Draw Near

Welcome Psalm 95:6–8 “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts,…

Announcements

Prayer on Tuesday

The Church C.R.E.W. Login and website — let us know if you haven’t seen the email

Preparation #

†CALL TO WORSHIP based on John 15:1-9

Pastor Austin Prince

Minister: I am the vine, Christ calls out, you are the branches.

Congregation: We come because we seek to abide in Christ.

Minister: The branches that remain in him bear much fruit.

Congregation: We come because we long to be faithful disciples.

Minister: Abide in my teaching, Christ calls, and you will abide in me.

Congregation: We come to glorify the Father with our lives.

Minister: Come, all you who know his voice, abide in the true vine.

Congregation: We come to abide in the love of Christ. Let us worship God!

†PRAYER OF ADORATION AND INVOCATION

O Lord our God, who art worthy to be praised and to be had in reverence of all those who are before you; Grant unto us, as we come to you in worship, the gift of thy Holy Spirit, that being cleansed and sanctified we may serve you with gladness, and find our joy in worshipping thy glory. Amen.

†OPENING HYMN OF PRAISE #351

“How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”

†CONFESSION OF SIN AND ASSURANCE OF PARDON

based on Daniel 4:4-19

Craig Hoffer, Elder

Minister: We confess our sins to our holy God. We know that when we confess he is faithful and just to forgive.

Congregation: Most gracious father: you are holy, yet filled with mercy and steadfast love.

And so we confess to you: we have preferred the ways of this world to your ways, and we have rebelled against your wisdom. Incline your ear to our troubles. Hear us when we pour out our sorrows before you. Forgive us, not on the ground of our own righteousness, but on the ground of your great mercy in the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ.

It is in his name that we pray, for He is our Savior and the mediator of the covenant of grace. Amen.

CONTINUAL READING OF SCRIPTURE

Numbers 26:1-4a,51-65

THE OFFERING OF TITHES AND OUR GIFTS

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS (Austin Prince)

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

†HYMN OF PREPARATION #399

“For Your Gift of God the Spirit”

SERMON Hebrews 10:19-25 // Draw Near!

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

Lord, thou hast given us thy Word for a light to shine upon our path; grant us so to meditate on that word, and to follow its teaching. That we may find in it the light that shines more and more until the perfect day through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

TEXT Hebrews 10:19-25

Hebrews 10:19–25 ESV

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 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. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 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.

AFTER SCRIPTURE

The ordinances of the Lord are sure, and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold.

Intro:

Much of our time spent in Hebrews over the last several chapters has been a description of how Christ is the perfect sacrifice and priest, whose work is finished once for all. And in the backdrop of this preaching there has been this image of the tabernacle that has helped to give clarity and illustration to so much of the book. One of the chief images has been that of the curtain, or the veil, that separates the outer court from the inner one, the Holy of Holies.

And in our text today, the writer says that this curtain, the one that separates God from man, has been torn in the tearing of Christ’s flesh. That’s how the access was made — at God’s expense and in God’s love and for the joy set before Him.

But, of course, Jesus has risen from the dead and lives forever (now) as our High Priest. And our text says that instead of interacting with God primarily through a death as of old, it is a continual interaction through the living way of Christ. A High Priest, as the song says, that ever lives and pleads for us.

And so there He sits, His work done and the door open, the curtain torn, never to be sewed up again. Now what?

The text has been building to this: Now it’s time to go in.

And that’s a whole new position from which to see ourselves. It’s a vantage point that we are called to live in right now. That, in light of Christ’s work, we enter the holy places.

Because of this living way, we go in. Our text gives us three ways in which we do that:

We Draw Near (What we are doing)

We Hold Fast (How we are doing it)

We Stir Up (Drawing Near Together)

Let us draw near to God (10:22)

“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.” (Hebrews 10:22, ESV)

This first point, to draw near, has to do with the way that we see ourselves and the way we see God — how we come to Him in confidence.

Once, drawing near meant trembling at Sinai, thunder above, death at the boundary line. Now, drawing near means walking through the torn veil into a Father’s embrace. The difference? Christ. That’s the shift we must live in—not outsiders under judgment, but children welcomed in love.

We must offer worship according to where we stand. And after the work of Christ, that barrier of fierce holiness has been assuaged in the blood of Christ. We must not see ourselves as those on the outside, or those under the thunder of heaven and can’t touch the mountain. We must see ourselves as those who are invited all the way in, to sit with the shepherd in green pastures. We must offer worship that is fitting for where we have been placed. And that’s at rest right before the throne. We are to draw near and come close. Where we stand now is not outside in fear, but inside in peace—invited to approach God like a child to a loving father.

The text says that we are to draw near and come with a true heart

We don’t come like the older brother in the prodigal son story, who stood outside the feast in self-righteous pride, refusing to enter. We’re called to step inside, trusting Christ’s invitation, not holding back in false piety.

We come in faith. We come honoring what He has done. He doesn’t want the sheepishness of self-pity and self-flagellation. Again, we must draw near.

Over and over again, God is calling us to approach Him confidently. If you’ve ever met someone who is a leader, maybe a boss, who is insecure and manipulative, confidence is not what they want you to have. They want to keep you insecure so that they can steer you. But that is not at all what has been the concern of Christ for so much of the explanation of Hebrews. God wants us to approach Him in rest and in assurance and in confidence.

And there are two ways that we can draw near and do that.

Hearts sprinkled clean, and 2) Bodies washed

This is language of purification like at the tabernacle. We have been prepared and have been qualified in Christ (clean and washed), now let’s go in - draw near.

We go in with our hearts and we go in with our bodies.

Hearts “clean from an evil conscience”: Part of what we are doing when we draw near is how we think and feel and see ourselves. The way that we walk through is the torn flesh of Christ. We are to see ourselves the way that the scriptures now define us and describe us. In life what that will feel like is guilt and shame and wrestling, but when we draw near, when we pass through the torn flesh, when we see the seated Christ whose work for us is done, we are at rest. We need the scripture to orient us. We need prayer to orient us. We must worship God from where we are truly at — as if the work is truly done.

Bodies “washed with pure water”: We also draw near with holy lives. We are living sacrifices. Go back to the prodigal son story for a moment and think of the younger brother who was welcomed home and went into the feast. How did he now live? Obedience and repentance was a great joy. Part of drawing near is to live under the joy of your master. To live as the man who found the treasure and sold all to buy the field. We live as those who aren’t on the outside, but who are on the inside. And from there, the prodigal’s obedience is done from rest and gratitude and life. There is no drudgery there. That’s where we now are, in Christ. We embrace drawing near.

So where and when do we draw near? We’re not in need of finding the holy of holies in a tent in the Middle East, we draw near through Christ, the living way — we can draw near when we lie on our beds in prayer, when we are at a bedside at the hospital, when we rejoice in our standing in Christ as we pray over a meal, when our feet hit the floor in the morning, on the drive home, as we talk with the kids about grace. When can we draw near? All the time. And we must.

2. We Hold Fast - “Let us hold fast to the hope we profess” (10:23)

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23, ESV)

How it is that we draw near is by faith. Faith is the means by which we are connected to Christ’s work and sacrifice. And look at how this speaks about faith — it holds fast, without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Hebrews has been meticulously describing the finished nature of Christ’s work, and it is building towards an exhortation about faith in chapter 11. We’ll speak more to the nature of faith soon, but this verse is a preview. Faith is not a wish or a hope but an assurance. We hold fast to our hope without wavering, because of what? Because He who promised is faithful. It rests on what Christ has done and what Christ has said and who Christ is — the rest does not come because of how fiercely we feel at any given moment.

Faith often gives us the fits because we think it is an elusive and subjective thing. We get discouraged when we read that our hope should be robust and strong and unwavering when it often feels thin and varied and weak.

A few years ago I had a friend who was going to be late to a Super Bowl party so he recorded the game and was going to watch it afterwards. He stopped by the party and asked everyone not to tell him who won or what happened because he wanted to watch it later. Of course, someone let it slip who it was that won. As he went back and watched the game, there were times when the score was close or it seemed like a shift could happen that would change the game, but he knew the whole time how it would all shake out. All of the tension and nerves that came from thinking that his team might lose, all of the subjective feelings about the game, didn’t change what he already knew was true and was going to be true.

In a way, our faith is to be more like that — focusing on the objective truth over our subjective feelings. That might not be a fun way to watch a game, but it is a great way to live.

Knowing the score doesn’t stop the game from being tense—but it keeps you steady. That’s how faith works: you already know Christ has won.

That’s why our faith has to draw near. Our faith has to enter in behind the veil and look there, where all is done and right, for rest. We continually must look to see the work complete.

When you wake up anxious about your kids, when the diagnosis shakes you, when you sin again and feel filthy—you don’t measure your faith by your feelings. You measure it by His faithfulness. And then you preach to yourself: “He who promised is faithful. The game is already won.”

And yes, our assurance can grow. It grows as we enter in and look at what has been done. We must walk in through faith and see. We come in prayer, we come through the word, we come in worship, we come through the sacraments, and come to know more and more that there is no condemnation, that we have been seated with Christ, that we are crucified and not longer live but Christ in us. We come and grow into a knowledge and a boldness to this finished work. That’s how faith talks.

3. We Stir Up - and “Let us consider how we may stir one another toward love and good deeds” (10:24)

“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.” (Hebrews 10:24–25, ESV)

We are to draw near together.

We are to encourage one another to draw near and encouragement doesn’t happen in isolation.

Those giant redwood trees don’t actually have much depth to their roots, but what they do is they lock in and intertwine their roots and are able to grow taller than any other tree because of it.

We need each other as we grow in faith and assurance. We need each other to be called to faithfulness and repentance. So many relationships in your life are ones where you are just there to be a service. You are a customer, you are being marketed to, you are helping build someone’s brand, you are a follower. It’s remarkable how few real relationships we have where someone loves us enough to challenge us, to tell us no, to call us back to faithfulness and to love us — It’s not normal. But oh, we need it. We need our Sam Gamgees who help us through life.

And we are to be stirred up together. We need each other to stir those ingredients into the whole mix.

Some of you walk in great humility. I need that. I need that to be stirred up in me.

There are so many Sundays and weekdays where I need your joy.

I need your faith and assurance when mine is weak.

I need your sight when I’ve looked elsewhere.

Not neglecting to meet

But our text says that some staying out of the mix. They neglect to meet and are not encouraged and are not there to encourage others.

In Acts 2:42, it says that the church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

It’s more than hearing a sermon; it’s life among others in the church. As the text says, we can’t afford that to become a habit. It’s too important and necessary. The church really needs to see this and get it into our hearts .

For these Hebrews it was likely persecution that would keep them from meeting. In their isolation they would grow in their fear and waver in their faith. For us, it’s other things: hobbies, sports, laziness, consumerism, when covid hit it was “I can get all the community I need online”. But if we are not being stirred up to love and good works we will be stirred by other things — that’s just how we work. We will be stirred to self or fear or ambitions. We need the local church to say, let’s draw near to Christ together.

This love for the church (for each other) is one of the things that distinguishes us as Christians. John says that “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.” (1 John 3:14, ESV)

Consider how to do this:

So, how might you stir up others to love and good works?

Think about it for a moment.

How is it that you sing? Do you sing loudly? Sometimes I’ll hear someone’s voice break through on a verse and they are singing with confidence and it just redoubles my focus on the words and calls me to a greater belief in them.

When you hear the prayer requests, do you write them down? Have you ever followed up with a text or a call or a letter?

In the prayer and preaching and liturgy, joyfully and robustly join in with an “Amen” in the prayers. Why? Because we need to hear that you believe the work and word of God.

Show up. Come to church events, peoples birthdays, baby showers, hospital visits, and funerals. Be there and hold the line.

Sometimes take the extra second in a conversation to be bold. As the conversation ends, ask if you can pray for them.

If you are hearing something and it needs a gentle challenge or rebuke, put your hand on a shoulder and speak a frank truth. Stir one another up.

When you see and recognize that someone is being a blessing. That they are encouraging to you and your faith. Tell them. Bless them.

Encouragement takes many forms—our words, our presence, our prayers. But the key is: show up and speak up. We draw near together.

Conclusion

So, in light of Christ’s finished work, go in with confidence, hold fast without wavering, and stir one another up in love. This is how we live on the other side of the torn veil. The curtain is gone. Now—go in.

This is not a one-time step. It is the shape and rhythm of the Christian life. Every morning when your feet hit the floor, every time you pray, every time we gather to worship, every time you feel weak or weary—the call is the same: draw near.

†PSALM OF RESPONSE #145C

“I Will Extol You, O My God”

THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

Minister: Lift up your hearts!

Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.

Minister: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise!

CONFESSION OF FAITH Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A’s 32, 34

Minister: Christians, confess your faith in Christ!

Congregation: I am called Christian because by faith I am a member of Christ and so share in His anointing. I am anointed to confess His name, to present myself to Him as a living sacrifice of thanks, to strive with a good conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for all eternity.

We call Him ‘our Lord’ because - not with gold or silver, but with His precious blood He has set us free from sin and from the tyranny of the devil, and has bought us, body and soul, to be His very own.

INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE

This meal is for those who are sorry for their sin and those who hate their sin. This table welcomes all who belong to Christ through repentance, faith, baptism, and continuing union with his Church. If you do not repent of your sin, you must not come. If you do not believe you have sinned, you must not come. But if you know your sin, and confess it, he is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness and this table is for you. Come, touch, taste and see the faithfulness of God.

PRAYER

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

After elements are distributed read the WOI while congregation is partaking.

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND SHARING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

Minister: The Lord Jesus, the same night he was betrayed, took bread;

and when he had given thanks,

he broke it

and gave it to them, saying, “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you:

do this in remembrance of me.”

After the same manner also, he took the cup when they had supped,

saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood:

this do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

†OUR RESPONSE

“Come, Thou Almighty King”

To the great one in three eternal praises be,

hence evermore. His sovereign majesty

may we in glory see, and to eternity love and adore.

†BENEDICTION: GOD’S BLESSING FOR HIS PEOPLE

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of God’s son, Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of God almighty, the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit remain with you always. Phil. 4:7

Grace Notes Reflection

Hebrews 10:19–25 reminds us that the curtain separating us from God’s presence has been torn through the sacrifice of Christ’s flesh. As Christians, we are called to enter this sacred space and live accordingly. Our response should be worship, gratitude, and obedience that reflect the privilege of our new position in Christ. For those in Him, this means approaching with confidence, assurance, rest, and awe, knowing that all has been made well.

So the charge to us all is to draw near — to make sure that we are living according to the work that has been accomplished for us.

From the text, we noted three ways that we can do this:

Draw near with confidence

Draw near with assurance

Draw near with others

Drawing near with confidence reflects a posture of belonging. We approach with hearts sprinkled clean and bodies washed with pure water—our hearts and hands united in faith. We believe confidently and obey joyfully, motivated by the acceptance we have in Christ. This is worship fitting for the place we now occupy through Him.

How does drawing near enhance your worship? Do you ever feel like an outsider, hesitant to approach God’s throne? Why might that be? How can focusing on your position in Christ help you offer worship that reflects your true standing?

Drawing near with assurance defines the posture of our faith. Faith is not a blind leap or a faint wish; it is rooted in objective truth rather than subjective feelings. Christ’s work is complete—perfect and sufficient when applied to you. You belong where He has placed you. Embrace it. Part of drawing near by faith is continually focusing on the reality of Christ’s resurrection and finished work, rather than the instability of our emotions before the throne.

How does this understanding of faith strengthen you? When you think of faith, do you focus more on your feelings or on the certainty of Christ’s work?

Drawing near with others underscores the vital role of the Church. At any moment, countless distractions and challenges can shake the faith of our congregation. We cannot afford to isolate ourselves. From singing together to sharing meals or sending flowers, the body of Christ must encourage one another to draw near to the throne of grace through Him.

The text urges us to consider how we can stir one another up to love and good works. Pause for a moment and reflect: How can I do this more intentionally within the rhythms of my daily life? What could I add? What can I do today to help someone else draw near?

Christian, live within the torn veil. Draw near in prayer, in worship, as you prepare for sleep, as you grieve, and as you sit with gratitude before a meal. Be at home in God’s presence, approaching with confidence and offering worship that reflects your place secured by Christ’s work.