Hebrews 1:1-3
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
You need Jesus to keep you together. …
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
You need Jesus to keep you together. …
Are you trusting Jesus to keep you together? Your marriage,
your kids, your resources/finances, those you care about together? He upholds
us across the board.
I am tempted on a daily basis to believe the lie that I hold
myself up. Here’s what happens when I try to hold myself up, and when I try to
hold up others that I feel I am responsible for – I do have a degree of
responsibility, but I can’t do for them what only Jesus can do for them. Here’s
what happens when I try to hold people up: guess what I do? I drop things! And when I
drop things, I’m tall, they break.
What are you trying to hold up right now that
only Jesus can hold up? What are you trying to keep together that only Jesus
can keep together? It’s all in where you depend. You say, “well, I have
responsibility” yes, you do…you do have a responsibility to work hard to make
your marriage work. You do have a responsibility to work hard to raise your
kids and to discipline them and point them in the direction of following Jesus.
You do need to work hard at your job to have money so you can provide for your
needs. You do need to work, but there’s a way of working where I trust in
myself and a way of working where I trust in Jesus, and they’re completely
different. Psalm 127: “Unless the Lord
builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” … Here’s how we trust in
him to uphold us as we commit ourselves to our responsibilities: We do our
responsibilities in active trust, in conscience dependence on Jesus who holds everything
together.
Here’s what you do not want. You don’t want a team of
pastors here who act like it’s their ultimate responsibility to hold you
together. And here’s what we don’t want. We don’t want you to trust in us to
hold you together because we can’t. But
Jesus can. So what’s the greatest thing we can do for one another? What’s the
greatest way we can encourage one another? What’s the greatest way we can
exhort one another? Ready? Here you go: Look to Jesus. I want to point you to
Jesus. I need you to point me to Jesus. I need to point others to Jesus,
because he’s the one who holds us up.
Since he’s the one upholding all things and carrying
everything to its intended end, I also need to trust in Jesus not just to hold
me up but to take me where I should go. So he keeps me going and takes me to
where I should be going. Are you actively trusting in Jesus to lead you and
guide you, take you. I think sometimes we are tempted to think Jesus is
messing the script up. You’re not writing the script; Jesus is. ..He’s writing
the script, upholding us, and taking our lives to their God-appointed end. And
here’s what we know about Jesus, He doesn’t mess up. Jesus Christ has never
made a mistake upholding things, and he won’t make the first mistake in your
life. You can be guaranteed of that. He will uphold you, and he will take you
where he has you. Isn’t that relieving? So you can go through the dark night of
your soul; you can through that suffering; you can go through that pain – it’s
still painful; it still hurts; there’s still unkowns – but here’s what you can
do, you can trust in the one who’s going to take you, and your family, and this
church to their appointed end. He’s not going to mess it up.
(recap)
·
God is speaking to us. He’s speaking to us
through Jesus
·
He’s upholding the universe by the word of his power, and
·
What he wants us to hear is that Jesus is the
sustainer and orchestrator of everything.
He’s holding us up, church. …if you feel like you’re
falling. If you feel like your life is ripping apart at the seams, I have good
news for you: Jesus will hold you together. He’ll hold you together. He doesn’t
promise to take away all the suffering. He doesn’t promise to take away all the
hurt. He doesn’t promise health, wealth, and prosperity. He promises to uphold
you and take your life to its appointed end, and he won’t mess up.
…
You can trust in him. You can hope in him. He’s the greatest
ever.
photo: evening walk on Creek Hill Road (no edit); Tue Oct 15
