Trust Jesus

CHILD DEDICATION

HAVE PARENTS/CHILDREN COME FORWARD I want to ask Bethany, our NexGen Minister to join me this morning.

Good morning guys!

I am so excited for you to be here today and for choosing to make this commitment.

Bethany gave you guys some homework this week and she will talk a bit more about that in a moment, but I want to remind you this morning of some of those things.

God has given you the responsibility to:

Train up your children in the ways of God.

Be an example of Christian living both inside and outside the home.

Provide for, protect, and nurture your children.

Make them a part of your family, sharing with them your love, your time, and your life.

Teach them to love the same Jesus that you love … and to serve, obey and honor Him with all their heart.

I want to remind you that you are not alone in this responsibility.

God, your Heavenly Father, is always with you to provide you with the strength, encouragement, love, and wisdom you need.

All you have to do is go to Him, and He will provide all that you need.

This morning, we are not dedicating Gabriel and Isaiah, as much as we are dedicating Craig and Colleen.

You are here today to publicly say that you, want to raise your boys in a Christ-honoring home … and are asking God’s blessing on your ministry as Christian parents.

LISTEN, as I ask you some questions.

In answering these questions, you are making promises to GOD.

NOT to me … NOT to Gabriel and Isaiah … BUT … to GOD.

If you are willing then reply by saying “I do” to the following promises:

Parents

Do you pledge, as followers of Christ, that you will raise your sons in a home that emphasizes the importance of a personal, growing relationship with God?

Do you promise to teach them the truth of the gospel and pray for the day that they choose to believe that truth for themselves?

Do you promise to show them God’s love to the best of your ability?

TGP Membership

Do you pledge, as their brothers and sisters in Christ, that you will role-model the importance of a personal, growing relationship with God?

Do you promise to help Craig and Colleen teach them the truth of the gospel and pray for the day that they choose to believe that truth for themselves?

Do you promise to show them God’s love to the best of your ability?

Life Group, would you come up and join us as we pray over this family?

Let’s pray together.

God, as we stand before you today, we are promising you, Gabriel, Isaiah, Colleen, and Craig, that we will do all that we can in providing an environment in which Gabriel and Isaiah can know you. Father, we are so thankful that you have brought this sweet family into our body. Craig and Colleen have already prioritized listening and obeying you and today give the strength to continue. We ask that you would give them wisdom and compassion as they raise three incredible little boys. God show them your love daily and give them the tools they need to share that same love with their boys. Father, bless this family and their extended family with a love for one another that can only come from you. We love them so much and we know you do too. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen.

Good Morning!

Worship was wonderful and what a joy to be able to join Craig and Colleen in dedicating Gabriel and Isaiah.

Last week we took the time to really dive into what a High Priest was and what their role was.

A High Priest was a representative of the people before God.

They were the mediator between God and his people.

We thought about the problems that arise when we aren’t represented well.

Try as they might, all the high priests were still sinful, just like we are.

When Jesus came to earth, he was one hundred percent man, yet he did not sin.

Upon his death and Resurrection, he took that role as high priest, and now he is our mediator between God and his people.

This was important for the early church to understand and it is equally important for us to understand.

Jesus is the perfect high priest for two reasons.

He never sinned.

He faced all the temptations and troubles that we face which allows him to perfectly understand and represent us before God.

We are going to continue on into chapter 3 today to see that the author wants the church to understand that, while Moses does deserve our respect as a high priest, Jesus is far greater.

The author is encouraging the church to place their trust not in men, but in Jesus.

Last week we thought about what it means to be represented and how we feel when we aren’t represented properly.

It hurts because we know that we have not been understood or cared about.

This morning, I want us to think about where we place our trust.

Remember this emphasis from vs 1 that we saw last week.

Hebrews 3:1 (CSB)

1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.

The author is asking them to think about Jesus in this way, as the bringer of the good news and as their representative.

Me

I don’t know about you, but this last week was one that required me to seriously trust Jesus.

Trusting Jesus in the business of the week.

Work

Beth out of town for YMCP so she asked me to take on her responsibilities.

Church Wednesday night

Funeral for the Upshaw’s

Girl cousins coming over

The power went out yesterday morning.

Loading the Meek’s

Sermon prep.

God was not surprised by any of that this week.

Conventional wisdom would have said that was too much.

I would have said it was too much, but Jesus set every one of those things up and He delivered.

Because he put each one of those responsibilities on me, He gave me exactly what I needed and when I needed it.

I’m not sharing this with you so you will look at me as a superhero or something.

I’m sharing because I want you to know how overwhelmed I felt all week.

I had to be completely reliant on Jesus.

I know that all of us feel like this pretty often and the truth is that the more we trust our lives to Jesus and let him call the shots, the more we are going to have to rely on Him to make it happen.

We all have to make a decision about where we are going to place our trust.

With our kids, will we trust...

how we were raised

popular/cultural norms

or on asking God for direction

With our finances, will we trust in conventional wisdom in seeking jobs, or rely on God to show us what job he wants us to have?

In regards to living in mission, will we trust God and live as He is calling us or conform to cultural standards?

Trusting Jesus the heart of our passage today.

God

I keep reminding us as we study through Hebrews, that this book was written to encourage churches that were being greatly persecuted because of their belief that Jesus was the promised messiah.

The author specifically compares Jesus to Moses to make the point that our trust should be placed in Jesus, not in the prophets of old.

While Moses was great, Jesus is greater.

Read with me.

Hebrews 3:2–6 (CSB)

2 He (Jesus) was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was in all God’s household.

3 For Jesus is considered worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder has more honor than the house.

4 Now every house is built by someone, but the one who built everything is God.

5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s household, as a testimony to what would be said in the future.

6 But Christ was faithful as a Son over his household. And we are that household if we hold on to our confidence and the hope in which we boast.

The goal of the non-believers was to pull the new converts back into their old beliefs.

The followers of Jesus were cast out of the families, lost their jobs, and were feeling the weight of that.

The author wasn’t denying the foundational work that God did through Moses.

Rather, he is pointing out that it was simply the precursor to what Jesus would eventually accomplish.

To put this into a framework that we can digest easily, think of it this way.

Trusting in Moses more than Jesus is like enjoying a movie’s preview more than the movie.

That is not how it is supposed to work.

Or Moses was the opening band, Jesus is the headliner, but you leave after the opener and skip the reason for the concert.

The issue was that for generations, Moses had been elevated to rock star status and then Jesus, the suffering servant comes on the scene and doesn’t meet the expectations of those that were supposed to “know” who he was.

To try and help them process what he is saying, the author recounts another story that would have been greatly remembered.

Allusion - The builder and the house is pointing to 2 Sam 7.

David has just moved into his palace and realizes that God is still living in a literal tent.

He realizes how backward that seems so he decides that He will build a house for God.

He doesn’t ask God or Nathan, the prophet.

As a matter of fact, Nathan doesn’t ask God either.

But God shows up later that night and basically tells him no, but that his son, Samuel, will build it.

David and Nathan relied on logic rather than asking God.

Good works vs Godly works.

Our good works get in the way of or even prevent the work of God.

We haven’t talked about it in a while, but we understand the difference between following Jesus versus living in dead religion.

This is what the non-believers were trying to convince Jesus’s followers to do.

Revert to dead religion.

Go back to what was easy.

Look with me at vs 5 again because the author is making his by showing the difference between Moses and Jesus.

Hebrews 3:5 (CSB)

5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s household, as a testimony to what would be said in the future.

Moses was faithful as a servant.

Hebrews 3:6a (CSB)

6 But Christ was faithful as a Son over his household.

Jesus was faithful as a son.

The difference here is monumental!

A servant can only operate in the bounds in which he is given authority.

A son has the same authority as the father.

Moses, as great as he was, had limits on what he could do.

Jesus has no limits.

What I can do vs what Loye and Charles can do at work.

Let’s bring this idea of the servant versus the son down to where we are.

If we choose to follow servants...

If we lean in on logic, cultural norms, or dead religion, we are not only turning our back on Jesus, but we are also giving up the freedom that he died to give us.

However, if we lean in on Jesus, the son, and let him guide us as we abide in him, we are going to experience freedom from cultural demands and fruitless activity.

In Jesus, we find freedom, community, worship, and ministry.

All the things we truly desire, all the things our hearts long for, are found in pursuing Jesus, not in following the world.

You

When it comes to finding the right job, ask Jesus.

When you are struggling with your kids, ask Jesus.

When you are feeling lonely, lean into Jesus, and pursue the community he is providing for you.

In the past, we have spent so much time talking about abiding in Jesus, and this is where we find ourselves again.

Being reminded by the Holy Spirit to check our hearts and our knee-jerk responses.

Are you immediately following norms, your own intellect, or the advice of others?

Or do you start by going to Jesus?

We

There are so many people in our communities that need to hear our stories of obedience and the freedom that follows.

When Jesus gives you direction, tell people about it and let them see God’s activity in your life.

Our world doesn’t need another group of people pointing to a building, they need to see a group of people pointing to the one that made the building.

Our stories, God’s activity in our lives are the truth that people need to hear to know that Jesus can be trusted.

They are comfortable with the religious status quo.

They trust that it will have a consistent minimal return.

The message for us is the same as it was for the church.

Go back to your former beliefs and life will most definitely be easier, but you will miss what God is doing.

I want to end with this last part of vs 6 today.

Hebrews 3:6b (CSB)

And we are that household if we hold on to our confidence and the hope in which we boast.

We are the household that Jesus is faithful over if we will hold on to our confidence.

He is saying literally if we possess or own with boldness our hope and reason for boasting.

If we own, with boldness, that Jesus is where freedom, love, joy, fulfillment, etc. are found, not only will Jesus be faithful over us, but the people in our proximity are going to see it.

When we tell a story that we own, it grabs people’s attention.

They are drawn to it.

They see us trusting Jesus and it gives the hope that they can too.

People begin to see the truth about who Jesus is, not when we are deciding what good works should be done.

They see Him when we rely on him to tell us what He is doing and we join Him in that.

Good works are a testimony of us.

Godly works are a testimony of God.

The world needs to see us simply Trusting Jesus.

Let’s pray.