Special Guest - Darryl Henson - 6/14/26

Thank you for taking the time to listen to the Welled Church Satterton's podcast.

We pray that you enjoy this message and that it creates a well of hope in your life today.

It's so great to be here. I just have to give a testimony. I don't know how

many of you remember, but seven months ago, we came to spy out the land.

And we were here in your midst. And I was going through a really hard time at

that time. I had had a real traumatic experience.

And I mean, when you've been in ministry all the years we've been in ministry,

you'd think nothing can crush you.

But you know what crushes you? It's the thing closest to home.

And I had gone through a really hard experience. And I was actually going for

professional counseling that week after.

And while I sat here in this room, God touched me.

He healed me of that trauma. And as pastor was saying today about God wants

to heal your trauma, he does. He wants to reset that button.

And I think God, he has a real sense of humor because this week coming,

I go back to the place where that trauma happened.

But I go back with a reset button because I know that our God has touched me.

And not only did he touch me here seven months ago and reset that experience for me.

Last Sunday God healed me from something that was wrong with my eye we still

don't know what exactly happened but I didn't have vision in my left eye and

Sunday morning I woke up and the cloud was gone and I could see,

so whatever your need is today God wants to touch you and I just want to tell

you don't give up don't stop believing don't stop crying out hanging on,

and trust in God because he is there for you.

And maybe it's not at the moment you think, but it's in God's timing.

So thank you all for having us here. Thank you for letting us share with you and be blessed by you.

And so to God be the glory. Good morning.

Yeah, it was really a special situation there for my wife to get that healing.

We were at the Hopewell Leaders Meeting, which meets once a month.

And I want to tell you that there's actually some really cool things happening

in the network of churches right now.

And that is God is actually touching people with healing in a little bit more

increased way than we were seeing for a little while.

Several different pastors were giving testimonies of that.

And so following the testimonies, we had invited everyone up to have prayer for healing who needed.

My wife went up for prayer. And after that, it was just amazing how her eye

just progressively got better. And on Sunday morning, it was clear.

And we're just thanking God for what He's doing. And it is happening in other

churches in the network. And that we're excited about too.

Because Hopewell has had a lot of those kind of good things happening over the

years. But I think there was a little bit of a lag of that. and now it's coming

back again. We're praising God for that.

Before I start speaking, I just want to mention I have two books along with me.

The one is The Seven Principles of a Spiritually Healthy Church,

which is useful for anyone, and that is based on the seven churches in Revelation.

The one that I just finished up is Leadership from the Inside Out,

and that is about the character of leadership

and i think we've had a lot of books on skills and i've read a lot myself but

i wanted to do something more about

the character of the the inner person of the leader so that's there in the back

the leadership one is 12 and the other one is six if you get both it doesn't

matter how much you pay for which one you see you got that.

So I came today to actually really remind you of who you are.

That's what I really felt impressed when I was praying about coming here,

is to remind you who you are as the church. Who are you?

And in doing that, I'm going to also talk about who is Christ,

because they're very much entwined, aren't they?

But I want to just suggest to you that if you would come to my home,

which is in Lancaster County, and you walk in the front door,

straight ahead goes into the hallway.

If you walk down that hallway, you're going to see a number of photographs that are about our family.

You're seeing children and you're seeing teenagers because there are different

phases, different levels of growth in our family.

And as you notice the different pictures, what you're getting is you're getting

a feeling of a little bit of what happened in our family. You're going to see people smiling.

Now, of course, in the photos, you always smile unless you're a teenager.

So we have some of them there. But behind the smiles, behind the faces,

there is a lot of joys, but there's also a lot of hardships,

a lot of struggles that are represented by those photographs.

And every family has their stories and things that are going on.

They're the joys and the sorrows both mixed together.

And in that is what family is about. And all those experiences come together.

So if you look down the hallway, you see the different phases of our family

life, but you can kind of feel with us what's been going on over the years.

And there's a shared life that each one of us has had in the families.

Now, the church, I think, becomes God's family photo to the rest of the world.

We become that photo on the wall that says, here's what it is.

Here's what the church is.

I want to open up with reading Hebrews chapter, I mean, Hebrews 3,

chapter 3 and verse 1 to 6.

Hebrews 3, 1 to 6.

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,

consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,

who was faithful to him who appointed him, as Moses also was faithful in all his house.

For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses,

inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house.

For every house is built by someone, but he who built all things is God.

And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant,

for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward.

But Christ as a son over his house, whose house we are, if we hold fast the

confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

So that's the picture now that Hebrews is giving us about God's family.

The family photo reminds us that belonging shapes our identity.

Who we belong to shapes our identity. And when we have an identity in who we

belong to, it's reflected to the people around us, and they begin to see and know who we belong to.

Just as in your family, you know who you belong to.

And people come up and say, Oh yeah, I know what family you're from.

You look like the Smiths. You look like the Charleses. Because your identity

is being formed out of that relationship and out of the gene pool that has come together.

We all have that. But the church is a holy, heavenly, called family.

Now I packed those words together, and they each mean something.

It's a heavenly, holy, called family.

Again, verse 1 says, therefore, holy brethren, that's family words.

Brethren, I have to remind you, means men, women, it means brother,

sister, it means, you know, everybody.

The brethren, the family, and the family is partakers of a heavenly calling.

That passage that we just read, that opened up to us some identity markers for us, who we are.

We are the holy brethren.

We are the set apart family.

We are the holy family. We're the ones that God has called.

We're partakers of that heavenly calling. Our origin, our destiny together is from God and in God.

So where we've come from and where we're going is all in God because we're the family of God.

And we get our identity in that. And then we have to consider Jesus, it says.

Consider Jesus as you consider yourselves as that brethren, that family of God.

As you consider looking at yourselves and saying, who are we?

We have to consider Jesus because we cannot look at the family of God without

recognizing who is Jesus because Jesus is the family of God.

So we look at our heavenly Lord and master and say, wow, he's the focus then,

he's the center, he's the model of the family that we have here.

And this is the foundation. The church is called a community.

We're not self-made. God made us.

We didn't create ourselves as a family. God put us together.

Look around and you'll believe me.

You didn't find these people. You didn't make this family.

God made his family. It's his church.

It's his people. It's his community. We're the family.

So if the church is God's called family, well, then what must we look to or

who do we look to who's leading that family?

Because the family has a leader.

That's why Hebrews says, consider Jesus.

Consider him, because he's the leader. The church is defined by this relationship we have with him.

It's not defined by who you are necessarily. It's not defined by what you do.

But the church is defined by who is Jesus.

Because it's who Jesus is in us that makes us who we are.

So consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, it says.

Christ Jesus. Jesus is called the apostle, for one.

The one who's sent out from God. He comes to us.

But he's also the high priest. I mean, he's the one who brings us to God.

He's the mediator. He's between us and the Father.

And he's the one standing there and bringing us together in relationship with God the Father.

So the church exists because Jesus came down to us.

The very existence of being the family is based upon that he came to us.

He's with us, but then He lifts us up.

He doesn't just come down and let us be what we are, but He comes into our lives

and He lifts us up from where we were, from the things that were pulling us down.

He's lifting us up.

Christ always came to lift you up.

When you feel pushed down, it is not Christ.

He's lifting his church all the time.

And so the text then says that Jesus was faithful to the one who appointed him,

just as Moses was faithful.

And so he starts to set up a comparison in these verses for us between Moses and Jesus.

And that comparison is not just a theological trivial thing.

It prepared us as the reader. It's the main point of this passage that Moses

was faithful in God's house.

Jesus is faithful over God's house. And then we need to understand what the

house actually is and what brings us to the next truth is that it's us. We're the house.

The church is the house of God.

We're the place in which God is resting his presence in.

Is it in this building? Yeah, in a way it is. When we come together, his presence is here.

And when we call on his name, the presence even increases, doesn't it?

But you, wherever you are, you're the church and you have the presence of God

with you and you carry him with you wherever you go.

It's you. You're the house. The church is not Moses' house.

The church is Christ's house.

It's built by him. It's sustained by him. It belongs to him.

So when we come back and look in the Old Testament, where Moses is very much

representing that, in the Old Testament, we have the law, and that covenant was built on law.

That covenant was built on the principles and the things that are standards of God's wills.

And then we come into the New Testament, and Christ is now saying,

I'm not just serving and living in the house, I'm over the house.

And so that covenant that he brings is totally different because now he owns the covenant.

He owns the house. He's over everything.

It's a massive theological point here that he's making to us that Jesus is worthy

of greater glory than Moses because he is over the house.

And if Christ is going to be the builder of the house, he's also the owner of the house.

You see, the person who builds the house, well, that's one thing.

But the person who owns the house, that's another.

You may have had a house built sometime.

And you thanked that builder for building it. And you said to yourself,

good job. I hope you said that.

Sometimes that's not always the case. But I hope you were able to say, good job.

And I have several friends who are builders. And so, you know,

when they build, I mean, they want to hear that, right?

So you would say, good job, you know.

But one of the things that you know in your head, and he understands also,

is that when he gives you the key for the house after he's built it, he's finished.

He's going to walk away. He has nothing more to do with it.

Unless you have a major problem, you can call him back. But he's hoping you don't call him back.

But Jesus not only has built you the house, but you are the house that he owns.

He's the master of the house.

He's the ruler of the house. He's the Lord of the house.

And he's over everything about the house.

It's about you, the church. Jesus is over you. He's your Lord and your master.

And so he has greater worthiness than Moses, who was a servant to the house.

But Jesus becomes the master of the house.

Moses doesn't have to come back and do anything more Neither does the Old Testament

covenant have to come and do any more for us Because Jesus owns the house You see,

That elevates Jesus above every other leader, every other system, every other tradition.

If Christ is the builder and the owner of the house, then we have to see how he relates to us.

Well, let's look at this contrast a little bit. Moses was a servant in the house.

Jesus is the son over the house.

There's a strong movement here in this passage. But now we see Moses a servant.

He's a faithful servant.

His ministry pointed forward toward Christ.

So Moses' ministry was not to point to himself, but to point toward Christ.

And Jesus, who is the son, is ruling over the house and the fulfillment of everything

that Moses has foreshadowed is now in Jesus and everything's pointing and moving

toward him. So the focus really moves towards him.

This is not a small distinction. It's the difference between a steward and an

owner, and Jesus is the owner.

So the church is God's house without a condition, I mean with a condition.

Now that's very important for us to notice that, because if you go back and

look at verse 6 with me, it says,

whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

It doesn't mean that salvation is owned by our perseverance.

Because that would be a work system which would actually bring us back to the

Old Testament under that old system.

No, it means perseverance becomes the evidence of belonging to the house of Christ.

Your faith in God, persistent faith, becomes the evidence that you're in the

house of God, that you're in his family.

And so the church becomes marked by what people see in that way.

The confidence and the boldness that we have in Christ, that becomes a mark of who we are.

And the rejoicing and hope it mentions, there's a joy that's rooted in what Christ has done for you.

And there's a joy rooted in what he will do for you, because it's rooted in

who Jesus is, in his character, in his very personality, in who he is.

It's rooted in that. So the joy that you have as a believer is out of who he is.

Everything you've learned about him brings you joy, because it gives you hope

to look to the future and say, it's going to be all right.

It's going to be good life. So we have a joy.

And then the endurance is that faith that is holding on to Jesus saying,

you've been good before, you'll be good again.

This character is the character of a people who follow God,

the people who know Jesus, because you got a hold of his character

and it has affected your character and you've become the people who have a character

who's firm in their faith and trusting and believing in Jesus because you've seen him,

you've known him and you've walked with him.

And so the family begins to have a new understanding of who we are.

That's the character that's being built into us. But Hebrew doesn't stop with

who we are. It shows us the identity that produces here.

If we are holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, well,

then our mission flows from that identity.

So the church doesn't invent its mission. It receives its mission.

We don't create the things we should do for God, but we will receive his plan

and what he wants us to do for him.

So it comes out of the identity we have in him.

And that is how mission is very successful.

Because when you bring your understanding of Christ and meet with another person

and offer him to another person, and you're saying, out of what I know of him

here, take something from him.

That's different than me saying, I'm a Christian, take something from me.

Because whatever you get from me might be good for a while, but what you get

from Jesus will be good for eternity.

So I want to bring Jesus to people. I want to bring his character to people.

I want to bring his identity along with me that has affected my identity.

The church's mission is anchored in our identity with Christ.

It says back in verse 1, Holy brethren...

Partakers of heavenly calling. We don't create that. We just receive that.

And so Hebrews is reminding us as the church that we are a family.

We are the brothers and sisters. So if you don't like the person next to you, get used to them.

Because you can't get out of that. In my family, we have one son and two daughters.

And there are times when they didn't like each other.

But we had to say to them, you can't get out of it. You're still in the same family.

So it doesn't matter if you try to run off all day and not be around them.

You're coming home tonight in the same home. You're sleeping in your bed.

You're going to wake up. And guess who's at the table for breakfast?

They're still going to be there and we say you got to work it out you know that's

the thing we have to work it out by coming back into our identity in Christ I'm with him.

You're with him too we're going to meet each other somehow we're going to come together,

because we're the family we're set apart and we're holy even when we don't look holy.

And we share one calling. It says it's a heavenly calling, but we share that calling together.

The church has one calling and we share it together.

We're called to represent Christ to the world.

And it's all of our calling. So the church becomes that big family photo then.

Here, look, we are the people of God. and we represent the family of God.

A church that knows who it is will know what it needs to do because the mission

is coming out of the identity and not just an activity that we planned.

Hebrews 3 has reminded us something. The church is not a human invention.

It's a holy, called family.

And because we are his house, our mission flows out of that.

We don't create it. We carry it.

We don't power the mission. We reflect the one who does give us the mission. And so.

The world needs a church that is holding fast to its confidence in Christ.

Not our own strength, but in Christ.

And when we stay anchored in Him, well, the son who's over the house,

that becomes the one who we reflect to others then.

When we're anchored in Him, our courage is steady.

And the son who's over the house gives us a mission that unmistakably looks like Him.

So a courage to follow Him comes from knowing Him more.

A church that knows who it is will know what it must do.

It does it with confidence, with joy, and with endurance in Him.

So, I'm going to ask you to make a response to that then, in your heart today.

Fix your eyes on Jesus. Firstly, more than anything else, fix your eyes on Jesus. Focus on Him.

And then hold on to the hope that you have in Him,

Stand up Stand firmly in your identity in Him Because it's all about Him,

And then step into the mission,

That's flowing from your relationship of belonging To the Son who's over the

house And walk in that with freedom Can you do that?

Is that in your heart, that the mission is there for us?

But don't walk in the mission out of your own strength and energy,

but do it out of your love and your devotion to Christ and His love for the people around us.

Let me pray with you. Let's stand together.

We thank you, Lord, that you have chosen to come to this world,

that you have laid your life down.

And again, we recognize that without you, we would not be here.

We would not be a family. We would not be the church. We could not create this

thing that we call the church today.

But we recognize that it's by the power of the Father's will that he sent you

to this earth, that we identify with you and what you've done for us.

And we have received now this identity in Christ, that everything you are, we want to be.

Everything that you have modeled for us We want it to become part of our lives

And we want to be the family That is representing,

the Jesus that we follow With all of our hearts,

May your will be accomplished in these things In our family life together And

may you also extend your love through us to carry us into the mission in the world today.

Knowing that it comes from this identity we have in you.

And it's all about you, Lord Jesus.

And we give you thanks and we give you praise. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

I want to give just one or two words to people before I sit down. Yeah, you can sit down.

Right here is a lady right there with black and white dress,

a shirt kind of thing You know who I'm talking to, yeah.

And so when you're standing in prayer and you're before the Lord And you're

calling on His name He has given you some things to hope for, to look for,

He wants you to know that those things you've called out for and you've brought them before him,

he's bringing them back in front of you again.

That you've called out and brought them to Him, but now He's going to bring

them back in front of you again.

And you're going to see those answers one by one.

I'm almost seeing like a film in front of me where each one is presented to

you and He's showing how it's been met. The answer has been there.

And I believe that those are happening real quickly and they will happen quickly

in sequence, but also coming soon.

And God is just saying, look what I'm bringing back to you. You'll see the results. Okay.

I don't have the details, but I think you got the point.

It was over here, the man in the back, blue shirt. Yeah, that's you.

Yeah. So sometimes when you're walking down the road, you will find that there's

a lot of traffic on the road and you're not sure you want to walk on the road,

but there's not much other place to walk.

Rather than cut through all the people's yards, you stayed on the edge of the road.

When you're walking there, cars are buzzing by, and as they do that,

you have that thought to yourself, like, you know, this could be dangerous.

And it probably is. But what I see God saying is that I've been with you in all those dangers.

I've been with you in all those hardships and troubles. And I've been with you

in the things that you thought would take you down.

But I'm lifting you up. And I'm going before you. And I will not let you get knocked down.

Amen. Yeah. Thank you all. That was encouraging.

Again, thanks everybody for coming today. If you, it's encouraging to hear that

people are healed during worship as well. If you're here today and you need

prayer for healing, prayer room's open.

Don't forget about Daryl's book. Somebody graciously offered to buy leadership each a copy.

So if you're an elder, maybe if you're married, you can share a copy and we'll get that paid for.

Either they love us or they think we need the book. So either way,

we are grateful and we are blessed.

So everybody have a good week.

Thanks for taking the time to listen. We're glad that what the Lord is doing

among us encourages you.

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