UNSHAKABLE

Big Idea: BE SHAKABLE OR BE ANCHORED

(S1)

EARTHQUAKES — We’ve seen the footage. Buildings made of steel and concrete, crumble to the ground. it doesn't matter how solid the structure—if the ground shifts, everything is shaken.

It doesn't take an earthquake to feel like your life has been shaken—a diagnosis, loss, betrayal, financial distress...

— When your world stops. Your mind races. You never saw what was coming. You don't know what tomorrow looks like. And in that moment, the ground beneath your feet feels like it's moving, with nothing to hold on to.

It doesn't always take an earthquake size event; sometimes its a slow drift that shakes us loose from God.

— Miss one Sunday, then another. Stop opening your Bible; to busy, or distracted. Prayer becomes an afterthought. Worship becomes something you used to do. You're still showing up, but your heart is somewhere else. Going through the motions of faith, but the fire is gone.

That's the drift. And it's more dangerous than the earthquake, because you don't even feel it happening. Something in your life may be shaking you, or nothing at all, except a quiet drifted away from what once held you secure.

“The drift is more dangerous than the earthquake because you don't even feel it happening.”

And that's why the book of Hebrews was written—to those who had come to believe in Christ, but were struggling under the weight of their circumstances and slowly drifting back to their former ways.

It’s like he’s saying, "Let me tell you where you actually are—not where your circumstances say you are. Not where your anxiety says you are. Not where the worlds troubles say you are.

(S2)

“you have come...5 x’s in three verses...

— Not "you might come." Not "you should come." Not "if you're good enough, someday you'll come." You have come. It's done. It's settled. It's present tense. In Christ, by grace through faith — you are already there. And that changes everything.

— He is not only describing a future hope, but a present reality of a life anchored in Christ.

This morning, I want us to see three important things from this passage that change everything about how we can live as followers of Jesus.

— Listening to the voice of God brings life not death—In Christ we are unshakable—Worshipping God without fear but in grace

Big Idea: BE SHAKABLE OR BE ANCHORED

PRAYER/BIBLE/NOTES

(S3) — {Exodus 20:18-19}

In verses 18-21, the writer has been building a contrast between two mountains

— Mount Sinai; where the law was given. Mount Zion; a symbolic term for the future location of God’s ultimate victory {Ex. 19-20}

He's is also drawing a line between two voices.

— God speaking through Moses of the Old Covenant (Law) on a mountain wrapped in fire and smoke. And the voice from heaven spoken through Jesus who mediates a new covenant

On Mt Sinai they were terrified at the sound of God’s voice....and now they were terrified being shaken by their circumstances. Having endured persecution, imprisonment, confiscation of property, along with public ridicule for believing in and following Christ.

{12:18-21}

They were still standing at the foot of Mt Sinai; shaken with fear.

Here's the question: why do so many of us live like we're still standing at the foot of Sinai, trembling, keeping our distance, afraid to get too close? Or worse — why do we drift away from the mountain altogether, slowly, quietly, without even realizing it?

He reminds them, don’t let your circumstances dictate where you are—because of Jesus, you have now come..

(S4) — {12:24}

This voice says, “You are forgiven, instead of crying out for vengeance. I am closer now and there is nothing to fear—You have come to a Kingdom that cannot be shaken.

SERIES—Hebrews—5 warnings that address the ways we drift away from a life anchored in Christ.

We’ve all had our lives shaken in some way or another—Its why, like the writer is saying to them, because of Jesus; his blood shed for you, speaks forgivness, you have come to the unshakable.

Hebrews 10:22 “let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood.

(S5) — {12:25}

They feared, “the voice of God, but now there's a voice from heaven. And this voice is not Moses. It’s Jesus.

— And the warning is more urgent, because if the people who ignored the earthly voice faced consequences, how much more will we face consequences if we ignore the voice that speaks from heaven?

That's the danger of the drift. A life no longer anchored in Christ. It's not that most of us wake up one morning and say, "I'm going to walk away from God." It's that we slowly stop listening. We get busy. We get distracted. We get comfortable. And the voice that used to be the loudest voice in our life — gets quieter and quieter...

How many of you have ever been in a conversation with someone, and you realize halfway through that they haven't heard a word you said? They're looking at their phone. They're thinking about something else. They're nodding, but they're not really there. And you stop talking. Not because you're angry — because you realize they're not listening.

I wonder if that's how God feels sometimes. Not angry — but grieved. Because He is speaking. He is always speaking.

— Through His Word—“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” {Psalm 119:105 }

— Through the life of Jesus—“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” {John 10:27 }

— And through the Holy Spirit—“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. {John 16:13 }

Through the circumstances of your life — He is speaking. The question is: are we listening? When we stop listening, we become shakable. We start building on sand instead of rock. We start leaning on our own understanding instead of trusting the voice that speaks from heaven. And when the storm comes — and it will come — what's shakable falls apart.

The first of three ways we can remain UNSHAKABLE...

(S6) — First, when we...

I. LISTEN TO THE VOICE THAT SPEAKS FROM HEAVEN

When we tune our ear to God, when we open His Word, when we lean into the still, small voice of the Spirit — we become anchored. We are not moved by every wind of circumstance or every wave of emotion. We are anchored to God through the voice of Jesus.

Imagine driving in your car when you're listening to a radio station you really want to hear. As you drive farther away, the signal begins to fade. You hear static. Other sounds break through. The music becomes harder to understand. The problem isn't that the station stopped broadcasting. The problem is that you need to tune the receiver. You adjust the dial—and suddenly the voice comes through clearly again.

That’s a picture of our spiritual lives. There are always voices competing for our attention: fear, culture, circumstances, emotions, opinions, anxiety, temptation, and our own thoughts.

— God hasn't stopped speaking. But sometimes we've allowed so much noise into our lives that we can no longer recognize His voice.

25 “Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!”

When you listen to the voice from heaven, you don’t hear condemnation or accusation. or you're not good enough." You hear a Father who loves you, a Savior who bled for you, and a Spirit who lives in you. That’s the voice from heaven they were to listen to...

(S7) —{12:26-27}

When God descended on the mountain in fire and the whole earth trembled. As the ground shook, even Moses said, "I tremble with fear." A physical, visible, terrifying shaking. And it was real.

But, that was just the preview of something much bigger...."Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."

His words direct their attention towards Christ’ return. When a final shaking of the entire created order will tremble at God’s voice.

Haggai 2:6–7 “...I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory.

The purpose of the shaking is first the removal of everything that is temporary; what is passing away.

Second...so that what cannot be shaken may remain."

— The only thing that will be left standing is what cannot be shaken—The eternal. The unshakable. The Kingdom of God.

Daniel 2:44 “...the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever.”

Every empire that ever rose and fell — shaken. Every economy that ever boomed and busted — shaken. Every system, every structure, every institution, every thing that humanity has built and trusted and leaned on — shaken.

What remains? Only what/who belongs to God. Only that which is rooted in His Kingdom.

1 John 2:17 “And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”

That may sound terrifying or maybe some think right...but if everything temporary is going to be shaken, then we need to ask ourselves:

What is my life all about? What and who am I trusting in? Is my life anchored in what can be shaken—or in CHRIST who cannot e shaken?

This shaking is not the enemy of the believer. It shouldn't cause fear...but bring hope. Because when everything else gets shaken loose, what remains? The Kingdom. Christ. The blood that speaks a better word. Your name enrolled in heaven forever.

(S8) —Second this tells us to...

II. REMAIN IN CHRIST—REMAIN UNSHAKABLE

John 15:4 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”

Some of you are in a shaking season right now. Your health is being shaken. Your marriage is being shaken. Your finances are being shaken. Your plans are being shaken. And it feels like everything is falling apart. Or, maybe your life is in a challenging transition...

The Gospel is Good News—what is falling apart is the stuff that was never going to last. And what remains — what is standing firm underneath it all — is the Kingdom of God. It cannot be shaken. It cannot be moved.

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

REMAIN IN CHRIST—REMAIN UNSHAKABLE

What is he telling them? Since believers are part of an unshakable kingdom they should respond with thankfulness and reverent worship.

(S9) — {12:28}

Notice — its not "worship God because you're afraid." But, "worship God with a holy fear.”

—“ one says, “I better perform or God will strike me down." The other says, "I stand in the presence of the living God, and that matters.” This is bigger than me, bigger than my circumstances.

— Not obligation. Not guilt. Not "I better show up or God will be mad." But the overflow of a heart that knows what can’t be shaken.

Psalm 100:2 “Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy.”

Think about this in terms of our Sunday mornings. When we gather here — when the worship team leads us in song, when we open the Word, when we pray together — we are not just going through motions. We are joining something that is already happening in the heavenly places.

Revelation 5:11–12 “Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered— to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.””

That's why worship matters. Not because God needs our praise. But because...

(S10) —

III. OUR WORSHIP IS TO BE A RESPONSE TO THE GRACE RECEIVED

Charles Wesley — captured this so beautifully in his hymns. "And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood?" He understood that the proper response to grace is not fear but song. Not trembling but joy. Not "I hope I'm good enough" but gain.

The kind of worship according to the ESV is "acceptable" worship. Its worshipping that aligns with the reality of our sinfulness and our receiving not condemnation, but God’s grace.

Ephesians 2:8–9 “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

It's worship that's marked by gratitude, not guilt. It's worship that's driven by love, not obligation. The heart of worship is the response of someone who knows who they are and what they've been offered.

— from a mountain of darkness, gloom, and death, to the city of the living God

— from trembling before a Holy God, to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly

— From a place judgment to a life of grace and having our names are written in heaven."

Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

LISTEN TO THE VOICE THAT SPEAKS FROM HEAVEN—REMAIN IN CHRIST/REMAIN UNSHAKABLE— WORSHIP AND RESPONED TO THE GRACE RECEIVED

Some of you walked in here today and you are being shaken. Life is rattling you. And you know the Lord — you've trusted Him, you've given your life to Him — but right now, it feels like the ground is moving. And you're wondering if you can hold on.

— Its less about where you are and all about where you’ve come...to a life anchored in Christ!

So here's the challenge—If you’ve been drifting...don't pull back from God because of your circumstances.

— Press in. Open His Word — even if it's just five minutes a day.

— Pray — even if all you can say is "God, help me."

— Show up to worship — even when you don't feel like it. Not out of obligation. Not out of guilt. But out of gratitude. You have been given a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let that truth fuel your praise.

— Connect with others...Join a small group...Bible Study

Because, these are the channels through which God speaks. Here's the truth I want you to carry into this week:

The economy can shake. The kingdoms and ways of this world can shake. Your health can shake. Your plans can shake. But the Kingdom of God — the Kingdom you've been brought into by the blood of Jesus — it cannot be shaken. So listen to the voice that speaks from heaven. Stand on the ground that will never, ever move. And worship God in response to the grace you have received.

(S11)

ALL OF US HAVE A CHOICE—BE SHAKABLE OR BE ANCHORED

Be shakable — and it will feel like things are crumbling down around you. Be unshakable, secure in Christ no matter where life takes you because its not about where you are...but where “you have come...

"Everything that can be shaken will be shaken — So, stop living on shaky ground."