Look to Jesus

Introduction

Well, good morning!

If you have your Bible, and I hope that you do, go ahead and open it up with me to Hebrews chapter 2.

And listen, as you’re turning there…I just wanna thank Dennis for his faithfulness last week. It’s so encouraging to me to have so many guys surrounding me that can teach and preach to us.

Tyler and Miranda, they also hosted our home group for us as well…We have such an amazing church family. Amen?

And where was I last week? Well you guys know how much I love The Lord of the Rings, right? Well, last week, I actually got to meet the real people who played the hobbits from the movies.

And outside of my salvation, my wedding day…of course my kids being born…It was one of the best days of my life. I was ready to travel into Mordor, to Mount Doom with ‘em to destroy the ring.

And don't worry…I'm not gonna make Lord of the Rings the point of the sermon this morning. But I bring that experience up because there's something about meeting the people who actually played those characters, there’s something about meeting them that makes those movies feel a little bit different. You've watched the movies. You know the story. You know the characters. You've seen Middle-earth on a screen hundreds of times (if you’re me). But then you meet the people who actually played those characters, and all of a sudden there's something very personal about it. You're not just thinking about a character on a screen anymore. You're looking at a real person who was actually there.

And listen, there's something similar happening here in Hebrews this morning. The writer, he spent the first chapter telling us about Jesus. He's told us that Jesus is the Son. He's the heir of all things. He's the Creator. He's the radiance of God's glory. He's the exact imprint of God's nature. He upholds the universe by the word of His power. And after making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And then of course Dennis continued with that same theme.

And if you remember where we ended last week, the whole point was this: Jesus is greater.

Greater than the prophets.

Greater than the angels.

Greater than everything else that came before Him.

And so now, as we move into chapter 2, the writer takes everything we've just seen about the greatness of Jesus and he brings it down into our everyday lives.

Because it's one thing to say that Jesus is greater. But if Jesus really is all those things…then what difference should that make in the way we live?

That's where chapter 2 takes us.

The writer shows us here that what we believe about Jesus isn't just theology for a Sunday morning. It has consequences.

The greatness of Christ demands our attention.

The greatness of Christ demands our faithfulness.

The greatness of Christ demands that we keep our eyes fixed on Him.

He’s not just a character we read about…He’s all those things described about Him. And that's really what I want us to see this morning. Because if we're honest, we live in a world that gives us a thousand reasons to look somewhere else.

Look to your circumstances.

Look to your bank account.

Look to your health.

Look to the news.

Look to politics.

Look to your family.

Look to your own strength.

Look to yourself.

And Hebrews comes along and it says something very different. Look to Jesus…which the title of our message this morning.

Our main idea is very simple: Look to Jesus, who saves and reigns. And over the next few minutes, we're gonna see why.

We're gonna begin with a warning. And then we're gonna see just how serious it is to neglect the salvation God’s provided. Then we're gonna look at the humiliation of the Son of God as He willingly became lower than the angels and entered into our humanity. And then finally, we're gonna see His exaltation as the One who suffered death is crowned with glory and honor.

Listen, I don't want us to miss the connection between those things.

The One we're being warned not to neglect, He’s the One who humbled Himself to save us. And the One who humbled Himself, He’s the One who’s now been crowned with glory. And the One who suffered, He’s the One who reigns.

And so, wherever you find yourself this morning, look to Jesus.

If you're struggling, look to Jesus.

If you're suffering, look to Jesus.

If you're tempted, look to Jesus.

If you're weary, look to Jesus.

If your circumstances seem completely out of control, look to Jesus.

And if you're tempted to find your hope anywhere else, look to Jesus.

Because Hebrews is gonna remind us this morning that Jesus isn't merely someone we admire or someone we believe certain things about. He's the One we need. He's the Savior who humbled Himself. The King who’s been crowned with glory. The One who will ultimately bring all things under His feet.

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And so listen, if you've found your place there in Hebrews chapter 2, would you go ahead and stand with me as we read God's Word together.

It says this starting in verse 1.

Hebrews 2:1–9 ESV

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 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.

Thank you. You can be seated.

[Prayer]

If you're taking notes this morning, I have four points for us.

Point number 1…The Warning.

Number 2…The Seriousness.

Number 3…The Humiliation.

And then finally number 4…The Exaltation.

…

And so with all that being said, let’s dig into this first point together.

I. The Warning (v. 1)

Again point number 1…we see a warning given to us here.

Look at verse 1 with me again.

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

And so, before we go any further, I want you to notice that little word at the beginning. “Therefore.”

That word, it connects chapter 2 to everything we just saw in chapter 1.

Because Jesus is greater than the angels… Because Jesus is the Son… Because He’s the Creator… Because He’s the radiance of God’s glory… Because He upholds the universe by the word of His power… Because He made purification for sins and now reigns at the Father’s right hand…

Therefore…pay attention.

In other words, what you believe about Jesus, it should affect how you live today. The greatness of Christ demands our attention.

And notice how strong the language is here. “We must pay much closer attention…”

The writer isn't giving us a suggestion. He's not saying, “It would probably be a good idea to listen to Jesus a little bit more.”

We must. There’s an urgency here.

And what are we supposed to pay attention to?

“...what we’ve heard.” right?

He's talking about the gospel—the message of salvation that’s come through Jesus Christ.

And listen, this is important because Christianity isn't primarily about discovering something new. It's about faithfully holding onto what God’s already revealed to us.

The gospel’s been proclaimed. Christ has spoken. The apostles have testified. God’s confirmed their testimony.

And so the command isn't, “Go find something better.” It's “Pay attention to what you've already heard.”

And then the writer gives us the reason.

“...lest we drift away from it.”

That word drift is important here.

The picture here’s not necessarily of somebody who wakes up one morning and says, “I’m done with Jesus.” No, it's much more subtle than that.

The picture’s of something slowly being carried away by a current. Think about a boat tied up along the shore. If you cut the rope, the boat doesn't immediately disappear over the horizon. It might sit there for a few minutes. Maybe it barely moves at first. But the current’s working, right?

Slowly…the boat begins moving farther and farther away from where it was anchored. And eventually, you look up and you realize, “I'm a long way from shore.”

That's the warning of Hebrews.

People don't normally drift toward Christ. We drift away from Him.

And listen, let me be very clear: this isn't teaching that a genuine believer can lose his salvation or somehow escape God's sovereign will. Scripture’s very clear that Christ preserves His people. Rather, this is a warning God uses to keep His people persevering in faith. God preserves us, and one of the ways He preserves us is by warning us not to drift.

Guys, we don't have to intentionally reject Jesus to grow cold toward Him. We just have to stop paying attention to Him.

Stop praying.

Stop reading Scripture.

Stop gathering with God's people.

We stop fighting sin.

Stop listening to the preaching of God's Word.

We stop confessing sin.

Stop pursuing holiness.

And little by little…your heart begins to drift. That's why this warning is so serious. Because drifting doesn't feel dangerous while it's happening. That's the frightening thing about it.

A man doesn't usually say, “I'm gonna slowly destroy my marriage.” He just stops communicating with his wife. He gets busy. He spends more time on his phone. He stops dating his wife. He lets little resentments build. And eventually he wakes up one day and he realizes he's living beside a stranger. He didn't destroy his marriage in one moment. He drifted.

And church, the same thing can happen to us spiritually. You don't wake up one morning and suddenly become spiritually cold…You miss church once. And then twice. You stop reading your Bible because you're busy. Prayer becomes something you do only when there's a crisis. You start compromising in areas you used to fight. You spend more time listening to the world than listening to Christ. And eventually, the things of God that once stirred your heart, they barely affect you anymore.

That's drifting.

Listen to me very carefully…You don't have to hate Jesus to drift from Jesus. You simply have to neglect Him.

That's why Hebrews 3:12, it later on says, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.”

Take care.

Pay attention.

Watch yourself.

Because your heart’s not spiritually neutral.

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things.”

Your heart will lie to you.

Your heart will tell you that you're doing fine when you're not.

Your heart, it’ll tell you missing church isn't a big deal.

Your heart will tell you that a little compromise isn't dangerous.

Your heart, it’ll tell you you can live close enough to the world without becoming like the world.

Don't believe it.

That's why the writer says, “We must pay much closer attention.”

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Church, listen…you don't accidentally become spiritually mature. Nobody accidentally becomes a man or woman of prayer. Nobody accidentally becomes saturated with Scripture. Nobody accidentally becomes holy.

You have to pay attention. You have to fight. You have to discipline yourself. You have to keep your eyes fixed on Christ.

Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7, “Train yourself for godliness.”

Peter says in 2 Peter 1:5, “Make every effort to supplement your faith…”

The Christian life isn't passive. And this is where I really wanna press us for a moment. How's your spiritual life right now?

Not how does everybody think you're doing. Or how you used to be doing. How are you doing right now?

Are you closer to Christ than you were last year?

Are you more passionate about God's Word?

Are you quicker to confess sin?

Are you more faithful in prayer?

Are you growing in holiness?

Or have you been drifting?

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Here's an even more uncomfortable question:

If you continue going in the direction you're going right now, where will you be spiritually five years from now?

Because your direction matters.

A boat that's only a few feet from shore can still be drifting toward destruction.

Some of you need to hear this this morning: You don't need another spiritual experience. You just need to start paying attention again.

Open your Bible.

Get on your knees.

Confess your sin.

Come back to the fellowship of God's people.

Listen to the preaching of God's Word.

Stop making excuses.

Stop telling yourself that you'll get serious about Jesus when life settles down. Life, it may never settle down.

And meanwhile, you're drifting.

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Church, the writer of Hebrews isn't trying to scare us for the sake of scaring us. He's trying to wake us up. Because we’ve heard something infinitely valuable. We've heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. We've heard about the Son who’s greater than everything.

And so the question isn't whether Christ is worthy of our attention. He absolutely is. The question is whether we're actually giving Him ours.

Therefore…because Jesus is greater…we must pay much closer attention to what we’ve heard, lest we drift away from it.

And listen, the next question the writer asks is even more serious. Because if drifting away from the message of Christ is dangerous, what happens to the person who actually neglects the salvation Christ Himself has provided?

That's the next point we see here.

II. The Seriousness (vv. 2-4)

Point number 2…we see the seriousness of neglecting this message.

And listen, before we get into these verses, I just wanna address the misconceptions here because I know there’s a question that immediately comes up when we read passages like this.

Is Hebrews teaching that a genuine Christian can lose his salvation? And the answer is no.

And I wanna be very clear about that because this isn't some minor theological issue. Scripture repeatedly teaches that God preserves those whom He saves.

Jesus said in John 10, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Paul says in Philippians 1:6 that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.

And Romans 8 tells us that nothing—not tribulation, not distress, not persecution, not death, not life, not anything in all creation—can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And so when we come to a warning passage like this, we don't interpret it in a way that contradicts those promises, right?

A genuine believer won’t finally lose his salvation. No, Christ saves His sheep, and Christ keeps His sheep.

But—and this is incredibly important—the fact that God preserves His people doesn't mean He doesn't warn His people. In fact, one of the ways God preserves His people is through warnings exactly like this one.

Think about a guardrail on a mountain road. That guardrail is a warning. It's telling you, “Don't go over there.” But the guardrail isn't evidence that the road is designed for you to drive off the mountain. It's one of the very means God uses to keep you on the road. That's what these warnings are doing. They're not telling the genuine Christian, “You might lose your salvation if you aren't careful enough.” They're telling the Christian, “Take your faith seriously. Don't drift. Don't neglect Christ. Keep looking to Him.”

And if you belong to Christ, that's exactly what you're gonna do—not perfectly, but perseveringly—because the God who saved you is the God who keeps you.

Now, with that clarification in place, look at what the writer says in verse 2.

“For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution…”

Listen, he's making an argument from the lesser to the greater.

The message given under the old covenant was reliable. God meant what He said. And when people rebelled against God's commands, there were consequences. God didn't overlook their sin. There was just retribution.

Why?

Because God’s holy.

And then verse 3 brings us to the heart of the argument.

“How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”

Notice the word neglect. He doesn't say, “How shall we escape if we openly hate Jesus?” He says, “If we neglect.”

That's what makes this warning so sobering. Because neglect doesn't sound as serious as rebellion. But neglect can destroy something just as surely as open rebellion.

Think about a house. You don't have to intentionally burn your house down to destroy it. You can just neglect it over time. You ignore the leak in the roof. You don't repair the crack in the foundation. You keep putting off the maintenance you know it needs. And eventually, what seemed like a small problem becomes a massive one.

Neglect compounds. And spiritually, that's what can happen when we stop paying attention to Christ.

You neglect prayer. And then Scripture. Then fellowship. Then repentance. Then holiness. And slowly, the things of God that once mattered deeply to you begin to feel ordinary.

You hear the gospel, but it doesn't move you anymore.

You hear about the cross, but you're thinking about lunch.

You sing about God's grace, but you're no longer amazed by it.

You sit under the preaching of God's Word, but you're evaluating the preacher instead of examining your own heart.

That's neglect.

Listen, we should never become so familiar with the gospel that we become numb to it. Because the gospel we're tempted to neglect isn't some minor religious message.

Look at what verse 3 calls it.

“Such a great salvation.”

Great salvation because it comes from a great Savior.

Great because it saves us from the wrath we deserve.

Great because it reconciles guilty sinners to a holy God.

Great because Christ accomplished what we could never accomplish ourselves.

And notice how God confirmed this message.

Verse 3 says it was “declared at first by the Lord.”

Jesus Himself announced it.

Then it was “attested to us by those who heard.” The apostles testified to what they had seen and heard.

And then verse 4 says God Himself bore witness through signs, and wonders, and miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

In other words, God’s given us His testimony…This isn't man's idea. This isn't something the apostles invented. God Himself has testified that this salvation is true.

And so the writer asks: “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”

Church, don't miss the weight of that question.

If the people who rejected God's message under the old covenant faced judgment, how much more accountable are we when God’s spoken to us through His Son?

Jesus said in Luke 12:48, “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.”

We've been given much.

We've been given the gospel.

We've been given God's Word.

We've been given the testimony of the apostles.

We've been given the church.

We've been given the preaching of Christ.

Some of us have heard the gospel hundreds of times. And that should never make us casual about it. It should make us more serious about it.

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Listen, I wanna come back to that warning about salvation for a moment because I don't want anyone walking away from this passage thinking, “If I stumble badly enough, Jesus is gonna drop me.”

That's not the gospel. Your salvation doesn't rest on how tightly you can hold onto Jesus. Your salvation rests on how tightly Jesus holds onto you. But that doesn't mean we take sin lightly. It’s quite the opposite. If you belong to Christ, you will persevere.

Not perfectly. Not without stumbling. Not without seasons of weakness. But God will continue His work in you. That's why perseverance isn’t the opposite of eternal security. Perseverance is the evidence of it.

As Jesus said in Matthew 24:13, “The one who endures to the end will be saved.”

And that's why these warnings matter.

God uses them to expose false professions, to awaken careless believers, to keep His true people looking to Christ.

And so don't twist this passage into saying, “I better work hard enough so that Jesus doesn't throw me away.”

No.

Hear the warning as God intended it: Don't drift. Don't neglect Christ. Don't presume upon His grace. Keep looking to Jesus. Because there is no salvation outside of Him.

And listen, that means there's a very real danger for the person who sits in church week after week and continues to neglect the gospel.

You can be surrounded by Christianity and still be lost.

Judas walked with Jesus. He heard Jesus teach. He saw Jesus perform miracles. He ate with Jesus. He looked like a disciple. But he never truly belonged to Christ.

That's why Paul tells the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.”

Not because Christ is an unreliable Savior. He isn't. But because a profession of faith without perseverance is a profession that needs to be examined.

And so let me ask you this morning: Are you trusting Christ? Are you following Christ? Do you love Christ? Are you fighting sin? Do you repent when you fall? Do you desire God's Word? Do you long to be with God's people? Are you growing in holiness?

I'm not asking if you're perfect. You're not. I'm asking whether there's evidence that the Holy Spirit is actually at work in you. Because church, don't confuse being around the gospel with being changed by the gospel. Don't confuse knowing about Jesus with knowing Jesus. Don't confuse church membership with conversion…or religious activity with saving faith. And don't assume that because you've been sitting in these pews for twenty years now that you're automatically safe.

The question isn't, “Have I been around Jesus?” The question is, “Am I trusting Jesus?”

And if you are, then take this warning seriously—not because you might lose Christ, but because Christ is using His warnings to keep you looking to Him.

And if you're not trusting Him, then hear the warning exactly as it’s given. How will you escape if you neglect such a great salvation?

You’re not gonna escape through morality. You won't escape through baptism. You won't escape through church attendance. You won't escape through your parents' faith. You won't escape by being better than your neighbor. You escape through Christ.

And that's why the writer is about to take our eyes off ourselves and put them squarely on Jesus. Because listen, salvation is great…because the Savior is great.

And that's where we go next.

III. Humiliation (vv. 5-9)

Point number 3…we see Jesus’ humiliation here in our text.

Look at verse 5.

“For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.”

Remember, the author, he’s spent chapter 1 showing us that Jesus is greater than the angels.

The angels are servants. Jesus is the Son.

The angels worship Him. He created them.

The angels are sent out to serve God's people. Jesus is the One they serve.

And yet now the writer says something absolutely astonishing. The One who’s infinitely greater than the angels became lower than the angels.

Look at verse 6.

“What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?”

That's a quotation from Psalm 8. The question is basically this: Why would God care so much about humanity?

Think about who we are.

We're small.

We're weak.

We're temporary.

We’re sinful.

We’re dust.

And yet God’s mindful of us. He cares for us.

And the answer to that question becomes even more incredible when we realize what Christ was willing to do for us.

Verse 7:

“You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

Now ultimately, Psalm 8 is pointing us to Christ.

Humanity was created to rule over God's creation, but because of sin, we don't see that perfectly fulfilled.

And then Jesus comes. The eternal Son takes on human flesh. He becomes what Adam was meant to be. The One who created humanity becomes human. The One who rules over angels becomes lower than angels. The One who upholds the universe becomes a baby lying in a manger.

That's humiliation.

And don't misunderstand that word. We're not saying Jesus stopped being God. He didn't. The Son never ceased to be fully divine.

Instead, He added humanity to His deity.

As Paul says in Philippians 2, although He was in the form of God, He “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

He didn't empty Himself of deity. He humbled Himself by taking on humanity.

The Creator entered His creation. The King became a servant. The Judge placed Himself under judgment. The One who made the heavens became dependent upon a human mother for His nourishment.

And why? For us.

Look at verse 9.

“But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus…”

Don't miss those words.

Namely Jesus.

The writer wants us to look at Him.

Not just the doctrine. Not just the incarnation as an idea.

Jesus.

The eternal Son who became flesh. And why did He become lower than the angels?

Look at the end of verse 9:

“...because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

That’s the purpose.

Jesus humbled Himself to die. The manger was always pointing toward the cross. Bethlehem was leading to Calvary. The incarnation wasn't God's backup plan. It was the plan.

Jesus came into this world knowing exactly where it would lead. He knew the betrayal was coming. He knew the rejection was coming. He knew the nails were coming. He knew the crown of thorns was coming. He knew the cross was coming. And yet He came anyway.

That's grace.

As Charles Spurgeon once said, “Christ didn’t die that He might make salvation possible, but that He might make salvation certain.”

Think about that.

Jesus didn't look down at humanity and say, “They're worth saving.” No, He looked at people who were His enemies. People who had rebelled against Him and rejected His authority. People who deserved judgment. And He willingly humbled Himself to save them.

Romans 5:8 says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

While we were still sinners. That's the kind of Savior we have.

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Listen see the point here, if Jesus was willing to humble Himself for us, how willing are we to humble ourselves for Him? Because we live in a culture that tells us to protect our pride. Protect your reputation. Protect your rights, your comfort. Make sure everyone else knows you're right. Make sure nobody talks down to you. Make sure you get what you deserve.

But then we look at Jesus. The One who actually deserved everything…and He gave it all up for us.

Philippians 2 doesn't stop with Jesus’ humility. It says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”

In other words, look at Jesus and then follow His example.

Husbands, are you willing to humble yourself and serve your wife?

Parents, are you willing to sacrifice your comfort to disciple your children?

Church, are you willing to serve when nobody else notices?

Are you willing to apologize first?

Are you willing to forgive when you think you have the right to hold onto the offense?

Are you willing to lay down your preferences for the good of someone else?

Because pride’ll always tell you what you're entitled to. But Jesus shows us what it means to willingly lay down what you're entitled to for the good of others.

And here's the gospel underneath all of it: Jesus humbled Himself because we could never save ourselves.

We were too sinful. Too guilty. Too weak. So the Son came down. The One who was higher than the angels became lower than the angels.

The One who deserved glory experienced suffering. And the One who had every right to judge us tasted death for us.

Church, don't ever look at the humility of Christ and think it's weakness. The cross wasn't Jesus losing. It was Jesus accomplishing exactly what He came to do.

And that's why the writer wants us to look at Him. The One who humbled Himself to death is the One we're about to see crowned with glory and honor.

The humiliation isn't the end of the story. The King who came down is the King who’s now exalted.

IV. Exaltation (vv. 8-9)

Which leads us into our last and final point this morning (I’ll be quick)…we see His exaltation here in this text.

Look again at verse 8.

“Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control.”

Guys, that's the destination.

Jesus reigns.

Right now, we don't see everything perfectly subjected to Him. We still see sin. We still see suffering. We still see death. We see rebellion.

But look at verse 9:

“But we see him…”

I love that.

We might not see everything under His feet just yet…But we see Jesus. And what do we see?

“...crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death.”

And so, the One who humbled Himself, He’s now exalted.

The One who wore a crown of thorns now wears the crown of glory.

The One who was mocked as a king, He now reigns as King.

The One who was nailed to a cross now sits at the right hand of the Father.

And listen, that's where our hope is. Our hope isn't that everything around us is already fixed. Our hope is that Jesus is already King. And one day what we believe by faith will become what we see with our own eyes.

Philippians 2 says that God’s highly exalted Him and given Him the name above every name, so that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

And so when you're suffering, look to Jesus.

When you're discouraged, look to Jesus.

When you're tempted, look to Jesus.

When the world seems completely out of control, look to Jesus.

Because we might not see everything under His feet just yet…But we see Him. And that's enough.

Closing

Listen, that’s what Hebrews chapter 2 is about.

We began with a warning: Don't drift.

Then we saw the seriousness of neglecting such a great salvation.

Then we saw the humiliation of the Son who became lower than the angels and tasted death for us.

And finally, we see His exaltation.

The One who suffered is the One who reigns.

And that's exactly what we're about to remember as we come to the Lord's Table.

Normally, we observe Communion at the beginning of each month. But our elders, we’ve been praying about how we can be even more obedient to the Scriptures and more intentional about observing the Lord's Supper, so we've decided to add a quarterly Communion in addition to what we already do.

And there's something else that's gonna be little bit different as well. Normally, I lead us through Communion. But beginning with these quarterly observances, one of our other pastors or elders is gonna lead while I serve.

And so I want you to see the importance in how we’ve set this up. The Lord's Supper isn't the pastor's table. It's Jesus’ table. Christ has simply given His church shepherds and elders that get to lead His people. And so as we come to the Table this morning, don't just go through the motions.

Prepare your heart.

Examine yourself.

Confess your sin.

Forgive those you need to forgive.

Thank Christ for His finished work.

And remember what Hebrews has shown us: The eternal Son humbled Himself. He tasted death. He made purification for sins. And now He's crowned with glory and honor.

So look to Jesus.

Look to the Savior who saves. Look to the King who reigns. And look to the Christ whose finished work is our only hope.

Listen, our deacons are gonna come…our praise team is gonna play…you take this time, prepare your hearts, and then we’ll come around the Lord’s table together.