The Book of Hebrews: Week 7

Good morning, Welcome to Church at the Crossing.

My name is Andrew.

If you're new, this is your first time here. I'm

so glad that you decided to join us today. When

you came in, you probably noticed that we've got a

little construction going.

On our lobby.

Renovation is well underway and painting is supposed to be

happening this week. If you come back next week, there

may or may not be carpet or a bare floor.

You know, contractors and construction. It's all kind of in flex,

but it's happening. And so we're hoping to have that

completed by the end of this summer.

And it's gonna be a beautiful space.

It's gonna be a great way to welcome new people,

new families in a very hospitality way. Well, this summer

we've been in our summer study series looking at the

Book of Hebrews in the New Testament, and today we're

going to open the Bible to Hebrews chapter ten, and

so I want to ask you to turn in your

Bible to Hebrews chapter ten, and as we prepared to

hear from God, let's pray together, Father God, we thank

you for your grace and your presence. God, We thank

you for your word that we can come to your

word and we can find truth, We can find encouragement,

we can find direction.

God.

In a world that can be confusing, in a world

that can be clouded with opinion and all these other things,

we can come to your word and we can find clarity.

So Holy Spirit, come in these next few moments, Holy Spirit,

speak to our hearts. Use my words for the glory

of Jesus. May we become more like Him because of

what we've heard and attained today in Jesus' name.

Amen, As we.

Get started, I'm curious, are there any golfers in the room,

Any golfers, any couple of golfers.

Yeah, well, I like golf.

I enjoy golf, But I gotta tell you, I barely

get to go golfing. I think the last time I

went golfing was maybe a year ago, and the time

before that was a year before that.

I'm a casual golfer.

A year ago, I was invited to a retirement party outing,

and all of the other people at this outing were

serious golfers, like die Hard, committed golfers, and I'm just

a casual golfer.

I barely get out.

And so I was grouped up with some serious golfers,

and I said, at the very beginning, I let them know.

I give them a heads up.

I said, listen, on the first t if you're a committed,

like die hard, competitive golfer, I'm gonna frustrate you today.

I'm gonna slow you down. I'm gonna frustrate you because

I'm casual. I barely keep score. If I don't like

a shot, I just take another one. If I lose

a ball, I don't need to waste time getting poisoned,

I just get another one. You know, I'm casual. If

it's raining, that's not golf weather. If it's blistering, sweaty

hot like, I don't need to suffer for a game

like I'm just casual. I'm just casual. I barely even

enjoy eighteen holes. I'm more of a nine hole kind

of guy. I'm just casual.

I say that because I believe one of the.

Greatest temptations for a Christian in the United States, like

me and like you, is something called casual Christianity. What

is casual Christianity, Well, casual Christianity likes Jesus because he

saves you, He forgives you. But casual Christianity doesn't like sacrifice.

If obeying Jesus is too hard.

Casual Christianity packs it in.

Casual Christianity follows Jesus as long as it's popular. But

if there's criticism, if there's opposition, casual Christianity retreats. It's

a belief without conviction. It's a faith without any endurance.

Casual Christianity avoids standing alone or standing up or being noticed.

It retreats when there's criticism. It shies away from taking

risky steps of faith, and casual Christianity shrinks from the

first signs of danger. I believe that you're here today

because you want a faith that's stronger than casual Christianity.

That you want a faith that's gonna endure, faith that's

gonna last, the faith that's gonna grow. In other words,

I think the words of Hebrews ten, verse thirty nine

describe the type of faith that we want. Verse thirty

nine says, we do not belong to those who shrink back.

Would you say shrink back? We do not belong to

those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those

who have faith and are saved. You can be a

Christian who does not shrink back from danger. You can

be a Christian who does not shrink back from criticism.

I don't know about you, but I want this to

be my legacy.

This is the faith that I want.

I want to be among the Christians who don't shrink

back from following Jesus. I want to be counted among

those who go where He goes, who obey what He commands,

whatever the cost, whatever the risk, whatever the sacrifice.

That's the type of faith that I want.

And so today, as we talk about and look at

Hebrews chapter ten, I want to encourage you. If you

want to be someone who doesn't shrink back, I want

to encourage you to persevere for a purpose. That's the

big idea, the main point today's persevere for a purpose,

a greater purpose, a bigger purpose, Persevere for Christ. Perseverance

is a major theme throughout the whole book of Hebrews.

As you've been reading it and studying it this summer,

you'll notice things like persevere, endure, hold on to It's

this strong theme.

Let's remember the context.

Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians in the first century,

living in Rome, and these Jewish Christians were struggling with

their faith because Christianity was not popular, it was unknown,

Christianity was marginalized, it was unprotected by the government. And

so what that means is that Christians could be harassed,

they could be criticized, they could be persecuted without any repercussion.

Many of them were arrested, many of them were even executed.

And so if you remember, we discussed how these Jewish

Christians found refuge outside of the city of Rome. They

were living in the hills. They were meeting together in

the tunnels, in the caves. That's where they held their

worship services. Look at Hebrews chapter ten, verse thirty two.

It says, remember those early days after you had received

the light, that means you believed the gospel. When you

endured in a great conflict of suffering. Sometimes you were

publicly exposed to insult and persecution. At other times you

stood side by side.

With those who were so treated.

You suffered along with those in prison, and joyfully accepted

the confiscation of your property because you knew that you yourselves

had a better and lasting possession. So do not throw

away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded. Look at

verse thirty six.

You need to what say it with me? Persevere. You

need to persevere so that when you have done the

will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

You need to persevere. This is our main point today.

Persevere for a purpose. Perseverance reminds me of my grandparents

and my great grandparents. That generation, those generations that persevered,

those generations who endured, I mean, they endured a lot.

It was that generation that endured the Great Depression. It

was those generations that fought World War Two like they sacked.

They suffered, they endured, And I remember hearing the stories

from my grandparents about how.

During World War Two certain things were.

Rationed, like gasoline and sugar and rubber.

And coffee, things like that.

Here's a picture of a World War two era ration book.

Every family was given something like this, and based on

the size of your family, you were allowed to purchase

each month a certain quantity of products.

I mean, and I've heard these.

Stories from my grandfather when he was a boy collecting

scrap metal to donate to the war effort, or stuffing

his worn out bicycle tires, stuffing them with newspaper and

old rags, because rubber was rationed for the war effort.

I mean these this generation took grit. This generation persevered,

This generation endured. Perseverance requires a purpose, an objective, a reward,

a goal. How could those generations put up with rations?

How could they put up and endure such sacrifice. It's

because they had a purpose. They had something greater than themselves.

They believed in a better outcome. They believed in winning

the war, they believed in defeating evil. They believed in

a better society. They believed in a future, and so

that pain was worth the better outcome.

They persevered for a purpose.

In Hebrews ten, verse thirty two, we read about how

these early Christians were suffering.

They were persecuted, And did.

You notice that it even says that they joyfully accepted

the confiscation of their property. Why would somebody rejoice when

their property is taken. Why would somebody rejoice when they're suffered.

Why would somebody rejoice when they're criticized or harassed. It's

because they had a purpose. They believed that God rewards perseverance.

They believe that God rewards perseverance, and so the author

of Hebrews is inviting us, encouraging us to persevere because

God rewards perseverance.

It's right here in the text. Look at verse thirty five.

Do not throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded.

You need to persevere so that when you have done

the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

It says right here in the text that God rewards perseverance.

There's a better reward, there's a lasting reward. And what

that means for us today is that we don't want

to be casual Christians. We want to be Christians who

persevere because we've got a better reward, a better goal.

And so you can persevere and resist temptation and say

no to sin because you've got a better reward that

you're focused on. You want a life of holiness, you

want a life of integrity, a good character in your life.

You can persevere and raise your children to know Jesus

because you have a better reward. You don't want them

to go the way of the culture or fallow the

way of society.

You're following the way of Jesus. That's your reward.

You can persevere and build a marriage that is faithful

and committed because you've got a better reward. You want

a marriage that is strong, a marriage that's gonna endure

suffering in the tough times.

Like we can persevere because we've got a better reward.

And I believe that God is going to reward our

church for perseverance. I believe that God is gonna reward

our church because we persevere.

We're gonna be a church that preaches Jesus even if

it's unpopular.

We're gonna be a church that obeys the Bible as

best we can, even if there's criticism. You see, we

say that we want to be a better church, not

a bigger church. We want to be a people of grit.

That means perseverance. It means following.

Jesus where he goes.

That's why we start programs like Celebrate Recovery where people

can find freedom in Christ.

It's why we open our.

Doors on Saturday mornings to provide groceries for those.

In need in our community.

It takes grit, It takes rolling up our sleeves, getting

our hands dirty, and I think we can do so

much more. I can envision the possibility of us day

having a health clinic here on our campus, where the

doctors and nurses in our congregation are serving.

Needs in our community.

I can see us opening an immigration office where we

can help immigrants with their legal paperwork and their documentation. Like,

there's so much that we can do, but the gospel work,

the work that we're called to, requires perseverance because it's hard,

sometimes it's.

Unpopular, and sometimes it takes tenacity.

But we're going to persevere because God rewards perseverance, and

I believe that the future reward is better than the

current pain. Future reward is better than sacrifice, better than suffering,

better than temporary pain. You know, some of you here

are getting ready to start school at the end of

the summer. Some are gonna be starting high school, some

are gonna be going to college, or there might be

some here who are starting grad school.

And you need person to finish a degree. I know

that well.

When I was in my doctorate program, I needed perseverance.

It was one of the hardest challenges that I've done

in my life.

Now, let me tell you something.

When I enrolled in the doctorate program, the seminary told

me that the work to finish the degree would take

about four years, but then they said you're allowed to

take up to ten years to finish the degree. And

when I first heard that, I kinda laughed, like, well,

I'm not going to need ten years to finish four years.

Well, let me tell you.

Once I got in, I understood why they offer such

an extension, And there were times where I thought, man,

I might want to take a break and pick this

up next.

Year, but I needed perseverance. Let me tell you.

The seminary that I attended is located in California, so

I'd have to travel to California several times, take a

class for a week two weeks. That meant rearranging schedule,

That meant financial cost. When I wasn't in class, I

had homework. I had deadlines, I had papers, a lot

of reading. When my son was born, I had about

a year or eighteen months left in the program, and

every Saturday was dedicated to homework. Like Saturdays was homework day.

I could not go golfing on Saturday. I couldn't sleep

in if I wanted to because I had homework.

And man, my son, he would take his naps.

I would love to take a nap, but I got

homework to do. I had to persevere. What motivated me?

Let me tell you.

I was not motivated because I wanted a piece of

paper in a frame. I was not motivated because I

wanted some letters at the end of my name. And

I certainly was not motivated so one day I could

wear an itchy cap and gown out of ceremony.

Sincerely, I was motivated because I wanted to grow. I

wanted something better.

I wanted to become a better learn how to be

a better leader, be a better preacher.

I wanted to grow.

I wanted God to teach me more. That was what

my motivation was. The future reward is better than current pain.

We read in verse thirty four.

You knew there were better things waiting for you that

will last forever.

You have a better reward.

Eternal life is a better reward than the temporary pain.

Eternal life in heaven with Jesus is better. Having God's

presence in your life is a better reward. Having God's

peace when you're suffering is a better reward.

So you can persevere because there's something better.

You can put up with temporary pain because there's something better.

You can go through a difficult medical treatment because you've

got something better. When your boss is on your back

and there's pressure, it feels overwhelming. You can persevere because

you got a better reward. When your faith is laughed at,

when you feel mocked or judged for your faith, you

can persevere because there's something better. When you're out of work,

when you've lost the job, you will persevere because there's

something better. Persevere for a purpose. The future reward is

better in the current pain. As we look at Hebrews

Chapter ten, we're going to look at the middle of

the chapter. Verses twenty two through twenty seven provide a

framework for perseverance, a step by step framework for how

we persevere.

Let's start here.

In verse twenty two, it says, let us draw near

to God with a sincere heart and with full assurance

that faith brings having our heart sprinkled to cleanse us

from a guilty conscience, and having our bodies washed with

pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess.

He who promised is faithful. Okay, Notice the text here

says in verse twenty two, let us draw near to God.

How do we draw near to God? We need practices,

We need activities.

Very simply Godly habits produce perseverance. Godly habits, godly routine

produce perseverance. You probably know that I like really good coffee.

Let me rephrase that I'm addicted to really good coffee,

like I'm dependent on coffee.

I love good coffee.

I have a monthly subscription to my favorite coffee. The

mailman delivers it directly to my front door, like it's always.

There for me.

I have a high tech espresso coffee maker that takes

up a lot of real estate in our kitchen, but

it's worth it because it makes the perfect cup of coffee.

And there's some nights I'll go to bed with a

little smile on my face as I get to wake

up and make this coffee.

I would not have done well in World War two rations.

When we travel as a family, we load up all

of our luggage into the car and we have room

for that high tech espresso machine to come with us,

because I gotta have my coffee wherever I'm at, I

want my coffee. If I don't have my coffee, it's

gonna be a bad day. You see, I'm dependent on

that habit.

Godly habits make us depend on God. We need him

daily in our lives.

That's why the first habit, if you want to draw

you to God, the first habit is daily time with God.

It sounds simple, and it is, but it's powerful. It's

daily time with God. And I want to tell you

why that habit is so essential.

When you're suffering.

You need to know the voice of God, when you're

confused and need to make a decision. You need to

know how to recognize the voice of God in your life.

And the only way is if you have a habit,

habit of being with Him each day, of reading His Word,

of being in prayer. That's how you learn to recognize

his voice. And I'll tell you how I've seen this.

I've mentioned my grandfather before. My grandfather, I called him Papa,

and Papa had a lot of responsibility in life.

He owned a few companies, he managed a lot of employees.

He had a lot of responsibility. And in the midst

of all that responsibility, he met with God every day.

He had a habit.

First thing in the morning, he would sit down with

his Bible and a cup of coffee.

That's probably where I get the coffee thing from its

hereditary and Papa would meet with God and he would pray,

and he would search God's word, and he would ask

for wisdom. He learned how to understand and know the voice.

Of God in his life.

And when his wife was dying from cancer my grandmother,

Papa leaned on that habit. When she eventually passed away,

he was heartbroken. Papa was devastated, he was crushed, he

was depressed. But he had a habit of meeting with God,

and so every day in his grief, he continued to

meet with God even when he didn't feel like it.

I asked him about this once, and I'll tell you

what he said to me, unapologetically. He was so honest,

he said, Andrew, sometimes I thought there was nothing God

could do for me, But somehow there was more comfort

and more from.

God each time I met him, he said.

In my darkest days, when I felt completely alone, God met.

Me, and He has always walked with me. That's why

we need a daily habit of daily time with God,

because when.

We go through the darkest days, we need to know

the voice of God in our lives.

When you're facing a temptation that is overwhelming that you

can't resist, you need to know what God's word says,

you need to have the strength from God's voice when

you're going through a betrayal or a disappointment, like you

need to hear God's voice, and it only comes from

this habit.

You see, it's not about a religious checkbox. It's not

trying to make God like you anymore. It's about conditioning

your soul to know the voice.

Of God so that you can persevere. Persevere for a purpose.

Daily time with God will shape.

Your character, inform your resilience to persevere through life's greatest trials.

Let's keep going.

In our text, we're going to pick up in chapter ten,

verse twenty three, we read, let us hold tightly without

wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be

trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways

to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

The text says, here to we motivate one another.

Years ago, I am exercised with my friend Mark every

day at the gym. Over the years, I've had different

people that I've exercised with, different buddies at the gym,

but Mark is by far my favorite one to go

to the gym with.

Because Mark motivated me.

You see, Mark is bigger than me, and Mark is

stronger than me, and so when we might be lifting weights,

Mark would be lifting something a lot heavier. So it'ld

motivate me to try and lift something heavy, try to

push myself. And let me tell you, there were plenty

of mornings that I didn't want to leave the house

while it was still dark. I didn't want to go

out and start the car in the cold, but I

knew Mark was gonna be at the gym Mark's waiting.

I don't want to let down Mark. He motivated me.

If I was by myself, I'd probably go easy, probably.

Casual, But Mark motivated me. Text says here that we

motivate one another. If you want to faith that.

Perseveres, you need godly friends. Godly friends. Just think for

a moment, who do you spend most of your time with?

Who are those people that you spend the most.

Of your time with that you're communicating.

With most, that you're in text message regularly daily, Like

who are you talking to and spending time with the most?

Think about who those people are now?

Genuinely are those people helping you become more like Jesus?

And you may go way back with these people. You

may like these people. That may be fun, but.

Are they truly helping you become like Jesus? Are they

helping your faith? Are they building you up in Christ?

Godly friends help us become like Jesus.

Godly friends are also fun, you know, Following Jesus alone

is not fun.

So many godly friends and I believe that in the

church there are really only two ways, two primary ways

that we build godly friendships, and that is being.

In a small group or on a serve team.

I've been in church ministry for nearly two decades, and

it really comes down to those I've seen it all.

It's one or both of those things. It's being in

a small group or being on a seram. In a

small group, you're doing life together. You're sharing meals, you're

praying together, you're sharing life's up and downs like you're you're.

Building trust and community.

On a serve team, like your shoulder to shoulder, you're

doing something together.

You're encouraging one another.

Sometimes you're you're trouble shooting, you're you're you're laughing together,

like you're you're doing something. It's really those two things

is where we build godly friends. So a text tells us,

if we want to persevere, we need godly friends. Let's

continue on in this text, picking up in verse twenty four,

let us think of ways to motivate one another to

acts of love and good works. And let us not

neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage

one another. I want us to look closely at a

couple of words here in verse twenty five. Notice this

phrase meeting together. Well, this phrase meeting together when Hebrews

was written in Greek and the f century. This phrase

is actually one word, and it's the same word where

the root word where we get the word synagogue from

the same word. The synagogue is where the Jewish people

met every week. It's where they worshiped God. It's where

they read scripture, it's where they prayed every week. They

came to worship God in the synagogue. Now this other word,

it says, let us not neglect this word neglect. The

English word neglect is really a softened translation of what's

written in Greek. I mean, when we think of neglect

as a connotation of being like forgetful or absent minded.

But actually this word in the first century Greek is

the word that literally means forsake or dessert or abandon

or leave behind or give up. It's the same word

that Jesus used when he's on the cross and he says,

my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That's

the same word here that's translated as a neglect. And

so the author is saying, do not forsake, do not

abandon me together. Now, remember, the original audience was Jewish

Christians in the first century, and they were under threat,

some of them persecuted, some of them arrested, some of

them executed, and.

They found each other in the hills.

They found safety, gathering in the tunnels, gathering in the

caves in the hills, and that's where they worshiped.

That's where they shared.

Communion together, underground, that's where they baptized new converts. It

would have been really easy to escape the danger of

persecution if they just stopped meeting together, if they stopped

leaving their home in the middle of the night, if

they stopped being noticed going out into those meetings outside

of the city, they.

Could avoid a lot of danger.

The author of Hebrew says, do not neglect, do not

forsake your meeting together, and it's reminding you and I

that we need a godly habit of weekly worship. What

we do here, what we're doing now, gathering together to worship,

that we need this habit. Now, It's likely somebody listening

might have just groaned and said, here we go again,

a pastor giving a guilt trip about attending church. Well,

I've thought long and hard about this verse because I've

studied this verse, because I believe that this verse, if

read improperly, can evoke two different responses.

On one hand, someone.

Might read this and feel a lot of guilt and

shame because of sporadic church attendance. Another hand, someone might

read this and feel a sense of pride for very

faithful commitment to church.

Friends.

My job is not to give a guilt trip my gobs.

Job is not to give out of boys. My job

is to simply teach what I see the Bible teaching us.

That's my job, And Scripture is very clear that if

we want to faith that perseveres, attending church is a

part of that. The Bible is very clear weekly worship,

gathering with other Christians consistently is a part of building

a faith that will persevere. And I've seen this to

be true. Years ago, when I was a youth pastor,

I met a young high school boy. I think he

was a junior in high school, maybe seventeen years old,

and he was facing a complicated decision and he was

asking for my advice because he was on the football

team at his high school and his coaches were recruiting

him to a starting spot on the team. This was

a big deal for him, and so they had some

expectations that they wanted him to work out more, they

wanted him to eat more, they wanted him to get bigger, stronger, faster.

And one of the expectations was there was a commitment

or an activity that conflicted with his church attendance.

But he knew that if he.

Participated and met his coach's expectations, he could get the

starting spot, but he couldn't attend church, and so he

was conflicted about it. And even one of his coaches

told him, Hey, I gonna go to Hell just because

you skip church.

That's true.

But when I was talking to this young man, I

reminded him that church is where we strengthen our faith.

The church is where we worship God, where we remind

ourselves of the gospel where we remind ourselves of our need.

It strengthens our faith against temptation, against things.

That would pull us away from Jesus.

Ultimately, this young man decided to appease his coaches and

he stopped attending church.

And from a distance, I watched his faith stall.

I watched him given the temptation more easily, watched him

make some really poor, sinful choices, and he drifted.

From God for a very long time. The scripture is

very clear.

We read in verse twenty five, let us not neglect

our meeting together as some people do, but encourage one another.

Encourage one another.

Our Celebrate Recovery Ministry meets every Tuesday, and I was

surprised one Tuesday.

When I met a couple of people from out of state.

Job brings them out of state occasionally, and when they're traveling,

they can't attend their local recovery ministry. But they need

that weekly reminder, that weekly discipline.

So they found our program.

And so when they're traveling, when they're in India, they

come to our program because they need that encouragement, they

need that accountability.

The church is a place where we encourage one another.

And as I was reading this scripture.

As I was reflecting on this scripture, let me tell

you what came to mind. I thought about all of

the encouragement that we have here at church at the crossing.

I was thinking about the husband who buried his wife,

the parents who lost the child, who showed up here

the very next Sunday because they needed the love and

the comfort of this place. I think about the person

who's fighting cancer right now, who comes here every week

for prayer and encouragement to build up their strength to

go into that next week of chemo. I think about

the young men in our church who don't have fathers,

but they've found Godly mentors in this body. I think

about the couple who's praying to start a family, to

have a baby, and they come here seeking God every week,

and they're encouraged and they're.

Built up by the community. Man. I think about the

single mom who's trying to raise.

Her kids and you know, make ends meet, and here

where she finds some peace, where she finds some renewal.

And some refreshing. Let me tell you there is no

place on.

Earth where you can find encouragement, support, prayer, forgiveness like

you can every week in the Church of God. That's

what we do when we gather every week. We need

this weekly habit of worship. Let's keep reading on in

our text, we read in verse twenty six, if we

deliberately keep on sinning, after we have received the knowledge

of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but

only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire

that will consume the enemies of God. What this verse

is saying is that if we deliberately keep on sinning,

if we choose to reject the ways of Jesus, and

we choose sin, choose the way of the world, the

way that is against Jesus, and there's there's there's no

there's no hope. If we deliberately choose sin, we've chosen

our path. And so that's why we need a godly

habit of regular confession. Man, regular confession keeps us close

to Jesus. Regularly confessing our sins, our failures, our shortcomings.

It cleanses our conscience, It keeps.

Our hearts tender to the things of God. We need

to make it a habit of confessing our sins. You know,

I have a handful of men in my life, who

know everything about me, and these men have permission to

point out anything in my life that is inconsistent with

the way of Jesus. And there's been often times where

I will call one of these men and say, Hey,

the Lord convicted me of something, and I need to

confess that to someone else that I trust. Just recently,

I spoke to one of these men, and I gave

him permission to ask me every week some very specific

questions about some specific things in my.

Life, to keep me accountable, to keep me away from sin.

James five sixteen says, Therefore, confessional sins to one another

and pray for one another that you may be healed.

Regular confession keeps our conscience tender to the things of God.

When was the last time that you allowed God to

examine your heart and your motives?

When was the last time that you confess something to

a trusted Christian? Confession keeps us close to God. Confession

helps us persevere.

When we gather.

Every week, we receive the strength to go back out

and persevere for another week. When we're here in this

place we worship Jesus, the ultimate example of perseverance. Notice

what we read in Hebrews chapter twelve. Let us run

with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our

eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith, for

the joy set before him. He endured the cross, scoring

its shame, and sat down at the right hand of

the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition

from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and

lose heart. Jesus is the ultimate example of persevution of perseverance.

Jesus endured the cross.

Notice here it says for the joy set before him,

he endured the cross.

How could he have joy and crucifixion? How could he

have joy hanging on the cross? What is the joy?

His joy was obeying the Father save you and me.

You and I were his motivation. You and I were

his purpose.

It was the joy of saving us from sin and death.

It was the joy of our salvation that kept him

on the cross.

That was his reward.

He endured the beating for you. He endured the whips,

the flogging, the scourging. He endured the crown of thorns

for you. When the nails pierced his hands and his feet,

it was for you when the blood drained out of

his body when he slowly suffocated to death.

It was for you, and it was for the joy

of our salvation.

You are his reward, You are his purpose, and so

we get to persevere because we have a savior who persevered.

Through the worst.

As we close, I have one more story I want

to share, but before I do that, I'd like for

us just to take a few moments right now and

allow the Lord to speak to us. Allow the Lord

his Spirit to speak to us from what we've heard.

Would you take a moment to buy your head with me,

and which you invite God's Spirit to speak to you.

Is he prompting you to take a step, is inviting

you to make a change from what you've heard today?

Just take a moment and listen to him.

I want to close by sharing one more story.

Recently came across this story about a US Army chaplain

named Emil and a Meal served during World War two

in the Korean War.

And Emil was a unique type of chaplain.

His motto was a chaplain belongs where his soldiers are,

and so that means that Emial did not stay in

safety behind the front lines.

No, Emial was on the front lines.

He prayed with men in foxholes. He rode in jeeps

through combat. Eyewitnesses talk about how a Meal would walk

across the battlefield with bullets flying around him to rescue

the wounded, like he persevered through some difficult circumstance. During

the Korean War, Emil was taken captive with other US

soldiers and they were forced to march more than eighty

miles on a death march, essentially to a prisoner of

war camp. And along that deadly march, a Meal encouraged

the men. He prayed with men, He helped carry the injured,

He shared his food. He persevered in that camp. The

prisoners were denied medical treatment, They felt the effects of disease,

the bitter cold, and the lack of food. And yet

a Meal every day, prayed with men, shared scripture with men,

encouraged them not to surrender to despair, but to persevere,

to hold on to hope in Christ. One person said

that he kept us alive, not.

Just physically but spiritually. While he was in the camp.

A Meal suffered from pneumonia and a blood clot and

eventually passed away in that pow camp. And before he passed,

he reminded the men, forgive your enemies. A Meal persevered

the worst conditions because he had a greater purpose, he

had a greater reward, and he has received his reward

in heaven.

Today we're gonna receive communion.

One of the Meal's responsibilities as the chaplain was to

serve communion on the battlefield, on the.

Front lines, to remind those.

That he was serving that Christ died for us and

shed his blood for us. Even in that prisoner of

war camp, Emil didn't have the traditional elements, but he

would scrounge around and find what food he could to

serve communion in this terrible situation. I'm gonna invite our

communion service to come forward now, and as we prepare

to receive, I want to invite you to stand with me,

and we're gonna take a moment to prepare our hearts

to receive these elements. Would you close your eyes with me,

Let's pray, Father God, we come to you acknowledging that

we are sinners and that Jesus is our savior, that

Jesus became our substitute and God, in this moment of silence,

we confess any sin that we've been holding on to.

Father, we claim.

Your promise in first John one nine that if we

confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive

us and to purify us from all unrighteousness. And so

in the name of Jesus, I proclaim that every sin

that's been confessed is now forgiven. Every failure that's been

confessed was paid.

For on the cross.

That guilt and shame has no place in our conscience

because we've been washed by the forgiveness of Jesus. And

so Father, we receive these elements today with gratitude, remembering

the sacrifice that Jesus made, and it's in his name

we pray Amen.

Your community servers are prepared.

They have also gluten free options or prepackage options. If

you prefer that, your ushers will dismiss you by Roe