Sunday Feb/6/2022

And now, all you're thinking about is Desert, if you already ate dinner or appetizer, if you haven't had dinner yet. How many of you here with us not doing dinner beforehand, until we get this thing rolling again. Once it's once a mask mandates gone. There will be doing the dinner thing again just to logistic Lee, but how many of you ate before you came tonight?

How many of you are hungry right now and wishing? You would have eaten before you came tonight? Yeah. Well, there's cheesecake is cheesecake after. So in this year to grow, We are continuing our look through the book of Hebrews and it's a fascinating letter for learning, lots of different things. Maybe even being challenged on some passages that we had always heard maybe out of context and we thought of him one way. And as we're seeing it linked together with all the other passages, maybe it's making us think a little bit differently about what Hebrews is about. This is our last message on this portion of it, where we talkin about grow up, where previously, the author of Hebrews is telling his audience. Hey, you should be eating solid food by now, but you, I can barely give you milk. And there, there's a whole series of encouragement. I guess would be putting it positively to grow or so today. We come to the end of that and the other day. I was at the doctor's office with one of my kids and they were showing me one of those growth charts. How many of you have seen those growth charts where they've got the, the little dots of where you're going in that processing. Kind of what this means, based on, where you've been at these different points, that probably means that you'll end up with in this space up here, when you grow up a little bit encouraging cuz apparently they kind of go like this. And so you might be shorter right now, but that doesn't mean that you're not going to grow. End. Maybe spiritually or emotionally are relationally. You might find yourself feeling like, maybe. My growth is a little stunted. Is it really loud out there for you? It feels loud to me. I can't I can't I can't hear myself think with my own voice. So vet, if you want to bring it down just a little bit, at least in the house here. Thank you, but

Be equipping pastor and sound lady tonight. She just jumping back. They're very flexible and the drummer. So, You can track your growth of kids, as they're going along. You can make sure that they're getting the nutrition that they need so that they can grow. You can pray for growth. You can get make sure that everything around it is. Conducive for growth but then you get to a certain point and you're just kind of hoping and praying for growth, you know, hoping this is this works out. You're looking at the chart, you're going to think we're going to end up here.

Can I want to talk to you about? Hopefully. you don't like, When it comes to growth, we might feel stuck. We might feel stunted. We might look at somebody else and see them as maybe a giant spiritual Giant, and we might think I'm not like them. I'm not there yet. I'm I'm back. I got held back a year. I got held back a decade. I just started following Jesus. Seriously, two years ago. I'm not where those other people are in your praying for and hoping for growth may be relational. You're emotionally, you're feeling stuck. I think I might be normal for us to hit different walls. Kind of like that growth chart for kids, just kind of go up and then you kind of level out a little bit and then you go up again. But if we look at how the dots are coming along, we can see that there's a trajectory that leads towards growth. Right. We're not shrinking back. We're growing. Do you know that when we are born, we all have growth potential in our DNA. It's already been designed into us. What, what we have the capacity to grow to, what an ideal height and weight would be for us. It's in there. It's built into us, but it's going to depend how we grow based on lots of different factors are diet or activity level sickness. Like if you get sick at the wrong point of your development as a kid, you might not grow. Parts of you might not grow in the you make to have a sickness like that, that you got when you were little and it affected your development. Your environment can affect your development to can cause you to have different thicknesses. That would affect your growth. They say that there are a lot of different things that can hinder your growth for one of the ones that gets thrown around there. And I'm not sure if it's true or not. Is that coffee stunts? Your growth have. How many of you have heard that coffee stunts your growth? And also one that is out there. That is true. This one I know is true is that malnutrition can affect your growth and if you don't get the right nutrients when you're a little kid growing up that's going to affect your growth whether it's in the womb or it's when you're a small child growing up and there was a period in my life where all we ate for a while was rice and beans, mostly and plantains. It was a rough little patch there, and we kept drinking coffee. Cuz it's Mexico. And so you. Yeah, we had coffee whenever we were out doing things and can you imagine what I would be like if I had grown up in the United States? I mean, I thought about that, like maybe I had the potential to be in 6 ft 8, but it just you know, what do with beans and rice patch and then all that coffee. I was drinking as a kid and it stunted my growth. So here I stand only 6 ft 4. What Woulda happened? Anyway, so hopefully we can grow up. I want to take us to Hebrews chapter 6, verses 9 through 12. And if you would with me like we like to do, if you're able to join me and standing, that would be great. Hebrews chapter 6 9 through 12. And you can use the Bible in front of you or your handy-dandy device.

I've been trying to figure out. How to get this to send out a little thing? We all you got to do is tap it and you open up the scripture in your app. I don't know how to do that yet. I've tried All right. Here we go. Hebrews 6, even though we speak like this, dear friends. We are convinced of better things in your case.

Mike moved all by itself. Somebody taking control of it back there. All right. I'm going to read back here. Even though we speak like this, dear friends. We are convinced of better things. In your case. The things that have to do with salvation, God is Not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love. You have shown him. As you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this. Same diligence to the very end. So that what you hope for may be fully realized, we do not want you to become lazy. Butt to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit. What has been promised. Let's pray. Thank you for your promises. Thank you for the hope that we have.

Thank you that you are patient with us. That you are loving and merciful like we heard about in our time of worship.

God, we want to grow in you. We want to be who you have called us to be. We want to do what you have called us to do. So help us here from your word tonight, that it would be your spirit that speaks to us. Not my words. Not my voice in Jesus name. Amen. Go ahead and have a seat.

You know, if I pray that seriously, I've had multiple times where people have come up to me after a Sunday or after a message somewhere and have said, man that just like you, how did you know? It was like you were speaking straight at me when you said that. It just like, really got to me and I'm like, I never said that.

The Holy Spirit was speaking through whatever I was saying, somehow they were getting something else. And in those cases, it was good. Sometimes though where you can hear me saying one thing and you can be thinking I'm saying something else. Because we're filtering. So I hope that tonight, we're not filtering, and we're really open and receiving with the Holy Spirit has for us as we come through the last portion, when when ice was up here and he was talking about that challenge of growing up and then that it comes after grow up and it goes into the section of not losing salvation. And remember that, what's that portion is like, well, we're going to break it down cuz this is what comes right after that. This is the portion where it where it talks about. What what comes next. He says, I'm convinced of something better in your case having to do with salvation.

So we're going to go break it down and go through verse by verse.

First verse 9, even though we speak like this and that was a hard tone that it seemed to use before. Dear friends. We are convinced of better things in your case things that have to do with salvation. So he had just spoken kind of strong, but then he says dear friends and that's a phrase that he only uses right there in this letter. Where we looked at the the portion right before this that it probably wasn't a question. It wasn't intended to be this. This argumentative text that people used in favor of people losing their salvation or against people losing their salvation. You know, they on the one hand saying well, If you've tasted and then you walked away, you can't come back. And we've involved may be heard that argument before or if the person appears to have walked away. They never were saved to begin with or if they've walked away or they appear to have walked away. Well if they're saved their safe forever, so it doesn't matter what they do and I've heard all those different arguments and that the point of this wasn't so much to be an argument text for us. To take out of context, you may have heard the phrase before. I know I've said it before here, but text without context is pretext. We use things out of context to justify. Our behaviors. Are our choices or two to win fights. That's not the idea here really want to get at the heart of what he's saying is. Taste and see that the Lord is good. But don't just don't just stick around and oh, I know Jesus, but you don't really know. Oh, I go to church. I'm a Christian, but you don't really know him. You haven't really surrendered to him. You're not really following him. All right, though, is a strong word saying, don't just be in the environment. Dive n, go all the way because what will see throughout Hebrews here is that there is a continual encouragement for people to persevere to the end. So it wasn't about what I prayed a certain prayer and now I'm in. But am I following Jesus to the end and so that'll be coming up a lot throughout this that this this book as we go through. But here he's saying about you guys. I want you to know the goodness of God and it's for your salvation. This is a good thing for you. Now it goes on to say, God is Not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love. You have shown him. As you have helped his people and continue to help them. God is just God is fair.

But then that's a good reminder that we need. It's not about our Justice. Our abilities.

But then he jumps over from that. That's a really good important, reminder. God is just To and he won't forget your works. And the love. You have shown him as you have helped his people. And continue to help them notice here. That when you love other people you're loving God.

And I know worship is really important is that we're spiritual community prayer, worship prophecy, intercession all part of being a spiritual Community, but there's a part that comes together when you have spiritual relationships and you care for each other. That's loving God.

He won't forget your good works. This is all connected. You'll see her in a second.

In James. The brother of Jesus rights? What good is it? My brothers and sisters if someone claims to have faith but has no Deeds, can such Faith save them. Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.

If one of you says to them go in peace, keep warm.

Where to go. Go in peace. Keep warm and well-fed, but does nothing about their physical needs. What good is it in the same way Faith by itself? If it is not accompanied by action is dead. But someone will say you have faith. I have Deeds. Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by my Deeds. If you believe that there is one God good, even the demons believe and shudder that's kind of like the people saying why I believe in God. You foolish person. Do you want evidence that faith without Deeds as useless was not our Father, Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son. Isaac on the altar. You see that his face and his actions were working together and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone in the same way, was not even Rahab The Prostitute considered righteous for what she did. When she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction. As the body without the spirit is dead. So faith without Deeds is dead.

Our faith. If we've experienced truly experience, Jesus, it changes our actions. Our faith leads to Good Works. It's not the good works that save us but our works that flow from Faith are a fruit of that experience. If we have tasted and seen the goodness of God, when people taste of us, they'll take the goodness of God. Spirit tree Bears, Spirit fruit. So if we're, if we have our Roots down into the Holy Spirit. Where is Holy Spirit Tree? In that sense than the Holy Spirit fruit will come out of our lives.

Then he goes on to say we want each of you to show the same diligence to the very end. So that what you hope for may be fully realized. The preacher here is saying that the church should grow fully into what God has planned something that God has already placed within each of them. Something that they're hoping for in their Desiring. They're wanting this. He wants it to be fully realized to fully come to be. Not just fully understood but to fully come to be when I was down in Mexico at the beginning of January. And I was there with Pastor Jim Olson in the pilgrim Center for reconciliation and we were doing healing Retreats for pastors and leaders. I got to see a little bit of the area, little bit of the ministry that they're doing. I also got to see Caleb, my nephew and that was fun. He's down there learning Spanish and he's doing great. And when we were walking around with him and with a couple others there on the base. We saw some palm trees that had these vines that we're wrapping up around them. And some of these palm trees were at different stages of this process, but these vines that we're wrapping around them or called Strangler figs. I don't know if any of you are familiar with them, but they kind of look like this. So, that's a palm tree on the one side, broker Blanca. And on the base there. The water is just right behind those plants. You can see it. A little bit of a Distance on the other side. You have a tree that has already had the Strangler fig taking action and surrounding it. begins to take over it, takes over so much that when you see these Strangler figs, they don't look like Vines anymore. They look like the tree. They become these massive trunks.

Because they wrap themselves around another tree and they keep it from growing. They absorb all of the nutrients and they kill it. So I wanted Caleb to take a picture cuz he was down there and send it up to me. So you guys could see his face but also so you can see what these things turn into. That's not a palm tree anymore. The palm tree is gone. Dead and gone. And this other thing kept it from growing and becoming what it was meant to be and turned it into something totally different. This thing was meant to be a palm tree. There were two palm trees as you go into the area where the base is now, there are two massive tree. This is one of them that he's standing next to. This is what the inside looks like. There used to be a palm tree there. But these Vines will wrap themselves up around a tree and prevent it from growing steal. All of the nutrients, still, all of the Sun and they become the thing that grows this external thing. And then the palm tree that was on the inside, doesn't grow, and eventually dries up and dies and you're left with the hollow core of what it used to be.

God wants us to grow and become the fullness of everything that he wants us to be, but the plans of the enemy are too, kind of tangle us up. Wrap us up, put something else around us that constrains us and keeps us from becoming who God has called us to be. Until that thing, that which is of, which is of god, eventually dies up. And we're left hollowed out on the inside with some other monstrosity on the outside and that can happen to any of us.

Okay, Sam. What are we talkin about here? Babies in chapter 4. Has a similar thing, but he talks about the body growing again, back to the body pictures of growth in it. He says about leadership. Given in the church that Christ himself gave Apostles and Prophets, evangelist pastors and teachers to equip the people for the works of ministry so that the body of Christ may be built up. So that's how we see Ministry should happen here at this church, has leaders are there to equip the church for the work of ministry. So we don't want to be paying a pastor or secretary or anybody to be doing this for that. We want any leader, whether they're Apostle Prophet, evangelist pastors are teachers and whether they function as an elder or they function as a deacon or they function as a staff pastor, To be functioning within their gifting to equip and encourage and train others to do the work of the ministry. Why? So that the body of Christ may be built up. Until we all reach, unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. All right, so God wants us together to grow up. To the full measure. Not part of the measure. So the enemy is actively working to constrain us and keep us from growing but God's desire for you and for me and for us together is to grow up into the fullness. There is a measure that we're growing into and it's not 6 ft 8. Okay, if not 250 people. It's Christ. Likeness, that's the measure that we're growing into.

Then we will no longer be infants Talk Back and Forth by the waves and blowing here and there by every wind of teaching them by the cunning and craftiness of people in deceitful scheming. Instead speaking the truth in love. We will grow to become in every respect, the mature body of him who is the head that is priced from him the whole body joint and held together. By every supporting ligament grows and build itself up and love as each part. Does it work? As each part does its work?

So when we talk about membership here in the church, we're not talking about joining a club, like Costco or Sam's Club where you get discounted religious goods and services is okay. I'm a member here. I better get a discount. I better get cheesecake. I get the front of the line. I don't like going to like a Southern accent when I'm joking around. I don't know.

It's not that it's not a membership, like, becoming a member at the gym, a membership there, where we feel good about the fact that we remember there, but we might not necessarily go. We go. I should go more often. But hey, I have a gym membership. Am I any stronger? Because of it? Nope, cuz I don't go. Kind of like that, right? That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about being part of a body in one picture where you are, your integrated into the life of the body or another picture of family, being part of a family and up family. That's a me to grow towards being a functional family. A healthy family. We have to work things out and we have to grow when we have to actually live out the gospel of reconciliation where we apologize and we make amends when things are done wrong and we love and we serve each other as Christ loved and served each of us. That's what we're talking about. So membership isn't in the industry's family. It's not about Discounted religious goods and services. And it's not about being part of something that we, we can be excited about not even about getting to vote on a thing or another thing. It's about saying, hey, I'm in it with you guys. And when we're all together, each of us doing work, each of us, participating doing what we've been gifted and able to do we're all contributing. We all grow up, we all benefit. What's it. What's that one saying the rising tide lifts? All boats, right? As we are all contributing. We are all benefiting from it. And we're all growing up. When each of us uses the gifts that we have. We use our strength and that strength and somebody else in their area of weakness. And then they're able to strengthen us in our area of weakness. All right, so he goes down from there and back back to Hebrews jumping around here. He says we do not want you to become lazy. Wait, I thought we were your dear friends here.

I'd like to say Paul but I don't think it was Paul who wrote this. I didn't know. I thought we were your dear friends here. Preacher. But now you're saying, I don't want you to become lazy butt to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit. What has been promised. Faith and patience here makes me think of bossy and Safeway. That stuck in my head for the last couple weeks. Faith. And patience. In Hebrews chapter 11, so like five chapters forward from where we at, we see the face chapter, the Hall of face, sometimes it's called where it left off. All the different people who had faith and persevered all the way to the end and many of them didn't ever see what they were hoping for. But Hebrews chapter 11 tells us this right at the beginning. It said that faith is the confidence in what we hope for and Assurance about what we do not see, this is what the Ancients were commended for and we just looked at it in James. Is that face? True. Faith has works. True Faith leads us to action in the same way that sitting on this chair. I could say that I believe that this chair can hold me. But until I actually sit on it. I'm not really putting my faith into practice. You could question whether or not I actually believe that this chair can hold me. Which for me, that's a lot of faith. I broken a lot of tears in my life. Seriously, like, where we work in? In Nigeria at the at the place where we're taking the covid test in order to be able to leave the country. And I sit down on the chair and Richard. Here We Go Again, breaking chairs. I may have broken a chair in every country have been too. I'm not sure cuz I break one in Jamaica.

I didn't break a chair in Jamaica. Sweet. Anyway, the face until we actually put it into practice.

It's just words and so we see. Hebrews 11 list off. It says, we're putting this into practice. Here's a bunch of examples of people who did it. And they didn't even get to see the Fulfillment of what they were hoping for, but, but you're the preachers telling us, but I want you to see the Fulfillment of what you're hoping for. So that what you hope for may be fully realized like some of us will hope for a hundred things and pray for 100 things and seek for a hundred different things. Have gone to do in our lives and through our lives and we might see 75% of those things happen and we might be looking at the other 25% and knowing that that's going to happen in the next generation or the Next Generation after that, but I'm not going to wait until I see it. I'm going to start taking action right now towards the things that God has put inside of me to hope for it to live towards. So don't be lazy. Don't sit around waiting. Take action.

At the end of Hebrews, it says this before, it gets into Hebrews 11 here at the end of Hebrews 10. He says let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one, another on toward love and Good Deeds. So again, it's we need this together. Hold on to it. Take action, but together, spur each other on 411, Good Deed, not giving up meeting together as somewhere in the habit of doing buddy. Courage in one another and all the more as you see the day approaching. We got to stay in this. Don't be lazy. Don't hold back. Don't you know, you need a break now? Christen press. And that we were talking about last year. So I want to close with some questions for you to reflect on 1st off. What are you hoping for?

What are you hoping for?

You know, if we put our faith in Our Hope, in the wrong things.

Then I guess we shouldn't be surprised when we get disappointed. What am I hoping for? What are you hoping for? What are you hoping that God would do in your life this year? What are you hoping that he would do through your life this year? At your work. With your friends, with your family members. Are you praying and hoping for people to come to know? Jesus death taste and see that the Lord is good. Are you hoping and praying for God to do Miracles through your life and in your life?

Are you hoping to one day? Be found faithful?

You know, what to hear the Lord say, Well done, good. And faithful servant. We can say to Michonne. Well done, good and faithful servant with her role as Community Life faster, but her life's not over. She got a whole lot more ministering and serving and loving people to do ahead of her, but she's living with that desire in mind. I want to be found faithful. What are you hoping for? What are you hoping for God to do? We saw here these different contrast and you can go back and look at it. There's this contrast between work. You know, putting it to work and the grace of God, the love of God, diligence versus laziness.

Hope and Faith versus I guess, you could say a hopelessness. Or impatience. You don't be patient. Indoor press through to the end and we're reminded as we saw if that faith without works is dead.

Faith, without love. Is dead cuz that's how we're putting this into action. So that what you hope for may be fully realized that my next question for you to think about, everybody got what you're hoping for you like, Sammy were talking the whole time. How was I going to say? Going to? Think about what I'm hoping for are the thickest, I can just close your eyes for a minute with me for like 5 Seconds. Just think God. What am I hoping for? What should I be hoping for?

In that same posture. What's in the next question is, what's holding you back?

after the long list of people who persevered and through faith, they conquered We get Hebrews 12 that says, let us run with perseverance, the race that is laid out before us. Let's cast off every weight and thing spin that easily, entangles us. What's holding you back?

The root of bitterness.

Their despair is there hopelessness of some kind of the LIE of the enemy begin to wrap itself around you? And that wants to choke out the life that God has are there other Steve's? There was a parable of the, the seeds. We're weeds were sown among the good plants and the weed started to grow up. Are there other weeds growing up around you?

Different parable.of.the of of seeds and sores. Where some seed, Landon amongst the weeds? He also was trying to grow, and they were choking.

What's holding you back?

Are there. Strangling figs? Wrapping themselves up around you Halloween, you out. I don't know.

But God does. First take a second eyes, closed, if you want. Ask God, God, what's holding you back? What's keeping me from growing to the full measure, what's stunting my growth?

Did the cares of this world? Is it? The deceitfulness of sin? Is it?

The things of this world.

If it's this area that I'm not surrendering to you. Holding me back.

Got to ask that you would speak to each of us. Tonight, about the things that you are wanting for us. The ways in which you're calling us to press in and press on. So that what we hope for may be fully realized. God help us all step into. Growth in in are in individual relational, spiritual. Emotional whatever. Areas of Our Lives, we need to grow. But together plus, to grow up in you, that we would be looking more and more like you as a church community. In God. We, we just with Brent of all the places in the ways that we don't look like you. We don't act like you. We don't talk like you, we don't joke like you.

God forgive us. God have mercy.

That we want to be more and more like you.

We want to grow up fully into you.

In Jesus name. Amen.