The Gathering Surf City

It's St.

Patrick's Day.

You notice all the green.

St. Patrick made three
leaf clover famous.

Right? That's for children's
church next service.

It's funny how we like Easter
and Christmas and St.

Patrick's Day.

We add a bunch of stuff to it
that don't really matter,

like corn beef and green everything and
green beer and all sorts of other

stuff. But St.

Patrick was famous for.

He was.

Actually, I was reading about him this
morning because I realized it was

St. Patrick's Day when I woke up,

and I don't remember,

I guess six or seven years ago,

St. Patrick's Day was on a Sunday,

but I don't remember it
being on a Sunday.

And St.

Patrick was kidnapped by pirates,

and they took him to Ireland
when he was about 16,

and he felt led by the Holy Spirit
to make it back to the coast.

So he traveled over
200 miles on foot,

tradition says,

and made it back to his home,

and then ended up going and being
a missionary back to Ireland,

which is where all the green and
things we have today come from.

But he was most well known
for taking a clover,

three leaf clover,

and explaining the trinity of God,

Father, son,

Holy Spirit.

And it's just a cool thing.

It makes me realize,

like, God gives us not only his creation
to enjoy and to be in awe and

wonder of,

but there's all sorts of things in creation
that you can use that point

back to God and that he is who he says
he is and that he made all this

stuff, and he made you and me,

and there's no other
way to explain it.

So science really is just us figuring
out what God did more than us

figuring out that we're evolving
or smarter or whatever.

So, three leaf clover,

St. Patrick,

happy St.

Patrick's Day.

Right. Before I go any further,

get carried away,

I'd love to pray for us.

All right,

God, thank you for this
beautiful day.

Thank you for this beautiful
weather,

for these beautiful people
I get to worship with.

Thank you,

God, for people like St.

Patrick and reminding us that there's
all sorts of things in creation

that just reveal yourself,

and thank you for revealing yourself
to us and making yourself known to

us. Dear Lord,

I pray that we would just see
you today and hear you.

Dear Lord,

I pray that you would speak through
me in a way that glorifies you and

points people to you and people,

make a change,

make a decision,

will be renewed.

Come, dear Lord,

for healing,

for deliverance,

for whatever it is,

dear Lord,

help them,

dear Lord,

to just lay these things
at your feet.

Dear Lord,

and surrender.

Dear Lord,

help us all to do that and be
reminded and encouraged.

We love you and thank
you for it all.

In Jesus name,

amen.

As I said earlier,

I'm not supposed to
be up here today,

which was why I did the
video announcement,

which is something I'm
still getting used to.

But just pray for Bobby.

He's sick.

Home, thankfully.

Didn't want to get all sick.

Just pray for him.

But you get me instead.

And so we've been in the book
of Hebrews for a while,

since beginning of the year,

right? The object of our faith.

What is the object of our faith?

We're in chapter four last week,

remember? Kyle and Bobby both
preached about rest,

right? What is our rest in?

What are you resting in?

Is it Jesus?

Or is it you thinking you
need physical rest?

Or that you need a vacation?

Or that those things will fix you?

Right? Have you ever took
a vacation in it?

And when you got back,

you're like,

man, I need a vacation
from my vacation.

I need rest.

It don't always satisfy you,

does it?

And so our rest is in Jesus.

And so this whole book has been pointing
toward the object of our faith,

right?

It's been talking about how Jesus
is greater than Moses,

how our rest is in Jesus,

how God's promised rest.

It isn't just confined to a day.

It isn't just how Jesus
is God's son.

They give us some warnings
about drifting away.

And then it starts to talk about
at the end of chapter four,

how Jesus is our high priest.

And it's already mentioned this kind
of at the end of chapter two and

beginning of chapter three,

how Moses was that and how Jesus
is greater than Moses,

right? But picking up in verse twelve
where we left off last Sunday,

it says in Hebrews,

chapter. And I'm reading out
a New Living Translation.

If it sounds different than
what you're reading,

verse twelve starts off by saying,

for the word of God is
alive and powerful,

sharper than the sharpest
two edged sword,

cutting between soul and spirit,

between joint and marrow.

It exposes our innermost
thoughts and desires.

Nothing in all creation
is hidden from God.

Everything is naked and exposed
before his eyes.

And he is the one to whom
we are accountable for.

The word of God is alive
and powerful.

Anybody ever read that
and wondered how?

What does that mean?

How is the word of God
alive and powerful?

John. Jesus'cousin,

John. Chapter one,

verse one.

Does anybody know?

Remember what it says?

For in the beginning,

the word was with God,

and the word was God.

And John is talking about
his cousin Jesus.

And how Jesus is God.

And because Jesus gave us.

Remember, Jesus gave up his holy
spirit and went back to heaven.

But he intercedes for us on our
behalf through his spirit.

And it is alive and active today if you
have believed and received that.

So the word of God is
alive and powerful,

sharper than the sharpest
two edged sword,

cutting between soul and spirit,

joint and marrow.

It exposes our innermost
thoughts and desires.

You ever heard the scripture,

the truth will set you free?

You ever heard the saying that
the truth will set you free?

It'll make you mad first,

because it gets to your innermost
thoughts and desires.

The word of God will expose your heart
and its callousness or hardness,

right? And so sometimes,

just like Adam and Eve
in the garden,

you remember what happened?

They ate from the tree
and then they hid.

And what did God ask them?

Where are you?

Not so much,

because God didn't know
where they were.

But he wanted Adam and Eve to what
he was exposing their innermost

thoughts and desires.

And so sometimes we hide from the
truth or we hide from God.

Nothing in all creation
is hidden from God.

Everything is naked and exposed
before his eyes.

And he is the one to whom
we are accountable.

In the CSB,

I believe it says,

he is the one whom we are
to give an account.

Does everybody realize that one day
you're going to have to give an

account for what you've done?

That's sobering,

ain't it?

And that nothing is hidden from.

So if nothing is hidden from God,

then why do we hide?

I've realized that because the word
of God is alive and powerful,

and because Jesus gave
up his spirit,

and his spirit is interceding for
us on our behalf right now.

And because this word is the truth,

that the more you read it,

the more you speak it,

the less I want to hide,

the more I feel safe in the safest
place to be is have no secrets,

right?

We're going to have to give
an account one day.

And so sometimes that makes
you want to hide,

right? Because you're like,

lord, I don't want to have to confess
everything I have done or am doing,

even though you know it all,

everybody in here don't know it all.

And what you don't realize is I've
been talking about this every

Wednesday as we've been trying
to prepare for Easter,

leading up to Easter's
two weeks left.

And in this lent Easter season of trying
to shed off stuff to get closer

to Jesus,

to understand what Jesus did for us.

I've been trying to help
people realize Jesus,

God is the only one who can take
bad stuff and make it good.

Do you realize that God is the only one
who can take your guilt and your

shame and something like the cross that
was meant for death and turn it

into life?

So if you're not giving him your stuff
that you're humiliated about,

that you're ashamed of,

that you feel guilty of,

if you're not laying
that at his feet,

nobody else can make
that stuff good.

Nobody else can wash that away.

So you hiding ain't hurting
nobody but you alive,

powerful, sharp.

I was thinking.

I was trying to think of something,

you know,

anything that's alive,

powerful and sharp.

Most people go in the ocean,

right?

Because there's some stuff
out there that's alive,

powerful and sharp,

ain't it?

And you don't want to get near it or you're
scared of what might be under

the water,

right? I don't surf much.

I do it more for exercise than
I'm really any good at it.

But when the water is warm and I'll
go out there a handful of times

during summer,

and if you're sitting out
there by yourself,

sometimes it's sobering,

especially when something rubs
up against your leg or,

you see,

most of the time they're
black tip sharks,

smaller sharks.

But you'll see one and you're like,

well, that thing's alive,

sharp and powerful.

And it gives you this reverence,

this fear,

right?

Gives you this reverence,

this respect,

every word of God.

So Jeremiah 23 28 through 29,

Jeremiah is talking about prophets and
people that speak of God's word.

And in verses 28 and 29 pertaining
to God's word,

he says this in 28,

he says,

let these false prophets
tell their dreams.

But let my true messengers faithfully
proclaim every word.

There is a difference between
straw and grain.

Does not my word burn like fire?

Says the Lord?

Is it not like a mighty hammer
that smashes a rock to pieces?

So there's false prophets
and true prophets,

and they're different,

like straw and grain.

What's the difference between
straw and grain?

Straw is useless.

It don't sustain you.

It's light.

It blows away in the wind.

And grain is something that
is nutritious and feeling,

right. So what are you filling
yourself with?

Are you filling yourself
with the word of God?

In the gospels,

man doesn't live by bread alone,

but that every word that proceeds
out of the mouth of God,

right? We were eating chicken wings
last Thursday in my garage.

Two Thursdays a month,

I cook chicken wings just the opportunity
to hang out with guys and have

more of a conversation than
you can have on Sunday.

And a couple of guys,

I'm trying to cook chicken wings and
make sure everybody's got what they

need. And it's been like an
hour since we started.

And so a couple of guys get up to
leave and I stop them like,

hey, I'm about to read a verse.

Just wait.

Can you just wait just a second?

I'm about to read a verse.

And I think it was revelation 411 where
it talks about God's glory and

holiness and the elders casting their
crowns at his feet and falling and

just how do we worship?

And one guy named Aaron
stopped and said,

I didn't really need
them chicken wings,

but I needed that.

That is what sustains you.

God's word.

I'm going to get hungry again.

I'm going to get thirsty again.

But if I have God and God's word and
the truth that exposes me and

cleanses and purifies me,

that is what is going to fill me,

and I won't never thirst again.

Like Jesus says to the
woman at the well,

that's what he's talking about.

And so if you're not telling people
the truth and you're not exposing

yourself to the truth and you're
not letting go of your stuff,

that's probably why you have a hard
time telling people about God,

right? Proclaiming God,

preaching, teaching,

or just sharing with your friends,

this is who I am,

this is what I believe.

Anybody have a hard time doing that because
you feel like you don't want

to mishandle God's word?

God doesn't give us
a spirit of fear,

but a power of love and sound mind.

Do you give that to God?

I had to give it to God standing
right back there.

Because the devil,

anytime I get up here to try
to communicate God's word,

I get attacked by the devil and it's spirit
of fear and anxiety and well,

what if I do this and what
do I need to say?

And then I get all jumbled
up and I have to say,

lord, in Jesus name,

devil, I ask you to get behind me.

You're defeated.

God doesn't give us
a spirit of fear,

but if you don't have that truth,

you're going to get defeated.

You're going to want to hide.

That's just the first two verses.

And so what Jeremiah is saying is when
you share God's word with people,

they look for its effectiveness
in you,

right? And unless it's changed you,

why should they think
it can change them.

You've heard the saying the best
messages aren't preached,

they're lived.

That's what happens when you allow
God's word to get in here and it

becomes alive and powerful.

And if you're not allowing
that to happen,

then I bet some of that guilt,

shame, hiding happens.

Verse 14,

he says.

So then,

since we have a great high priest
who has entered heaven,

Jesus, the Son of God,

let us hold firmly to
what we believe.

This high priest of ours understands
our weaknesses,

for he faced all the
same things we do,

yet he did not sin.

So let us come boldly into the
throne of our gracious God.

There we will receive his mercy,

and we will find grace to help
us when we need it most.

What makes him so great is.

What was the question I had.

So, since we have a great high priest
who has entered heaven,

what makes him so great?

What makes him the highest priest?

What makes him greater than Moses?

You gotta remember,

these Hebrew people are Jewish people
who were living by the law and who

accepted Jesus.

But during this time of persecution,

right after Jesus went
back to heaven,

there's people trying
to deceive them.

There's people trying to get
them to go back to the law,

back to the high priest,

where you have to offer up sacrifices
and do all these things to get

right. The writer of Hebrews,

whoever they are,

is trying to remind them it's
only because of Jesus.

And the great thing about that,

especially because we just
talked about speaking,

right?

People have a hard time speaking,

telling people about God.

Only thing you have to do
is point them to Jesus.

You don't have to know everything.

You don't have to be a
doctor of theology.

Everybody has a story,

everybody that has been saved.

It can be something as
simple as I was.

One way Jesus came,

and now I'm different.

And if you'll just come to Jesus,

that's what makes him greater.

It says he entered heaven.

So to enter back into heaven,

what does that mean?

He was on earth,

right? And he entered into heaven.

Passed through.

Some translations say.

So that means he resurrected,

right?

Without the resurrection,

there's no point of me
speaking to y'all.

There's no point of us being here today
if Jesus didn't do what he said

he did.

If Jesus isn't resurrected,

you know,

all this is just dumb,

right?

He entered into heaven and
gave up his spirit,

which intercedes on our behalf.

Like I said,

on Wednesdays,

we've been going through crucifixion
and the last seven sayings of

Christ. And it's been tough.

It's been humbling.

Jesus took,

you know the word excruciation?

That word comes from.

We get that word.

We made up that word,

which excruciating,

right? Means the cross.

It's where we get crucifixion from.

Jesus took on all that came
down from heaven,

gave up heaven,

paid a price we couldn't pay.

And not only did he do that,

died a death we should have died,

but goes back to heaven and intercedes
for us until he comes back again.

And so that's why the Hebrew writer
is trying to remind us,

remind them that let us hold
firmly to what we believe.

This high priest of ours understands
our weaknesses,

for he faced all the same
testings we do,

yet he did not sin.

That's what makes him so great.

Before I really understood
how much Jesus loved me,

before I kept surrendering and dying
and dying and trying to on a daily

basis, and it was more like a
Easter and Christmas basis.

Cynical. Know when I heard
that and I read that,

cynical me thought,

did Jesus have to deal
with abortion?

Did Jesus have to deal with
being gay or transsexual?

Or Jesus have to deal with
being a lesbian?

Or Jesus have to deal with old age and
suicidal thoughts because of your

failing health?

Anybody ever thought of that?

So how could he be tempted
in every way?

Jesus don't deal with what
I have to deal with.

He don't say it.

I haven't read it.

So how does Jesus know me?

How does he know what I go through?

That's not the point.

You're missing it when you look
up the Greek of that sentence.

This high priest of ours understands
our weaknesses,

for he faced all the same
testings we do,

yet he did not sin.

He cannot sin.

That cannot work.

Our english language is not
the best in the world.

And sometimes we use a word that is
the closest we can get to the

original language,

but it doesn't really measure
up all the way.

And so when you get back to
the original language,

what the writer is saying and
what that cannot word mean,

I can't pronounce the greek word.

Jesus will not break like a scale.

The more weight you put on it,

the more weight Jesus can hold.

Jesus won't break.

That's what he's saying
when he was tempted.

And he understands what
you go through.

What he's saying is you take your
stuff and you give it to Jesus,

and he's the only one
that can hold it.

He's the only one that won't
break under that pressure.

You've heard the saying,

God won't give you more
than you can handle.

Yes, he will.

To get you to the point of giving
it to him so he can handle it.

That's what he means when he's saying
he wasn't tempted beyond more than

what he could handle.

When he was tempted
in the wilderness,

when the devil tempted him,

what did he do?

He used God's word,

the truth.

Kind of like,

I love to exercise,

love to run.

But if you've ever bench pressed,

at some point,

the more you do,

the harder it is to push
that same weight,

right. The more you're tempted
with something,

the more you go back to the same.

The more you push,

the harder it is.

Right? And what the hebrew writer is
saying is that Jesus will not break

whatever you give to him.

He's the only one that
can handle it.

So whatever issue you're facing that
you think Jesus can't handle,

why don't you give it to him?

That last verse says,

so let us come boldly to the
throne of our gracious God.

There we will receive his mercy and
we will find his grace to help us

when we need it most.

So why don't you come?

My last question.

Remember they had the tabernacle.

High priest.

We're not jewish,

so high priest probably don't mean
as much to us as it does to them.

Chief leader,

highest religious person you can be,

right? I think you understand that there
was only one guy that come into

the tabernacle.

And this is,

if you don't understand the Old testament
Hebrews is almost like a

commentary of the Old Testament.

So the tabernacle is just a tent,

right, with a dirt floor
and a gold box inside.

And only once a year,

on the day of atonement,

could the high priest go up in there
and he had to offer up a sacrifice.

And so,

do you realize what the hebrew writer
is trying to explain to you today?

Now, today God is saying you can boldly
and confidently come to me

anytime, any place,

anywhere you want.

The veil was torn.

There was a veil in the tabernacle.

You had this holy place,

and then you had the holy of holies,

and there was a veil
dividing the two.

And only once a year could one person
go in there and try to offer up

sacrifices for everyone.

And what God is saying now,

you can boldly and confidently,

because of Jesus,

come anytime,

anytime you're struggling with
any of the examples I gave.

Addiction, loneliness,

suicide, lust,

temptation, you can come anytime,

boldly and confidently
because of Jesus.

That's what makes him so great?

Do you understand what I'm saying?

You can bring your junk and
lay it at his feet.

And he is the only person that can carry
that weight and handle it over

and over and over again and won't
wear out and won't get tired.

And that's what he's saying when he
said he understands our weaknesses.

You ain't got to buy tickets.

You ain't got to perform
any kind of rituals.

You don't have to get clean.

Just come.

So why don't you come?

We're about to sing again.

I'm going to pray,

then we're going to sing again.

And I want you to answer
that question.

I want you to ask God that.

All right?

Let's pray.

God, thank you for Jesus.

Thank you for showing me,

dear Lord,

over the last 24 hours that Jesus understands
our weaknesses and our

temptations, and he is the only
one that can handle them,

dear Lord.

He's the only one that won't
break under that help,

that to encourage us,

dear Lord,

to bring our stuff to you and know that
you're the only one that can do

something about it.

You're the only one that can turn what
was meant for evil and turn it for

good. Dear Lord.

And so the things we're
struggling with,

the things we're hiding,

dear Lord,

help us remember that it is your truth
and your word that exposes those

things. Not for guilt and
for shame or to condemn,

but, dear lord,

to make clean,

to make whole,

to make complete,

to wash away,

to purify,

dear Lord,

so help us to do that.

Thank you for our high priest,

dear Lord,

I pray that whoever's in this room that
needs to make them their high

priest or lord will and just ask
all these things in your name.

Amen.