Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / July 16, 2023 | Reconstructing Faith - The Importance of Church

Transcript

July 16, 2023 | Reconstructing Faith - The Importance of Church · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: Now, I know what you're thinking right off the get-go.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: Connor, your hair looks great today.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: I know, I know.
0:09
SPEAKER_00: No, some of you, some of you may not recognize me.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: Let me introduce myself.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: My name is Spencer.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the interns here with the youth group.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: So I've literally only been here this summer, so maybe you've seen me in passing and see my fluffy hair go by.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: But um I've been having so much fun just pouring into the students here, playing camps, doing devos, um, all that fun jazz.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: But um, something you should know about me is I'm a preacher at heart.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: I love preaching.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: I've been able to preach at the youth group, and that's been really fun.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: And um I was able to talk to Connor at the beginning of this internship, and he graciously gave me this opportunity to preach uh here in Main Service as part of the series.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: So basically, what I'm trying to say is you're stuck with me for the next 30 minutes, so buckle up.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, I love preaching.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: I go to Moody Bible Institute, I'm studying preaching there.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, so it'll be a fun time.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: Now, before I get into this, I am a huge proponent for praying, because I think we all should, but especially when we go into listening to a sermon or even reading the Bible.
1:17
SPEAKER_00: Because when we do those things, God has a tendency to show up, to do stuff in us.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: So it only makes sense that we approach his throne.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: So let's do that now.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we thank you for your words.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for who you are.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: I just pray that today it will be your words and that you will speak to us, to me, to everyone in the congregation, Lord.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: Um your will be done, Lord.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: Your name I pray.
1:47
unknown: Amen.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so a little bit of context about myself.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: This is me, short hair Spencer, super young, works at Starbucks, so young and just young.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I used to work at Starbucks, and there was this one guy, he would come in multiple times a week.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: He'd come and be like, Yeah, could I get your sweet tea, but only put like two ice cubes in it?
2:12
SPEAKER_00: Just two ice cubes.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: That's that's all he wanted.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: So I do that day in and day out.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: Um and eventually I started building a relationship with this guy.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: Found out that he was religious.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he believed in God, he believed in the Bible, believed in Jesus.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: So we would talk about that a lot.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: And um eventually got to the point where it was like after shift, we were still just talking, and he turns to me and goes, You know, Spencer?
2:36
SPEAKER_00: I haven't stepped foot in a church for almost my entire adult life.
2:41
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Whoa, whoa, why haven't you gone to church?
2:45
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Well, you see, I can sit in my backyard, and this is what I love to do.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: I love to sit in my backyard and look at the birds just fly and be like, Wow, God, you made birds fly before we could.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: Or even look at the plants that you made the plants absorb the sunlight for energy.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's crazy.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: Uh, besides the Venus flytrap over there.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: That's a that's a weird one.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: But it's just he's worshiping God in his backyard, and that's all he needs.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: So he's like, Yeah, I don't, I don't need to go to church.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes church can just be messy, and and I just don't really want to have to go there every week.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: And if we're honest with ourselves, he brings up a point, a true reality that we should address.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: You see, in this series, we've been addressing certain criticisms to the Christian faith for people that are deconstructing, and um, today we're gonna talk about just that.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: Why go to church when I can worship on my own?
3:46
SPEAKER_00: Why go to church when I can worship on my own?
3:49
SPEAKER_00: Let's be completely honest.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: No, no, like church face or anything like that.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: We really do live really busy lives.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: Mom and dad have jobs, kids have school, they have homework afterwards, they have uh extracurricular, they have church activities.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: The list goes on and on and on, where sometimes we just need a Sunday to take a break, just to relax from life.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: And we also want the best for our kids.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: So we sign them up for the sports team that's more competitive, that will push and grow our kids more, and that's great.
4:23
SPEAKER_00: And the only drawback is sometimes uh they meet on Sunday, so we may have to miss church here and there.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: But because of the pandemic, a lot of churches, including TBC, went online.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: So we can view all these sermons, the worship, in the comfort of our own home.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: So we can be doing these things without even having to get out of bed.
4:45
SPEAKER_00: This is like a really cool reality that we live in uh in this day.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, these are, like I said, true realities, but there's even some more real realities.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: Church isn't perfect.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: You see, um, my church back home, I came from Washington, Washington State.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: Church back home, absolutely love it.
5:06
SPEAKER_00: It's a great church, but it's not perfect.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: Halfway through my high school year, um, or my high school career, the head pastor decided to just fire the youth pastor who's been faithfully serving for like over 15 years.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't any moral failures or anything like that.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: The lead pastor had his reasoning, but the congregation didn't really agree with it.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: So a lot of people left the church because of that, because they were hurt that he removed someone that was so central to the church, and the youth group was honestly left in shambles.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: Church hurt is a real thing.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: And if we're honest with ourselves, the Bible even talks about the ability to be able to worship on our own.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: This is a really cool thing that I want to be able to point out.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, I have a verse up here, let me read it, and then I'll explain it.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have the boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: And since we have a great high priest over the house of God.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: Okay, big words here.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: Let me break it down.
6:19
SPEAKER_00: Uh, the writer of Hebrews is talking about this thing.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: And no, this is not Minecraft.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: So the little square in the center, that is the holy of holies.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: This whole thing is a tabernacle.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: You have the outer courts, the inner courts, and then the holy of holies.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: This is the place where the high priest, only the high priest, can go.
6:40
SPEAKER_00: He's the only person on the earth that can go into there, and he can only go into there once a year.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: And when he does go in there, they literally tie a rope around him just in case he goes in there, experiences the glory of God, and then dies.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: They don't want an unclean body in there, so they have the rope to be able to pull him out.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: This is some serious stuff.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: Now, in front of the Holies of Holies is this thick curtain, as you can tell by my drawing, big boy curtain.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, when Jesus died, this was the curtain that torn in two.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: It torn in half.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: And because of that, what that symbolizes is we as individual Christians can now enter into this holy of holies.
7:29
SPEAKER_00: This is a huge deal.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: Let's not pass by this.
7:32
SPEAKER_00: That we can go in and worship God intimately on our own whenever we want.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: This is huge.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: This is revolutionary, and we take it for granted.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: But we can worship on our own.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: That's the beauty of Christianity.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: Now, pause, let's take a step back.
7:55
SPEAKER_00: You're probably thinking to yourself, okay, Spencer, um, most of this series has been addressing a criticism of the church, and then usually how it ends is showing how it's wrong and some maybe some issues with it, but also upholding that there are some realities there.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: But it seems to me, Spencer, that you're in favor of this.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: I stand with the Bible.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: I stand with what the Bible says.
8:27
SPEAKER_00: And if we're a Bible-believing church, we should stand with the Bible as well.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: But is this passage actually saying that?
8:41
SPEAKER_00: We have to dig into it to see what it actually is saying, because maybe a cursory reading, we'd be like, oh yeah, this is so cool.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: We can now worship into the holies of holies.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: But the writer of Hebrews is making an argument, so we have to follow that argument.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: And the argument that's happening here is um because of this, or because of these things, do this.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: Because of this, do that.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: So let's point some things out.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, the therefore is the because of, because of, and then we have a since, and where's the other one?
9:14
SPEAKER_00: Then there's a sense.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: So, because of this first sense, we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Christ, because we can enter into the holies of holies, and because we have a great high priest, that is Jesus.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we have we have the um because of this and this that we can enter the holy holies, Jesus is a high priest.
9:34
SPEAKER_00: What should we do?
9:35
SPEAKER_00: Well, what are we gonna get out of this?
9:37
SPEAKER_00: We have to turn to the context.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: We have to read further, read the complete thought.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: So the next verse says, Let us draw near with a true heart.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: This makes sense.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: Okay, now the holies of holies is open.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: Let us go into that holies of holies and worship.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: This is really cool.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: And then it gives us another thing that we can do.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: Let us hold on to the confession of our hope.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: This is a really cool thing we can do.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: I could spend tons of time in these two verses alone, but this is not the focus of today's message.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: I want to focus on the next verse that's coming up.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: Remember, because we can enter into the holies of holies, and because Jesus is our high priest, let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together as this as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other all the more as you see the day approaching.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that interesting?
10:35
SPEAKER_00: The writers of Hebrews is connecting that.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: Since we can enter into the holies of holies, let's do this verse, whatever this verse is saying.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: So, so we're we're starting to see that, okay, the that verse um uh verses 19 through 23, okay, we're kind of getting a feel for what it's saying, but what does it really mean in in this verse, in these 24 and 25?
11:00
SPEAKER_00: I want to spend the rest of the time tearing apart this section because this is where we get our identity as a church.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: This is what we will be doing.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: So let's see, what does this say?
11:12
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna take it literally bit by bit.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: Let us consider one another.
11:17
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: Let us consider one another.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: Notice how it's an outward focus.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: It's not an inward of me, me, me.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: It's not even an inward of how can I make myself better?
11:28
SPEAKER_00: How can I be a better Christian?
11:30
SPEAKER_00: But notice it's an outward.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: It's let us consider others.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
11:36
SPEAKER_00: Now, this word consider, it's interesting.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: It's not like a uh you go to McDonald's and you're like, hmm, let me think about if I want a Big Mac or some chicken nuggets.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: It's not a shallow thinking, it's a deep, it's a deep thought, it's intentional thought.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: It's taking time to sit down and deeply think about something, to deeply think about one another.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: This next part of the verse is um let us consider one another, in order to provoke.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: In order, okay, so that we can provoke.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: What does this word provoke mean?
12:13
SPEAKER_00: Um usually it's in the context of a negative thing, like don't provoke the bear.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: If there's a bear in your campsite and you like poke it with a stick, that's not gonna end well, trust me.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, you don't want to provoke.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: Or, kids, don't want to provoke your mom's anger.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: Let's be honest.
12:33
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't end well, trust me.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: Now, this in this verse is used in a positive sense.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: It's a it's positive.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: So, how does this still work?
12:44
SPEAKER_00: Well, the NASB, a different translation.
12:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, instead of provoke, it uses the word to stimulate.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: To stimulate.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: That's an interesting word because when I read that, my mind instantly went to this one uh analogy that I think will wrap uh help wrap our heads around this.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: This, I kid you not, is called the Ab Destroyer 2.0.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: What you do is you attach it to your belly, and it it like zaps your abdomen muscles and it causes them to contract, and you get a workout.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: So literally, you can sit on the couch, slap this on, watch some TV, and eventually you'll get a six-pack, in theory.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: Um granted, it still feels like you're working out.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: You just don't have to go to the gym or do crunches or anything like that.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is a weird analogy, I I get it, but I think it accurately um helps us understand this better.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: Because what the ab destroyer 2.0 is, what it's doing is it's literally zapping or stimulating our muscles to cause them to contract.
13:57
SPEAKER_00: It's causing our muscles to do something.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: This is where we get the idea of provoke or to stimulate.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: It's to cause something to do something.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: A lot of generalities, but hopefully you're with me.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: It's to cause something else to do something.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: So now, next time you read this verse, this is gonna be in your head, so you're welcome.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, so where are we at so far?
14:21
SPEAKER_00: Let us consider, let us think deeply in order to provoke.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: Let us think deeply about how we can cause someone else to do something.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: That's what the argument that he's trying to make.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: Now, what are we supposed to do?
14:36
SPEAKER_00: Love and good works.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: Literally the the next words.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: Love and good works.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: So it's interesting he uses the words love and good works because uh, for those of us who've gone to church for a while, we know the greatest commandment is love.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus talks about it, um he says, all the law and prophets depend on these two commands of love God and love your neighbor.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: Love God and love your neighbor.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: This is what we're called to as Christians.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: And then there's good works.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: When it comes up in the Bible, love and good works are very closely assimilated because out of the love comes the good works.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: They're not separate, they are often very much connected.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: And we even see John 14, 20 to 21, the one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: So what I want to point out is that love and good works, this is the Christian life.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: This is what we're called to do.
15:39
SPEAKER_00: So if we now take that lens, look at scripture again, and see, let us consider, think deeply, um, one another in order to provoke, stimulate love and good works.
15:51
SPEAKER_00: How can we think deeply how we can cause someone else, one of our brothers and sisters in Christ, to live the Christian life better?
16:00
SPEAKER_00: That's what this is saying.
16:01
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me ask you, have you ever thought or woken up one day and just thought, let me think deeply about how I can make my friend Jake love others better?
16:13
SPEAKER_00: Most of us probably not.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: It's because this really isn't something that's on the forefront of our minds.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: It's something that we have to put intentionality into.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: And it's in a way, it's unnatural to us just because we don't we don't think about it.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: Now, another thing I want to point out is that you can't provoke one another if you're not around one another.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: You can't do this in isolation.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: And I think the writer of Hebrews is thinking about this.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: Because the next phrase, the famous Bible verse, not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit of doing.
16:59
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's get into this.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: This is the negative part of the argument.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: Positive argument and then the negative.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, this word gather together here is like official assembly.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like it's an event, or should I say, church.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: So right out of the get-go, we start to see that the writer of Hebrews is saying, not neglecting to go to church.
17:24
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you were with us here last week, you would hear, uh, you would have heard Connor's sermon about how we have a tendency sometimes to look over certain parts of scripture, um, not consciously but unconsciously sometimes, and just think, ah, that doesn't really apply to me.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, I can just kind of move on with my life.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: But let me encourage you guys, don't do that here.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: This is God's word.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: So let's stick here and mull over it and kind of see where this is going.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: Because it's not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit, the habit of doing.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: Apparently, they were meeting together back then, and some were making it a habit to just not show up to the meeting.
18:07
SPEAKER_00: One of the guys like, hey, where's Bartholomew?
18:09
SPEAKER_00: He's like, ah, he's not here.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: I don't know where he is.
18:12
SPEAKER_00: But this word habit, it's interesting.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: Let me use an example in my life.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
18:19
SPEAKER_00: An example in my life of a habit that I've tried to create over the years is that of a daily devotion.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: We all know this.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: Uh, studying her Bible every day, reading every day.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: And um, I started trying to get this habit in motion when I was in middle school.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm like, all right, I gotta read my Bible, I gotta pray, we're gonna get this going.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you, it was hard.
18:40
SPEAKER_00: It was hard to be able to create that habit of every, I'd usually do it at night, every night to be in my Bible because I'd be tired, um, I'd just want to go to bed.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: I had school in the morning, um, and just stuff like that.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: And if I was honest, if I was honest with myself, half the time I didn't even want to do it.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: So it was difficult to start this good habit.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: However, on the flip side, there was something else in my life that uh came more naturally.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: Now, um I'm a gamer.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: Middle school and high school, I'm a gamer.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I want to show this, but I really should.
19:15
SPEAKER_00: Um this is favorite game.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: This is my baby.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, but if you guys can read that, in the top right hand corner I s uh marked up that's how many hours I played this game.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: That's 2,780 hours.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: Uh for those of you who can't do quick math, that is a little under four months straight of playing this video game, logged in on the screen.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: No bathrooms, no sleeping, no eating, just all the hours condensed into one.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: It's a lot.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: Now, I would do uh I'd play video games at night because I was done with all my schoolwork and stuff like that.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: What ended up happening is I keep on playing and playing and playing, and it would dig into my devo time.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: It would dig into my time because it would be really late and I'd be even more tired.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I just don't want to do it.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: So then I just go to bed.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: Or I read one little verse, be like, dear Lord, thank you for today.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: Go to bed.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: There wasn't that intentionality there.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: So what I want us to start to pick up is that good habits, those are difficult to create.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: Whereas bad habits are easy to create.
20:24
SPEAKER_00: We can sometimes stumble into them.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: Now don't hear me say all video games are bad.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: I don't think all video games are bad.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: I love video games.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: Um, what I am saying is that too much video games, that can be an issue in your life.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: But the point still stands.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: Good habits are hard to create.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: Bad habits are easy to create.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: You with me?
20:45
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to take uh take a look at your own life.
20:51
SPEAKER_00: And I bet most of us, if not all of us, in this room, have started to create some good habits.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: I hope you all brush your teeth this morning, because I know I did.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: We create good habits, like working out, like eating healthily.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, I hope a good chunk of us, if not all of us, have made the habit of being in the Word daily.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: This is what we do as humans, that even though it's hard to create a habit, we still do it anyway.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: We create good habits.
21:19
SPEAKER_00: Now, why is that?
21:20
SPEAKER_00: Let's dig a little bit deeper.
21:21
SPEAKER_00: Why is that that we can create habits even though it's difficult?
21:30
SPEAKER_00: I propose to you that the reason is we see the end goal as worth it.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: We see that it's worth it to establish this habit, to push uphill, to just kind of fight for this.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: It's worth it in the end goal.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: And I know for myself, when I started getting in the habit of daily devo, it it changed my life.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: It my relationship with God went so much deeper.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: In fact, when I found out that God was calling me to preaching, it was a really cool moment.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: In one of my Devo times.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: It was crazy.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: So we start to see that we can still make good habits if we think that it's worth it in the end.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: Now I want to take all that information and let's look back at the topic of going to church.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: And acknowledge the reality that at times it's it's hard to make it a habit.
22:25
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to go to church.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: Even when we are in the habit, sometimes we're just going through the motions.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: I know I've been there.
22:32
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a reason that it's hard to go to church is because we don't see the value in church.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want this is not a point to like hold over your guys' head to guilt trip you.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: I want to acknowledge a reality that we are living in that sometimes we just don't see the value in church.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: We don't think that it's worth it if we're completely honest with ourselves.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: And again, I think the writer of Hebrews has this in mind.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: Because now we're gonna go on to the next section of this verse.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: So after not neglecting, gathering together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other all the more as you see the day approaching.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: Encouraging one another.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: This is such an interesting word, because this word encouraging translated in lots of different ways.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: But I think from my studies, what I found is that there's two specific flavors that the Ryder of Hebrews is trying to get at with this word encourage.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: So the two are exhorting and comforting.
23:39
SPEAKER_00: Exhorting and the comforting.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna tackle this one at a time.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: First, exhorting.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
23:45
SPEAKER_00: That's a churchy word.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, strongly encourage or urge someone to do something.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: Strongly encourage, there's our word to do something.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: It's almost as if we are called to provoke one another to do something, love and good words.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: See how this is kind of coming together?
24:06
SPEAKER_00: You see, I had this high school leader uh at my church, his name is Tom, absolutely love him.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: I would call him daily, uh, just to talk about life and just pray together, and it was so, so great.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, but this man, he was so good at exhorting me because I had this conversation that I need to have in my life that I was pushing off for literally years, and it was one of the most difficult conversations I've ever had.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: And to this day, it's still it still remains that.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: However, Tom was there to encourage, to exhort me through it.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: I remember the day that I was gonna do, I'm like, okay, Tom, I I think I think God's giving me the strength to do it today.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: I think I'm gonna do it.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, I'm right there with you.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get through this, we're gonna have the conversation, you're gonna hang up, have the conversation, and then you're gonna come back and call me.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: So that's what I did.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: I I hung up, went, had the conversation.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: It was so, so hard.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: But I was able to do it because Tom was there encouraging me through it.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: Afterwards, I called him up, and then we celebrated because I was able to get to this point to do something that I've been pushing off for years.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: And that's because he exhorted me.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: So that's exhortation.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: Now the next flavor is comfort.
25:30
SPEAKER_00: Comfort.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: I want to point out that uh 2 Corinthians 1, 34, it states that all comfort is from God.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: God is the God of comfort.
25:41
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it so cool, however, that we've noticed that God has a tendency to use human agents to enact that love.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: He uses us to comfort others, I should say.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: He uses us to comfort each other.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't have to.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: He can just comfort us individually, and he does that sometimes.
25:59
SPEAKER_00: But he has a tendency to work in ways where we are to comfort one another.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: And this happens in the church.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: I have experienced this tangibly here at TBC.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: Now, I've only been here for just this summer, a couple months.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, and most of the students know, and uh, most of the interns that, or all the interns I'm working with, and Lorraine and Jeremy, they know that this has been a very, very tough summer for me.
26:27
SPEAKER_00: I have been dealing with depression for almost two years now, and this summer it has started to flare up more than usual.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: And um it got to the point where I was realizing the other day that I've had to relearn how to get out of bed on my own.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, that's kind of the spot that I'm at.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: But through this time, the interns, the leaders, the students have been so comforting to me.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: They take me aside and be like, Spencer, how are you doing?
26:58
SPEAKER_00: How can I help you?
27:00
SPEAKER_00: How can I love you?
27:01
SPEAKER_00: How can I comfort you in this time?
27:03
SPEAKER_00: And honestly, sometimes it's just being with another person is good enough.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: And it's so, so comforting to me.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: Even they force me to do things that are good for me, but I don't want to do in the moment.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: Like when I'm really deep in the depths, um, I get a like I get a call from Jeremy.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: He's like, hey, I need you to be with someone, to hang out with someone.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: You can't be alone.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: Even though I didn't want to do that, I did it anyway because he was exhorting me to do it.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: He was encouraging me to do it, and I was better off because of it.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: See, this is the church that we live in, one that exhorts, one that comforts.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: I even had students come up to me and be like, hey, I heard in your sermon that you're dealing with this mental health stuff, and I just want you to know that I deal with this too, and I want you to know I'm here for you.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm praying for you, it's tough, but God's gonna get you through this.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: And that coming from a student warmed my heart.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: This is what the church is gathering together, exhorting and comforting.
28:08
SPEAKER_00: And you see, in this situation, because I've been comforted by everyone here at TBC, I've been able to do my job better because I can show up and I can work in a really good environment.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: And because of that, because I've been blessed by your comforting, I've been able to bless the students.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: Bless them in sermons, bless them in just getting to know them, be able to be physically present instead of not present alone by myself.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: So we get this cycle of because I'm being blessed, I get to bless others.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: This is important.
28:41
SPEAKER_00: Because I want us to go back to this verse.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: Go back to this verse and see that let's think about a church that perfectly um represents this verse.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: A church where everyone is supporting everyone, where I'm thinking about how can I help my fellow brothers and sisters love one another better?
29:04
SPEAKER_00: How can I do that?
29:05
SPEAKER_00: They're thinking the same thing about me.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: As I'm lifting them up, they're lifting me up.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: And I'm lifting them up, they're lifting me up, and it's this beautiful community that we thrive together.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: I want you, let's get into the specifics.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: What would it look like if a church embodied this?
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're tired.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: You're so, not just sleepy tired, but you're exhausted from life.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: You show up to church and someone, someone you never talked to before, it's like, hey, you look tired.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: Let me uh let me uh let me take your kids, I'll babysit them on Tuesday so you and your spouse can have a date night.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: This is the church.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're like me and you're struggling with depression.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: And you come to church and you hear the most healing words of, hey, it's good to see you.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm glad you're here.
29:58
SPEAKER_00: Because when you're dealing with depression, nothing seems to matter.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: And I don't seem to matter.
30:05
SPEAKER_00: So to hear those words of, I'm glad you're here, it's life-changing.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a small thing, but it's life-changing.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have a crippling addiction and your life is falling apart, and you don't you don't want to tell anyone because you think they're gonna condemn you and judge you.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: But you finally tell someone in the church and they're like, hey, I've actually struggled with the same exact thing.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: I know how difficult it is.
30:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm so sorry you're dealing with this.
30:33
SPEAKER_00: Let me help you.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give you resources, I'm gonna be your accountability partner, we're gonna get through this together.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: Imagine the hope that wells up in your soul from that interaction.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have a family member in the hospital, and that's the only thing you can think about.
30:49
SPEAKER_00: You can't think about work, you can't think about even getting food on the table for your kids in your life again, is just falling apart.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: And then you hear a knock at your door, like, what?
31:00
SPEAKER_00: Who's that?
31:00
SPEAKER_00: You open up your door, and there is a meal right there for your whole family with a note that says, the next two weeks of meals are covered by the church.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: God bless you.
31:11
SPEAKER_00: Imagine the relief that you would feel in that moment.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: Because this is what we do as a church.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: This is who the church is.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: And it's not all about receiving blessing.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: That's a really good thing.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: But also, we're given the opportunity to extend blessing to others.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: And again, it may look small, but sometimes the smallest things have the biggest impacts.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you like studying the Bible.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: You can start a Bible study, and maybe someone invites uh someone to that Bible study, they're not saved, and because of that, an eternal life is saved just because you started a Bible study.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's as simple as you like baseball.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: You just like baseball.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: How could I use that?
31:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe there's a kid that all they wanted to do in their life was play baseball, but their father walked out on them when they were just an infant.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: Imagine how this kid would feel when you walk up and you're like, hey, let's go play some baseball.
32:07
SPEAKER_00: I'll teach you everything you need to know.
32:10
SPEAKER_00: You will absolutely change this kid's life with a simple bat and a simple glove.
32:17
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you just love to fix cars, and there's someone in the congregation whose car it's broken down or broken into, and they're like, I don't know what I'm gonna do.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: I don't have the money to fix this, I don't know how to fix it, I'm gonna uh get behind on my payments, and life is just gonna fall apart.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: Be like, hey, hey, hey, it's gonna be okay.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: I got you.
32:35
SPEAKER_00: I know how to fix cars, it's a simple fix.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: I'll cover the cost again.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: Imagine the relief that you can provide for our fellow brothers and sisters.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's as simple as God telling you, hey, go befriend this person.
32:50
SPEAKER_00: This person sitting by themselves, go be friends with them.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: And you go and be friends with them, but little do you know that you're the sole reason that this person is able to get through today and the next day, because you are the only person in their life that's ever showed them love.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: Simple things like that can be life-changing, and that is what happens here in the church.
33:12
SPEAKER_00: You see, because of the death of Jesus, because the curtain was torn, because we can enter into the holies of holies, yes, individually, that's a beautiful, beautiful thing, but we are called to come together as a church, to consider one another, to lift each other up, to not neglect gathering together because we can't, we can't lift each other up when we're isolated, when we're not coming to the physical church.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: To encourage one another, to exhort, to comfort.
33:40
SPEAKER_00: Think how beautiful this is.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: So when we go back to the question of why go to church when I can worship on my own, I ask you, why are you not going to church?
33:53
SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful place.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: You see, if you don't go to church, not only do you not get to experience the blessing of yourself, but the honest reality is that you are depriving someone of a blessing that you could be to them.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: That's just an honest reality.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: Again, not a point to hang over your head, but we just have to acknowledge the facts.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: Church is a beautiful, beautiful place.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: So for that, we worship together, not alone.
34:24
SPEAKER_00: We worship together, not alone.
34:27
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm gonna be honest with you, as I mentioned before, this takes effort, it takes time, it takes energy to go to church.
34:35
SPEAKER_00: So it's up to you.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: What are you going to do?
34:39
SPEAKER_00: I want you to think right here, right now, practically.
34:41
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking practically.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: What are you gonna commit to?
34:44
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's the next four weeks.
34:45
SPEAKER_00: You're like, my family, we are all going to church every day for the next four weeks, and we're gonna try to be a blessing to others, and we're just gonna see what happens.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see how God uses this.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: Maybe some of you feel like you need to commit to go deeper, to go deeper into this beautiful church and try to be a blessing to more and more people.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: Maybe some of you have never experienced this, and maybe you've just experienced the church hurt side of church.
35:16
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you could start the cycle of be like, okay, I can show up and I can try to be a blessing to someone just by saying hi to them.
35:24
SPEAKER_00: And once that consistently comes in, you will eventually see how beautiful the church is just by showing up and being like, how can I be a blessing?
35:36
SPEAKER_00: Because we aren't perfect, we aren't gonna do this perfectly, but if a church has this as a target to lead to, we're gonna strive closer and closer.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: And every step that we get, we're stepper closer to being the bride of Christ, how we were supposed to be.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: Acts 2, 46 to 47.
35:59
SPEAKER_00: Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple and broke bread from house to house.
36:04
SPEAKER_00: They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God, enjoying the favor of all the people.
36:11
SPEAKER_00: Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
36:16
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't this verse sound like just a little slice of heaven?
36:20
SPEAKER_00: Just a little slice.
36:22
SPEAKER_00: But when we engage with the church, this is what we engage with.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: And when we strive to bless others and then receive blessing, we are one step closer to being what it's gonna be like in heaven.
36:36
SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, as it stands right now, the ball is in your court.
36:42
SPEAKER_00: So what are you going to do?
36:45
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
36:48
SPEAKER_00: Lord, thank you for this time.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, thank you for this opportunity to preach this message.
36:52
SPEAKER_00: That you have taught so much to me, Lord.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: I just pray that um these lessons will sink deep into all of our hearts and that there will be change and we'll be able to experience the blessing of the church, and um, and that we can be a blessing to others, Lord.
37:10
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for all that you do.
37:12
SPEAKER_00: In your name I pray.
37:13
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: Thank you guys so much.
37:16
SPEAKER_00: Have a good week.