Persevere Because God speaks.....

God still speaks to us......

Once there was a man.... - by Max Lucado - Gentle Thunder

Once there was a man who dared God to speak.

Burn the bush like you did for Moses, God and I will follow.

Collapse the walls like you did for Joshua God, And I will fight.

Still the waves like you did on Galilee, God. And then I will listen.

And so the man sat by a bush, near a wall, close to the sea and waited for God to speak.

And God heard the man, So God answered.

God sent fire, not for a bush, but for a church.

He brought down a wall, not of bricks, but of sin.

He stilled the storm, not of the sea, but of a soul.

And God waited for the man to respond.

And God waited....

And God waited....

And God waited.

But because the man was looking at bushes, not hearts; brinks and not lives; seas and not souls, he decided that God had done nothing.

Finally the man looked to God and asked, “Have you lost your power?”

And God looked at the man and said, “Have you lost your hearing?”

Today on Father’s Day as we regather together at this new place, Blackjack Hills after begin unable to meet in person for nearly 3 months, as adjustments for the Covid-19 virus have effected everyone of us. As our nation has various places of unreast and upheaval… I have wondered what we might we need from God today? What might you need from God today? What might you and I need to hear, again, be reminded of again, to believe in again.... renewed?

Perhaps you feel like many Christians have felt, maybe you don’t remember the last time you “heard from God” the last time you knew that God was communicating, talking to you. As a pastor this is a quiet question I hear alot from people, if God speaks so much why am I not hearing him?

A few years ago Sam, my son took a hearing test at his school and it was from a website that he could pull up with his phone. Well when he came home he was excited to test everyone else’s hearing… Emma took the hearing test and did well, Jenny took the hearing test and she did well, and then I took the text… and I did not do well. There were certain ranges that I did not even hear, and others that I could barely hear. My hearing diminished greatly with my age, and I look at my dad who has super power hearing aids that actually sink into his new phone and actually to the TV set so he can hear. Now that is some diminished hearing, no disrespect to my dad because it looks like I am right behind him in hearing loss. Well I think this diminished capacity to hear can sometimes happen in our lives with God. There are sometimes we have a diminished ability to hear God’s voice, but it isn’t necessarily because we have done something wrong, it is more often than not be are not tuned into the way God is already speaking. The ways God is already communicating.

Here is a question I have for you to ask God.....What do you and I need to hear from today… what might I need you to communicate to me God?. Perhaps it is in a deep place of grief, frustration, bordome, depression, anxiety, or perhaps it is a specific situation that is renting space in your head, creating panic, fear, or anger rising up? Or maybe it is a sense of feeling powerless and overwhelmed by something or someone .... I don’t know what you might need from God today, but I believe the first place we always begin with God in prayer, is right where we are in that moment. And while you take a few moments pausing and directing your prayer to God, I want you to take out play dough that we have here available, or anything at home like play dough that you might be able to put in your hands and mold and work with your hands. If you are at home, perhaps you have some bread dough, or silly puddy, or clay that you can work with your hands. As you are working the clay perhaps a word or phrase comes to mind. Recently, as I woke up and put my feet on the floor, going into a particularly trying day, I think I heard God remind me “I am able”. That became my simple prayer at different times during that week. Let’s pause and ask if God may have something for us to hear right now as we mold our clay, play dough? (Pause for 30 seconds)

And I think what I, what we always need, is to communicate with the loving and living God who is available right now to us. And in the New Testament book of Hebrews, the first few sentences (Actually in the original language the first four sentence are one long sentence) has a lot to say about how God speaks and what God is saying when God is speaking. The book seems to be written to Christians who were previously Jewish and had become followers of Jesus Christ. Because things were getting hard, they were wavering on going back, of just stopping, of simply quitting. Have you ever felt like that, felt like quitting? There have been sometimes in my life when I felt like quitting, like giving up? Well, if that is you today, the book of Hebrews is perfect for you and I because besides the major theme of “God speaking” throughout the whole book, the writer gives a response to God’s continued speaking in a call to perseverance. The idea of perseverance is to keep going even when you feel like you can’t go any further. But Christian persevance is distinct in it emphasizes that we are never just on our own, God is with us as we persevere like Jesus did.

Right now if you are at home, or if you are with us, I want to invite every kid, and every kid at heart so that means some of you adults as well, to do 10 push-ups right now with me. Maybe 10 push ups are hard for you right now, maybe there are not, maybe I just did some kind of phyisical activity to help attention spans go longer during family church… but in any physical activity we have to persevere, to keep going even when it is hard. And the reason we will explore this week is because God is still speaking… through his Son Jesus Christ we can persevere.

Lets read out loud Hebrews 1:1-3band listen for what God may be wanting to communicate to us today, to persevere because God still speaks through his Son Jesus.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

These verses could be given two main titles. The beginning of this verses could be described as “The Climax of Divine Communication” (1-2a) and the second half could be “the Person, Work, and Status of the Son” (2b-3)

Verses 1–2a, to through his Son, express a contrast between God’s speaking through the prophets and through his Son. This contrast is not developed either here or later in the letter. The points of contrast are as follows:

1. 2.

(a) in the past in these last days

(b) in many times (“once” is implied by the singular“ a and in many ways son” and emphasize later in 7:27;

9:12; 10:10)

(c) to our ancestors to us

(d) through the prophets through his Son

Item (b) is emphasized in the Greek by its position at the beginning of the sentence. Both parts of item (a) are also in an emphatic position, and so are both parts of item (d), which come at the end of their respective clauses. Item (c) is not particularly emphasized. Each language has its own way of showing emphasis. Sometimes this is done by placing an expression at the beginning or at the end of a sentence, sometimes by placing it in an unusual position, or sometimes by the use of unusual or emphatic words. - A Handbook in the letter to the Hebrews

This structure does not disregard what God has already done, it is the same way that elementary school is the foundation for High school, or High School is the foundation for college and for further learning. In the past and in various ways God spoke is in line with what God is up to today… and the apex of God speaking to humanity is the person of Jesus Christ. God’s most clear communication of God’s character is Jesus Christ. If you want to know what God is like, look at the person of Jesus Christ.

Now there are seven things describing the son’s relationship to the Father God, and how Jesus is the clearest communication about who God is to humanity.

Lets look closer at this amazing introduction in the book of Hebrews and who this Jesus, the most complete communication from God to humanity.

It says that Jesus is The Son and this Son is

1. Who God appointed to be heir of all things- this might sound weird in our ears, appointed heir of all things sounds like Jesus may be British royalty inheriting a fortune to rule with… and it is kind of correct. At least in the fact that here Jesus is seen as the rightful ruler over all creation. That Jesus reign, he is king and will continue to be king forever. This image of Jesus as King (probably elluding to Psalm 2) “So in our author’s thought, this royal inheritance of Christ has only been inaugurated but will be consummated at the end of the age (1:13; 2:8-9). So this initial statement both affirms the present and anticipates the future rule of Christ.” Guthrie, Hebrews NIV Application Commentary p.47

2. And through this Son Jesus whom he created the world - There is an old song that I remember singing when I was young, it goes like this, He’s got the whole world in his hands, he’s got the whole wide world in his hands, he’s got the whole world in his hands, He’s got the whole world in his hands… Imaging with me, if you are still playing with play dough, can you imagine that God is so powerful, so loving, that he can hold, the entire universe in his hands… If God the Father Created the whole world and the Son Jesus, is the Father’s agent in the creative process. Can you imagine a more fitting image on Father’s day, thinking about God the Father delightfully creating the entire universe and the Son working beside him together delightfully created the world.

For Emma’s 20th B-day last week we went down to Aggieville and painted pottery as a family. It was fun for us all to sit at a table together and be creative together… Have you ever considered that your creatively has its source in the very nature of God, The Father, Son, and Spirit delightfully creating the whole universe together? Have you ever felt joy in creating something? If so add it to the comments section on this facebook live feed.

3. The radiance of God’s glory - Brilliance When the bible refers to glory it usually is speaking about God awe-inspiring luminous revealing of who God is… and the word translated “radiance” (apaugasma) is used only here in all the bible and carries a thought of intense brightness. To see the brightness of the Son, is to see the Glory of God’s very presence. So Jesus is the brilliant presence of God to humanity. Guthrie Hebrews NIV Application Commentary p. 48

4. The exact representation/expression/ imprint of his being - “The word representation (charakter) is also only used here in all the bible. This word actually referred to an insturment used for engraving and later was associated with the instrument to make an imprint, like stamping a coin, so the word is pointing to the unique features of an object or a person by which we are able to recognize it for what it really is… It refers to an exact representation. Another way of saying this might be the way some kids look striking like their parents… Have you ever seen someone that looks like, I mean almost exactly like their parent? Hey everyone who has access to facebook right now, name a celebrity or a well known father sons that look similar to each other. So in this image, the Son offers a real and trustworthy picture of God’s character.

Do you still have the play dough or something else you are playing I mean praying with as we listen to God’s word open for God to speak to us. The next phrase is a powerful one.. it says that Jesus 5. Sustains all things by his powerful Word.. The word sustain, or bearing all things could be seen in many ways… This could have the idea of Jesus being the one in whom all of Creation was not only Created through, but in Jesus, all of Creation continues to hold together. The world was created by God the Father, speaking things into being creating with the Son, and now the Son is stustaining all things by his powerful word. Do you need to be sustained by God in a particular way today?

6. These next two phrases have the idea of a marked time in history, the verbs change here signalling to us that the author of this book has a specific event in mind. Purification of sin brings up imagery of what the role of the Hight Priest would do on a regular basis. But Jesus is not only the greatest hight priest, of which Hebrews spends much time explaining later, but that Jesus is also actually becomes the sacrifice for purification of sins to actually occur. This is one reason why Jesus’ crucifixion was so important. When Jesus died on a cross, Jesus forever, once and for all time, provied a way for sin to be ultimatly dealt with. Jesus the Son, has provided forgiveness of sins forever through the cross, leading to a relationship with God.

7. The last phrase has to do with Jesus’ present status, right now at God’s right hand. This was another king image and referred to the recognized honor due to a person.

This short text reminds us that in the past God spoke, and the highlight of all this is God speaking most clearly by the Son. And that this son Jesus, is the king over everything, that Jesus was involved with God the Father in the creation of the world, that Jesus also sustains the world, that Jesus is the exact impression of the character of God to humanity, and that Jesus brilliantly radiates the very heart of God, that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross has made this possible for us to be in relationship with the father, and that Jesus is not at the rightful place of honor next to the Father, continuing to work together with the Father.

Today, as you have been playing or praying with play dough, has there been something that you have sense God say to you? Has God reminded you or met you in your present circumstance today? Has God been communicating to you today? I wonder even as we close our time if there is something God may be reminding you, inviting you into, encouraging you to follow through with in light of who Jesus is for us and how he loves us.