, and this is a question I've asked myself. If you stepped away from this community entirely, what gift, what joint, what act of service would go missing? And have you ever thought of your, your, your, your membership here, your involvement here, as something that we cannot afford to lose? So before I close, let's consider something. Let's consider what happens when a member of this community withdraws. Proverbs, uh, chapter, chap- bleh. Proverbs 18:1 warns that whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire and breaks out against all sound judgment. The writer of Hebrews, Adam pointed this out in his sermon on attending, the writer of Hebrews calls believers not to neglect to meet together, but to encourage one another and to stir one another up to love and good works. That's verses, chapter 10, verses 24 to 25. So there is a reason that these exhortations appear in Scripture. God knows what isolation does to the soul. You may have heard of this story of a pastor who visited a man and who had stopped going to, coming to church, and he found him sitting alone by his fireplace in a cold evening, and without a word, the pastor picked up the tongs- lifted a single glowing coal from the fire and set it by itself. And the two men watched in silence as the coal that had been burning bright began to dim. And within minutes, it had gone cold. And the pastor stood, put on his coat, and simply said, I'll see you Sunday. So the man was back the following week. So what did that coal illustrate but the words of Proverbs? That the one who isolates himself goes against sound judgment. A coal removed from the fire does not stay warm on its own. Neither does a believer removed from the community of believers. We were not made for isolation. We were made for one another. And more specifically, we were made for the kind of community that only the gospel can create. But we live, however, in a culture that has made isolation easy and even comfortable, right? We have groceries delivered to our house, right? You can work from home. You can have entertainment streamed to your TV, your phone. We have engineered the need for other people almost entirely out of our daily life. And that spirit has crept into the church. Because there are many believers that treat Sunday morning like a drive-thru. They pull up, they receive a little spiritual nourishment, and then drive away. And never really engaging in the community that God has placed them in. But scripture would not allow that. And the Apostle Paul, writing from prison in Rome, would not allow it either. So I'll close with this. We began this morning with a question about community. What it is and what it demands. We saw that the Christian community is unlike any other. It does not form around preferences or demographics or convenience. It is a community that Jesus himself purchased and that the Spirit sustains and that God has ordained to be expressed in local churches like ours, like Sunrise. And this community, Paul told us, carries real expectations. A community walking worthy of the gospel walks in humility, gentleness, patience, and love. Bearing with one another, not because people are easy, but because the grace that saved us bore with all of us first. A community grounded in its true identity does not drift on the shifting sands of preference or personality. It stands on the bedrock of one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. And a community that grows does not grow by watching a few gifted people do everything. It grows when every member discovers and deploys what the risen King has entrusted to them. And Paul wrote all this from prison. Think of that. He was not writing about ideal conditions. He wasn't concerned with his own condition. He was writing about real people with real friction and real differences. And he's calling them to walk, to stand, to grow together in the middle of all of it. And that is the calling before sunrise today. The coal removed from the fire goes cold. But what does the writer of Proverbs say? That whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire and breaks out against all sound wisdom. Isolation is not wisdom. Isolation is not humility, nor is it faithfulness. The community that God has placed you in here needs your walk. We need your shared confession and your contribution. Not someday, but today. So here's a question I'm asking for you to take home with you. Will you be the kind of member of this community of sunrise whose walk, identity, and contribution makes sunrise more like the body that Christ is building, or will you remain a coal set to the side, slowly going cold? The doors of the church are open. The body is waiting. Christ is ahead. And he is building his church here. And the only question is whether you will be fully in. Pray with me.

Delight in Study

I like to study. Uh, well actually, scratch that. I love to study. This is a thing in my house. Uh, I, I think, I think it's a thing in my house. Uh, I enjoy spending my time in a good book and just kinda gleaning from it. Um, my family likes to drop some subtle hints to me in some funny ways. Uh, last year for Christmas I received a T-shirt that says, "I put my book down to be here." And so I don't think that was necessarily a compliment, uh, but it does speak to my desire and enjoyment of studying. But that hasn't always been the case, though. Uh, I did, uh, take six years to graduate college. Uh, so I didn't really enjoy studying when I was in college. However, there was one class that really drew my attention more than others. It's actually the one class I tell my kids that I still remember today out of the plethora of classes that I took, and that was astronomy. I just loved astronomy. It had absolutely nothing to do with my major, um, but of course, my major was baseball, so nothing had to do with my major. Uh, and but I was just drawn in by astronomy, the vastness of it, uh, just the expanse of it. I, I believe that, that that was the beginning of, of God drawing me into His greatness and His scope. Uh, it is mind-blowing just, uh, when I think and when I look up. It still even today does the same thing to me. But maybe this describes somewhat of your experience in this area. When it comes to study, does it stress you out? I know for many students it does. Do you get excited to study, or does it feel like just a lot of work, a lot of labor, or maybe too academic, or maybe you're like, "No, thanks. I'm not interested." So then how do you get someone to study? This is a question that has plagued parents for generations. How do you get children to do anything? Um, well, there's components to this. There, there does need to be a drawing towards it, a curiosity, an affection. You need to find some value in it as well, right, if you're gonna study something. And then there's a greatness that's involved in this. You start to see it for something greater than what you thought it was when you first started. And I don't care who you are in this room today, I believe everyone loves to study. What they love to study varies, but a love to study nonetheless in a particular area of interest. Most people that I've met have an area of interest that appeals to them. Well, here we are, about halfway through our Pasco series this summer, trekking through the expectations of our, our members here at Sunrise, and we have begun with prayer. Andrew brought us this. We expect our members to pray. We expect our members to attend, uh, church, and so much other, uh, things that we offer around here. Adam brought us that. Uh, last week Chad hit on service, to be involved in the way that we serve, and today it is study. And I know some of you on, in here might be starting to shut down in this area, because you used to study, and you meant to take off just a couple days, and these couple of days turned into a couple of weeks, and these couple of weeks, a couple of months, and then you know how this goes, a couple of years, maybe even a couple decades, worst case scenarios. You just haven't quite gotten back to that desire and that love to study. You haven't been able to stir up enough motivation or encouragement or momentum to even sustain it for any length of time. So you may be saying, "Yeah, yeah, Scott. We know this. We, we know we need to study more. But you don't know my life right now. You don't... I don't have the time to do this. I just... I'm, I'm, I'm stretched thin these days." Or, "You know what? I'm not smart enough. I don't have a, a PhD, an MDiv, a bachelor's, an assoc- I, I actually dropped out of school. I'm not smart enough to study this material. I need help. I need someone to come alongside me and help me to study this," or, "I don't have the resources." I think Pastor Adam hit on both of those today. You may not have the resources, but there are resources available. How about the season of life you're in? "You don't get where I'm at right now in this season of life. How can I possibly study?" Well, the reality is the biggest hindrance to study is you. You are the biggest hindr- hindrance in this area. But there's good news, because if you're a believer in this room, if you are saved, if you are a child of God, then you should also know this: there are many wonderful benefits to being His child, and especially in this area. One such benefit is the Holy Spirit. We know, uh, the Holy Spirit takes responsibility for the child of God, to particularly dwell down in this area, and to help each believer to understand and to know the Word of God. James 4:8 tells us, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." Do you not think that if you seek after Him genuinely, that He will not show up for you? In our text today, we will encounter a word that is used about 200 times, uh, in the Old Testament, and about half of those times it's used in s- in the specific way that we're talking about this morning, and that word is study. It's be- been mentioned a bunch of times already. In our text, we're s- we'll see it as studied. And I believe this word really has two main actions going on. The first action here is to seek and to search out or sought after, a pursuit of something with a desire and a delight. This is not a passive word. This is a movement, an intention behind it. But there's more. There's a second aspect of this word that includes actions. It's also a slowing down. You know this, parents. If you ask your kids if they'd studied for school, what you don't mean is, did they lay the books out on the table and just go to that extent? That's not what you mean. You mean, did they open those books? Did they spend time hovering over those books? Did they slow down to take in the information? It's more than just having material. It is the intention to seek, but also the slowing down to take in. For example, ever study a good painting or a gem, a diamond? Some of you, maybe an engine. You know you're just fascinated by this thing, how it was put together, how it works, how it functions, the beauty of it, every aspect of it. This is an example of something that you could spend time in because you're drawn to it, but yet you're amazed by it because of all of these details. And when you're amazed by something, you tend to be drawn back to it over and over, and linger more and more on it. And something like this is before us today. Our subject, He is awesome and holy, and it's good to have a healthy, reverent fear of our subject today. But keep this in mind: our subject also summons us to draw close. And God invites us to take Him in and to linger and to meditate on Him. So my hope and intentions are for us today that no matter where you find yourself in this area, that you will step up, step out, and press on in your pursuit to take on the habit and discipline of being studious, being a learner. Let us pray. Father God, we do need your help, Lord. You draw your people close to you. You are great and awesome and holy, and for us to wrap our, our puny minds around you is an awesome task that only you can do. Lord, help us as we look at your Word, as we look at our subject and our area today, and the expectations of our members here at Sunrise. Would you do what we can't do, Lord? In Jesus' name, amen. So I have two main points today. The first point is: why study? And the second point is: what to study. So our first point, why study? Why are we putting such a significance on such a basic principle? I have at least three reasons for this. First, when God saves a person, He saves the whole person. Still a sinner, still going to have struggles, yes, this is true, but still remaining in the world. Not the same, though. Changed. Different. Given a new heart, given new desires, a new control center, if you will. And from that control center comes out new insight, new passions, new purpose, a new will and desire to please God, a desire to live a holy life, and last but not least, a desire- To study. A desire to know more. A desire to delight in. And this is what we're stressing in our summer series here. Lacking this desire is concerning. I hope you'll see that today. I hope you realize that, and hope you understand that as elders of Sunrise, that it is a concern for us, too, when we hear this coming from some of our members, especially those who are claiming to be a follower of Christ. And that's the first reason. Second reason is this, why, why we should study. It's a mark of a healthy disciple. This is a mark of a healthy disciple. No one, not even one, is righteous. Everyone is an enemy to God, separated and hopeless. We all have sinned. We've all turned away. There is no one good. We are all suppressors of truth by nature. This is true. But yet every genuine believer has been called out of darkness into a marvelous light, purchased and redeemed to now walk in this light, a light that is a lamp to our feet, who now no longer love the world they once loved, no longer love the sins they once partook in, no longer did what they used to do. You will also find this strange, new love growing, a desire to love what God loves and to hate what God hates. It's a mark of a healthy disciple. This area that we are spending time in today comes out of the work that God is doing and has done. Regular study is a good, healthy behavior of a follower of Christ. This is the second reason why we study. But third, because it's commanded in scripture. We're commanded to study, for no one came to Jesus unless the Father has drawn him. God desires for his people to have knowledge of him. It is through the Son that we gain this knowledge, that understanding is given to us, that his people shall love him with all their heart, all their soul, all their mind, and all of their strength. How are we to do that without knowing who God is, without knowing what he's said, and without studying this God? We turn now to Psalm 111. This is our text today. If you would , Psalm 111. This is where we're gonna camp out. This is gonna be the central passage we focus on and also the springboard into our conversation today on study. One thing to make mention up front is today is less of an exposition of Psalm 111 and more of an expedition, uh, exposition on the w- on study and our expectations here. This psalm here provides the context needed for everything I've been explaining up to this point. That's why I, I use it as a springboard to move us forward, because it doesn't just give us the instruction, it gives us the direction. But a couple things to point out before we read. First is this. As we work through this text, you'll notice this ebb and flow, this wonderful back and forth, this waltz, if you will, this complimentary recognition of the person of God and the works of God and the author's response to both of those things. This is an example to us, and our life should reflect a similar poetry. That's one thing we'll notice in our text today. The second thing I wanna point out, interestingly enough, this psalm is set up very much like our summer series in that there's an acronym here. The psalm is set up alphabetically with the Hebrew alphabet, drawing on each letter, starting out each line as a tool for memorization, as a tool for passing along and to recall, much like Pasco is for us here. That's our desire and how we're using that, that you would remember and be able to draw on these things. Finally, you'll notice as we work through this, a lot of starting and stopping, maybe some pivoting and some changing directions in his thought pattern. You'll notice this. Sometimes there's a thought that seems like it doesn't flow, but it is what the author wants to draw our attention to. So let's do that now. Let's turn to Psalm 111, and let me read verse one. "Praise the Lord. I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of-" Of the upright in the congregation. Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and merciful. He provides food for those who fear Him. He remembers His covenant forever. He has shown His people the power of His works in giving them the inheritance of the nations. The works of His hands are faithful and just. All His precepts are trustworthy. They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He has sent redemption to His people. He has commanded His covenant forever. Holy and awesome is His name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever. Immediately our passage begins by the author expressing to us his position, his praise. Verse one, we see this immediate praise from not some of his heart, not most of his heart, but his whole heart. His mind praises the effects that he is meditating on. His will praises the impact and his will to, uh, to move in the, in the way that lo- the Lord is drawing him. His inner man praises Lord, the Lord totally, fully. His character, his emotions, and his affections. We launch in immediately to see how the author is responding to who God is and what God has done. And verse two then brings us to how this praise and to where this praise is then rooted. We can see in verse two we are drawn to the works of God, how he has studied these works, and how that has resulted in his delighting then, then in them. And I wonder if that's how you walked in today. I wonder if you came in today ready to delight in the Lord for the works that He's done because you have studied those works, and you show up today to praise Him just like in verse one. Praise the Lord. Did you come in ready to offer praises with a whole heart? Can anyone truly offer praise with a whole heart? Maybe not, but it shouldn't stop us from trying. But this praise then leads somewhere. There is a result. We see where the author begins, but let's look now at how it ends and where this delight then leads him to. Verse 10. The proper fear of the Lord, we see, is the beginning of wisdom. So this delight, this study in the works of God then results in this good and healthy fear of God. And we know that in the absence of fear, there's wickedness, there's darkness, and destruction, and death. When you stop fearing the Lord, this will eventually be the result. Foolishness runs rampant when you lose your fear of the Lord. An environment where sin is the, is the norm. It's the very air that's breathed. But this is not the case for the one who delights in the Lord. Why is that? Fear. Healthy, reverent fear of God. The psalmist implies then that we are to be like him in this way, delighting in this fearing of God. That we are to delight in the wisdom that it produces. That we are to delight then to put this into practice, this wisdom, and to then delight in the understanding of the result that this leads us toward. All of this is foundational to why we study. So with that question answered then, let's then turn our attention now to the second point, what to study. What we don't mean here at Sunrise is this general call to study whatever you want. Don't miss that, okay? When we say PASGO and you see the S for study, it doesn't just mean freely study anything. No exercise and diet trends, sports or technology. No, we mean something very specific here. We first start with God. Start in this study of the person of God. Paul tells us in Romans 11, "For from Him and through Him" Through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. We begin with God. Without knowing this, and without knowing God, you'll see that our subject today is just merely information. Pastor Adam referred to it earlier, like just swelling of the head. And that may not interest you then if it's just information. Maybe confusing, hard to grasp, maybe too lofty, so why even try? But no matter where you are, it's always going to bring you back to God, which is it, why, this is why we start there then. This is why we start with God. And we start with the whole person of God. We look at the Father, the one who has always been, who's created all things, who's promised his people of a coming savior. He has predestined His people, chosen them, elected them for His own possession. For these and many more reasons, this is why we study the Father. But we also study His Son, Jesus Christ, the Son who has always been, God incarnate, God in the flesh, truly God, truly man, perfectly obedient from bor- uh, His birth to His death, sinless servant of His Father, provided atonement, and made the full payment, which tore open the veil that gave us access then to God. He rose from the grave, ascended into heaven, and will return again to gather His people. For these and many more reasons is why we study the Son of God. We also study the Holy Spirit, who has always been, who awakens the sinner, shining light in the darkness. Sam prayed for us earlier that we would have eyes to see. He calls and enables sinners to respond to the good news of the gospel. He gives spiritual eyes to the blind. He gives spiritual ears, uh, to the deaf so we can see and we can hear, and that is all of us. He indwells every true child of God, helping that child all the days of their life. For these and many more reasons, which is why we study the Holy Spirit. This is the God the psalmist draws our attention to. Returning to our text now, let's look at, at some of these specific things. Let's see where His delight is. Verse three: He is righteousness that endures forever. His moral excellence is perfect. All of His judgments, perfect in every way. No error. His justice, perfect every single time. He is righteous. And this righteousness endures forever and ever. Verse four: God is gracious and merciful. Know this. Gracious, and who doesn't need grace today? Who doesn't need mercy? This is who God is. Verse five: He is a provider. Everything you need, He will provide in His way. We often think about our own ways He can provide. How often, almost always, it's never the way that He provides. But He is a provider of His people. Also in verse five, we see that He remembers His covenant. Not because He's forgotten it, but it's always before Him. Everything He does, this is in view. We often are the ones who forget the covenant, not God. Verse nine: Holy is our God. Holy. He is separated. What is God like? He is like nothing. He is His own. There's nothing like God. Separated from all things in a category all His own. Also in verse nine we see that His name is awesome. Instilling power and majesty. His is the only name above all names that command such an awesomeness. So this is the God that we are to know, and this is the God that we are to, uh, then boast in. I love this verse from Jeremiah. Let me read this. Jeremiah 9: Thus says the Lord, "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast in his might. Let not the rich man boast in his riches. But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me. That I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these- "These things I delight," declares the Lord. This is what we should boast in. If you don't know this God, how then can you boast? If you don't study this God, what are you boasting in? We're called to boast. No one here needs training in boasting. This comes pretty natural. Theologian John Frame says this, I, I like this statement. He says, "Christian knowledge is knowledge of a person." I love that. It really focuses us this morning. A knowledge that requires study. We start here because there will be no other person in your life worth studying more than God. This is where it all begins. This is point one. We study the person of God. Second point, we study the Word of God. Our God has spoken. It has been recorded for us over time. It hasn't changed. It won't change. There's no need for us to wonder what He said or to make up anything that we might think He said. We have what He has said and what He wants us to know. And in this, He gives us direction, He gives us instruction, He gives us rules to live by. He gives us warnings to be aware of. This and so much more is why we study the Word of God. In 1858, a book was written that changed this area of science. Still around two centuries later. This book is called Gray's Anatomy. Some of you may have heard this. It revolutionized the medical industry at the time because of the meticulous details recorded in this book. It details the human body, the anatomy, visually illustrating what hasn't been done to that extent prior. It's a classic. Showing all the underlying structure to the body, the muscular layers, the cross-sections, the ligaments, the tendons, the organs. I mean, it's all there. Highlighting what we already know to be true of the human body, that it's masterfully intricate, created by an intelligent being, specifically designed to function in very specific ways. And what Gray's Anatomy was to the, was and is to the medical field, this is what expository preaching is to what we do here. This is what expository preaching is to the Word of God. This studying and understanding and knowing the Word of God, it's like Gray's Anatomy. Every morning we take a body of text, we identify it, and the dissection begins. The sermon unfolds, the passage is laid bare before us. The person behind the pulpit here preaches these points that are specifically in the text that look like ligaments and tendons that tie things together. There's a connection and flow from the author's thoughts, and there's muscle behind the arguments to support it. The passage then, uh, attaches to these ligaments in ways that shows us what the author is trying to tell us. And there's bones and the theology and the doctrine, uh, that support and buttress the entire passage. It's like Gray's Anatomy, seeing all these parts. That's how we corporately study the Word of God, and that's how we should privately study the Word of God, is you take it apart, you s- you spend time, you dwell over it, look at all the little pieces. Sometimes it's just a word. It's just a word that has so much meaning and so much depth to it. 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17, you know this verse, "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness." Why? "That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." But you must study to have that profit. It will not be profitable if you don't know it. Listen to what the psalmist has discovered in his study. Let's go back to our text. Look in verse seven. He tells us that his precepts are trustworthy, his commands, his law. This is what's in view for us with, in, in precepts. They're trustworthy. We can fully stand and trust in them, having the confidence and assurance of what they are. Verse- Verse eight. They have been established forever and ever. Exactly how long is that? Those precepts, they're settled. They're unending. They're not gonna change. There is no issue here. It's been resolved. It is these that the psalmist then in verse two points us to then. Look at verse two. He tells us that these works are studied by all who delight in them. The word studied, I mentioned it before, has this aspect of seeking out, of this being sought after, this pursuit. Listen to what the psalmist in, in Psalm 119 says about this, 'cause he did the same thing. He sought after the precepts of God. Verse 45, "I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts." Listen to that confidence. Can you see the level of trust and the faith that exists there? You think he finds the Lord's precepts trustworthy? I shall walk in a wide place. That's a benefit. We were talking about benefits earlier to studying. This is a benefit. He now possesses this wide place for him to stand. This is where he now walks. His footing is sure and steady. No matter what he may go through, no matter the dark valley or the narrow path, his footing is firm, and in his mind, it is wide. It's a secure and stable place to be. And the author of Hebrews helps drive this point home even further. He says this, "And without faith, it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." I know me, and this is a general statement, but I think it's also fairly accurate. There's probably not a person in here that doesn't like to be rewarded. Imagine being rewarded from God in the pursuit of him. Again, it's in ways that are in his ways, but there's benefit here to studying this God, to pursuing him. This is why we want you to study, so you can partake in these benefits. That it's more than just words to you, that it's actual, uh, life experience, so you can walk in a similar manner as the psalmist here who says, "It's a wide place for me, no matter what I'm walking through." And as imperfect as we all are, yet imperfect very much, we still strive to live this out. We will make mistakes along the way, but his word doesn't change. It will remain the same forever and ever. This is why we press on. This is why at Sunrise we want you to be the Bereans and to study what the Lord has provided for us. But there is a very dangerous alternative to not, uh, to not studying the Word of God. That same author in Psalm 119 tells us this, verse 155. He said, "Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes." Again, keep in mind that that word studied has that pursuit behind it, being sought after, specifically in this area of precepts. There is a danger here for the one who does not partake in this pursuit. So let's be honest, because there's reasons why people don't study the Word of God, and very high on that list is because they know they will need to change. They will need to change. They will need to give something up. They will be held accountable. They will be expected then to live a certain way. What they fail to realize at the same time is the way God's economy works. I love God's economy. I love just thinking about it. Maybe you've never heard it, a term like that before, but it's an upside down economy because when you think you're losing because this is what the world will tell you, in God's economy, you are gaining. So in this specific area, for those who struggle with this- You might actually think, "Yes, I don't have the time," or, "You don't know the season of life I'm in." You are actually causing yourself great harm because you think you're actually losing out by putting your time towards that, when in actuality, you will have great benefit and delight. So don't buy into it. But there's a litmus test if you can tell if you delight to study the Word of God, and it's a litmus test that really is general, uh, for any delight you partake in, no matter what it is, and it's time. I'm not saying putting time to it. What I'm saying is it goes very quickly. Think about it. When you do something you enjoy, do you not at the end of it go, "Man, time went so fast. That was quick. I wish I had more time," 'cause I enjoyed that? When you're studying and reading the Word of God, you will immerse yourself in it and you'll just wanna go, and whatever time you set for yourself, this is just an example, you'll run out and go, "Man, I wish I had more time." That is a litmus test for you to know that you are delighting in the Word of God. Thomas Manton said something that I, I wanted to pull in here at, at this part, 'cause I, I think it's really drilling down on something specific here. He says this. Said, "The general end of scripture is knowledge." The general end. We need knowledge. "But the special end is comfort and hope." I love that, that sentence there, and that could be found in scripture all over the place when it's studied and sought after. Third, we study the works of God. We see these works, and they come to us in two specific ways. One way they come to us is a general way. There's general revelation. It's a manner of testimony that God reveals Himself through His creation. Think about it. Everything you see, touch, smell, taste, all of these declare the glory of God, His power, His wisdom, His creativity, His care, and His precision, and the list goes on. This is general revelation, but it doesn't end there because there's another way God reveals Himself, through special revelation, how God specially reves- reveals Himself in greater detail, and He does this by direct acts. He does this through dreams and visions. We see that in scripture. He did this through the incarnation of Christ. God showed up, and He does this by giving us His Word. God reveals Himself to us in these, in these two ways. Psalm 111 then, the author in verse two calls us to study those ways, these works, and by study, the author draws our attention to the frequency that he studies these works, returning time and time again. When something is studied, does it not tell you that it's an ongoing thing? And by doing this, he delights in them, but not only that, we also read that this is a motivator for him. This delight keeps drawing him back. He wants more and more and more, so he returns again and again and again because of this delight. It's as if he doesn't have enough time to partake in all the works that he wants to. In short, there was a study which results in great delight, but then also a delight that then motivates to greater study. It's reciprocal. They feed on each other. Maybe you've experienced this, this effect. I know many of you have, and you will when you open up the Word, study who He is, study the works of God. In your Bible you may have, uh, in the ESV, you have a title over Psalm 111, uh, and it says, "Great are the Lord's works." Let's look at some of these works that the author draws our attention to. Verse two. He begins by using that word, "Great they are." Verse three, "Full of splendor and majesty." What's more full than full? Splendor and majesty. Verse four, "They are wondrous." Verse six, "They are powerful." Verse seven, "Faithful and just are his works." Verse eight, "Accur- Established forever and ever, faithful and upright. Verse nine: "They are redeeming works." Is it any wonder then why he returns again and again to study these works? Now, the question, are you? Are you returning? Do you have that same longing, and desire, and delight? You know, in the summer, uh, many of you are, are into this. Summer is a blockbuster season. Blockbuster because around this particular couple weeks, uh, if you like to go to movies, this is really the highlight of the entire year. The summer July 4th, uh, area, the summer blockbuster movie season is in full swing, and movie trailers are out there, marketing tools meant to entice and draw you in to come and see their movie, their production. And these same trailers and marketing tools use these same exact words, words like majestic, and powerful, and awesome, and great, and wondrous. All these words, and many of you will be drawn to them but then not drawn to this. You go see those movies because it's enticing, the action, right? Whatever it is that's drawing you in. And our author today is saying, "That describes the word of God." Our Pasco series is designed to lay out our hopes for our people, the expectations we have for our members. Not the kind of expectations where we're gonna come over your shoulder and say, "Hey, have you done that? You haven't done-- You're-- Okay, we need to talk. You're in trouble." Like, "I expect you to do this," you know? No, it's an expectation that we want that for you. We desire that for you, so you can benefit in what it produces. That's our expectation. Not just that because, uh, it's good to have. Obviously, it's great to have, but there should also be a desire that we wanna see in you, because God has given His children that desire. We simply believe that these characteristics, all of them in Pasco, are areas that describe a healthy Christian life. It's for your benefit. Yes, it's true that others will benefit also, but first and foremost, it will be for you. So that leads us then now to just talk on some of these benefits. Benefit of knowledge. How else will you know this God? How else will you live as a disciple? How else will you learn God's precepts? Where will you find out God's will for your life if you don't study? All of this recorded in scripture, gained through the study of the word. No one in here eats one meal a week. The equivalent is if you only learned and took in scripture here on Sunday, and then when you left, six days, no intake. None of you would do that. If we said, "Hey, we have a buffet up here today. Okay, this buffet now has to last you all week," you'd be like, "You're crazy. We need to eat." Yeah. That's true. You need that for your physical body. What you need for your spiritual health is the intake of God's word daily, to be studied, to be read, to be, uh, uh, lingered over. This is a good place then to share a warning at the same time, because there's a direct connection between study and faithfulness. When I meet with a, a person who's struggling, when a man who's struggling, and they wanna spend some time together, it's not long and into the conversation when I ask them, "How's your quiet time?" And what I mean by that is, are you reading the word of God? Are you praying? You know what I've never had someone tell me? That it's great. I've never had someone tell me that it's great. I have almost always had someone say, "It could be better. It's not good. It's nonexistent." There is a direct relationship between your time in the word and your faithfulness in life. Direct relationship. And you know this. You know that when you drift, you start to see things in your life you don't like. That's a trigger, by the way, for you to be drawn back. This is why we desire our people to study. Second, not just for knowl- But the benefit of experience by application. When you take in the Word of God and exercise it and apply it to your life, you will experience the Word of God becoming real and vibrant, like HD. You'll have a completely new understanding for the Word, for who God is, for who you are. You'll experience His presence, His care, His love. And in turn, your love for God will grow. This is one way that God for you continues to get bigger and bigger and bigger. Yet we all know He doesn't change. But He can for you. Where that reverent fear that He's telling us in verse 10 becomes very real. The more you'll be drawn to Him, the more you'll desire to live for Him, the more your love for others will grow. In short, the more Christ-like you'll become. This is why we desire for our people to study. And the third benefit, I would say, is conviction. This will be the result of the first two. The result of study and application, I believe, will lead to conviction. Listen, when you study the Word of God and apply it to your life and experience this God and continue to grow in your love for His awesomeness while growing in your love for others, the result will be firmly established and ever-growing, a wide place for you on a narrow path in life. This is why we desire for our people to study. So as we begin to wrap up this morning, I want to also mention that study is both a blessing and a challenge. Blessing because to grow in grace as we walk daily in obedience towards Christ-likeness is at the heart of every true disciple and follower of Jesus. This is a blessing indeed. But a challenge. A challenge because Scripture has reflective properties. It exposes our faults. It sheds light in dark places, sometimes very dark. It reveals our shortcomings. It gives names to our sins. It also can make it look seemingly impossible to attain godliness. This is challenging. But Hebrews 4 tells us also that it's living and active, sharp and piercing. In other words, you should find it challenging. It's meant to cut. It's meant to divide. This is normal and good and, by the way, necessary. Listen to what Richard Baxter says. He says, Remember that as it is Christ's work to teach, it is yours to hear and read and study and pray and practice what you hear. Do your part then if you expect the benefit. You come not to the school of Christ to be idle. It's an interesting way to look at our Christian walk as a school that we're in. Imagine with me this classroom. One classroom for the disciple. And in that classroom, one subject. And that one subject, God himself. The disciple is ever on this journey to study and to grow in the knowledge of God, to faithfully practice and apply what he has learned and to take that knowledge into life as flawed as he or she may be. And we have some flawed people. The disciple is still a called person. Called to know God. Called to know God's word. And called to know God's works. This is why we desire for our people at Sunrise to study. But remember this. Life is not meant to be lived in the study. But study is meant to be lived out in life. Let's pray.

The Humble Servant

So good morning, everybody. I didn't get to say that earlier. Happy Father's Day to the fathers in the room. Um, this is not specifically a Father's Day sermon this morning. There's no Proverbs 31 manly wisdom or what- whatever, uh, sermon on deck. But it is about serving, and the reality is to be a father is a call to serve. Serve family first and foremost because it is our first ministry. And so as we talk this morning about looking to the ultimate example of humble servanthood, I hope that there is overlay here for the dads in the room of what this means for you in the context of your family, 'cause it's an important job. It's not a paid vocation, but it is a necessary position. Do not forsake it. And even if your kids are no longer at home, you still have room to have influence, discipleship opportunity to serve your family in that. It does not end. My mom, a number of years ago, in talking about the, the progression of parenting, she said, "Chad, like, parenting is just a lifetime of letting go. It never ends." And it's very profound. It stuck with me, and the, the reality is, uh, that is true. I have found that to be the case. And so this morning we come to the topic, as Anthony already shared in some ways, that we should just, like, ta- have him come back up here, do the call to worship, and that will be the sermon for this morning. Um, it was well said and succinct. I'll take a few more minutes than that. But this morning we come to the theme of serving. It's in the context of our summer series. Uh, the acronym is up here, PASCO, but that's fitting because that's where we live, of course. But the, the summer series is on expectations of church membership, right? So w- certainly here at Sunrise, but the reality is these ex- expectations should be expectations of Christians. We've just tried to put these down on paper to say if they are true of Christians, then they should be true of Christians that are part of the Sunrise family, and it would be good for us to review these things. Here's the risk. We said it a couple weeks ago. We'll say it again today. These are all familiar themes, right? Should Christians pray? Yes. Should Christians be part of a church? Yes. Should Christians serve? Yes. And on down the list. And so there, there can be this risk to kinda tune out and go, "Yeah, we know this. It's familiar." But I would, I would challenge you this morning to be reminded that there's lots of people in their vocational work that do continuing education so that they can craft and hone their skills so that they are ready when they are needed. We know this in the athletic world. Athletes more, spend more time in practicing and in training than they do in actually gameplay because they want to be ready. And so it is for us here. It is good for us to recite and be reminded and, and hone and craft and come to a clear and better understanding of what we are called to be as followers of Christ so that we are ready, so that we are ready for the every day, and that no matter where God puts us, no matter, no matter where He takes us, He can use us in those places because we're ready. And so this morning we talk about serving. Quick note, if you don't like this morning's sermon and you're new here, I'm not usually up here. So come back and try it again another week. My name is Chad. For, for those that don't know me, I'm one of the elders. I've had the opportunity to serve here as an elder at Sunrise since about 1846. Um, someplace in there. I am the OG. I was part of Sunrise before Sunrise was Sunrise. But I'm thankful to be able to bring God's Word to us this morning. So this morning, as we think about serving, we're going to g- look at the text Philippians 2. Philippians 2:1-11. Really hoped I could do this without using my glasses, but it looks like I'm gonna need them. Philippians 2:1-11. It's helpful context to know that the book or the letter to- To the church in Philippi is a letter to a church that's doing well. It's not a letter of correction. It's not a letter even to brand, brand new believers, although they are newer in their faith because this is new in the institution of the church. But this is a church that's doing well. We know that because at the very beginning of the letter, Paul points to their partnership in the gospel. In, a little bit later in chapter two, beyond our text, he says, uh, "You have always obeyed." And at the end of the letter, again, he's gonna point to how they have helped him and supported him in his ministry when nobody else would. And so this is a, a church that is doing well. This is a church that is serving well, yet there is here in chapter two an encouragement them, to them to not only continue, but to grow in that. And so the same call is for us today. Many of you in here have known Jesus for a long time. Maybe for others this is newer. For others you're just trying to figure out who Jesus is. But this is a call to grow in this and to, to for lack of a better term, be better. Not in human effort, but in godly aspiration. And so let's read the totality of Philippians 2:1 through 11 and then we're gonna break it up into chunks and see what it has for us this morning. Philippians two says this, "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this in mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." This is our text for this morning. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we have your Word before us. And as we study the incarnate Word, the life of Jesus, and when we consider the call that Paul sent to the church in Philippi, it is a call that is drawn forward for us here today at Sunrise. Lord, you know the doubts that I have this morning, and the right things to say. Lord, would you speak. Lord, would your Word speak clear and true. Would your, your truths be on display. May you be glorified in these moments, and may our lives be centered in serving you to your glory. We pray all these things and so much more in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So in looking at this text, we're gonna break it up into four pieces. The first couple verses are the, Paul's desire for the church. This next two verses, verses three and four, are gonna be the direction or the directives or the instructions that he is giving to the church. Those are instructions for us. Then the next three verses, verses five through eight, we will look at our demonstration of this. And then finally the exaltation. Ah, the ultimate highlight of Christ. And so as we come to this, there's a lot here, and there's a lot of things that we could say, and there's a lot of other texts that we could go to to look at Jesus as example of servant or hear the message that he communicated, but we're gonna land here this morning. And there's many things here that we could pull apart. The best we can we're going to keep it focused on the theme of service. And so Paul's desire written to the church pulled forward our des- the desire for us here today starts this way. It says, "So," like we know anytime so, since, therefore is at the beginning of a passage we should consider what came before it, right? So in verse one, or excuse me, chapter one verse 27- He makes this statement, he says, "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ." Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. So if we are to live out a life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ, what does that look like? Paul's that forward. So if there's any encouragement, that if there, is not an if of doubt. He's not questioning whether or not they are encouraged by Christ or if they are comforted by love or any of these things. He's not questioning that, but rather this is one of those rhetorical reasoning statements. Maybe you do this at a time, I know I do, where you say, "Well, if this is true, then this must be true as well." And it's not so much about the first statement, it's more we're trying to make a claim to the second statement, but we position that as an if then. Maybe it would be better to say because this is true, then this, or since this is true, then this. And this is the, the statement that Paul is making here. Because you have an encouragement in Christ, because you are comforted by love, because you have participation or fellowship in the Spirit, because of affection and sympathy, then complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. These are all different ways of saying unity. Be in unity. Have the same heart. Have the same mind. Different people, different talents, different gifts, different abilities, different backgrounds, different stages of life, different status in life. But be unified in heart and mind. And that is our call here too as a church as we look at this. This is for us here. We all come from different directions, different places, different tenures in the faith, all these different things, right? But we are to be unified, centered in the gospel in one heart and one mind. And so he goes on to say, what is this one heart and what i- what is this one mind? What is this that then helps us live out a manner of life that's worthy of the gospel of Christ? It is do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the other interests of others. In some ways, this is a different way of saying love your neighbor. But it's more than that. It's more than just loving your neighbor. It's how do we love our neighbor? How do we love the people that are in proximity to them? We are called to consider them as higher than us. We are k- called to consider their interests. We all know this wrestle, right? This is hard. Like, let's be honest. It's really hard to think of others more than we think of ourselves. It's really hard to consider other people's challenges, needs, wants, wishes, interests, when we have a hard enough time keeping up with our own to-do list. I feel like in everyday life, three things get added and one thing get-- drops off. And the next day, "Oh, I'll get to it the next day," and then there's three more get added and one drops off. And now I have six things added, two things dropped off. I think the math says that there's four left that I haven't gotten to. When do I ever catch up? How do I have time for the interests of others? This is a wrestle, but it is a wrestle that we are called to, and there is a requirement to humility, and as we work through this, I think we will better see the heart posture, a favorite term of ours in our small group. It comes up every single week multiple times because that's what it comes back to. It requires a heart posture that is centered in humility, and where is that humility focused? We're gonna walk through that in a moment. But I do wanna point this out. I do wanna point this out in that this is in line with other texts, especially in Paul's letters, where there's a, a put off, put on. Old self, new self, right? You know what selfishness and conceit are. You know what pride is. You know what vain glory is. You know what emptiness that is. So put that off and in Christ, put this on. It is a call to humility. And also, the other thing to note here is this, that in that second sentence or that second verse, verse four, hear this. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. And so here's the key. I think one of the mistakes that we often make and w- as we consider the call to serve and s- Sacrifice is there's this trajectory or this tendency or this assumption that that means then that I have to neglect all that I'm responsible for, and that a real Christian gives no effort to what's in front of me. It's only about what are, uh, others' needs, right? And, and while we need to be focused there, God does also call us to steward well those things that He's given us responsibility for. That's time, that's gifts, that's abilities, talents, opportunities, vocation, fill in the blank, money, relationships, all those different things. We're to steward those things well. We are responsible for those things first, but we are not responsible for th- those things only. And so the call is to consider the interests of others, but not to the neglect of what God has called you to be responsible that's right in front of you. And so there has to be that balance. There is a tug-of-war there, but it's not one or the other only. It is both and. So we move on. So let's look then at the demonstration of this. So Paul then say- says at the beginning of verse five, "Have this mind among yourselves." So it's, it's kind of a, a restatement of the objective here. Don't forget, there's a call to unity of mind and heart here, and this mind and heart is yours in Christ Jesus. And there are two ways that we can understand this. It is, it is ours in Christ Jesus in that the only way that we can truly be humble, the only way that we can truly consider others higher or better than ourselves, the only way that we can be truly concerned about others' interests is by a changed heart and a renewed mind. That only happens through Jesus Christ. For the, the sinner that has been saved and rescued and renewed and redeemed, and is working each and every day being sanctified in their likeness of Christ, that one day will be perfected in glory. So we can understand it that way, but then we can also understand it this way, and it's not this or that, but it's both, again, and. Both are right in that many of you probably have a footnote in the really, really itty-bitty font that you really need super readers to get to when you're my age. Um, I need almost, like, two pairs of readers for this. It says, "You can also understand this as instead of which is yours in Christ Jesus, but rather which was also in Christ Jesus." And so this heart and this mind that Paul is cur- calling the church to in Philippi, this heart and mind that we here at Sunrise are being called to, is the same heart and mind that was in Christ Jesus. And so as we'll walk through this, we'll come to better understand what that is. But that probably lines up well because in this letter, this is the first time, but then Paul does go on to use not only Jesus as example, but he also uses himself, he uses Timothy, he uses Epaphroditus as examples of how to live out different parts of the faith. And so it probably lines up well that maybe the footnote is, I won't say the better translation, but is a certainly a helpful translation in the context of this, this passage. And so we are to be like-minded and like-hearted with one another because we are to do th- that with Christ. So let's look at the example, the demonstration of Jesus Christ, "Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped." I think it's important to just pause right n- here and, and point out to two things, maybe an overarching thing first. One, there's a lot here that has been debated for all the generations before us, and many of these things will be debated after us. The goal this morning is not to come to some council-like conclusion, but rather we'll land on what I think is a centered, uh, understanding here and what is a consistent understanding with the doctrines and beliefs of Sunrise Community Church that we hold to as members together here. But don't miss the forest for the trees. I will point to a couple things here that are helpful for us to understand. For example, here, the form of God. Let's be very clear what we understand this to mean. This is not saying that Jesus had put on a costume and looked like God. This was not Him trying to, to mirror God. But this is His essence, His very being. He was God. In His form, He was God. We know this also- From John one, right? Very familiar passage. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God, right? The Word being Jesus. And so here we're reminded that prior to his, uh, condescending into creation, he was God. So, but he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, and I think this often trips us up a little bit. Self, self, um, uh, claiming here. For many years, I misunderstood this verse to be something of Father, Son lesser than the Father, and therefore, like, because He was the Son, He couldn't quite reach up and grasp being God. Misunderstanding, wrong interpretation. But rather how we are to read this and see this here is that He did not consider or count equality with God something to be grasped, something to be held onto, something to be clung to tightly. One additional, uh, translation says it's this, it, it was not a thing to be held onto for advantage, but rather He opened up his hand and He let go. Let go of status, let go of placement, let go of reign and rule in the glory, and stepped down. He emptied himself by taking the form, notice the same word here, form, so became in essence in his being a servant in the likeness of men. Now, here's something really important that we need to point out here. When we say emptied, what we are not saying is that He emptied himself of his divinity. So as He, He condescends, He steps in, Emmanuel, God with us, God with us. He steps into broken creation as Jesus Christ, the baby, passed through a birth canal just like you and I did. Kind of crazy to think about, right? Didn't just pop up and show up in the manger. He was born as a human being, but He did not lose his divinity. He emptied himself of his status, of his position. He comes down into creation, but He is still fully God while He is fully man, and He is still that today. As He returns to glory, He does not give up his full manness, if you will, his full humanness. He's fully God, fully man in reign and rule today. It's important for us to be clear on that, what emptying we are talking about. It is a lowering of position, a lowering of status, a stepping into the brokenness that He chose to do to bring about redemption, and being in that likeness of men and being found in human form, He humbled himself. He humbled himself, but He didn't just humble himself and say, "Well," and this is very, uh, I wanna be careful here. I don't want to, like, be crass about things that are holy, but it wasn't God just going, "Well, I'm gonna kinda step into creation for a while. I'm gonna fix some things, and I'll be back." It was not only stepping into creation to fix some things, but it was stepping into creation to be subjective to all the brokenness that is, without sinning while He was here, being subjected to all the hurt, sorrows, sadness that exists here in the broken world, and then also being subject to the ultimate penalty of sin that is death, although He did not deserve to die because He did not sin. And it wasn't just death. I think sometimes it becomes so familiar that we miss the reality of what He subjected himself to. There was a cost that is incalcul-cal-cal-ca-calculable. Easy for me to say, right? There was a physical cost, and there was a cosmic wrath cost. We know both, but be reminded of Isaiah 52. Isaiah 53 sometimes gets a little bit more of the highlight. It's a little bit more full, but Isa- Isaiah 52 says this, God speaking through the Prophet Isaiah says, "Behold, my servant," Jesus Christ, "shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted. As many were as- astonished-- As many were astonished at you, his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance, and his form Beyond that of a children, of the children of mankind. So the physical death that he took on, that he lowered himself to accept and bear, was one that is unthinkable. And that paled in comparison to the cosmic totality that he took on, the bearing of the sin and the weight of the world. The weight of sin for the world. Excuse me, let me say that the right way. He humbles himself to this end, and here's the gospel, right? It's right here on display. We sang about it in different ways this morning. We've prayed the, about it, prayed these words. We're reading this here. This is the gospel. This is the good news. It is in this death that ultimately the penalty for your sins, my sins, was paid. This feels very Sunday School-ish, again, to be reminded of these things. But we need to remember these things. The cost of servitude that Jesus paid that we might be redeemed. How great new- of, of, a, a proclamation of news is that. That is the gospel. And in his resurrection, although it's not stated here, obviously it's implied because it talks about him being exalted in just a moment in the next verses. In his resurrection, death is conquered, and even though we experience death in human form, death in spiritual form does no long, it no longer exists. And, and so we, we rise to glory with Christ. This is the good news of the gospel and so much more. But let's, let's continue through our passage here. Let me make one point as I look back at my notes here that I forgot to mention. We see cost and sacrifice of servanthood. Also understand that servant, serving, being a servant requires proximity. Christ steps into creation to rescue and save it, to be proximate in it. He could have in some cosmic way rescued creation from heaven, yet he stepped in in servanthood, in proximity to creation, and rescued it from there. And so we also see here then a principle of serving is you, it's really hard to serve if you're not proximate with one another. And so I didn't wanna miss that here as we move forward in the text. So the last part is the exaltation of Christ. Verses nine through 11 say this: "Therefore, God has highly exalted him." So therefore, because of all of this, "God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on Earth and under the Earth, and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." And so we see here and are reminded of so many other places like we see in scripture that the upside down economics of the Kingdom of God are very different than what we are wired in our broken s- sin-laden world to understand. And that is self goes down, that exaltation to the glory of God the Father might happen. We, we said in other verses here this morning, Jesus talks about, um, the first shall be last, the last shall be first. That's not just a trick on the playground to get people to give up being first in line. Those are actually, like, human requirements for those that are followers of Jesus. The first shall be last, the last shall be first. Christ in glory condescends subject to ultimate death, death on a cross, worst human form of death possible, and in it takes on the totality of the cosmic weight of wrath, and then is exalted because of it. And so we see something here. And while we are not called to save and rescue the world in a savior form, we are called in serving to lower ourselves, and not in a way that we do that- For the prize per se, but yet there is a promise that there is an exaltation, there is a prize for those that follow Jesus well and c- commit themselves to serving one another and the needs of others. And so that's what we are called to follow in this example. But here's the thing that I want to point out, or I, I guess I want to ask and consider here together this morning. Because we can come away from this text and we can say, "Okay, I want to serve because I have been served," or, "Because I have been saved, therefore I will serve." It's, it's of the same mindset as, "I have been forgiven, therefore I will forgive," right? And that is, that is right, and that is good. But I think there's a piece here that's important for us to understand. Again, it's not more than, it's not, uh, less than, but rather it's part of another side of the same coin of serving and our, our mandate to do it. And it's this. Who, because serving can be used in both directions, I'll ask it this way first, maybe clarify. Who did Jesus come to serve? I heard a God. Did I hear a man too? Yeah. It's kind of both, but let me maybe ask the question this way. Instead of serve, because this word serve can be translated as bond servant or in some places translated as slave. Who was Jesus a slave to in coming and stepping into creation? The Heavenly Father, right? So when it says here in verse, what verse is that? Verse 8. Excuse me, I gotta keep putting the glasses on and off. That He obeyed, that He was obedient to the point of death. Who did He obey? The Heavenly Father. And we see that at the end of this text, right? Who was all of this for? The glory of God the Father. And so when we consider what it means to serve, serving is not just following Jesus' example, although that is right and that is good. It's not just serving because we've been served and therefore are saved. That is good and that is right. But we are called to serve because we are following our brother in the faith. We are joint heirs with Christ. As children of the King, we serve for His glory. We serve to be used as His vessel. We serve as worship to Him, not because it makes us feel better, but it points the world to Him and points each other as we serve one another. And so this other side of the coin is, yes, we serve because we've been saved. We serve because of the example of Jesus, but the example of Jesus points us to the Father. We know through the whole Gospel of John over and over and over again, he states that everything He came to do He did because the Father told Him to do it. Everything He said and everything He taught, He's taught because the Father told Him to teach it. Even when, uh, the-- James and John were bickering and, and asking if they could sit at His right hand in glory, He ends that with saying, "It's not up for me to decide. It's up to the Father to decide. It's not for me." And of course, then in the garden, what does He say? "Not my will, but Your will be done." And so I think if we understand r- that serving is more than just a response to salvation, but rather it is a worshipful response and a heart posture that is pointed to understanding that God's glory is the ultimate objective here, then our serving and the heart and the mind that's pointed in that direction looks a little bit different. It's less about my response and my effort in responding well, although necessary, and I'm not discounting that. It is a response that's pointed better in, in, in the right trajectory. And we see that even then, although not part of the text that we read this morning, as Paul moves on from this section. In verse 13, he says this very thing. He says, "For it is God who works in you." And why does He work in you? "Both to will and to work for His-" Your good pleasure? No, for His good pleasure. So to be used by the Heavenly Father, to live out a life that is worthy of the manner... I got that. Manner of life worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Man, these glasses are a pain. I'm gonna get there. I'm right at that age. Getting used to it, sorry. Um, to live that out well means to allow, if we can use that term, make room for the Father to work through us, that we would just be the vessel. There was a book written a long time ago. It was given-- A copy was recommended to me, um, multiple years ago by a client and friend, a pastor up in Ohio, and the book was, is called Humility. It's by Andrew Murray. Uh, it's more of a pamphlet than it is a book, and it's a number of short, little devotionals and thoughts that he has on humility. But he says this in the preface, and we'll move towards wrapping up shortly after this, that I think helps put words to what I'm trying to articulate here this morning. He says this: "Nothing is more natural and beautiful and blessed than to be nothing," that is humility, "that God may be all." He builds it out this way, and this is a little, a few sentences here, but bear with me 'cause I think this is helpful. He says, "We shall see that Je- just as Jesus found His glory in taking the form of a servant, so when He said to us, 'Whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant,' He simply taught us the blessed truth that there is nothing so divine and heavenly as being the servant and helper of all. The faithful servant who recognizes his position finds a real pleasure in supplying the wants of the master or his guests. When we see that humility is something infinitely deeper than contrition and accept it as our participation in the life of Jesus, we shall begin to learn that it is our true nobility, and that to prove it in being servants of all is the highest fulfillment of our destiny as men and women created in the image of God." That is what we are called to. So what does that mean for us then here at Sunrise? It's not anything unique. There's nothing different about Sunrise than the church in Philippi or the d- or Cornerstone or others. Those that follow Jesus are called to the same thing, and in our context of our theme, we're called to lots of different things that as we live this faith out, but we are called to serve. But the question this morning isn't so much do you serve? The question is, do you desire to be used by the Lord to will and to work for His good pleasure? And if that is our desire, then that will lead us to serving others. That may be serving here in the context of Sunrise. Folks, there are more needs represented in this room right now than you would or we would be able to count. I catch glimpses of those things as be- serving as an elder here at Sunrise, and I know bits and pieces of those things. For as good as we looked when we walked in the door this morning, the reality is most of us are not okay. But we don't like to show that. And so there are a lot of needs right here in this room where we can walk alongside one another, we can encourage one another, because we are in proximity with one another. And so don't forsake the reality that may, maybe the need that you are meant to help is right here. But also, we are called to, to minister and meet the needs of those that are around us that are outside of here, right? It is not exclusive to the family of Sunrise. It's not exclusive to the family of Christ. Paul says that later to the, the church in Philippi there. He talks about them being lights in the world. Well, you can't be lights in the world if you're not out there serving and working in the world. And so we are called to do, do those both, but here's the truth, and don't forget. There will be a cost. We can't count it as serving if there's not cost or sacrifice. The reality is to serve is to mean, is means that we're allocating some element of our resource to someone else that we could be using for ourselves. So there is a sacrifice there. And it's impos- able to do it without being proximate. But again, the question is not are you service-minded, but rather are you servant-minded or servant-hearted to the master? Maybe said another way, do you have a slave mindset and a slave heart that desires to serve the master well? Those are hard-- That's a hard word, and I understand why we don't use it as much. I can assure you in my family that word has taken on a different context, and so I don't use it flippantly. But I think it gives gravity to what we have been called to do. What does that look like here in the church and in the world? Man, I, I would love if Paul just spells out, you know, "Here's five examples. Just do this, this, this, and this, and then you can check the box for serving." Obviously, it doesn't, and the reality is it's not the-- many times scripture is not a recipe book in the sense of just follow these five steps, and you'll meet the requirements, and you'll come out with a nicely baked heart of service. But rather it is free form because each moment and each circumstance and each opportunity in life is going to look a little bit different. So sometimes it's going to be praying with one another. Sometimes it's going to be getting down on our knees and getting dirty with or for one, uh, someone else. Sometimes it's going to mean just sitting and listening. Sometimes it means that fill in the blank. I can't tell you exactly what it's going to look like. But I know what the heart posture is, and I know what the mind posture is, and it is one that desires to be used by the Heavenly Father for His good pleasure, not our own. It's not about us ma- feeling better about ourselves. It's about us being used by Him for His glory, and in that, He will use us for things that are really good for us. The last thing I'm gonna say here is this, and then we'll, we'll wrap up. Our time is done for this morning. Maybe I've even been longer. You'll be glad when I don't preach again because- ... Adam and Andrew are shorter than I am. In the context of our life together as a church, I think one of the biggest things that stands in the way of us being able to serve is our inability to allow others to serve us. And so I just wanna point that out. We cannot serve one another in need if we, one, we don't know what the needs are, or we don't let others help. A guilty example number one, man, I, I prefer very much to be confident I can do it all myself. I don't need your help because if you help me, then I have to admit that I can't do it and that I needed your help, which is so silly, isn't it? I mean, it is the other side of the humility coin. We have to lower ourselves to be willing to help others, but we have to lower ourselves to be willing to let others help us. And so if there's an element in this room as we exist as a family, as a church, desiring to live this out and serve, then did you ever think about... This occurred to me this week. If we don't allow others to serve us when there's a genuine need, I'm not saying make up drama just to try to attract attention, but a genuine need, when we don't allow others to help, we are actually standing in the way of what God is intending to do. I might even say we're, we're sinning because we are going against what God has commanded here. We're letting our pride stand in the way. That's hard to say because it's hard for me to say that because I need to hear that, and I know we can't always have help for every single thing, and there are going to be hard moments. But at the same time, if we don't allow others to help, then we're not allowing others to be used by the Heavenly Father in the ways that He has promised He will. And so to that end, let's pray that we would, uh, be... Man, I don't like to call it better, but that God would work in us to grow us more like Jesus in both of these ways. So let's pray here as we finish up.

Not Neglecting the Assembly

I don't know how you all came in to church this morning, but I came in provoked. I was provoked this morning, and no one else was here to provoke me. Let me explain. It's been a joy and a pleasure and part of just routine for me to get here on Sunday mornings between 5 and 6 a.m., and so I'm here first, right, so who provoked me, I'll tell you. I park out there, right, in the field, and I never walk in between the bushes. There are spaces between them, but what's between them always? Spider webs, right? No, no thanks. I can deal with lots of things, not a fan of spiders. So I go around, I walk by the dumpster, but it just so happens that there is a tree limb out there. I'm trying to raise those up now, but it's getting a little too close to the ground, and sure enough, there was a web going from the bottom of this limb to the ground, and not just like, you know, you walk through some spider webs, and it's like, oh, that's annoying. It's like, you know, it feels soft, right? It's like cotton candy strung out too long. It's sticky, gross, right? This felt like fishing line, and it was not just a strand here or there. It enveloped my head, like it was every strand on it. I walked through a nest, I felt like, and sure enough, it's pitch black, right, and I'm holding stuff, I drop everything, and you know, when you see people in public who just walk through a spider web, it looks funny, because you can't see the web, and you just see them freaking out. Well, that's what I was doing at like 5.30, right there by the dumpster, and I knew only a big spider can make a web that feels like fishing line. And so I'm walking in, and I'm looking around, and I'm like, where is this thing? I don't find it. I come in here, put down my stuff, try not to freak out, you know, but I'm itchy everywhere, right? This just happens when you think about this stuff, and I go into the bathroom, like, I'm going to find this thing. I turn on the light, and immediately, dangling outside my shirt, which was untucked at the time, was the spider coming out of my shirt from the inside. Yeah, and so I was like, woo! That's what I did, and it was like the size of a quarter, almost. Oh no, and I just went, boo! So I was provoked on the way in. Spiders. No, no, no, no, nope, didn't happen. But then I sat down at my desk, and started looking over things. I always leave the conclusion of the sermon until early morning, so I'm sitting there looking through stuff, and I look, I see movement over to my left. On the ground, there's a bigger spider than this thing, it's like half dollar size now, on the ground, just like. We looked at each other in like a standoff like this, and I was like, what is happening today? And then I went to go, like, get it, and it's behind my shelves somewhere now, in there. No, I couldn't find it. It's on the chairs somewhere, just so you know. But needless to say, I was provoked on the way in here. Why share this? It's crazy what happens when we walk into church sometimes. But in our passage today, how's the segue going to happen here, right? We are called to provoke one another in all the good ways. Not in any bad ways. We are to be this for one another. How? By attending church. So many of you know, some of you are first time today, maybe you don't know, we are breaking our current sermon series going through Exodus, and we are now looking at Pasco. Not the county, but each letter stands for these various disciplines in the Christian life. And today we come to the A, attend. So the point is very simple today. You should attend church. And you all get it, because you're here, right? Praise God for that. You at home, everybody turn around, look at the camera. We're all talking to you. You're not alone. not here, please let's see you next week, yeah? This is for all of us by way of reminder and you at home to get away from home and to come here. Now, I want to look in to Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19 to 25. In this passage, there is so much richness, but the final point, the final point in view, there's a therefore in verse 19 marking a huge shift, a mention of our great privileges in Christ and then a mention of three duties that we must give ourselves to as Christians because of our great privilege in Christ. Notice what completes the list in verse 25, do not neglect gathering together. Now, I could, right, choices are available. I could just focus on verse 25 and like browbeat you all about attending church. You should be at church, right? I'm not going to do that. I do want the weight of church attendance to land on you and the burden of it to burden you, the glorious burden of coming with the church and doing life with the church anytime the doors are open, yes. But verse 25, there are 24 verses before it. And in context for us, it is the end of an argument that begins at verse 19. I am convinced that you will get the weight of do not neglect the assembly of God's people. If you see it in flow of the argument rather than just picking it out of its context because a passage only has meaning in its context. So that's where we're headed this morning, hoping to provoke you in all the right ways. Two headings as we go through it, you'll see it on the back of the bookmark. It's a very detailed bookmark today, an outline. There's main points, minor points, but notice the two main ones. First, our privileges in verse 19 to 21. Second, our duties in verse 22 to 25. Let's start first, our privileges. Verse 19 to 21, Hebrews 10 says this, therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is through his flesh and since we have a great priest over the house of God. Let's just stop there. Don't you love how verses sometimes interrupt sentences? Let's look at our privileges, but first notice, what does verse 19 begin with? Therefore, this lets us know that a shift is now happening. Generally speaking, I can say from Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 to Hebrews 10, 18, the majority, most all of those verses are a rich theological explanation and exploration of why Jesus is better than everything that has come before. He's better than the old covenant in the new covenant. He's better than the old priesthood, being the priest. He's better in his atonement. In his atonement, his cross does what the law cannot do. That's what this first section says. In verse 19, the author wants us to know that all that doctrine is not just a mere intellectual exercise. Yes, we need to know God rightly, and that's what that helps us do, know God rightly. But here, there's a shift to here's how we know God rightly to here's how we live for God faithfully. So all this doctrine doesn't just transform the mind, it's meant to transform the life. Well, how does this doctrine change us? Our Privileges (v19-21) The author will tell us by our privileges. Verse 19 to 21 has two of them. They both begin, notice, since we have. Since we have. There's no if in this text. Do we know the difference between if and since? If there's possibility in view. This might be true of you, it might not. Since certainty is in view. This is true of you. So these are our great privileges. There are two of them. See the first one in verse 19 and 20. Since we have access. This first privilege is all about access. To understand the words that are used here, we need to understand something of the Old Testament. usage of these same words. Back then, access to God's presence, we can generally say, was severely restricted. Only once a year on the Day of Atonement and only the high priest could enter in beyond the veil into the most holy place by the blood of sacrifices. Sacrifices first for his own sins, sacrifices for the sins of God's people. This curtain and veil then was a block that separated the priest in the most holy place and the people outside of God's presence. The veil and curtain was a visual reminder of how distant God was from his people. But hear it, everything changed with Jesus. There's a sermon of itself in there, right? But Jesus. Everything changed with Jesus. It's the whole message of our faith, isn't it? That through the work of Christ, the way that was now shut is now open for anyone to come to the Father through the Son, by the Son. We can come. The tearing of the veil at the crucifixion from top to bottom, symbolizing from heaven to earth, the way is now open back to God through the Son. Look at how these verses talk about this, right? When we study scripture we should not only mention what is said, we need to understand how does it say what it says. In verse 19 to 20 it says, we can draw near confidently by the blood of Jesus. So it's not our own works that we can come to God, but only by the blood. His blood makes a way by cleansing us from sin and making us acceptable to God in his sight. It also mentions that we have access. This way is called new and living. The new and living way. Why is it new? It's new not just because it's not old. I mean, that is true. That's like, you know, low-hanging fruit right there. It's new because it supersedes the old. It surpasses the old. The old covenant had a glory. Jesus has greater glory. This is the new way. But it's not just new. Part of its greatness is it's the living way. Why is this the living way? Well, the Christ who died and shed his blood is also the Christ who rose. And every dead sinner that comes to the Christ who rose, also in Christ, has a resurrection of their own. He makes the dead alive. So this is the new and the living way. The phrase, through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, it says, refers to Christ's body. His body, broken for us, was the means by which the barrier between God and us was removed. So for all those who believe in Jesus, his death is the way to life. His death is the way to life. We now have access. We have access. We can now approach with confidence. That's one of the key words here. Does this describe you? Are you confident in your approach to God? Not talking about a swagger or a strut in yourself, but confident in someone else's work for you. This is how Christians approach God through the Son. Privilege one, since we have access. Notice now verse 22. Privilege two, since we have an advocate. This second privilege is all about advocacy. Here we see more of the glory and the beauty of Christ. He, unlike the priests of old, Jesus is our eternal, sinless, and perfect priest. This means the very one who opened the heavenly way himself is in heaven himself, as our heavenly priest, working for us still. We know his work on earth, in his earthly ministry, in his living, his dying, his rising, his ascending, but he ascended to a throne where he works still, interceding, praying, pleading for his church before the Father evermore. So on our best days, and on our worst days, we have an advocate. And in our advocate, we have access to heaven. These two privileges then, are our dual source of confidence. Just like opposing that, those two spiders this morning were my dual source of provoking. If another one comes out, let me know. These are our dual source of confidence before God. This does something to us. We've already said it. It makes us confident. If you're confident in your approach to God, praise God. You know this. You know your subjective experience ebbs and flows and rises and falls, but you know objective truth is greater than what you feel, than what you experience, that you can bank a life on this. And so when you come before God, you come, and you're like, I'm home, let's talk. And you commune with the King. But not all of you do this. You come with shame and with guilt. And you come timidly, not sure if you'll be welcome or not. If that's you, I'd encourage you to remember the song we sang this morning, specifically the third song, before the throne of God above. When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see him there who's made an end of all my sin. That can make you confident. When you look at yourself, if you're looking rightly, and if you look long enough, you will find thousands of reasons to be disappointed with yourself. But if you look to Christ, you'll find millions of reasons to be confident in your approach to Him. This is what's in view. We have privileges as His sons and daughters. We have access because of our advocate. That's how the passage begins. And it's curious it begins like that, because really, verse 19 to 22 is a summary of the entire beginning of the book of Hebrews. Now we turn. As great as those privileges are, those privileges demand much of us. They lead to duties, three of them. So let's look at that now, our second heading, it's where we'll lean in the most of our time. Hebrews 22 to 25, our duties. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, there it is, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. So the privileges are established, and each of them began with, since we have. Our Duties (v 22-25) We now come to our duties, and notice each of them begin with, let us. I call them duties, they're really commands. They're more than invitations. They're more than duties. These are what we're, this is what we're called to live like. Let us, there are three of them, see the first duty. Let us draw near. This is the immediate and personal response to our great privileges in verse 19 to 21. If we get and understand all the goodness and richness and the robust security that we have in Christ, what's our response? We're rushing to the throne. We will want to draw near to God. This is what Christians do. They want to be near to God. So to draw near means actively, intentionally, living near the Lord. But notice if you look closely at verse 22, it defines how we're to draw near. It gives us three descriptions of what we're to draw near like. Notice first, we draw near with a true heart, a true heart. What is a true heart? Well, it's not a false heart. That might be easy to say. But we could say, sincerity is in view here. A genuineness is in view here. That in our inner life, our spirituality, it must have an integrity about it. An authenticity that when we draw near, we put away hypocrisy. We put away deceit. We come as we truly are. This pleases the Lord. And second, we draw near in full assurance of faith. Just like confidence before, now assurance here. What kind of assurance is in view? Tiny assurance, little bit of assurance, full assurance of faith is in view. This means it's not a timid approach and we draw near to God, but one that's marked by gladness and certainty. Again, when we look at ourselves, we have thousands of reasons why we should be lost. When we look at Jesus, we have millions of reasons why we can never be lost. This gives us assurance. We draw near in that heart. Third, we draw near with our hearts sprinkled clean and our bodies washed. This imagery, of course, does not come from the Baptist denominations because there's a sprinkling mentioned. Some of you got that. This imagery comes from Old Testament purification rites. As the Old Testament high priest would come in on the day of atonement to the most holy place, he would sprinkle the altar with blood to signify atonement being made. Then after that, as Moses comes out, chapter nine talks about this in Hebrews. As Moses came out to the people to ratify the covenant, to affirm it, you are in covenant Israel with God. He took blood and sprinkled it on the people saying, you are forgiven, you are his. This is what's in view here. For us, we can say it's a greater than those things because it's the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ that washes us, white as snow, renewing us and cleansing us by getting rid of all our sins. Then we see the washing of our bodies with pure water. It points not merely to baptism, but we can say it points to that which baptism points to, right? You follow me there? This is not baptism in view. It's what baptism points to is what's in view. An outward washing that preaches a sermon about inward cleansing by the blood and filling of the Holy Spirit. We draw near to God with hearts sprinkled clean and bodies washed. What effect does this do in verse 22? It cleanses the conscience. You see that? You know that little voice that never shuts up? That voice that always tells you how horrible you are, that you can do better. Try harder, you bum. That's the conscience. The blood of Jesus calms the conscience. What a gift we have. So this first duty is a call to come near to God in these ways. But I fear that maybe you don't understand what's going on here. Drawing near to God is not something that some Christians do and some Christians don't do. You hear me there? This is not a duty that like, oh okay, this is what mature Christians do, I'm just a normal Christian. No, no, no. This is what Christians do. If you're a Christian, you will desire to be near the Lord. How can I say such things? The Old Testament promises in all the promises about the new covenant that this reality will be experienced by those within that covenant. Ezekiel 36 says it like this in verse 26-27, I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols. I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And notice, I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my ways and to obey my rules. to all those in the New Covenant. All those in Christ. Our Covenant Head. Because His Spirit is within us, what should we find happening? Us walking in His ways and obeying His rules. This type of drawing near to God is promised and realized in everybody in Christ in the New Covenant. So if you're not desiring to draw near to God, you're either incredibly unhealthy as a Christian, and in need of much examination and why you're so hard to these things, or you're not a Christian. Christians want to be near their Lord. So we are commanded to draw near. And when He commands, it is our delight. That's our first duty. Second, let us hold fast. The second duty is in verse 23. And it's true and hits us so powerfully because we live in a world that is constantly trying to wear out our grip. It constantly challenges our beliefs. And so perseverance is important for us. It's massive for us. We are to, quote, hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering what's in view here. What is confession? Hold fast our confession. Hold fast what we believe. This is right doctrine, orthodox truth. This is what we believe. To that, I want to hold fast to that. Without wavering. This is more than merely intellectual work. This is a glorious, stubborn loyalty to Christ that refuses to give up regardless of what the culture is doing. Earlier in Hebrews, the author mentions this in chapter 6 when he says, we have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. A hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf. And here later, he talks about hope. Hope for us, according to this author, is an anchor. Think about that. Hope as an anchor. No sailor would ever set sail in a ship that had no anchor. Because all seasoned sailors know that when everything else fails and they need to rely on something to keep them steady in the midst of storms, they don't rely on the captain or the crew. They don't rely on the sails or the engine. They rely and look to the anchor that in the midst of a storm can hold them steady. Such is to be our grip on our confession. We're to white knuckle what we believe. But do we have a very strong grip? Maybe for a time we can squeeze it out, right? Look at how verse 23 ends. So glorious. We can hold fast not because we're so strong, but because God is so faithful. This gives us a deep assurance that our hope, that our holding fast on our hope, will never fail. Because yes, we're called to white knuckle our confession of faith, what we believe, regardless what the culture says and progress says this or that. We're to hold fast. But praise God that at the end of the day, we will make it to the end because Jesus has a tighter grip on us than we will ever have on Him. Now we finally come to it. Our A in Pasco. Duty number three. Let us consider. This final duty, we arrive at the attending in our acrostic. And here, notice in verse 24, 25, there's a move, there's another shift from individual discipline to wider community responsibility. Until this point, you can pretty much interpret this individually, individualistically. This is me and God. You get to this verse, that's out. the window. This has to do with all of us now and our vital role that we play in one another's spiritual growth. Look at what it says, let us consider how to stir up one another. Some of your translations say something different. The word stir up in Greek could also be translated provoke. Some of you are really good at provoking other people. I know this, I have been provoked by you and I have provoked many of you. The spiders provoked me this morning and not in good ways. Still, I'm hoping one doesn't come out of my sleeve, right? It's whole family in my shirt, I feel like. This sheds a new light though on what we're to do with one another, right? Provoke one another, not to anger, to envy, to anything evil, but provoke one another to what? To love and good works. Works. We're not saved by our own works. God doesn't need our works, we're saved by the works of Christ, amen? But you know who needs our works? One another. I need your works. Our neighbors need our works. This is what's in view. This implies intentionality, thoughtfulness, and active consideration on how we can grow love in each other, for each other. And this is not just love and a sentimental like, oh I love my church. But it's a love that actively works for one another spiritual betterment, spiritual maturing. How do we do this? How do we do this? How do we provoke one another in this? Or maybe a better question in view of the text is, when should we do this with one another? That's when verse 25 comes in. You see it? When are we to provoke one another? When we gather together. When we gather together. There it is! In verse 25 the author connects intentional provoking for the good of one another with our gathering together. So the call to provoke in verse 24 is to happen, verse 25 says, in our assembled gathering. That's the context in which we are to be positively irritating to one another in all the right ways. Therefore we should not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some. But encourage one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. If you've ever wondered, here it is. This is the direct biblical command that you should attend church. This is the direct one. Christians attend church. In other words, no Christian can exist for himself or for herself. Rather we are our brothers and sisters keeper. The word neglecting. What images come to mind? For me, it's my brakes on my car. I hear the squeak. What do I do? Radio up a little bit. Yep, right, that's it. I neglect. To neglect something means to, I'll deal with that later. I'll put it aside, knowing it's important. While knowing it's going to cost me more later on. Neglecting is in view in verse 25. It's a deliberate choice to say no to something not only good, but something that you need to do. A deliberate choice is made. Nope, not for me. Even though you know you should say, yes, that's for me. And notice in this original audience, the church in view here, some were making this choice to neglect to meet together. You know why? It says, as is the habit of some. So some used to be present with this congregation and now they're not. They've made the deliberate choice to neglect gathering together. Begs the question of why? Why are they doing that? Perhaps they've grown indifferent or apathetic. Horrible reasons. Perhaps they got busy with their own affairs, another horrible reason. Perhaps they were afraid of persecution so rampant around this church during the first century. Understandable reason, still horrible reason. Whatever it was, for some reason that made sense to them, they deliberately chose to stop attending church. And what was the result? They missed out being gloriously and godly provoked. And who else missed out? Everyone else missed out on being provoked by them. For His absence means He can provoke no one but Himself. So by being absent, they couldn't play a vital role in anyone else's spiritual growth. They couldn't be positively godly irritating in all the right ways. So then ask the question of you. This was the habit of some. Is it your habit? Is it your habit? Is it growing in that direction? Do you feel like, oh, church is good, but maybe I'll start coming again every week in August when we get back in Exodus. You're silly if you say this, but you're like, oh, Adam's not preaching as much in the summer. That's ridiculous. The elders are pastors. We share authority here. That's not a good reason to not come in the summers. The statistics, too, if you put them together out there, popular statistics, are horrible. Seventy percent of modern Christians do not attend a church regularly. That tells me either they're not Christians or this is the reason why the church is so worldly because the Christians just aren't there. They're out in the world. They're at sporting events. They're fishing. They're doing something else. We all make time for what we think is a priority. This is priority number one. But this begs the question, why have you perhaps neglected the gathering? Perhaps you've grown apathetic and indifferent. Perhaps you've gotten busy with your own affairs. Perhaps you're embarrassed to be a Christian in the modern world. Perhaps you've been hurt by the church. More understandable, but still inexcusable, because remember, from the pastor down to the nursery, there's one type of person in church, sinners. In one sense, church hurt is like, oh, let's work through that. Let's dredge it up. We can deal with it. Let's process. Let's move on. Let's let you come back. On the other hand, I'm like, what'd you expect? Sinners sin. Or perhaps you've grown so cold to the gathering because in private places in your heart, you've grown so warm to sin. And you don't want to come on Sundays and just hear how poorly you're doing as a Christian. Whatever the reason, no reason is good enough. Come back. Come back. No reason is good enough. This is, after all, have we forgotten God's idea? I mean, how kindergarten is that? It's not like the elders got together and we're like, hey, Anthony, David, Sam, let's tell people they should attend church. Oh, yeah, that's good. Let's do it. This is God's idea. It's not ours. And because it's His idea, it demands our attention. When you neglect to gather together, you're not just losing out. All of us are losing out. When you neglect to gather together, you're in sin because this is God's idea. What does repentance look like? Coming back, rejoining into the life of the community. This is a necessity, a means of grace where we are encouraged, instructed, loved, prayed for, held accountable, and bolstered to keep going. So, I mean it when I say it, a Christian who gets our privileges in Christ, unless providentially hindered should be at church every time the doors are open. And if you're not, you're thinking wrong. If you're not, you settled for a lesser Christian life. The church is more the side dish rather than the main course. How can I speak so strongly? You're like, geez, really? Look how verse 25 ends. It like raises the bar another level when it says, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Don't you love how the word day is capitalized? A day, we are all looking forward to so much. This is the return of Christ. As his return draws near, the logic is our commitment to gathering together grows more intense. When will he return? In the end, right? We're all in agreement on this. Whatever eschatological position you hold to, he returns in the end. Hebrews chapter one has already told us that we are living in the last days where all kinds of challenges will arise for the church, pressuring them to give up their hope and give up their faith lesson. It's now time to raise the bar with commitment to the local church. We are called to this. And so I mean it when I say it, a Christian, unless providentially hindered, should be at their church anytime the doors are open. Not because we're so great, but because we need one another to make it to the end. I wonder if you just have felt this or seen this in the passage today, just take like a, go higher elevation and look at our text. You know why I didn't begin with verse 24 and 25? Well, I didn't want to make you all feel guilty and browbeat you, but also because that's not where the text begins. Where does our passage today begin? It begins with Jesus. It begins with Jesus. The command to gather begins with a Savior whose blood made a new and living way. A Savior who is our advocate and high priest pleading our cause before the Father. Because of that, how then shall we live? We draw near to God, we hold fast to our confession, and we gather together. This is the Christian life. So when the church gathers, we're not merely attending an event, we're responding to what Christ has done and what He is doing, waiting for what He will do. That's the meat and potatoes of our gathering. And every gathering is proof that Christ is still building His church. And every gathering is an opportunity to be positively irritating to one another, provoking one another in all the right ways. As we all, as the church, look forward to the final day when there will be the eternal gathering. On that day, a trumpet will sound, the skies will part, the Lord will descend, faith will become sight, the church that is now scattered in all the nations, tribes, tongues, and languages will gather together before the throne. And on that day, there's going to be no empty seats, there's going to be no missing attenders, and there's going to be no disinterested people just like, when is this over? We will all be feasting before the King for all eternity on that day. This day is a foretaste of that day. Let's get ready for the great day to come. Hebrews says, this day is drawing near. So until that day comes, let's not neglect the gathering. Pray with me. Thank you for listening to the Sunrise Community Church podcast. We pray you are blessed by the preaching of God's Word. If you would like more information about our church, please visit our website at sunrisecc.com. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Complete transcription result saved to: /home/ubuntu/upload/Attend_transcription_20260615_151254.json Plain text transcription saved to: /home/ubuntu/upload/Attend_transcription_20260615_151254.txt [2J[H[3Jmanus-speech-to-text --terminal-max-len-single=5000 /home/ubuntu/upload/Attend.mp3 Starting Speech-to-Text conversion... Audio file size (66.6MB) exceeds limit (5MB), downsampling audio file... Source audio bitrate: 192 kbps Bitrate exceeds 128 kbps, downsampling... Downsampled audio file size is 44.42 MB. Downsampled audio file size still exceeds limit (5MB), splitting audio into chunks Audio file size: 44.42 MB, duration: 2911.3 seconds Splitting into 9 chunks (each ~323.5 seconds, max 5 MB)... Successfully split into 9 chunks Audio file split into 9 chunks for batch processing Transcribing audio file: /home/ubuntu/upload/Attend.mp3, file size: 66.64 MB Transcription may take some time depending on file size and audio length... Chunk transcription progress: Starting batch transcription of 9 chunks... Transcribing chunk 1/9: /home/ubuntu/upload/.Attend_chunks_20260615_150802/chunk_000.mp3 Chunk 1 completed (duration: 323.5s) Transcribing chunk 2/9: /home/ubuntu/upload/.Attend_chunks_20260615_150802/chunk_001.mp3 Chunk 2 completed (duration: 323.5s) Transcribing chunk 3/9: /home/ubuntu/upload/.Attend_chunks_20260615_150802/chunk_002.mp3 Chunk 3 completed (duration: 323.5s) Transcribing chunk 4/9: /home/ubuntu/upload/.Attend_chunks_20260615_150802/chunk_003.mp3 Chunk 4 completed (duration: 323.5s) Transcribing chunk 5/9: /home/ubuntu/upload/.Attend_chunks_20260615_150802/chunk_004.mp3 Chunk 5 completed (duration: 323.5s) Transcribing chunk 6/9: /home/ubuntu/upload/.Attend_chunks_20260615_150802/chunk_005.mp3 Chunk 6 completed (duration: 323.5s) Transcribing chunk 7/9: /home/ubuntu/upload/.Attend_chunks_20260615_150802/chunk_006.mp3 Chunk 7 completed (duration: 323.5s) Transcribing chunk 8/9: /home/ubuntu/upload/.Attend_chunks_20260615_150802/chunk_007.mp3 Chunk 8 completed (duration: 323.5s) Transcribing chunk 9/9: /home/ubuntu/upload/.Attend_chunks_20260615_150802/chunk_008.mp3 Chunk 9 completed (duration: 323.4s) Snippet of transcribed content: Well, I didn't want to make you all feel guilty and browbeat you, but also because that's not where the text begins. Where does our passage today begin? It begins with Jesus. It begins with Jesus. The command to gather begins with a Savior whose blood made a new and living way. A Savior who is our advocate and high priest pleading our cause before the Father. Because of that, how then shall we live? We draw near to God, we hold fast to our confession, and we gather together. This is the Christian life. So when the church gathers, we're not merely attending an event, we're responding to what Christ has done and what He is doing, waiting for what He will do. That's the meat and potatoes of our gathering. And every gathering is proof that Christ is still building His church. And every gathering is an opportunity to be positively irritating to one another, provoking one another in all the right ways. As we all, as the church, look forward to the final day when there will be the eternal gathering. On that day, a trumpet will sound, the skies will part, the Lord will descend, faith will become sight, the church that is now scattered in all the nations, tribes, tongues, and languages will gather together before the throne. And on that day, there's going to be no empty seats, there's going to be no missing attenders, and there's going to be no disinterested people just like, when is this over? We will all be feasting before the King for all eternity on that day. This day is a foretaste of that day. Let's get ready for the great day to come. Hebrews says, this day is drawing near. So until that day comes, let's not neglect the gathering. Pray with me.