What's the Point of Church?
Nathan Adams · Tidal Church Moncton · January 15, 2023 · What's the Point? series
Nathan Adams centres on Hebrews 10:19-25, showing that through Jesus we can draw near to God, hold onto hope, and spur one another on. After COVID, he calls the church to gather again and to seek out those who have drifted.
More from Nathan Adams · The What's the Point? series
Topics: Relationships, Mission & Outreach, Discipleship
Transcript
[0:00] Can we pray for a moment? Father God, Your presence has been so strong with us here this morning. And I feel Your heart with us. Help our hearts to be open to You right now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. With your permission, I'm going to talk about something that you is so boring to talk about right now for a minute, but it's gonna go to a place we need to go this morning. Do I have your permission, please? Okay. Okay, so this is boring that I'm done with this, really. For two years we were locked down. We were distanced, our faces were obscured. And the goal was to prevent as many deaths as possible.
[0:47] On the one hand, the stakes were very high. And on the other hand, the costs were very high, and as the costs that we're seeing now. Literally at the grocery store. I particularly think of young adults with their high rent, high food, and unable to get into the housing market right now. The cost, though, that I want to zero in on for a moment is in other areas of our mental well-being. There was a study, a global longitudinal study, conducted by the Frontiers in Psychology, and they found that when people were living under restrictions, they had an increase in loneliness, an increase in depression, and an increase in social anxiety.
[1:36] When the restrictions were lifted, the loneliness went down. The depression went down just a little bit. But that social anxiety went up. Now, I confirmed this by talking to my barber. You know, if you have a hair stylist or a barber, you realize that they're the first line of mental health. They're the best counselors in the world. They hear your life 30 minutes at a time, one month after another. And I asked my barber, trendy guy, young guy, what's going on with people these days, and he said, "Everyone seems depressed. And so many people are anxious. They don't want to go to the clubs anymore. They don't want to go to the concerts anymore because of the people that are around."
[2:30] I'd like to say that I have no idea what he's talking about with social anxiety. I have never had an ounce of it, other than a general awkwardness of personality, my whole life until after COVID. I'd been in Montreal where it was locked down really hard, and I didn't know anyone, and then to come out of that and come back to Moncton and people shaking hands and wanted to talk and stuff. It was wonderful and absolutely exhausting. And I found it emotionally taxing. So I thought, if that was a little bit hard for me, or I didn't have a pre-existing problem, how incredibly hard is that for anyone that was struggling with social anxiety before?
[3:20] A passage of Scripture that we're going to look at that'll speak to us in this time and take us forward from that starting place, and we're not going to keep on coming back to it, is in Hebrews 10:19. And it says, "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 opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us..." Or let us stop right there. Okay. Because we're going to hit the rest of the passage in a minute, and you're going to see three times where it says, "Let us, let us, let us do this." But it's all based on something. It's that "therefore." So the writer is referring back to this access to God that we have through Jesus Christ, this confidence to enter into the Most Holy Place of God's presence through the blood of Jesus.
[4:21] He's comparing our opportunity as Christians to worship God to the way that the Jewish people worshiped God in the temple thousands of years ago. And it was like a series of rings, this temple. The outer ring was where a non-Jew could come, and they could stand on the outskirts of the temple complex. And they could pray to the one God. But they could go no further. Only Jewish people could enter into the complex of the temple, into the outer courts. And then only Jewish males that were of adult age could advance a half step further, getting a little closer to the center of the temple. And then in the immediate courtyard, inner courtyard around the temple building, only priests and Levites to go to offer sacrifices to God.
[5:15] And once in a while, if you were a priest or a Levite, you'd get selected to go right into the temple building, into the Holy Place. And light the candelabra and lay out the bread that was symbolic of God's provision. And once a year, if you were the high priest, the only high priest, you could enter into the back of that temple building and the Holy of Holies, pushing aside this heavy curtain and coming before the Ark of the Covenant, and you would come bearing the blood of a sacrifice to sprinkle it on it. Ask God to forgive the sins of Israel. And what the writer of Hebrews has been saying in the passage leading up to this, the couple chapters, is that Jesus has opened the way for each one of us to have that inner, inner, inner circle, backstage VIP pass to the presence of God.
[6:13] We do not access God through a series of priests. We're not layered. We're not, you know, they're, so there's the laity and then there's the pastors and then it, no, we all have amazing direct access to God. And it is that foundational miracle that allows him to say what he's going to say to us now, and the message that we have for today. I told you there's three times in this little passage where it's going to say "let us," so can you say that with me when you see it? All right, let's do it. Start. "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us You almost missed it. Let's try again. Let us hold on unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another, all the more as you see the day approaching."
[7:32] So the first one, the first "let us," is let us draw near to God with a sincere heart, with the full assurance that faith brings. I actually used to be strong. I'm not talking about when I was a teenager or 20s either. I'm actually talking about two and a half years ago. I was strong, but now I'm weak. I really am. This strength that I did have was built up over seven years of working out consistently every week. And it was slowly lost through COVID when The gyms were repeatedly shut down and it broke my habit. Did you used to be strong in your faith, but now you're weak? Do you know someone who was strong and now is weakening?
[8:20] One of the things I did at first to keep up my strength during those lockdowns, as I found an outdoor gym in Montreal, and it was so cool until it was cold. -25. So then I ordered tension bands, you know, you work out in the house. I thought the coffee table was a great, you know, bench press sort of thing. Family opinions were mixed on that. We tried everything we could do. I did yoga with my wife, you know, I'm just, and talk about lack of flexibility. It was quite comical. But no matter what I tried, it wasn't quite the same, and slowly the strength faded and the patterns were broken. Now you, and people, you know, you watch church online. You came to socially distant church. You maybe even did a small group online together, and it's far better than nothing for sure, but slowly the habit of meeting together to draw near to God was broken, and the strength began to fade.
[9:26] When the gyms finally reopened and go back, I went back right away, but now it felt different. All these people breathing heavy and sweating everywhere. I just very uncomfortable, and I quickly realized I had a lot of important things I needed to get done other than going to that gym. And so I did these other important things. And so if you've gotten used to the ease of online church and doing other important things on Sunday mornings. And in the meantime, we have all taken in far too much TV, movies, and podcasts that are filled with subtle questionings of our faith or outright attacks upon them.
[10:11] And we have not had enough time to be together with fellow believers in small groups, and with friends to talk about it, to pray for one another and to build each other up in the face of a world that wants to take you down. You might hear it said, or you might say it yourself, "I still have my faith." to people who are attending, but let me ask you the question: Do you have the full assurance of faith that we just read about? The full assurance? If you find that your faith has been shaken during this time, and you wonder about what you believe, can I recommend a book to you?
[10:59] It's called Mere Christianity, a time-tested book by C.S. Lewis. If your faith has been shaken, I challenge you to just search that book up. And buy it. And read it. I am not going to get into what the government or churches should have done or shouldn't have done. Hindsight alone is 2020. But we need to look forward. We need to say, where are we? What's happening? What do we need to do now? And the way forward is going to be together as we draw near to God. There is no source of strength like worshiping God together. Did you feel the presence of God in our worship this morning?
[11:48] Oh my goodness, so amazing. And this full assurance of faith tends to come rushing back to us when we come into the presence of God together. Number two, the second: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess. When we're cut off from regular fellowship, many people have begun to swerve in their hope, and we need the encouragement of being together. How many times have you come to a church with a heavy heart and left light, guilty and left clean?
[12:33] We need this. And without Christ, this dull malaise of depression seems to come down on us, can only be dispelled by singing praises to God together. And you know, without Christ and that sense of His presence, the world begins to feel like an out-of-control place. Our anxiety goes up. We try to control our environment. We limit our risks, and we end up closing ourselves off. But look what the Scripture we read says: "For He who promised is faithful." God is with us. God has us. We actually don't need to be terrified to our core about anything. He will guide us. He will strengthen us. What's security, what?
[13:27] Confidence. And that faith is a wonderful foundation for dealing with depression and anxiety. And from that foundation, God can then minister to us through others. I want to let you know about a resource in our city that is fantastic, known as Touchstone Counseling. They have excellent certified Christian counselors who can help you if you're going through depression or anxiety, and I encourage you to give them a call tomorrow. I already talked to the director about it. So they're ready for you. The last thing is, let us consider how we may spur one another on.
[14:18] That's quite an image, isn't it? Spur one another on, driving each other forward. Let me do that for you for a second as we think about online worship and what it needs to look like in light of God's Word that we just looked at today. It absolutely looks like sharing online worship with people that are checking out Jesus or checking out church. So many people have come to Christ through the online medium and tried it out and got comfortable with it and got interested, and we need to continue to do that. Online worship looks like providing it for people who can't come to church, people without a drive that day, people who are sick, people in special care homes. Hook your grandma up with the live stream, right?
[15:16] And maybe sometime go and take it in with her, too. It does look like having a way to stay connected if we have to be away on occasion. What it doesn't look like is watching online because it's easier. Easy leads to weakness, and coming together leads to strength and encouragement. And it looks like moving from sporadic attendance to regular attendance on Sunday mornings and at our small groups. Let us spur one another on, not giving up the habit of meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.
[16:05] Right now you're thinking, that numbers are down, and I'm preaching into that. I'm your interim pastor. I don't care about your numbers. It's not my problem. I'm like the assistant to the assistant lead pastor. I mean, this is ridiculous. I don't care. And if you wondered about the numbers, they're great. We have probably the best numbers of any church that we are aware of in our region, or even comparably, like, there's very few churches in North America doing as well. We had great leadership that used innovation. We have great people. We have many people that have joined us from other parts of Canada and other parts of the world.
[16:53] Or on budget. So take your cynical thought about numbers and set it aside. I'm talking about individuals. It broke my heart over Christmas. I got to meet an old friend of the family who has been such a pillar of faith, and I said, "Have you gone back to church?" "I hope they close. They need to smarten up." This is the most cynical thing I've ever heard out of her mouth after a lifetime of singing God's praises. And that infection is creeping into people. And so you might be over COVID. I got to tell you, I am. But they're not.
[17:39] They're hurting. Guys, we've got all kinds of things coming up right now as a church. I want you to think about people, you know, right now that aren't in fellowship and want to think, I want you to think if any of the things I'm going to just briefly list off connect with those people, or maybe with you where you're at. Alpha starts in a week or two if they don't know Jesus or they need to restart their faith. Alpha. Marriage Course is starting if their marriage is struggling, as many have. That's starting. Our small groups, which is the backbone of a big church, is having a small church that gets together every week or two to pray, to talk, to be together, to know each other and be able to support each other in times of need.
[18:37] Where you can go sign up today in the atrium because we're opening new small groups. We do that twice a year, in the fall and now. Do you know someone that needs that? And of course, we have CR and grief groups always open. We even have a parenting conference coming up in February. You can sign up for all these things on the website. You can go out to the HM after the service and get information. You see, my friends, it bores me to tears to think about the past because I'm excited about the future. Think people should be afraid of one thing and one thing only. Sing out.
[19:23] FOMO. That's what they should be afraid of, missing out on what God's going to do next. Now, the problem with this message, if you haven't figured it out yet, is that most of the people that need to hear the message aren't here. Right? This is the definition of preaching to the choir. So let's think about it for a second, young adults. Who have you lost? Think about it. Who used to be in your circles or in your small group or in your activities that no longer is? Those of you that were born in another country and tend to have relationships with newcomers to Canada, which of those newcomers came for a bit and then disappeared?
[20:20] Adults in the group who used to be in your small group, whose sporadic? Teens, who's not coming out to youth? Who's not coming to church? Do you know that after youth it's church. That's all there is. Come to church. Think through your groups and say, who is gone? On Christmas Eve a person came up to me who was regularly attending and serving at Moncton West Lane for many years, but I'd not seen him in a long while. I never know why I haven't seen someone. Did I just miss them? Were they away a little bit? But he says, I've been away. He said, but the boys have been after me.
[21:06] What do you mean, the boys? He goes, he listed two people's names who have been stopping by regularly at his work and saying, come. You need to be back. You need to be back. You need to be back. And that guy, who I know very well, was crying with you. He had tears in his eyes as he said, I'm back. And that's what it's about, my friends. It's about that guy. Do you know what the word pastor means? Shepherd. It's not a glorified title, actually. Shepherd. The guy out in the fields doesn't smell very well.
[21:53] Doesn't have access to great toilet facilities. Shepherding the sheep. Yeah. When God wanted to show us His heart and show who He was, He always selected shepherds. He reached out to Abraham the shepherd and said, I'll show you who I am. His favorite king in the Old Testament was the shepherd king, David. The request that He honored to Solomon was, give me wisdom that I can shepherd Your people. And when God wanted to reveal His heart to the prophets, He said that He's a shepherd. Then you say, well, great.
[22:40] Bring it up at staff meeting, Nathan, to the shepherds. Don't you know we're all shepherds? Don't you know that every one of the things that a shepherd does, every Christian's commanded to do: encourage one another, love one another, support one another, carry one another's burdens, speak to the brother caught in sin. Bring them back. All these things apply to us. So whether you've got a capital P Pastor title and job and the privilege to do that all the time, or whether you're a Christian doing lowercase P pastoring, the words I'm going to read to you from Ezekiel to close our service, they apply to all of us.
[23:32] For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for a scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live. Yes, I will give them good pasture land on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. Myself will tend My sheep and give them a place to lie down and peace, says the Sovereign Lord. I will search for My lost ones who have strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak, but I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them. Yes, feed them justice.
[24:34] You guys see that vision? We are ready on the heart of God. When we talk about shepherding people, we saw already in Hebrews that we all have direct access to God through Jesus Christ. There are no outer rings and inner rings of people. We all go right to the center with God. And He speaks to us in a very important passage in 1 Peter 2:9. He says, "But you all" in the Greek, it's y'all. Okay, "but you all are a chosen people. You all are a royal priesthood, a holy nation." Did you catch that? You're all priests.
[25:19] You're all people responsible for the others. It was a sinner of the earliest who said, "What am I? My brother's keeper?" And it is a saint who says, "Yeah, I am." Let's stop for a moment now. And let's consider. Who have lost? Would you bow your heads for a moment? I'm not going to pray. I'm gonna give you a second to consider. And God, would you lead, would you bring some people to our minds?
[26:07] Who was sitting in our section? Where are they? Are they worshiping God at another church and prospering in their soul? Hallelujah! But are they hurting instead? Has their full assurance of faith been hurt? Is there a heavy cloud of despair on them? Lord, would you lay these people upon our hearts now, on each person, the small p pastors, the capital P pastors, lay these people on our hearts, bring them to mind. Lord, Your hearts for them. They need the fellowship.
[26:56] I'll ask that you now do something. In your seats in front of you, there's a connect card, and normally that's so that you can put some information on there and give it to us. I want you to take the connect card on there. And this card's to be just for you. I want you to write that person's name on that connect card and put in your pocket. Or I want you to take your phone out right now, and don't check any messages or anything else. Stay in the moment, but put that person's name in your calendar. People who are on God's heart, on our hearts, and what a rejoicing it is when each one comes home.
[27:46] And we will continue to seek the lost who have never known Jesus. But we will not forget about those who knew Him and are getting lost through an unprecedented, weird, bad time, because we want them to be with us as we go ahead. We want them to be with us for the new things that God is going to do. And so let's close our time today by standing up and worshiping God. Let's worship Him with our full hearts. Let's enjoy the presence of God. Let's feel His heart. Let's invite Him to make His heart for people our heart for people.
[28:36] And I just can't wait to see what God's going to do. We praise You now, God. We worship You now, God. We just lift our hearts to You. We lift our hands and our voices, and we worship the God. He said, "Come right into the center." We rejoice in You, we bless You now in Jesus' name.