Proclaiming God's Glory Together

Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray for you, Jesus. There's a dying hope before us, that I know is soon to break. As I wait upon your mercy, which will swallow every ache. Cries of joy and songs of victory. When we enter heaven's haste, all your children come together. All with you, the God of grace. Now to the God of every grace, who counts my tears, who holds my days. I sing through sorrow, sing with faith. Oh, praise the God of every grace. Now to the God of every grace, who counts my tears, who holds my days. I sing through sorrow, sing with faith. Oh, praise the God of every grace. Oh, praise the God of every grace. Oh, praise the God of every grace.

The Gospel of Luke is one of the accounts of Jesus that, for me personally, has been wonderfully strengthening, incredibly convicting in regards to who Jesus is and what he has done and what he has called us to. In the chapters that span this book, there is one little phrase that the entire book sort of hinges on, and it's in Luke chapter 9. And so Luke begins his Gospel by writing to someone either who was a new Christian or was interested in Christianity, and he says, "I've studied and I've laid it out orderly so that you can hear the good news about who Jesus is." And I think that's one of the reasons this Gospel grabs a hold of my heart in such a personal way because I want you to see who Jesus is in a way that is orderly and well laid out.

And as Luke writes, he writes about the birth of Jesus and the ministry of Jesus. And then in Luke chapter 9 in verse 51, there's just this very short verse, also very similar to a verse in Isaiah about the promised Messiah. But it just simply says this, "When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem." And those words, "He set His face to go to Jerusalem," the rest of the Gospel of Luke is Jesus walking toward the cross. And in reality, He has been walking toward the cross since the day that He arrived in that manger. But in this point in His ministry, He turns His face from all of the other things. He points it at Jerusalem. And He walks toward the sorrow. He walks toward the suffering. He walks toward the betrayal.

He walks toward the flogging and the whips and the nails and the scorn. And He walks toward the cross and the weight of our sin. And He does so for us. He fixes His eyes on the cross and directs Himself toward our salvation. Isaiah says it this way, "The Redeemer's face was set like flint, like a rock that is hard and doesn't waver, fixed in the direction of salvation." And to think about the fact that our salvation is not happenstance, it's not accidental, it's not a coincidence of good circumstances all coming together, but it's a result of the Son of God setting His face to go to the cross where He will die in our place for our sins. And this moment in our service is a reminder that we set our face on our Savior in a world of distractions and sorrows

and in joys and busyness and times where we're bored and times where everything seems to come and happen all at once and in struggle and in triumph, we set our face on our Redeemer as He saves us. Let's pray. Father, may we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, the one who, for the joy that was before Him, picked up the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at your right hand. May our hearts be strengthened. May our repentance run deep. May our joy be full as we look to our Savior. As we look to a world that desperately needs this message proclaimed, may you give us courage. May you give us strength. May our eyes never waver from Jesus. It's in His name I pray. Amen. If you would take the bread with me as we remember Jesus, given in our behalf. And if you would take the cup with me as we remember His blood that pays the price for our sins.

And as we remember His sacrifice, we remember His victory, and remember the call to proclaim this good news to the world. We're going to be in Hebrews, the 10th chapter. In just a moment, we've been talking about the church. That all of God's creation exists for His glory. That it's only in pursuing God's glory that we will find the rest and satisfaction that our souls desire. And when God's people do that, there is joy and wonder even in the midst of suffering. We've talked about the church, that it's built upon Jesus, that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, that we are called to proclaim the good news of the gospel. And so we are called, as a church, to proclaim God's glory. And over the next several weeks, we're going to talk about proclaiming God's glory in two directions.

We are called, as a church, to proclaim God's glory to each other. Within the body of Christ, we are called to proclaim to one another, through both our actions and our words, God's goodness. And then we are called also to proclaim that to the world. So we're going to be talking specifically about the church this morning, and our goal and our call to proclaim God's glory. So we're going to pray, and then we'll dive right into it. Father in heaven, thank you for the church. I ask that you would be with me this morning as we move through this text of deep and wonderful truth that we can only scratch the surface of. That you would help us to see beyond our limited words and our limited time and our limited thoughts your greatness and goodness.

You would help us to see your church as a blessing. That you would see that we are called to worship, that we are called to hold on tight, that we are called to encourage one another. That as a church, as we look to the mission you have given us of being light in the darkness, proclaiming your glory in this time and this place that you have put us. May you energize us with the gospel. May you fill us with hope. May your spirit be at work among us. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. There are sometimes things that we find that are surprisingly essential. And so I was probably 15 or so years ago, I was working on my car. A little valve that has to do with recirculating your exhaust back into the engine when it gets hot enough to help your car run a little better.

And on my car, it was a pretty simple fix to replace, but the car does not run very well without it. And so it was two little screws. It seemed very simple. The part wasn't that expensive. And so I bought the part, popped my hood back here in the driveway, grabbed my ratchets and my screwdrivers. I popped this piece off. I went to put the new one on, and then there's a sound that probably many of us have experienced, and I still dread to this day, the sound of this little tiny screw falling into the engine bay. And I had an appointment in like 40 minutes. Somebody needed a ride to work, and I said, "Oh, yeah, I'll bring you. I'll be done fixing my car by then." And I said, "Well, maybe. Maybe my car will run without it." Like, I got one screw on there. I can get it real tight. I'm sure it'll be fine.

I started up, and it went boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and just died. And I said, "I've got to find this screw." And so I spent the next couple hours searching. I called another friend to give the person a ride, and this little tiny screw, this big. I called the guy from the church. He came over with a flashlight, a magnet. We spent another hour fishing it out. Finally, I put the car in neutral, rolled it down the driveway, and right underneath the car, right where we could have seen it if we had looked, was the little tiny screw. And it's remarkable to me to think, that this thing that you probably couldn't even barely see if I was holding it up this morning, like caused so much difficulty, but it was so deeply important.

And when I was working on the car, just took it for granted, threw it on top of the block, didn't even think about it until it rolled off into the engine bay. There is a tendency for us in the church, as we think about the church gathering together, to take it for granted. Right? Because we have a wonderful access to the Word of God. All of us have Bibles, probably multiple Bibles. If not, they're available on our phones and on our tablets and on our computers, and we can read the Bible anywhere. We can listen to God-glorifying praise music anywhere. We can listen to sermons from all over the world. I can go sit somewhere and have conversations with people about the Gospel. I can pray by myself. I can sing by myself. So why does this local gathering of God's people, if I can do everything by myself, why does it matter?

Why has God called His church to gather together? Right? He is the one who builds His church, the foundation of the church, the one who strengthens the church. And so the question that I want to try to answer this morning in Hebrews chapter 10 is pointing us to the fact that our little gathering here in Winchester, Virginia, is an essential and wonderful thing. And God uses it for His glory in His kingdom. So I'm going to read from Hebrews chapter 10. I'm going to begin reading in verse 19. And it says this: "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain that is through His flesh, and since we have a great High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,

with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who is promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another all the more as we see the day drawing near. And I want to begin by showing you that the writer of Hebrews, as he writes to a church that is struggling, that is persecuted, and most likely from the context of the book of Hebrews discouraged, that he begins by talking this text is specifically about the church. One of the ways you can see that is through the fact that all of the reference to this church, it's not you, it's not I, it's we, it's us, it's one another through this entire text.

This is a very one another, all of us together, a we kind of text. But also the context is this Old Testament picture of the house of God where God's people gathered to worship. And the picture for the church is because you have something better than that in Jesus and in what he has done for you, your gathering together is something better and more wonderful than what happens in the Old Testament. And the spiritual realities that are in this passage is a beautiful picture for us of what God has called the church to be and to do and in the power of the church. We are called to proclaim God's glory with both word and action. And in this text, the author gives us three exhortations, and there is so much here that is so wonderful and so deep that we could spend a whole lot of time.

But I want to point you to three things that the author of Hebrews says specifically to the church. Three things that he calls us to. And very first, he says that as the church gathers together, the gathering together as the church moves us to worship. In Hebrews 10:22, he says, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." The very fact that you and I can draw near to God is a wonderful truth that should move our hearts to worship. The fact that we are allowed into the presence of God. Have you ever felt like you've been outside or ever felt like you have been excluded? It's a little bit of a silly illustration, but a group of us got together Friday to go eat some wings together.

And it was one of those days that just was really frustrating leading up to that moment where we got together and gathered together. It was like 15 minutes before I needed to leave, everybody in the neighborhood needed something from me. And I'm not speaking in a joking way. Like, the guy over here needed a two-by-four cut. Somebody over here needed something. And so I'm running, and I'm running a little late, getting text messages, "Hey, are you here yet?" And I pull in and I realized why I was being texted, because the door for Buffalo Wild Wings was open and the line to get in and get seated is out the door, and I'm just going, "Man, all I've wanted this entire week is to sit down and eat some chicken wings with my friends." Like, that's like all I want. And I walk in, and we're sitting there, and we're looking at this list, and there's a bunch of us going to be there together.

And then one of the guys walks in and goes, "Oh, you don't need to put your name on the list. Those high-top tables in the back, you can just walk in and sit at them." And I was like, "Are you sure?" And so he asked, "We can sit there, right?" She's like, "Oh, yeah, that's fine." And this moment of being able to sort of walk past the line, as they're all sitting there waiting for their tables to walk right back to ours, right? It was this feeling of, "Hey, it's all going to work out. I don't have to find chicken wings somewhere else." And it's a celly, and it's a small, and it's kind of a dumb illustration. But the picture here, the reality of what is happening in Christ, is that you and I have been invited into a place

that without Jesus it would have been impossible for us to be in. And it's not about having enough room or having to wait. It's that you and I were sinners, and not just sinners, but we were enemies of God. We were opposed to His purpose. We were opposed to His calling. We were opposed to the way of living that He has called us to in every possible way. We were against God, and God being great in mercy, and with the love that He loved us, sends Jesus. And the picture in the beginning of this text is that Jesus comes, and He tears down the wall that separates. He makes us clean by washing our hearts. He brings peace between us and God and says, "You can come near to me." And we come near without fear. Our dog that we had when we first got married, Rigby,

she had come from a very rough and difficult situation where I think the previous original owner had hit her a lot. And every time that she got in trouble and you said, "Rigby," or you raised your voice to her, you know what she would do? She would cower down in the corner out of fear. And here you and I come to God broken, full of sin, his enemies. And instead of yelling at us, and instead of having to cower in fear, Jesus comes and makes us clean. And he tears down the walls and he says, "Come in and come near and come together." You're welcome in this place. Our gathering together as a church is not simply a required meeting. This is a picture of God's people gathered with hearts that are full of joy at the fact that God would come and he would save us.

And we gather to proclaim that goodness, to proclaim God's glory to each other and to the world in which we live. What you find is that when we worship together in the depths of our heart, not just going through the motions, but when you worship together, it's going to instill in us the joy of our salvation. It's easy to be joyless in this world. It's easy to be tired in this world. It's easy for me, especially, it's easy for me to be mad in this world, right? There's so many things that I can be angry about. And we come, and we're tired, and we're sad, and we're broken, and we're angry, and Jesus comes, and He transforms us. Not just for our good, but for the good of our brothers and sisters who sit and worship with us. And not just for our good, but for the good of the world that surrounds us.

You see, there is a power present in the gathering of God's people that you can't find anywhere else. There is power to both encourage our hearts and to reach those outside of Christ. Our coming together is not just simply an act of receiving. Come and get it, but it's an act of giving. Come and give. And as we draw near to one another and encourage us, 1 Corinthians chapter 14, the church in Corinth is full of all kinds of problems. They're struggling with spiritual gifts. And one of the remarkable things, Paul says, he talks about prophecy, declaring God's truth. He says somebody from outside of you will come in, and you're declaring the truth of God to each other. Not necessarily looking for somebody who's outside, but you're speaking the truth of God, and that person is going to come be convicted of their sin,

and they are going to come to know Jesus because they see a church who is worshiping together with God as their central focus. We are called to come and worship, but we're also called in this text with the fact that gathering together anchors our soul. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who is promised is faithful. I want to try to show you how this happens. Our gathering together keeps us from drifting. In Hebrews chapter 2, it begins with the fact that we are to pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we won't drift away. Growing up in Vermont, we grew up not very far from Lake Champlain, which is a fairly large lake. There is a memory that is ingrained in me, probably more so in my parents and some of our family members.

It was one of those little inflatable rowboats that pop at a moment's notice. One of my uncles was like, "Hey, hand me that tablecloth," and takes his stick, attaches the tablecloth like a sail, and he and I get in this boat. And from what I understand, he doesn't swim, and I was like five years old. And we're out in like 300 feet of water, way far away from shore in this boat that, like two weeks later, would just look at a rock and pop. And we're out in the middle of the lake, just drifting away at the mercy of the wind. And I imagine, as a parent now, from my parents' perspective, that they were probably very, very concerned about what was happening to me in that moment. One of the things that will happen if we are not gathered together with God's people, one of the things this gathering does for us is it anchors our soul.

So we don't find ourselves drifting away in a place of great danger to us. And we, the crazy thing is we think we're safe, just like I did. And we don't see the danger to our souls. This gathering encourages our souls. So in the 43 years, like 43 years and a week that I've been on this earth, there has been, I think, six total months where I've had a choice about going to church. I was born the next Sunday. My parents had me on the church bus where they had a lesson and songs on the way to church. You have Sunday school, then you have children's church, and then you're back on the bus to drop everybody off with more songs and more lessons. Like my first Sunday at church, I went like four times. That's even before we got to like Sunday night service.

Like I had my church quota for my life probably by the time I was like age five. And so most of my life, I haven't had a choice about going to church. There was six months in college before I started preaching and helping with a small church. Where Sunday mornings I woke up and it was just like, hey, I've done this for like 18 years of my life, multiple times. I don't have to go to church. I remember one in particular, I visited a bunch of churches with my friends, and it was one morning, it was snowy. I was like, you know what, I'm just going to skip church today. And I was like, no, I better not. It was like that Christian childhood guilt. So I got in the car, and I went around the corner to this little tiny church.

And here's the thing, I don't remember what they sang. I don't remember a word that the preacher said, but you know what I remember? Is all of these people so happy to see an 18-year-old kid sitting in church, and my grumpy, hard-hearted, mad about having to go to church my whole life. It's one of those memories that changed for me how I see the gathering of God's people. That moment where God's people come and they encourage. And there's these moments that will anchor our soul to God's people. You see, we need each other, otherwise we begin to drift. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book, Life Together, and it's toward the beginning, like in the first 20 pages, he says this, "Therefore the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God's word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth."

And belying the truth simply means acting like everything's okay when it's not. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says that you and I need each other because when you speak the good news, and you speak to me, and we encourage one another, and when I speak to you, like, my life may be hard. I may have struggled to be at church that morning, but you're here full of joy, and you can speak that into my life. And the same in reverse. You see, God's people and the gathering of God's people, it anchors our soul in a stormy world. The third thing that we see in this text is that gathering together energizes us. Look at verse 24. "And let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works." And I want to start with the stirring, because this is not stirring with a spoon. This is stirring with a knife.

Paul and Barnabas, in Acts chapter 15, get over in an argument about John Mark and whether he should be included in this missionary journey. And Scripture says there was such a sharp disagreement that they split up and went their separate ways. That's the same word that's used of stirring here. This is not a gentle stirring with a spoon. This is stirring in kind of a pokey way for God's people. And the sharpness here is not intended to be bad. It's that we help energize each other. We help each other move when we're struggling. Not by stabbing, but instilling in one another something that doesn't let us sit still. And it could be encouragement by example. Somebody simply doing something that looks at me and goes, "Whoa, I had that happen to me early Friday morning."

Guy walks by. Another guy I was with goes, "Hey, the baptistry is empty. We can fill that up for you if you want." And it reminded me so much of my grandpa, and I was like, "Man, why didn't I think of that?" It's this moment of stirring one another up. And we can do so by our example, and we can do so by our words. We can do so by our testimonies. When we gather and we see prayers, we gather this moment where we pray. And there's a testimony in asking for prayer. To say, "I'm hurting. I'm struggling. This person needs prayer." Because what we're saying is, "I can't do it, but I trust that God can." That's encouraging. And when we talk about how God has answered our prayers, that "I couldn't do this, but look what God did."

Right? That's a stirring up. To call me and those around you to depend more deeply on the power of God with your needs. And to give Him the credit as He answers those prayers. Sometimes we're encouraged by God's Word. Hebrews says it's sharper than a two-edged sword. Sometimes that's the sharpness of cutting out the sin in our life. But sometimes that sharpness is defense against the world. See, there is an energizing in gathering together among God's people. Hebrews 10:25 says this, "Not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another all the more as you see the day drawing near." Now this verse has been used as a club by a lot of people, right? I'm going to hit you with this if you don't go to church. That's not the point of this verse.

Not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another all the more as the day draws near. What he's saying is that you need God's people surrounding you. Because as they do, it calls you into worship, proclaiming the glory of God. It anchors you to the goodness of God. It helps strengthen you for work in the kingdom of God. That as we come together, there is this remarkable thing that is bigger than any of us because it's brought about by the power of God. That God's glory is proclaimed to each other and it's proclaimed to the world in which we live. You see, we're called to proclaim God's glory together. We're not simply called to observe or to consume. We're called to reinforce this message to each other that Jesus is our hope that we draw near to, that we hold on to,

and that we encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to share with the world. And if you think about it, when we come and we read Scripture together, and we're not just going through the motions of this is an interesting psalm, that as I hear you reading those words, as you hear your neighbor reading those words, what are you doing? You're proclaiming God's word together, that God is the one who comes and saves and brings us away from iniquity as we sing together. God of every grace, what are you saying? That God is your grace and your hope, and you're singing it in praise and worship, but you're also, as you sing those words, proclaiming that to the discouraged and the hurting sitting next to you. When we come in prayer, whether you bring a request, or whether you're simply quietly praying, we're saying that our hope is in God.

When we partake in the Lord's Supper, we're saying to each other, right, this is our family meal. When we open God's word, this is our strength. You have a part in the church. We all have a part in the church. The church, biblically, is never just observers, right? It's a group of people who are gathered together, saved by Jesus, to proclaim God's glory, and in doing so, we call each other to worship. We call each other to hold on, and we energize each other for the work of the gospel. And God, in doing this, changes us, and He changes those outside the church. And so there's going to be times where we wake up and say, "I don't know. I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I want to. It's been hard." Right? Those are the moments we need that worship and that help.

There's also, for us when we come, this reminder that there are people who are here, who are struggling to be here. Maybe they're nervous. Maybe they're fearful. Maybe they're afraid. And God has a calling for you and on you to help speak that truth, to remind them of their hope and their strength. Maybe just with gentle conversation. Maybe with a hug. Maybe crying where they cry. Maybe rejoicing where they rejoice. But God has called us, not simply to observe, but to be a part of each other's lives. There is this beautiful and wonderful picture of the church. Let's go ahead and pray. Father in heaven, be with us as we seek to be this church that glorifies you. We know that without your strength, we become distracted. And without your guidance, we chase our own desires. And so I ask that you would instill into us this desire to see you magnified in each other's lives and in the world that surrounds us.

Help us as we seek to glorify you, both in this building and when we leave it. May the good news be on our hearts and in our actions, and coming out in the words that we share. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to sing, "His Mercy is More." So let's be standing as we do that. What love could remember, no wrongs we have done. Our nations are mowing, He counts not their sum. Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore. Our sins, they are many, His mercy is more. His mercy is more. Praise the Lord. His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness, you every more. Our sins, they are many, His mercy is more. What patience would wait as we constantly roam? What Father so tender is calling us home? He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor. Our sins, they are many, His mercy is more. Praise the Lord. His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness, new every morn. Our sins, they are many, His mercy is more.

What riches of kindness, He lavished on us. His blood was the payment, His life was the cost. We stood neath the debt we could never afford. Our sins, they are many, His mercy is more. Praise the Lord, His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness, new every war. Our sins, they are many, His mercy is more. Praise the Lord, His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness, new every war. Our sins, they are many, His mercy is more. Our sins, they are many, His mercy is more.

So just briefly before we jump into our time of announcements, I would like to begin to encourage you to begin to pray. We've talked about this during prayer time, to pray for us as a church, but I also think it is important as we pray throughout the week to pray for one another. If we are going to come together in worship and to be able to hold fast, if we're to be able to encourage one another, one of those things that I think is so helpful for us to do is to pray for each other and pray for us as we gather. Pray for those who may visit our church, that God would give us opportunities, but also that he would give us the courage to follow those opportunities when he has given them to us.

And so just a kind of a challenging reminder for us as a church to be a people of prayer as we seek to glorify God in this world and in this place and through our lives and with each other. I'm so thankful for our church and the encouragement that we have been and are to each other. So just letting you know that I am very thankful for you. A couple of announcements. Wednesday night, Bible study at 6:00 p.m. also on Sunday morning. If you're unable to make it on Wednesday night, we'd love to have you join us on Sunday morning. Also coming up this Saturday, 9 o'clock, because I guess 8 o'clock was too early, but 9 o'clock, come eat breakfast. Invite a friend and come and eat some breakfast with us. Now next Sunday, not the 25th of February, but the first Sunday of March, we're going to have a family dinner, I guess, for our church family after church on Sunday.

And so that will be not this next Sunday, but the Sunday following. So just kind of keep thinking about that and put that on your calendar. I enjoy. I think it's a good thing when we get together and eat together and are able to share and encourage and talk with one another. It's a good thing for us, and it's a great time to invite somebody to just come to church and have some lunch with us. So that's what's coming up. Also to keep in mind is Easter is at the end of next month, end of March. So I ask that you be praying for us as we think about that and plan for that and seek to reach out in our community. So let's go ahead and pray, and then I'll read a verse and we'll sing the doxology.

Father in heaven, thank you for Jesus and grace. Be with us as we seek to glorify your name. We thank you for the good that you've done for us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The end of Hebrews is like this: "Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, may he equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever."