Hebrews is a really difficult book and it has a lot, it's one of those books of the Bible that you come to and you start to read it
and it actually has a lot of assumed knowledge which lies behind it.
So it's written to an audience which has been raised under the law of Moses and its regulations, culturally raised as Jews.
So the law defined their life, they circumcised their boys, they lived under the Ten Commandments,
they knew that God called them to love their neighbours as themselves,
they didn't eat things like prawn cutlets and pork buns.
Who had pork buns after church last Sunday night?
Yeah, one or two.
So they couldn't have lived in Chatswood.
They didn't work on Saturdays, they didn't wear nylon or lycra because that was their culture,
that was how God taught them to live their lives as his holy, as his different, as his set apart people.
And that's not where most of us come from.
I know that in our group some people have found Hebrews tedious and a struggle,
certainly not the Wednesday nighters because you've been doing Tulip with John Piper,
but in the group, some of the groups have been finding it hard,
others of the groups have been rejoicing it and I've been rejoicing it for myself as well.
But Hebrews is of high value because it forces us to see how Christ fulfils all that the Old Testament doesn't.
So Hebrews paints a picture, a startling picture of how Christ fulfils the Old Testament and doesn't abolish it.
So if you remember the words of Jesus,
do not think that I came to abolish the law and the prophets, I have come to fulfil them,
he said in the Sermon on the Mount.
So this passage which I'm preaching tonight begins with these words.
So if you've got your Bibles, have them open, Hebrews chapter 10 and I'm reading from verse 19.
So he opens with these words and he's actually connecting with the words which go immediately before,
but it's even bigger than that because he's connecting with everything that has happened in this book before
and he's come to a change point.
There's a point here that really matters in the things that he wants to say
and he wants to build his argument on what has already happened in Jesus.
So the Old Testament system of worship was a model
or you might even say it was an early prototype of a far greater reality.
The law, the priests, the high priests, the temple of Solomon with its most holy place
were a kind of virtual reality.
They gave the people a glimpse, see it's ancient technology,
but it gave the people a glimpse of something that was real
but it didn't give them the reality itself.
Now it's a big problem if you confuse what is real with what it isn't
and the Jews did that.
They got wrapped up in the bricks and mortar of the temple
and this impressive building and they failed to see beyond it
to the reality that it was pointing to.
Show my age.
My parents got their first TV when I was born.
If they had one before I was born, they might never have been born, might they?
But I grew up watching the Flintstones and the Jetsons
and the ABC News in black and white.
The TV man came regularly to replace the burnt out valves.
You don't even know what a valve is in a television, do you?
Do you know what a valve was?
It's the ancient transistor.
And in your television set you might have 20 valves.
Well now in your computer you've got a billion transistors
built into that tiny little chip.
So these valves were like globes up in the ceiling.
You'd pull one out and throw it away every so often.
You'd get the repairman in to fix your TV.
So I was in year 12 in 1975 when colour television came in.
I think we were able to watch the sacking of the Whitlam government
in glorious colour.
We haven't got 3D TV yet.
I'm still working on it.
Not really.
But if we had one the other night
I'm sure it would have made me feel like I was there
watching Tomek play at Wimbledon.
But I wasn't.
Television's a virtual world.
Isn't the real thing.
And I can tell you I would rather have tickets
sitting courtside with the princess
than watching in the lounge room at home.
So when the preacher says, verse 19,
therefore brothers and sisters,
since we have confidence to enter the most holy place
by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way open for us through the curtain,
that is, his body,
and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
he's summarising.
And he's summarising everything that's gone before
and he's saying that the model is now obsolete
because we have the reality.
Because of Jesus,
we are now sitting courtside at Wimbledon.
Brian and Deb in their messages last week
said some great things about the passage that went before.
They said that the Old Testament system of worship
could take people so far but no further.
And the temple was a great example.
The nations could come into the outer courts.
The Jews could come a bit closer to the centre.
The priests could come a bit closer again
as they offered their bloodied sacrifices
and the place looked like an abattoir
with all the blood that was being shed.
But the most holy place
at the very centre of the temple,
behind the curtain,
was off limits to everyone
with the exception of the high priest
and he could go there only once a year
if he made special preparation.
And he died if he got it wrong.
And so the model
taught the people
that it was a big deal
to come into the presence of God.
It needed big perfection,
it needed big sacrifice.
And no one was just safe
to stroll into God's presence.
Like, how are you going, mate?
God's my mate, God's my friend.
You just couldn't do that.
And even if we tried,
we would be unable
because we can't get ourselves
into heaven.
And so the model creates a picture
that shows us the real world dilemma.
We are cut off from a holy God
who dwells in heaven
and we are unable to find our way
into his presence.
And it's like Christ has stormed
onto the centre court at Wimbledon
and taken us with him.
Christ, this is chapter 9, verse 24,
Christ did not enter
a man-made sanctuary
that was only a copy
of the true one.
He entered heaven itself
now to appear for us
in God's presence.
And so in chapter 10, verse 19,
and I've twisted the word slightly,
but I hope you see
that it's a true translation.
Therefore we have,
or it's true to the meaning,
therefore we have confidence
to enter heaven itself
by the blood of Jesus,
a new and living way
which has been opened
through his body.
So the old system's kaput.
Why would you sit in the,
can you imagine sitting
in the stands at Wimbledon
and you've got your TV
so that you can watch the match
when you're really at the match?
Wouldn't that be stupid?
Why would you go back
to animal sacrifices
in a fancy temple complex
when Christ has been sacrificed
once for all,
never to die again
and guaranteed a way
into the presence of God forever?
Never.
Ridiculous.
So Christ has changed the game
and the rubber hits the road for us
and you see that in verses 22 to 25.
He goes from talking about
what Christ has done
to talking about
what we're asked to do.
So let us draw near to God
with a sincere heart
in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled
to cleanse us
from a guilty conscience
and having our bodies
washed with pure water.
And let us hold unswervingly
to the hope that we profess
for he who promised is faithful.
And let us consider
how we may spur one another
on towards love and good deeds.
Let us not give up meeting together
as some are in the habit of doing,
but let us encourage one another
and all the more
as you see the day approaching.
So he turns the spotlight onto us
and not just you individually
sitting in a pew tonight,
maybe with friends around you.
But he's speaking to us
as a group of people,
as the body of Christ,
those who have come to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ
and who cling to him.
And five times he says to us
as a body,
let us.
verse 22,
let us draw near to God.
Come to God.
I don't know what's going on
in your heart tonight.
I love the invitational language
of the scriptures
where God draws us to himself.
One of the temptations we face
when gripped by sin
is to get into it.
You know,
you ever feel like
you're fighting a war
which will never be won
over and over and over again
and we can become
almost depressed
and down in the mouth
and we can throw our hands
in the air
and we can say,
what's the use?
And we pull away from God
and we think things like,
oh, he wouldn't want to know me,
I'm too bad for him.
And we do what Adam did
at the very beginning
of the Bible
when he sinned.
He hid from God.
God came looking for him
and he was afraid.
And he and Eve,
when they sinned,
became aware of their,
they were naked before God
before they sinned
and no shame.
And after sinning,
one of the awarenesses they had
was of their own nakedness
and they tried to deal with it
by putting a few fig leaves together.
Terribly effective.
But deep down,
we know that we are unworthy
and in our pride
and in our fear,
we run from God.
And the Bible says
things have changed.
Christ has made us worthy.
We can confidently stand
in God's presence
without shame,
clean,
washed,
pure.
And it does not matter
where we have been
in our lives
before we have come to him.
He is able to deal with it.
And all our sinful failure,
hate,
murder,
pride,
sexual sin,
malicious talking,
all swept away
by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ.
And so there is this
extraordinary invitation,
we can run to Christ.
And we don't have to
fake it with him,
we don't,
we can speak honestly
to him without pretense,
we don't have to be somebody
to be in his presence.
A sincere heart,
something which just
tells the truth,
God,
you know what I am like.
You know me,
you know my thoughts,
you know what I have done,
you know what I struggle with,
you know my insecurities,
you know my fears.
Please forgive me,
please help me.
And as we do that,
the gospel reminds us
that our consciences
are made clean
again
as we put our hope
in Christ.
He lifts that
terrible burden
of guilt
and accusation
from us,
God sets us
truly free.
So Hebrews says,
draw near,
don't flee.
Stand fully secure
in what Christ
has done.
And then in verse 23,
second let us,
let us hold unswervingly
to the hope
that we profess.
Now this is like,
let's hang on
for the ride.
And I got this picture
in my mind
of one of those
dirty big roller coasters.
They used to have
a great big wooden one
at Luna Park
in Sydney.
And we would ride it
round and round
and round and round
again.
But you know,
the first click,
click,
she came to the top
of the big hill
and it began to roll
over the top
and then the downward ride.
The really bold ones
throw their hands
in the air.
The rest of us,
mere mortals like me,
we just hang on
to the bar
for grim life,
grim death.
I saw one in the paper
the other day
that would be interesting
to try out.
It's a new one in Japan
and it literally
goes up the big hill.
I saw a picture of it
and not only goes down,
it goes under
and down at an angle.
I need to draw it
the right way.
It does that.
It goes backward,
upside down
on the first hill.
Sounds really exciting.
But white knuckle ride.
And so he's saying
the admonition
is to cling to the hope
that we have in Christ.
Let us hold unswervingly
to the hope
that we profess.
Don't let go.
And he's writing
to believers
who are doing it tough.
He knows their circumstances.
Verse 32,
remember those earlier days
after you received
the light
when you stood your ground
in a great contest
in the face of suffering?
Sometimes you were publicly
exposed to insult
and persecution
and other times
you stood side by side
with those
who were so treated.
So these believers,
they'd made a great beginning,
a courageous beginning
and he knows
that they've had
a really difficult journey.
So verse 33,
public exposure
to insult
and persecution.
Verse 34,
joyfully accepted
the confiscation
of their property.
Can you imagine that?
Can you imagine
your mum or dad
losing your house
in Chatswood
or roundabout
because of their faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ
having taken it from them
being left
with all the insecurity
that flows from that?
I read the other day
about Christians
in some parts of Syria
right at the moment
doing it really tough.
They're trying to live
as godly citizens
in the towns
that they're living in.
They're trying to honour
their government
even though we look
at their government
and say what an appalling government
and the people in their town
who are dissatisfied
with their government.
Some of the people there
are saying join us,
rise up
or get out.
Join us
or get out.
There's no place
for you here.
Some of us
who have come
to hope in Christ
and this might be you
as a teenager
or a young adult,
you may have come
out of families
where he has not
been known before
and you may have
stepped outside
your family's rules
and values
in following Christ.
we've been ridiculed
and perhaps pitied
or despised
for what we believe.
Parents have a great way
of dropping a little word
and grinding the knife
a little bit,
twisting it a little bit
to make us feel uncomfortable.
I can remember
going out to prayer meeting
on a Tuesday night
after I became a Christian.
I was 18 or 19
and my dad had a,
it was partly because
of my own weakness,
my dad had a way
of humiliating me
because every week
he'd say where are you going?
He knew where I was going
but he made me say it
at the prayer meeting.
Friends who like to remind us
when we fail,
there is others of us
who perhaps miss out
on promotion
or perhaps opportunity
at work
because people know
what we stand for
and who we stand for
and perhaps we won't
be corrupted
or behave in some
of the ways
that they might applaud.
And I think there are
other days,
dark days which come
upon us for all sorts
of reasons
when we don't feel
like Christ is very near.
Holding on,
clinging to the hope
that we profess
is the same
as holding on
to the gospel
that we have been taught.
And it's like
don't lose heart,
don't shrink back,
cling tenaciously
to this hope
that we profess,
don't let go
of Christ
no matter
how tough
it is.
So the first
two let us's
are about
clinging
to Christ.
The last three
are about
clinging
to each other.
And they're about
the sort of relationships
that Christian believers
have with one another.
So verse
30,
24,
let us consider
how we may
spur one another
on toward love
and good deeds.
Verse 25,
let us not give up
meeting together.
Verse 25,
let us encourage
one another.
Now I've got to tell you
sometimes we Christians
read this verse
and we think
oh that's the real,
that's why we've
got to come to church.
I didn't say to you
you've got to come
to church
but that's the thing
that we sometimes
use to say
you've got to come
to church.
And we present it
like it's some sort
of law or rule
or principle
that we've got to obey.
Go to church,
keep the rule,
make God happy.
That sounds like fun
doesn't it?
Can you see
how barren
and sterile
that is
compared to the richness
of what these verses
convey?
This is about
the whole body,
this is all of us
working with energy
together
in response
to who Christ is
and to what Christ
has done.
And so the focus
of our interactions
become things like
how can I encourage you?
I don't come to church
thinking oh what are they
going to do for me tonight?
How can I encourage you?
What might I do here
tonight which serves?
What might I say here
tonight that builds
somebody up?
What person might I know
around the building
who looks a bit lonely
or on their own
or nobody's talking
to them?
Maybe I'm the one
who can step out
of my comfort zone
and speak to them.
See what word
can I speak
that builds you up
in Christ
or grows you
in Christ?
And sometimes
most of the time
it will be
an affirming word
and occasionally
it will be
a corrective word.
A few weeks ago
one of my sisters
said to me
after one of the services
that I was promoting
our small groups
in a less than
embracing way.
So I was making it
sound like some of them
are a bit too exclusive
so there's no room
there for you.
And she said
we've got to be
more generous
than that.
And I went
oh.
But it was said
to me really gently
it was easy to hear
and she was right.
And if my Christian
sister had not
said that to me
I would not have
seen it
but I can stand
here tonight
and say to you
she was right
that was a really
good thing
to be shown.
Remember what I said
the context?
a little bit
of that
and a lot
of the other.
I see things here
I think on Sunday
night
I see it in the
morning as well
you know our
service finishes
we speak to one
another
we interact
which is just
fantastic
and see
conversations go
on and sometimes
your heads go
down
as you actually
stop and pray
for one another.
I think that
type of interaction
is enormously
encouraging
and great
ministry
while we're
together.
This will be
harder for some
of you because
depending on your
circumstances you
may have your
own home or
the own place
where you live
others of you
will be in your
parents places
and so that
will have some
bearing on the
sort of hospitality
that you can
exercise but
hospitality is a
great way of
Christians getting
together to
encourage one
another going to
one another's
homes.
We do it in
some measure in
our small groups
some of our
small groups
meet in
people's homes
but it's not
just a formal
meeting like a
small group
it's an informal
meeting where we
have friends over
I think I've
heard of fellow
sleep which some
of the girls
were doing and
the joy of
that coming
together for
Christian
encouragement
moving around
one another's
home that's
just a fantastic
thing to be
able to do
but it's looking
around as well
and seeing who
can we pick up
into these networks
of relationships
that we have
who can we
invite amongst
us
who might not
be one of
us but perhaps
we would like
them invite them
to join us or
that we might
go to them.
New sheet
tonight's got the
great example of
the parish picnic
and barbecue coming
up in a couple of
weeks time which is
an opportunity for
us as a congregation
to mix with people
from the other six
congregations at
St Paul's and
perhaps have a
better awareness of
the bigger picture of
who we are and the
different cultures that
are represented and
the different backgrounds
that people have.
in my last church
I saw some lovely
ministry happen
amongst our older
people so
sometimes the
oldies would
grizzle about
the younger ones
you know if you
write on the walls
at church
at kids church
with chalk
then some of the
oldies look at
stuff like that
and go
not the way to
treat the building
but
that's because
of the ways
that they've been
taught in the past
and we'll talk
more about that
in a minute
so some of
these older
ladies
rather than
grizzle
I'll tell you
something
our older people
sometimes say
what are the
young people
doing
we'd like to
see more of
them we'd like
to know what
they're doing
so they are
interested but I
think they almost
expect you to
come to them
which might not
be the right way
to do it
and I say
things to them
I think this
church is very
much like my
last church
that the young
people are
heavily involved
in ministry
it's a great
thing
so the young
people are
leading the
kids church
ministry and
they're leading
the youth
ministry and
they're leading
D teams and
they're actually
quite heavily
involved in the
sort of commitments
that they make
here and the
older people look
at me sometimes
and go oh I
didn't realise
that I forgot
that and same
back where we
came from and
after a while
one of the
groups of women
got themselves
together and
decided well we
want to encourage
our young leaders
so they decided
they put on a
celebration dinner
for them they
put on a dinner
where they
spoiled them and
they invited all
the youth leaders
along gave them
a great meal just
to show appreciation
to them for the
ministry which they
were doing
wonderful thing
I saw those
ladies go and
later one of the
ladies in that group
became very
dissatisfied that
they really
didn't do a lot
for other people
and so they
made a pact
amongst themselves
and these older
ladies all got
together and one
at a time they
worked around some
of the groups at
church and they
invited them out
to the same sort
of thing they put
on a dinner for
them they'd have
them along to
encourage them in
Christ and guess
what happened when
they did that
there were all
sorts of other
fingers and webs
that got established
in relationship and
far more appreciation
that was happening
for one another and
what was going on
and who people
were and it
was just great
so hospitality
a great means of
generously spurring
one another on in
love and good deeds
I'll tell you another
story and I'm looking
here tonight I don't
think Anne Newman
would mind me
singling her out
yes she did she
winced
but Anne is one of
a number who are in
this church family
because of the way
that they were
cared for in
Christ when they
went through a
very difficult time
in life and they're
amongst us now
they've grown in
Christ but they've
been loved in
Christ and there's a
track record of 20
or 30 years which
goes on in some of
those relationships
so for all of us
some of the
relationships we have
now tonight amongst
us as friends here
I would hope and
pray have an enduring
quality to them which
will be seen over a
very long period of
time I'm going to
say this I said it to
the morning people but
I'm going to say it to
you because I think it
bears here as well but
I've only been here 18
months and I've seen the
downside as well I
have seen some people
leave church because
they haven't been
included they've never
been asked into
somebody's home or
into their group of
friends they'll come to
church and really
stand alone nobody
talks to them I
watched a couple this
morning who've been
here for quite a while
more than 12 months and
out there on the deck
they were alone for a
long time before anybody
spoke to them
other people leave
because they don't like
the way we work so
they don't like the way
we run a service so
they don't like having
to speak to other
people about their
faith there's some old
people who hate talking
to people about faith
and so we we do
things I think you do
it at Sunday night
church I've seen you
Sam will throw out a
question from the front
and what he'll say he'll
send you to go and
interact over it and
part of that is is
actually training you
training us to be able
to talk to one another
about things of faith and
to feel comfortable
talking about things that
are perhaps more
substantial than how's
the weather do I like
the colour of church
or stuff that we we
don't really draw that
close to one another
I love speaking to our
Chinese friends because
some of them are very
quick to say I'm not a
Christian but guess what
they're happy to talk
about it
we've been promoting
life journals at church
Sam hold it up it's got
it there with him it's
fantastic and I think I
want to say to you that
these are not just about
you and your walk with
the Lord which it is
they are about us as a
body growing in our
relationship with Christ
you will have much more
that you can share if you
give time and effort to
reading God's word and
relating to him you will
grow in godly wisdom you
will grow in a true
understanding of his word
as the Holy Spirit teaches
and changes you I think a
lot of my ministry comes
from my walk with Christ
I began the service of
this morning at 830 by
talking about what Christ
had said to me in my
quiet time this morning as
he read his word it's
fresh for me it's real
it's alive it's not just
something that I learned
somewhere in the past to
keep talking about and so
I want to say to you that
if you are not reading your
Bible you won't have
anything fresh to share
from your current walk
with Christ and if you're
not praying how can you
look your brother or
sister in the eye and say
I'm praying for you now
people often ask me to pray
for them and if you ask me
I am most likely to say can
I pray for you right now and
one of the reasons I want to
do that is because I don't
want to be the hypocrite who
says yes I'll do it and
then walk away and forget
great way for us to
interact with one another
so there's five let us's and
they boil down to two let us
cling to Christ and let us
cling to one another that is
the whole of church life I
want to say something from
verse 26 before I begin to
wrap up and that and it
says this and this leads
into the rest of the
passage even though I won't
go there but he says if we
deliberately keep on sinning
after we have received the
knowledge of the truth no
sacrifice for sin is left and
it's a bit of a clangor
because it comes after all
this good stuff and it seems
to come from left field and I
think if any of us are
sitting here tonight with a
tender conscience which is a
great thing to have you may
feel unsettled because we are
very aware of sin in our life
and at first reading this sort
of verse seems to undermine our
assurance and creates a lack of
confidence in Christ and you
ask yourself but how do you
treat this verse when I've
already spent considerable time in
this message urging you to draw
near to God sin and all the
passage is saying come near to
God and this is saying oh
there's no sacrifice left for
sin if we deliberately keep on
sinning but when I sin I do
deliberately sin how do I
reconcile these sorts of
things and I think the answer is
in the context he's writing to
Jewish believers who've come to
believe in Christ at great
personal cost he's urging them to
persevere they've already hung in
there through humiliation and
ridicule they have put up with
gross injustices like the
confiscation of their property
but in the pressure it seems that
some aren't getting together
anymore I used to go to church
oh yeah that was good a while back
and it might be that they're even
shrinking back and going back to
some of the Old Testament ways of
worship and they may well say I love
God but this Jesus stuff is just a
bit too hard and the writer is
saying there is no other way there
is no sacrifice for sin except
Christ and if you walk away from
Christ there is no other way to
heaven you can't go back to
worshiping a Jew as a Jew like you
were before or any other way and
find your way into God's heaven and
that is why he urges them to cling to
Christ and to cling to one another
I began this message speaking about
virtual reality and reality some of
you spend too much of your lives
living in virtual reality what's
that computer games and iPods and
iPads I love them but we can be
there for too long
have a think about this building we
meet in a building which we call
church very unfortunate name
some of our older members were taught
from children so by ministers like me
they were taught as children that this
is the Lord's house so it somehow or
rather becomes a special building
it's got a little bit of a mix of
temple thinking in there you know the
place where God dwells and yet David I
think said the Lord does not dwell in
buildings made by man so we know good
Bible teaching some of you think it's a
great old church for your wedding and
maybe you want it looking like this so
that you got a nice long old walk down
we could turn it sideways what would
do with that what happened the aisle
I guess you'd have to do a right angle
turn as you came down wouldn't you
but the building is fake as far as the
things of God are concerned this is 60
years old I thought it was a much older
church when I came here it's sandstone
exterior gives the appearance of being a
very old building and do you know it's a
it's a sandstone building you get below
that mortar and it's double brick walls so
if we get a Christchurch type earthquake
we'll all be buried here
the organ pipes
they're fake
they're cardboard tubes
can you believe it?
they're cardboard tubes
you could set the bottom of one of them on
fire and it'd blow like a chimney all the
way to the top
if you go across the road and you know
the elevator up the side of the
building I've been up there it's a
great ride you ought to take it it's
free you go up the top great view of
the mountains but you look down on
church you know what you see it's built
like a cross
so it's built to a particular way of
thinking and it's model something
we call the table up the front's cool
what is it?
no we call it a table and it is a table
it's flat surface that you put things on
but in most Anglican churches the majority
of Anglican churches around the world do
call it an altar
and the rail around it that marks off that
area behind the rail is it's called the
sanctuary
the holy place
someone somewhere in our history and I
think maybe particularly in the 1800s
thought that we were in the business of
doing sacrifices
so we've got our architecture
confused with our theology
and we have to let the Bible rule over
our architecture
Hebrews says incredibly clearly
that there is only one sacrifice that
matters
the death of Christ has put an end to
all the rest
he has done everything necessary to
take us into the presence of God he
takes us into heaven
and so it's easy for us at this service
especially to mock the old stuff
because that's maybe not where we've
come from with those modes of thinking
but if you've been sitting in church 60
years ago some of that stuff's what you
would have been told and some of that
stuff's the baggage that you would be
carrying now and wrestling with
but we have just read a passage
which absolutely emphasises that it
emphasises that it is what happens in
this auditorium that matters
and what happens outside this auditorium
that matters in our lives and the lives
of believers
when the Jews stopped listening to Paul at the
synagogue in Corinth he moved next door to the
hall of Tyrannus and kept teaching what he was
teaching in church
just changed buildings
didn't change what he was doing
just rented a hall and kept going for it
got the believers together
they encouraged one another in love and good deeds
they kept clinging to Christ
even as they clung to one another
and so I think it is absurd
that we would ever hang on to virtual reality
and miss out on the real thing
Amen
Sam can tell me what to do
he can tell me to go
or stay
but we talked about this after the service this morning
and you felt like there were some implications
that might flow through
from some of this thinking even to 5.30
in a way that it doesn't for the older ones
you want to take us there
and at the same time
if we've got a minute
I'll just throw it open to questions
that might flow from what we've been talking about
Do you want to do that first?
Yep, anybody getting questions?
I haven't got my Bible in my hand
I might need it in my hand
if you ask a hard one
Sorry, question was
how come we don't make the sign of the cross?
which is a particularly Catholic tradition I think
Yeah, there are some churches
where it's a very normal tradition
so Catholic, Orthodox
some of the people do it
it will come down to what they've been taught
it's not something we have taught
because you don't see it as something
which is prescribed in the scriptures
so I won't say it's a bad thing to do
but for me straight away
I don't see a reason to teach you to do it
and I think it's probably wiser
for us not to mock those who do
That got off lightly, didn't it?
Yeah, it did
Luckily for you
there's a chance to continue
churching together in this building
after we've finished the formal part
so maybe you've got questions
that might come up afterwards
that you might want to ask Chris
or even chat about with one another
Me and Chris were talking a little bit
about this this morning
in terms of
we hear this sort of message
and it's really easy for us to think
those silly old people
that think that's an altar
or those silly old people
who are really excited about cardboard tubes
or whatever it is that they had
but I just wanted to leave you guys
a bit of time right now
to maybe reflect that
we have lots of things of our own
that have become part of
what church must be
I think for me
reflecting personally
and in conversations with people
it might sound silly
but what time we do church
is very precious for some of us
Church shifts by half an hour
and all of a sudden
it's not the same church
I used to be a part of
it might be the fact
that we had the offertory
in song 3
instead of the last song
which we don't have another song
so it was the last song
but things like that
that we just grab hold of
because that's what we've been doing
our whole life
we've been in church
and what this passage
has challenged us to reflect on
is that there's
there's two commands in there
two let us commands
that really matter
and maybe we need to reflect
on what other things
we're clinging onto
on top of Christ
and one another
so I want to give you
some time right now
to ignore that
and just reflect for yourself
what might those things be
that you've kind of elevated
onto that level
alongside Christ
and one another
when it comes to
what church is
you've done
ready to click on miss
of each other
from near to the
Like this
it can be
through and once
I can biri