Commit when it Costs

Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church

Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our

podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast

you can have an encounter with Jesus that will

change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring

message from our preaching team. Okay, today's

reading comes from Genesis Genesis 2, starting

at verse 1. along with his son Isaac. Then he

chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering

and set out for the place God had told him about.

On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked

up and saw the place in the distance. Stay there

with the donkey, Abraham told the servants. The

boy and I will travel a little farther. We'll

worship there and then we'll come right back.

So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering

on Isaac's shoulders while he himself carried

the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked

on together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said,

Father? Yes, my son, Abraham replied. We have

the fire and the wood, the boy said. But where

is the sheep for the burnt offering? God will

provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,

Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.

When they arrived at the place where God had

told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged

the wood on it. Then he tied his son Isaac and

laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And

Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as

a sacrifice. At that moment, the angel of the

Lord called to him from heaven. Abraham, Abraham.

Yes, Abraham replied, here I am. Don't lay a

hand on the boy, the angel said. Do not hurt

him in any way, for now I know that you truly

fear God. You have not withheld from me even

your son, your only son. Then Abraham looked

up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket.

So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt

offering in place of his son. Abraham named the

place Yahweh -Yirah, which means the Lord will

provide. To this day people still use that name

as a proverb, on the mountain of the Lord it

will be provided. Then the angel of the Lord

called again to Abraham from heaven. This is

what the Lord says, because you have obeyed me

and have not withheld even your son, your only

son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly

bless you. I'll multiply your descendants beyond

number like the stars in the sky and the sand

on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer

the cities of their enemies and through your

descendants all the nations of the earth will

be blessed all because you have obeyed me. This

is the word of the Lord. Beautiful, thanks Nathan.

Well hey, good afternoon church. How are we?

Good, good, good. I'm well, thank you, Dan. Did

you ask how I was going? Yeah, yeah, yeah, cool.

I'm very well, thank you. If I don't know you,

if we haven't yet met yet, my name is Angus.

I'm part of the team here at Encounter Henley.

I love this church. We have such amazing people

here and we worship such an amazing God, don't

we? Yes, we do. Well, before I jump into the

word, I'd like to pray. God, may your Holy Spirit

come. Father, may you feel this place. God, as

I speak, as I preach your word, God, may you

be glorified. God, may it be your words, your

truth, your wisdom. God, may we be challenged.

But above all else, may we know your great love

that you have for us. In your name. Amen. Well

when I was 13 I started playing guitar. I started

having lessons at school and that was when I

really started to fall in love with music. I

listened to music on the radio when I was driving

with my parents and stuff like that but I never

really had a deep appreciation for music until

I started learning guitar and I just fell in

love with music. I was listening to it all the

time and an artist that I really loved in particular

was Ed Sheeran. That wasn't even a joke. I loved

Ed Sheeran. He was so good. He still is pretty

good, but I started listening to him in 2014,

which is right when Multiply came out. And for

me, Multiply is just like peak Ed Sheeran. Like,

it's just been downhill since then. Divide was

good. Equals was okay. Subtract was a step in

the right direction. The new album's all right.

But Multiply is where it's at. You know, maybe

it's just because I was like 15 and super angsty

and a lot of his songs just really resonated

with me, minus the drugs and the alcohol, obviously.

But I loved Ed Sheeran. I couldn't get enough.

I was listening to him all the time and I was

doing like assignments on him and stuff. I learned

a lot about Ed Sheeran and he has quite a story.

So I'm going to talk a little bit about Ed Sheeran

for a bit. At 16 years old, some of you might

already know his story, but at 16 he moved out

of his family home in Suffolk and he caught a

train to London with nothing but a rucksack filled

with clothes and his guitar and he pursued a

career in music. In his biography he describes

how he would bounce around London, staying on

people's couches if he could, but a lot of the

time he was actually... left outside to just

kind of fend for himself in the elements. He

was essentially homeless and he'd given up the

comfort of a house. He'd given up the comfort

of his friends and the company of his family

to pursue his dream of becoming a musician. And

he spent a few years doing it rough before he

made his break and released his first studio

album Plus which propelled him onto the international

stage. to the artists we all know and love today.

Not everyone loves him but that's okay. But he

was committed. He was so committed to this dream

of becoming a musician that he ran away from

home and he slept on the streets, he begged for

money and it cost him a lot but he eventually

reached where he wanted to go. Last week we heard

from Tex who preached that Anything you truly

want in life that's worth having is going to

come at a cost. Everything we want in life comes

at a cost. Sometimes it's a big thing, sometimes

it's a small thing. For example, if you want

KFC for lunch, it's going to cost you about 16

bucks for a zinger box. And it might also cost

you a slim waistline. If you want money, You

need to sacrifice some time to work at a job.

To move your way up the corporate ladder, you

might have to sacrifice some more time. Time

with your family, with loved ones. Friendships

and relationships cost time and energy. Parents

in the room can attest to the fact that kids

cost a lot of effort, a lot of time, and a lot

of money. Rocking up here to church this afternoon

has cost you your Sunday afternoon. I could be

playing PlayStation right now. But I'm trying

to be obedient. Everything we choose to do comes

at a cost every single day. Saying yes to one

thing and saying no to another. We make sacrifices

all the time. And being a Christian, the Christian

life is no exception. Sometimes we have to choose

to commit when it costs, which is what we're

looking at. today. If you missed last week, we

are making our way through a three -part series,

this is part two, of a three -part series called

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. And this

series is massively important. Success and faith

is not about checkpoints or milestones like many

other things in life. For example, you know you're

successful at work when you get offered a promotion

or you hit all your KPIs. You know you're successful

at sports when you get a win. But success in

faith is different. Success in faith is marked

by a long obedience in the same direction, a

lifetime of choosing God over ourselves, over

our lives, over our friends, over our family,

over everything else, choosing God, a long obedience

in the same direction. It's the small decisions

made day to day, choosing commitment, and obedience

to a life alongside Jesus. It means committing

to community like we heard last week, even when

the community sucks, sometimes even when you

suck. And it also means committing when it costs.

If you're a committed follower of Jesus, or if

you're new to faith, exploring what it looks

like for you, there's something in here for you.

I think there's a challenge for all of us. this

message. If you've been a Christian for a while

you would know that it can be difficult to say

at any given day whether you're being successful

or not. But looking back on our lives and seeing

where we were a month ago, a year ago, 10, 20,

50 years ago, that's when we start seeing the

progress and the markers and saying actually

maybe I'm doing this Christian thing right. It's

a long faithful walk of obedience as we make

our way through life that determines our success

in faith. Now this message might be a little

bit challenging. I know for me as I was preparing

it, as I was getting it ready, God certainly

challenged me. He said, Angus, you need to start

living some of this stuff out. So I'm preaching

to myself first. But if you're new here, if you're

visiting, we love you. God loves you. You're

welcome here. I pray this challenge doesn't scare

you but it's a challenge that's worth pursuing.

It's a challenge that's worth tackling head -on

saying actually maybe this is a life that's better

for myself than what I can create for myself.

And after all we don't want to be a church that

shies away from a challenge. We want to be a

church where we sharpen each other like iron

sharpens iron, challenging each other, pushing

each other, deeper into faith, deeper into our

relationship with Jesus, because that's the life

that has been promised, and it's a life that

is great. And it's a life filled with joy, filled

with love, filled with peace, not absent of suffering,

but a life that is worth living. So are we ready

to be challenged Church? Dan is, Dan gave me

a nod. Alright Dan, this is for you. All right,

our Bible reading today is a famous story from

Genesis, as Nathan read out beautifully for us,

where Abraham is instructed by God to sacrifice

his son Isaac. Now, I'm not a parent, but I'm

pretty sure sacrificing your child is not exactly

something you'd be very keen on doing. And when

we look at the story of Abraham before this story

where he sacrifices Isaac, we see that Abraham

and his wife Sarah weren't able to conceive.

For whatever reason Sarah couldn't fall pregnant.

And it was 25 years of waiting, praying, crying

before they were finally given this son, Isaac.

Imagine waiting 25 years for an answer to your

prayer. I'm 27. That's like my whole lifetime.

Like when I'm at the Maccas drive -thru, if I'm

waiting more than 10 minutes, I get pretty agitated.

And that's not even that important. If I'm waiting

that long for a child, I know I'd be holding

on to that child for dear life. I would never

let that child go. And if God asked me to sacrifice

that child, I would be ready to riot. I would

be so ticked off like, God, you've just made

me wait 25 years for this son and now you're

asking me to sacrifice him. Can you imagine the

confusion, the heartache that Abraham would be

going through? But Abraham does as God asks.

He goes to the mountain he binds Isaac to the

altar and right as he's about to go through with

this command God sends an angel to steady his

hand and say Abraham you're okay But Abraham

was ready to commit even when it would have cost

him the thing he wanted and prayed for the most

He was ready I Wonder what that thing is for

you What is your Isaac church? It could be something

that you've wanted and prayed for for a long

time. Something that you're just holding on to,

that you love dearly. It could be a really good

thing. What is your Isaac? God knew that the

thing Abraham wanted most was a son. And so when

he asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, He's actually

asking, Abraham, are you committed? Are you willing

to commit even when it costs, even if it costs

you the thing that you love the most? And in

our own lives, God asks us that exact same question.

Are you ready to commit when it costs? I want

you to imagine this thing that you love the most.

If God asked you today to place it on the altar,

just like Abraham did for Isaac, would you do

it? Would you be willing to make the sacrifice,

to lay it down? Would you be more inclined to

hold on and say, God, you can have anything else

but this? If God asked you to make that choice,

how? Would you respond? The walk of faith, life

as a Christian, it comes at a cost. There's no

way around it. Nowhere in the Bible does it say

anything along the lines that we won't have to

pay a price. Nowhere in the Bible does it say

that when we choose to follow Jesus, we keep

living our life the exact same way. Jesus doesn't

shy away from this fact either. In Matthew chapter

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

16, Jesus says to his disciples, if any of you

wants to be my follower, you must give up your

own way. Take up your cross and follow me. Some

translations say you must deny yourself. Jesus

says to lay down our desires. lay down our wants

and take up our cross. In his book, The Cost

of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it

like this. He says, when Christ calls a man,

he bids him come and die. Pay a price when we

give our lives to Jesus. We say no to our flesh.

We deny ourselves in favor of what God has promised

us because we believe that God's way is greater.

His way is better for us than what we could do

or create for ourselves. Every one of us, if

we're committed Christians, part of our long

obedience in the same direction involves letting

go, making a sacrifice. Elizabeth Elliott, she

writes that there is no ongoing spiritual life.

without the process of letting go. At the precise

point where we refuse, growth stops. The minute

we stop handing things over to God, as soon as

we start saying no to God, we limit ourselves.

We put a cap on our spiritual growth. Growth

always starts with surrender. Like plants, we

need to be pruned so that we can grow. God doesn't

just want some of our lives. He doesn't just

want fragments of it. He wants us to offer everything

we have. Sometimes, and I've felt like this before,

it can feel like the Christian life is about

adding things. You know, you gotta read your

Bible. You gotta pray more often. You gotta come

to church on Sundays. You gotta attend RDGs.

You gotta come to Heart and Souls. You gotta...

You got to do all this stuff. You got to serve

on a Sunday. You got to do this. You got to do

that. You got to do this. You got to do that.

But in reality, the Christian life is about subtracting.

It's about denying ourselves in favor of what

God calls us to. It's making less of ourselves

so that we can take up our cross and be obedient

to Christ. But this can be really hard. Really,

really hard. Sometimes denying ourselves and

choosing the life that God sets before us is

really difficult. And like I said, I'm preaching

to myself first here. This has been an ongoing

challenge for me and it still is. In a world

where we're told to indulge, to feel good, to

do everything but deny ourselves, when we hear

Jesus tell us to bear our cross, it's uncomfortable.

And it's hard. It doesn't sit well for us because

it goes completely against our flesh. It goes

completely against the cultural narrative that

we're told. It's difficult to make these sacrifices

and it can hurt. Choosing to commit when it costs

can hurt. Denying our flesh, laying down our

own desires in favour of what God wants can hurt.

Sometimes we can even wonder, is it worth it?

God never hides the cost from us. He never hides

that cost from us. But at the same time, He doesn't

leave us wanting. He always gives us a reason

to hope. He always gives us something to aspire

to and say, yes, this costs you a lot, but look

at this. In his letter to the Roman Church, Paul

writes about this tension. He tells us about

what happens when we face these trials, the internal

work that God does within us. Romans chapter

five verses three to five says, we can rejoice

too when we run into problems and trials for

we know that they help us develop endurance.

Living a life of long obedience in the same direction,

it requires endurance. Our faith journeys aren't

sprints, they're marathons like the city to bay.

We need endurance and problems, trials, suffering,

sacrifice, laying ourselves down. It helps us

develop this endurance. The passage goes on.

Endurance develops strength of character. The

longer we go, the longer we're obedient, the

more we start to become like crust, the more

we're shaped and transformed. You know, later

on in Romans, Paul talks about the transforming

of our mind, the renewing of our mind as we become

more like crust. Character strengthens our confident

hope of salvation. And this next part's really

good. This hope will not lead to disappointment.

We will not be let down. We will not be unfulfilled.

We will not be disappointed. For we know how

clearly God loves us because he has given us

the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Josh, come give me some spirit keys. Church,

our sacrifices are not in vain. When we make

the decision to commit to God, even when it costs

us, it is not in vain. As we make these sacrifices,

when we choose to commit when it costs, we walk

away better off. Our character is built, our

faith is strengthened. This is what obedience

in the same direction looks like, committing

when it costs, choosing the cross over comfort.

Even if we don't want to, even if we're desperate

to hold on to it, but still choosing to say,

God, not my will, but yours be done instead.

This is exactly what Jesus prayed the night that

he was betrayed. He knelt in the garden of Gethsemane

and he prayed for another way. He knew that he

had to die. He knew that he had to bear his cross.

He knew that he had to be that sacrifice. He

prayed. And he prayed. He prayed for the cup

to be taken from him. He prayed for God to do

something else. God, find another way. But then

he prays, not my will, but yours. And he was

betrayed. He was tried. He was found guilty.

He was stripped, beaten, flogged, made to carry

a cross up a hill. and He was nailed to that

same cross and He hung on that cross until He

died. When Jesus tells us to bear our cross,

He knows exactly what that means. God is well

acquainted with sacrifice, Church, because He

sacrificed His Son for us. Where Isaac was spared,

Jesus was not. God, Jesus, made the choice. to

commit when it costs. But it didn't cost him

a job. It didn't cost him some money, some time,

a relationship. It cost him his life. And he

knew it had to end this way. But still, he made

that choice. He chose to commit. And the reward,

what was gained, far outweighed that sacrifice,

church. The forgiveness of sin, the coming of

the Holy Spirit, The opportunity for all people

to come into relationship with God. The promise

of eternal life and the hope of salvation. All

because Jesus chose to commit when it costed

him. Everything. And we now get to reap that

reward. We now get to be blessed through that

sacrifice. Through the greatest act of love this

world has ever seen. The love that God has for

us far outweighs what it cost him for us to be

in relationship with him. The love that God has

for us far outweighs the sin that we carry. And

it's this love that fuels our obedience. We don't

choose faith because it's easy. Nowhere in the

Bible does it say faith is easy. We don't choose

faith because it makes us feel good, although

it can, but we don't always feel good. We choose

faith because we know how much God loves us.

We recognize the price that He paid, the sacrifice

that was made for our freedom, for our lives.

And we choose to step into that. And yes, it

will cost us. It will mean we need to make sacrifices

and it will mean we need to commit when it costs.

It means we need to choose to bear our cross,

but it is worth it, Church. It is worth it. Like

we read in Romans just before, our hope will

not lead to disappointment. Real faith is not

measured by what we say yes to, but rather, what

we're willing to lay down. Jesus was willing

to lay down his life and he did. What are you

willing to lay down? There's a challenge here

for all of us. What is your Isaac? Paul says

in Romans 12 that we need to offer ourselves

as a living sacrifice. God doesn't just want

some of us. He doesn't just want a little bit

of us. He loves us so much that He wants all

of us. He wants our good stuff. He wants our

gifts. He wants our talents, but He also wants

our flaws, our shortcomings. All of us, our entire

being, just like Jesus modeled for us. I just

want to invite everyone to close their eyes for

a second. I just want to take a moment of reflection

for everyone. What is God calling you to lay

down? What is God calling you to lay down? What

is your Isaac? What is it that you've been holding

onto, refusing to let go of? Is it your finances?

Is it your work? Your family? Maybe it's a sin

that you know you've been holding onto and it's

been holding you back. There's freedom. I know

for me, God's challenge has been how I'm spending

my time, the things I choose to do with my time.

What are you holding onto? What do you need to

let go of? What is God calling you to put on

the altar? And if you've got that thing in mind,

if you know what it is, I want you to imagine

handing it over to God. Lay it down in the altar

and pray God not my will but yours Let it go

Place your trust into a God of love After Abraham

was relieved from sacrificing Isaac he named

the mountain And it means on the mountain of

the Lord it will be provided Maybe you're holding

onto something because you feel like, I need

this in my life, God. I need this. Maybe God's

saying, actually, you don't. He will provide.

He's got your back. God, not my will, but yours

be done. Loving God, we thank you for your love.

Your great love that sent you to the cross to

die. You paid the ultimate price, you paid the

ultimate sacrifice so that we could step into

a life of love, a life of freedom. God, you don't

ask us to do anything that you have not done

first yourself. God, I pray that for all of us

here. Give us the courage, give us the strength

to lay this thing down at your altar. There is

no waste at your altar, Jesus. God, where there

needs to be freedom, may there be freedom. Where

chains need to be broken, may you break those

chains. Help us to surrender, Jesus. Help us

to let go of the things that we hold so dearly

onto and help us to hold on to you, Jesus. You

are all that we need. Thank you, Jesus, for your

love, for your sacrifice, for the life that you

promised us, this salvation that we have, this

eternal life in heaven with you. Father, we thank

you. We give you praise, we give you honour,

we give you glory. In your name, amen. Well,

we're going to jump back into a time of worship.

Here at Encounter Henley, we love prayer. If

you haven't noticed, we love prayer. And if there's

been something in this message or in this service

that you feel like you need prayer for, I'm gonna

be at the back. I would love to pray for you.

Tap someone next to you. Say, hey, can you pray

for me? Or maybe you wanna pray for them. We

love to pray here at Encounter Henley. And if

you feel like you need some prayer, we don't

want you to stay in that space. We want you to

get that prayer. So find someone, get prayed

for, pray for someone. There are people here

that would love to pray for you.