Anchored to Move (2)

Call To Confession:

The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Knowing His mercy never fails, we are invited to come honestly before Him, confessing our sins and seeking His forgiveness. Let us now bring our hearts to God in prayer.

Unison Prayer of Confession:

Merciful God,

You have given us Jesus as the anchor for our souls, firm and secure. Yet we confess that we often loosen our grip on Him and drift toward other hopes — our achievements, our possessions, our comfort. You call us to follow Christ daily, but we confess that we resist the cost of discipleship. Too often we want the security of the anchor without the surrender of the journey. Forgive us, Lord. Draw us back to the solid hope of Christ, and lead us again to take up our cross and follow Him. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Words of Assurance:

Hear the good news: Scripture declares, “God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). Because of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we are forgiven, restored, and welcomed into God’s family. Thanks be to God, who has given us new life through Jesus Christ.

Preaching Text: Hebrews 6:13–20

When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Sermon:

Two of my favorite artists right now—and also my daughter’s—are Crowder (who I’ve mentioned before) and Forest Frank. Forest Frank is a newer artist who has been topping the charts with Christian songs. A few months ago, Forest was skateboarding outside his house when he wiped out and broke his back. The entire accident was caught on his Ring camera.

He spent the next few weeks lying in bed, during which he began writing songs and sharing them on social media. Even before his fall, he had felt that God was urging him to start documenting life and capturing his testimony in real time. So while bedridden, he recorded his struggles and shared how his faith was keeping him going. Alongside those reflections, he also began releasing new songs.

Other artists soon started sharing their prayers for Forest’s healing. One performer even took time during a concert to pray over him. Remarkably, a week later Forest got up, began walking without his brace, felt great, and even picked up his son for the first time without pain. In that moment, he suddenly realized what had happened, quickly put his brace back on, and later went for an X-ray—only to find that his back had been completely healed.

While Forest was celebrating his healing, Crowder had an accident of his own. While grilling, he dropped something off his deck and down a hillside. Thinking he could retrieve it, he went after it and ended up breaking his leg so badly that he needed surgery. When Forest heard about this, he wrote a song for Crowder, posted it on social media, and asked him if he wanted to add to it and collaborate.

That’s exactly what happened. In fact, during this season Forest wrote three songs in collaboration with three different artists. One of those collaborations even came out of another artist poking fun at Forest’s accident. Out of that teasing came a powerful song about forgiveness. Each of these songs went on to become some of the most played tracks on iTunes across all genres.

The song Crowder and Forest wrote together is called The Rock, and it fits perfectly with today’s passage. Here are some of the lyrics:

Yeah, I'm standing on the only one who can save my soul (soul)

Only love that never let go (go)

Only anchor in the storm (storm)

His promises never fail (fail)

Gates of Hell won't prevail ('vail)

Impossible is what He does (does)

Rains came down, but the house still standing

Stone foundation made with God's own planning

Devil tried to hit me with the fear, I'm laughing

Faith so strong that the chain keeps snapping

and the chain keeps snapping

(Oh) yeah, the chain keeps snapping

(Oh) yeah, the chain keeps snapping

(Oh) and I can't stop laughing (yeah)

When we're finally home with Jesus

And hear the Heaven song

We'll run to Him and worship

'Cause every pain is, every pain is

Every pain is gone

Today’s preaching text is all about standing on the Rock, the anchor of our souls. Last week we touched on some of these same ideas, and I want to recap them briefly because today’s passage builds on that foundation.

Aaron shared that faith is the only thing that makes us righteous—faith in God’s promise. For Abraham, that promise was that he would be the father of a great nation, through which the Savior would come. For us, our faith in Christ’s work is what saves us. We are made righteous through the One who lived the perfect life according to the law that we could never keep. His life becomes ours when we place our trust in Him.

Today’s passage highlights God’s promise to Abraham—that his descendants would be as countless as the stars in the sky. Normally, when one person makes a promise, they swear an oath by someone greater than themselves. But since God is the Creator and sustainer of all things, there is no one greater. So God swore an oath by Himself.

He did this for Abraham’s heirs, so they would know His word was true. This oath was sealed by two unchangeable realities: first, that God cannot lie, and second, that His promises stand forever. It is impossible for God to lie because that would go against His very nature. And just as God cannot act against His nature, neither can we. Our fallen nature means that left to ourselves, we would never turn to God. He must act in us first before we can come to Him.

You did not choose God—He chose you. Because of our sinful nature, we cannot choose Him on our own. But because He cannot lie, and because He swore His promise to Abraham, we can have absolute hope in Him. This hope is our anchor for the soul, and that anchor is Jesus.

Our hope is not just an idea—it’s a person. Our anchor is a person. In these verses we find three images: one nautical (an anchor), one about a journey (a race or scout), and one from the Temple (the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies). These lines contain the heart of the passage and even two of the seven titles for Jesus in the book of Hebrews, one of which is unpacked more fully in Chapter 7.

The anchor image is fascinating. Following Jesus is often fluid and moving—“Go and make disciples,” “Love one another,” “Teach all that I have commanded”—all active, moving verbs. Yet here we’re given the picture of an anchor, something that holds a boat in place. For me, this feels less like a traditional anchor and more like a modern trolling motor. A trolling motor holds you in place, but it’s constantly adjusting, compensating for the wind, and ready to move you forward if needed. That’s the kind of anchor Jesus is. He doesn’t keep you locked in place, waiting for life to come to you—He anchors you so that you can move forward with confidence.

That anchor is Jesus. The Rock. We talked in Men’s Bible Study about being living rocks and that Jesus is the Cornerstone. Jesus is the Original—The Rock. (Sorry, Dwayne Johnson, you didn’t come up with that name first!) He’s the one stone that holds all others together. Remove Him, and everything falls apart. But unlike a fragile cornerstone, our Rock is immovable and unshakable because He is the Lord Almighty.

Even when we cannot physically stand—like Crowder or Forest after their accidents—we can still stand on and be anchored to the Rock. That hope doesn’t just prepare us to die well; it empowers us to live well. Life in Christ becomes joyful, exciting, even dangerous at times, but fear loses its grip because Jesus makes it worth it.

I love the phrase “anchored to move.” It’s paradoxical—something that shouldn’t make sense but does. Missionaries cannot step into hostile environments unless they are anchored in Christ. And we, living in a hostile time, must also be anchored to navigate life. Anchored to the one who goes before us—the forerunner.

The passage also speaks of Jesus as the forerunner, the one who went “behind the curtain.” The Greek word here is better translated “scout,” someone who runs ahead so others can follow. Jesus was the first to enter behind the veil, into the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God dwelt. Under the old covenant, only the high priest could enter there, once a year on the Day of Atonement, bringing animal blood for atonement. But Jesus entered with His own blood, shed for our sins, so that now we—all of us—can enter into God’s presence.

Right now, as we worship, we are in God’s presence because of Jesus. He is not just any priest but one in the order of Melchizedek, greater than Aaron or the Levites. He went before us, made the way, and secured the path. He is the forerunner, the scout, and we are anchored to Him so we can follow.

The Gospel, then, is not just about you getting into heaven. That puts the focus on you. The Gospel is about the Kingdom of God—about heaven breaking into earth, here and now. Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” So as we move, we are anchored to the One who gives us hope.

I'm standing on the only one who can save my soul 

Only love that never let go

Only anchor in the storm 

His promises never fail 

Gates of Hell won't prevail 

Impossible is what He does

Rains came down, but the house still standing

Stone foundation made with God's own planning

Devil tried to hit me with the fear, I'm laughing

Faith so strong that the chain keeps snapping

(Oh) and I can't stop laughing 

When we're finally home with Jesus

And hear the Heaven song

We'll run to Him and worship

'Cause every pain is gone.

That is the anchor, the forerunner, and the High Priest we worship today. So stay anchored to Him—anchored so that you can move for Him through life.