Sermons & Adult Classes

Amen. Our God is awesome. I got an extra dose of that this morning on the way here. Something had never happened to me before. I think God really wanted to encourage me. I was driving down Curry Ford at a good Christian speed in my Toyota Corolla and all of a sudden I’m just going along and there’s this man on the sidewalk and he starts cheering me on. He’s like, yeah. Go, go, go!

I’ve had that happen cycling before and jogging before, never before in my car. So I was like, yeah, my car is pretty cool, huh? It’s not even a convertible. Man, this is hard work right here. Thank you. Thank you for the encouragement. He gave me what I needed. I was like, God is awesome here. That was a great way to start the day. I do want to thank for everyone that was here in the last service that are still laughing at the same jokes, I appreciate you as well. I don’t have new material. I will say one week from today, just 15 miles from here, the World Discipleship Summit will begin. Yes. In Old Testament times, all of God’s people, they would save up. They would put their lives on hold for weeks. They would travel hundreds of miles by land and sea for their own conferences. These were international religious festivals such as Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles and Pentecost, just to name a few. These were not just two hour Sunday services. These were week long gatherings, not including the travel. A feast of fellowship to celebrate together and most of all, to remember together their extraordinary identity as God’s treasured possession.

In the same way, 15,000 disciples from around the world will travel to Orlando for one week. Your brothers and sisters in Christ will flood our city from far away places such as South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Australia, Europe and Asia. Disciples will find a way to get here from war torn countries in the Middle East and the Ukraine. They will step off the plane at the Orlando International Airport full of joy, with a huge smile on their faces because they’re excited to see you. For one special moment in time we are Jerusalem. We’re the host city. We’re the host church for thousands of God’s people. And it’s not an exaggeration to say you and I are in the middle of a historic moment. Don’t get distracted. Don’t blink. You could miss it. One week from tonight, it officially begins. I think this begs the question of all of us, what’s the best way to prepare now for the World Discipleship Summit? Let’s search for answers together in Romans chapter twelve. What’s the best way to prepare? It’s almost here. Romans chapter twelve. And I know many of you have prepared for this for years. You’ve saved your money.

You’ve asked for time off. Many of you have downloaded the app already and you started picking your classes. You can’t wait. You know when early check in is at the hotel. You’re ready to go. Your heart is there. Your heart is ready. Some of you started serving the WDS long ago. You’ve been praying for this event since long before we even knew that covid 19 was a thing before it even existed. You signed up to volunteer for hours at the conference. So many were here yesterday for the workshop that we had in the morning. Some of you, I know, have even secretly donated hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars so that people you don’t even know can experience this conference. Your heart is ready. I know some of you are new to the church or you’ve recently joined the church. This is new for you. But I commend you. I’ve seen so many of you just hey, what is this? Okay, how do I get on board? And you’ve been able to get on board and make every effort to participate in the summit. And I thank you for that. Then I’m sure there’s a handful of us, you’ve heard the announcements the last seven years, but for whatever reason, you’re not prepared. You mean single tickets cost money? The expectation to serve, to give, or even to pay for anything, including parking, comes as a complete surprise. And I get it. I’m the same way. When I’m distracted and the worries of life and other things come right in front of me, my heart can drift to a funky place too. But no matter where you’re at this morning, today is a new day. From this moment forward, what’s the best way to prepare your heart for the WDS? Let’s read. Romans, chapter twelve, verse one. This will help us with the conference and really so much more. Romans twelve, verse one. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual or rational act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will. So, chapter twelve starts verse one with therefore.

So what’s it there for? Well, in the first eleven chapters, paul writes this masterpiece on God’s mercy given to broken sinners just like us. The death of Jesus on the cross. This proves that God is a mercy millionaire and that’s the motivation for the Christian life. That’s why we’re here today. God’s mercy in Jesus, that’s the engine of gratitude that propels us to do what we do. In view of God’s mercy, God’s word then commands us to do two things here. Number one, offer your body as a living sacrifice. On the heels of our Hebrew study, you’ll notice this is temple terminology. Back in the day for public worship at the temple, you would never, ever dare to show up empty handed. You would come with a burnt offering. That was the expectation from God, the best, most expensive animal from your flock. And what this would do, this would demonstrate that all you had, your very best was completely at God’s disposal. Then you fast forward to us as followers of Jesus today. Our bodies have now become the new sacrifice. Instead of an animal, we now bring to God the very best of ourselves.

And to be a sacrifice means, like the animal, we’re now fully at God’s disposal, and we would not show up to anything empty handed. In view of God’s mercy, we now offer our bodies to God and everything that we do. Not only that, we’re a living sacrifice, a living killing, if you will, a paradox. This means our sacrifice is an ongoing thing. This is what is holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. The literal translation here is logical. This is only logical. This is the only logical way to worship, the only reasonable way to worship in view of God’s mercy. It means you’re thinking clearly, not just emotionally. In other words, once you grasp God’s mercy in your life, anything less than a total sacrifice of yourself to God is completely irrational. Would the people that know you best, describe your life as a living sacrifice. And sometimes we can ask such and such, is this person still a Christian? Are they a Christian? I think they’ve been baptized. Okay, that’s a great start. But here’s how you truly know. Is this person a living sacrifice? That’s it. Number two, in view of God’s mercy, god’s word also commands us, do not conform, but instead be transformed.

So when it comes to being a living sacrifice, this is where the rubber meets the road. And we’re given two patterns here: the way our culture thinks and the way God thinks. And transform here in the Greek, is the same word we use in science for metamorphosis, right? You may remember that back in the day, okay, it’s the caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. That’s metamorphosis. That’s the word here. That’s the miracle that’s happening. So in view of God’s mercy, the way we think must undergo a metamorphosis, a metamorphosis of how we respond to our circumstances and our suffering. It’s a metamorphosis in how we navigate our relationships in this world. It’s how we respond to what triggers us in our culture, on social media and in the news. Your body belongs to you. No one can tell you what to do with your body. And that’s absolutely true if you conform to the pattern of this world. But the transformed mind says this as for me and my body, it belongs to God as a living sacrifice. So, in the context of our sexual desires, do you not know that your body is now a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God?

You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. That’s one, corinthians 6:19 and 20. Guard your itching years. Do not conform to the pattern of our culture, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So what does this all have to do with the summit? I don’t really know. Okay, we’ll get there. We’ll get there. We’ll get there. We’re going somewhere, but let’s keep reading. Here, in verse three here, we find practical instructions on how to be a living sacrifice. Romans twelve, verse three. For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not have all the same function, so in Christ we who are many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If a person’s gift is prophesying, let him or her use it in proportion to their faith.

If it is serving, let him or her serve. If it’s teaching, let that person teach. If it’s encouraging, let him or her encourage. If it’s contributing to the needs of others, let them give generously. If it’s leadership, let that person govern diligently. If it’s showing mercy, let him or her do it cheerfully. Verse three. It tells us to be a living sacrifice. We must have a sober judgment of ourselves. Let’s face it, you and I are not naturally self aware. If that’s news to you, I just prove the point. It’s much easier for me to judge someone else and get it right 95% of the time than to correctly judge myself. So in context here in this scripture, to be sober about yourself, it means you’re not too high on all the different skills that you bring to the table. But it also means that you’re not too low on your skill set either, right? It’s a balance. It’s sobriety. Right? So you’re in touch with reality about your talents, not to serve yourself, but to serve others and to build the church. So if you ever played this game, would you rather? Who’s played this game before?

All right. Shame on you. It’s terrible. It’s a fun game. It’s a good game. Let’s play now for just a moment. Would you rather Gil Hidalgo take pictures at your wedding or me? I’ve got a great or Gabriel. I could ask Gabriel as well. Would you rather have Gabriel or Gil take pictures at your wedding, or would you rather have me take pictures at your wedding? I have a newer iPhone. It will do the job. Yeah. I still say things like, I got to get my pictures developed. Where’s Eckers. On Sundays, and be careful how you answer this. I am very sensitive. On Sundays, would you rather have me preach, or would you rather me be in charge of the baby’s class? Or have me in charge of security? I’ve been working out. I’m huge.

All right? Would you rather right. Here we go. All right. And the next one, I’ll do it again. Would you rather have Jessica Jolly as one of your lead singers up here on stage or would you rather have me? Why are you so quick to say yes? Give me a chance, man. I’m not very sober right now. I’m saying Jessica or me. Right. As a singer, I felt like in the last service, my audition was not very good. I feel like I need a second chance. A second chance before you just say yes, jessica, give me a shot here.

Thanks, I mean, there’s an open spot with Chandler moving away, so I was going to go for it, right?

All right. So if I’m sober minded, really my ceiling is maybe I could lead a song at a small baptism that’s probably I have been redeemed that’s all I can do but that’s sobriety and not being so sober. But to summarize verses four and five, we’re all in the same standing with the gospel all the same at the foot of the cross. But God has gifted each one of us with distinct personalities, experiences and abilities to serve. Not serve ourselves, but to serve one another. So we see in verses six through eight a sampling of these gifts that God has given to our church. Now, keep in mind as we look through some of these, your role, your mindset is this summit is about to start. I’m just going to highlight a few of these. Verse seven starts with serving. Now, we’re all supposed to serve. Many of these you see on this list, we all can do. But God has gifted us for those reasons I mentioned, personality, experiences, abilities to really be able to serve the church in a great way in these areas. Now, here it starts with serving of verse seven.

In the Greek, this is narrowing it down to practical service. This person is very good at practical tasks. This is what you would call the ultimate team player. They bring that chemistry to the team. And this is the person that actually does not need the spotlight and kind of does better in the background to make things happen. We all need to aspire to that. But that’s really a God given gift as well. In verse eight, it highlights the gifts of encouragement and giving. This Greek word for encouragement literally means to come alongside someone. That’s encouragement. You’re coming alongside someone. And some of you are incredibly gifted in this area. You make other people feel around you that you’re right there with them. And we need people like that. I need people like that. You’re invaluable because you serve the people around you as a supporter, a greeter or welcomer. And then if you have the special talent of giving, of course, again, we’re all supposed to give. But this specialized talent here, it doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to be wealthy. Amen. But rather, you’re wise and you’re considerate in your generosity. You’re anticipating needs several bounces down the road ahead of the rest of us, right?

And I think about last Saturday when we had Don Mcgillips memorial. All the different people that shared who not all of them really knew each other that well. And they were somewhere from different cities. They all were telling stories about how Don had contributed to their needs, specifically and even anticipated needs well in advance. And he took care of people with food, with money, with encouragement, with time. That was Don, right? So that’s a special talent of giving. And all these build up the church. We all need this. So this takes me back to the original question. What’s the best way to prepare myself for the WDS? Here’s the mindset. This is it, right here. Here’s how we prepare our hearts. The World Discipleship Summit is worship. All of it. Not just the singing. All of it. And it’s already started. The worship has already begun. It’s been going on for years. All of it is worship. The preparation you saving your pennies to go, giving your time, your resources, that’s worship. That’s what the Bible defines as worship. We just read it. The keynotes, the classes, the music, the singing, all of it. All of it is worship.

A life giving conversation over lunch, hugging someone that you just met in the elevator, that’s worship. It’s giving of yourself. It’s standing on the corner directing traffic, volunteering with kindness and a smile on your face. All of it. That is worship. Meeting needs in the moment, paying the parking fee for the car behind you, slipping a $20 bill in the pocket of a missionary, that’s a living sacrifice. That’s your worship. And at the WDS, we have this unique opportunity to see this on display with 15,000 people and their collective gifts. All of it is worship. The World Discipleship Summit will be worship.

So maybe you’re late to the party with this conference, and I would just appeal to you please don’t be the older brother in the prodigal son story. Please don’t be grumpy now and refuse to come. Join the party. Some way, somehow, get involved, find a way to serve. It’s not too late. Don’t miss your opportunity to worship. In view of God’s mercy, the logical response, the rational response to this conference is this you and I must offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. It’s a golden opportunity for us to love our brothers and sisters from around the world, to show them the love of the Orlando Church of Christ.

Look at verse nine. It tells us about love. It says, Love must be sincere, hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted, be committed, be all in for one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Many other translations say it this way outdo one another and showing them honor. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need and practice hospitality. Bottom line love one another as if you were related by blood, which of course you are in Christ. And Paul challenges us here. Honor one another above yourselves. And that’s my appeal to us. Next week, let’s outdo one another and showing honor to our guests. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Do whatever it takes. That’s a living sacrifice. Sacrifice your time, your resources, your own needs and emotions, all to provide for someone else in need. Do whatever it takes. That’s a living sacrifice. That’s how the Bible defines true worship. I do think you need to start visualizing it. Imagine the victory if we all do this.

Just imagine that. Imagine what it will feel like. 15,000 souls together in one place for one week. One moment in time as a living sacrifice. A few weeks ago, your sister in Christ, Brenda Hale, painted a vivid picture of this scene for us, and I’m going to borrow it today. This comes from a Facebook thread on how to be thrifty at the summit. Very good thread. There is some good stuff on Facebook occasionally. One in 1000, especially if it comes from Brenda. But she painted a vivid picture of the scene and she’s speaking on how to really be able to use your money and your resources wisely at the conference. And Brenda writes: great ideas I read. The conference has been in the plans for over five years, seven, giving us plenty of time to put some money aside. But I also know unexpected things happen along the way that can take a toll on many financially. With all respect to my fellow brothers and sisters, we have spent money on vacations or other things, but in my eyes, this time together will be the greatest vacation of all. It is a treasure, a kingdom banquet on earth, where angels and the spiritual presence of God will be among his children.

I’m not asking us to be unwise, but sacrificial. We should have been preparing for this, like the virgins in Matthew 25 and their oil, and they have plenty of it. Right now, it’s all about our hearts and what we value and what we treasure. Our children will get to experience a piece of heaven on earth. They will get to see God’s work and the unity of believers, which is of great value. God will do amazing things as we come together. He will strengthen us, encourage us, increase our faith, give us dreams and visions, and a greater passion for his mission and the hope we have in Jesus Christ. I and my family look forward to being there with you all. I am thankful for this opportunity the Lord has blessed us with and we will make the best of each day. On another note, we are bringing our own snacks, we are bringing our NutriBullet for smoothies, bringing our own water. And we’ve been saving our money so we can have a meal with other disciples once every day. Be encouraged. You’re going to be filled in ways that words can’t even describe. The Lord smiles from heaven and when he sees his children gather, he smiles on us.

Hasta la vista, baby. My fellow warriors, stay faithful. Brenda Hale. Thank you so much for Brenda. I think she was at our first service. But that really captures the spirit and paints the vivid picture of what we’re talking about. Brothers and sisters, you and I are in the middle of a historic moment. Don’t get distracted by the worries of life. Don’t blink or you could miss it. One week from tonight, the World Discipleship Summit officially begins. In view of God’s mercy, let’s offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. Please now join me in prayer as we remember the sacrifice of Jesus and the mercy of God on each one of our souls. Let’s pray. Father in heaven, words fall short and expressing our gratitude to you. Father, help us to be living sacrifices in view of Your mercy and view of Your plan to give up and watch your son suffer and die for us, that the Creator would die for his creation, that the Judge would take the judgment that should come on us. Thank you God, so much for Your incredible mercy. Thank you so much for Jesus. I pray that you just work on our hearts.

Take us to a new level of gratitude. Help us, God, just to just be those living sacrifices that our body is willing and able to serve you and to serve others and use the gifts you’ve given to us. We do pray for the upcoming weeks that your spirit will move in a powerful way and we can look back on this time and say God was truly with us. Thank you for Jesus. We thank you for the cup that we take now that we remember the blood and what he gave up for us. We take the bread and remember his body as well. Thank you God. We don’t deserve this, but You’ve given it to us. Help us to respond in gratitude and celebration and as living sacrifices. We love you and we pray in Jesus name. Amen.

All right, let’s go ahead and get ready for our lesson this morning. It’s good to see everyone. Happy Father’s Day. I’m very thankful to be a dad today. Grateful I can share these pictures with you. I didn’t even check with my kids. Usually I always check with them before I include them on a slide, but I think I’m going to just take the right of Father’s Day and put these pictures up there. But that’s me and my son Nate. Very thankful for him. Grateful to be his dad. I love him a ton. And of course, these are my girls, my beautiful women, in addition to my wife, of course. But these are my daughters from a recent picture from last week of some time we were able to spend together at the beach. Love, Ella. Love, Charlotte. Such a privilege to be a father and looking back, extremely grateful for my own dad for 28 years before he passed away. And if my mom’s watching this online, I love you, mom. Love you and dad. So thankful that you have been my parents. Feel very blessed and grateful for you. Happy Father’s Day to everyone. I know it elicits different feelings for different people, but it’s just good to be together as the family of God.

Today, we’re going to dive into the word. Ladies and gentlemen. It’s hard to believe, but we’ve reached the final four in Hebrews. What I mean is we’re down to the final four sermons in our series. You know the theme, Jesus is better and the preacher of Hebrews is unknown. He or she definitely an old Testament gunslinger. We see that in every single lesson, every text we look at. The original audience, we have Christians that are drifting away from Jesus, and it’s a very real danger for us today, for us this year, for several reasons. The scattering of the church because of the pandemic, the worries and busyness that can chip away at our faith, and really our culture just constantly telling us that life is better if we live our own truth. And that’s what we face. So with this in mind, today we continue in Hebrews, chapter twelve. Eddie Francis will cover the topic of discipline next week in verses five through 17. We’re going to skip ahead today. By the way, Eddie and Lapadik are in Oviedo today at their Park Service. That’s where they’re at. So we’re missing them, but we’re happy that they’re in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Oviedo.

Eddie will be back next week preaching on verses five through 17 of Hebrews, chapter twelve. But this morning again, we skip down to verse 18, and our sermon title is this: Two Mountains. Let’s look at Hebrews twelve, verse 18. This is the crescendo of the original sermon. Verse 18. For you have not come to what may be touched. A blazing fire, and darkness and gloom, and a tempest, the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. Verse 20. For they could not endure the order that was given. If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear. So again, the writer takes us back to the old days, the old covenant, and these words would have just clicked immediately with the original audience. And I think for us, maybe not so much. What the Hebrew writer has just described was the holiest event in Jewish history. It’s when Moses received the Ten Commandments as they camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. The author sets the scene here at Mount Sinai and it’s terrifying.

This is a picture of what historians believe is modern day Mount Sinai, very imposing mountain. In verses 18 through 21, this is a flashback to the Jews in their first encounter with the Almighty God. And from the beginning of this relationship, God establishes a holy distance between himself and his people for their own safety. Let’s read the backstory of this scary event. Exodus 19:10. The Lord said to Moses, you go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Let them wash their garments. In other words, make sure that people clean and purify themselves for their first meeting with God. Verse eleven. And be ready for the third day. For the third day, the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the site of all the people, and you shall set limits or build this fence for the people all around saying, take care not to go up into the mountain or even touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch that person, but he shall be stoned or shot with an arrow. Whether beast or man, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.

So, soon after these instructions, that third day comes. Moses goes up to Mount Sinai while all the people watch from a safe distance. God then comes down and fire and smoke and lightning, and even then through angels, okay, God meets with Moses and he gives him the Ten Commandments. Is this a casual, fun day in the park for God’s people? Do you envision just God’s people singing Elevation worship and hill song and getting their praise and Sunday worship on here? No, this is frightening, horrifying. And if you disobeyed in the presence of God, you died. That’s it. Let’s read some more. Exodus 20, verse 18. Now, when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off. And get this, they said to Moses, you speak to us, Moses, and we will listen. But please do not let God speak to us lest we die. Moses said to the people, do not fear. Easier said than done, right? Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of God may be before you, that you may not sin.

The people stood far off while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. So this is a scene on Mount Sinai that the writer describes in Hebrews Twelve, verses 18 through 21. He’s telling his audience, he’s telling us today, if you follow Jesus, mount Sinai is not your mountain anymore. Now, let’s be clear. God has not changed. But because of Jesus, your relationship with God has now changed. So if you were able to get the handout here, we’ll take a look at that. And for those watching online, AV crew, if you can go full screen on this one for those watching at home, you see it on the left side of your handout and you see it on the slide. Mount Sinai is an earthly mountain. There’s fire, there’s smoke, there’s darkness, gloom and doom when you encounter God. And when God speaks through the angels, even Moses trembles with fear. And if you touch Mount Sinai, you die. No excuses, no sentimentality. That’s it. You can only approach God’s mountain if you’re completely clean physically. Why? Because God is holy and you’re not. We’re far, far from it. In fact, we’re stained by evil.

So again, this is a vital part of who God is. Notice the present tense I’m using. This is who God is. And this is very cringe for us. I mean, most of the new Christian songs we sing don’t really emphasize God’s fierce holiness. If you were raised in recent American Christianity, which I think most of us were, or the Church of Christ, most of the time we only view God as our friend and as our Father, rather than fearing God as this all consuming fire of holy judgment. Now, of course, God is all three: friend, father, and consuming fire. Check out the picture here. To this day, many Orthodox Jews, they won’t even write out the full name of God. Many won’t even say the name Yahweh out loud. They simply refer to him as the Name. That’s because they were raised with this holy fear of the Almighty God. It’s the song that we sang at the very beginning. Stand in awe with trembling and fear. As a culture, we don’t like this part of God, right? We don’t get it. God’s holiness, God’s wrath. It’s not fun to talk about. Many times we’re unwilling to see Him this way, and you start to think, we put God on the hot seat.

Why is God so intolerant and God seems so judgemental? And why the distance? Why can’t God just get over it and be with me with all my flaws? We think this, we go there, these are good questions. And then we, well, what about God’s love and God’s grace? How do we reconcile these things? God is holy. And the word holy has very negative connotations in English, unfortunately, lost in the translation. Who wants to be known as holy? Look at him, he thinks he’s so holy. I think also we often define holy strictly as the moral behavior of religious people. But you see, with God and biblical holiness, it’s so much more than that. When we say God is holy, some of that, or some of what that means is God is unique. God is one of a kind. God is completely and utterly pure. God is set apart. God is other. God is just different. Holy means he’s the source, he’s the creator. God is the reality of all things. God has no beginning and God has no end. No one created God. Now, if you think about that for more than 30 seconds, mind blown. His power is holy. His power is completely other.

So when you come in contact with God’s holiness, let’s say you read a command in God’s word, you instantly realize how small, weak and broken you are. And it’s terrifying. When you encounter God’s holiness, you have no idea if you’ll even survive. When confronted by God’s holiness in Isaiah six, the prophet said, what? Whoa to me. I am undone. In other words, woe to me, I am so lost. Isaiah thought he was going to die. Over the years, my go to illustration on this is the sun. In our solar system, in a sense, the sun is holy. Here’s what I mean. For us, the sun is the source of all life. Without the sun, we all die. The sun sustains us. We completely depend on it. We take it for granted, right? It’s there. And there’s nothing that compares to the raw power and the energy of the sun. Nothing. And think on this we’re 93 million miles away from the sun. But what happens if you stare at it too long? It will blind you. Again, we take this for granted. It’s 93 million miles away and you can’t even stare at it. That’s the raw, unadulterated power of the sun.

That’s why we invented sunglasses. What if you just sit outside in the sun too long? You get burned. We need sunscreen for protection. What if you had a crazy idea to build a rocket and you wanted to fly too close to the sun? Maybe you have this great idea that I’m going to have a picnic on the sun. No, you’re toast. Literally. So is the sun an intolerant jerk when it hurts us? Is the sun judgemental? And is the sun mean because we can’t get too close to it? Is the sun your buddy? Is the sun a bad thing? No, the sun is completely good. But you must humbly, fear and respect the sun, right? Again. In the presence of this holy other power of the sun, our weaknesses are exposed. So I’d say in the same way, the message of God’s holiness is often scandalous and offensive because it exposes us. It exposes our weaknesses, our sin and all of that idolatry that’s hidden away in our hearts. Write this down, take a picture of this, wrestle with this statement. I believe this is the truth for all of us. Maybe the problem isn’t God’s intolerance after all.

The problem is us. When God’s holiness begins to press in on us and God has found something unclean in our lives, when God’s found a rebellious stronghold in our lives, often our gut instinct is to fight and scratch and claw, to hold onto that very thing. I know because I’ve done it. As a younger man, when God’s holy standard of absolute purity pressed in on me, I rebelled against it. God’s holy command of one man, one woman only in marriage exposed my idolatry. For years I fought God on this. I pursued sensual pleasure and happiness my own way and it nearly destroyed me and the people in my path. God’s holiness can offend us because it exposes us. And sex is just one example of this. There are many, many more, but to the point of sex, when confronted by God’s word, to deny immoral sexual attractions, sexual desires, impulses, what do we do? In our arrogance, humanity pushes back. We’re offended. We think we deserve sexual happiness whenever, however and with whomever we want. Love is love. As broken humans, that’s where we go. That’s our anything goes definition of love. Now think about it.

Love is love. We’re now defining a word by the same word. That’s the best we can do as broken humanity. Meanwhile, the timeless truth and the Bible is this: God is love. God created love. God defines the sexual boundaries of love. Then we just come along, we plagiarize what God created, and then we have the audacity to say, no, that’s real love. Our version is weak and powerless compared to the standard of God’s holy love. Love and sex. And that’s just one example of how God’s holiness could rub us the wrong way. Bottom line, I don’t know what it is for you today. Wrestle with this, will you humble yourself when God’s holiness triggers something in you. Because even the best of us here, we cannot get to the mountain of grace without first stopping at Mount Sinai to have our sin exposed by God’s fierce holiness. Speaking of, who would like to move to the second mountain? Let’s go to the second mountain in verse 22. This is where you want to live. Verse 22. But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels and festal gathering, and to the assembly or the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.

And to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, verse 24. And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Now, this mountain is very different than the first. If you follow Jesus, this is your mountain. This is where you want to live, Mount Zion. This is the mountain you and I must choose. And it is a choice. You don’t automatically just find yourself on this mountain, okay? It’s a choice. Choose Mount Zion. And on this mountain, get this, you encountered the same holy God as the first mountain, but this time there’s a party going on. This is a picture here of modern day mountain Zion in Jerusalem. It’s a real place. It’s the hill on which Jerusalem is built, and it’s a place of safety, God’s presence, celebration. But it always pointed to something more than just the earthly location. It’s the city of the living God. It’s our future home in heaven. And there are so many hymns about Mount Zion, and hopefully now it’ll start to make sense a little more why the writers would write so many songs about Mount Zion.

That’s because Zion symbolizes victory. So go back to this handout again. You see on the right hand side. You see on the right hand side Mount Zion. And if and when you follow Jesus, this is the mountain of the New Covenant. Instead of covering your ears and trembling as the angel spoke for God on this mountain, now you have angels, thousands upon thousands of angels actually throwing the party. On this mountain, you, the Church, becomes the firstborn, which means you have first born rights, which means the eternal inheritance of Jesus is now yours. As we said before, what’s true of Jesus is now true of you. This is the mountain, as Tyler taught us three weeks ago, where you are being made perfect. This is the mountain where the holy and awesome God is now completely approachable. And one incredible day, dare I say, the holy God will even be touchable and huggable. So how is this even possible? How can the same God who was so distant on Mount Sinai now becomes so welcoming and so close on Mount Zion? Jesus. Jesus is on Mount Zion. We see in verse 24, it tells us we’ve come to Mount Zion, where Jesus is now the mediator of the New Covenant into the sprinkled blood that Jesus speaks is a better word than the blood of Abel.

This here is the climax of all we’ve learned in Hebrews up to this point. Jesus is better and Jesus awaits you on the better mountain. Jesus is the mediator on Mount Zion. Jesus is our go between, our peacemaker, our indestructible high priest, the resurrected Jesus reigns victorious on Mount Zion. We can now approach the throne of the Almighty God because of Jesus with confidence. What is true of Jesus is now true of you on Mount Zion. Again, God has not changed. But because of Jesus, the dynamic of your relationship with God has changed. John Newton put it this way and John Newton wrote a small song called Amazing Grace. You may have heard that one. John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace, one of his other songs, he articulates this concept this way, the blood of Jesus has hushed the laws loud thunder let that sink in. The blood of Jesus has hushed the laws loud thunder. Today is Juneteenth. It’s a new national holiday in the United States. And on June 19 every year, we now commemorate the freedom of enslaved African Americans. And there’s no sugarcoating this in our country. The institution of slavery vividly represents the injustice, the evil and the brokenness of our humanity as a people that were created originally in the image of God.

The blood of millions of African Americans cries out from the ground for generations of injustice. Slavery, it’s just one example of our broken humanity that’s exposed at the foot of Mount Sinai. It’s terrifying. But here’s the good news. We see the very best of humanity on Mount Zion. We see Jesus. Here’s the contrast: on Mount Zion, the blood of Jesus speaks a better word to us than the blood of Abel. Abel’s blood screams brokenness, injustice and murder. As we sang earlier, Abel’s blood for vengeance. But the blood of Jesus speaks to us the good news of redemption, of justice and freedom. So I ask you, with such a great salvation spoken by the blood of Jesus, how will you respond? The preacher of Hebrews shows us how in verse 25. Let’s read it. Verse 25. See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven? At that time, referring to Mount Sinai, at that time, God’s voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, yet once more, I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens. This phrase yet once more indicates the removal of things that are shaken, that is, things that have been made in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, let us be grateful, grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus less offered to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire. When God shook the earth and shook the Mount at Sinai, you think that was scary? You ain’t seen nothing yet. He quotes the prophet Haggai. He warns us that this cosmic earthquake is coming. Judgment Day is on the way, and this time God’s going to shake up both the heavens and the earth. And for some, this is going to be the greatest day of celebration. For those on Mount Zion, this is going to be an amazing time. Because when God shakes things up and burns away all the idols, burns away all the sin, burns away all the conflicts and the hurts and the pains and the tears, and all that remains is what is pure and what is of God. It’s going to be this incredible celebration. It’s what we want. But for others, this will be a time of terror, regret and condemnation. It is what it is, and that’s what it is. On Judgment Day, God will shake away all of our idols in this world.

All that has been exposed is unholy, will burn in the holiness of God’s consuming fire. Yeah, I admit that’s a scary message, but at the same time, it’s inspiring because this is how God works. This is how God gives us true life. He’s blowing that chaff away. He’s burning the chaff. He’s getting rid of all the wickedness. He shakes away and he burns away all that’s been exposed that has been hurting us. On the day of this cosmic earthquake, only the things that cannot be shaken will remain. So what is that? What is it that can never be shaken? What’s the only thing that will survive Judgment Day? Verse 28. The kingdom of Jesus can never, ever be shaken. And this should give us motivation. Do not pursue happiness in all the wrong things. Don’t chase after the wind. It’s going to burn. It’s going to die. It’s not going to last. Those things will burn on Judgment Day. Never give up your life for something that death can take away. Do not refuse the voice of Jesus. On Judgment Day, only the kingdom of Jesus will survive and thrive. And I encourage our fathers it’s Father’s Day. A word for the fathers. Let’s lead the way as leaders of our families. Let’s lead the way in building our family on the solid rock of the kingdom. Let’s build our families on true strength. The kingdom of God. Therefore, the author now makes it very clear how to respond to Jesus in verse 28. Therefore, number one, let us be grateful. Gratitude is the true mark of a disciple of Jesus. It’s not one of those things you kind of add in, like, oh, I’d be a better person if I was more grateful and I stopped complaining. No, check out the scriptures here. Write these scriptures down. Look at them. Gratitude is expected and commanded. If you claim to follow Jesus, it’s a decision. Check out every conversion we see in the Book of Acts. Everyone is grateful, every single baptism. Gratitude is the mark of someone who has been truly converted for the long haul in Jesus. Good news always remains really good news. So give some thought of this. A lot of times we hear this, I need to be more grateful, or you need to be more grateful, or Where’s my gratitude? Got to dig deeper on this.

When you’re grateful, what does it look like? What does it look like for you at work, at school, with your family? If you’re really grateful, what does it sound like in your speech? Your speech of gratitude should mark you as different and other wherever you go. How do you take care of something that you’re really grateful for? How much time and attention and energy do you give something that you’re really, truly grateful for? I think two of our greatest examples of gratitude in this church are our elders. I think Eddie and Lepatic Francis. I think of Barry and Debbie Mattox, been disciples for decades and leadership in front of us for many, many years. Yes, they have tremendous skills. They can solve problems. But if you think about it, they’re incredibly grateful people, and that’s why they’re built to last, and that’s why they’re out in front of us, leading the way. They’re solid because they’re grateful. And the good news remains good news to them. Not a coincidence that these men and women lead us. Gratitude, on the other hand, to be ungrateful is a sin against God. It’s not just a take it or leave it thing.

Second Timothy three teaches that religious people who are ungrateful have a form of Godliness, but deny its power. If you complain on the regular, if you complain about your life, if you complain about other people, if you’re complaining about the church I don’t know how to say it, but you are drifting, and gratitude is a sign of the unbeliever. Let’s be grateful. I’m trying to work on it. I’m not there yet, but I’m pressing forward because I know this is vital for me to be on Mount Zion, I must be grateful. Number two, worship God with reverence and awe for our gods and consuming fire. That’s the other response we’re called to here to Jesus. Worship God with reverence and awe. And this goes hand in hand with gratitude, right? It’s hard to worship if you’re constantly thinking about, well, I’m getting the short end of the stick here, right? It’s hard to worship when you feel sorry for yourself or you play the victim. It’s hard to worship God when there’s self worship going on. I do want to say this worship is so much more than singing in music here or at home.

It’s more than just singing in these church services. This is just an hour and a half. That’s why I hesitate to call our singers and musicians the worship team. I think that’s fine, but I just don’t always go there. The Hebrew word for worship is to prostrate oneself before God. Do you know what this is? This is literally laying face down on the ground, in the dirt, on the floor, getting down and dirty and talking to God and bowing before God. I did it this morning for the first time in a long time. I tell you what, it’s very humbling. It’s humiliating. It’s exactly what I needed. When was the last time you got on your knees at least? We get so casual in our relationship with God because Jesus has given us that freedom to approach the throne of grace with confidence. We must approach God and remember to do that with reverence in awe. Worship is 24/7. It’s living in the presence of God all the time. Paul defines worship this way in Romans twelve, verse one, present your body, present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship.

Worship is countercultural. Worship means self denial. Worship means you put yourself on the cross every day and you choose Jesus over personal pleasure. Worship means you live in the holy fear of God. And you look back with sobriety to what it was like on Mount Sinai. When it comes to worship, these Sunday mornings are great. This is a weekly gourmet meal. But we all need a daily diet of private worship. So here it is. To summarize our response to Jesus, the living water challenges, I put these in the form of questions so we can wrestle with these. Wrestle yourself, get with other people. Let’s talk about these three questions. How will this passage change the way you worship? Number two how will you express gratitude this week for Mount Zion? How will you repent and become a grateful person? And we’ll end with number three. And this circles us back to the beginning. The question at number three is when God’s holiness exposes your sin, when God’s holiness exposes your brokenness and the idols that are down deep in your heart, which mountain will you choose? Today we’re a sunrise closer to the return of King Jesus.

You realize that? All of us have a choice. All of us can live on one of two mountains. If you’re stuck on Mount Sinai, God’s going to feel very distant. You see God’s holiness, you may be around some holy people you know God’s commands. You do know God’s expectations for your life, but for some reason, you just keep pushing back. Maybe you’re blaming God or you’re holding on to what God has exposed in you and you don’t like it. And because of that, your actions begin to demonstrate what you’re really saying is, no, I’m doing it my way. This is how I’ll find happiness and true life. I’m doing it my way. Deep down, I bet Judgment Day terrifies you because you’re camped at Mount Sinai. Old Christians, new Christians, not sure if you’re a Christian. Today I appeal to all of us. Let’s choose Mount Zion. When you feel God’s holiness pressing in on you, when God’s holiness and God’s word exposes your sin and your brokenness, when friends confront you on your sin, or family members confront you on your sin, don’t get offended. Don’t push back. Don’t go to Mount Sinai. Instead, humble yourself today.

Get with someone. Get with someone today. Get with someone this week. Open the Bible. Have a heart to heart talk. Admit who you are before it’s too late. And who are you? Who am I? A broken person with broken idols who desperately needs the saving blood of Jesus and the leadership of Jesus in my life. We’ll close with this. Therefore, in light of all that Jesus has done for you, therefore, let us be grateful. Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Let’s now pray together as we celebrate the saving blood of Jesus.

Father in Heaven, thank you that we can take communion together at this time. Thank you, Father, that you’ve always given us a choice. And through Jesus, it’s always been your plan to make yourself completely approachable, lovable. Thank you, God, for your mercy, your grace, and your forgiveness. Thank you so much for the unshakeable kingdom that all of us have access to. I pray that you help us to share this with others. God, I also ask you this time that you increase our faith.

The world is all around us. It attacks us and it sounds so good and we get caught up in it. Father, increase our faith in Mount Zion. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for his blood. That speaks a better word than anything in this world. Thank you for his blood. Thank you for his body. We celebrate our relationship with him at this time. Draw us near to you. We pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen.