WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.640 Turning your Bibles, if you would, to Hebrews chapter four. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:04.480 Hebrews chapter four. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:06.639 Let me add my word of greeting to Amos's earlier. 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:07.519 My name is Chris Kuba. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:10.800 I have the privilege of being lead pastor here at United City. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:18.800 And uh it is uh incredible time of the year, definitely in every way, although it doesn't feel like it at all outside, is it not? 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:19.839 Uh it's kind of crazy. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:21.920 My wife's like, it's 80 degrees here. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:23.600 What in the world is going on? 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:38.399 Uh, but we're gonna do the best that we can to still act like and feel like it is Christmas, and it is uh certainly that way in our hearts, and we are so grateful for the songs and the worship that we got to sing this morning, the ability just to be able to lift up our Savior. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:44.960 I'm gonna take this opportunity to welcome all of the men and the women at our correctional facilities and those that are joining us on the other side of the camera. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:50.640 Let's give them a hand and celebrate so many folks that get a chance to join us today. 00:00:50.880 --> 00:01:00.799 Let me ask you a very important question that's gonna frame our time together today, which is this Who is your middleman? 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:06.719 Who is your middleman? 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:15.359 A middleman, the definition, is somebody who is an intermediary or an agent between two parties. 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:20.640 You need middlemen in various scenarios throughout your life. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:30.560 For instance, if you uh decide to want to sell your home, maybe you want to go and buy another home, or maybe you want to go buy a home for the very first time, you certainly could do it on your own. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:02:01.680 However, what you will begin to discover is that there are so many different intricacies and details and things along the way, negotiating rates and negotiating the terms of the contract and all of the various things that go along with it, that you're gonna quickly find yourself wishing that you had a middleman, a real estate agent, somebody whose job was to be representing you on your behalf and your interest in the midst of that negotiation. 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:04.719 Let me tell you the type of middleman that you want. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:08.719 You want Scott Boris to be your middleman. 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:28.960 Scott Boris is the sports agent who just helped sign the richest contract in professional sports history for Juan Soto when this past week for the New York Mets he signed a deal for 15 years at$765 million guaranteed. 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:31.039 Yes. 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:34.400 You want Scott Boris to be your middleman, all right? 00:02:35.599 --> 00:03:01.120 If you take the stats of Juan Soto, the outfielder for the New York Yankees this past season, it's going to mean that this coming year he will make just under$315,000 every game, over$671,000 every extra base hit, and$46,000 every single time he swings the bat. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:08.960 Regardless of whether he hits the ball, regardless of whether he grounds out to the pitcher, or regardless of whether he hits it over the fence. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:14.319 $46,000 for every swing of the bat. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:18.479 We all need a middleman like Scott Boris. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:24.639 When I was growing up, uh we had middlemen, sometimes they're now called wingmen when it came to dating relationships. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:41.120 For me, what it meant like is that basically I liked the girl in the class that was going to be in the one behind me, and so therefore I would write her a little note and then I would hand it to my friend who was gonna see her in the hallway or is gonna see her in the next class, and he would be the one that passes that little love note onto that person. 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:42.800 Some of you are like, that's crazy. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:46.159 Now you've got digital ways of doing it, but it's the same thing, all right? 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:47.120 Now what do you do? 00:03:47.199 --> 00:04:00.240 You don't actually talk to somebody that you like, you just simply tell somebody else that you're interested in them, and then this whole relationship thing gets vetted out before you've actually ever had any type of interaction whatsoever. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:16.240 Yes, you might look at each other online and all of that kind of stuff, but at the end of the day, you've got a middleman, you've got a wingman, you've got somebody in the middle trying to help you navigate what could be uncertain territory. 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:28.800 This morning, what I want to do as we continue in our series called More Than is I want us to look and to ask this question: Who is your middleman with God? 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:35.920 Maybe the question should be this: what is your middleman with God? 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:46.480 We're gonna look at this series uh called More Than, looking and seeing how the birth of Jesus is more than just a holiday. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:53.360 The whole idea of saying happy holidays, there's a lot of PC and political correctness and all of that related to it. 00:04:53.439 --> 00:05:04.560 But at the end of the day, this is a lot more that we're doing by setting aside an entire day of the calendar to be able to celebrate the birth of Jesus just because it's the holidays. 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:09.759 It's a lot more than just the hustle and the activity and the gifts and all the things that take place. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:19.120 And so, what we are doing is taking a little bit of time this Christmas to see why Jesus, last week we looked at why he is more than a prophet. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:23.279 Next week we're gonna look and see why Jesus is more than a man. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:28.240 But this morning I want us to consider why Jesus is more than a priest. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:34.720 Let's begin reading in Hebrews chapter 4, beginning in verse 14. 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:42.319 It says, Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:45.040 Jesus, the Son of God. 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:47.600 Let us hold fast our confession. 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:57.439 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:07.519 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:13.439 The title priest in this passage is general, but it's not specific to the Christian faith. 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:17.600 We know that it is found the idea of a priest in many other religions. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:47.040 Essentially, a priest is a minister of any religion, whether it's a true or false religion, whether it's a good or bad religion, who is given authority to teach sacred information, whose job is to serve as an intermediator, maybe as a representative along the way, and also at times to do acts on behalf of a group of people in order to interact with the higher being or the God of the day that they represent. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:53.920 Priests are usually intermediaries between spirits or deities or gods or a god. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:07:08.079 They teach the people how to have proper reverence, they teach the people how to worship, they teach the people the different activities that they're supposed to do in order to have a right relationship with the being that they represent. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:23.040 Many times the the priest would actually serve as the one who interacts with the higher power and goes back and tells the people what it is that the higher power has decided or what they need to do in response to the higher power. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:28.160 The role of the priest is found all throughout the Old Testament in our Bibles. 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:32.800 We see that the priest would mediate disputes between the people. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:35.759 He taught the people how to respond to God. 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:52.480 The priest would offer up prayers on behalf of the people, serve as their connection to be able to help them be able to go from a place of being outside of the confines of a relationship with God to being able to be brought into that relationship. 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:54.800 All of this was done at the temple. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:08:03.360 And so we know that the temple was kind of the primary place when this spiritual activity would take place, and that's where the priest would kind of office from. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:05.680 That's where they would sort of live out of. 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:15.519 And so people would go and they would have to find a priest to interact for them to God so that they could be able to know if their sins were in fact forgiven. 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:28.160 It was totally normal, and it was a totally natural thing for the religious experience of the people in the Old Testament and even for the people of today to need a middleman. 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:36.159 What I want you to see is that the priest was essentially a middleman between the person and God. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:49.919 I'm gonna argue that while things may be different today in a lot of ways than in ancient times, the idea of having or needing a middleman is just as needed and as important today as it has ever been. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:51.440 Here's how I know. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:09:03.519 Because people try a lot of different things in a lot of different places and a lot of different ways to have a middleman in order to make themselves right with God. 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:15.600 I want to explore a few of what some of those middlemen that people try to use, and maybe that you are trying to use even today, that you can explore and see is this going to get me to God? 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.000 First one I want you to look at is this. 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:20.240 Your parents. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:22.080 Your parents. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:33.679 I've noticed that the holidays are a time when people will get very nostalgic and people will get very traditional. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.480 You know, we like new in everything we do in life, right? 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:48.399 We want to have new clothes, we want to be able to have new styles, we want to be able to have new songs, we want to be able to have new uh music, we want to be able to have new new cars and new houses and new all the things that are new. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:52.240 Yeah, when it comes to Christmas, what I found is that people want old. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:54.320 Like people want traditional. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:10:07.440 Like people want the this, they want their Christmas tree, they want their ornaments, they want their traditions, they want their meal that they always have whenever they are together. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:12.000 They want the same way to take place on Christmas Eve that they always have before. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:22.480 Yes, maybe if they add a new family member, they may switch it up just a little bit and trade off, but still, that one time when they're they're on the family and they're all synced up, they want it to be the same as it was when they were growing up. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:25.200 You kind of want that nostalgia. 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:35.360 And what I've also noticed is that there also is a little bit of a nostalgia because a lot of people, when it comes to Christmas traditions, the church is a part of that. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:45.840 And so what happens is that maybe you're not maybe a church person, maybe you're not really into the whole church thing, but at the end of the day, you don't fight it as much at Christmas time because it just feels right. 00:10:47.039 --> 00:11:10.000 You maybe think about your grandparents, or maybe you think about your aunts or your uncle, and you think about their faith, and you think about how important it is, and so you know whenever you get together at Christmas, you're all gonna go to church together and you're gonna dress up and you're gonna sit in a nice row, and even though you don't necessarily believe in all of this stuff, you at least do it because you just feel like home. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:30.320 What I've also noticed is that church attendance begins to surge in the month of December, and particularly around Christmas Eve here in Northeast Houston, meaning people are gonna come from all over the place to come and to be a part of church, and they're gonna come and they're gonna experience the nostalgia that comes with the family traditions that takes place when it comes to church. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:38.639 I read an article that is entitled 11 inherited traits that come from your mom and your dad. 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:42.240 You see, we we like this nostalgia and we like these things. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:45.440 We like these things because it's a part of what we grew up with. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:48.720 But let me just mention there's some good things that you can get from your parents. 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:52.000 There's also some bad things that you can get from your parents. 00:11:52.559 --> 00:12:00.159 Some good things you can get from your parents are your intelligence, your memory, your ability to focus, and your sleeping patterns. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:08.559 These have been proven that you can get these from your parents, by the way, from your mom especially, is what the research tells us, okay? 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:11.279 Uh it there can be some bad things though. 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:16.879 Certain risk of cancer, high cholesterol, your vision problems. 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:20.159 It's not because you're getting older, it's because your parents, all right? 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:21.840 Your hairline issues. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.480 It's not just, look, it's nothing about age. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:26.159 It's your mom's fault, okay? 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:27.440 It's it's blame it on them. 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:30.799 They're the reason why you're losing all of your hair. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:38.960 Look, some of the things that mom and dad give us are great, and some of the things that mom and dad give us are not so great. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:42.080 Maybe you get your allergies from your kids. 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:43.600 That's what my kids blame me for. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:45.679 They say that I uh they're gonna have the allergies. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:48.399 They're like, Dad, we got this from you, all right? 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:52.879 Or maybe your love for a particular team you get from your parents. 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:56.559 But here's one thing that you can't get from your parents. 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:59.039 You can't get your parents' faith. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.879 I didn't say you can't be influenced by your parents' faith. 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:06.000 You can be radically influenced by your parents' faith. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:19.120 I firmly believe that I am standing here preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ because of the prayers of my grandmother, Virginia Gardner, every single week in her chair as she sat there and prayed for me by name. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:29.679 I'm fully convinced that the reason that I am able to do what God's called me and gifted me to do is because of the influence of godly parents that God has given to me. 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:31.519 My wife as well, Hillary. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:33.440 She's got great godly parents. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:38.159 And so, in light of that, we've got this legacy that we can now pass down to our children. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:46.399 And we've been influenced by our parents' faith in a very big way, but we do not own our parents' faith. 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:48.720 Because they can't pass it down. 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:51.919 You know, I don't know if you remember, it's been just over a year. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:54.240 It's one of the most tragic days, literally. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:14:05.279 You probably are still not fully over it because it was such a substantial, significant day in the life of our country, uh, and you're probably still in mourning. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:21.519 What's wild is that it's it's a day that was actually announced, that was going to be coming, and people knew to expect it, and then when it happened, it's like they they were shocked that it actually happened. 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:28.080 It affected over a hundred million people at one time on one day. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:30.480 Of course I'm talking, I know what you're all thinking. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:36.559 It's the day when Netflix decided to no longer allow you to share your parents' password. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:40.000 It's a big day. 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:42.000 It's a crushing day. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:45.759 If you're not familiar with this, it's probably because you're the one paying for the password, all right? 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:52.960 What you what this means is that basically Netflix used to be known as something that you you you got to sign up for a long time ago. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:15:03.200 And and as long as the person was paying on the account and you had the password, you could literally be anywhere and everywhere, and you could watch whatever Netflix shows that you wanted to stream and watch at your leisure. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:16.240 But Netflix made an announcement and said, hey, to the hundred million customers who we know are sharing passwords, we're giving you a heads up this day in October of 2023. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:18.799 We're gonna cut that service off. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:30.799 And now, if you pay for the service in Houston, you're no longer allowed to stream it in California or in Colorado or at college or wherever it is that you may find yourself. 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:44.399 And the reason that they did that is because they knew what it would result in when they had 90 million new customers who signed up and realize, I guess it's time to start paying for my own Netflix, you know. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:52.960 They just cut off the access of the password, and then immediately they have a spike in subscriptions. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:16:02.879 Now, I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand if you are sharing a password currently, although that would be a fascinating social experiment, okay? 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:05.759 But I do want you to know this. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:10.240 When you get to heaven, you can't use your parents' password. 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:14.480 You can't use your parents' password. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:16.240 Don't get me wrong. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:22.240 I if I had to guess, your your parents hope that you get a password because they want you to be there with them. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:32.879 But some of you are thinking that you're gonna go to heaven, you're gonna stand before God, and you're gonna be like, Well, this is what my mom did, and this is what my dad did. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:36.559 But what I want you to know is this it doesn't work like that. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:39.600 You gotta have your own password. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:47.919 Let me tell you another thing that people a lot of times will try to use as a way to have a middleman to God, not just their parents. 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:49.759 Second of all, the pastor. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:57.039 One of the greatest roles that God's ever given to me in my entire life is to be able to be a pastor. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:58.799 I love being a pastor. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:11.039 I get to do pastoral counseling, I get to do preaching, I get to do the leading and administrating of the church, I get to go and lead a staff team, I get to go and to uh pray with people in difficult situations and needs. 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:14.559 I get to share some of their highest of highs, some of their lowest of lows. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:22.640 I also be, I know this is about this time of the year, this in May, when I'm gonna get a lot of people's recommendation letter requests, okay? 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:24.319 And so I get a bunch of those too, right? 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:31.039 And I'm filling those out, kind of giving people uh yes, I can vouch, they do go to church, kind of a thing, and send that on, and that's awesome. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:33.119 All of those things are really, really great. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:42.400 But what I've also found it difficult is that sometimes people will say, Hey, can you send a prayer up to the big guy for me to make sure that I get in? 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:52.400 That's good and well-meaning, and maybe some of you have done that, but here's what I would simply tell you I can tell you how to do it, but I can't do it for you. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:18:12.880 And and I don't get me wrong, like if you call me and and you want some spiritual advice, or if you call me and you've got a theological question, or you call me and you've got a prayer need and you need someone to come alongside and pray with you, I'd be more than happy to do all of those things, but I want you to know this I just can't get you into heaven. 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:14.960 That's not that's not my job. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:16.000 That's not my role. 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:16.960 I wish it was. 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:20.319 And if it was, I would gladly give it out as much as I possibly could. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:25.759 But it's not really what God's asked or called or wants me to do. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:30.319 You see, I want you to make sure whenever you come to church that you that you take notes. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:36.079 In fact, did you know that if you actually write something down, we we have it here on the screens here for you. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:45.279 If you write it down on your phone or on something like the the chance of you remembering it is exponentially higher, regardless if you ever look at it ever again. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:55.599 But the goal isn't just that you listen while we speak, the goal is that you actually learn so that you can pass it down to somebody else. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:07.920 It should be a priority of yours to sit under spirit-anointed God-birthed preaching, where it comes from the word of God in every way. 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:11.839 But please know sitting underneath that is not the goal. 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:14.960 Hebrews chapter 5, listen to what this verse says. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:22.960 It says in verse 12, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:25.519 You need milk, not solid food. 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:32.160 For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word word of righteousness since he is a child. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:34.720 Let's go and establish some ground rules, okay? 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:40.559 I can't get you into heaven, but I can teach you how you can get into heaven. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:47.440 People will call me if someone has a question about the faith or Bible or anything like that. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:20:06.240 And I'm happy to serve in that way, but my goal is to equip you so that you can actually begin to be someone who can answer those same questions yourself and be able to answer those questions of somebody else that you now come alongside who may be younger in the faith than even you. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:10.720 The goal of this exchange is not just information. 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:17.119 The goal of this exchange is transformation, which means you get to pass it down to somebody else. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:19.359 Now, don't just take me, take anybody. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:23.599 Take your youth pastor, take your kids' pastor, okay? 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:30.160 Take the pastor of the church where you were growing up, brother Jimmy or brother whoever, whatever it is that you call them, okay? 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:32.480 By the way, don't call me brother Chris ever, all right? 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:33.119 Don't do that. 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:34.640 I'm not brother Chris. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:47.039 Um, whatever it is that you've got, the deacon, your Sunday school teacher, your life group teacher, whatever that spiritual influence is in your life, that you just kind of feel like, man, I'm just connected. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:49.920 As long as I'm connected up to them, then I am good. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.480 And I would simply tell you this: as long as you're connected to whoever they're connected to, you're good. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:57.440 But you're not good if you're just connected to them. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:01.839 Because at the end of the day, your pastor can't be your middleman to God. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:03.599 Let's talk about the next one. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:06.000 Number three, participation. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:07.680 Participation. 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:11.599 I want you to imagine a scenario where you go to the doctor. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:16.000 Hopefully, you do this every year, every few years, and you go and get an annual physical. 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:20.640 And you go sit down with the doctor, and the doctor's like, man, we we got problems. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:23.119 Uh, you have gained weight this year. 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:27.920 Uh, you have gained inches, uh, and your blood pressure's up. 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:30.000 What are you doing? 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:34.880 And you respond, doctor, I eat three meals a day and I go to the gym four days a week. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:35.440 What do you mean? 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:36.240 I that's what I do. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.440 I I I I eat three meals a day and I I go for it. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:43.039 Okay, well what are you eating? 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:46.000 And what are you doing at the gym? 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:49.680 And your response is, well, I kind of eat whatever I want. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:50.160 I don't know. 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:56.160 I just eat chips or or uh you know ice cream or pasta or carbs or whatever it is just in front of me. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:59.599 I just kind of eat whatever, and then I've got a group of people, we meet at the gym. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.799 Every single day or four days a week at the very same time. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:10.559 There's this little couch area over there where there's like kind of by the snack meal in the corner, and we meet up there for coffee four days a week and we just kind of talk and chat. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:18.720 The doctor's gonna look at you and be like, hey, it's not a matter of what you're doing and where you're going, it's a matter of what you're doing, when you go, where you go. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:24.000 Folks, I think there's this misnomer with church attendance. 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:30.880 One, I would just simply tell you it's amazing how much church attendance is just up in the air. 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:31.759 Right? 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:33.680 You know, like basically you miss church for anything. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:35.119 You know, people miss church for whatever. 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:37.519 You know, if the weather's bad outside, I'm not gonna go. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:40.319 You know, if if it's got a ball game, I'm not gonna go. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:42.880 If I was up late Saturday night, then I'm not gonna go. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:54.160 And so there's this, there's just kind of like, oh, well, you just kind of see if it works out or see if it fits in or make a game time decision, which basically, if you make church a Sunday morning decision, then it's gonna be very iffy. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:56.880 If you make church a Saturday night decision, then guess what? 00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:59.039 You're gonna always be there on Sunday morning. 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:02.799 But church attendance is kind of one of those things, it's just kind of like kind of whatever. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:09.519 But here's what I'm amazed at, particularly in our area, about how many people will tell me that whenever they say, Hey, do you go to church somewhere? 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:11.920 They'll be like, oh, I gotta go to United City Church. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:16.079 And I just want to pause and throw a couple of questions out there. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:21.599 One, how often do you actually go to the church? 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:29.519 And second, which is probably way more important, what do you actually do when you go? 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:34.160 Those are very important questions to consider. 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:38.880 Uh think about this verse, this very important verse, Hebrews 10, 24 and 25. 00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:51.119 Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting the meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:54.079 Participation in church is a great thing. 00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:55.440 It's even commanded here. 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:58.000 We're not supposed to neglect getting together. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:00.720 And I want to tell you, I'm all about church attendance. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:03.359 I want to make sure, oh, I'm pro-church attendance. 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:05.039 In fact, I will even tell you this. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:10.960 If you will commit to give us a year of your life, it will be the best year of your life. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:15.680 Like you just go to everything the church possibly is offers that you possibly can. 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:20.559 I promise you, your life will be radically better if you make that type of commitment. 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:24.640 That being said, I want to make sure you understand something. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:33.759 Participation, as great as it is, is not the answer to getting a relationship with God. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:35.599 Let me tell you how I know this. 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:37.680 Look at what James chapter 2 says. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:42.079 You believe that God is one, you do well, even the demons believe and shudder. 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:43.119 Oh, whoa. 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:48.799 This means that if I go to church all the time and I believe that God's one, I'm good, right? 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:51.119 No, no, because the demons do the same thing. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:55.680 Here's what it says in Matthew 7, verse 21 and 23. 00:24:55.839 --> 00:25:02.000 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:09.519 On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:12.480 Basically, I was at church, I went to serve day. 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:13.920 Like, what do you mean? 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:19.759 And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:29.599 What this shows us is this is that while participation is great, it's encouraged, it's something you all should do, it can't be your middleman. 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:32.960 It can't be the thing that you're relying on. 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:36.880 Well, because I go to church on a weekly basis, I'm good. 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:40.559 It's the same as going to the gym four days a week, but never working out. 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:47.039 You're just you're attending, but it's something very different than what it was intended for. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:50.880 Finally, take another thing that cannot be your middleman. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:53.039 Number four, is a priest. 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:54.960 It's a priest. 00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:01.920 The priest was one who made sacrifices on behalf of the people in the temple of the Old Testament, in the Old Testament. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:12.960 In addition, the priest was one that you went and confessed your sins to so that you could know what those sins were and that they would be making the sacrifice and declaring you to be made right with God. 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:16.480 Maybe you grew up in a tradition where you do the same thing even now. 00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:29.920 And what you know the problem is, is that you you go and you go to confession and you begin to tell the priest all of your sins, and he begins to make sacrifices or begins to make alms for all of the things that you've done wrong, and then here's the problem. 00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:33.039 You leave, and like an hour later, you need to go back. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:37.039 The same thing was true in the Old Testament sacrificial system. 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:39.359 You had people who would make these sacrifices. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:48.079 They'd go to the temple, they they find their priest, and this is my guy, and here's the animals that I'm supposed to bring, and I bring the animals correctly, and I go and I make all of these sacrifices. 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:49.759 It's a bloody experience. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:54.480 I mean, there's just kind of all kinds of sacrifices are there's not pretty sight, right? 00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:56.400 Because our sins are not pretty. 00:26:56.720 --> 00:27:01.519 And in light of that, these sacrifices are then made, and then it says that he you leave, and then guess what? 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:03.680 It has to go back all over again. 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:10.160 And so that's why there was a process by which once a year there was somebody called the great high priest. 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:27.599 This was the the highest of all the classes of all of the priests, and the great high priest would go into the Holy of Holies, and he would offer up a sacrifice on the Ark of the Covenant, and it was meant to cover the sins of all of the people for the entire previous year. 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:28.559 And guess what? 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:32.960 Every single year this process had to be repeated over and over again. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:33.359 Why? 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:36.319 Because it was never actually good enough. 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:41.599 Folks, maybe what you've experienced whenever you think about your own life. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:55.119 And the reason why you're frustrated because you feel like guilty, or the because the reason that you feel shame, or the reason that you feel like things are never enough, is because you've been trying to rely upon your parents' faith only to realize it's not enough. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:06.240 You've been trying to go and lean off what your your pastor says and what he believes and what he thinks, and at the end of the day, that's great as a guide, but it's not meant to be a replacement. 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:18.079 You've been trying to just be around the church and be a part of church and as good as and great as that is, and your life will be radically changed if you just participate in the life and the body of the church. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:21.279 I want to simply tell you, church attendance is never enough. 00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:39.839 In the same way, the idea of a priest, as much as a priest could do so many great things to cover the sacrifices for your sins, at the end of the day, they continually had to be made over and over again, which ultimately leads us to the question that I asked you already, which is this Who is your middleman to God? 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:44.079 Ultimately, there's only one answer to this question. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:46.480 It's the story of Christmas. 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:51.759 Jesus is the middleman to God. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:58.079 Jesus is the middleman to God. 00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:03.440 I just want you to know that Jesus can be your middleman. 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:09.039 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 5 and 6, here's what it says. 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:24.480 Who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper one God. 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:27.680 One mediator. 00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:35.119 Okay, don't miss this because what I want you to see is that the story of Christmas is that the answer has come. 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:38.160 The solution is here. 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:44.559 We have the opportunity and we have the ability to be able to know that we have been rescued. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:46.720 The rescuer has arrived. 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:54.319 We don't have to just keep longing and hoping and wishing and wanting there to be some type of hope. 00:29:54.960 --> 00:30:01.119 Instead, we know that whenever Jesus came, he came on a rescue mission from the very beginning. 00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:06.240 And that rescue mission ultimately allowed him to be the mediator between God and men. 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:10.880 When he gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:14.079 Listen to how Hebrews chapter 2 describes this. 00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:29.599 He says, Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:33.519 That means to pay for the wrath of the people, is what that word means. 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:39.680 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:48.720 Do you feel like today that you are at a place where you have sin crouching at your door and you don't know where to turn and you don't know where there is hope? 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:51.279 And I would simply tell you this: look to Jesus. 00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:53.440 Look to Jesus. 00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:58.960 He knows exactly what it's like to experience the temptation that you've experienced. 00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:02.240 He knows exactly what it's like to feel despair. 00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:05.119 He knows exactly what it's like to feel betrayed. 00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:12.079 He knows exactly what it's like to be turned on by those who he loved and he thought they loved him. 00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:16.079 He can relate to us. 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:19.119 Hebrews chapter 4, look at what it says. 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:20.559 Read it earlier. 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:27.200 Since then we have a great high priest who's passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. 00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:30.319 Let us hold fast our confession. 00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:41.359 We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:44.400 Here's what I want you to see. 00:31:45.759 --> 00:32:00.400 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:03.839 If Jesus is your middleman, here's what I want you to do. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:06.000 Three things in closing. 00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:10.400 Draw near receive mercy. 00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:13.119 Find grace. 00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:19.359 I want to invite you to come to Jesus. 00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:29.200 He is more than a priest, he is the great high priest who gives you access to the Father. 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:33.599 Stop drawing near to other things, even good things. 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:40.000 I come from godly parents, but I don't need to draw near to my parents. 00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:44.960 I need to draw near to Jesus, the one that they have spent their lives pointing me to. 00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:48.480 What is it that you've been drawing near to? 00:32:48.640 --> 00:32:53.200 Maybe you've been drawing near to something that has been super destructive in your life. 00:32:53.599 --> 00:33:04.480 You've been drawing near to something that has proven over and over again to lie to you, to tell you and promise you that it will fulfill you, only for you to realize over and over again it never does. 00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:10.240 Don't draw near to a fake imitation, but instead you draw near to Jesus. 00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:16.079 Ultimately, whenever you do, what happens is that you begin to receive mercy. 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.640 You want to know how you're in a posture to receive mercy. 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:20.640 You don't come in there with demands. 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:28.079 You don't come in there telling Jesus what he needs to do in order for him to prove himself for you to believe in him. 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:33.759 You don't need to come in there telling Jesus all the things that he needs to show you. 00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:41.119 But instead, you come recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a savior. 00:33:42.160 --> 00:33:46.640 You come with arms open saying, Look, I deserve nothing. 00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:50.720 But instead, I have my arms open and I am ready. 00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:58.480 As I draw near to you to receive your mercy, ultimately, what will happen? 00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:01.200 You will find grace. 00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:09.920 Went on a journey for the last few months in my own personal time with the Lord and just walking through things, trying to figure out how to understand grace more. 00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:16.800 I can teach grace, I can communicate grace, I can talk about grace. 00:34:17.519 --> 00:34:21.440 I'm not sure I ever really experience grace. 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:28.079 I get a plan, I get a method, I get an activity, and I get to work. 00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:29.360 That's what I do. 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:38.480 When I think that the scriptures have taught me is that the way that you find grace is to come to the end of yourself and your weakness. 00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:51.760 But just sit there, it's whenever you begin to just float. 00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:55.119 You begin to find the grace. 00:34:56.880 --> 00:35:10.960 Some of you at this Christmas season where you have heaviness, because you're trying to get it all together and you're trying to make it all perfect, and you're trying to make it all exactly the way that it's supposed to be, what you just may need to do is just to fall back. 00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:14.159 Find grace. 00:35:24.159 --> 00:35:27.519 Who is your middleman to God? 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:34.960 Only answer that will work is Jesus. 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:44.000 I want you to know that you don't just get to know that in your mind. 00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:48.480 You have the opportunity to receive that in your heart. 00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:59.119 If you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, can I invite you to make the most important decision that you will ever make with your life? 00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:03.920 And that is to say a simple prayer of faith. 00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:14.079 Where you draw near, you receive mercy, and you find grace. 00:36:17.199 --> 00:36:18.719 Your heads bowed and your eyes closed. 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:23.039 If you don't have a relationship with Jesus and you want one, would you just pray these simple words with me? 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:25.119 Dear God, I want to know you. 00:36:26.320 --> 00:36:28.719 I believe you died on a cross for me. 00:36:29.360 --> 00:36:37.840 I believe that you rose from the dead, and right now, in this moment, I receive you as my Lord, as my Savior. 00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:42.960 I draw near to you in this moment. 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:47.519 My hands are out, and I receive your mercy. 00:36:50.880 --> 00:36:57.360 I ask that you give me so that I could find your grace. 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:11.840 As you continue to keep your heads bowed and your eyes closed, if you just prayed that prayer of faith with me, what I'm gonna ask you to do is I just want you to look up for a second and I want you to see who you're gonna go to. 00:37:12.079 --> 00:37:15.119 If you're in the balconies, there's somebody at the bottom of the steps. 00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:23.360 I want you to just kind of get an eyeball on where they are, because in a moment we're all gonna stand up, and that's your cue in that moment to go find that person at the bottom of those steps. 00:37:23.840 --> 00:37:30.239 Those of you that are here on the floor, you just look, there's people all across the front of this room. 00:37:30.719 --> 00:37:33.360 You just find out when we all stand up, that's your cue. 00:37:33.440 --> 00:37:34.559 You're gonna go find one of these folks. 00:37:34.719 --> 00:37:38.480 You're gonna tell them, I just prayed, gave my life to Jesus. 00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:45.280 Others of you need to come and join United City, God has been leading you to United City to make this your church that you get to call home. 00:37:45.360 --> 00:37:47.360 I want you to know we are a church. 00:37:47.679 --> 00:37:51.039 We're not gonna do it for you, but we're gonna point you to the way that you can do it. 00:37:51.280 --> 00:37:54.320 Experience it yourself, the grace and the mercy of Jesus. 00:37:55.039 --> 00:38:03.280 So if today you want to come and be a part of a church like this, with a mission to let other people know how they can experience Jesus as their middleman. 00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:05.199 Would you come and join United City? 00:38:05.280 --> 00:38:07.119 Your coming will encourage others. 00:38:07.360 --> 00:38:08.880 Maybe others need to be baptized. 00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:10.639 We've got three getting baptized today. 00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:12.480 One of them is 72 years old. 00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:14.400 It is never too late. 00:38:14.719 --> 00:38:16.320 It is never too late. 00:38:16.559 --> 00:38:18.320 Follow in obedience. 00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:20.800 What God may be leading you to do. 00:38:21.599 --> 00:38:22.559 I encourage you. 00:38:22.800 --> 00:38:23.519 That's you today. 00:38:23.599 --> 00:38:24.400 Would you come forward? 00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:25.760 Let us schedule your baptism. 00:38:25.840 --> 00:38:28.159 Maybe others need prayer today. 00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:30.880 Maybe you've got a prayer need for a family member. 00:38:30.960 --> 00:38:34.719 Maybe you've got a prayer need for something going on in your own heart and your own life. 00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:42.480 We would love nothing more than the honor and the privilege of being able to pray with and being able to pray for you. 00:38:42.880 --> 00:38:46.159 Father, I pray you'd move in these moments we have left together. 00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:49.679 Lead people to make life changing next steps. 00:38:49.920 --> 00:38:51.440 They'll be so grateful that they did. 00:38:51.519 --> 00:38:53.599 It's in Jesus' name that I pray. 00:38:53.760 --> 00:38:54.159 Amen.