The Gathering Surf City

We are continuing in this topic
the object of our faith.

The idea is that we need to understand
what it is that is the priority of

who we are.

We really need to have an understanding
of why we worship the way we

worship, why we worship,

not the thing we worship,

but who we worship.

And so when I use this phrase,

the object of our faith,

and you can get these little art things
out at the welcome desk if you

want them.

But the idea is to understand that
the book of Hebrews focuses just

completely on Jesus,

on what God has accomplished
through his son,

his heir,

the king of kings.

He is king,

he is high priest,

he is all of those things.

And so when we come together
and make the statement,

it's all about Jesus,

it's always about Jesus.

It's only about Jesus,

then the emphasis of that is that we're
going to direct our hearts and

our minds to Jesus.

So in Hebrews,

chapter two,

we're just dealing with verses
ten through 13 this morning.

So here they are.

For in bringing many sons
and daughters to glory,

it was entirely appropriate
that God,

for whom and through whom
all things exist,

should make the pioneer of their salvation
perfect through sufferings for

the one who sanctifies.

And those who are sanctified
all have one father.

That is why Jesus is not ashamed to
call them brothers and sisters,

saying, I will proclaim your name
to my brothers and sisters.

I will sing hymns to you
in the congregation.

Again, I will trust in him.

And again,

here I am with the children
God gave me.

All right,

let's pray together.

God, we want to thank you for all
that you've accomplished,

God, indeed,

for all that you've done.

And we look at it from the big picture
of your word and creation and

eternity past to eternity future
and understanding,

God, that you are always at work.

You continue to work.

And God,

your work continues in
us on a daily basis.

And so,

God, as we understand and see what
you've done in your word and

understand what you've accomplished
through Christ.

God, it has an impact not simply
on our daily to do list,

but it has an impact on who we are.

So, God,

help us to realize who we are and how
you have directed that and guided

that. And so,

God, we just ask that you help us understand
and pay attention this

morning in Jesus name,

amen.

We're going to have to dial
me back a little bit.

I know y'all have reset this thing,

so all the audio resets
have taken place.

Y'all notice there's a new
drum kit back there.

It's electronic.

You can't tell that because
they hid it from us.

And so they've reset everything.

Everybody notice there's not so
much clutter on the platform.

They cleaned everything
up this week.

I tell you what,

Michael and Jared and host of others
just kind of straighten things up.

And that's all very good.

So excited.

That. But,

yeah, okay.

Now I sound more natural.

Thank you very much.

I was starting to echo
in my own head,

which is not a good thing.

All right,

so growing up,

I went to,

and I mentioned it last week,

Cali self Memorial Baptist Church.

And we would do this thing every
Sunday at the end of worship,

right? We would do this thing
as a congregation.

And what they would do
is they would say,

all right,

join hands with your neighbor.

And so all through the know,

there was two sides like this,

and went all the way to the back.

And so they'd cross over the
aisle in the middle,

and everybody joined hands.

You know what that did to us?

It made us pick wisely where we sat.

Because you'd look across the aisle
when you went to sit down,

you'd go,

I'm moving back a row.

I don't want to hold hands
with that guy.

Right? And then we'd sing this song,

and it went like this.

I'm not going to sing it to you,

but it'd say,

I'm so glad I'm a part of the family
of God I've been washed in the

fountain and cleansed by his blood joint
heirs with Jesus as we travel

this sod.

Always thought that was a funny line.

Travel this sod.

I'm so glad I'm a part
of the family of.

I understand,

you know,

theoretically, what the congregation
and the pastor and everybody was

creating was this,

let's join hands and have this sort
of physical expression of what it

means for us to be the
family of know.

And we'd sing that together.

Well, as a know,

you hear words the way you
want to hear them,

right?

Joint heirs with Jesus.

I didn't know what that meant.

So we'd sing joint hands with Jesus.

Join hands with Jesus.

It fit right as we travel this sod.

And I was always like,

sod? That was back when you
planted grass seeds.

There was no such thing as
Sod when I was a kid.

Right? You planted your grass
and waited for it to grow.

But that song,

it stuck with me.

And then Angie,

I was talking to her about
it this morning,

she said,

yeah, I remember singing that.

We did it at first Baptist,

Buford, when I was the
youth pastor there.

So this idea of creating family,

it's actually very real
in the word of God.

I've said that for me to
call us several things,

I use several phrases to refer
to the body of Christ.

One is the body of Christ.

One is the gathering of the saints.

The other is the fellowship
of believers.

Or you can call us the
family of God.

So what does it take to be family?

What has to be done to be family?

I mean,

I know my family.

I got born into it,

right? That's the way we
say it in the south.

I was born into it.

So I grew up understanding
who mom and daddy were,

right? I mean,

as a baby,

you start out with that old mama,

Dada, whatever,

understand that a few years after
I was the only one around,

suddenly my little sister was born.

She disrupted my whole life.

No, I'm just kidding.

I'm just joking.

You did not.

Melanie. Melanie is watching
with my dad this morning.

But my point is that the
creation of family,

right, this understanding
of what family means is,

quite honestly,

I believe originates in the
father heart of God,

that God in creation established the
two that he created in creation,

Adam and Eve.

And then we get this impression from
Genesis that he hung out with them.

And then we hear throughout scripture
this father communication of God as

a heavenly father.

Right. And so we understand in our sort
of context that there is this

idea of our father,

and, I mean,

how did Jesus pray it?

Right. Our Father,

who art in heaven,

hollowed or holy is your name,

right.

And so we understand that
in Christ as christians,

that we have become a part
of God's family.

Several years ago,

I heard a story,

and it was one of the gathering
members here,

and it's not my story,

so I can't tell it,

but it was interesting that they
were talking about adoption.

And right now we've got several folks
that we've sort of partnered with

the baptist children's homes of North
Carolina to try to get every child

that's in the system into
a home of some sort.

And that's baptist churches
all across the state.

So we've got one couple
that's already.

I mean,

she's out there,

right? She's got three kids
that are in her home now.

So now she's got six
kids in her home.

And I'm like,

right, and we've got two other couples
who are in the application process

because I've had to write references
for them that,

yes, they are actively a part of this
body of Christ and serving God.

And, yes,

they have a nice home and
stable environment,

and fostering kids would be a great
thing and all that thing,

right?

So this idea of fostering an adoption
is to bring someone into the

family, right?

So what does it take to be family?

What is it that we're looking at
in this particular verses?

I mean,

it's just four verses.

For in bringing many sons
and daughters to glory,

it was entirely appropriate
that God,

for whom and through whom
all things exist,

should make the pioneer of their salvation
perfect through suffering.

So that one verse,

what is he saying right there?

He's saying that we,

as brothers and sisters,

sons and daughters,

are brought to glory.

So what did it take for God to
make us a part of his family?

You see,

this is a big deal in
the book of Hebrews,

because the writer of Hebrews is
explaining to his audience,

to the hearers or the readers of it,

that Christ,

the Son,

the heir,

creator, sustainer,

radiance of God's glory,

and the exact essence,

the exact expression
of God's essence,

right. That Christ,

God the Son,

became humanity,

became human.

He was birthed into this existence I
shared with you a couple of weeks

ago. No,

we can't even imagine Christ in
glory stepped into this filth.

Can I just put it that way?

Can we admit that the Christ
who knew no sin,

the Jesus who had existed
in the presence of God,

by God's will,

involuntarily came down
to hang out with us?

Right? Think about that a minute.

How many of y'all know people you
don't want to hang out with?

Go ahead.

Yeah, see,

some of you willingly
raise your hand.

Yes, I know people.

Just here's the even worse question.

How many of you got family members
you don't want to hang out with?

Right? Just think about
that a minute.

I mean,

these are flesh and blood people that
we're connected to in family and

genealogy and all that
kind of stuff.

And then you go to family reunion,

you go,

oh, right.

It's worse than holding hands across
the aisle and choosing your seat so

you don't have to hold
hands with that guy,

you see?

So when I start to consider,

what did God do to make me his kid,

to adopt me into his family?

What did it cost to make
me a child of his?

It took the death of his only
begotten to adopt me.

See? And in bringing many sons
and daughters to glory,

just by God's own adoption
in Christ's death,

I have been brought to glory.

Now, it doesn't look like it.

I know.

Yet, right?

I mean,

you look around,

I mean,

I've seen people,

sometimes I go,

God did you really.

I mean,

you see my point?

My point is that the price that was
paid to make us a part of God's

family is more than we can imagine.

Now, I grew up in church.

I keep telling y'all this through the
daily devotionals and on Sunday

mornings. I grew up in church.

Mom and dad raised me
in a christian home.

They shared Jesus with me.

They made sure I was in Sunday
school and worship,

and they made sure that I was
in discipleship trainings,

that we called it training union.

Back then,

I was in the ras,

and they made sure that I was receiving
this spiritual education all of

my life.

Now, I'll go ahead and admit to you,

I went through those years
where I was like,

right. I don't know if I want
to be a part of that family.

See what I mean?

But when I began to realize.

Wait a minute.

To follow Jesus to be.

Now, that's an important phrase.

Follow Jesus to be God's son through
the shed blood of Jesus Christ is

this incredible gift.

But I don't think I realized,

growing up in a christian home,

the price that was paid
to bring me to glory,

you see?

So as we study through Hebrews,

this is what we're realizing,

is that God intentionally,

willfully planned to kill
his only begotten son.

Now we're sitting here going,

wait a minute.

Well, no,

look, Jesus the Son fulfilled God's
will and plan on the cross.

Right? Now there's all
this argument about,

well, who killed him?

Did the Jews kill him?

Did the Romans kill him?

I'm not even going to
worry about that,

because God was at work from Genesis
in creation when he said that the

seed of woman would crush
the head of Satan.

We're going to get to that as we
continue working through this.

But when I look at this
thing and that,

that for whom and through.

All right.

So for in bringing many sons
and daughters to glory,

yay. Welcome to glory.

Here's a little exercise for you.

Look at your neighbor.

Even if you're not sitting close to
someone and tell them their glory,

say your glory.

Go ahead.

How'd that feel?

Now, did any of you look at
your neighbor and go,

wait a minute.

Your glory?

The fact of the matter is that God
did a work to bring us to glory.

And it goes on to say it was entirely
appropriate that God,

for whom and through whom
all things exist,

should make the pioneer.

Now, that word pioneer
coming out of Greek,

is a reference to being
the trailblazer,

the one who goes before everybody
that comes behind him.

And so Christ is that pioneer
of our salvation.

He's the one that enacted our salvation
by dying and rising again.

And then that word perfect,

the pioneer of their salvation.

Perfect through sufferings.

It wasn't that Jesus wasn't perfect.

It means that through
his sufferings,

he completed the pioneering work
of salvation for our behalf.

That's how God brought us to glory.

For the one who sanctifies and those
who are sanctified all have one

father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed
to call them brothers and

sisters. Now back to the
story of adoption.

I was listening to this testimony.

I thought it was cool.

And they were adopting a child.

And they said,

you know,

said the day that the judge said,

she's now yours,

see, that child was secure
from that day forward.

That child had a family.

That child hadn't had
a family before.

That child now had a family.

That child now had a father
and a mother and siblings.

You see,

when in salvation we receive the redemption
that God has given us.

And God says,

you belong to me now.

You're my family.

I've adopted you.

You call me Abba,

Father. You see,

what did God do to make us
a part of his family?

The one who sanctifies
or sets apart.

That's what sanctifies mean.

The one who sets apart and those who
are set apart all have one father.

So Christ is the one who has done this
work that provides us with this

sanctification, this righteousness
that is not our own,

this holiness that we can't earn
and we don't deserve it.

That's why Jesus is not ashamed to
call them brothers and sisters.

What does he say?

Look at that.

That is why.

All right,

so we've already joked and laughed and
thank you for laughing along with

me because I got family members at
family reunion that I avoid,

too.

Jesus had every right to look at
the sin in this world and go,

that's bad.

But he said,

that's bad,

and I'm going to die in their place.

Then he knelt in a garden.

He said,

God, if there's any other way,

Father, if there's any other way,

but your will be done.

And he took the beating and he died
the death that belonged to us.

You see,

because of sin,

we deserve death.

Okay, Jesus died in our place.

What did it take to adopt you?

What did it take to make you
a part of God's family?

You see,

it's really important that we understand
the magnitude of what God has

done on our behalf because
the prophetic words here,

I will proclaim your name to
my brothers and sisters.

Jesus is the one proclaiming the father
to the brothers and sisters.

I will sing hymns to you
in the congregation.

Again, I will trust in him.

And again,

here I am with the children
God gave me.

Do you belong to God?

I like to give us the
benefit of doubt.

You all showed up this morning.

You're all here for a reason.

If we accept the benefit
of the doubt and say,

yes, I belong to God,

yes, I'm God's child.

I'm a part of God's family,

right? Then you know something I
can't get away from right now.

Many of you know,

I travel back and forth,

South Carolina,

and do things with mom and dad
and that sort of thing.

And a lot of times like this,

know, I had to explain some things.

People say,

well, what's your dad's full name?

And I say,

robert Earl Owings senior.

You know what?

I can't get away from that.

They said,

what's your name?

I said,

just change one letter,

the s and the j.

I'm Robert Earl Owings,

Jr. Right?

I'll bear that until I am no more.

Right.

So then our identity in Christ,

if we're part of the family of God,

if we're part of God's family
and we are God's kids,

then do we bear that identity throughout
every aspect of our lives?

Do we live it out?

I mean,

I'm going to keep challenging on this
because God intended by inspiration

for this whole book of
Hebrews to emphasize,

to prioritize Jesus.

I think as we study through it,

then God's expectation of us is that we
emphasize and prioritize Jesus in

our lives.

See, we were brought to glory through
the shed blood of Jesus.

We've been called siblings.

That's what it says.

That is why Jesus is not ashamed to
call them brothers and sisters.

He says,

I will proclaim your name to
my brothers and sisters.

I will sing hymns to you
in the congregation.

We're siblings,

joint heirs with Jesus.

See, I used to describe it this way.

I've told y'all the story,

and it's still there.

Actually, my mom and dad
bought a living room,

den kind of furniture suit about
the time I was born,

because it's still in the front
room at the house now,

and it's got all this early
american print on it.

And it's one of the reasons why I said
as I was becoming an adult that I

would never put early american
anything in my house.

Anyway, this couch is still there,

and there's this swivel rocker.

I know what a swivel rocker is it turns
like this and it rocks like this.

There's no recliner to it.

But that was my dad's chair,

right? My dad would come in from work
and he'd sit down with the index

journal, and he'd sit in that swivel
rock and he'd snap that paper open

in the evening.

He'd be reading the newspaper,

right?

Well, then as a teenager,

I got real sarcastic about it.

And so I'd come in the house from
wherever I had been at school or

whatever, or later in the evening
out with friends or something,

I'd go and sit in his lap
and crush his paper.

He's my dad,

right? And I was getting close
to being as tall as he was,

and I just thought it was funny that
I'd sit in his lap in that swivel

rocker as a bigger teenage kid
and crush his newspaper.

I thought that was funny until later
in life when I started to think

about my impression and the imagery
of God on his throne.

To me,

a lot of people want to put God in front
of some dark brown judges board

like that,

with a big old,

big old chair and a black robe and pointing
down across the judge's bench

at those who deserve a sentence
and a punishment.

And a lot of people have
that view of God,

or God the king on a throne and how
it's dangerous to approach.

And yet,

God the father adopted
me as his kid,

and he said,

you can call me Abba,

you can call me daddy.

And spiritually speaking,

folks, he says,

you can come sit in my lap.

See that?

So years ago,

I started describing God's throne in
my mind as a swivel rocker with

early american print,

okay, he's my heavenly daddy.

And when I say that,

there have been people through the years
who've gotten real uncomfortable

with me referring to God
as my heavenly daddy.

But do you know,

in the difficult times of life,

when the challenges
seem to mount up,

when things get hard to talk
about or things get tough,

right? None of y'all have
ever experienced that,

right? We've all got it made.

Do you know what?

It's in those still,

quiet morning hours.

And I'll go ahead and tell you.

02:00 this morning I woke up.

I just called on my heavenly daddy.

I said,

daddy, I'm glad you're awake because
you never sleep or slumber.

I'm glad you meet me in
these dark moments.

I'm glad you're there.

I'm glad that you paid the
price to make me yours.

We've been given see that's
what he says.

Here I am with the children
God gave me.

That's what Jesus is saying.

We're joint heirs.

We belong to God.

The world wants to convince
you otherwise.

The world wants to lead you down
a path of destruction,

because Satan is the one that guides
so much of what's going on around

us. See,

I belong to God.

And whatever else falls
apart in the world,

and trust me,

it's fallen apart.

God's still sitting on his throne,

and he still invites me into his presence
because I belong to him.

I can trust that.

I can live that every day.

See, because my big brother
died for me.

See, that I don't want to forget that
at any point of any day in my life,

I belong to God.

He holds me in the palm of his hand.

Don't forget it.

See, if you don't have
that this morning,

you've never trusted Jesus for
salvation and redemption.

I'm going to call it what it is.

That fear and that question I shared
one day this week in one of the

devotionals that one of my
professors once said,

you got to know that you know that
you know that you belong to God.

See, we can have that assurance.

We can live that assurance.

If you don't know Jesus
this morning,

we want you to.

We want you to be a part
of God's family.

See, that?

Maybe you know Jesus.

Maybe you know,

you've trusted Jesus,

but it's been difficult to live it.

This is where I always like
to quote Pastor Nick.

You know,

it's. It's simple to be a Christian.

It's just not easy.

You got to get out there
and live it.

Got to make it the priority.

You got to make it the focus
of your identity,

see, not just in this room,

but out there,

see? Run to the father because
he's invited you to.

Okay. All righty.

We're going to sing one more song,

give you the opportunity
to respond to God.

If you don't know God,

if you don't know,

if you've never trusted Jesus,

this is your opportunity.

So pray with me.

Father, thank you for today,

and thank you for your word.

And thank you that,

God, you have adopted us.

You have made us sons and daughters
through the shed blood of Jesus

Christ and God.

I'm so grateful that that's
a real thing.

We don't just look at that
as a spiritual truth,

God, that is the real family that is
portrayed in our earthly families,

and yet we've made such a mess
of our earthly families.

God help us to look to
you as our father.

Help us to run to you as our father.

God help us to show others what it means
to have a heavenly daddy who

loves us and cares for us always.

We pray it in Jesus name.

Amen.