Sunday Morning Service 10:30 AM - "Final Exhortations" ~ Hebrews 13:15-25 ~ Pastor Ryan Nichols

Good morning church family. I'm really glad you're here. I want to invite you guys to stand with us. We'll pray and we'll get started. Lord, we come before you this morning. We just thank you for another day and thank you for allowing us to be here in your house this morning, Lord. Lord, we ask your blessing upon this time. Lord, we pray that you will allow us to set everything that's going on in our lives aside.

Lord, we ask to focus on you and lavish praise upon you because in truth it's all about you, Lord God. May everything this morning be about you, for you, and to you, Lord. We love you and praise you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Lord, we enthrone you upon our praise. The King is in the room. There's freedom in life anywhere you reign. Jesus, we bow only to you. We're laying down all of our crown. The King is in the room. The King is in the room. We'll see all the captains run free. He's tearing down the walls. He's tearing down the walls. It's their shaking power when we sing the name above them all. The name

above them all. We're gonna see lives changed. Souls saved. Broken hearts made new. The King is in the room. Lord, we enthrone you upon our praise. The King is in the room. There's freedom in life anywhere you reign. Jesus, we bow only to you. We're laying down all of our crown. The King is in the room. The King is in the room. Fear has to flee. Shame has to leave. Before the

King. Before the King. Shames have to break. Dry bones away. We tear the way. Fear has to flee. Shame has to leave. Before the King. Before the King. Shames have to break. Dry bones away. We tear the way. The King is in the room. Lord, we enthrone you upon our praise. The King is in the room. There's freedom in life anywhere you reign. Jesus, we bow only to you. We're laying

down all of our crown. The King is in the room. The King is in the room. Prepare the way. Prepare the way. He's in the room. Prepare the way. He's in the room. Praise God. Praise God. You guys can go and have a seat if you like. ... ... ... I know a name that can silence roaring waves. I know a name that can empty out a grave. I know a name it's the only name that saves and it's worthy

of all praise. I call you Jesus. I call you. I call you healer. Risen and reigning in power. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call you Jesus I call you. I call you Savior worthy of glory forever. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call your name ... I have a King ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Obey your vict'ry

I call you, I call you savior Worthy of glory forever Something comes out of the grave Every time I call your name Strings break, dry bones wake Every time I call your name The gates of hell shake Every time I call your name

Everyone needs compassion A love that's never failing Let mercy fall on me Everyone needs forgiveness A kindness of a savior The hope of nations

Savior, He can move the mountains My God is mighty to save He is mighty to save Forever author of salvation He rose and conquered the grave Jesus conquered the grave

Take me as you find me All my fears and failures I fill my life again I give my life to follow Everything I believe in Now I surrender Savior, He can move the mountains My God is mighty to save He is mighty to save Forever author of salvation He rose and conquered the grave Jesus conquered the grave

Shine your light and Let the whole world see We're singing for the glory Of the risen King Jesus, shine your light and Let the whole world see We're singing for the glory Of the risen King Jesus, shine your light and Let the whole world see We're singing for the glory Of the risen King Jesus, shine your light and Let the whole world see We're singing for the glory Of the risen King Savior, He can move the mountains My God is mighty to save He is mighty to save Forever author of salvation He rose and conquered the grave Jesus conquered the grave Savior, He can move the mountains My God is mighty to save He is mighty to save Forever author of salvation He rose and conquered the grave Jesus conquered the grave

guitar solo You give life, You are love You bring light to this darkness You give hope, You restore Every heart that is broken Great are You, Lord It's Your breath in our lungs So we pour out our praise Pour out our praise It's Your breath in our lungs So we pour out our praise To You only Great are You, Lord You give life, You are love You bring light to this darkness You give hope, You restore Every heart that is broken Great are You, Lord It's Your breath in our lungs So we pour out our praise Pour out our praise It's Your breath in our lungs So we pour out our praise To You only It's Your breath in our lungs So we pour out our praise Pour out our praise It's Your breath in our lungs So we pour out our praise To You only Great are You, Lord

guitar solo All the earth will shout Your praise Our hearts will cry These bones will sing

Our hearts will cry These bones will sing Great are You, Lord All the earth will shout Your praise Our hearts will cry These bones will sing Great are You, Lord

So we pour out our praise To You only Great are You, Lord Great are You, Lord Great are You, Lord It's Your breath in our lungs So we pour out our praise We pour out our praise It's Your breath in our lungs So we pour out our praise To You only It's Your breath in our lungs So we pour out our praise We pour out our praise It's Your breath in our lungs So we pour out our praise To You only Great are You, Lord

Great are You, Lord

How great are You, Lord

Oh, praise His name Of the Lord our God Oh, praise His name Forevermore For endless days We will sing Your praise Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God

I cast my mind to Calvary When Jesus bled and died for me I see His wounds, His hands, His feet My Savior on that cursed tree

His body bound and drenched in tears They laid Him down in Joseph's tomb The entrance sealed by heavy stone Messiah still and all alone

Oh, praise the name Of the Lord our God Oh, praise His name Forevermore For endless days We will sing Your praise Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God Then on the third at break of dawn The Son of Heaven rose again Oh, temple dead, where is your sleep? The angels roared for Christ the King Oh, praise the name Of the Lord our God Oh, praise His name Forevermore For endless days We will sing Your praise Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God He shall return in robes of white The blazing sun shall pierce the night And I will rise among the saints My case transits on Jesus' face

Oh, praise the name Of the Lord our God Oh, praise His name Forevermore For endless days We will sing Your praise Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God Praise His name Oh, praise the name Of the Lord our God Oh, praise His name Forevermore For endless days We will sing Your praise Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God

Oh, praise the name Of the Lord our God Sing it out Oh, praise His name Forevermore For endless days We will sing Your praise

Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God Father God, we just come before You this morning and we just want to lift Your name on high. We just want to give You praise. All praise due to You this morning. We want to make it about You. We want to make it for You. We want to make it to You, Lord God. Lord, now as Pastor Ryan comes, I pray that You would overflow him with Your Holy Spirit,

Lord, with Your gift of teaching. Lord, give us an ear to hear and a heart to receive that this morning, Lord. And just change our lives this morning. We love You and we praise You. All God's people said? Amen. Let's take some time and greet one another.

Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. Handful of things to take note of in your bulletin. As always on the left-hand side, the things that usually go on throughout the week. The only change to that is that there will be no Ladies Bible Study October the 8th and there will be no Ladies Bible Study on Monday the 5th or the 12th.

However, there is an opportunity for you ladies to serve.

some projects for some of the ladies to work on for Operation Christmas Child. It'll be in the cornerstone room where the ladies' study usually meets, so if you're interested in helping out with that, you can see Danielle. You can wave your hands there, but yeah. You can see Danielle after the service. And other than that, ladies, just show up at 7 p.m. tomorrow evening, and she will put

you to work. A couple of other things in the middle section. Ladies, there is a women's breakfast coming up this Saturday, October the 10th. Breakfast is at 8.30. Devotion begins at 9. And then also mark your calendars, because we have a worship night coming up. Wednesday, October the 14th will be a night of worship here at the church, so come join us for that.

Be 7 p.m. as the usual Sunday or Wednesday evening service is, but it'll just be an evening of worship and seeking the Lord together. Those are the things that are going on. One other thing that is not in your bulletin is I'm going to invite Leah to come up and share with us about a project that she has going on right now.

Hello, everybody. My name is Leah, and I'm a senior over at Southwestern College, and I'm in a senior capstone class, so basically what that means is I have to find a need in the community or the school, and then I have to find a way to meet that need. And looking further into it, I noticed that at Southwestern, there's no Bibles, like, anywhere for the students or anybody, so I'm doing a Bible drive, and I would ask if you have any Bibles laying around that you don't use, like, size doesn't matter, translation, none of that matters, I would love to take them off your hands and then give them out to my classmates or just share the gospel. There's a table out in the back on, like, the far left for you guys to bring and donate

them, and I need them all by November 4th.

And so that table will be up every week until then, so just as you've got them, just bring them in. Love to have them. So those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile devices are silenced, we, for our responsive reading this morning, are going to be in Psalm 124, Psalm 124. We'll be looking at the New American Standard. If you need a copy, there should be one in a row around you.

And as you are turning to Psalm 124, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word. I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Jared in the even verses. Psalm 124, a song of a sense of David.

Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper. The snare is broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. And God, we do praise you that you are the place where we find our help, where we find our strength, Lord, where we find our completion. And so, Lord, we're asking for that help this morning as we get into your Word,

that your Holy Spirit would minister to our hearts, that you would teach us what we need to learn. Father, as always, that where we need conviction, that you would convict us. Lord, where we need comfort, that you would comfort us. And where we need to know which direction to go, that your Holy Spirit would guide us. And so, Father, do that work today in Jesus' name.

Amen. You may be seated. If you would open up in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. Well, today we will finish up the book of Hebrews. It's been a fun study, but it's been a serious study. I was talking to another pastor the other day. He said, where have you been teaching here lately? And I said, Hebrews. And, man, I've enjoyed it. But, man, has it been hard work.

But it's been good, fun work to do. And so, as we approach chapter 13, we said that we gave it the title Final Exhortations because he's sort of wrapping everything up and giving us the last bit of what we need before the end of the book. And so, we said there were four major exhortations he was going to give to us. Number one, he exhorted us to let brotherly love continue in the way that we live our lives.

Number two, he exhorted us to have godly character. Godly character, first of all, in our marriages and in morality in general, but also godly character as we handle our finances. And then the third thing we looked at last week is that he exhorted us in our spiritual well-being to make sure that we hold on to the eternal truths and not get caught up in the temporary things of this world. And as we approach today, we will cover the last of those exhortations as he talks to us about godly sacrifices.

Godly sacrifices. And so, picking up in verse 15 of chapter 13, it says this,

Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. And I urge you all the more to do this so that I may be restored to you sooner. As he approaches us with this aspect of godly sacrifices, there's actually four areas of godly sacrifice that he talks to us about. And this is important because, remember, he's talking to a group of people who have come out of an Old Testament sacrificial system.

But it doesn't negate any sacrifice in our lives. As a matter of fact, as believers in Jesus Christ, while our sacrifice is more spiritual than it is physical, because we don't bring sacrifices to the altar because Jesus fulfilled all of those things, there is still an aspect of sacrificial living that is to be characteristic of the life of a believer in Jesus Christ. And so, as it comes to this aspect of sacrificial living, there's four things that he tells us about. The first aspect of sacrificial living as a believer is to live a life of praise.

So the sacrifice of praise. Let me read it to you again. It says,

So he tells us about praise. Now, we oftentimes don't fully understand what worship is, right? We always call the first 30 minutes right before the pastor gets up to preach the word worship. I just told you that in a couple of weeks, we're going to have a worship night. And really, we categorize worship as really only one portion of worship, and that's praise.

Worship is every aspect of our lives. We worship God through the study of the word. We worship God through prayer. We worship God through service. And we worship God through song. The worship of God through song is praise. And that's oftentimes what we call worship. But praise is really what that is. And it's interesting because he tells us that this is the first sacrifice that we are

to offer to God is the praise that comes forth from our mouth. And it's interesting because praise is sometimes a very easy thing to give, right? Oftentimes, we'll have a mountaintop experience in our life. Everything's going really good. We've received words from the Lord, and things are moving very smoothly in our lives. And in those moments, praise is wonderful because we praise God from the top of the mountain.

And that's great because we are offering to God the praise of our lips in thanks for all of the things that he has done for us. I absolutely believe that that is a beautiful time to praise the Lord. But there's other times in our lives when we're very much in the valley, when we're in the depth of the difficulty of our life, when we've not received that word from the Lord for a little while. And perhaps it feels a little bit dry in our walk with Jesus Christ, and things aren't exactly going our way.

And I would tell you that it's every bit as important in those moments to take time to praise God when it's the whisper that comes from the valley as it is the shout that comes from the mountaintop because both of them are praise to the Lord. You see, praise is one of the most powerful things that we can do in our lives because praise resets our thinking, and praise resets our perspective on life. That's why there is so much exhortation to praise God throughout Scripture. And it's interesting because he first of all refers to it as continual.

Did you notice that? Let me read it to you again. It says, Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise. That idea of continually or continuity carries with it the idea that this is the habitual action of our life. It's not something that we just do on a Sunday morning or a Wednesday evening or even for just one particular portion of our day.

The idea is that praise encapsulates every bit of who we are. Now I don't know about you, but nobody wants me walking around singing all day long. They don't even want me singing on Sunday mornings ever, but I do it sometimes. But it's really important to do. And that praise doesn't necessarily have to always be the words that come out of our mouth. Sometimes it's the song that rings forth in our heart.

We all know how powerful music is, right? Like music has the power to get stuck in your head, right? For instance, if I were to give some classic banger to you right now, like you'd be thinking that thing all day long, right? I almost screwed up the psalm first service. I'll look back at it so I do it correctly again this time. First service, I'm reading through the psalm and there's a song that goes along with it.

And I got caught reading and singing the song in my head. And I was like, oop, that's my turn. Because here it is. It says, Had it not been the Lord who was on our side, let Israel now say, Had it not been the Lord who was on our side, When men rose up against us, they would have swallowed us alive. Well, as soon as that hit, this song starts going through my head.

If the Lord had not been on our side, All our enemies would have swallowed us alive. Which is why we don't go Christmas caroling, right? But that song was caught in my head and I'm just running through. Because that's the power of music. That's the power of worship in our lives. That's the power of praise in our lives. Is that when you allow that to be what occupies your mind,

Pretty soon you're living this lifestyle of praise. The question is, what's occupying your mind? What's the soundtrack in your head all the time? Unfortunately, it's not always songs like that. Sometimes it's the songs of this world. That's why what you put in is every bit as important as what comes out. Because remember, this is the fruit of our lips. This is the fruit of what comes forth from us.

And so I would tell you that if you are on the mountaintop, Sing the praises of God. Declare them to the Lord so that He knows the praise that comes forth from your mouth. If you are in the valley, declare the praises of God. Sing those praises to the Lord. Because that's why it's referred to as the sacrifice of praise. Because that sacrifice of praise is exactly what it sounds like.

It's a sacrifice of our hearts unto God. And that praise has the ability to change the way that we think and to reset our perspective in so many things in our lives. The pastor that I served under up in Johnson County always told us a couple of things. Number one, he told us a little bit about his testimony. And he always shared these things from the pulpit.

I'm not sharing anything that was shared in private. But he said he used to, when I first started walking with the Lord, I had an issue with foul language. He said I'd come out of a very rough background, and I struggled to get all of that out of my head. And he said, and then I received a word from the Lord. God said, fill it with the praise of me. And he said, so I just started filling my mind as much as I could with praise music.

And every time I would want to let something foul out of my mouth, I would replace it with some sort of a praise to the Lord. He goes, even if I didn't feel it in the moment, I just praised God as often as I could. And that's how God changed the way that I talked, is he began to fill my mouth with his praises because I began to fill my head with his praises. But the other thing that my pastor, and I've told you this before, the other thing that my pastor up there challenged all of us to do, and I've never revealed to anyone any of the things that I've written down along these lines, is he challenged all of us to write our own praise songs.

And I'm going to challenge you to do the same thing. Now listen, it doesn't have to have a rhyming pentameter. It doesn't have to be well written. It doesn't have to be catchy or creative. Have you heard most of the praise music today? It doesn't have to be any of those things, right? Sorry, that wasn't a funny joke. Most of the stuff today is maybe not... Anyway, but it just has to be from your heart.

Because as you declare praise from your heart, it's amazing what God does in your mind. And so he tells us, offer continually the sacrifice of praise. But I want to point out one more thing about verse 15. He says, that is the fruit of the lips that give thanks to his name. It's interesting because the word thanks there can also be translated confession. So what it really says is, it's the fruit of the lips of those who confess the name of Jesus.

In other words, the way that you praise God gives away the fact that you belong to him. The praises that come out of your mouth are one of the greatest testimonies of the fact that you are his because your praises are a part of your confession of the name of God. And so he says, number one, give to God the sacrifice of praise. Number two, he says that we are to do good.

That's what it says in verse 16. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Do not neglect doing good. That phrase, do not neglect, can also be translated, do not keep on forgetting. Do not keep on forgetting. And I think that for the world that we live in today, that is a fantastic way to translate that into our context.

Don't forget to do good. Because we all live very busy lives. Can we all agree with that? A lot of different places that we need to go all the time. And perhaps we've all been in this situation. You're in this situation where either you're walking somewhere or driving somewhere and you're running late. You all don't, but I do. We run late. And there's an opportunity that presents itself.

Somebody needs something. And I have the choice to make in this moment. Be late and help out or keep the appointment on time. I can't tell you what to do in that moment, but I do think we should remember that we're not to forget to do good. Because many of us are running to and fro all the time. We've got all these things to do. And we can get caught up in our own lives, and we can get caught up in our own schedules,

and we can get caught up in our own things that sometimes we forget that there's an entire world around us that needs something good done in their life. They need to see that somebody loves them, that somebody cares about them. And as they see that people love them, it's amazing how that opens up the opportunity to share the love of Jesus, whether that is within the body of Christ or outside of the body of Christ. He says, do not forget to do good.

Do not neglect doing good. 1 John 3, verse 18, you might write in the margin of your Bible, says this. 1 John 3, 18 says, brethren, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. In other words, the idea is let your love be known by the actions that flow forth from your life. Let your love be known by the things that you do.

I would guarantee that there is someone in here that could really use a hand in their life right now. And if somebody were to simply acknowledge or recognize or notice that fact, you could then begin to become the body of Christ that reaches out. You could begin to do good right here in this room right now. It's interesting because there's another word that's used in here.

It says, and do not neglect doing good. And sharing for God is pleased with such sacrifices. That word to share is translated in the Amplified Bible like this. It means to contribute to the needy as an expression of fellowship. To contribute to the needy as an expression of fellowship. And brothers and sisters, I just want to share something with you. I'm so blessed with the body that we have here at Calvary Chapel of Ark City.

And I tell you this because I don't feel like you all forget to do good. I don't feel like you all as a body neglect doing good and sharing. I told First Services too, I said, I believe wholeheartedly that when I show up over the next couple of weeks, that table is going to be full of Bibles. Because that's what you all do. Because that's what happens within this body, and I love it.

I love what takes place when a need is offered up there. And I know that because of what I've seen in the past. I know that because I've watched this wall over here fill up with a stack full of Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, more than I even can count most of the time. I know that when we have had fundraisers for youth to go to camp, you all have given so much money that the youth don't even have to pay to go to camp.

They're just completely sponsored to go to camp. I know that when we have sent missions trips down to Guatemala, you all have raised an incredible amount of money to subsidize those people that are going down there, as well as send money down there for medical equipment down in Guatemala. I know that when we have put a suitcase out and just said, hey, basic things. We're talking Neosporin, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, eye drops, those kinds of things that you all fill up.

They had to bring a huge suitcase this year that they hoped was going to make the weight limit because you all sent so much stuff down there, and I'm so blessed by that. You all don't always know this, but when you contribute financially to the ministry of Calvary Chapel of Ark City, the first 35 or 37, I can't remember which one it is, percent of everything that comes in immediately goes into a fund that is like a benevolence fund. We call it our First Fruits account, and that can only be used to reach out to people around us. Because of that, we support missionaries throughout the world, and that's because you all do not neglect to do good.

And you don't realize this, but we support ministries right here in our Kansas City, Kansas. There's an organization called Angels in the Attic, and if people get kind of down on their luck, they can't pay their bills, they're really struggling, they can go there and they can get help. And what they do is they show up there, and Ivy, who is just a gym in this town, takes their name down and their information, she walks them through some steps, and then they email out to us, hey, these folks are needing a little bit of help. And I can gladly say we get a significant amount of money to help people pay bills in this community.

You don't know this. Maybe you do, but Calvary Chapel of Ark City is well-known in this town as a church that does a lot to meet the needs of people. As a matter of fact, when I had somebody come to me and say, I heard Calvary is doing a lot of work, and I'm like, well, we're trying. Where did you hear that? And they said Ivy. And then they listen to all these other names of people, and I'm so blessed to hear that.

share. And I love that because that is the gospel in action. The gospel is yes, I am saved from my sins. I have an eternal home that is waiting for me and I have a right relationship with my savior. But the gospel does not stop there. That's just where it starts. The gospel then reaches into every part of our life and changes the fabric of who we are and teaches us that our things

are meant to be shared, that our lives are meant to be shared, that the love of Jesus Christ can be shown not just by telling someone that Jesus loves them, but by showing them that Jesus loves them. And so he says, if you really want to give sacrifices to God, number one, offer to him a continual sacrifice of praise. Number two, offer to him the sacrifice of doing good and not neglecting to share or contribute to the needy as an expression of fellowship. Number three, the third sacrifice that we offer is, he says, to follow your leaders. Notice what it says in

verse 17. He says, obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief for this would be unprofitable to you. Interestingly enough, for the second time in this chapter, he lists the aspect of following your leaders, of, as it says here, obeying and submitting or recognizing the authority that's over you. And he says that because those that are in authority

over you, i.e. pastors and elders, will give an account to God. I think that there's two ends of this. Number one, you have to understand that the job that the pastor and the elder has within the church is a weighty job. The job of spiritual oversight is a weighty job, and it's one that cannot be entered into lightly. And so, as he says to obey your leaders or to submit to your

leaders, he doesn't say this lightly as someone who is looking for some aspect of blind obedience. He is saying these men of God have been given a deep and heavy responsibility. Help them with that responsibility. Come alongside them with that responsibility because God is giving them vision for where to go. Do the best you can to support them in that. But there is a flip side

to this as well. We were told earlier in this chapter that the important thing is that we watch their conduct and their faith because this is not meant to be a blanket command that anybody who claims to have spiritual authority, you should follow. We're watching right now the effect of what that means in our world. I just heard a guy speaking this week. I've not read this book yet,

but he referenced it. He said he had a friend that got saved, and early on in his friend's walk, he got under the leadership, under the spiritual authority of somebody who abused that authority. And he had to walk him through coming out of that. And he said part of that is he had him read this book called When Narcissism Comes to Church. And it's unfortunate what can happen

in the world that we live in today. I'm sure that many of you have watched the documentary on Netflix about the pastor's wife, and you've seen the depth of what can happen when a man does not hold himself accountable to God or to anyone else and instead exercises narcissistic spiritual authority over people. Brothers and sisters, that ought not to be. That is not what is intended.

And unfortunately, they use verses like this to say, you have to submit to my authority because this is what God is saying for you to do. Yes, if we watch your conduct and it is godly and full of faith, then we can submit to your authority. Otherwise, we hold you accountable. Because men of God are also to be held accountable where these things are concerned. Let me read you two quotes.

I don't remember where I got this first one from, but I thought it was a great quote. It says, don't follow a leader that points you to himself. Follow a leader that points you to Jesus. Brothers and sisters, if I ever hit a point where I start telling you that you should just do what I do, please ask me to step down because I have reached a point that I shouldn't be anymore.

My goal is always to point you to Jesus because at the end of the day, I am a segue to say that's the conduit to say that's who you want to follow is you want to follow Jesus. At the end of the day, I am a man, a man who is subject to all of the weaknesses of this world. And my goal is to follow Jesus and to say, you do the same thing. But the second quote that I read is this. It was

from Chuck Smith. I thought it was great. He said, a real teacher should teach us to submit to God and not just to himself. A real teacher should teach us to submit to God and not just to himself. And so he says, hey, listen, help out your, how about your leaders? Because they are held accountable for how they lead you. And so let them, it says at the end of the first, do this

with joy and not with grief for this would not be profitable. So number one, he tells us that we are to offer to God the sacrifice of praise. Number two, the sacrifice of doing good. Number three, the sacrifice of following your leaders. And then number four, he says, pray for us. Verse 18, pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience desiring to conduct

ourselves honorably in all things. And I urge you all the more to do this so that I may be restored to you sooner. He says, he says, pray for us. Interestingly enough, this word is presented in the present imperative indicating another continual action. In other words, let continual prayer be offered up for us. I find that in the world that we live in today, we oftentimes fail

to grasp the power of prayer. And some of you have heard me share this recently, if you're part of one of my FCA groups, but, but I was told a story recently about the power of prayer. And this story has just been living in my head. And so I went, I looked it up to make sure I had all of the details correct. So I'm going to read you this story about the power of prayer.

There was a missionary by the name of David Livingston, living deep in Africa. He was a doctor and Livingstone's team faced grave danger. There was a tribal chief that sent a message that said that they would be attacked that night and all of them would be killed. We know this moment in detail because Livingstone kept really good diaries. So that night, David Livingston wrote

in his, in his journal, a desperate prayer, Lord, we've labored so faithfully, please, please protect us and please help. They waited, nothing happened. A couple of years later, the chief who had threatened him became a follower of Christ and the entire village followed. And later David asked him, why didn't you kill us that night? And the chief replied, we came.

But as we approached the camp, we saw 39 giant warriors standing around it. We counted them. They were not of this world. Sometime later, David shared this story back in Scotland at his home church. As he spoke, the church secretary approached him and asked, do you remember the date that that happened? He in fact did. And she opened the church prayer journal and pointed to the entry

for that day. 39 people were gathered praying for him. But yeah, praise God, right? That's what God does through prayer. And we don't always think about that. My favorite line that people say, and I'm guilty of it too, is I guess all we can do is pray, right? Listen, if that's all you can do, please do that. Because that's literally all you can do. What can we do for you? You can pray for me.

And that'll be the most powerful thing that you do. And I've challenged all of my FCA groups with this this week, this past couple of weeks. I said, okay, who, who are going to be the giants that stand on this campus? Who are going to be the giants that stand up on this campus to defend it against the things of the world that want to take this campus down? To defend it against the true

enemy that wants to destroy everyone on this campus, not the least of which is all of you that love Jesus. That wants to destroy the work of the gospel on this campus. And I will ask you, who are going to be the giants that stand up in this church? Not right now. That stand up in this church to offer prayer, to protect this church? Because you don't always realize this, but the enemy is

coming hard against this church right now. He's coming hard against families, against marriages. He wants to destroy the work of God here. I'm watching it in my own life and I'm watching in the lives of people who are going to be the giants that stand up and pray. November the 4th, Wednesday, November the 4th, we hold the Fields of Faith event. Now this is the third year in a

row that we've done it. And I want to know who are the giants that are going to be, that start showing up to the stadium every week, just walking around that track and praying for God to move in that place? Who are going to be the ones who stand around that field and pray that God would move in the hearts and the lives of kids? That it wouldn't just be a one-night experience where they say, I caught a little Jesus that night, now I'm going to go back to living my life. Who are going to be

the ones who stand up and pray that God would give us fruit that remains? Because as the writer to the Hebrews says, pray for us, I beg of you, pray for us. Pray for this town, pray for this church, pray for this community, pray for the work of God in every church in this town. Because there is no man, there is no church, there is no person who can do this work apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. Who are the giants going to be? Who's going to stand up?

Brothers and sisters, I want to see God move. I want to see marriages restored. I want to see lives healed. I want to see people grow in their faith. I want to see people set free from their addictions. I want to see people loved because they've never been loved before. I want to see people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I want to see people's lives transformed through

the gospel, but it cannot simply happen through the spoken word of a preacher who declares the truth. It happens by the power of the Holy Spirit at work, the word of God. And the way he chose to do that is when God's people pray. Who are the giants going to be? He said, pray for us. And what does he ask them to pray for? Listen, he says, we got a good conscience. And I think

that means two things. Number one, I think it means right now we're living a good life. We're conducting ourselves the way that we should. But I think like Paul, he's saying we have the good conscience of knowing that we have declared the entire counsel of God to everyone that he can. But pray for us because we have a good conscience, but we are desiring to conduct ourselves honorably

in all things. Listen, you need to know something about every man or woman that declares the truth of the word of God. Everyone that is walking with Jesus, just because you're walking strong now, doesn't mean the enemy's not coming against you and he wants to pull you away. Just because your conduct is good now doesn't mean the enemy's not showing up every single day.

That's why prayer is not a once done act. It's a lifestyle that we live. There's a continuity of prayer that is necessary for the believer in Jesus Christ and necessary for the work of God to be happening. He says, pray that we would have good conduct. And notice what he says at the end. I urge you all the more to do this so that I may be restored to you the sooner.

I believe that whoever is writing this is writing it from a place of prison. And I'll tell you again why in just a moment. But I think that's why he says, and pray for me so that I can be restored to you sooner. Do you remember what he said earlier when he talked about brotherly love? He said, remember those who are in prison as if you are in chains with them. I'll believe himself

as part of who he's talking about there. He says, and pray that I would be released and be able to be with you even sooner. And so he gives us his exhortation of godly sacrifice. And I kind of attached a simplistic aspect to each of them. Four sacrifices. The sacrifice of praise is the sacrifice of our lips. The sacrifice of doing good is the sacrifice of our lives. The sacrifice of

following our leaders is the sacrifice of our will. And the sacrifice of prayer is the sacrifice of our heart, our lips, our lives, our will, and our heart on the altar before God. Make a godly sacrifice. Well, now he closes out with the benediction. As a matter of fact, many of your Bibles may call it the benediction. And this is what it says. Now the God of peace who brought it from the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep

through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus, our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation. I've written you briefly. Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released with

whom, if he comes soon, I will see you. Greet all of your leaders and all of the saints. Those from Italy greet you. Grace be with you all. This benediction contains two things. It contains a blessing and it contains an urging. The blessing is very similar to many of the other blessings that we see throughout the Bible. It's ultimately a prayer. It's kind of interesting

because he asks, would you pray for us? But then if you will, the writer to the Hebrews praise for them. And he starts like this. He says, now the God of peace. I always love that, that declaration of who God is. Of course, peace is an inner tranquility. The idea of peace, the idea of the God of peace is that he is both the author of peace and he is the giver of peace. And I find

this interesting because he's praying for a group of people who are not experiencing much peace right now, right? They're not experiencing much peace in their lives because they're facing persecution. And so in their lives, there's turmoil and probably a great deal of angst. In their lives, they're not experiencing peace in their walk because they're considering going back to old ways. And so they're experiencing this potential for backsliding. So there's no

between, not a lot of peace between them and God. And I'm sure that there's no peace in their families because of the angst that they're experiencing right now, their turmoil and anxiousness and backsliding and all of these different things. And it's creating a lack of peace in their lives. Perhaps there's some people in here this morning that can relate to that, that can relate to some turmoil or, or some anxiousness or some backsliding or, or some family issues that are going on. And so, and so as he prays, he says, now, now the God of peace,

the God of peace, who is able to speak peace into each of those aspects of your life, because he is both the author of peace. And he is the giver of peace. He says now the God of peace. And he describes him a second way who brought up from the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus, our Lord, he describes him second of all, as the God who is able to raise from the dead, but not just raised from the dead and restored back to your physical life, but resurrect from the dead and give brand new life to give a brand new body that is no longer subject to death. He is the God who defeated

death because he is the one who raised up our great shepherd through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus Christ, our Lord, who we are told is the first fruits from those who are among the dead. In other words, if we want to know what resurrection life looks like, we look at how Jesus looked right after the resurrection, because that's the way we will be. And so as he's talking to these believers, some of whom are facing the potential of death in their life, he reminds him that God is the one who has defeated death, that this God of peace who can overcome their angst and their turmoil is also the God who has already overcome death. And so there is no more

fear because the last enemy that we face is death. And if there's no fear in death and death, where is your sting? No Hades, where's your victory? Because he has already overcome. He's the overcoming God. And can I tell you one other thing about this in the book of Ephesians, when Paul is praying for the believers that they would truly begin to understand, he prays that they would

know the power of God that raised Christ Jesus from the dead that is coursing through your veins. I added that last part, the power of God that raised Christ Jesus from the dead that lives in you. Do you know that power in your life? Because as he is about to pray this blessing over them, he says, now the God of peace who has the power to overcome death. And he makes this request. Now, the God of peace who brought it from the dead,

the great shepherd of the sheep to the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus, our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do his will. That word equip means to equip and to strengthen, to make one complete and perfect as he ought to make one complete and perfect. In other words, he prays that the God who gives peace and the God who raises the dead would give you everything that you need to equip you to do the will of God. We've already been given the full armor of God, right? The helmet of salvation, the breastplate

of righteousness, the the shield of faith, the belt of truth, the sort of the spirit that is the word of God. We're given all of that equipment that we need. But he didn't just stop with all of the equipment that we need in an armor sort of a situation. He also blessed us with the filling of the Holy Spirit who not only teaches us, who leads us and guides us, but is alongside of us while dwelling in us to empower us to do everything that is necessary to do in our lives. He says,

may that God, the God who is the God and author of all peace, the God who has overcome death, may he give you everything that you need, but not just so that you can do party tricks and prove how right you are now to do to do God's will. What is God's will in our life? That's the million dollar question, isn't it? What is God's will in our life? Can I tell you what God's will

is in your life? God's will in your life is that you would love God with all of your heart and that you would love others as yourself. I mean, there's a lot of other things that go along with it, but that's pretty much the crux of everything that God wants you to do. Now, I don't know about you, but loving God's decently easy. Loving other people, different ballgame. So he gives us everything we need. So he prays, but give them everything that

they need, everything that they need to live that out, to do your will. He goes on from there to say, working in us that which is pleasing at his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. This is another thing that's just been running through my head for the past few days. I had a pastor friend reach out to me from over in Eastern Kansas. I serve

in FCA with him. Reached out to me and another, but we had a little prayer group, three of us. I said, I need you guys to pray for me on Saturday. He said, I'm supposed to speak at an event in our town and I am being given warnings through the Holy Spirit that there will be those who will be against me. And quite frankly, I'm a little bit. but scared and I'm a little bit anxious

and I just need you guys to pray for me. And so of course, me and my buddy were just sending him verses and I had just gotten done studying this earlier that morning. And I thought, that's exactly what that prayer is for.

This is for someone who has to stand up in front of a group of people and declare something that's gonna be very difficult and know that he's gonna face an incredible amount of opposition to it. And he still has to have the peace of heart and the power of the Holy Spirit to do God's will. Maybe that's you. Maybe you've got to serve God. Maybe you've got to make a stand for God

and you're like, I don't know how I'm gonna do this. Everybody's against me. Everybody thinks I'm stupid. Nobody wants me to go through with this and yet I feel like this is what God is telling me to do. May the God of peace, who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, equip you to do his will, working in you that which is pleasing to him. Amen. And so he gives this blessing

over the people through Jesus Christ. And then he closes with this urging. This is what he says. But I urge you brethren, bear with this word of exhortation for I have written to you briefly. That word to bear with means listen and patiently permit. To listen and patiently permit. Now listen, the message that's given in the book of Hebrews is both incredibly intellectual, incredibly spiritual,

but you add to that the fact that it's incredibly harsh at times. Can we all agree with that? With the four or five warnings that were given caused all of us to go, whoa, that's a really harsh word that was given there. I struggled to teach it. Some of you struggled to take it in, but we have to permit it. And this is not only true of the book of Hebrews, but it's true of all of scripture.

You have got to allow God's word to do the work that it needs to do in your life. Because if you don't allow it to do the work that needs to be done the first time, he will not stop until it's done. He will not stop until it's done. One of the things that you realize as a believer, and I might get in trouble for these words because somebody called me out on it one time.

They're like, that makes God sound mean. Is that as a believer, sometimes you both have to endure a certain amount of pain. And can I also be honest and say, welcome a certain amount of pain into your life? Not because God is vindictive and he wants to hurt you or something like that, but because you got to let God's word do what it's got to do in your life.

You have to permit God's word to do what it's going to do in your life. I would love to have a personal trainer, right? Like that would be fun. But I would also have to allow them to do what needed to be done, right? And that means that sometimes they would have to hurt me. Yeah, they're like, well, listen, I know this isn't going to feel good to do this right now,

but ultimately in the long run, it's going to be really good for you. And I have to permit that in my life, partly because I'm paying them an incredible amount of money. But second of all, because I want the results that come from it. And that's what he says. He goes, permit God's word to do what it needs to do in your life. He says, take note that our brother Timothy

has been released with whom if he comes soon, I will greet, I will see you. Okay, two things about this. One, this is why I think whoever wrote this is in jail. He's probably in jail with Timothy. He and Timothy are, you know, cell block six buddies. You've probably got fresh prison tats out of it too. But this is the other reason why sometimes you have to think either Paul or Luke Law

and the instituting of the new covenant of grace. It's interesting because when you look at how the book of Hebrews begins, it begins like this, right? God, who in diverse times and in various ways spoke to us through his prophets in these last days or in the last of these days has spoken to us through his son. It opens up with the fact that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God.

And he closes with the fact that the ultimate characteristic of Jesus is his grace. The grace of our Lord be with you all, amen. Because as is often said, it's his grace that's brought us safe thus far. And it's his grace that will lead us home. Well, this morning is communion Sunday. And so there's a bunch of kids that are about to breach these doors. Not that one, there'll be a lot more than just him.

So parents, if you would keep an eye on these doors, to bring the kids on in, keep an eye on these doors so that your child knows where to go when they come in. And then we will talk about communion together. I think you're over there. There you go. You're right up here in the middle.

There should be a couple of more classes on their way. Here they come.

It's just a clown car at the other end of the hall.

There's one more little tiny class on it's way.

Got it, figured it out. Okay, good. Well this morning is Communion Sunday. So I would like to take a minute to explain what we do here. Inside of each of these trays there's a couple of cups that are stacked together. The bottom cup has the cracker in it and the top cup has the juice in it. In and of themselves pretty basic things. It's what they represent for us that has so much power.

On that last night of the feast Jesus took the bread and he broke it. He said this is my body which is broken for you, take and eat. So when we partake of the bread we are reminded of the body of Jesus Christ that was broken for us. The fact that he endured in his own body on the tree all of the sins of humanity. That he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquity.

The chastisement for our peace was laid upon him and by his stripes we are healed. So when we partake we are reminded of the body of Jesus that was broken for us. And as we partake of the cup we're reminded of what Jesus did on the last night of the feast. There were several cups that were passed during the Passover feast and the last one is called the cup of redemption.

And it speaks of the blood of those lambs that was smeared on the door of the home. So that the angel would pass over, that judgment would pass over the home. And it set ultimately the children of Israel free from Egypt. So when he held up the blood it's a reminder first of all of the blood of the spotless lamb. That set the nation of Israel free from Egypt.

But when he held it up he said this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you. Which reminds us that he the spotless lamb would be the one whose blood would not just set us free from temporary slavery. But it would give us life eternal. So we're reminded of the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for us. That sets us free and gives us brand new life.

Because as it says throughout scripture the life is in the blood. So we're told when we partake that we're to do so in a worthy manner. Which means first of all that you all understand what we're doing. Which is why I take the time to explain it. But the second thing that it means is that we're reminded that this is a family meal. This is something for believers.

So if you're not a believer here this morning I would encourage you to do one of two things. Either one, pass the tray. Or two, let today be the day that you commit your heart to the Lord. That you confess your sin and accept the sacrifice that he's made for you. And in that moment you become a part of the family of Christ. And then the third way that we do this in a worthy manner is that we make sure that there is nothing between us and our Father.

That there is no sin that has broken the communion that we have with him. That there's no sin that's broken the communion that we have with each other. And if there is that we confess those to the Lord. And so we'll sing this last song together and I would just ask you to allow the Holy Spirit to do the work that needs to be done in your hearts this morning.

And as you receive your elements if you would please stand and then we'll partake together.

I hear the Savior say, Thine is strength in deepest woe, Child of weakness, watch and pray, Finding me, Thine all in all. As Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

Lord, now indeed I find, Thy power and Thy love, Can change a leper's heart, And ever the heart of stone. As Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

And when before the throne, I turned and came complete, Jesus died my soul to save. My lips shall still repeat, As Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. He washed it white as snow. He washed it white as snow.

Hope is the one who paid my debt, And raised this life up from the dead. Hope is the one who paid my debt, And raised this life up from the dead. Hope is the one who paid my debt, And raised this life up from the dead. Hope is the one who paid my debt, And raised this life up from the dead. Jesus Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe. When I left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.

Would you bow with me? Father, we come to you now. Lord, I thank you for the body of Jesus Christ that was broken for us. Lord, that you bore in your own body, on the tree, the sin of humanity. And because of that, Lord, it's been carried outside the camp and no longer mine to bear. Lord, I thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for us. Lord, the blood that is enough not only to atone for our sins, Lord,

But the blood that is enough to wash them as white as snow. And so, Lord, we owe it all to you. And so we just thank you, Father. In Jesus' name. Amen. Let us partake.

And if you'd bow with me one last time. Lord, be with us as we go out from here. May the God of peace, who raised up Jesus from the dead, Equip us for everything to do your will. That you would work in us according to the power of Jesus Christ. So be with us as we go out from here. May we live as you have called for us to live. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.