When God Calls You By Your Middle Name - Hebrews 12:3-13

Note for yourself: Where is “yet not I” in the hymnal?

Welcome:

We come to worship the one true and living God — the Father who loved us, the Son who gave Himself for us, and the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

One God, blessed forever — He who calls us out of darkness into His marvelous light welcomes you.

Announcements:

Youth campout on Nov. 21st

Help For Her Clinic

Operation Christmas Child — Pam has labels and a list of items to pack. She will bring boxes soon.

Nursing/Training room?

Hymn of Preparation: #

†CALL TO WORSHIP based on Romans 12:1

Pastor Austin Prince

Minister: Sons and daughters of the living God, why are you together on this Lord’s Day?

Congregation: By the mercies of God, we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This is our spiritual worship.

†PRAYER OF ADORATION AND INVOCATION

Great you are, O Lord, and greatly to be praised. Great is your power, and your wisdom and love are infinite.

You call us to delight in your praise, for you have made us for yourself, and our hearts do not find rest until we rest in you.

O God, be present with us. Dwell within our hearts. With your light and your Spirit, guide our souls, our thoughts, and all our actions as we participate in the means of grace. We approach you boldly, because you have come down to us by the Spirit of Christ.

And it is in the name of Christ by which we pray and conduct all our worship.

Amen.

†OPENING HYMN OF PRAISE #375

“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”

†CONFESSION OF SIN AND ASSURANCE OF PARDON

As we just sang, “Ye ransomed from the fall, hail him who saves you by his grace and crown Him Lord of all.”

Each Lord’s day, as we come to this part of the service, the confession of our sins, it is where we stop to see our need for that grace. It’s where we confess our sins and say the same thing that God says about them, that they need to be healed and cleansed. And in hearing the assurance of our pardon for all those who are in Christ, we hail Him and crown Him Lord of all.

Join me in this prayer as we confess our sins together:

Minister: O King and Father, your son died and was raised up in power. Now enable us to die to our sin in repentance so we may rise to new life in him. We confess to you:

Congregation: Lord, though you should guide us, we inform ourselves;

Though you should rule us, we control ourselves;

Though you should fulfill us, we console ourselves.

We think your truth too high, your will too hard,

Your power too remote, your love too free.

But they are not, and without them, we are of all people most miserable.

Heal our confused minds with your word, heal our divided wills with your law.

Heal our troubled consciences with your love and our anxious hearts with your presence.

All for the sake of your son, who loved us and gave himself for us. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1–2, ESV)

CONTINUAL READING OF SCRIPTURE Numbers 36:1-13

Elder Steven Hoffer

THE OFFERING OF TITHES AND OUR GIFTS

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS

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.

†PSALM OF PREPARATION #121A

“I Lift My Eyes Up to the Hills”

SERMON Hebrews 12:3–13 // When God Calls You By Your Middle Name

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

We pray, O God, that the words which you spoke through your prophet Isaiah would be realized in us today, For your word goes forth and shall not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and will succeed in the matter for which it was sent. Amen.

TEXT Hebrews 12:3-13

Hebrews 12:3–13 ESV

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

AFTER SCRIPTURE

Every word of God is perfect, let his people bless his Holy name.

Intro

In our house growing up, you knew you were in trouble when Mom called you by your full name. If you ever heard your middle name spoken out loud, it was because Mom was isolating you—like a sheepdog who needs to separate one from the flock. She’d single you out from the pack, ready to deliver a special rebuke just for you.

This morning’s text asks the same question: How do we respond when we are rebuked? How do we respond when God calls us by our middle name?

Every loving parent wants the same thing—that their children would learn from a rebuke. That they’d have the maturity to see in correction not cruelty, but care.

And how a child responds often reveals a lot about their relationship with the parent.

Every parent knows what it’s like to startle their child during play. You jump out from behind the corner, they scream, and for a split second you don’t know whether it’s delight or distress. The reaction tells you everything. A frightened child who runs away in tears reveals something about trust; a startled child who buries their face in your legs reveals something deeper. You scared them—but you’re also the safest place they know.

That’s the picture Scripture gives us. When God’s rebuke startles or stings, where do you run? Do you turn away in fear, or do you press into His arms for comfort?

That’s the picture our text paints for us.

When God calls you by your middle name—when He rebukes or disciplines you—(which can seem plenty scary)—where do you run? Do you run away from Him, or do you tuck yourself into His arms for comfort?

The author of Hebrews writes to believers who are tired, discouraged, and tempted to give up. They’re worn out from suffering, ready to drop out of the race of faith. And right there—when they most want relief—God speaks a word of rebuke.

We might think, “If You don’t want me to grow weary, then don’t correct me! Just let me rest.” But that’s not how God works. His correction isn’t meant to burden you—it’s meant to awaken you.

As the Westminster Confession reminds us,

“The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave, for a season, His own children to manifold temptations and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption…and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon Himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, yet are they never utterly destitute of His grace.” [WCF 5.5]

When we first feel the rebuke of the Lord, it can feel heavy. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it embarrasses us. We can grow angry or numb, or sink into self-pity. We complain that God doesn’t like us where we are. Repentance feels hard, so we dig in our heels—and what happens? We stop running the race altogether. We grow even more weary.

This passage in Hebrews comes to help us understand that rebuke from the Lord is not His rejection. It’s not punishment for punishment’s sake. It’s the steady hand of a Father who refuses to let His children drift away.

If you don’t understand the purpose of God’s chastisement, you’ll never draw the right lessons from it—the ones that bring healing and peace.

Just so you know how the scriptures speak when they mention discipline and rebuke, this is how the Bible speaks about it:

Sometimes He speaks through His Word, cutting through our excuses with the sharp edge of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16–17; Heb. 4:12). Sometimes He works through providence, using affliction or frustration to turn us back to Himself, as the psalmist confessed, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word” (Ps. 119:67). At other times, He corrects us through the church, through the loving exhortation of brothers and sisters who care enough to confront (2 Tim. 4:2). He also convicts us by His Spirit, stirring godly sorrow that leads to repentance (John 16:8; Acts 2:37). And when we ignore His counsel, He may even let us taste the consequences of sin, so that we might learn wisdom the hard way (Prov. 1:30–31). In every case, the purpose is the same: the Father disciplines His children so that what is wayward in us may be healed, and our hearts may be trained to love righteousness.

We want God to fix us, but not to tear anything down. We ask for renovation, not demolition. But sometimes the pillars we love are already hollow — and His love is too strong to leave them standing.

So this passage teaches us why we should take courage in rebuke, and how to respond when God calls us by our middle name.

Here’s what I want you to see this morning: God’s rebuke is not rejection, but refinement — proof that you are His beloved child.

1. Take Courage in Rebuke — Because You Are Loved

“And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Hebrews 12:5–7, ESV)

If I ever caught a group of boys throwing eggs off a highway overpass and I pulled one aside for a spanking, what would you assume? Either I need to be locked up for disciplining a stranger’s kid—or that boy is my son.

He’s getting disciplined because he belongs to me. He’s a Prince kid.

The writer of Hebrews says, “Have you forgotten?” Don’t you know that God disciplines those He loves? Don’t you see that His correction is evidence that you belong to Him—that you are not a stranger, but a son or daughter of God?

His discipline, His gentle but relentless press on your heart, His refining work— are not the marks of abandonment, but of adoption.

That’s why the writer warns: “Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord.”

Do not to shrug off conviction or roll our eyes at hardship. Every loving father corrects his children—not out of anger, but affection. The wise heart asks, “Lord, what are You teaching me here?”

If you feel His correction, take courage. You’re not forgotten—you’re family.

??? What does your instinct say in that moment — to hide, to defend, or to draw near?

Take courage—God’s correction identifies you as His child. You’re in the Father’s will, and you’re being prepared for your inheritance.

“If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”

(Hebrews 12:8, ESV)

Pay attention if you feel no conviction, no correction, no tug of the Spirit in your life. That’s not freedom—it’s danger.

You might think it’s good that God leaves you alone, that your conscience feels quiet and your life seems easy. But if sin brings no sorrow, if disobedience stirs no guilt, if you feel no hunger for repentance or the Word of God—then that’s not peace. That’s spiritual death.

A smooth, easy life may not be a blessing; it may be a warning. Psalm 73 reminds us that sometimes God lets the wicked prosper for a time. Ease and comfort are not reliable signs of divine favor.

The author of Hebrews uses a hard word here—he says the one without discipline is “illegitimate.” That’s not an insult; it’s a wake-up call. It’s meant for those within the church who have grown numb to the Father’s voice, who resist correction and fear rebuke instead of learning from it.

As Calvin once wrote, “There is nothing more ruinous than to refuse to surrender ourselves to God in obedience, for in that surrender is life.”

A good father cannot leave his child alone when he’s running into danger. When you are anxious, or afraid, or burdened by sin, your heavenly Father will not sit idly by. His hand will guide you back—even if that guidance comes through hardship or conviction.

“Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them.

Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?

For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them,

but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.”

(Hebrews 12:9–10, ESV)

Discipline, then, is not meant to crush us—it’s meant to comfort us. Strange as that may sound, it is God’s way of showing that He cares for you and is still shaping you.

Earthly parents, even the best of them, discipline imperfectly. Some of us received loving correction; others only harshness. But God’s discipline is never misplaced. He never overcorrects. His timing is perfect. His hand is always guided by love. He always knows exactly what you need to be healed and made holy.

To receive the chastisement of God, then, is to receive the blessing of God. It’s to open your heart in humility, confess sin, and receive His mercy.

God’s discipline is not penance for sin. You are not adding anything to your salvation. It is preparation for wholeness. It’s the hand of the Father shaping His children to look like Him.

Punishment satisfies justice and flows from wrath.

Discipline sanctifies and flows from love.

Westminster Confession of Faith 11.5 and 17.3:

“Although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God’s fatherly displeasure… until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance.”

“When you feel the sting of conviction, it’s not proof that you’ve fallen out of grace — it’s evidence that grace is alive in you. The Spirit’s rebuke is one of the ways He assures you that you are not abandoned but adopted.”

2. Take Courage in Rebuke — Because You Are Being Healed

“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant,

but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness

to those who have been trained by it.”

(Hebrews 12:11, ESV)

No one enjoys discipline in the moment. It never feels good when God puts His finger on a tender place in your soul. But Scripture tells us that His correction, though painful, is productive. It trains us. It brings forth something beautiful and lasting: the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Discipline is God’s way of getting our attention. It wakes us up.

Parents sometimes say they’ve decided not to discipline their children — that they’ll just “let them figure it out” and try to guide them gently. But you already know how that ends. Without correction, a child becomes self-centered, wild, and lost. Love that refuses correction isn’t love at all.

God loves you too much to leave you untrained.

C.S. Lewis once said that God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain — it’s His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. Pain has a way of shaking us awake to truths we would otherwise ignore.

There are some lessons you can only learn the hard way.

Some truths you only grasp through bruises and scrapes.

There’s a kind of wisdom that grows only through being brought low.

Like a child who can’t yet see why medicine tastes bitter, we don’t always understand the good being worked in us. But over time, we begin to see the pattern: the trials that once made us bitter now bear fruit; the wounds that once felt cruel now remind us that our Father’s hands were healing us all along.

Pain, in the hands of a good Father, becomes mercy.

??? How do you usually interpret conviction: as condemnation, or as care?

Over time, you begin to see the pattern. The adversities that once made you anxious, the rebukes that once made you defensive — now they become places of gratitude. What once tasted bitter begins to bear fruit. You start to recognize that your Father was never trying to break you down, but to build you up in holiness.

There’s an old saying from Martin Luther — he said that “it is not by reading, writing, or speculation that one becomes a theologian. Nay, rather, it is living, dying, and being damned that makes one a theologian.

I think Luther is overstating things a bit, but I take his point.

Like training your body as an athlete—there are some lessons that you don’t learn unless you puke.

Discipline is the classroom where faith matures.

So yes, God’s correction stings. But in the hands of a good Father, even pain becomes mercy.

3. Take Courage in Rebuke — Because You Can Trust the One Who Brings It

“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,

and make straight paths for your feet,

so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”

(Hebrews 12:12–13, ESV)

When the weight of discipline feels heavy, when rebuke leaves you weary and ashamed, the temptation is to retreat. To fold inward.

Lift your drooping hands. Strengthen your weak knees. Straighten your path. Don’t let what is lame become dislocated — let it be healed.

In other words: don’t wallow. Don’t stay down.

God’s discipline isn’t meant to paralyze you with guilt; it’s meant to set you on your feet again.

When you feel weighed down by sin, conviction, or hardship, remember what you are to learn from it.

??? How do you usually interpret hardship — as evidence that God is distant, or that He is near?

??? Are there areas of your life where you’ve mistaken God’s correction for rejection?

If your weariness is the result of sin, it can be relieved. If your guilt is crushing you, it can be lifted. If your heart feels wounded by correction, it can be healed — because the One correcting you is the same One who forgives you.

Relief is near and accessible in Christ.

When He rebukes you, it’s not to drive you away but to draw you close. The same hand that disciplines also bandages. The same voice that convicts also comforts.

Calvin once noted that we grow the most weary when we imagine ourselves alone. But we are never alone. Every child of God has felt the Father’s heavy hand — and found that beneath it was love.

So lift your hands. Strengthen your knees.

Because God’s correction is never the mark of His absence — it’s the proof of His presence.

5. Back to the Race

Remember how Hebrews began this chapter — with the image of a race.

We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, called to run with endurance the race set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

And what do runners do when they stumble? They get back up.

That’s the irony of training: The thing that you often don’t want, is the very thing that is going to help you endure.

Running sprints in the gym isn’t fun, but its the training that ends up making all the difference when you are in the game. It was that unpleasant thing that is now paying off. That’s the way we must embrace the good hand of our Father who uses reproof for our good.

When you rise again, you’ll find your duties right in front of you. The path may not have changed, but your heart has. You’ve been trained. You’ve been strengthened. The race continues — not in shame, but in renewed confidence that your Father is with you.

Conclusion – When God Calls You by Your Middle Name

So what do you do when God calls you by your middle name—when His Word pierces your heart, when His Spirit lays His hand on a sore place in your soul? You can run away in fear and pride, or you can run toward Him—like a startled child who has learned that the safest place to cry is in the arms of the one who loves them.

Remember: His rebuke is not rejection but refinement. His discipline is not wrath but the witness of your adoption. His correction is not condemnation but confirmation that grace is alive in you. Every stroke of His discipline carries the steady pulse of His mercy.

And why can you trust that? Because the Father once called His own Son by your name. Christ entered our pain and bore the punishment our sins deserved. He was not merely rebuked—He was forsaken—so that you, when rebuked, would know you are never forsaken. The rod that fell on Him now falls on you only as a tool of healing.

Run toward Him. Confess your sin, receive His mercy, and find that even His correction flows from the same heart that calls you “Beloved.”

The God who calls you by your middle name is the Father who is calling you His child.

†HYMN OF RESPONSE Insert

“Yet Not I, But Through Christ In Me”

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* Based on Matt 16:16; Mk. 16:9; Jn. 20:28; I Cor. 15:1-6; Rev. 22:13

Minister: Christian, what do you believe?

Congregation: This is the good news that we have received, in which we stand, and by which we are saved, if we hold it fast: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day, and that He appeared first to the women, then to Peter, and to the Twelve, and then to many faithful witnesses. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus Christ is the first and the last, the beginning and the end; he is our Lord and our God.

THE INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE

“The hands that discipline you are the same hands that were pierced for you. When God calls you by your middle name, it’s the voice of the One who already bore your last name on the cross.”

The Lord invites you to this table if you love him and trust in him alone for salvation. It is for those who belong to Christ through repentance, faith, baptism, and continuing union with his church. If you are truly sorry for your sins, sincerely believe in Jesus as your Savior, and desire to live in obedience to him as Lord, you are invited to come with gladness to the table of the Lord. “O taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.”

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Congregation is seated.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND THE SHARING OF THE SUPPER

Minister: Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you.”

Congregation: By your divine presence, by the holy sacraments, by all the merits of your life, sufferings, death, and resurrection, bless and comfort us, gracious Lord and God. Amen.

Minister: Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Drink from this, all of you. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Congregation: Whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup together, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Minister: Christ, the Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world;

Congregation: Grant to us your peace. Amen.

[motion to eat and drink]

†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

Peace be to you, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord with love incorruptible. Amen.

Grace Notes Reflection

How Do You Respond to Correction?

Hebrews 12:3–13 teaches that divine correction is not a mark of rejection, but of belonging. To be disciplined by God is to be acknowledged as His child. The greater danger is not rebuke, but silence. A life untouched by conviction may not be a sign of peace, but of estrangement.

For the Christian, God’s correction is to be seen as the evidence of grace, not the removal of it. His reproofs are not the blows of an enemy, but the hands of a Father shaping holiness. He comforts by confronting, heals by humbling, and trains us through pain to share His righteousness.

How do you respond when God calls you out?

Do you grow defensive—resentful at His interruption of your comfort?

Do you feel your footing give way, as if your standing before Him depends on your performance?

When rebuked, do you run to Him or from Him?

There is a difference between the scar that comes from an attacker and the scar that comes from a surgeon. Both wound, but only one heals. God’s discipline may cut deep—but it cuts to cure.

Pause and pray for a moment: How will you anticipate and lean into God’s care and correction the next time you are lovingly disciplined?