January 19, 2025 • 45 mins
In We Belong Together, Pastor Tyler Lynde explores how each of us can embrace meaningful community within the family of God. Drawing on Hebrews 10:19-25, Tyler paints a vivid picture of believers who choose to journey side by side, encouraging each other to grow deeper in faith so we can reach farther in love. At the core is the idea that we were created for relationship—first with God, then with one another—and that sin may have fractured those bonds, but Jesus’ sacrifice restores them.
Tyler begins by reminding us of God’s design for humanity. From the earliest moments in Genesis, community was part of God’s plan; we’re not meant to navigate life alone. When sin entered the world, it severed our ties with God and introduced division into our relationships. But Jesus stepped in to heal what was broken. As His body was broken on the cross, the temple veil tore, signifying direct access to God and a fresh unity among believers. Tyler highlights how this reconnection is not just vertical between us and the Father, but horizontal between fellow Christians.
Throughout this message, three practical exhortations stand out: draw near in faith, draw near in hope, and draw near in love. Drawing near in faith means living with confidence in Christ’s work on our behalf. Drawing near in hope focuses on trusting that God, who began a good work in us, will bring it to completion. Drawing near in love calls us to reflect God’s heart to one another, letting genuine care and compassion guide every interaction. These steps are more than ideals; they’re vital practices that help us resist loneliness and complacency in our spiritual walk.
Tyler also addresses the importance of commitment to regular fellowship—“not giving up meeting together.” Whether it’s participating in small groups, sharing testimonies, or joining in prayer, these gatherings become lifelines of faith and hope. We learn to celebrate the good, grieve the hard, and endure trials as a community strengthened by Christ’s presence. By investing in others’ lives and letting them invest in ours, we discover that our faith deepens and our reach expands.
Ultimately, We Belong Together challenges us to reimagine what it looks like to be part of a church. It’s an invitation to belong, grow, and serve in unity with brothers and sisters in Christ. When we stand together, leaning on God’s love, we embody His vision for a people who shine brightest in a world hungry for genuine connection and grace.
We are Trinity Community Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.
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Episode Transcript
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Tyler Lynde (00:04):
So the overarching theme that the elders received
from the Lord for this year,first of all, was that we needed
to get some things.
We needed to grow within our ownteam, and so be praying for us,
asking the Lord to help us aswe long to be greater examples
of what it looks like to befollowers of Jesus Christ as we
(00:25):
lead this church according tothe grace of God.
So be praying for us.
But also, we felt like the Lordspoke something to us for the
entire church, and it can besummed up in a simple sentence
together, growing deeper so thatwe can reach farther, together,
growing deeper so that we canreach farther.
And that's what we believe iskind of the overarching theme
(00:47):
for this entire year and what webelieve that God wants us, as a
church, to experience.
Now, if we're going toexperience it as a church, where
does it have to start?
With individuals?
It starts with individuals, andthen it goes to families, and
then it goes to community groups, and on and on and on, and
eventually the church itselfwill also experience it together
(01:10):
, right?
So let's get into this.
Over the next few weeks, we'llbe breaking this idea down into
segments that just happen tocoincide with belong, grow and
serve.
If you've ever been a part ofTrinity for any length of time,
you know that you've heard thesethree words, and these aren't
just it's not just a mantra,it's just not words on a wall in
(01:31):
the lobby.
These are words that we believe, that God is asking us, as a
church, to participate in, andso the first word is belong, and
the title of today's message iswe belong together.
We belong together.
Let's look in our Bibles toHebrews, chapter 10, verses 19
through 25.
And I'm actually using the NIVversion today Hebrews, chapter
(01:52):
10, verses 19 through 25.
Please, as we read this, payattention to all of the plural
words that are used we, us andso on.
Right Hebrews 10, 19 through 25.
Therefore, brothers and sisters,since we have confidence to
enter the most holy place by theblood of Jesus, by a new and
(02:15):
living way opened for us throughthe curtain that is his body,
and since we have a great priestover the house of God, let us
draw near to God with a sincereheart and with the full
assurance that faith brings,having our hearts sprinkled to
cleanse us from a guiltyconscience and having our bodies
(02:38):
washed with pure water.
Let us hold unswervingly to thehope we profess, for he who
promised is faithful.
And let us consider how we mayspur one another on toward love
and good deeds, not giving upmeeting together, as some are in
(02:59):
the habit of doing, butencouraging one another, and all
the more as you see the dayapproaching.
Let's pray together.
Father, I thank you for yourmatchless word and I thank you,
lord, that you've been workingthis word in my heart and in my
mind and my soul, in my spirit,over this last couple of weeks.
(03:19):
And, father, I pray that thework that you've done in my life
would be translated and that Iwould speak the words that you
desire to be spoken today andthat you would touch each and
every person that is listeningto this message.
And, father, that you would dothe work that only you can do of
transforming hearts and minds.
Father, we want you, we needyou and we need each other, and
(03:42):
we ask that you'd help us torecognize that even more today.
In Jesus name, amen.
So I wanted just to start withthis simple thought we were
created to be a part of God'sfamily.
We were created by God to be apart of his family.
Can you travel with me throughthe cosmos to To eternity past.
(04:05):
You have father, son and spiritwho, by the way, are the
perfect picture of unity andtogethering.
And they're having a staffmeeting right and as they're
having the staff meeting,they're having a discussion
About what they may want to doover the next few days or weeks.
And guess what they said?
Why don't we create something?
Why don't we make somethingbrand new?
(04:25):
Why don't we speak something?
Why doesn't something come fromthe Father's heart and Jesus
speak it out of his mouth andthe Holy Spirit take the words
and form?
That Wouldn't that be amazing.
Let's do that.
And so we see in Genesis,chapter 1, verse 26,.
It says let us make man in ourimage.
Verse 26, it says let us makeman in our image, after our
(04:49):
likeness, after God had createdeverything and said that it was
good, then he created man and hesaid it is very good.
It is very good.
Why did God create us?
Because he wanted us to be apart of his family.
It's as if the father looked atthe son and said I want to give
my son the very best gift thatI could ever give him, and so I
want to give him a bride.
And it's like the son looked atthe father and said I want to
(05:11):
give him the very best gift thatI can give him, and so I want
to give him children.
And so the Holy Spirit tookthat and caused it to come to
being here in this earth as Godcreated Adam.
And the first not good found inscripture is found when God says
what it is not good for man tobe alone.
(05:33):
Now, several of you men in thisroom just missed a divine
opportunity.
I laid it out for you on aplatter and you remain silent it
is not good for man to be alone.
Thank you, thank you All.
Right, I'm going to be prayingfor your wives even more, even
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more now.
But it is true, it's not goodfor man to be alone.
God created Adam and herealized that Adam needed other
people, another person in hislife and other people in his
life.
And so God formed Eve out ofAdam's rib and brought her to
Adam, and the two enjoyed theirrelationship with each other,
and part of the fruit of theirrelationship together was that
(06:18):
they bore children.
Right, but how many of you knowthat's not the end of the story
.
This story takes an unfortunateturn and, by the way, this isn't
just a story in a book.
This really happened.
This is real.
And so what did they do?
They sinned, and sin broke ourrelationship with God.
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Adam and Eve broke God'scommandment and in so doing they
were removed from the presenceof God and from the Garden of
Eden, and they were doomed toeventually die.
But even in the middle of thatdevastating scene if you can
picture it in your head andwe've just read about this in
our Bible reading plan since thebeginning of January God
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promised that there would beredemption.
That would come.
God had a plan that was biggerthan man's sin and man's mistake
.
Now we can blame Adam and Eveall we want, but here's the
reality.
Every person ever born,including myself, have been born
what Condemned.
(07:22):
We have been born in sin anddeath.
We have been born opposed toGod.
We have been born dead in ourtrespasses and sins, and if you
want proof of that, here's theproof.
All of us have sinned andfallen short of the glory of God
, every single one of us.
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We are in desperate need ofrescue.
Not only was our relationshipwith God affected by the fall,
but so was our relationship witheach other.
What was the second sin thatwas recorded in the Bible.
You see, sin broke ourrelationship with each other,
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and we see that as the secondsin recorded in the Bible was
when Cain killed his brotherAbel.
Why?
Because he was jealous that Godaccepted his brother's
sacrifice and not his own.
He killed his brother over that.
And from then on we seeregurgitation of these kinds of
cycles, where mankind grewfurther and further away from
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any knowledge of God and gave inmore and more to their own
fleshly desires, hatred andanger and malice and destruction
and murder and sexual sin, allof the things that you can name,
all of the things that you canname, all of the things that
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remove us in our relationshipwith God and also remove us in
our relationship with each other.
So how did God respond?
He responded in the OldTestament, with sweeping
judgments, like the flood andthen the fire that fell as
brimstone, destroying Sodom andGomorrah.
God grew weary of all of this,and so what did he do?
He began to enact a plan ofredemption Wherein he would
(09:18):
restore his family back tohimself and to each other, and
that's the premise of this wholemessage this morning.
That's the premise, I believe,of this passage of scripture.
So let's dig in First point isthat Jesus' sacrifice made a way
for us to be restored to rightrelationship with our Father God
(09:39):
.
The passage reads therefore,brothers and sisters, since we
have confidence to enter themost holy place by the blood of
Jesus by a new and living way,open for us through the curtain
that is his body, jesus'sacrifice.
By the way, jesus was the onlyone born, who wasn't born
(10:00):
condemned by sin and deathBecause his father was not of
this earth.
His father was our father inheaven.
In Old Testament times, peoplewere kept at a distance from God
.
This was a part of thetabernacle and temple motif.
Only once a year, during YomKippur, which is the day of
(10:21):
atonement, the high priest wouldbe allowed to go past the veil
that guarded the Holy of Holies,where the presence of God was
kept and was to be found, and hewould go in as a representative
of his own family and of thepeople of God, the Jewish nation
, and he would stand therebefore the Ark of the Covenant,
before the altar, and he wouldsprinkle upon it the blood of
(10:43):
animals who had been sacrificedfor the sins of the altar, and
he would sprinkle upon it theblood of animals who had been
sacrificed for the sins of thepeople.
The book of Hebrews teaches usthat, as important as that old
covenant was and it was it wasjust a shadow.
It was a shadow of thesubstance, which is the new
covenant which Jesus enacted bydying for us.
(11:06):
Jesus replaced the old covenantwith a new covenant, and he did
this with his own body.
Christ's death created a newand living way.
The veil in the temple, if youthink about it, when Jesus died,
when he breathed his lastbreath and he said it is
finished.
The Bible says that the veil ofthe temple rent from top to
(11:30):
bottom.
Wasn't one of Jesus's followers, like Peter, that got excited
and ripped it from the bottom tothe top?
God ripped it from the top tothe bottom and he said let me
out.
I will no longer be containedin vessels made by man.
And because of this, as Jesus'body was being broken, the veil
(11:57):
separating man from God was torn.
It was a symbol.
It represented this newcovenant, this new life that we
can have.
We can now come confidentlyinto the presence of our father.
We don't need a human mediator,we don't need a high priest
other than Jesus.
We can come boldly into thethrone of grace.
(12:17):
This is good news.
Our relationship with him hasbeen restored.
If we do what?
If we place our faith, hope andtrust on Jesus Christ, that's
what opens the door.
So Jesus' sacrifice made a wayfor us to be restored to right
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relationship with our father God, but it also made a way for us
to be restored to rightrelationship with each other.
Did you catch this?
As I was reading it the firsttime?
And since we have a greatpriest over the what?
The house of God, the house ofGod, plural.
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Jesus didn't die just to saveone person.
Jesus didn't die just to saveone person.
Jesus died to save an entirehousehold.
That's why he came.
That's why he died, that's whythe new covenant was cut, that's
why he did what he did.
In other words, he came to saveall of those who belong to him,
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all of those who are called tobe a part of his family.
He did it once and for all.
We are made alive under God sothat we can also be made right
with each other.
And the Bible refers to thishouse of God in a lot of
different ways.
It refers to it as a family, abody, a building and the bride
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of Christ, just to name a few.
But make no mistake, the churchis God's idea.
It's not man-made, somebodydidn't come up with it as a
great idea.
Jesus died so that the churchcould be made alive and we could
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have right relationship withGod and with each other.
I know it isn't popular to saythis in today's world.
How many of you know, there's alot of people who love to hate
the church.
There's a lot of people wholove to hate the church.
And don't get me wrong, thereare things that I see happening
(14:30):
within the churches, especiallyin our own nation, that grieve
me, that cause me deep sorrow,that cause me to cry out to God
to bring about revival andrestoration and reformation.
Absolutely, do you know?
So many people say the churchain't what it once was.
(14:50):
I'm here to tell you the churchain't what it's going to be yet
either.
God's not done with his churchyet, and if he's not done with
it, how dare we say that we'redone with it?
(15:14):
I choose to believe that thebest is yet to come for the
church of Jesus Christ.
We know we're definitely a workin progress and the Ephesians 5
tells us that so that he mightpresent the church to himself in
splendor, without spot orwrinkle or any such thing that
she might be holy and withoutblemish.
God, by the work of his HolySpirit, is doing a work on the
inside of each of us asindividuals and he's brought us
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together as families and hecontinues to cultivate holiness
within our lives.
And when Jesus returns to thisplanet, we will all be made like
him.
Returns to this planet, we willall be made like him and we
will be a church that will bewithout spot or wrinkle or
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blemish.
Some of us need to repent forthe attitude that we've had
concerning the church.
Jesus gave his very life toestablish the kingdom of God,
and part of the function of thekingdom of God, or the vehicle
that God uses within the kingdomof God, is the church.
(16:18):
Let's pray for her.
Let's be the very best churchmembers that we can be.
Let's make sure that we'rerepresenting Christ in our own
lives and within our churchfamily.
So there are three exhortationshere that are found in this
passage and we're going to justdive into these for a few
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minutes and these are given tothose who have been restored to
right relationship with God andwith each other.
Think about it like this thevertical plank of the cross
represents the relationship withGod that has been restored, and
the horizontal plank of thecross represents the
relationship with each otherthat's been restored.
Jesus died for both, for both,for both.
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So let's look at this and let'sthink about these three
exhortations.
Personally, how should I livethese things out?
But then let's look at it as afamily as well.
First of all, draw near in faith.
(17:26):
Let us draw near to God with asincere heart and with the full
assurance that faith brings,having our hearts sprinkled to
cleanse us from a guiltyconscience and having our bodies
washed with pure water.
Let's not linger back.
Let's not wait for ourselves toget to a certain place so that
we feel like we have it togetherenough where we can approach
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God.
My friends, jesus paid theprice for us to be able to
approach God.
In our current state, whateverwe find that state to be, we can
come boldly into the presenceof God.
That doesn't mean arrogantly orfilled with pride or look at
who I am, but it's a realizationthat God paved the way.
(18:09):
God made the way, and to notenter into his presence is to
say that it wasn't enough.
We should approach God withutter sincerity and with full
assurance that faith provides inthe finished work of Christ.
(18:29):
The finished work of Christ iswhat we should focus on when it
comes to us drawing near to God.
So how can we do this asindividuals?
Let's talk about this for aminute.
How about personal devotions?
How about reading your Bible?
How many of you know it's hardto know somebody unless you
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understand who they are and whatthey're about.
Aren't you glad that God gaveus such a thick Bible to give us
such detailed information aboutwho he is, what he does, what
his thoughts are, what hisheart's like, what his
characteristics are, how weshould obey him, what his
commandments are?
All of those things are foundin the word of God.
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Read your Bible, and I'm sothankful.
There's over 130 people whohave joined us in the reading
plan for this year, and I justencourage you to continue it.
Let this not just be a NewYear's resolution that comes and
goes right.
Let's stick with it.
Let's let the word of God readus as much as we're reading it.
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How about prayer?
Remember, prayer is a two-waystreet.
It's me talking to God and it'sme listening to God.
That's why Bible reading andprayer goes so well together,
because a lot of times Godchooses to speak to us through
his word.
Spend time in prayer with God,worship, worshiping God,
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glorifying him, lifting his nameup, acknowledging who he is,
fasting.
We won't linger there, butfasting is a real, legitimate
way to develop and to grow yourrelationship with God, and this
one, hopefully, we can allembrace.
This Resting.
Hopefully we can all embracethis Resting If you want to get
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to know God.
You know, the seventh day whatGod did after he'd worked for
six days, he rested Doesn't meanthat he ate Cheetos all day and
watched reruns of whatever, butit means that he enjoyed life,
he breathed, he took it all in,he smelled the roses.
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When's the last time you tooktime to smell the roses?
Now, here's the danger in allof these things that I've just
said.
We can easily make thesetransactional.
We can make them like God's ourboss and we're his employees,
and so these are the things thatwe need to do in order for him
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to pay us what we need in thislife.
Don't act like I'm crazy.
All of us have had thosethoughts, maybe even this week.
God wants a relationship with us.
He wants our heart's desire tobe, to be with him, reminded of
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the story of Mary and Martha.
Martha was busy getting thedinner ready and we know Jesus
loved to eat Martha's food,right?
So it wasn't that she was wrong, necessarily, but Mary sat at
Jesus's feet and listened to hiswords and connected with him
and related to him.
Martha interrupts the scene andsays Jesus, tell Mary to help
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me, she's being lazy.
And Jesus says to Martha Martha, martha, mary's chosen the
better thing right now.
There'll be time for makingdinner, there'll be time for
making the bed, there'll be timefor doing this or for doing
that.
This is our time for connectionand for relationship, amen.
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So we need to draw near to Godas individuals.
We also need to draw near toGod as a church family.
What does that look like?
It looks like husbands andwives praying together.
It looks like families havingdevotions together.
It looks like times ofcorporate prayer and worship,
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just like we've just experienced.
It looks like taking communiontogether.
In this very passage it sayshaving our hearts sprinkled to
cleanse us from a guiltyconscience.
One of the things that we dowhen we take communion is remind
ourselves of what Jesus did.
This very thing.
It's powerful when we do thisas a community.
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How about celebrating waterbaptisms.
It goes on in the same passageto say having our bodies washed
with pure water.
Baptism is an example.
It's an outward expression ofsomething that's happened on the
inside and it's meant to bedone together to celebrate Once
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this person was lost and nowthey've been found.
I pray to God that we havetwice as many baptisms this year
as we had in 2024.
True converts, true people whohave been radically changed and
saved by the grace of God.
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So many other ways that we candraw near to God together.
These are not exhaustive lists,obviously.
The second exhortation givenhere is to draw near in hope.
In hope.
Let us hold unswervingly to thehope we professed, for he who
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promised is faithful.
How many of you have ever felthopeless, discouraged,
despondent?
I know what it's like, I haveexperienced those things.
But how many of you know ourhope is found in Christ alone?
He is the anchor of our souls.
(24:29):
God can be thoroughly reliedupon.
If he makes a promise, he willfulfill it.
There's no questions to ask.
There's no reason to doubt.
If God says it, that settles it, and he's the only one who can
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do the good work that needs toget done in our lives.
We can't behavior, modifyourselves enough.
We cannot put our hope in ourown strength or our own will or
our own courage.
Thank God when those thingsalign with God's will and God's
strength and God's courage.
But, friends, we cannot do iton our own.
And how many times have wefallen on our face because we've
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tried to put our hope inanything else in governments, in
marriage, in families, infinances, whatever you could put
, whatever you want to put inthere.
But our hope, our unswervinghope and dying devotion, needs
to be in Christ.
Philippians 1, 6 gives us thispromise, and I'm sure of this,
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that he who began a good work inyou will bring it to completion
at the day of Jesus Christ.
God's not finished with us yet,but he hasn't stopped working
either, and we can put our hopein him.
Here's the thing.
The grace of the gospel ofJesus Christ is simply this, and
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this is where our hope is foundJesus did it all.
He did it all, he did it all,and he gives us the ability, by
the Holy Spirit that lives onthe inside of us, to do what
he's asking us to do.
We're not alone on this journey.
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So, even when you feel aloneand you don't have that sense of
community around you orbelonging, how many of you know,
we can find our hope and trustand anchor in Jesus himself.
The final exhortation is allabout what it looks like to
belong together as redeemedchildren of God, and it is
simply this draw near in love,draw near in love.
(26:43):
Let us consider how we may spurone another on toward love and
good deeds, not giving upmeeting together, as some are in
the habit of doing, butencouraging one another, and all
the more as you see the dayapproaching.
What day are we talking about?
What day are we talking aboutthe return of Jesus, the return
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of Christ?
And how many of you know everyday that goes by on this green
earth gets us one day closer tothe day when he will return.
And he is going to return, andhe's coming again for a church
that's prepared, that's ready,that's longing for his return.
The reality of the first twodraws that we talked about is
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that one may practice faith orhope alone, but you can't
practice love alone, you cannotobey the commands of Scripture
fully by yourself.
We need each other, we belongtogether.
It's interesting the words thatare used here.
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Christians are to spur oneanother to love and good deeds.
Now I'm a cowboy from Wyoming.
I'm not a cowboy.
I should tell the truth.
Speak the truth in love.
I am not a cowboy.
I should tell the truth, speakthe truth in love.
I am not a cowboy.
My dad was a cowboy and he usedto wear spurs on his cowboy
boots.
And what were those spurs about?
They're about when that horseneeded to giddy up and get
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moving.
My dad would gently give alittle kick to the side of that
horse and it would get thathorse to move in the direction
that he wanted to and at thepace that he wanted him to.
Right Now, some of us are likesign me up, if I can be a spur
to somebody else, I want to doit.
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Okay, sarcasm and annoyance arenot spiritual gifts.
At least they're not spiritualgifts from God.
They may be spiritual giftsfrom the other, the enemy right.
So we're not talking aboutlooking forward to tearing
somebody down or breaking themapart.
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It should hurt us, like ithurts us when we correct our
children To lovingly speak thetruth to somebody else.
But it should also.
We should also love somebodyelse enough to be honest, to
speak the truth to them andfriends, when Satan can get us
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isolated and individualized,just like a pack of wolves, he
attempts to pursue us, toisolate us and to eliminate us.
That's why God, in hisforeknowledge and understanding
and plan, put the idea of thechurch together so that we could
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watch each other's backs, sothat we could help each other's
backs, so that we could helpeach other to continue to walk
in the truth and in the light.
Before we start using thosespurs, let's look at 1 John 4,
verse 7.
Beloved, let us love oneanother, for love is from God,
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and whoever loves has been bornof God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love doesnot know God, because God is
love.
In this the love of God wasmade manifest among us that God
sent his only son into the worldso that we might live through
him.
In this is love, not that wehave loved God, but that he
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loved us and sent his son to bethe propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, wealso ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
If we love one another, godabides in us and his love is
perfected in us If you want toencourage somebody else in love
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and toward love and toward goodworks and good deeds.
Ask yourself this question am Iloving them the way I want God
to love me?
And as long as the answer isyes to that question, you're
probably in a good space.
You're probably in a good space.
You're probably in a good place.
But if you're just trying tomake a point or drive a certain
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agenda home, then ask yourselfthe question do I need to
regather?
Do I need to pray about thissome more?
Do I need to make sure that myheart is right?
We can love other peoplebecause God first loved us.
Jesus' love actually enables usto love each other, but I don't
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like them.
Where in the Bible does it sayyou have to like each other?
I mean, we have to betenderhearted and kind and all
of those things, but we need tolove each other.
Love sees past all kinds ofthings that would keep us apart.
How many of you love everyperson in your family?
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Now, let's be honest.
You love them, right, but doyou like them?
Or on the way to their house,are you grumbling?
I hope they don't give me thatjello again.
You know Well, that's the leastof the worries, right?
You think Aunt so-and-so isgoing to mention my mole.
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You know, there's all of thesethings, these things that we
have that try to keep us apart.
My friends, most of it is sochildish, it's so trivial.
There's so much more that bindsus together than tries to pull
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us apart.
Let's walk like that, let'slive like that.
We belong together.
We are commanded to love.
Therefore, it's something wecan and must do.
Love is the root, good worksare the fruit.
Love is the root and good worksare the fruit.
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By our example and by ourteaching, we should stir up
other believers to this kind oflife.
This is a most importantChristian responsibility, and
believers are to help oneanother attain it.
Let's talk about some ways toshow love as the family of God.
How about helping those incrisis?
Nobody does this better thanthe body of Christ.
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When we're doing it right, wehave relegated most of this to
the governments of this world.
Shame on us.
We are the spiritual hospitalthat people need and the church
of Jesus Christ, and we'rebelieving this year that we're
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going to be raised back up andreformed so that we can help
people truly help people intheir time of need.
How about rejoicing with thosewho rejoice?
I now know of nine women withinour congregation who are
pregnant, and I know you want meto name all of their names.
Some of them don't even knowthat I know, so I can't do that
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and besides, I might miss one.
We should rejoice when babiesare born and when marriages
happen, and when people get newvehicles and when, you know,
most importantly, when a lostperson comes to know Jesus
Christ.
We have a lot to rejoicetogether about.
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Let's not miss thoseopportunities.
But just as strongly as weshould party with those who are
partying and I mean that in.
Do I need to explain myself?
Okay, we also need to beprepared to weep with those who
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weep, to mourn with those whomourn.
There's no greater love, itseems to me, at times, than when
somebody just provides an ounceof comfort.
My family and I went throughthe loss of my mother-in-law,
(35:17):
kathy, this last year.
I just want to publicly thankeach and every one of you that
showed your kindness and loveand compassion toward us and
prayed for us.
It's still hard.
Every holiday that goes by it'shard, but, man, you have made
it so much easier than it wouldhave been or could have been,
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just by being the body of Christand a family.
You can show love by listeningfirst before speaking.
You can show love by prayingfor each other, spending time
together, screen free, speakingthe truth in love, encouraging
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each other and simply doing lifetogether.
And again, there's a gazillionother things that I could
mention here.
You see, we belong to a body ofbelievers at TCC that is
committed to living out ourChristian walk with others
through vital relationshipscharacterized by honesty and
(36:23):
genuine care for each other.
We need accountability in ourlives.
We need others that arewatching over us to help us, to
encourage us, to correct us attimes, and we also need people
to hug us, hold us, walk with us, pick us, us up and carry us
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sometimes.
This is what we mean by webelong together.
And finally, it says don't giveup meeting together.
Now, it's funny because I wassupposed to give this message
last week.
You can see the internalstruggle that I had as we made
the decision to cancel serviceslast Sunday.
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I'm like Lord, forgive mebecause I'm reading this passage
.
Obviously, there's grace, rightand safety is of the Lord as
well, but we should miss eachother when we're not together.
Mark's gone out of the countrysix months out of the year now,
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and every time he comes back hecommunicates how grateful he is
to be back, to be a part of thisfamily.
While Christians many Christiansview their faith as a private
matter, the author of Hebrewsreminds believers the importance
of not forsaking the assemblingof ourselves together.
(37:49):
There are many ways and placesin which Christians can
encourage and strengthen eachother, but the most natural and
effective setting for this iswithin the local church, during
these occasions that believershave an ideal opportunity to
minister to one another and toexercise their spiritual gifts.
What would happen if all of usas a church, as individuals,
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came together each week with themindset what do you want me to
give today, lord?
How do you want me to be ablessing to somebody?
Who can I pray for?
Who can I give a hug to thatneeds a hug?
Who can I spend time listeningto today?
Can you imagine and what doesGod in all of his goodness know,
(38:34):
that if the church lives likethis and it's real the world
around us is going to payattention and say I want some of
that, because the world hasnone of that.
The world gets a hug when a hugis given.
The world is loved based uponthe performance that is given.
(38:56):
We as a church have a chance todo it right and to be an
example to the world around us.
Without question we findstrength, comfort, nourishment
and joy when we're together.
It's interesting to me when Iwas young we went to church when
how often?
Three times a week and weconsidered ourselves faithful
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Christians if we went to churchthree times a week, or at least
let's say two out of three.
Right, If you made two out ofthree.
Now the new mantra is if I makeit to three Sunday morning
services a month, I am all in.
I'm not saying that to bringcondemnation.
I'm just saying it'sinteresting how, in one
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generation, the mindset hasshifted so drastically away from
us being together.
Let me give you just a quickI'm almost out of time a quick
exhortation.
We live in a world where we'resurrounded by talking heads.
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I know that there are manypreachers that you could listen
to today.
That would be more eloquentthan I am.
That would have their pointsjust jump off of their lips.
That would look better than Iam.
That would have their pointsjust jump off of their lips.
That would look better than Ido.
That would have all of thesedifferent gifts and strengths,
and it's not wrong to listen topodcasts or YouTube, and some of
them are really good and theysound real good.
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Jesus, by the work of the HolySpirit, is the only one who
places people in churches wherethey belong.
It's his work.
You think that you decided tobecome a part of Trinity
Community Church?
Yeah, you aligned your will,but God was the one who chose
you.
We believe that you can alwayssubsidize your learning by
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listening to others, but please,please, don't stop paying
attention to what God is sayingand doing in your local church.
God still desires to use hislocal church really as a primary
source of life and community.
There's no way that I have timeto unpack all the ways that TCC
(41:25):
attempts to create anatmosphere of community I'm
representing today.
Some of the ways that we wantto do this is by encouraging
healthy marriages, lovingfamilies, being family for those
who don't have family, babydedications, triads, community
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groups, community dinners, 24-7prayer partnership, which we're
going to talk about in just afew minutes.
A little extra plug Please cometo lunch Coffee bar.
You know why we spent so muchmoney on that coffee bar.
It's for you to be together.
I don't mean to blow your mindsor to make you think we're
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trying to trick you.
Let's be completely honest.
We want you guys to spend timetogether.
You know a lot of churches begtheir congregation to come to
church on time.
I'm asking you not to come ontime.
I'm asking you to come 30minutes early and stay 30
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minutes late so that you canencounter the body of Christ.
It's more than just what youhear from up here.
Let's engage each other, let'sspend time together, and
obviously Sunday morning is justone expression of that.
Weddings and funerals, biblicalcounseling, ministry teams all
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of these things are in place andconfigured for the sole purpose
of making sure that we belongtogether.
Would you stand to your feetwith me?
Thank you, lord.
Thank you, lord.
Father, we thank you for theamazing work that Jesus did, the
(43:27):
sacrifice that he made so thatwe could be made right with you.
That's primary, that's of firstimportance.
But, lord, we know that youdesire for us to not only be in
relationship with you, but to berelated to the rest of your
children.
You want your family to getalong and so, father, we pray
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that, especially for those whofeel like outsiders or who feel
hopeless today or feel wounded.
Father, I pray in Jesus' name,for your divine mercy and grace,
that your spirit would bringhealing and restoration.
(44:08):
And, father, for those whomight be here, who are not yet a
part of your family, I ask thattoday would be the day that
they would acknowledge theirneed for a Savior, that they
would repent of their sins andturn their heart and soul and
trust to Jesus Christ and thework that he did.
We ask you for salvation thisday and, father, we pray for the
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weeks and days ahead, ahead in2025.
We ask that you would help us,lord, to live out our lives in
such a way that we would, at theend of this year, be able to
say together more than more thanwe can today.
We belong together.
We ask you for this great workand great grace.
And, lord, I ask that you wouldbless each and every one.
(44:57):
Pray that you would cause yourface to shine upon them and be
gracious to them.
Pray that you would lift upyour countenance upon them and
give them peace In Jesus' mightyname, amen, amen.
So the overarching theme that the elders received
from the Lord for this year,first of all, was that we needed
to get some things.
We needed to grow within our ownteam, and so be praying for us,
asking the Lord to help us aswe long to be greater examples
of what it looks like to befollowers of Jesus Christ as we
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lead this church according tothe grace of God.
So be praying for us.
But also, we felt like the Lordspoke something to us for the
entire church, and it can besummed up in a simple sentence
together, growing deeper so thatwe can reach farther, together,
growing deeper so that we canreach farther.
And that's what we believe iskind of the overarching theme
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for this entire year and what webelieve that God wants us, as a
church, to experience.
Now, if we're going toexperience it as a church, where
does it have to start?
With individuals?
It starts with individuals, andthen it goes to families, and
then it goes to community groups, and on and on and on, and
eventually the church itselfwill also experience it together
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, right?
So let's get into this.
Over the next few weeks, we'llbe breaking this idea down into
segments that just happen tocoincide with belong, grow and
serve.
If you've ever been a part ofTrinity for any length of time,
you know that you've heard thesethree words, and these aren't
just it's not just a mantra,it's just not words on a wall in
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the lobby.
These are words that we believe, that God is asking us, as a
church, to participate in, andso the first word is belong, and
the title of today's message iswe belong together.
We belong together.
Let's look in our Bibles toHebrews, chapter 10, verses 19
through 25.
And I'm actually using the NIVversion today Hebrews, chapter
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10, verses 19 through 25.
Please, as we read this, payattention to all of the plural
words that are used we, us andso on.
Right Hebrews 10, 19 through 25.
Therefore, brothers and sisters,since we have confidence to
enter the most holy place by theblood of Jesus, by a new and
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living way opened for us throughthe curtain that is his body,
and since we have a great priestover the house of God, let us
draw near to God with a sincereheart and with the full
assurance that faith brings,having our hearts sprinkled to
cleanse us from a guiltyconscience and having our bodies
(02:38):
washed with pure water.
Let us hold unswervingly to thehope we profess, for he who
promised is faithful.
And let us consider how we mayspur one another on toward love
and good deeds, not giving upmeeting together, as some are in
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the habit of doing, butencouraging one another, and all
the more as you see the dayapproaching.
Let's pray together.
Father, I thank you for yourmatchless word and I thank you,
lord, that you've been workingthis word in my heart and in my
mind and my soul, in my spirit,over this last couple of weeks.
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And, father, I pray that thework that you've done in my life
would be translated and that Iwould speak the words that you
desire to be spoken today andthat you would touch each and
every person that is listeningto this message.
And, father, that you would dothe work that only you can do of
transforming hearts and minds.
Father, we want you, we needyou and we need each other, and
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we ask that you'd help us torecognize that even more today.
In Jesus name, amen.
So I wanted just to start withthis simple thought we were
created to be a part of God'sfamily.
We were created by God to be apart of his family.
Can you travel with me throughthe cosmos to To eternity past.
(04:05):
You have father, son and spiritwho, by the way, are the
perfect picture of unity andtogethering.
And they're having a staffmeeting right and as they're
having the staff meeting,they're having a discussion
About what they may want to doover the next few days or weeks.
And guess what they said?
Why don't we create something?
Why don't we make somethingbrand new?
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Why don't we speak something?
Why doesn't something come fromthe Father's heart and Jesus
speak it out of his mouth andthe Holy Spirit take the words
and form?
That Wouldn't that be amazing.
Let's do that.
And so we see in Genesis,chapter 1, verse 26,.
It says let us make man in ourimage.
Verse 26, it says let us makeman in our image, after our
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likeness, after God had createdeverything and said that it was
good, then he created man and hesaid it is very good.
It is very good.
Why did God create us?
Because he wanted us to be apart of his family.
It's as if the father looked atthe son and said I want to give
my son the very best gift thatI could ever give him, and so I
want to give him a bride.
And it's like the son looked atthe father and said I want to
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give him the very best gift thatI can give him, and so I want
to give him children.
And so the Holy Spirit tookthat and caused it to come to
being here in this earth as Godcreated Adam.
And the first not good found inscripture is found when God says
what it is not good for man tobe alone.
(05:33):
Now, several of you men in thisroom just missed a divine
opportunity.
I laid it out for you on aplatter and you remain silent it
is not good for man to be alone.
Thank you, thank you All.
Right, I'm going to be prayingfor your wives even more, even
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more now.
But it is true, it's not goodfor man to be alone.
God created Adam and herealized that Adam needed other
people, another person in hislife and other people in his
life.
And so God formed Eve out ofAdam's rib and brought her to
Adam, and the two enjoyed theirrelationship with each other,
and part of the fruit of theirrelationship together was that
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they bore children.
Right, but how many of you knowthat's not the end of the story
.
This story takes an unfortunateturn and, by the way, this isn't
just a story in a book.
This really happened.
This is real.
And so what did they do?
They sinned, and sin broke ourrelationship with God.
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Adam and Eve broke God'scommandment and in so doing they
were removed from the presenceof God and from the Garden of
Eden, and they were doomed toeventually die.
But even in the middle of thatdevastating scene if you can
picture it in your head andwe've just read about this in
our Bible reading plan since thebeginning of January God
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promised that there would beredemption.
That would come.
God had a plan that was biggerthan man's sin and man's mistake
.
Now we can blame Adam and Eveall we want, but here's the
reality.
Every person ever born,including myself, have been born
what Condemned.
(07:22):
We have been born in sin anddeath.
We have been born opposed toGod.
We have been born dead in ourtrespasses and sins, and if you
want proof of that, here's theproof.
All of us have sinned andfallen short of the glory of God
, every single one of us.
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We are in desperate need ofrescue.
Not only was our relationshipwith God affected by the fall,
but so was our relationship witheach other.
What was the second sin thatwas recorded in the Bible.
You see, sin broke ourrelationship with each other,
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and we see that as the secondsin recorded in the Bible was
when Cain killed his brotherAbel.
Why?
Because he was jealous that Godaccepted his brother's
sacrifice and not his own.
He killed his brother over that.
And from then on we seeregurgitation of these kinds of
cycles, where mankind grewfurther and further away from
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any knowledge of God and gave inmore and more to their own
fleshly desires, hatred andanger and malice and destruction
and murder and sexual sin, allof the things that you can name,
all of the things that you canname, all of the things that
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remove us in our relationshipwith God and also remove us in
our relationship with each other.
So how did God respond?
He responded in the OldTestament, with sweeping
judgments, like the flood andthen the fire that fell as
brimstone, destroying Sodom andGomorrah.
God grew weary of all of this,and so what did he do?
He began to enact a plan ofredemption Wherein he would
(09:18):
restore his family back tohimself and to each other, and
that's the premise of this wholemessage this morning.
That's the premise, I believe,of this passage of scripture.
So let's dig in First point isthat Jesus' sacrifice made a way
for us to be restored to rightrelationship with our Father God
(09:39):
.
The passage reads therefore,brothers and sisters, since we
have confidence to enter themost holy place by the blood of
Jesus by a new and living way,open for us through the curtain
that is his body, jesus'sacrifice.
By the way, jesus was the onlyone born, who wasn't born
(10:00):
condemned by sin and deathBecause his father was not of
this earth.
His father was our father inheaven.
In Old Testament times, peoplewere kept at a distance from God
.
This was a part of thetabernacle and temple motif.
Only once a year, during YomKippur, which is the day of
(10:21):
atonement, the high priest wouldbe allowed to go past the veil
that guarded the Holy of Holies,where the presence of God was
kept and was to be found, and hewould go in as a representative
of his own family and of thepeople of God, the Jewish nation
, and he would stand therebefore the Ark of the Covenant,
before the altar, and he wouldsprinkle upon it the blood of
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animals who had been sacrificedfor the sins of the altar, and
he would sprinkle upon it theblood of animals who had been
sacrificed for the sins of thepeople.
The book of Hebrews teaches usthat, as important as that old
covenant was and it was it wasjust a shadow.
It was a shadow of thesubstance, which is the new
covenant which Jesus enacted bydying for us.
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Jesus replaced the old covenantwith a new covenant, and he did
this with his own body.
Christ's death created a newand living way.
The veil in the temple, if youthink about it, when Jesus died,
when he breathed his lastbreath and he said it is
finished.
The Bible says that the veil ofthe temple rent from top to
(11:30):
bottom.
Wasn't one of Jesus's followers, like Peter, that got excited
and ripped it from the bottom tothe top?
God ripped it from the top tothe bottom and he said let me
out.
I will no longer be containedin vessels made by man.
And because of this, as Jesus'body was being broken, the veil
(11:57):
separating man from God was torn.
It was a symbol.
It represented this newcovenant, this new life that we
can have.
We can now come confidentlyinto the presence of our father.
We don't need a human mediator,we don't need a high priest
other than Jesus.
We can come boldly into thethrone of grace.
(12:17):
This is good news.
Our relationship with him hasbeen restored.
If we do what?
If we place our faith, hope andtrust on Jesus Christ, that's
what opens the door.
So Jesus' sacrifice made a wayfor us to be restored to right
(12:39):
relationship with our father God, but it also made a way for us
to be restored to rightrelationship with each other.
Did you catch this?
As I was reading it the firsttime?
And since we have a greatpriest over the what?
The house of God, the house ofGod, plural.
(12:59):
Jesus didn't die just to saveone person.
Jesus didn't die just to saveone person.
Jesus died to save an entirehousehold.
That's why he came.
That's why he died, that's whythe new covenant was cut, that's
why he did what he did.
In other words, he came to saveall of those who belong to him,
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all of those who are called tobe a part of his family.
He did it once and for all.
We are made alive under God sothat we can also be made right
with each other.
And the Bible refers to thishouse of God in a lot of
different ways.
It refers to it as a family, abody, a building and the bride
(13:46):
of Christ, just to name a few.
But make no mistake, the churchis God's idea.
It's not man-made, somebodydidn't come up with it as a
great idea.
Jesus died so that the churchcould be made alive and we could
(14:07):
have right relationship withGod and with each other.
I know it isn't popular to saythis in today's world.
How many of you know, there's alot of people who love to hate
the church.
There's a lot of people wholove to hate the church.
And don't get me wrong, thereare things that I see happening
(14:30):
within the churches, especiallyin our own nation, that grieve
me, that cause me deep sorrow,that cause me to cry out to God
to bring about revival andrestoration and reformation.
Absolutely, do you know?
So many people say the churchain't what it once was.
(14:50):
I'm here to tell you the churchain't what it's going to be yet
either.
God's not done with his churchyet, and if he's not done with
it, how dare we say that we'redone with it?
(15:14):
I choose to believe that thebest is yet to come for the
church of Jesus Christ.
We know we're definitely a workin progress and the Ephesians 5
tells us that so that he mightpresent the church to himself in
splendor, without spot orwrinkle or any such thing that
she might be holy and withoutblemish.
God, by the work of his HolySpirit, is doing a work on the
inside of each of us asindividuals and he's brought us
(15:34):
together as families and hecontinues to cultivate holiness
within our lives.
And when Jesus returns to thisplanet, we will all be made like
him.
Returns to this planet, we willall be made like him and we
will be a church that will bewithout spot or wrinkle or
(15:58):
blemish.
Some of us need to repent forthe attitude that we've had
concerning the church.
Jesus gave his very life toestablish the kingdom of God,
and part of the function of thekingdom of God, or the vehicle
that God uses within the kingdomof God, is the church.
(16:18):
Let's pray for her.
Let's be the very best churchmembers that we can be.
Let's make sure that we'rerepresenting Christ in our own
lives and within our churchfamily.
So there are three exhortationshere that are found in this
passage and we're going to justdive into these for a few
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minutes and these are given tothose who have been restored to
right relationship with God andwith each other.
Think about it like this thevertical plank of the cross
represents the relationship withGod that has been restored, and
the horizontal plank of thecross represents the
relationship with each otherthat's been restored.
Jesus died for both, for both,for both.
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So let's look at this and let'sthink about these three
exhortations.
Personally, how should I livethese things out?
But then let's look at it as afamily as well.
First of all, draw near in faith.
(17:26):
Let us draw near to God with asincere heart and with the full
assurance that faith brings,having our hearts sprinkled to
cleanse us from a guiltyconscience and having our bodies
washed with pure water.
Let's not linger back.
Let's not wait for ourselves toget to a certain place so that
we feel like we have it togetherenough where we can approach
(17:47):
God.
My friends, jesus paid theprice for us to be able to
approach God.
In our current state, whateverwe find that state to be, we can
come boldly into the presenceof God.
That doesn't mean arrogantly orfilled with pride or look at
who I am, but it's a realizationthat God paved the way.
(18:09):
God made the way, and to notenter into his presence is to
say that it wasn't enough.
We should approach God withutter sincerity and with full
assurance that faith provides inthe finished work of Christ.
(18:29):
The finished work of Christ iswhat we should focus on when it
comes to us drawing near to God.
So how can we do this asindividuals?
Let's talk about this for aminute.
How about personal devotions?
How about reading your Bible?
How many of you know it's hardto know somebody unless you
(18:53):
understand who they are and whatthey're about.
Aren't you glad that God gaveus such a thick Bible to give us
such detailed information aboutwho he is, what he does, what
his thoughts are, what hisheart's like, what his
characteristics are, how weshould obey him, what his
commandments are?
All of those things are foundin the word of God.
(19:17):
Read your Bible, and I'm sothankful.
There's over 130 people whohave joined us in the reading
plan for this year, and I justencourage you to continue it.
Let this not just be a NewYear's resolution that comes and
goes right.
Let's stick with it.
Let's let the word of God readus as much as we're reading it.
(19:37):
How about prayer?
Remember, prayer is a two-waystreet.
It's me talking to God and it'sme listening to God.
That's why Bible reading andprayer goes so well together,
because a lot of times Godchooses to speak to us through
his word.
Spend time in prayer with God,worship, worshiping God,
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glorifying him, lifting his nameup, acknowledging who he is,
fasting.
We won't linger there, butfasting is a real, legitimate
way to develop and to grow yourrelationship with God, and this
one, hopefully, we can allembrace.
This Resting.
Hopefully we can all embracethis Resting If you want to get
(20:26):
to know God.
You know, the seventh day whatGod did after he'd worked for
six days, he rested Doesn't meanthat he ate Cheetos all day and
watched reruns of whatever, butit means that he enjoyed life,
he breathed, he took it all in,he smelled the roses.
(20:49):
When's the last time you tooktime to smell the roses?
Now, here's the danger in allof these things that I've just
said.
We can easily make thesetransactional.
We can make them like God's ourboss and we're his employees,
and so these are the things thatwe need to do in order for him
(21:10):
to pay us what we need in thislife.
Don't act like I'm crazy.
All of us have had thosethoughts, maybe even this week.
God wants a relationship with us.
He wants our heart's desire tobe, to be with him, reminded of
(21:31):
the story of Mary and Martha.
Martha was busy getting thedinner ready and we know Jesus
loved to eat Martha's food,right?
So it wasn't that she was wrong, necessarily, but Mary sat at
Jesus's feet and listened to hiswords and connected with him
and related to him.
Martha interrupts the scene andsays Jesus, tell Mary to help
(21:52):
me, she's being lazy.
And Jesus says to Martha Martha, martha, mary's chosen the
better thing right now.
There'll be time for makingdinner, there'll be time for
making the bed, there'll be timefor doing this or for doing
that.
This is our time for connectionand for relationship, amen.
(22:21):
So we need to draw near to Godas individuals.
We also need to draw near toGod as a church family.
What does that look like?
It looks like husbands andwives praying together.
It looks like families havingdevotions together.
It looks like times ofcorporate prayer and worship,
(22:42):
just like we've just experienced.
It looks like taking communiontogether.
In this very passage it sayshaving our hearts sprinkled to
cleanse us from a guiltyconscience.
One of the things that we dowhen we take communion is remind
ourselves of what Jesus did.
This very thing.
It's powerful when we do thisas a community.
(23:04):
How about celebrating waterbaptisms.
It goes on in the same passageto say having our bodies washed
with pure water.
Baptism is an example.
It's an outward expression ofsomething that's happened on the
inside and it's meant to bedone together to celebrate Once
(23:25):
this person was lost and nowthey've been found.
I pray to God that we havetwice as many baptisms this year
as we had in 2024.
True converts, true people whohave been radically changed and
saved by the grace of God.
(23:45):
So many other ways that we candraw near to God together.
These are not exhaustive lists,obviously.
The second exhortation givenhere is to draw near in hope.
In hope.
Let us hold unswervingly to thehope we professed, for he who
(24:07):
promised is faithful.
How many of you have ever felthopeless, discouraged,
despondent?
I know what it's like, I haveexperienced those things.
But how many of you know ourhope is found in Christ alone?
He is the anchor of our souls.
(24:29):
God can be thoroughly reliedupon.
If he makes a promise, he willfulfill it.
There's no questions to ask.
There's no reason to doubt.
If God says it, that settles it, and he's the only one who can
(24:49):
do the good work that needs toget done in our lives.
We can't behavior, modifyourselves enough.
We cannot put our hope in ourown strength or our own will or
our own courage.
Thank God when those thingsalign with God's will and God's
strength and God's courage.
But, friends, we cannot do iton our own.
And how many times have wefallen on our face because we've
(25:12):
tried to put our hope inanything else in governments, in
marriage, in families, infinances, whatever you could put
, whatever you want to put inthere.
But our hope, our unswervinghope and dying devotion, needs
to be in Christ.
Philippians 1, 6 gives us thispromise, and I'm sure of this,
(25:36):
that he who began a good work inyou will bring it to completion
at the day of Jesus Christ.
God's not finished with us yet,but he hasn't stopped working
either, and we can put our hopein him.
Here's the thing.
The grace of the gospel ofJesus Christ is simply this, and
(25:59):
this is where our hope is foundJesus did it all.
He did it all, he did it all,and he gives us the ability, by
the Holy Spirit that lives onthe inside of us, to do what
he's asking us to do.
We're not alone on this journey.
(26:20):
So, even when you feel aloneand you don't have that sense of
community around you orbelonging, how many of you know,
we can find our hope and trustand anchor in Jesus himself.
The final exhortation is allabout what it looks like to
belong together as redeemedchildren of God, and it is
simply this draw near in love,draw near in love.
(26:43):
Let us consider how we may spurone another on toward love and
good deeds, not giving upmeeting together, as some are in
the habit of doing, butencouraging one another, and all
the more as you see the dayapproaching.
What day are we talking about?
What day are we talking aboutthe return of Jesus, the return
(27:08):
of Christ?
And how many of you know everyday that goes by on this green
earth gets us one day closer tothe day when he will return.
And he is going to return, andhe's coming again for a church
that's prepared, that's ready,that's longing for his return.
The reality of the first twodraws that we talked about is
(27:32):
that one may practice faith orhope alone, but you can't
practice love alone, you cannotobey the commands of Scripture
fully by yourself.
We need each other, we belongtogether.
It's interesting the words thatare used here.
(27:54):
Christians are to spur oneanother to love and good deeds.
Now I'm a cowboy from Wyoming.
I'm not a cowboy.
I should tell the truth.
Speak the truth in love.
I am not a cowboy.
I should tell the truth, speakthe truth in love.
I am not a cowboy.
My dad was a cowboy and he usedto wear spurs on his cowboy
boots.
And what were those spurs about?
They're about when that horseneeded to giddy up and get
(28:19):
moving.
My dad would gently give alittle kick to the side of that
horse and it would get thathorse to move in the direction
that he wanted to and at thepace that he wanted him to.
Right Now, some of us are likesign me up, if I can be a spur
to somebody else, I want to doit.
(28:40):
Okay, sarcasm and annoyance arenot spiritual gifts.
At least they're not spiritualgifts from God.
They may be spiritual giftsfrom the other, the enemy right.
So we're not talking aboutlooking forward to tearing
somebody down or breaking themapart.
(29:01):
It should hurt us, like ithurts us when we correct our
children To lovingly speak thetruth to somebody else.
But it should also.
We should also love somebodyelse enough to be honest, to
speak the truth to them andfriends, when Satan can get us
(29:22):
isolated and individualized,just like a pack of wolves, he
attempts to pursue us, toisolate us and to eliminate us.
That's why God, in hisforeknowledge and understanding
and plan, put the idea of thechurch together so that we could
(29:42):
watch each other's backs, sothat we could help each other's
backs, so that we could helpeach other to continue to walk
in the truth and in the light.
Before we start using thosespurs, let's look at 1 John 4,
verse 7.
Beloved, let us love oneanother, for love is from God,
(30:05):
and whoever loves has been bornof God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love doesnot know God, because God is
love.
In this the love of God wasmade manifest among us that God
sent his only son into the worldso that we might live through
him.
In this is love, not that wehave loved God, but that he
(30:28):
loved us and sent his son to bethe propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, wealso ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
If we love one another, godabides in us and his love is
perfected in us If you want toencourage somebody else in love
(30:50):
and toward love and toward goodworks and good deeds.
Ask yourself this question am Iloving them the way I want God
to love me?
And as long as the answer isyes to that question, you're
probably in a good space.
You're probably in a good space.
You're probably in a good place.
But if you're just trying tomake a point or drive a certain
(31:10):
agenda home, then ask yourselfthe question do I need to
regather?
Do I need to pray about thissome more?
Do I need to make sure that myheart is right?
We can love other peoplebecause God first loved us.
Jesus' love actually enables usto love each other, but I don't
(31:33):
like them.
Where in the Bible does it sayyou have to like each other?
I mean, we have to betenderhearted and kind and all
of those things, but we need tolove each other.
Love sees past all kinds ofthings that would keep us apart.
How many of you love everyperson in your family?
(31:55):
Now, let's be honest.
You love them, right, but doyou like them?
Or on the way to their house,are you grumbling?
I hope they don't give me thatjello again.
You know Well, that's the leastof the worries, right?
You think Aunt so-and-so isgoing to mention my mole.
(32:20):
You know, there's all of thesethings, these things that we
have that try to keep us apart.
My friends, most of it is sochildish, it's so trivial.
There's so much more that bindsus together than tries to pull
(32:40):
us apart.
Let's walk like that, let'slive like that.
We belong together.
We are commanded to love.
Therefore, it's something wecan and must do.
Love is the root, good worksare the fruit.
Love is the root and good worksare the fruit.
(33:02):
By our example and by ourteaching, we should stir up
other believers to this kind oflife.
This is a most importantChristian responsibility, and
believers are to help oneanother attain it.
Let's talk about some ways toshow love as the family of God.
How about helping those incrisis?
Nobody does this better thanthe body of Christ.
(33:26):
When we're doing it right, wehave relegated most of this to
the governments of this world.
Shame on us.
We are the spiritual hospitalthat people need and the church
of Jesus Christ, and we'rebelieving this year that we're
(33:47):
going to be raised back up andreformed so that we can help
people truly help people intheir time of need.
How about rejoicing with thosewho rejoice?
I now know of nine women withinour congregation who are
pregnant, and I know you want meto name all of their names.
Some of them don't even knowthat I know, so I can't do that
(34:11):
and besides, I might miss one.
We should rejoice when babiesare born and when marriages
happen, and when people get newvehicles and when, you know,
most importantly, when a lostperson comes to know Jesus
Christ.
We have a lot to rejoicetogether about.
(34:33):
Let's not miss thoseopportunities.
But just as strongly as weshould party with those who are
partying and I mean that in.
Do I need to explain myself?
Okay, we also need to beprepared to weep with those who
(34:53):
weep, to mourn with those whomourn.
There's no greater love, itseems to me, at times, than when
somebody just provides an ounceof comfort.
My family and I went throughthe loss of my mother-in-law,
(35:17):
kathy, this last year.
I just want to publicly thankeach and every one of you that
showed your kindness and loveand compassion toward us and
prayed for us.
It's still hard.
Every holiday that goes by it'shard, but, man, you have made
it so much easier than it wouldhave been or could have been,
(35:40):
just by being the body of Christand a family.
You can show love by listeningfirst before speaking.
You can show love by prayingfor each other, spending time
together, screen free, speakingthe truth in love, encouraging
(36:03):
each other and simply doing lifetogether.
And again, there's a gazillionother things that I could
mention here.
You see, we belong to a body ofbelievers at TCC that is
committed to living out ourChristian walk with others
through vital relationshipscharacterized by honesty and
(36:23):
genuine care for each other.
We need accountability in ourlives.
We need others that arewatching over us to help us, to
encourage us, to correct us attimes, and we also need people
to hug us, hold us, walk with us, pick us, us up and carry us
(36:45):
sometimes.
This is what we mean by webelong together.
And finally, it says don't giveup meeting together.
Now, it's funny because I wassupposed to give this message
last week.
You can see the internalstruggle that I had as we made
the decision to cancel serviceslast Sunday.
(37:06):
I'm like Lord, forgive mebecause I'm reading this passage
.
Obviously, there's grace, rightand safety is of the Lord as
well, but we should miss eachother when we're not together.
Mark's gone out of the countrysix months out of the year now,
(37:29):
and every time he comes back hecommunicates how grateful he is
to be back, to be a part of thisfamily.
While Christians many Christiansview their faith as a private
matter, the author of Hebrewsreminds believers the importance
of not forsaking the assemblingof ourselves together.
(37:49):
There are many ways and placesin which Christians can
encourage and strengthen eachother, but the most natural and
effective setting for this iswithin the local church, during
these occasions that believershave an ideal opportunity to
minister to one another and toexercise their spiritual gifts.
What would happen if all of usas a church, as individuals,
(38:13):
came together each week with themindset what do you want me to
give today, lord?
How do you want me to be ablessing to somebody?
Who can I pray for?
Who can I give a hug to thatneeds a hug?
Who can I spend time listeningto today?
Can you imagine and what doesGod in all of his goodness know,
(38:34):
that if the church lives likethis and it's real the world
around us is going to payattention and say I want some of
that, because the world hasnone of that.
The world gets a hug when a hugis given.
The world is loved based uponthe performance that is given.
(38:56):
We as a church have a chance todo it right and to be an
example to the world around us.
Without question we findstrength, comfort, nourishment
and joy when we're together.
It's interesting to me when Iwas young we went to church when
how often?
Three times a week and weconsidered ourselves faithful
(39:24):
Christians if we went to churchthree times a week, or at least
let's say two out of three.
Right, If you made two out ofthree.
Now the new mantra is if I makeit to three Sunday morning
services a month, I am all in.
I'm not saying that to bringcondemnation.
I'm just saying it'sinteresting how, in one
(39:44):
generation, the mindset hasshifted so drastically away from
us being together.
Let me give you just a quickI'm almost out of time a quick
exhortation.
We live in a world where we'resurrounded by talking heads.
(40:10):
I know that there are manypreachers that you could listen
to today.
That would be more eloquentthan I am.
That would have their pointsjust jump off of their lips.
That would look better than Iam.
That would have their pointsjust jump off of their lips.
That would look better than Ido.
That would have all of thesedifferent gifts and strengths,
and it's not wrong to listen topodcasts or YouTube, and some of
them are really good and theysound real good.
(40:41):
Jesus, by the work of the HolySpirit, is the only one who
places people in churches wherethey belong.
It's his work.
You think that you decided tobecome a part of Trinity
Community Church?
Yeah, you aligned your will,but God was the one who chose
you.
We believe that you can alwayssubsidize your learning by
(41:02):
listening to others, but please,please, don't stop paying
attention to what God is sayingand doing in your local church.
God still desires to use hislocal church really as a primary
source of life and community.
There's no way that I have timeto unpack all the ways that TCC
(41:25):
attempts to create anatmosphere of community I'm
representing today.
Some of the ways that we wantto do this is by encouraging
healthy marriages, lovingfamilies, being family for those
who don't have family, babydedications, triads, community
(41:50):
groups, community dinners, 24-7prayer partnership, which we're
going to talk about in just afew minutes.
A little extra plug Please cometo lunch Coffee bar.
You know why we spent so muchmoney on that coffee bar.
It's for you to be together.
I don't mean to blow your mindsor to make you think we're
(42:15):
trying to trick you.
Let's be completely honest.
We want you guys to spend timetogether.
You know a lot of churches begtheir congregation to come to
church on time.
I'm asking you not to come ontime.
I'm asking you to come 30minutes early and stay 30
(42:35):
minutes late so that you canencounter the body of Christ.
It's more than just what youhear from up here.
Let's engage each other, let'sspend time together, and
obviously Sunday morning is justone expression of that.
Weddings and funerals, biblicalcounseling, ministry teams all
(43:04):
of these things are in place andconfigured for the sole purpose
of making sure that we belongtogether.
Would you stand to your feetwith me?
Thank you, lord.
Thank you, lord.
Father, we thank you for theamazing work that Jesus did, the
(43:27):
sacrifice that he made so thatwe could be made right with you.
That's primary, that's of firstimportance.
But, lord, we know that youdesire for us to not only be in
relationship with you, but to berelated to the rest of your
children.
You want your family to getalong and so, father, we pray
(43:48):
that, especially for those whofeel like outsiders or who feel
hopeless today or feel wounded.
Father, I pray in Jesus' name,for your divine mercy and grace,
that your spirit would bringhealing and restoration.
(44:08):
And, father, for those whomight be here, who are not yet a
part of your family, I ask thattoday would be the day that
they would acknowledge theirneed for a Savior, that they
would repent of their sins andturn their heart and soul and
trust to Jesus Christ and thework that he did.
We ask you for salvation thisday and, father, we pray for the
(44:35):
weeks and days ahead, ahead in2025.
We ask that you would help us,lord, to live out our lives in
such a way that we would, at theend of this year, be able to
say together more than more thanwe can today.
We belong together.
We ask you for this great workand great grace.
And, lord, I ask that you wouldbless each and every one.
(44:57):
Pray that you would cause yourface to shine upon them and be
gracious to them.
Pray that you would lift upyour countenance upon them and
give them peace In Jesus' mightyname, amen, amen.
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