Holding Fast

Antonius’ Story

Antonius sat alone in a deteriorating second-story apartment located in a slum in 1st Century Rome. As rain fell on the the age-worn roof with holes, a plate of stale bread and vegetables and a cup of sour wine rested on table. The room had turned dark with the coming of the storm, and Antonius lit a small oil lamp against the gloom. With the light, hungry roaches materialized, running to the dark safety of cracks in the wall. In the apartment next door a baby cried, and the infant’s father screamed at the mother. Somewhere in the muddy street below a unit of Roman soldiers marched past, driven under sharp orders from its commander. Antonius sat alone, thinking.

That morning his employer, a rough man named Brutus, once again turned from the task of pricing fruits and vegetables to ridicule this young Christian. Brutus was big, obnoxious, and cruel. Antonius cringed against the man’s emotional blows, wishing he could strike back out of his hurt and embarrassment. Each time he “turned the other cheek” it felt like another slap on the face. Yet, he bit his lip, nursed his wounded pride, and again asked the Lord’s forgiveness for his thoughts.

Persecution of the church in Rome had yet to result in executions, but since the expulsion of Jews under the Emperor Claudius, Christians had continued to be harassed to various degrees by both Jews and pagans. Upon the expulsion some had suffered imprisonment, beatings, and the seizure of their properties. In fact Antonius own grandfather, ruler of the Synagogue, had been one of the most outspoken opponents of the Christians. When at seventeen Antonius converted to Christianity, his grandfather declared Antonius dead in a shouting match that ended in tears and a shattered relationship.

In recent months abuse of the church had escalated with the amused approval of the emperor himself, and now emotional fatigue was taking its toll. Footsteps in the hall; a scream in the night; meaningless events that, nevertheless, set Antonius’s heart racing with anxiety. He had been told the cost of following the Messiah, but somehow his experience was different than he expected. In the beginning he thought his joy would never be broken, that he would always feel the presence of God. He had been taught that the Lord, the righteous Judge, would vindicate his new covenant people. Did not the Scriptures, speaking of the Messiah, say that God had put “all things in subjection under his feet”? But the church had taken a great beating lately, and members of its various house-groups had become discouraged and were questioning whether Christ was really in control. Some, in their disillusionment, doubted and left the church altogether.

Antonius remembered the traditions of the synagogue and the support of the Jewish community, the joy of the festivals, and the solemn celebrations of the Jewish calendar. He appreciated the fellowship of Christ’s community, but genuinely missed the traditions of his ancestors—and he missed his family. He watched them from a distance as they walked together to market. Some of them still would not speak to him and passed him on the street as they would a Gentile. That was difficult, and today his loneliness closed in around him like a dark, damp blanket.

Antonius had missed the weekly meal, the communion and worship for the past two weeks, and his heart had cooled somewhat toward the little house-church. A voice in the back of his spirit warned him, cautioning him concerning his loss of perspective; yet, in recent days he had begun to silence such thoughts from his mind as quickly as they came. Antonius’s bitterness over his current circumstances was growing and slowly obscuring the Truth.

That night the believers were to meet for worship and encouragement. Rumour had it the leaders had received a document from back east somewhere. Although discouraged and tempted to skip the meeting again, Antonius’s curiosity was aroused, and he decided to travel to the neighbourhood house where the church was gathered. Entering the gathering room, he spoke greetings to several friends, who also looked tired from the day’s work and discouragement hung like a cloud over the room. When the meal was finished, the group’s leader, a good and godly man of almost seventy years, finally arrived. He was a bit out of breath, having come from a meeting with the other leaders half way across the city. He was visibly moved as he stood smiling before the group of about twenty, his hands shaking slightly from excitement. After a few words of introduction the Leader took a deep breath and explained he had talked the other leaders into allowing his group the first reading of the scroll. With a twinkle in his eye the elder unrolled the first part of the parchment and began reading: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.…” Hebrews 1:1-2.

Prayer

Introduction

The fictional story of Antonius, written by George Guthrie for his commentary on the Book of Hebrews very well illustrates the situation of the first century church. Particularly, for those who have left Judaism to follow the Jesus movement, which seen as a heretical offshoot of Judaism at this time. See, we have to understand that persecution against Christianity was not immediate and it wasn’t empire wide straight way. It took gradual escalations before there would be any mass persecutions of Christianity.

But of course we read in the book of Acts and in history that being a Christian, even before all the persecution wasn’t easy. And a major reason is because Judaism was a legal religion and Christianity was not. This meant that Jews who held to traditional Judaism enjoyed the privileges of a socially and legally accepted religion while Christians did not. And so throughout the early church there was a great struggle for acceptance and identify. And in that process, there were at least social and financial consequences to being a Christian.

As Antonius’s story illustrates, in this struggle for identity and in taking social abuse from outside, this would have in no-doubt caused many believers to struggle with their faith. And throughout the NT, we see that although the church had this incredible beginning, with power, miracles, fervour, and fire, by the time that the apostles start writing letters to the churches, we see in the Epistles, many instances of falling away as in Galatians, bondage to sin as in Corinthians, and by the time of Revelation, only one of the seven churches in Asia Minor stood un-condemned. What we see is that the reality of the 1st Century Roman world very quickly caught up to the initial excitement of the Gospel message. The questions in believers’s minds at this time very much started resonates Antonius’s questions, “How is Jesus in control if our reality only reflect chaos?” and “where is the soon return of Jesus that we were told about?”, “how long o God, will this go on for?”

And one of the reason why I wanted to preach on the book of Hebrews as my last message here at Ryde is not only because the situation behind Hebrews in many ways parallels our situation today. But more so because Hebrews is one of the most encouraging books of the Bible and I think in literature.

But just to touch on how the situation of Hebrews as illustrated in Antonius’s story is relevant to us today. Many of us in today’s world are living with anxiety and depression just as Antonius did. And this is not just believers right. Much of the unbelieving world today, in seeing the constant news of wars, and diseases, and chaos are asking the same questions “where is all of these chaos headed?” “and if God existed, where is he?”.

And I think it is because of all these amplified anxiety and stress that is causing the world to turn to ways to numb and silence the chaos. It’s easy to point the finger but we must understand that everyone trying to deal with stress and anxiety in a way that they know how. For Antonius it was the temptation to return to Judaism proper, but for most of the world today, it is by turning to the numbing agents of the world.

But then for the Christian in the Western world today, there is also the added stress of finding our identity and values in an increasingly secular West. In my time with many of you, I’ve heard some of your stories of struggles to live out your Christian faith in today’s world.

But then added on top of that, as Seventh-day Adventist Christians we also have to deal with the additional stigma against Adventism both from Christians and non-believers alike. And I know there are many situations that we come across where it is hard to live out, specifically, our Adventist beliefs.

But it is not just external things that we face, a lot of our struggles are internal too. We as SDA have been preaching Jesus’s soon return for almost 200 years now. We’ve been hearing the Sanctuary message, the 3AM messages, some of us, our whole lives. And the question for many of us in the church is, “is Adventism still relevant in the 21st Century?”

And it doesn’t help that many highly influential people in our very own church have abandoned things that we consider Biblical truth. Teachings like the Sanctuary message.

And the truth is, our church exploded on to the scene with the fervour of the early church, we had a clear identity of who we are and what our message is for the world.

And this is experience for many of us when we first hear about Biblical truth. But just like the early church, sometimes life and reality catches up with us.

And sometimes what we see in our church today is a reflection of what was happening to the Hebrew believers. Throughout Hebrews, the author is warning the believers against something. Heb 2:1.

Hebrews 2:1 ESV

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

And so the issue that Hebrews is speaking of is the issue of drifting way from truth because the hope and expectations of the Christian faith sometimes takes longer to be fulfilled than what we and Antonius had expected.

And this very issue of drifting away is a phenomenon that churches around the world is challenged by today. All the statistics show it, that as many are coming in through the front door, the same numbers are often leaving through the back. I mean, how many of you have gone back to a church that you grew up in, and hear the stories of people who have just stopped coming. People who have just drifted away because of life.

Jesus is Greater

And in dealing with the issue of drifting away in the first century, the author of Hebrews puts together one of the most beautiful letters of encouragements for the believers.

And to understand Hebrews, we have to quickly note that one of the main Greek rhetorics used at the time of the first century was the rhetoric of making comparisons. And so the author of Hebrews puts forward a very intricate line of arguments structured around comparing what the Hebrew believers have in Jesus to what they are leaving behind.

And so returning to the verse that we ended on in our story at the very start Hebrews 1:1-2.

Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

And this is just such incredible writing and the original Greek is even more spectacular. But what Hebrews is introducing is really the privilege of being a Christian. That through all the ages in the past, God’s way of communicating to fallen humanity was only through prophets and priests because the true intercessor between God and humanity have not yet been revealed.

But here is the thing, the prophets themselves throughout the OT were prophesying and writing about things that they didn’t have a complete understanding of. This is why Ephesians 3:4-5 says...

Ephesians 3:4–5 ESV

When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.

And this is why Peter says in 1 Peter 1:10-12 that though the prophets were searching for the meaning of their prophesy, they were ultimately not prophesying for themselves but for a future generation.

1 Peter 1:10–12 ESV

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

So the privilege of the Christian is that mysteries of the Gospel and the mysteries of God’s mission and character were only hinted at in the past through the prophets but as Christians we have the full revelation of God in the person of Jesus. And this is why John the apostle says in John 1:18 that it is through Jesus that we get to see the full glory of the Father.

John 1:18 ESV

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

If for this reason and none other, what amazing privilege we have as Christians, that all the amazing men and women of the Bible in the OT could only get a glimpse of the God’s revelation, but we not only get to hear God’s voice through the OT prophets but we get to hear directly from God’s very own Son through the Gospels, through the writings of the Apostles, and through the Holy Spirit.

But Hebrews doesn’t just stop there. No it goes on to compare Jesus to all things that traditional Judaism holds of value. Jesus is greater than the angels and in fact all creation, because Jesus is the Creator himself. In fact, Hebrews takes the proper interpretation of Psalms 45 and applies it to Jesus. It pictures God the Father in worship and adoration of the God the Son, for the very fact that the Son is the one who laid the foundation of the earth. Heb 1:8-10.

Hebrews 1:8–10 ESV

But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;

And it is very clear that the NT testament writers fully affirmed the divinity of Jesus. And so the privilege of the Christian of hearing from Jesus is the very privilege of hearing from the Creator God.

And not only that, Hebrews goes on to argue that Jesus is greater than Moses, who was the greatest man ever to live according to Jewish tradition.

And Jesus is greater than the OT Levitical priesthood. In fact, Jesus is our ultimate high priest ministering the ultimate sacrifice in the ultimate Sanctuary in heaven. Everything we have in Jesus is greater than anything this world, philosophy, and religion can offer us. Jesus, as the full manifestation of God, is far superior in every single place.

And we saw two weeks ago that it is in recognising Jesus’s superiority over everything, that Peter was left with no choice but to keep following Jesus even when the crowd walked away. As confused as he was about Jesus’s mission, Peter knew that there is nothing better on offer in this world. Jesus is superior, even when things don’t seem that way. Keep holding on, because there is nothing better on offer in this world

And with that I want to spend a little bit of time specifically on Jesus’s superior ministry in the heavenly sanctuary because it is the context for our main passage today. For those unfamiliar with this concept. In the OT God tells Moses to build him a Sanctuary, or Tabernacle, or Temple (which are words used interchangeably for this structure). And the sanctuary was to be built according to a pattern that God showed Moses himself. And the bulk of the OT centres in one way or another on this physical tabernacle. But when we get to the book of Hebrews, the major section of Hebrews centres on the fact that the earthly sanctuary was only a shadow or a representation of the true sanctuary, where Jesus now ministers after his ascended to heaven.

Hebrews 10:19 and the Sanctuary Message

And it is because of Jesus’s superior ministry in heaven that we get to the main text of today’s message which starts in Heb 10:19-25.

Hebrews 10:19–25 ESV

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Now we don’t have the time this morning to go into all the details of the Sanctuary in Hebrews. But I find it fascinating that both Hebrews and Revelation, which are both books primarily written to encourage the 1st Century believers living through discouragement, that the authors spend significant portions of the letters encouraging believers from the perspective of the Sanctuary.

When verse says that through Jesus’s blood we can enter the holy places and through the curtain, these are specific Sanctuary language.

There have been a lot of discussions in Adventism over the last half century over the doctrine of the Sanctuary. As result of some controversies and objections, many have abandoned the Sanctuary message or rarely talk about it. Others find it difficult to make the Sanctuary message relevant in the modern day and age and admittedly, the sanctuary carries with it the stigmas of Adventist conservatism.

You know, when I started going to Avondale, you hear a lot of rumours about how Adventist higher education is abandoning its Adventist heritage and traditional theology and so forth. But for me, after coming through the Avondale program, I can confidently say today that I have never appreciated the beauty of the Seventh-day Adventist system of theology as I do today. And central to this appreciation is the beauty of the Sanctuary message, through which we can have a consistent interpretation of the Bible from Genesis through to Revelation. But the Sanctuary message for me is so much more than what we typically hear about. It is so much more than just symbols and typology. The Sanctuary message is beautiful. Listen to what David says of the Sanctuary in the Psalms, in Ps 27:4.

Psalm 27:4 ESV

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

See for David, the Sanctuary is not a dry system of theology, no for David the sanctuary is beautiful. And it is beautiful because the Sanctuary reveals the beauty of the LORD, Yahweh.

The sanctuary reveals Yahweh because it grounds us in a understanding of a fundamental truth about God’s character. I’ve preached on this a number of times now, what is the ultimate purpose of the Sanctuary? Ex 25:8.

Exodus 25:8 ESV

And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.

And you see, the sanctuary’s portrayal of God is so different from all other understandings of deity and god. Often times we hear people say that all religions worship the same God. But for me this cannot be possibly true. Because in many conceptions of god around the world, god does not enter his creation, rather god or the gods is all sovereign and always and forever stands apart from creation. And this is why the Christian teaching that Jesus is Jahweh incarnate is so offensive to some world views.

But the Sanctuary message reveals to us that Yahweh is not distant to his creation because even at the very beginning, right at creation, God enters his creation. God at creation put a time Sanctuary of the Sabbath in place, and a location Sanctuary of Eden in place, for the very purpose so that Yahweh can fellowship with his creation face to face. Yahweh did not stand distant to his creation in the beginning but Yahweh tabernacled with his creation.

And when sin entered into the world, and humanity were driven from the presence of God through sin, God’s desire to be with us never changed. Despite our fallenness, despite our sin, and despite our rejection of him. We are assured that God’s desire to be with us persists because in the Old Testament, he gives Israel the earthly Sanctuary as a means by which he can still dwell with his people. That, through a system of sacrifice and cleansing with blood, Yahweh can once again dwell with his people.

And this gift is not just for the Israelites, and despite Israel’s latter attempts to prohibit others from experiencing the beauty of God’s sanctuary, the Sanctuary was meant to be a gift to the world.

When Solomon finally completed the Old Testament temple, in his dedication of the temple, and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he prays in 1 Kings 8:41-43.

1 Kings 8:41–43 (ESV)

“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

You see, Solomon understood that the Sanctuary was not only a way for God to dwell with the Israelites, but that through the witnessing of the Israelites, God will one day be able dwell with the whole world in his Temple.

But throughout the OT we see that Israel never lived up to their true calling of proclaiming this beautify God to the world, instead they became more and more insulated because of the consequences for their own rebellion. And what was God going to do in the face of that? When we see in Ezekiel 10, God’s presence leaving the Temple, the question is raised: Will God finally leave and abandon his people? Have our sins finally driven away the presence of Yahweh forever?

And for 400 hundred years from the last of the OT prophets to Jesus, people asked, where is God’s presence in all of the chaos, all the afflictions and all the bondage? Questions that are relevant in every age of earth’s history.

But on one evening, in the little town of Bethlehem, God does the unimaginable. Though all the OT prophecies pointed to this, no one expected what God will do. Because in John 1:14 we read that the eternal Word, the Logos who created all things, who was with God at the beginning, and who is himself God, became flesh and dwelt among us, and it is because of him that we get to see the glory of the Father in full. And the Greek word for dwelt in John 1:14 is the verb form of the word for Tabernacle. In other words the very incarnation of Yahweh in the person of Jesus is deeply rooted in what the tabernacle reveals, and that is his desire to be with his people. And throughout Jesus’s life, God chose to dwell with us, sinners, to dwell rebellious people, with broken people, diseased people, dirty people if you may, no longer in a physical temple, but as one of us, a human being talking to us face to face. And so the author of Hebrews says in Heb 2:9...

Hebrews 2:9 ESV

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

And despite all of the filth of this sinful, fallen world, Heb 2:11 says that God in the person of Jesus Christ, was not ashamed to us brethren.

Hebrews 2:11 ESV

For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

But not only is the tabernacling of Yahweh in Jesus unbelievable, the very mission of the incarnation is beyond all comprehension. Because Jesus’s ultimate mission was to one day hang on a cross, a despised, humiliating, shameful, instrument of torture. But as he hung on the cross and gave his last breath, we read in Matthew, Mark, and Luke that the curtain of the temple, the curtain that separated fallen humanity from the full glory of God was torn in two.

And according to Hebrews 10:4-5 on the cross the ultimate sacrifice was offered, God himself.

Hebrews 10:4–5 NASB95

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body You have prepared for Me;

But not only did God offer up the ultimate sacrifice, he himself then become our intercessor in the heavenly temple, interceding on our behalf and applying the very accomplishments of the cross on our behalf.

And it is because of Jesus, it is because of his sacrifice for us on the cross. And it is because of his ongoing intercession for us in heaven, that Heb 10:22 says that we can now approach God’s throne with an assurance of faith.

Hebrews 10:22 ESV

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

But the reality is that right now God’s presence with us is only spiritual through the Holy Spirit. And this is why we don’t experience God’s full presence in the physical sense and we have to still walk by faith. Although we have eternal life today as saw two weeks ago, and although we have access to God’s very throne today as we have seen this morning, we still have to face the realities of this world. However, one day, we are promised that the spiritual and the physical will again align. Because we are promised in Revelation 21:2-4.

Revelation 21:2–4 NKJV

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

What a beautiful story. What a beautiful hope. What a beautiful God that the Sanctuary reveals. No wonder David says that his deepest desire is to dwell in God’s house and to behold his beauty and to inquire at His temple.

And even if we are to face rejection for this,

How can we not love him for this message? How can we do anything else but follow him? how can we not preach this message to the world? how can we think anything less of the great truth and the calling that God has given to us as Seventh-day Adventist Christians? How can we, in the words of Hebrews “neglect so great a salvation”?

The Sanctuary message is beautiful and relevant to us today because even in all the chaos of this world, it assures us that God is working, Jesus is still working in heaven, and that God is still on a mission so that all may have the opportunity to dwell in peace with him.

And what is our only appropriate response to all of this? Heb 10:22-23 gives us the appropriate response.

Hebrews 10:22–23 ESV

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

And we don’t have time to break this passage down fully. But what we’ve seen this morning is that God has done everything he can to dwell with us and he is the one who has removed every obstacle preventing humanity from his presence. But God is also a God who respects free will. So the only thing left for us to do is to respond and draw near to him because he first drew near to us.

And maybe someone is here this morning who has never responded to the drawing God in the past. And maybe in the past you have thought that there were too many obstacles between you and God, all your sins and short comings. That God is just high and lifted up and you’re just a mortal here on earth. But this morning the Bible testifies to the fact that we can draw near to God in full assurance of faith that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from evil and opens the way for us to the very throne of God and nothing else in between. No need for priests. No need for other intercessors in heaven or on earth. Just us and God perfectly reconciled through Jesus Christ.

And to those who have received Christ in faith and have received the truth of Scripture, the encouragement this morning is this. To hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering. That against all the chaos of the world we may stand on our convictions of what is true. But notice the reason why we do this. The reason is because God is faithful.

I preached a few months back that when it comes to having a faith that endures to the end. The way we can do this, the only way our faith can grow, is if we grow to understand that God is the one who is faithful, God is the one is enduring. And it is by clinging on to God’s faithfulness that we can ever hold fast our faith without wavering. And in this sense Hebrews says that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith.

But the encouragement is to hold fast to the faith, to hold fast to the hope, because Jesus is worth it.

But there is one last point that I want to make to add to what I shared two weeks ago. And that is, after the last message, in that afternoon during RawFaith, there seemed to be some misunderstandings over what it means to follow Jesus against the tide. Because sometimes we can get this idea that following Jesus means its just me and Jesus and we shouldn’t care about anyone else, not family, not friends, its just me and Jesus, right?

But Hebrews shows us that there is actually something else when it comes to following Jesus, there is something else when it comes to discipleship. Because in Heb 10:24-25, it adds

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

You see, as Jesus’s return approaches, and Jesus is coming back soon. Some people have the idea that they need to become more insulated and just get away from everyone.

But that is not Biblical Discipleship. No. Our reconciliation with God, our loyalty to God is always expressed in our relationship and love to other people. There is no vertical reconciliation with God without horizontal reconciliation with each other. God’s love is never singular, God’s love is never individualistic, God’s love is for the collective of humanity and that must be reflected in us.

And so the Bible actually warns against individualism. Biblical discipleship and Biblical Christianity is always expressed in community with each other.

You know, when Audrey and I first stepped foot into 3AM 5 years ago. What attracted us the most and what kept us coming back, was more than anything else, the community of the church. We saw that people genuinely loved one another, people cared for one another, people served one another. And it was so different to everything we’ve experienced in the world. And then also to have Nic and Kudzai to come and do Bible studies with us, and investing time into us, and sacrificing their family time for us, was just a tremendous expression of love.

And in our time now with 3AM Ryde and also these two years with the Living Water group joining us, man that community we felt only grew. And I cannot express how touched we are by the love of this church. Not only for us but for each other.

Some of you know that this year has been hands down the hardest year in Audrey and I’s life. And honestly speaking, if it wasn’t for the support, the encouragement, and the love that we’ve received from so many of you, I do not know if we would have made it through. And it is because of your love and friendship that leaving is so hard.

And so if I can leave you with anything. It is this. Hold fast to this love and to this community. Hold fast to loving one another, to serving one another, and to caring for one another. And I know that it may get hard at times. People are tricky, we all get judgmental, we all get frustrated with each other, we all fall short when it comes to some things. But persevere in the self-sacrificial love the overcomes all things. And the promise from Jesus himself is that people will see your love for one another, as Audrey and I saw, and know that you are his disciples.

And not just in love for each other but love for the wider Ryde community. This church is so active in serving this amazing community. Hold fast to that love. to everyone who walks through our doors, whether its our church, or our food pantry, or our mums and books club. And I get that ministry can get hard, I’ve felt burnt out so many times throughout the year. But may love for the people out there be the things that lets us persevere in our work.

And in closing, I don’t know when we will get to worship with you all again. I hope that it will be soon but even if not, please know that we love you all dearly, and we will miss you all dearly, and you will be in our prayers. And we are so excited to see and hear about all that God will do in and through the amazing ministry. But until we get to worship together again, my prayer is that we would all run the race with endurance, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.