WEBVTT

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 so Hebrews 10 verse 19 you remember the first 18 verses all about what Christ has done for us that

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 once for all sacrifice and then we're starting to talk about implications now verse 19

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 therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus

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 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is his flesh and since

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 we have a great high priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance

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 of faith with her heart sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and her bodies washed with pure water

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 let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful

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 and let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good work not neglecting to meet

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 together as is the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day

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 approaching

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 see your kids enjoy your time

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 well good afternoon everyone good to see you all

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 will you pray with me as we come to God's word let's pray

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 yeah father how we need uh your word uh how we need your voice in our life

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 um we know that we don't live on bread alone but we live off every word that comes from your mouth

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 i thank you that you have given us your word and that you um you save us through it you reveal

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 yourself through it you give us hope through it so i pray that you would speak this afternoon i pray

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 that you would uh help all of us to have hearts ready to receive what you have to say

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 uh in jesus name amen

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 well i don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that as a church family

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 we're going through a time of upheaval

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 in geology terms upheaval is when the earth's crust is radically displaced

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 where there was once solid flat reliable ground all of a sudden there's a hill or a mountain

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 so obviously we've had the the sudden threat and interruption of covid which has just shaken our world

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 everything we thought was reliable has just been shaken there's relational and economic

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 implications of this and the uncertainty of tomorrow

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 it's troubling it's distressing and then it's forced us as a church to split into two congregations

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 with a number of our folk permanently on zoom that added extra distance

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 places we've had to change the way we do things from music to cancelling play group

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 increased need for people to fill in roles just to make sunday happen it's just

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 it's different it's unsettling it's change it's it's not by choice the covert's kind of forces on us

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 and there's been a change of identity as well it's no longer i go to grace evangelical

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 only it's also i go to 4 p.m i belong to 4 p.m church or i go to 10 a.m there's a change of identity there

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 and now we are losing one of our leaders

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 as well as the abundant ministry of joe

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 it's not just their ministries we're losing but we're losing rob and joe

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 i don't want to be over dramatic i don't want to catastrophize but i think it is accurate to say

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 that we're going through a time of unexpected upheaval and upheaval is destabilizing it's

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 distressing how do we respond to this distress

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 well i think there's some not helpful responses some are easier to control than others but

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 there's an increase in anxiety because of the situations we're in with all the uncertainty

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 which is understandable this there's reports on the news of so many people turning to religion

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 even hearing chris's client talk about that when there's uncertainty why don't we go to god and

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 hopefully there is some genuine seeking there but maybe some of it is just if i give god this much

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 attention he has to give me a better life maybe there's that attitude as well i'm not sure

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 i think we can look to our political leaders and blame them for not fixing things or over rely on them

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 too much other ways to deal with distress i think is just to numb the pain wherever you can find comfort

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 whether that's just keep watching netflix or whether that's more gaming or whatever it is

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 or more destructive things like alcohol or pornography there's an increase in that in our society as well

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 so we can try and numb the pain

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 and then others just try and worry more and gain control of their lives

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 maybe there's a mixture of those kind of responses

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 how do we have better responses in times of distress more constructive responses i think we need

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 one thing which is our theme for this morning hope you've got to have hope

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 i heard this week uh someone in the church some of their hairdresser said that they thought we're

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 nearing the end of covert there's less and less cases uh society's getting back to normal things

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 are looking up we're nearing the end

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 is that hope it might be how we use the word hope

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 but it's just wishful thinking isn't it of course we want covid we want it to be near the end but we

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 look at news reports of what's happening overseas and it's wishful thinking i hope i get a good night's

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 sleep tonight um i hope unemployment doesn't rise any higher in our country

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 it's uncertain i can't control those things it's wishful thinking

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 i think a more sophisticated form of wishful thinking in our culture at the moment is

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 uh it's a bit popular the idea of uh the power of positive thinking if i think positively

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 the outcomes will be more certain but it's still reliant on you and your abilities

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 when god talks about hope he's talking about ground that cannot be shaken

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 it's a future that no virus no circumstance no person no one nothing can threaten

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 it's a future that can't experience upheaval

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 god's hope is more solid than the earth's crust that we are sitting and standing on right now

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 it is a certain thing when god talks about hope

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 so let's spend our time focusing on one verse this afternoon hebrews 10 23

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 let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful

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 so we've heard the past two weeks uh that christ once for all sacrifice our uncleanness inside and

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 out how good was that video this is uh um our uncleanness has been fully atoned for fully washed fully paid

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 for so that we can now enter god's presence without fear but with confidence not confidence in ourselves

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 but fully assured that christ's blood has done it all you can relate to god not in fear of judgment but

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 resting in his arms and knowing god as your father since christ your brother and great priest

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 has fully brought you into god's presence in the heavenly places now that is good news

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 so let us hold fast the confession of our hope why would we move away from that

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 that phrase though the confession of our hope it might seem a bit obscure at first

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 what's actually being said first i want to spend some time looking at what the hope is

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 what is it what is the hope we have hope is by definition future orientated the christian life is

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 fundamentally a posture of looking forward it's leaning forward we haven't arrived yet

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 the best is still to come it is waiting for the full experience of what god has promised us of what

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 christ is purchased for us by his blood one peter talks about our living hope our inheritance that

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 cannot perish spoil or fade kept in heaven for you who are shielded by god's power through faith

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 god's future his promised future of dwelling with us is sure

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 the inheritance is kept safe we are kept safe

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 by his power not our own effort which means sin failure sickness persecution satan nothing can touch it

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 hebrews 12 28 describes the content of our hope in this way the context of this verse in so chapter 12 28

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 is in light of god's coming judgment that will shake and remove everything that's been corrupted by sin

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 that judgment is coming but here's our hope let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom

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 that cannot be shaken a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus let us offer to god acceptable worship with reverence and

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 our hope for our

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 an eternal

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 and eternal rest is another way hebrews describes it

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 living in god's world as he originally meant us to be dwelling face to face with god walking with him in the cool of the day

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 in the garden

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 resting in his arms the whole world united

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 in joyful worship

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 that is going to be an amazing day an amazing eternity

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 i really like hebrews chapter 6 verse 19

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 um

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 maybe it will help you clarify what our hope is even more and

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 and the security of our hope

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 hebrews 6 19

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 we have this as a sure and steadfast anchor

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 of the soul

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 a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain

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 where jesus is gone as a forerunner on our behalf having become a high priest forever

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 it's a lovely image

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 we have an anchor for the soul

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 when the storm rages we have an anchor waves are washing over but our soul is anchored

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 it's anchored because our hope has entered into the inner place behind the curtain

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 that's that temple imagery again into god's most

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 immediate presence the most holy place in heaven

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 obviously that's talking about what we looked at last week christ has gone there ahead of us

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 us and because he's gone ahead of us and he's done it all for us we will be there one day fully

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 yes we access god's presence by faith now but we will have that immediate presence with him fully one day

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 so we aren't told to hold fast our hope we're actually told to hold fast to our confession

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 without wavering

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 the hope is sorted by jesus he's got that covered

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 that's not our job to control the hope

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 what we're told to do is hold fast to the confession of our hope

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 confession here is more than just

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 telling someone that we're a christian or sharing the gospel with them although it includes those things

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 confession is an all of life thing everyone is hoping all of the time in things and you show it by

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 what you say and what you do you can't help that we're all hoping

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 so what what are you displaying what are you confessing with your life

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 that your hope is

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 in 1 peter chapter 2 where we're told to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have

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 that assumes that someone who's going to ask for a reason can see something different in us

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 by the way we live

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 why do you have hope and the context in 1 peter is the same as hebrews the context is hardship

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 hardship is

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 the time when hope is seen most clearly because other things that you could be trusting in have been

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 taken away

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 how can you be so sure you will live again after being diagnosed with a terminal illness

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 that is out of this world hope to to believe that

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 how can you still believe god is good when you've lost the person you love

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 that hope of future being together again that's incredible or remaining calm when being made redundant

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 people people should be able to see it and hardship is the best opportunity to show it

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 that our hope is in heaven it's not it's not here in a sense

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 so hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering

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 what could make us waver

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 what would what could make us stop identifying with christ or just drawing away from christ and all he is offering us

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 in us

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 in the world

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 by faith in him

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 let me mention just two things one is sin

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 prizing something in this world

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 more than what christ offers us

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 and we just

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 play around with sin and

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 over time our conscience

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 just stops pricking us anymore

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 we used to care and feel guilty or ashamed but

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 we just got so used to it and

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 our conscience gets hardened

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 and we slowly move away from anyone who would challenge us

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 from our christians brothers and sisters that that beautiful accountability and encouragement that we have here

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 John Owen says

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 be killing sin or sin will be killing you

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 i think i think another thing that would make us just shrink back what from what christ offers us is just the relational cost of following jesus

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 at uni or school or in the workplace

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 you just want to shrink from conversations sometimes don't you just want to hide and go oh gee i wish i wasn't a christian right now

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 i feel like i need to say

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 the christian perspective is here or

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 maybe that's just me who feels that sometimes that pressure

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 it would just be so much easier

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 to fit in if you weren't a christian and so we can be tempted to just

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 pull away

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 you

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 why

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 would we act

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 like this

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 as if we didn't have hope

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 these paths only lead to a dead end which is what the next paragraph is about

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 in hebrews

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 to reject

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 to absolutely reject

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 so this isn't

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 wavering isn't just talking about

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 the sin that we all struggle with we need to keep using our access to god that

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 that forgiveness and that power to keep going on in the struggle that is the normal christian walk

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 but this absolute wavering and pulling away from christ

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 is

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 and to treat christ's blood as worthless

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 there's only one thing at the end of that road and that is a fearful expectation of god's judgment

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 why would we live that way why would we go down that road

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 when we have such a great hope

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 hope

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 so that's the negative side

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 what does holding fast look like positively

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 i think we see that in the next paragraph so in verses 32 to 34

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 the original readers are reminded of their holding fast in the early days of their christian faith

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 have a look at verses 32 to 34

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 but recall the former days when after you were enlightened

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 you endured a hard struggle with sufferings sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction

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 and sometimes being partners with those so treated for you had compassion on those in prison

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 and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that you yourselves had a better

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 possession and an abiding one

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 that's incredible

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 holding fast confessing christ as our hope will look like endurance

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 no matter what comes

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 not just endurance but endurance with joy

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 because we know our hope is certain

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 if our hope was in the things of this world when they're taken away

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 we can't have joy

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 but if our hope is bound up with christ waiting for that promised kingdom that can't be shaken

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 then whatever else fails us we can remain firm with joy

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 our hope has entered into heaven behind the curtain we have an anchor for the soul

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 i like to picture like the anchor cord is just like going up to heaven and is kind of attached up in heaven

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 this season of upheaval as a church family is not a time to despair

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 it is one of the best opportunities we have to display that our hope is in christ and it's certain

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 i'm not trying to just hype us all up to rally together and press on

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 i'm not trying to hype us up

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 but i'm saying we can we have an opportunity here to display our hope

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 amidst covid amidst the disruption in our church family as well

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 we can show that the source of our confidence is in christ and not in ourselves here and now

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 how do we know that our hope is not just wishful thinking for he who promised is faithful

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 i think promises can be cheap today can't they like indicating on facebook that you're going to an event

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 we're pretty cheap with what we put on facebook

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 or maybe you just put maybe and not commit sound like a slide do you but anyway

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 that's not in my script um or politicians promising something that they just can't deliver on they don't have the power to

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 it's a cheap promise or as a society we have cheapened the marriage covenant promise

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 i'm saying wider society

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 i think promises can be cheap in our world this is the opposite of god's character

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 we see his character in the history of the old testament in how he relates to sinful people offering

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 them life again and again and again we see it after israel is delivered from egypt in the wilderness

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 they've just seen all his miracles a great salvation from slavery and they're just grumbling did you bring us out here to die

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 are you kidding me you you just got saved

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 and yet god is faithful with them he's patient with them

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 and then the judges period just chaos people did what they wanted

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 what they thought best in their own eyes and yet god was faithful to his promises to abraham

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 and then under the kings so many of the kings led the whole nation astray

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 doing what was evil in the eyes of the lord and yet god remained faithful even when they went into

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 exile he was sending prophets saying come back i'm faithful to my promise my promise still stands

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 come and have life in me and where did all those promises lead

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 it led to god's son's blood

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 his body given for us

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 jesus risen seated at the father's side having secured our salvation once and for all

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 all those promises being yes in christ

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 is there greater faithfulness than that

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 our god is a faithful god you won't find anyone like him

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 father son and spirit

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 all our hope is bound up in a person in the character of a person

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 it is bound up in what jesus has already done

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 on the cross and his resurrection

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 our hope is sitting next to the father in heaven

00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:41.120
 that's where our hope is

00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:49.759
 just as we saw last week that our confidence to enter god's presence has nothing to do with our merit

00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:57.839
 but what christ has done so too our hope for the future has nothing to do with our ability to feel hopeful

00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:05.759
 or our ability to maintain the basis of our hope our hope is outside ourselves christ himself and what he accomplished

00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:07.759
 is our hope

00:26:10.159 --> 00:26:16.559
 our hope for the future has already been secured by christ's blood and ascension in the past

00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:19.599
 so we can live out our hope in the present

00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:24.559
 our future hope is secured in the past it's already done

00:26:26.639 --> 00:26:27.519
 so we can live it out

00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:37.199
 so during this season of upheaval we have an anchor for our souls

00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:41.519
 i don't think we should despair

00:26:43.919 --> 00:26:47.199
 i don't think we should fret and try and maintain control

00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:49.600
 as if tomorrow depends on us

00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:52.960
 i think it is a time to grieve as a church family

00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:58.480
 i think it's a time to draw near to god to maintain our joy

00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:06.480
 and i think it's a time to continue to encourage one another's faith as we're going to hear in the

00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:08.480
 next few verses of hebrews next week

00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:16.400
 this time of upheaval is the best opportunity to show that we have hope

00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:17.280
 a certain hope

00:27:19.120 --> 00:27:20.960
 let's not wave up but hold fast

00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:28.160
 our future is sure because he who promised is faithful

00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:39.680
 i'm going to finish by reading the lyrics of um of our next song cornerstone i'm just so glad that

00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:46.480
 the muses chose this song it just fits this word to us today from hebrews so well

00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:53.759
 so let me read these lyrics and then and then muses will will sing it for us i think

00:27:53.759 --> 00:28:00.160
 my hope is built on nothing less

00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:04.559
 than jesus blood and righteousness

00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:13.279
 i dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy trust in jesus name

00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:22.000
 when darkness seems to hide his face i rest on his unchanging grace

00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:28.319
 in every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil

00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:39.839
 when he shall come with trumpet sound oh may i then in him be found dressed in his righteousness alone

00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:45.200
 faultless we will stand before the throne

00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:57.200
 and thanks

00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:03.920
 also

00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:06.160
 dear

00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:08.160
 you

00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:12.960
 dear