Introduction:
Jesus is Worthy...
(Hebrews 3:1-6)
- Of my constant Attention . (Heb 3:1)
- Of my constant Honor and Respect . (Heb 3:2-4)
Colossians 3:17 - And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
- Of my constant Perseverance and Faithfulness . (Heb 3:5-6)
Galatians 6:9 - "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:47-00:51
All right, so you open your Bibles to Hebrew chapters three verses one through six.
00:52-00:53
Now there's a little more people here.
00:53-00:55
Who wants to admit they stayed up till midnight last night?
00:56-00:57
All right, who wasn't able to make it?
00:57-00:58
Who just couldn't do it?
00:59-01:02
Who has kept up past midnight because of the fireworks?
01:03-01:05
I mean, come on, by 2 a.m. it's like, you're not done yet, like really?
01:06-01:07
You're still doing that?
01:08-01:09
Well, who's tired today?
01:10-01:10
I know a lot of us are probably tired.
01:10-01:19
I know I'm not feeling that well this morning, but I am so excited to preach the word to you, So I'm gonna take some time to go before the Lord.
01:20-01:25
I'm gonna ask you to pray for me, and I'll pray for you as well, all right?
01:26-01:27
Amen.
01:28-01:33
You know, I was thinking this past week, as human beings, we love to watch competition unfold, don't we?
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We love to see people go head to head and see who'll come out on top.
01:38-01:40
This really plays out in sports, doesn't it?
01:41-01:49
We live in Pittsburgh, so the Steelers, the Penguins, the Pirates, Maybe not the Pirates that much in recent years, aren't able to compete.
01:49-01:51
But we love to watch our teams compete, right?
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And maybe you're a really serious Pittsburgh fan.
01:56-01:58
You love to watch the Steelers.
01:58-02:00
Whenever they lose, it ruins your entire day.
02:01-02:03
And when they win, it makes your day.
02:04-02:17
Maybe you take this love of athletics more personally, and you love to compete with your friends at the local YMCA, and you act a lot younger than you actually are, which leads to a lot of injuries and frustrations, right?
02:17-02:19
Or maybe you have a fancy football team.
02:19-02:20
Anybody have a fancy football?
02:21-02:22
Not many of you, wow.
02:23-02:24
I'm really surprised by that.
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Or maybe you're one of those people who gets really serious about card games or board games.
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I see some of you looking at each other like, yeah, that's you.
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And you get mad whenever you lose.
02:35-02:40
You get bent out of shape when people aren't taking the game seriously enough, right?
02:42-02:45
But this love of competition goes even farther back than that.
02:46-02:47
It goes back to childhood.
02:47-02:52
I remember as a kid arguing with my friends about which superhero was the best.
02:52-02:54
Who would win in a fight?
02:55-02:59
Can Batman actually beat any superhero or super villain because he's the smartest and most prepared?
03:00-03:04
Can Hulk and Superman, if they came together, who would win in a fight?
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Can Wolverine's claws cut through Captain America's shield?
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Will we ever find out?
03:10-03:10
Or how about this one?
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I bet my dad could beat up your dad.
03:15-03:15
Really?
03:16-03:20
Like our dad's these macho powerlifters who can grind each other into dust, right?
03:22-03:29
You know, back in first century Israel, there wasn't much competition or argument about who the greatest and most important Old Testament figure was.
03:29-03:31
Hands down, it was Moses.
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He was the uncontested champion.
03:33-03:36
He led God's people out of slavery in Egypt.
03:36-03:39
He received the 10 commandments from God and his angels.
03:40-03:45
He saw the glory of God and this experience made his face shine.
03:45-03:48
He wrote the first five books of the Old Testament.
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Who could possibly be greater than Moses?
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Who could possibly compete with his list of achievements?
03:59-04:02
Well, this is an easy answer according to the author of Hebrews, it's Jesus.
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Jesus is greater.
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Jesus is more important.
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Jesus is worthier.
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It's not even a contest.
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Jesus is the clear winner in this competition.
04:15-04:20
Now, as 21st century Christians, we hear this and we think, we hear, okay, Jesus is greater than Moses.
04:20-04:21
You're thinking, yeah, no duh.
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I already believe that.
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No need to convince me any further.
04:24-04:26
Should I just pack up my Bible and go home?
04:28-04:32
But to the Jewish audience who read this letter around 2000 years ago, this was a really big deal.
04:33-04:39
This is a massive hurdle to get over to truly love, serve, and follow Jesus.
04:41-04:49
In order to be a genuine follower of Christ, you must believe with your whole heart that no one could possibly be superior to him.
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So we're gonna unpack Hebrews chapter three, verses one through six this morning, and discuss how Jesus is greater than Moses and how this should affect us from one day to the next.
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We're gonna spend this entire message focusing on the supreme worth, the supreme glory of Jesus Christ.
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And I know of no better way to kick off 2023 than to fix our eyes on Jesus.
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This morning we're gonna learn that Jesus is worthy, number one, of my constant attention, of my constant attention.
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Let's read verse one of chapter three.
05:29-05:38
"Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, Consider Jesus the apostle and high priest of our confession.
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As Pastor Jeff taught us in his first sermon in Hebrews, this letter was primarily written to Jewish believers who are experiencing persecution and hardship for their faith in Jesus Christ.
05:52-05:56
And many scholars describe this book as more of a sermon than a letter.
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Unbelievers are exhorted to finally trust in Jesus Christ rather than try to earn their salvation by following a list of good works and good deeds.
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Believers are encouraged to find their ultimate hope in Jesus.
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And the author of Hebrews begins this section by reminding his readers of who they are and what they have been called to.
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He says that they are holy brothers who share in a heavenly calling.
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That means not suffering alone.
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They're not suffering in isolation.
06:31-06:40
They are a part of a massive family that's being held together by a heavenly Father who has made them sons and daughters and spiritual siblings with one another.
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They've not only been adopted into God's family, but they've been set apart for a special mission and calling.
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They are no longer just citizens of this earth, but they are citizens of heaven.
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You know, if we're honest, we'd admit that as Christians, It's so easy to go about our week and totally forget about who we really are in Christ.
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It's easy to lose sight of our heavenly identity and our heavenly calling.
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You have to understand that you are not primarily an employee or a boss.
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You're not primarily a mother or a father, a husband or a wife, a citizen of this country.
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You are primarily a son or daughter of Almighty God.
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You are a citizen of heaven who is called to be an agent of change on this planet.
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Everything in this world can be taken away from you except for that, except for this identity.
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Your heavenly position is secure because it's held by the only one who is strong, who is mighty.
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Your position is secure.
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We so often fix our eyes on anything, anyone but Jesus.
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we can take him and what he has given us for granted.
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We take our eyes off of him and focus on our circumstances.
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We take our eyes off of him and focus on what God hasn't given us.
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We focus on our frustrations.
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We take our eyes off of him and focus on all the bad things that are happening to us.
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No wonder so many Christians are miserable and unhappy.
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No wonder so many Christians feel so weak and unable to do what God has called them to do.
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They have taken their eyes off of the prize and disconnected their hearts from the source of love, joy, peace, comfort, and strength.
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Is that you this morning?
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Have you taken your eyes off of Jesus?
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Maybe you feel like Peter in Matthew 14 when he's walking on the water.
08:50-08:52
Everything was going great at first, He's like a human jet ski.
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And then what happens?
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What does he do?
08:56-09:02
He takes his eyes off of Jesus and focuses on the wind and the waves and he's beginning to sink.
09:04-09:12
Like Peter, have you chosen to take your eyes off your Lord and Savior and focus on the raging storm around you?
09:14-09:21
Are you sinking into the waves of your worries, your anxieties, your doubts, and your insecurities.
09:23-09:28
If that's you, please listen to and act upon the command in verse one of our passage this morning.
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Consider Jesus the apostle and high priest of our confession.
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Consider Jesus.
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What does that mean?
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Well, it means that you continually give Jesus your full attention and mental energy.
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You use the mind that he has given you to read, study, memorize and meditate upon his word.
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You are to be a student of Jesus Christ.
09:53-09:57
You know, no other human being on this planet knows my wife better than I do.
09:57-10:02
If we all took a pop quiz about the life and likes of my wife, I would crush you all in that competition.
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I would get an A plus.
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You're thinking, well, good for you, Taylor.
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You know your wife better than I do.
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But let me ask you, do I know all there is to know about my wife?
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I don't.
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She's a complex person who constantly surprises me.
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My family's laughing right now.
10:20-10:31
I should never settle for what I already know about Kate and think, "Eh, I know enough to skate by in this marriage." I should desire to know her better today than I knew her yesterday.
10:32-10:36
In a much greater way, you should never settle for what you already know about Jesus.
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You should be hungry to get to know him more and more each day.
10:42-10:49
Sadly, we can be content to rake through the leaves of scripture rather than dig down deep for the gold that is underneath.
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When it comes to Bible study, never settle for quick and easy.
10:55-11:00
Becoming a student of God's word takes work, it takes effort, but it's so rewarding.
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If you need hope right now, consider Jesus and study why he is the greatest hope of all.
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If you need strength right now, consider Jesus and meditate upon his many examples of strength, of power under pressure.
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If you need freedom right now, consider Jesus and delve deep in the passages that promise deliverance from any temptation, from any sin pattern.
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According to the author of Hebrews, Jesus is worthy of our consideration and attention because he is the apostle and high priest of our confession.
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The word apostle means sent one.
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And God sent a lot of people throughout human history to accomplish his purposes, but Jesus is the ultimate apostle, the ultimate sent one, who is sent from heaven to earth.
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He is the perfect ambassador of heaven, who perfectly reflects the character and nature of God the Father.
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He is the ultimate high priest, who didn't just sacrifice an animal on the altar, but sacrificed his own life.
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for the sake of sinners.
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His body was broken so that you could be made whole.
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His blood was poured out so that you could be washed clean of your sin and your shame.
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Who could possibly be worthier of your attention and study than Jesus?
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Easy answer, no one.
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He is the answer to every single question that you have and the solution to every problem that arises.
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Keep your eyes glued to him and never look away no matter what.
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Secondly, Jesus is worthy of my constant honor and respect.
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Of my constant honor and respect.
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Let's continue on with verses two through four.
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Let me actually include verse one.
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It'll make a lot more sense that way.
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"Therefore, holy brothers, "you who share in a heavenly calling, "consider Jesus the apostle and high priest "of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house.
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For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.
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For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
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So the author of Hebrews throws around the phrase God's house a lot, and this passage in the verse is coming up.
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When you hear the phrase God's house, what's the mental picture that pops into your head?
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The church building, right?
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It's the steeple roof with the cross on top, the wooden pews with hymnals in front of it, right?
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That's the mental picture that we have.
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But the Greek word for house in this passage is oikos.
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Not the yogurt, get the yogurt out of your head.
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This means household.
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And all throughout the New Testament, this word is often used to refer to people.
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And this is the meaning of oikos in this verse.
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The author of Hebrews is talking about people and not a physical building or house.
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Back in his time, Moses was appointed by God himself to take care of God's chosen people, aka his house.
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Moses was faithful in his position, even though he stumbled, he messed up at times.
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But the author tells us that Moses is worthy of honor and respect for his faithful service to the Lord.
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But Jesus deserves even more honor.
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He deserves even more respect and glory than Moses because he is not just a servant in God's house.
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We're told that he is the builder of the house.
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Moses was just a member of the household that Jesus built.
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Jesus is the creator and sustainer of all things.
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So he is the one who built Israel into what it was.
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The church exists because of Jesus Christ.
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Without him, we would be lost and broken down bricks with no purpose, with no function.
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But because of Jesus, we are called living stones in 1 Peter chapter two, who are being built up into a spiritual house.
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With each person that Jesus saves, he keeps adding to this beautiful and awesome house that he is building to honor and glorify himself.
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He is the author of salvation.
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He's the one who holds us together as a spiritual family, as a spiritual household.
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We have to understand, this building is not the church.
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We are the church.
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We are God's house.
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We are God's people, and he is building us up into something awesome and glorious to point this community to the amazing glory, beauty, and grace of Jesus Christ.
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Church, we are here because of Jesus.
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We are here to glorify Jesus.
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Do we really believe that at the start of 2023?
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We are here to bring him great glory and honor.
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But how do we show him this honor and this glory that he deserves?
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Well, let's try to answer that question by answering another question.
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How do you show anyone honor and respect?
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Through what you say and what you do.
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Through what you say and what you do.
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We already talked about how we can glorify God with our minds.
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Yes, God wants our thoughts, but he also wants our words and our actions as well.
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He wants all of us.
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You prove your respect for someone by how you treat them, how you speak to them and how you speak about them, how you treat them, how you speak to them and how you speak about them.
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Let's apply these three things to our relationship with God.
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Firstly, you prove your love for God by treating others with the respect that they deserve.
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The Bible is clear that you cannot say that you love God, but treat another person with hatred, indifference and disrespect.
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Those two things don't go together.
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You can say that you honor the Lord, but do you really if you're harboring hatred in your heart towards somebody else?
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Is there someone in your life right now, if you think about them, your blood begins to boil?
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You want nothing to do with them, you've pushed them away, you have hatred in your heart for them.
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How can we say that we love God and what he stands for if we don't open up our wallets to give to the cause of spreading the gospel in this community and throughout this world.
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How can we say that we respect God, but we let negativity rule in our hearts and constantly come out of our mouths?
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These inconsistencies are red flags that we need to constantly evaluate when they pop up.
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We're told in scripture to examine ourselves to see if we're in the faith and truly love the Lord.
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And the greatest way to do this is to examine how you treat those around you.
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How do you treat your family?
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How do you treat your friends, your coworkers, your acquaintances, your neighbors, and those who can't give you anything in return?
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Secondly, we improve our respect level for God by how we speak to him in prayer.
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Your prayer life either reflects a devotion to God or an obsession with yourself.
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You're probably used to getting book recommendations, but let me give you a book non-recommendation today.
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Some of you are hate reading, you're like, yes, finally, someone's telling me not to read.
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Years ago, the Family Christian Bookstore that used to be in Cranberry, and I came across a book that shouldn't have been there.
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And I was very tempted to buy this book just so I could burn it and scatter its ashes in a dumpster.
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Here's the book I came across.
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May I have your order, please?
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how to get what you want from God.
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Does anyone else see anything wrong with this title besides me?
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Nobody?
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Please raise your hand if you don't like this title.
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Hey, good, that's good to hear.
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It gets worse.
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I opened up this book and read a few pages.
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The author actually compares God to a waiter who takes our order, which is our prayers.
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And we can find certain ways to twist God's arm into giving us what we want.
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Now I think most of us agree that this is straight up garbage.
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We want nothing to do with this line of thinking.
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We reject this line of thinking with our minds, but we so often live it out in our hearts, don't we?
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We live it out in our prayer life.
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We can often treat God like he is a waiter and we get mad at him when he doesn't deliver the requests that we want.
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It's so easy.
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It's so tempting to just rush into God's presence and rattle off a list of and then say a quick amen and then get out of there.
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Listen, sometimes something pops up and you should bring it to the Lord, bring him that request, you don't have that much time to pray, that's good and that's right.
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But if your prayer life is 100% request and nothing else, that's a problem.
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That shows a total lack of respect for the Lord.
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You need to spend time praising the Lord for who he is and what he has done for you.
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you need to make sure you're thanking him for all the good gifts that he gives to you.
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Yes, God's a loving father, and he wants you to approach him with boldness and confidence, but he's also a sovereign and all-powerful king who wants you to approach him with reverence and respect.
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You can do both of these things at the same exact time.
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Finally, we can show the Lord honor and respect by how we talk about him with others.
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If you truly love someone, We can't help but talk about them.
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Sorry to pick on you again, Kate, but I love my wife, so I love to talk about her with other people.
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I love to talk about how funny, how special, how beautiful she is.
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We all love to talk about the things that we enjoy, whether it's a hobby like hunting, fishing, maybe your hobby is shopping.
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I don't know what your hobby is, but we enjoy talking about these things, right?
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And we find someone who shares that passion, we latch onto them like leeches.
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You know, I'm a big movie buff like I've told you before, and I love to quote movies and TV shows.
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Just ask Pastor Jeff and other staff members if we can get through a meeting without me quoting something, right?
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But in a much greater way, if we truly love the Lord and wanna bring him great glory, we should desire to talk about him.
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It should be on our heart to invite people to church and tell them about Jesus.
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It should be on our heart to talk about the things with the Lord, with our family, and our friends, and have deep theological conversations.
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Again, it should be on our heart to share the message of the gospel.
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I know that sharing your faith and telling about Jesus can be scary, it can be intimidating, but the joy of faithfully sharing the love of God should far outweigh the fear of man.
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I've come across so many people who say, "Yeah, Taylor, I love God, I'm a Christian, "but my faith is very personal to me.
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not only to talk about other people.
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You ever come across someone like that?
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Do you find anything like that in scripture though?
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Thumbs up or thumbs down for that line of thinking?
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Massive thumbs down.
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Yes, our faith should transform us personally, impact us personally, but it should transform how we speak publicly.
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For the genuine follower of Christ, hiding the message of the gospel and keeping your faith a secret isn't an option.
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Jesus is too awesome, he is too glorious, he is too worthy for you to stay silent.
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As you read the New Testament, it becomes very clear that anything and everything that we do either honors or dishonors Jesus.
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And Paul speaks this in Colossians 3:17.
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"And whatever you do, in word or deed, "do everything in the name of Jesus Christ, "giving thanks to God the Father through him." I want you to take a minute to evaluate your words and actions over this past week.
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Think about the things that you've said.
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Think about the things that you've done.
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Have you been consistently glorifying Jesus and shining a spotlight onto him?
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Or have you been robbing him of the glory that he deserves?
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Think about that.
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Jesus takes his glory extremely seriously, and so should we.
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This should be our supreme concern, our supreme focus above all else.
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Finally, Jesus worthy of my constant perseverance and faithfulness.
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of my constant perseverance and faithfulness.
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Let's read verses five through six.
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Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son, and we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in hope.
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Again, Moses was a faithful servant in God's house.
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He was a faithful servant to God's people, but he was just a servant.
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The author of Hebrews says that Moses' life, his ministry, and the books that he wrote testified the things that were to be spoken later.
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Simply put, Moses pointed forward to someone much greater, much more glorious than himself.
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He was pointing forward to Jesus.
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Moses led the people of Israel out of enslavement in Egypt, But Jesus leads us out of enslavement to Satan, sin, and death.
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Moses received the law of God, but Jesus spoke the authoritative words of God and was the fulfillment of the law.
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Moses had a personal and close relationship with God, but Jesus enjoys a perfect and never-ending relationship with God the Father.
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Moses was simply a shadow.
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He was a foretaste of all that Jesus would accomplish.
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Moses was simply a faithful servant.
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Whereas Jesus is described as a faithful son and heir of God.
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There's a world difference between a servant and a son.
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A servant can be hired and fired.
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They can come and go, but you are a son for life.
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And a son receives the inheritance from his father.
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And the inheritance that Jesus gets from his father is what?
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Come on, everybody, you know the theological answer.
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What is it?
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Everything, literally everything.
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But the good news is, Jesus isn't a lazy, good-for-nothing son who just lounges around and mooches off his dad.
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We're told that he is faithful over God's house as a son.
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Jesus is faithful in leading his people.
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He is faithful in leading his church.
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Right now, Jesus faithfully rules and reigns over everything.
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Jesus takes care of God's house like a son who genuinely loves his father with his entire being.
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Jesus is always faithful to us no matter what.
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Even when we fail, when we fall, when we stumble, he is always there to pick us up off our feet and put us back on track.
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And this faithful Lord and Savior deserves our faithfulness in return.
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God always gives us our best so we should do the same.
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And the author of Hebrews speaks this at the end of verse six when he says this, "And we are his house, we are his people, "if indeed we hold fast our confidence "and our boasting and our hope." What's he talking about here?
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Is he saying that we can earn or keep our place in God's family by being faithful and by persevering?
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That's not what he's saying at all.
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He's not saying that we earn our salvation by persevering and being faithful.
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He's saying that our perseverance and our faithfulness to prove that we have been saved.
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Again, remember the context of this letter.
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Many Jewish Christians were suffering.
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They were struggling.
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They were experiencing the intense heat of persecution.
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And many who claimed to follow Christ had likely fallen away because of this persecution.
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They walked away from the Lord and gave up on Him.
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And by doing so, they proved they never truly loved Jesus in the first place.
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They were never truly a part of God's house.
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They never truly were a part of God's family.
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So the author of Hebrews writes this final verse to encourage his readers to stay the course and persevere in the midst of pain.
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He wants his Christian readers to reject the idea of giving up.
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It's not even considerate.
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I know in this room that all of us are struggling in different ways.
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Some of us are struggling more than others.
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And maybe you're on the verge of giving up in some way.
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Maybe you're wrestling with a really intense temptation or sin pattern right now, and you feel like this fight is insurmountable.
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You feel like it's time just to give up.
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You go to bed every night, praying the temptation won't be there in the morning, but you wake up and it's right there to greet you.
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Maybe you're losing your confidence in the Lord's goodness because you have an adult child who's not walking with the Lord.
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Even though you taught them the truth, you love them faithfully, they want nothing to do with Jesus.
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Or maybe you or a loved one is dealing with a health issue right now.
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And you have no idea, you keep wondering, God, why aren't you bringing healing right now?
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Or maybe you tried the right thing at work and at home, but your life seems to be falling in around you, on all fronts.
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Maybe you're diligent in sharing your faith, You're not seeing any results at all.
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Listen, the Christian life is not easy.
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God never promised us an easy path in this life.
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There are gonna be days when you wanna jump off the path that God has laid out before you, and you just wanna give up.
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But listen to what Paul has to say about this in Galatians 6, nine.
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"And let us not grow weary of doing good, "for in due season we will reap if we do not give up." In due season we will reap if we do not give up.
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Everyone please look at me right now.
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Please do not give up.
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Please do not give up and choose to end your life if you feel you can't handle it right now.
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If you're experiencing those kind of dark thoughts, please don't keep them to yourself.
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Please talk to Pastor Jeff or myself back at guest reception later and we will help you.
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will get you the help that you need.
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Please do not give up on your marriage even though it seems hopeless.
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Please do not give up on doing the right thing.
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Please do not give up on faithfully following Jesus and sharing the message of the gospel.
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Do not give up because God will never forsake you and he will never give up on you.
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Jesus is always faithful, even when it seems like he isn't.
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As I prepared for this sermon, I was just constantly blown away by the awesomeness, the glory of Jesus, and I hope that you feel the same right now.
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Jesus is so much better, he is so much greater than anything this world has to offer.
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Never forget that Jesus is worthy of everything that you have.
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He is the apostle and high priest of our confession, who is worthy of our constant attention.
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He is the builder of God's house, who is worthy of our constant honor and respect.
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He is the faithful son of God, who is worthy of our constant faithfulness and perseverance.
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Let's pray.
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Dear Lord, we thank you for your son.
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We thank you for all that he has done for us, all that he continues to do for us.
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Lord, as we start a new year, Help us to lay aside every sin and every hindrance and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and run towards him.
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Lord, as I said, many are struggling in this room.
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Maybe someone is struggling with thoughts of suicide, Lord.
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With thoughts of just giving up on their faith and walking away.
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or the thought of just giving up on being an active participant in their family and just being a passive observer.
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Lord, I pray you'd minister to all of us in the ways that we need ministered to, that you would encourage our hearts and help us to remember that we don't have to give up 'cause we have hope, we have a source of strength, we have a source of never-ending love.
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Lord, as we start this new year, Let it be with the attitude of hopeful expectation that yes, hard times will come.
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Yes, difficulties will arise, but you will go through these things with us and you will comfort us and you will motivate us to continue.
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We thank you in advance for what you're gonna do in 2023.
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In Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Hebrews 3:1-6
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What does it mean/look like to “consider Jesus” on a daily basis? (Heb. 3:1) How do you want to grow as a student of God’s Word this year?
How can you show the Lord the respect and honor that He deserves? In what ways do you find yourself dishonoring the Lord right now?
Read Galatians 6:9 - In what ways are you tempted to give up right now? What are some practical steps that you can take this week to strengthen your perseverance and faithfulness?
Breakout
Pray for one another
