00:00:00 --> 00:00:07 Hebrews is a really difficult book and it has a lot, it's one of those books of the Bible that you come to and you start to read it
00:00:07 --> 00:00:12 and it actually has a lot of assumed knowledge which lies behind it.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:22 So it's written to an audience which has been raised under the law of Moses and its regulations, culturally raised as Jews.
00:00:22 --> 00:00:30 So the law defined their life, they circumcised their boys, they lived under the Ten Commandments,
00:00:30 --> 00:00:33 they knew that God called them to love their neighbours as themselves,
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 they didn't eat things like prawn cutlets and pork buns.
00:00:38 --> 00:00:41 Who had pork buns after church last Sunday night?
00:00:42 --> 00:00:42 Yeah, one or two.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 So they couldn't have lived in Chatswood.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:50 They didn't work on Saturdays, they didn't wear nylon or lycra because that was their culture,
00:00:50 --> 00:00:56 that was how God taught them to live their lives as his holy, as his different, as his set apart people.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 And that's not where most of us come from.
00:01:02 --> 00:01:06 I know that in our group some people have found Hebrews tedious and a struggle,
00:01:06 --> 00:01:10 certainly not the Wednesday nighters because you've been doing Tulip with John Piper,
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 but in the group, some of the groups have been finding it hard,
00:01:13 --> 00:01:17 others of the groups have been rejoicing it and I've been rejoicing it for myself as well.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:24 But Hebrews is of high value because it forces us to see how Christ fulfils all that the Old Testament doesn't.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:33 So Hebrews paints a picture, a startling picture of how Christ fulfils the Old Testament and doesn't abolish it.
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 So if you remember the words of Jesus,
00:01:35 --> 00:01:39 do not think that I came to abolish the law and the prophets, I have come to fulfil them,
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 he said in the Sermon on the Mount.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:45 So this passage which I'm preaching tonight begins with these words.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:50 So if you've got your Bibles, have them open, Hebrews chapter 10 and I'm reading from verse 19.
00:01:50 --> 00:02:15 So he opens with these words and he's actually connecting with the words which go immediately before,
00:02:15 --> 00:02:20 but it's even bigger than that because he's connecting with everything that has happened in this book before
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 and he's come to a change point.
00:02:22 --> 00:02:26 There's a point here that really matters in the things that he wants to say
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 and he wants to build his argument on what has already happened in Jesus.
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 So the Old Testament system of worship was a model
00:02:34 --> 00:02:39 or you might even say it was an early prototype of a far greater reality.
00:02:39 --> 00:02:46 The law, the priests, the high priests, the temple of Solomon with its most holy place
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 were a kind of virtual reality.
00:02:50 --> 00:02:55 They gave the people a glimpse, see it's ancient technology,
00:02:55 --> 00:02:59 but it gave the people a glimpse of something that was real
00:02:59 --> 00:03:03 but it didn't give them the reality itself.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:11 Now it's a big problem if you confuse what is real with what it isn't
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 and the Jews did that.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 They got wrapped up in the bricks and mortar of the temple
00:03:16 --> 00:03:20 and this impressive building and they failed to see beyond it
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 to the reality that it was pointing to.
00:03:24 --> 00:03:25 Show my age.
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 My parents got their first TV when I was born.
00:03:29 --> 00:03:35 If they had one before I was born, they might never have been born, might they?
00:03:37 --> 00:03:40 But I grew up watching the Flintstones and the Jetsons
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 and the ABC News in black and white.
00:03:43 --> 00:03:47 The TV man came regularly to replace the burnt out valves.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 You don't even know what a valve is in a television, do you?
00:03:50 --> 00:03:51 Do you know what a valve was?
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 It's the ancient transistor.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 And in your television set you might have 20 valves.
00:03:56 --> 00:04:01 Well now in your computer you've got a billion transistors
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 built into that tiny little chip.
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 So these valves were like globes up in the ceiling.
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 You'd pull one out and throw it away every so often.
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 You'd get the repairman in to fix your TV.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:15 So I was in year 12 in 1975 when colour television came in.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 I think we were able to watch the sacking of the Whitlam government
00:04:18 --> 00:04:19 in glorious colour.
00:04:20 --> 00:04:23 We haven't got 3D TV yet.
00:04:23 --> 00:04:24 I'm still working on it.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:24 Not really.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 But if we had one the other night
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 I'm sure it would have made me feel like I was there
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 watching Tomek play at Wimbledon.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:35 But I wasn't.
00:04:39 --> 00:04:40 Television's a virtual world.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:42 Isn't the real thing.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 And I can tell you I would rather have tickets
00:04:46 --> 00:04:47 sitting courtside with the princess
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 than watching in the lounge room at home.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:54 So when the preacher says, verse 19,
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 therefore brothers and sisters,
00:04:58 --> 00:05:02 since we have confidence to enter the most holy place
00:05:02 --> 00:05:03 by the blood of Jesus,
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 by a new and living way open for us through the curtain,
00:05:07 --> 00:05:08 that is, his body,
00:05:08 --> 00:05:12 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
00:05:13 --> 00:05:14 he's summarising.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 And he's summarising everything that's gone before
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 and he's saying that the model is now obsolete
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 because we have the reality.
00:05:23 --> 00:05:24 Because of Jesus,
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 we are now sitting courtside at Wimbledon.
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 Brian and Deb in their messages last week
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 said some great things about the passage that went before.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 They said that the Old Testament system of worship
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 could take people so far but no further.
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 And the temple was a great example.
00:05:43 --> 00:05:46 The nations could come into the outer courts.
00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 The Jews could come a bit closer to the centre.
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 The priests could come a bit closer again
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 as they offered their bloodied sacrifices
00:05:55 --> 00:05:56 and the place looked like an abattoir
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 with all the blood that was being shed.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 But the most holy place
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 at the very centre of the temple,
00:06:03 --> 00:06:04 behind the curtain,
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 was off limits to everyone
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 with the exception of the high priest
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 and he could go there only once a year
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 if he made special preparation.
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 And he died if he got it wrong.
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 And so the model
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 taught the people
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 that it was a big deal
00:06:26 --> 00:06:27 to come into the presence of God.
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 It needed big perfection,
00:06:31 --> 00:06:32 it needed big sacrifice.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:35 And no one was just safe
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 to stroll into God's presence.
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 Like, how are you going, mate?
00:06:39 --> 00:06:40 God's my mate, God's my friend.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:41 You just couldn't do that.
00:06:42 --> 00:06:43 And even if we tried,
00:06:43 --> 00:06:44 we would be unable
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 because we can't get ourselves
00:06:46 --> 00:06:46 into heaven.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:55 And so the model creates a picture
00:06:55 --> 00:06:58 that shows us the real world dilemma.
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 We are cut off from a holy God
00:07:01 --> 00:07:02 who dwells in heaven
00:07:02 --> 00:07:04 and we are unable to find our way
00:07:04 --> 00:07:05 into his presence.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 And it's like Christ has stormed
00:07:11 --> 00:07:12 onto the centre court at Wimbledon
00:07:12 --> 00:07:13 and taken us with him.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 Christ, this is chapter 9, verse 24,
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 Christ did not enter
00:07:17 --> 00:07:18 a man-made sanctuary
00:07:18 --> 00:07:19 that was only a copy
00:07:19 --> 00:07:20 of the true one.
00:07:21 --> 00:07:22 He entered heaven itself
00:07:22 --> 00:07:23 now to appear for us
00:07:23 --> 00:07:24 in God's presence.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 And so in chapter 10, verse 19,
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 and I've twisted the word slightly,
00:07:30 --> 00:07:31 but I hope you see
00:07:31 --> 00:07:32 that it's a true translation.
00:07:33 --> 00:07:34 Therefore we have,
00:07:34 --> 00:07:35 or it's true to the meaning,
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 therefore we have confidence
00:07:37 --> 00:07:38 to enter heaven itself
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 by the blood of Jesus,
00:07:41 --> 00:07:42 a new and living way
00:07:42 --> 00:07:43 which has been opened
00:07:43 --> 00:07:44 through his body.
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 So the old system's kaput.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 Why would you sit in the,
00:07:50 --> 00:07:50 can you imagine sitting
00:07:50 --> 00:07:51 in the stands at Wimbledon
00:07:51 --> 00:07:52 and you've got your TV
00:07:52 --> 00:07:53 so that you can watch the match
00:07:53 --> 00:07:54 when you're really at the match?
00:07:54 --> 00:07:55 Wouldn't that be stupid?
00:07:58 --> 00:07:59 Why would you go back
00:07:59 --> 00:08:00 to animal sacrifices
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 in a fancy temple complex
00:08:02 --> 00:08:03 when Christ has been sacrificed
00:08:03 --> 00:08:04 once for all,
00:08:04 --> 00:08:05 never to die again
00:08:05 --> 00:08:06 and guaranteed a way
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 into the presence of God forever?
00:08:08 --> 00:08:08 Never.
00:08:10 --> 00:08:10 Ridiculous.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 So Christ has changed the game
00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 and the rubber hits the road for us
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 and you see that in verses 22 to 25.
00:08:23 --> 00:08:24 He goes from talking about
00:08:24 --> 00:08:25 what Christ has done
00:08:25 --> 00:08:26 to talking about
00:08:26 --> 00:08:27 what we're asked to do.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 So let us draw near to God
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 with a sincere heart
00:08:31 --> 00:08:32 in full assurance of faith,
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 having our hearts sprinkled
00:08:35 --> 00:08:35 to cleanse us
00:08:35 --> 00:08:36 from a guilty conscience
00:08:36 --> 00:08:37 and having our bodies
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 washed with pure water.
00:08:40 --> 00:08:43 And let us hold unswervingly
00:08:43 --> 00:08:44 to the hope that we profess
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 for he who promised is faithful.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:48 And let us consider
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 how we may spur one another
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 on towards love and good deeds.
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 Let us not give up meeting together
00:08:54 --> 00:08:55 as some are in the habit of doing,
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 but let us encourage one another
00:08:58 --> 00:08:59 and all the more
00:08:59 --> 00:09:00 as you see the day approaching.
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 So he turns the spotlight onto us
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 and not just you individually
00:09:07 --> 00:09:09 sitting in a pew tonight,
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 maybe with friends around you.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 But he's speaking to us
00:09:14 --> 00:09:15 as a group of people,
00:09:15 --> 00:09:16 as the body of Christ,
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 those who have come to believe
00:09:18 --> 00:09:19 in the Lord Jesus Christ
00:09:19 --> 00:09:20 and who cling to him.
00:09:21 --> 00:09:24 And five times he says to us
00:09:24 --> 00:09:24 as a body,
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 let us.
00:09:26 --> 00:09:32 verse 22,
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 let us draw near to God.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:36 Come to God.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:41 I don't know what's going on
00:09:41 --> 00:09:42 in your heart tonight.
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 I love the invitational language
00:09:44 --> 00:09:45 of the scriptures
00:09:45 --> 00:09:46 where God draws us to himself.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:50 One of the temptations we face
00:09:50 --> 00:09:51 when gripped by sin
00:09:51 --> 00:09:52 is to get into it.
00:09:54 --> 00:09:54 You know,
00:09:54 --> 00:09:55 you ever feel like
00:09:55 --> 00:09:56 you're fighting a war
00:09:56 --> 00:09:57 which will never be won
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 over and over and over again
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 and we can become
00:10:02 --> 00:10:03 almost depressed
00:10:03 --> 00:10:04 and down in the mouth
00:10:04 --> 00:10:05 and we can throw our hands
00:10:05 --> 00:10:05 in the air
00:10:05 --> 00:10:06 and we can say,
00:10:06 --> 00:10:07 what's the use?
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 And we pull away from God
00:10:11 --> 00:10:12 and we think things like,
00:10:12 --> 00:10:13 oh, he wouldn't want to know me,
00:10:14 --> 00:10:15 I'm too bad for him.
00:10:15 --> 00:10:16 And we do what Adam did
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 at the very beginning
00:10:18 --> 00:10:18 of the Bible
00:10:18 --> 00:10:19 when he sinned.
00:10:19 --> 00:10:20 He hid from God.
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 God came looking for him
00:10:23 --> 00:10:24 and he was afraid.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:27 And he and Eve,
00:10:27 --> 00:10:28 when they sinned,
00:10:28 --> 00:10:29 became aware of their,
00:10:29 --> 00:10:30 they were naked before God
00:10:30 --> 00:10:31 before they sinned
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 and no shame.
00:10:35 --> 00:10:35 And after sinning,
00:10:36 --> 00:10:37 one of the awarenesses they had
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 was of their own nakedness
00:10:39 --> 00:10:40 and they tried to deal with it
00:10:40 --> 00:10:41 by putting a few fig leaves together.
00:10:42 --> 00:10:43 Terribly effective.
00:10:45 --> 00:10:49 But deep down,
00:10:49 --> 00:10:50 we know that we are unworthy
00:10:50 --> 00:10:53 and in our pride
00:10:53 --> 00:10:54 and in our fear,
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 we run from God.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:00 And the Bible says
00:11:00 --> 00:11:01 things have changed.
00:11:03 --> 00:11:04 Christ has made us worthy.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:07 We can confidently stand
00:11:07 --> 00:11:08 in God's presence
00:11:08 --> 00:11:09 without shame,
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 clean,
00:11:12 --> 00:11:13 washed,
00:11:14 --> 00:11:14 pure.
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 And it does not matter
00:11:18 --> 00:11:19 where we have been
00:11:19 --> 00:11:20 in our lives
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 before we have come to him.
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 He is able to deal with it.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:29 And all our sinful failure,
00:11:29 --> 00:11:29 hate,
00:11:31 --> 00:11:31 murder,
00:11:33 --> 00:11:33 pride,
00:11:34 --> 00:11:35 sexual sin,
00:11:36 --> 00:11:37 malicious talking,
00:11:37 --> 00:11:38 all swept away
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 by the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:41 Christ.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:44 And so there is this
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 extraordinary invitation,
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 we can run to Christ.
00:11:49 --> 00:11:50 And we don't have to
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 fake it with him,
00:11:51 --> 00:11:51 we don't,
00:11:52 --> 00:11:53 we can speak honestly
00:11:53 --> 00:11:54 to him without pretense,
00:11:55 --> 00:11:56 we don't have to be somebody
00:11:56 --> 00:11:57 to be in his presence.
00:11:58 --> 00:11:59 A sincere heart,
00:11:59 --> 00:12:00 something which just
00:12:00 --> 00:12:01 tells the truth,
00:12:01 --> 00:12:01 God,
00:12:01 --> 00:12:02 you know what I am like.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 You know me,
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 you know my thoughts,
00:12:08 --> 00:12:09 you know what I have done,
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 you know what I struggle with,
00:12:11 --> 00:12:12 you know my insecurities,
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 you know my fears.
00:12:16 --> 00:12:17 Please forgive me,
00:12:17 --> 00:12:18 please help me.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:22 And as we do that,
00:12:22 --> 00:12:24 the gospel reminds us
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 that our consciences
00:12:26 --> 00:12:27 are made clean
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 again
00:12:29 --> 00:12:30 as we put our hope
00:12:30 --> 00:12:31 in Christ.
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 He lifts that
00:12:34 --> 00:12:35 terrible burden
00:12:35 --> 00:12:35 of guilt
00:12:35 --> 00:12:36 and accusation
00:12:36 --> 00:12:37 from us,
00:12:37 --> 00:12:37 God sets us
00:12:37 --> 00:12:38 truly free.
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 So Hebrews says,
00:12:44 --> 00:12:45 draw near,
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 don't flee.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 Stand fully secure
00:12:50 --> 00:12:51 in what Christ
00:12:51 --> 00:12:51 has done.
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 And then in verse 23,
00:12:58 --> 00:12:59 second let us,
00:12:59 --> 00:13:03 let us hold unswervingly
00:13:03 --> 00:13:04 to the hope
00:13:04 --> 00:13:04 that we profess.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:07 Now this is like,
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 let's hang on
00:13:08 --> 00:13:09 for the ride.
00:13:10 --> 00:13:11 And I got this picture
00:13:11 --> 00:13:11 in my mind
00:13:11 --> 00:13:12 of one of those
00:13:12 --> 00:13:13 dirty big roller coasters.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:14 They used to have
00:13:14 --> 00:13:15 a great big wooden one
00:13:15 --> 00:13:16 at Luna Park
00:13:16 --> 00:13:16 in Sydney.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 And we would ride it
00:13:19 --> 00:13:19 round and round
00:13:19 --> 00:13:20 and round and round
00:13:20 --> 00:13:20 again.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:21 But you know,
00:13:21 --> 00:13:21 the first click,
00:13:21 --> 00:13:22 click,
00:13:22 --> 00:13:22 click,
00:13:22 --> 00:13:22 click,
00:13:22 --> 00:13:22 click,
00:13:22 --> 00:13:23 click,
00:13:23 --> 00:13:23 click,
00:13:23 --> 00:13:23 click,
00:13:23 --> 00:13:23 click,
00:13:23 --> 00:13:23 click,
00:13:23 --> 00:13:24 click,
00:13:24 --> 00:13:24 click,
00:13:24 --> 00:13:25 she came to the top
00:13:25 --> 00:13:25 of the big hill
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 and it began to roll
00:13:27 --> 00:13:28 over the top
00:13:28 --> 00:13:29 and then the downward ride.
00:13:29 --> 00:13:30 The really bold ones
00:13:30 --> 00:13:31 throw their hands
00:13:31 --> 00:13:31 in the air.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:33 The rest of us,
00:13:33 --> 00:13:34 mere mortals like me,
00:13:34 --> 00:13:34 we just hang on
00:13:34 --> 00:13:35 to the bar
00:13:35 --> 00:13:36 for grim life,
00:13:36 --> 00:13:36 grim death.
00:13:37 --> 00:13:38 I saw one in the paper
00:13:38 --> 00:13:39 the other day
00:13:39 --> 00:13:40 that would be interesting
00:13:40 --> 00:13:40 to try out.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:41 It's a new one in Japan
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 and it literally
00:13:43 --> 00:13:44 goes up the big hill.
00:13:44 --> 00:13:45 I saw a picture of it
00:13:45 --> 00:13:46 and not only goes down,
00:13:46 --> 00:13:47 it goes under
00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 and down at an angle.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:49 I need to draw it
00:13:49 --> 00:13:49 the right way.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 It does that.
00:13:51 --> 00:13:52 It goes backward,
00:13:52 --> 00:13:53 upside down
00:13:53 --> 00:13:53 on the first hill.
00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 Sounds really exciting.
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 But white knuckle ride.
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 And so he's saying
00:13:59 --> 00:14:00 the admonition
00:14:00 --> 00:14:01 is to cling to the hope
00:14:01 --> 00:14:02 that we have in Christ.
00:14:02 --> 00:14:03 Let us hold unswervingly
00:14:03 --> 00:14:04 to the hope
00:14:04 --> 00:14:04 that we profess.
00:14:05 --> 00:14:06 Don't let go.
00:14:08 --> 00:14:09 And he's writing
00:14:09 --> 00:14:10 to believers
00:14:10 --> 00:14:11 who are doing it tough.
00:14:11 --> 00:14:12 He knows their circumstances.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 Verse 32,
00:14:15 --> 00:14:16 remember those earlier days
00:14:16 --> 00:14:17 after you received
00:14:17 --> 00:14:17 the light
00:14:17 --> 00:14:18 when you stood your ground
00:14:18 --> 00:14:19 in a great contest
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 in the face of suffering?
00:14:22 --> 00:14:23 Sometimes you were publicly
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 exposed to insult
00:14:25 --> 00:14:26 and persecution
00:14:26 --> 00:14:27 and other times
00:14:27 --> 00:14:28 you stood side by side
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 with those
00:14:29 --> 00:14:29 who were so treated.
00:14:31 --> 00:14:32 So these believers,
00:14:32 --> 00:14:33 they'd made a great beginning,
00:14:33 --> 00:14:34 a courageous beginning
00:14:34 --> 00:14:35 and he knows
00:14:35 --> 00:14:35 that they've had
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 a really difficult journey.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:39 So verse 33,
00:14:39 --> 00:14:40 public exposure
00:14:40 --> 00:14:41 to insult
00:14:41 --> 00:14:42 and persecution.
00:14:43 --> 00:14:44 Verse 34,
00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 joyfully accepted
00:14:45 --> 00:14:46 the confiscation
00:14:46 --> 00:14:46 of their property.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:47 Can you imagine that?
00:14:48 --> 00:14:48 Can you imagine
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 your mum or dad
00:14:49 --> 00:14:50 losing your house
00:14:50 --> 00:14:50 in Chatswood
00:14:50 --> 00:14:51 or roundabout
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 because of their faith
00:14:53 --> 00:14:54 in the Lord Jesus Christ
00:14:54 --> 00:14:55 having taken it from them
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 being left
00:14:56 --> 00:14:56 with all the insecurity
00:14:56 --> 00:14:57 that flows from that?
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 I read the other day
00:15:02 --> 00:15:02 about Christians
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 in some parts of Syria
00:15:04 --> 00:15:05 right at the moment
00:15:05 --> 00:15:06 doing it really tough.
00:15:06 --> 00:15:07 They're trying to live
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 as godly citizens
00:15:09 --> 00:15:10 in the towns
00:15:10 --> 00:15:10 that they're living in.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:12 They're trying to honour
00:15:12 --> 00:15:13 their government
00:15:13 --> 00:15:13 even though we look
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 at their government
00:15:14 --> 00:15:15 and say what an appalling government
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 and the people in their town
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 who are dissatisfied
00:15:19 --> 00:15:20 with their government.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:21 Some of the people there
00:15:21 --> 00:15:21 are saying join us,
00:15:22 --> 00:15:22 rise up
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23 or get out.
00:15:25 --> 00:15:26 Join us
00:15:26 --> 00:15:26 or get out.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:27 There's no place
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 for you here.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:32 Some of us
00:15:32 --> 00:15:33 who have come
00:15:33 --> 00:15:33 to hope in Christ
00:15:33 --> 00:15:34 and this might be you
00:15:34 --> 00:15:35 as a teenager
00:15:35 --> 00:15:36 or a young adult,
00:15:38 --> 00:15:39 you may have come
00:15:39 --> 00:15:39 out of families
00:15:39 --> 00:15:40 where he has not
00:15:40 --> 00:15:41 been known before
00:15:41 --> 00:15:45 and you may have
00:15:45 --> 00:15:46 stepped outside
00:15:46 --> 00:15:47 your family's rules
00:15:47 --> 00:15:47 and values
00:15:47 --> 00:15:48 in following Christ.
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 we've been ridiculed
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 and perhaps pitied
00:15:53 --> 00:15:53 or despised
00:15:53 --> 00:15:54 for what we believe.
00:15:56 --> 00:15:57 Parents have a great way
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 of dropping a little word
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 and grinding the knife
00:16:01 --> 00:16:01 a little bit,
00:16:01 --> 00:16:02 twisting it a little bit
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 to make us feel uncomfortable.
00:16:04 --> 00:16:04 I can remember
00:16:04 --> 00:16:05 going out to prayer meeting
00:16:05 --> 00:16:06 on a Tuesday night
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 after I became a Christian.
00:16:07 --> 00:16:08 I was 18 or 19
00:16:08 --> 00:16:10 and my dad had a,
00:16:10 --> 00:16:11 it was partly because
00:16:11 --> 00:16:12 of my own weakness,
00:16:12 --> 00:16:13 my dad had a way
00:16:13 --> 00:16:14 of humiliating me
00:16:14 --> 00:16:14 because every week
00:16:14 --> 00:16:15 he'd say where are you going?
00:16:15 --> 00:16:16 He knew where I was going
00:16:16 --> 00:16:18 but he made me say it
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 at the prayer meeting.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 Friends who like to remind us
00:16:28 --> 00:16:28 when we fail,
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 there is others of us
00:16:31 --> 00:16:32 who perhaps miss out
00:16:32 --> 00:16:32 on promotion
00:16:32 --> 00:16:33 or perhaps opportunity
00:16:33 --> 00:16:34 at work
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 because people know
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 what we stand for
00:16:37 --> 00:16:38 and who we stand for
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 and perhaps we won't
00:16:40 --> 00:16:40 be corrupted
00:16:40 --> 00:16:42 or behave in some
00:16:42 --> 00:16:42 of the ways
00:16:42 --> 00:16:43 that they might applaud.
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 And I think there are
00:16:45 --> 00:16:46 other days,
00:16:46 --> 00:16:47 dark days which come
00:16:47 --> 00:16:48 upon us for all sorts
00:16:48 --> 00:16:49 of reasons
00:16:49 --> 00:16:50 when we don't feel
00:16:50 --> 00:16:51 like Christ is very near.
00:16:53 --> 00:16:54 Holding on,
00:16:54 --> 00:16:55 clinging to the hope
00:16:55 --> 00:16:56 that we profess
00:16:56 --> 00:16:58 is the same
00:16:58 --> 00:16:59 as holding on
00:16:59 --> 00:17:00 to the gospel
00:17:00 --> 00:17:02 that we have been taught.
00:17:04 --> 00:17:04 And it's like
00:17:04 --> 00:17:05 don't lose heart,
00:17:06 --> 00:17:07 don't shrink back,
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 cling tenaciously
00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 to this hope
00:17:11 --> 00:17:11 that we profess,
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 don't let go
00:17:13 --> 00:17:14 of Christ
00:17:14 --> 00:17:14 no matter
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 how tough
00:17:16 --> 00:17:16 it is.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 So the first
00:17:19 --> 00:17:20 two let us's
00:17:20 --> 00:17:21 are about
00:17:21 --> 00:17:22 clinging
00:17:22 --> 00:17:23 to Christ.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:27 The last three
00:17:27 --> 00:17:28 are about
00:17:28 --> 00:17:29 clinging
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 to each other.
00:17:31 --> 00:17:32 And they're about
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 the sort of relationships
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 that Christian believers
00:17:35 --> 00:17:36 have with one another.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:37 So verse
00:17:37 --> 00:17:38 30,
00:17:38 --> 00:17:38 24,
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 let us consider
00:17:40 --> 00:17:41 how we may
00:17:41 --> 00:17:42 spur one another
00:17:42 --> 00:17:43 on toward love
00:17:43 --> 00:17:44 and good deeds.
00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 Verse 25,
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 let us not give up
00:17:47 --> 00:17:48 meeting together.
00:17:49 --> 00:17:49 Verse 25,
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 let us encourage
00:17:51 --> 00:17:52 one another.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:54 Now I've got to tell you
00:17:54 --> 00:17:55 sometimes we Christians
00:17:55 --> 00:17:56 read this verse
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57 and we think
00:17:57 --> 00:17:57 oh that's the real,
00:17:57 --> 00:17:58 that's why we've
00:17:58 --> 00:18:00 got to come to church.
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 I didn't say to you
00:18:02 --> 00:18:02 you've got to come
00:18:02 --> 00:18:03 to church
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 but that's the thing
00:18:04 --> 00:18:04 that we sometimes
00:18:04 --> 00:18:05 use to say
00:18:05 --> 00:18:06 you've got to come
00:18:06 --> 00:18:06 to church.
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 And we present it
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 like it's some sort
00:18:09 --> 00:18:10 of law or rule
00:18:10 --> 00:18:11 or principle
00:18:11 --> 00:18:12 that we've got to obey.
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 Go to church,
00:18:13 --> 00:18:13 keep the rule,
00:18:14 --> 00:18:14 make God happy.
00:18:15 --> 00:18:16 That sounds like fun
00:18:16 --> 00:18:17 doesn't it?
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 Can you see
00:18:23 --> 00:18:23 how barren
00:18:23 --> 00:18:24 and sterile
00:18:24 --> 00:18:25 that is
00:18:25 --> 00:18:26 compared to the richness
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 of what these verses
00:18:27 --> 00:18:27 convey?
00:18:29 --> 00:18:30 This is about
00:18:30 --> 00:18:30 the whole body,
00:18:30 --> 00:18:31 this is all of us
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 working with energy
00:18:33 --> 00:18:33 together
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 in response
00:18:34 --> 00:18:35 to who Christ is
00:18:35 --> 00:18:36 and to what Christ
00:18:36 --> 00:18:37 has done.
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 And so the focus
00:18:39 --> 00:18:40 of our interactions
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 become things like
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 how can I encourage you?
00:18:44 --> 00:18:45 I don't come to church
00:18:45 --> 00:18:45 thinking oh what are they
00:18:45 --> 00:18:46 going to do for me tonight?
00:18:47 --> 00:18:48 How can I encourage you?
00:18:49 --> 00:18:50 What might I do here
00:18:50 --> 00:18:51 tonight which serves?
00:18:51 --> 00:18:52 What might I say here
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 tonight that builds
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54 somebody up?
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 What person might I know
00:18:56 --> 00:18:57 around the building
00:18:57 --> 00:18:58 who looks a bit lonely
00:18:58 --> 00:18:58 or on their own
00:18:58 --> 00:18:59 or nobody's talking
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 to them?
00:19:00 --> 00:19:01 Maybe I'm the one
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02 who can step out
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 of my comfort zone
00:19:03 --> 00:19:03 and speak to them.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:07 See what word
00:19:07 --> 00:19:08 can I speak
00:19:08 --> 00:19:09 that builds you up
00:19:09 --> 00:19:09 in Christ
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 or grows you
00:19:10 --> 00:19:10 in Christ?
00:19:11 --> 00:19:12 And sometimes
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 most of the time
00:19:14 --> 00:19:14 it will be
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 an affirming word
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 and occasionally
00:19:17 --> 00:19:18 it will be
00:19:18 --> 00:19:18 a corrective word.
00:19:20 --> 00:19:20 A few weeks ago
00:19:20 --> 00:19:21 one of my sisters
00:19:21 --> 00:19:22 said to me
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23 after one of the services
00:19:23 --> 00:19:26 that I was promoting
00:19:26 --> 00:19:27 our small groups
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 in a less than
00:19:28 --> 00:19:29 embracing way.
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 So I was making it
00:19:31 --> 00:19:32 sound like some of them
00:19:32 --> 00:19:32 are a bit too exclusive
00:19:32 --> 00:19:33 so there's no room
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 there for you.
00:19:36 --> 00:19:37 And she said
00:19:37 --> 00:19:37 we've got to be
00:19:37 --> 00:19:38 more generous
00:19:38 --> 00:19:38 than that.
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 And I went
00:19:40 --> 00:19:40 oh.
00:19:42 --> 00:19:42 But it was said
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 to me really gently
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 it was easy to hear
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 and she was right.
00:19:48 --> 00:19:49 And if my Christian
00:19:49 --> 00:19:49 sister had not
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 said that to me
00:19:50 --> 00:19:51 I would not have
00:19:51 --> 00:19:51 seen it
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 but I can stand
00:19:52 --> 00:19:53 here tonight
00:19:53 --> 00:19:53 and say to you
00:19:53 --> 00:19:54 she was right
00:19:54 --> 00:19:55 that was a really
00:19:55 --> 00:19:55 good thing
00:19:55 --> 00:19:56 to be shown.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:00 Remember what I said
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 the context?
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 a little bit
00:20:02 --> 00:20:02 of that
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 and a lot
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 of the other.
00:20:09 --> 00:20:10 I see things here
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 I think on Sunday
00:20:11 --> 00:20:11 night
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 I see it in the
00:20:12 --> 00:20:12 morning as well
00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 you know our
00:20:13 --> 00:20:14 service finishes
00:20:14 --> 00:20:15 we speak to one
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 another
00:20:16 --> 00:20:16 we interact
00:20:16 --> 00:20:17 which is just
00:20:17 --> 00:20:17 fantastic
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 and see
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 conversations go
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 on and sometimes
00:20:21 --> 00:20:22 your heads go
00:20:22 --> 00:20:22 down
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 as you actually
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 stop and pray
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 for one another.
00:20:25 --> 00:20:25 I think that
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 type of interaction
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 is enormously
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 encouraging
00:20:28 --> 00:20:29 and great
00:20:29 --> 00:20:29 ministry
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 while we're
00:20:30 --> 00:20:30 together.
00:20:32 --> 00:20:32 This will be
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 harder for some
00:20:33 --> 00:20:34 of you because
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 depending on your
00:20:35 --> 00:20:35 circumstances you
00:20:35 --> 00:20:36 may have your
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 own home or
00:20:37 --> 00:20:37 the own place
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 where you live
00:20:38 --> 00:20:39 others of you
00:20:39 --> 00:20:39 will be in your
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 parents places
00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 and so that
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 will have some
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 bearing on the
00:20:45 --> 00:20:45 sort of hospitality
00:20:45 --> 00:20:46 that you can
00:20:46 --> 00:20:47 exercise but
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 hospitality is a
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 great way of
00:20:50 --> 00:20:50 Christians getting
00:20:50 --> 00:20:51 together to
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 encourage one
00:20:52 --> 00:20:52 another going to
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 one another's
00:20:53 --> 00:20:53 homes.
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 We do it in
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 some measure in
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57 our small groups
00:20:57 --> 00:20:57 some of our
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 small groups
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 meet in
00:20:59 --> 00:20:59 people's homes
00:20:59 --> 00:21:00 but it's not
00:21:00 --> 00:21:00 just a formal
00:21:00 --> 00:21:01 meeting like a
00:21:01 --> 00:21:02 small group
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 it's an informal
00:21:03 --> 00:21:04 meeting where we
00:21:04 --> 00:21:05 have friends over
00:21:05 --> 00:21:05 I think I've
00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 heard of fellow
00:21:06 --> 00:21:06 sleep which some
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07 of the girls
00:21:07 --> 00:21:07 were doing and
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 the joy of
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 that coming
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 together for
00:21:11 --> 00:21:11 Christian
00:21:11 --> 00:21:12 encouragement
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13 moving around
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 one another's
00:21:14 --> 00:21:14 home that's
00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 just a fantastic
00:21:15 --> 00:21:16 thing to be
00:21:16 --> 00:21:16 able to do
00:21:16 --> 00:21:19 but it's looking
00:21:19 --> 00:21:19 around as well
00:21:19 --> 00:21:20 and seeing who
00:21:20 --> 00:21:21 can we pick up
00:21:21 --> 00:21:23 into these networks
00:21:23 --> 00:21:23 of relationships
00:21:23 --> 00:21:24 that we have
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 who can we
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 invite amongst
00:21:26 --> 00:21:26 us
00:21:27 --> 00:21:27 who might not
00:21:27 --> 00:21:28 be one of
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 us but perhaps
00:21:29 --> 00:21:29 we would like
00:21:29 --> 00:21:30 them invite them
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 to join us or
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 that we might
00:21:32 --> 00:21:32 go to them.
00:21:34 --> 00:21:34 New sheet
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 tonight's got the
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 great example of
00:21:36 --> 00:21:36 the parish picnic
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 and barbecue coming
00:21:37 --> 00:21:39 up in a couple of
00:21:39 --> 00:21:40 weeks time which is
00:21:40 --> 00:21:41 an opportunity for
00:21:41 --> 00:21:41 us as a congregation
00:21:41 --> 00:21:43 to mix with people
00:21:43 --> 00:21:44 from the other six
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 congregations at
00:21:45 --> 00:21:46 St Paul's and
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 perhaps have a
00:21:47 --> 00:21:48 better awareness of
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49 the bigger picture of
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 who we are and the
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 different cultures that
00:21:51 --> 00:21:52 are represented and
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 the different backgrounds
00:21:54 --> 00:21:54 that people have.
00:21:54 --> 00:21:58 in my last church
00:21:58 --> 00:22:00 I saw some lovely
00:22:00 --> 00:22:00 ministry happen
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 amongst our older
00:22:01 --> 00:22:02 people so
00:22:02 --> 00:22:04 sometimes the
00:22:04 --> 00:22:05 oldies would
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 grizzle about
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 the younger ones
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 you know if you
00:22:08 --> 00:22:09 write on the walls
00:22:09 --> 00:22:09 at church
00:22:09 --> 00:22:10 at kids church
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 with chalk
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 then some of the
00:22:12 --> 00:22:12 oldies look at
00:22:12 --> 00:22:13 stuff like that
00:22:13 --> 00:22:13 and go
00:22:13 --> 00:22:16 not the way to
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 treat the building
00:22:17 --> 00:22:19 but
00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 that's because
00:22:21 --> 00:22:21 of the ways
00:22:21 --> 00:22:22 that they've been
00:22:22 --> 00:22:23 taught in the past
00:22:23 --> 00:22:23 and we'll talk
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 more about that
00:22:24 --> 00:22:24 in a minute
00:22:24 --> 00:22:27 so some of
00:22:27 --> 00:22:28 these older
00:22:28 --> 00:22:28 ladies
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 rather than
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 grizzle
00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 I'll tell you
00:22:32 --> 00:22:32 something
00:22:32 --> 00:22:33 our older people
00:22:33 --> 00:22:34 sometimes say
00:22:34 --> 00:22:34 what are the
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 young people
00:22:35 --> 00:22:35 doing
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 we'd like to
00:22:36 --> 00:22:36 see more of
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37 them we'd like
00:22:37 --> 00:22:37 to know what
00:22:37 --> 00:22:38 they're doing
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 so they are
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 interested but I
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 think they almost
00:22:41 --> 00:22:42 expect you to
00:22:42 --> 00:22:42 come to them
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43 which might not
00:22:43 --> 00:22:44 be the right way
00:22:44 --> 00:22:44 to do it
00:22:44 --> 00:22:48 and I say
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 things to them
00:22:49 --> 00:22:49 I think this
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 church is very
00:22:50 --> 00:22:50 much like my
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 last church
00:22:51 --> 00:22:53 that the young
00:22:53 --> 00:22:54 people are
00:22:54 --> 00:22:54 heavily involved
00:22:54 --> 00:22:55 in ministry
00:22:55 --> 00:22:56 it's a great
00:22:56 --> 00:22:56 thing
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 so the young
00:22:58 --> 00:22:58 people are
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 leading the
00:23:00 --> 00:23:01 kids church
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 ministry and
00:23:02 --> 00:23:02 they're leading
00:23:02 --> 00:23:03 the youth
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 ministry and
00:23:04 --> 00:23:04 they're leading
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 D teams and
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 they're actually
00:23:06 --> 00:23:06 quite heavily
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 involved in the
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 sort of commitments
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 that they make
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 here and the
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 older people look
00:23:11 --> 00:23:11 at me sometimes
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 and go oh I
00:23:13 --> 00:23:13 didn't realise
00:23:13 --> 00:23:14 that I forgot
00:23:14 --> 00:23:16 that and same
00:23:16 --> 00:23:16 back where we
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 came from and
00:23:17 --> 00:23:18 after a while
00:23:18 --> 00:23:18 one of the
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 groups of women
00:23:19 --> 00:23:19 got themselves
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 together and
00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 decided well we
00:23:22 --> 00:23:22 want to encourage
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 our young leaders
00:23:23 --> 00:23:26 so they decided
00:23:26 --> 00:23:26 they put on a
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 celebration dinner
00:23:27 --> 00:23:28 for them they
00:23:28 --> 00:23:28 put on a dinner
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 where they
00:23:29 --> 00:23:29 spoiled them and
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 they invited all
00:23:30 --> 00:23:30 the youth leaders
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 along gave them
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 a great meal just
00:23:32 --> 00:23:33 to show appreciation
00:23:33 --> 00:23:35 to them for the
00:23:35 --> 00:23:36 ministry which they
00:23:36 --> 00:23:36 were doing
00:23:36 --> 00:23:37 wonderful thing
00:23:37 --> 00:23:39 I saw those
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 ladies go and
00:23:40 --> 00:23:41 later one of the
00:23:41 --> 00:23:42 ladies in that group
00:23:42 --> 00:23:42 became very
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 dissatisfied that
00:23:43 --> 00:23:45 they really
00:23:45 --> 00:23:45 didn't do a lot
00:23:45 --> 00:23:46 for other people
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47 and so they
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 made a pact
00:23:48 --> 00:23:49 amongst themselves
00:23:49 --> 00:23:49 and these older
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 ladies all got
00:23:50 --> 00:23:52 together and one
00:23:52 --> 00:23:52 at a time they
00:23:52 --> 00:23:53 worked around some
00:23:53 --> 00:23:54 of the groups at
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 church and they
00:23:55 --> 00:23:56 invited them out
00:23:56 --> 00:23:58 to the same sort
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 of thing they put
00:23:59 --> 00:23:59 on a dinner for
00:23:59 --> 00:24:00 them they'd have
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 them along to
00:24:01 --> 00:24:01 encourage them in
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 Christ and guess
00:24:02 --> 00:24:02 what happened when
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 they did that
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 there were all
00:24:05 --> 00:24:06 sorts of other
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 fingers and webs
00:24:07 --> 00:24:07 that got established
00:24:07 --> 00:24:09 in relationship and
00:24:09 --> 00:24:10 far more appreciation
00:24:10 --> 00:24:10 that was happening
00:24:10 --> 00:24:11 for one another and
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 what was going on
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 and who people
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 were and it
00:24:14 --> 00:24:16 was just great
00:24:16 --> 00:24:20 so hospitality
00:24:20 --> 00:24:22 a great means of
00:24:22 --> 00:24:23 generously spurring
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 one another on in
00:24:24 --> 00:24:25 love and good deeds
00:24:25 --> 00:24:28 I'll tell you another
00:24:28 --> 00:24:29 story and I'm looking
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 here tonight I don't
00:24:30 --> 00:24:31 think Anne Newman
00:24:31 --> 00:24:32 would mind me
00:24:32 --> 00:24:32 singling her out
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 yes she did she
00:24:33 --> 00:24:34 winced
00:24:34 --> 00:24:37 but Anne is one of
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 a number who are in
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 this church family
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 because of the way
00:24:40 --> 00:24:40 that they were
00:24:40 --> 00:24:41 cared for in
00:24:41 --> 00:24:42 Christ when they
00:24:42 --> 00:24:43 went through a
00:24:43 --> 00:24:44 very difficult time
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 in life and they're
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 amongst us now
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 they've grown in
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 Christ but they've
00:24:49 --> 00:24:50 been loved in
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 Christ and there's a
00:24:51 --> 00:24:52 track record of 20
00:24:52 --> 00:24:54 or 30 years which
00:24:54 --> 00:24:54 goes on in some of
00:24:54 --> 00:24:55 those relationships
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 so for all of us
00:24:56 --> 00:24:58 some of the
00:24:58 --> 00:25:00 relationships we have
00:25:00 --> 00:25:01 now tonight amongst
00:25:01 --> 00:25:03 us as friends here
00:25:03 --> 00:25:05 I would hope and
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07 pray have an enduring
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 quality to them which
00:25:08 --> 00:25:10 will be seen over a
00:25:10 --> 00:25:11 very long period of
00:25:11 --> 00:25:14 time I'm going to
00:25:14 --> 00:25:15 say this I said it to
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 the morning people but
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 I'm going to say it to
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18 you because I think it
00:25:18 --> 00:25:20 bears here as well but
00:25:20 --> 00:25:22 I've only been here 18
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 months and I've seen the
00:25:23 --> 00:25:25 downside as well I
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27 have seen some people
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 leave church because
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30 they haven't been
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32 included they've never
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 been asked into
00:25:33 --> 00:25:34 somebody's home or
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 into their group of
00:25:35 --> 00:25:37 friends they'll come to
00:25:37 --> 00:25:38 church and really
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39 stand alone nobody
00:25:39 --> 00:25:40 talks to them I
00:25:40 --> 00:25:40 watched a couple this
00:25:40 --> 00:25:41 morning who've been
00:25:41 --> 00:25:42 here for quite a while
00:25:42 --> 00:25:44 more than 12 months and
00:25:44 --> 00:25:45 out there on the deck
00:25:45 --> 00:25:46 they were alone for a
00:25:46 --> 00:25:47 long time before anybody
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 spoke to them
00:25:48 --> 00:25:54 other people leave
00:25:54 --> 00:25:55 because they don't like
00:25:55 --> 00:25:57 the way we work so
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 they don't like the way
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 we run a service so
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00 they don't like having
00:26:00 --> 00:26:01 to speak to other
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 people about their
00:26:02 --> 00:26:03 faith there's some old
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 people who hate talking
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 to people about faith
00:26:05 --> 00:26:09 and so we we do
00:26:09 --> 00:26:10 things I think you do
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 it at Sunday night
00:26:11 --> 00:26:11 church I've seen you
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 Sam will throw out a
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 question from the front
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 and what he'll say he'll
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 send you to go and
00:26:15 --> 00:26:17 interact over it and
00:26:17 --> 00:26:19 part of that is is
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 actually training you
00:26:20 --> 00:26:23 training us to be able
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 to talk to one another
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 about things of faith and
00:26:26 --> 00:26:26 to feel comfortable
00:26:26 --> 00:26:28 talking about things that
00:26:28 --> 00:26:28 are perhaps more
00:26:28 --> 00:26:30 substantial than how's
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 the weather do I like
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 the colour of church
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 or stuff that we we
00:26:34 --> 00:26:35 don't really draw that
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 close to one another
00:26:36 --> 00:26:39 I love speaking to our
00:26:39 --> 00:26:40 Chinese friends because
00:26:40 --> 00:26:41 some of them are very
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43 quick to say I'm not a
00:26:43 --> 00:26:45 Christian but guess what
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 they're happy to talk
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 about it
00:26:47 --> 00:26:51 we've been promoting
00:26:51 --> 00:26:52 life journals at church
00:26:52 --> 00:26:54 Sam hold it up it's got
00:26:54 --> 00:26:55 it there with him it's
00:26:55 --> 00:26:58 fantastic and I think I
00:26:58 --> 00:26:58 want to say to you that
00:26:58 --> 00:27:00 these are not just about
00:27:00 --> 00:27:01 you and your walk with
00:27:01 --> 00:27:02 the Lord which it is
00:27:02 --> 00:27:06 they are about us as a
00:27:06 --> 00:27:07 body growing in our
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 relationship with Christ
00:27:08 --> 00:27:11 you will have much more
00:27:11 --> 00:27:13 that you can share if you
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 give time and effort to
00:27:14 --> 00:27:16 reading God's word and
00:27:16 --> 00:27:19 relating to him you will
00:27:19 --> 00:27:21 grow in godly wisdom you
00:27:21 --> 00:27:22 will grow in a true
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 understanding of his word
00:27:23 --> 00:27:25 as the Holy Spirit teaches
00:27:25 --> 00:27:28 and changes you I think a
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29 lot of my ministry comes
00:27:29 --> 00:27:31 from my walk with Christ
00:27:31 --> 00:27:33 I began the service of
00:27:33 --> 00:27:35 this morning at 830 by
00:27:35 --> 00:27:38 talking about what Christ
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 had said to me in my
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 quiet time this morning as
00:27:40 --> 00:27:44 he read his word it's
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46 fresh for me it's real
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 it's alive it's not just
00:27:47 --> 00:27:49 something that I learned
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 somewhere in the past to
00:27:50 --> 00:27:54 keep talking about and so
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 I want to say to you that
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 if you are not reading your
00:27:56 --> 00:27:59 Bible you won't have
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 anything fresh to share
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 from your current walk
00:28:01 --> 00:28:03 with Christ and if you're
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 not praying how can you
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 look your brother or
00:28:05 --> 00:28:07 sister in the eye and say
00:28:07 --> 00:28:10 I'm praying for you now
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 people often ask me to pray
00:28:11 --> 00:28:13 for them and if you ask me
00:28:13 --> 00:28:16 I am most likely to say can
00:28:16 --> 00:28:20 I pray for you right now and
00:28:20 --> 00:28:21 one of the reasons I want to
00:28:21 --> 00:28:22 do that is because I don't
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 want to be the hypocrite who
00:28:23 --> 00:28:25 says yes I'll do it and
00:28:25 --> 00:28:27 then walk away and forget
00:28:27 --> 00:28:30 great way for us to
00:28:30 --> 00:28:31 interact with one another
00:28:31 --> 00:28:35 so there's five let us's and
00:28:35 --> 00:28:39 they boil down to two let us
00:28:39 --> 00:28:42 cling to Christ and let us
00:28:42 --> 00:28:46 cling to one another that is
00:28:46 --> 00:28:50 the whole of church life I
00:28:50 --> 00:28:51 want to say something from
00:28:51 --> 00:28:53 verse 26 before I begin to
00:28:53 --> 00:28:54 wrap up and that and it
00:28:54 --> 00:28:57 says this and this leads
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 into the rest of the
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 passage even though I won't
00:28:59 --> 00:29:02 go there but he says if we
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04 deliberately keep on sinning
00:29:04 --> 00:29:06 after we have received the
00:29:06 --> 00:29:08 knowledge of the truth no
00:29:08 --> 00:29:13 sacrifice for sin is left and
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 it's a bit of a clangor
00:29:14 --> 00:29:16 because it comes after all
00:29:16 --> 00:29:17 this good stuff and it seems
00:29:17 --> 00:29:21 to come from left field and I
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 think if any of us are
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 sitting here tonight with a
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 tender conscience which is a
00:29:24 --> 00:29:27 great thing to have you may
00:29:27 --> 00:29:29 feel unsettled because we are
00:29:29 --> 00:29:31 very aware of sin in our life
00:29:31 --> 00:29:34 and at first reading this sort
00:29:34 --> 00:29:35 of verse seems to undermine our
00:29:35 --> 00:29:39 assurance and creates a lack of
00:29:39 --> 00:29:43 confidence in Christ and you
00:29:43 --> 00:29:45 ask yourself but how do you
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 treat this verse when I've
00:29:46 --> 00:29:49 already spent considerable time in
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 this message urging you to draw
00:29:50 --> 00:29:53 near to God sin and all the
00:29:53 --> 00:29:54 passage is saying come near to
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 God and this is saying oh
00:29:55 --> 00:29:57 there's no sacrifice left for
00:29:57 --> 00:29:59 sin if we deliberately keep on
00:29:59 --> 00:30:00 sinning but when I sin I do
00:30:00 --> 00:30:02 deliberately sin how do I
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 reconcile these sorts of
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04 things and I think the answer is
00:30:04 --> 00:30:08 in the context he's writing to
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 Jewish believers who've come to
00:30:09 --> 00:30:11 believe in Christ at great
00:30:11 --> 00:30:14 personal cost he's urging them to
00:30:14 --> 00:30:17 persevere they've already hung in
00:30:17 --> 00:30:19 there through humiliation and
00:30:19 --> 00:30:21 ridicule they have put up with
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 gross injustices like the
00:30:22 --> 00:30:24 confiscation of their property
00:30:24 --> 00:30:28 but in the pressure it seems that
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29 some aren't getting together
00:30:29 --> 00:30:31 anymore I used to go to church
00:30:31 --> 00:30:34 oh yeah that was good a while back
00:30:34 --> 00:30:38 and it might be that they're even
00:30:38 --> 00:30:40 shrinking back and going back to
00:30:40 --> 00:30:42 some of the Old Testament ways of
00:30:42 --> 00:30:49 worship and they may well say I love
00:30:49 --> 00:30:54 God but this Jesus stuff is just a
00:30:54 --> 00:31:00 bit too hard and the writer is
00:31:00 --> 00:31:05 saying there is no other way there
00:31:05 --> 00:31:08 is no sacrifice for sin except
00:31:08 --> 00:31:11 Christ and if you walk away from
00:31:11 --> 00:31:13 Christ there is no other way to
00:31:13 --> 00:31:16 heaven you can't go back to
00:31:16 --> 00:31:18 worshiping a Jew as a Jew like you
00:31:18 --> 00:31:21 were before or any other way and
00:31:21 --> 00:31:24 find your way into God's heaven and
00:31:24 --> 00:31:26 that is why he urges them to cling to
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 Christ and to cling to one another
00:31:27 --> 00:31:32 I began this message speaking about
00:31:32 --> 00:31:36 virtual reality and reality some of
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 you spend too much of your lives
00:31:37 --> 00:31:39 living in virtual reality what's
00:31:39 --> 00:31:40 that computer games and iPods and
00:31:40 --> 00:31:42 iPads I love them but we can be
00:31:42 --> 00:31:43 there for too long
00:31:43 --> 00:31:48 have a think about this building we
00:31:48 --> 00:31:51 meet in a building which we call
00:31:51 --> 00:31:56 church very unfortunate name
00:31:56 --> 00:32:00 some of our older members were taught
00:32:00 --> 00:32:03 from children so by ministers like me
00:32:03 --> 00:32:06 they were taught as children that this
00:32:06 --> 00:32:11 is the Lord's house so it somehow or
00:32:11 --> 00:32:14 rather becomes a special building
00:32:14 --> 00:32:21 it's got a little bit of a mix of
00:32:21 --> 00:32:22 temple thinking in there you know the
00:32:22 --> 00:32:25 place where God dwells and yet David I
00:32:25 --> 00:32:29 think said the Lord does not dwell in
00:32:29 --> 00:32:32 buildings made by man so we know good
00:32:32 --> 00:32:36 Bible teaching some of you think it's a
00:32:36 --> 00:32:39 great old church for your wedding and
00:32:39 --> 00:32:41 maybe you want it looking like this so
00:32:41 --> 00:32:43 that you got a nice long old walk down
00:32:43 --> 00:32:47 we could turn it sideways what would
00:32:47 --> 00:32:48 do with that what happened the aisle
00:32:48 --> 00:32:51 I guess you'd have to do a right angle
00:32:51 --> 00:32:52 turn as you came down wouldn't you
00:32:52 --> 00:32:59 but the building is fake as far as the
00:32:59 --> 00:33:01 things of God are concerned this is 60
00:33:01 --> 00:33:03 years old I thought it was a much older
00:33:03 --> 00:33:06 church when I came here it's sandstone
00:33:06 --> 00:33:09 exterior gives the appearance of being a
00:33:09 --> 00:33:12 very old building and do you know it's a
00:33:12 --> 00:33:14 it's a sandstone building you get below
00:33:14 --> 00:33:18 that mortar and it's double brick walls so
00:33:18 --> 00:33:20 if we get a Christchurch type earthquake
00:33:20 --> 00:33:22 we'll all be buried here
00:33:22 --> 00:33:30 the organ pipes
00:33:30 --> 00:33:34 they're fake
00:33:34 --> 00:33:38 they're cardboard tubes
00:33:38 --> 00:33:40 can you believe it?
00:33:41 --> 00:33:43 they're cardboard tubes
00:33:43 --> 00:33:46 you could set the bottom of one of them on
00:33:46 --> 00:33:48 fire and it'd blow like a chimney all the
00:33:48 --> 00:33:49 way to the top
00:33:49 --> 00:34:03 if you go across the road and you know
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 the elevator up the side of the
00:34:04 --> 00:34:05 building I've been up there it's a
00:34:05 --> 00:34:07 great ride you ought to take it it's
00:34:07 --> 00:34:10 free you go up the top great view of
00:34:10 --> 00:34:11 the mountains but you look down on
00:34:11 --> 00:34:12 church you know what you see it's built
00:34:12 --> 00:34:13 like a cross
00:34:13 --> 00:34:16 so it's built to a particular way of
00:34:16 --> 00:34:19 thinking and it's model something
00:34:19 --> 00:34:25 we call the table up the front's cool
00:34:25 --> 00:34:26 what is it?
00:34:30 --> 00:34:33 no we call it a table and it is a table
00:34:33 --> 00:34:36 it's flat surface that you put things on
00:34:36 --> 00:34:38 but in most Anglican churches the majority
00:34:38 --> 00:34:41 of Anglican churches around the world do
00:34:41 --> 00:34:42 call it an altar
00:34:42 --> 00:34:48 and the rail around it that marks off that
00:34:48 --> 00:34:51 area behind the rail is it's called the
00:34:51 --> 00:34:52 sanctuary
00:34:52 --> 00:34:54 the holy place
00:34:54 --> 00:35:01 someone somewhere in our history and I
00:35:01 --> 00:35:04 think maybe particularly in the 1800s
00:35:04 --> 00:35:06 thought that we were in the business of
00:35:06 --> 00:35:07 doing sacrifices
00:35:07 --> 00:35:11 so we've got our architecture
00:35:11 --> 00:35:13 confused with our theology
00:35:13 --> 00:35:18 and we have to let the Bible rule over
00:35:18 --> 00:35:20 our architecture
00:35:20 --> 00:35:26 Hebrews says incredibly clearly
00:35:26 --> 00:35:29 that there is only one sacrifice that
00:35:29 --> 00:35:30 matters
00:35:30 --> 00:35:33 the death of Christ has put an end to
00:35:33 --> 00:35:33 all the rest
00:35:33 --> 00:35:37 he has done everything necessary to
00:35:37 --> 00:35:38 take us into the presence of God he
00:35:38 --> 00:35:39 takes us into heaven
00:35:39 --> 00:35:44 and so it's easy for us at this service
00:35:44 --> 00:35:46 especially to mock the old stuff
00:35:46 --> 00:35:50 because that's maybe not where we've
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 come from with those modes of thinking
00:35:51 --> 00:35:55 but if you've been sitting in church 60
00:35:55 --> 00:35:56 years ago some of that stuff's what you
00:35:56 --> 00:35:58 would have been told and some of that
00:35:58 --> 00:36:00 stuff's the baggage that you would be
00:36:00 --> 00:36:02 carrying now and wrestling with
00:36:02 --> 00:36:07 but we have just read a passage
00:36:07 --> 00:36:12 which absolutely emphasises that it
00:36:12 --> 00:36:15 emphasises that it is what happens in
00:36:15 --> 00:36:18 this auditorium that matters
00:36:18 --> 00:36:22 and what happens outside this auditorium
00:36:22 --> 00:36:26 that matters in our lives and the lives
00:36:26 --> 00:36:27 of believers
00:36:27 --> 00:36:32 when the Jews stopped listening to Paul at the
00:36:32 --> 00:36:34 synagogue in Corinth he moved next door to the
00:36:34 --> 00:36:37 hall of Tyrannus and kept teaching what he was
00:36:37 --> 00:36:38 teaching in church
00:36:38 --> 00:36:40 just changed buildings
00:36:40 --> 00:36:42 didn't change what he was doing
00:36:42 --> 00:36:45 just rented a hall and kept going for it
00:36:46 --> 00:36:48 got the believers together
00:36:48 --> 00:36:53 they encouraged one another in love and good deeds
00:36:53 --> 00:36:56 they kept clinging to Christ
00:36:56 --> 00:36:58 even as they clung to one another
00:36:58 --> 00:37:02 and so I think it is absurd
00:37:02 --> 00:37:05 that we would ever hang on to virtual reality
00:37:05 --> 00:37:08 and miss out on the real thing
00:37:08 --> 00:37:12 Amen
00:37:12 --> 00:37:16 Sam can tell me what to do
00:37:16 --> 00:37:17 he can tell me to go
00:37:17 --> 00:37:18 or stay
00:37:18 --> 00:37:21 but we talked about this after the service this morning
00:37:21 --> 00:37:23 and you felt like there were some implications
00:37:23 --> 00:37:24 that might flow through
00:37:24 --> 00:37:26 from some of this thinking even to 5.30
00:37:26 --> 00:37:28 in a way that it doesn't for the older ones
00:37:28 --> 00:37:29 you want to take us there
00:37:29 --> 00:37:34 and at the same time
00:37:34 --> 00:37:35 if we've got a minute
00:37:35 --> 00:37:37 I'll just throw it open to questions
00:37:37 --> 00:37:39 that might flow from what we've been talking about
00:37:39 --> 00:37:40 Do you want to do that first?
00:37:41 --> 00:37:42 Yep, anybody getting questions?
00:37:43 --> 00:37:44 I haven't got my Bible in my hand
00:37:44 --> 00:37:45 I might need it in my hand
00:37:45 --> 00:37:46 if you ask a hard one
00:37:56 --> 00:37:57 Sorry, question was
00:37:57 --> 00:37:59 how come we don't make the sign of the cross?
00:37:59 --> 00:38:01 which is a particularly Catholic tradition I think
00:38:01 --> 00:38:02 Yeah, there are some churches
00:38:02 --> 00:38:04 where it's a very normal tradition
00:38:04 --> 00:38:05 so Catholic, Orthodox
00:38:05 --> 00:38:06 some of the people do it
00:38:06 --> 00:38:08 it will come down to what they've been taught
00:38:08 --> 00:38:10 it's not something we have taught
00:38:10 --> 00:38:12 because you don't see it as something
00:38:12 --> 00:38:14 which is prescribed in the scriptures
00:38:14 --> 00:38:16 so I won't say it's a bad thing to do
00:38:16 --> 00:38:17 but for me straight away
00:38:17 --> 00:38:19 I don't see a reason to teach you to do it
00:38:19 --> 00:38:27 and I think it's probably wiser
00:38:27 --> 00:38:28 for us not to mock those who do
00:38:28 --> 00:38:38 That got off lightly, didn't it?
00:38:38 --> 00:38:39 Yeah, it did
00:38:39 --> 00:38:40 Luckily for you
00:38:40 --> 00:38:42 there's a chance to continue
00:38:42 --> 00:38:43 churching together in this building
00:38:43 --> 00:38:45 after we've finished the formal part
00:38:45 --> 00:38:46 so maybe you've got questions
00:38:46 --> 00:38:47 that might come up afterwards
00:38:47 --> 00:38:48 that you might want to ask Chris
00:38:48 --> 00:38:50 or even chat about with one another
00:38:50 --> 00:38:52 Me and Chris were talking a little bit
00:38:52 --> 00:38:53 about this this morning
00:38:53 --> 00:38:53 in terms of
00:38:53 --> 00:38:55 we hear this sort of message
00:38:55 --> 00:38:57 and it's really easy for us to think
00:38:57 --> 00:38:58 those silly old people
00:38:58 --> 00:38:59 that think that's an altar
00:38:59 --> 00:39:00 or those silly old people
00:39:00 --> 00:39:02 who are really excited about cardboard tubes
00:39:02 --> 00:39:06 or whatever it is that they had
00:39:06 --> 00:39:09 but I just wanted to leave you guys
00:39:09 --> 00:39:10 a bit of time right now
00:39:10 --> 00:39:11 to maybe reflect that
00:39:11 --> 00:39:14 we have lots of things of our own
00:39:14 --> 00:39:15 that have become part of
00:39:15 --> 00:39:17 what church must be
00:39:17 --> 00:39:19 I think for me
00:39:19 --> 00:39:20 reflecting personally
00:39:20 --> 00:39:23 and in conversations with people
00:39:23 --> 00:39:24 it might sound silly
00:39:24 --> 00:39:26 but what time we do church
00:39:26 --> 00:39:28 is very precious for some of us
00:39:28 --> 00:39:30 Church shifts by half an hour
00:39:30 --> 00:39:31 and all of a sudden
00:39:31 --> 00:39:32 it's not the same church
00:39:32 --> 00:39:33 I used to be a part of
00:39:33 --> 00:39:35 it might be the fact
00:39:35 --> 00:39:36 that we had the offertory
00:39:36 --> 00:39:37 in song 3
00:39:37 --> 00:39:38 instead of the last song
00:39:38 --> 00:39:40 which we don't have another song
00:39:40 --> 00:39:41 so it was the last song
00:39:41 --> 00:39:43 but things like that
00:39:43 --> 00:39:44 that we just grab hold of
00:39:44 --> 00:39:46 because that's what we've been doing
00:39:46 --> 00:39:46 our whole life
00:39:46 --> 00:39:47 we've been in church
00:39:47 --> 00:39:49 and what this passage
00:39:49 --> 00:39:50 has challenged us to reflect on
00:39:50 --> 00:39:51 is that there's
00:39:51 --> 00:39:53 there's two commands in there
00:39:53 --> 00:39:55 two let us commands
00:39:55 --> 00:39:56 that really matter
00:39:56 --> 00:39:58 and maybe we need to reflect
00:39:58 --> 00:39:59 on what other things
00:39:59 --> 00:40:00 we're clinging onto
00:40:00 --> 00:40:02 on top of Christ
00:40:02 --> 00:40:03 and one another
00:40:03 --> 00:40:04 so I want to give you
00:40:04 --> 00:40:06 some time right now
00:40:06 --> 00:40:08 to ignore that
00:40:08 --> 00:40:10 and just reflect for yourself
00:40:10 --> 00:40:13 what might those things be
00:40:13 --> 00:40:15 that you've kind of elevated
00:40:15 --> 00:40:16 onto that level
00:40:16 --> 00:40:17 alongside Christ
00:40:17 --> 00:40:17 and one another
00:40:17 --> 00:40:18 when it comes to
00:40:18 --> 00:40:20 what church is
00:40:20 --> 00:40:22 you've done
00:40:22 --> 00:40:22 ready to click on miss
00:40:22 --> 00:40:23 of each other
00:40:23 --> 00:40:24 from near to the
00:40:24 --> 00:40:25 Like this
00:40:25 --> 00:40:26 it can be
00:40:26 --> 00:40:27 through and once
00:40:27 --> 00:40:28 I can biri