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Ridgecrest Baptist Church is located in Dothan, AL and exists to Reach the lost, Build the believer, and Connect people of God to the mission and purpose of God.
With your Bibles open to Hebrews chapter 10 this morning, I wanna continue and really kind of wrap up a section of scripture that we studied together the last couple times I've had the opportunity to preach, and that is in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 19 through 25. If you'll go ahead and stand with me, I wanna read the text, and then we'll dive into it together as we study it this morning. So Hebrews chapter 10, verses 19 through 25 says this. Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain, that is, through his flesh. And since we have a great high priest, speaking of Jesus, over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Verse 23, let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful. And let us, these are the two verses we'll study today, verse 24 and 25, and let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other and all the more as you see the day approaching. You can be seated this morning. As we study Hebrews chapter 10, we've looked at a progression of this passage and we've seen the idea, the idea here of the book of Hebrews being a book of what's called exhortation or encouragement. So the writer of Hebrews is encouraging us and exhorting us as followers of Christ in three specific areas, and that's where we've taught the last three times we've studied, including today. Verse 22 is the first exhortation, and all three of these encouragements from the writer of Hebrews, they're written in the imperative tense. And so we know from our pastor, as we study the original language, the imperative tense is a command. So the writer of Hebrews is commanding the church, the people of God, to do three things to be close to God. The first time we studied it was in verse 22, where it says to draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. We talked about the idea that you and I can daily experience God's presence, and his presence changes everything. This past April, we looked at verse 23, where it says and teaches us to hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering. And we talked about the hope that we have in Jesus will sustain us every day. And today, I wanna again look at verses 24 and 25, and we'll study a message that I've entitled a confident plan, a confident plan. And it's a plan from God for his people to again, be close to him. If you're taking notes on your handout this morning, there's a main idea at the top of your handout there that I encourage you to fill in as we begin. This main idea will help us understand the overarching theme of this passage and this message for what God wants us to learn today. So the main idea this morning is this. The church, it's God's intentional plan for love, encouragement, and growth in godliness. The church is God's, God's intentional plan for love, encouragement, and growth in godliness. Maybe growing up, you did something like this with your family. You put your hands together and you said, here's the church, here's the steeple, and you open all the doors, and what's supposed to be there? All the people. There's two ways to do that, right? You can do it this way. Open, here's the steeple, open the door, and there's nobody there, okay? Or you can do it the right way with the steeple, and you open up all the doors, and everybody is there, all right? The picture this morning that we're talking about when we talk about the church, and I use the term the church, it's not the four walls of this building. It's not the hallways that we experience. It's not our classrooms. It's you and I as the people of God. And it's very important that we see in the writer here of Hebrews is he's writing to the church. He's writing to followers of Christ. And he didn't say, let us not neglect coming to church. He did not say, hey, let's not encourage the church. No, he uses personal words that we'll study in just a moment that point directly to you and I as the people of God, fulfilling the plan of God to make a difference in our world that we're living in today. And so when we think about a plan, though, for a second, I think there's a few different types of people in the room. The first is this. Maybe this is you. You are a person that has a plan in everyday life. You have your to-do list. You know what your plan is. And you are going to do everything you can to get it done. You know that type of person. Maybe that's you. There's other people in the room that you have no plan. You've never had a plan. You don't know what's happening tomorrow. You just know you've got to be somewhere at this time. And you're just going to do the best you can to get there. I see some folks looking around. Then there's the third person in the room that you have a plan. You put your plan together. And then you don't do anything else. Own that plan to do what it is you're trying to do. And that person also is somebody in the room. Again, you had the plan, but you just don't even follow through with the plan. And as I thought about that, personalities in the room play into all of that. But I find us sometimes as the church like that third person. The God of the universe has laid before us a plan through his word to fulfill what he's calling us to do. But as followers of Christ, sometimes we find ourselves, we know the plan's there, but we just do it completely different. We just do what we want to do the way we want to do it, how we want to do it, because again, we feel most of the time maybe we know a better way. But I want to encourage you this morning to know and believe the way that God has instructed us here in Hebrews chapter 10 to experience what I'll call biblical community is very, very important. Because I believe the lies of the enemy is crept into this building, our churches across our nation, to say just showing up is enough. Just sitting in the room is enough. But we see as we study the scripture that biblical community and following Jesus is so much more than just sitting in the room. So much more than just showing up. There's a depth to it that's deeper than that that will encourage us and call us to engage with one another. Now I just want to say and just be up front, sometimes people are hard. You with me? People are hard. Sometimes it's not always the most exciting thing to shake a hand. Sometimes you're not excited about the person that you're sitting next to in your connection group. You're like, man, I got here late today.
Sometimes the people of God hurt us deeper than anybody else.
But that doesn't discount the call that God is calling us to in Hebrews chapter 10 to biblical community. Hurt is real. Hurt is deep. But it doesn't change. It doesn't change the fact that God is calling us to love each other. Let me illustrate it to you like this this morning. I have these three chairs sitting in a row. Some of you know these chairs all too well. You sit in them after the service or every Sunday and you wish they were cushioned. But these chairs illustrate just a picture for just a moment. As you and I come to church, it's often easy for us to show up and again just sit in the row. We're sitting in a row. Somebody's sitting to our left. Somebody's sitting to our right. And when we sit in a row with someone to the left or to right, in a lot of ways, there's not a lot of commitment to the person to our left or right. You might speak to them. You might check on them occasionally. But it's just different. We just come and sit in the row. The text today would show us a little bit different picture. That we would go, go from sitting next to someone in a row, but then sitting with someone straight across from each other and really spending time with that person. And so my question, as I illustrate this from the very beginning, is are you a person sitting just next to someone in our church or someone in your life? Are you really sitting with them? Are you sitting with them across the table so they know what's going on in your life and you know what's going on in their life? I was personally greatly convicted of this because, again, as I shared with our deacons this morning, it's really easy for me to come and shake hand after hand after hand after hand and smile and do all that type of stuff. And in that, though, I don't always do a good job of taking the time to slow down and sit with people and be intentional with them. So let's look at our text and let God hopefully speak to us this morning from it as we look at Hebrews, again, chapter 10. We'll start back in verse 20. Let's read the first part of that together. Let us watch out for one another. Let us watch out for one another. Point number one on your outline is we think about the people of God. As the people of God, we should think deeply about others.
As the people of God, we should think deeply about others. This passage of Scripture where it says, let us watch out, in the original context, another version of the Scripture, says let us consider. The majority of the time you read the word consider in your Bible, the translation could better be said like this. Let us think deeply about others. The word consider there is not a word that's just kind of a passing thought. No, it's you and I taking time to contemplate in our brains about something specific. And in this context, it says to think deeply or consider one another. The subject matter is one another. It is the people of God. The writer of Hebrews is telling us as followers of Christ to be people that daily think deeply about other people. As we look at that, it's amazing to read statistics as I've heard recently that in our world today that the percentage of Americans who say they have no close friends have quadrupled between 1990 and 2020. Fifty-four percent of Americans more than half say quote no one knows them well. And 36% of those Americans report that they feel lonely frequently or almost all of the time. Studies and people, professionals in that area have considered loneliness now a social epidemic and his claim here is that it's the number one threat in America right now, loneliness. And if you and I understand we have found ourselves at places where we have been lonely. But the church, the people of God have the ability to be some of the least lonely people in the world if we live out what God has called us to in the scripture. One commentator mentioned it like this about verse 24. He said this, he put it like this. Let us consider conveys the concept of careful consideration, thoughtful attention, and deepness. That we have a deep concern. The call for us as the church, as the people of God is to not just show up and sit in a row but to show up in people's lives and to begin to sit with them, to know them, to love them and to encourage them. We'll talk more about that in just a moment. But to think deeply about others. My question for you this morning to begin thinking about is who has God put in your path to truly think deeply about? who is one person let's just begin with let's simplify it one person that God has put in your path whether they're sitting in the room this morning they're in your life in a somewhere around your world they are somewhere around you and it's someone that God is calling you to think deeply about them but I also want to challenge us the scripture here again is not just speaking about people out there the context is about people in here and how can you and I be people that think deeply about people out there if we're not thinking deeply about people in here how can you and I make a difference out there when the church is not loving the people inside the own four walls of the room who is someone God's put in your path to think deeply about you know we live in a context that was mentioned in a connection to the book of Isaiah and it's about people out there and it's a conversation group that I enjoy I go to on a weekly basis that's just a joy for me and it was mentioned about how you and I go through life and we ask the question how are you doing you with me have you ever asked somebody that you probably did this morning how are you doing what's our answer in that moment more most 99.9 percent of the time how are we doing how are you doing what's the answer good fine have you ever wanted to be the person when they ask you how are you doing well actually today's not a good day have you ever thought about being that person and seeing what the other person would do if you were that person I can tell you this the way I run these hallways and run around this building some of you have almost run over before the way I do that if I ask somebody how are you doing if I came up to Aaron and I said Aaron how are you doing today and he said anything other than good or fine and he began to like lay out some stuff in front of me that was not good I probably didn't even know he said it because I just expected him to say good and I was just moving on to the next person and I probably wouldn't even notice that he had something other going on in his life other than good and I think it's just easy for us to find ourself there I find myself there weekly that I run past what God is calling to be true biblical community to be together as the church the people of God to love God and to love God and to love God and to love God and to love God and to love God and encourage each other why is it so hard why is it so hard because we're so focused on ourselves why is it so hard because I'm so focused on me I heard somebody recently preach a message and he talked about in a zoom call or FaceTime today the average amount of time you spend on a zoom call or a FaceTime call today you're not looking at the other people on the call you're looking at yourself in the bottom corner now some of you in the room are like I'm not looking at the other people on the call like no I'm looking at my grandkids and that's probably 100 accurate but there's a certain portion of our society today in a FaceTime call or a zoom call we're looking more at ourself in the bottom corner than we are looking at the other person and it's just a picture of how selfish the society we live in is today how selfish I am how selfish we are and as we think of that this morning as we process through that thought today the encouragement is it doesn't have to be that way God is calling us to something more we're saying it this morning God is calling us to not just sit next to people but to sit with people but what does it take to be there Luke 9 23 if anyone would come after me Jesus said that he must deny himself take up his cross and follow me if we are going to be people that think deeply about others we have to grasp this thought of dying to self daily and living for Christ a couple weeks ago I was in a church and I was in a church and I was in a church at Wired we were in the worship setting and the pastor was preaching a message about just that following Jesus and dying to self and three of my kids were in the room and they're over here today so I'm not going to call out which kid it was just for their sake or I'm going to try not to at least anyway and a moment came to where the pastor was preaching about just that dying to self and one of my three very concerned looked at Lee my wife and said I don't want to die I don't want to die and it was this moment where obviously the understanding of the context was not fully there but God hit me really quickly about that thought that that moment was thinking about physically dying and that's something difficult to think about but a lot of times as the church spiritually or mentally or emotionally dying is just as hard for us to think about because if we were real and honest in the room we don't want to die to ourself we don't want to die to self but to truly experience godliness in biblical community we have to begin asking God help me daily to die to self and stop thinking about me but think deeply about others point number two we see as we continue Hebrews chapter 10 verse 24 the next portion of that scripture says this let us watch out for one another that's what we just talked about think deeply about one another to provoke love and good works point number two this morning as the people of God we should always encourage love and godly works as the people of God we should always encourage love and godly works now the the scripture here as we look at verse 24 the second part of that it says to provoke your text might say consider or to spur one another on the picture of the word in the Greek the original language as we read this is literally talking about a deep conflict relationship so the writer of Hebrews is telling us to be people that think deeply about others and that we encourage and spur one another on we provoke love and good works in the depth of the most difficult relationship we're in now that's not easy right again we've been hurt there are struggles with different people around us and I'm not telling us to be ran over in the room this morning but what I am encouraging us to see through the scripture that I was greatly convicted of this week and preparation is that no matter the depth of hurt no matter the depth of struggle you have with someone in this room again the church the people of God we are called by God to encourage them into love them HEARING? them and to push them in love and godly works and that's not easy because we live in the society that we say you wrong me well i'm not gonna love you you've wronged me and i'm gonna turn my back to you know the word here love actually is the word uh in the greek the agape the deepest appreciation high regard the highest form of love that we are called to be people that encourage love like that to show love like that and push godly works around us i had the privilege this week to uh in some cleanup from what we experienced at wired a couple weeks ago i was here at the church cleaning up and a gentleman began just helping me clean up and i was greatly appreciative of that help and i just began talking to him about his life and he said well you know chase for so long i used to just go and talk to people about jesus talk to people about jesus and i would just leave not saying there's anything wrong please i'll get fired if i say that there's nothing wrong with talking about jesus and leaving but what he looked at me and said was so impactful he said i've learned that if the person doesn't know that i love them then they're not really going to listen to what i have to say and he said i've been so convicted to begin to being a person that is loving people and out of the overflow of my love for the people then i share you Jesus with them and show his love to them and so we are called to be people here that are people that encourage and love in godly works now it does not listen closely to this because here's what I think I find myself doing here's what I think the church we easily find ourself in these days it does not just say good works the picture there is godly works in the original language it's actually gospel works that we are to encourage gospel god driven love driven the gospel the grace and forgiveness of Jesus those type works and we live in a society in our world where we want to experience and push just be good people be good athletes be good students be good at your job be good be good be good but the encouragement from the scripture here is we encourage love and good works or godly works is just that we are to be godly people godly students godly athletes godly workers godly at our job and so as I'm raising a family again it's easy to get caught up in society and just what our world is telling us raise good kids be good parents know what biblical community looks like is raise godly kids be godly parents be a godly co-worker and again we just kind of get sucked up into the motions and we just they're good people and that's okay good people is a good thing I mean it's good right there's a lot of good in that I said good like eight times just then there's a lot of good in that but obviously we know the better I hope way is godly versus good so be a person that's focused not just on that good but godly John Mark Homer recently in a message said these words spiritual friendships do not work unless both members are fully committed to the transformational journey together spiritual friendships do not work unless both members are fully committed to the transformational journey together so are you a person giving encouragement of love and godly works are you sitting in a row with people next to people are you sitting with them to truly love them and encourage them the way God is calling us to in Hebrews. Last night, we found ourselves at our home with a close family friend of ours, and we were just, our kids were having fun. We swam in the pool. We just enjoyed the evening together. And then, you know, the kids, our goal, I'm spoiling this for my kids in the room, but our goal is to somehow, someway get the kids entertained. You with me? Like, let's get the kids somewhere to do something, just the kids, so that we can have adult conversation, okay? That's our desire a lot of times is get the kids busy so that we can sit there and talk. And as I thought about this message and thought about what we experienced last night is we achieved the goal. We got the kids busy and entertained. And the four of us, my wife and this other couple and myself, sat on our back porch and just kind of talked. And we talked throughout the evening in different ways, but it's such a blessing to sit with people, not just sit next to people, and know that the person across the table or next to you in the setting is intentionally caring for you just as much as you intentionally care for them, and that they're with you, and that they're praying for you, and that they love and encourage you. And here's what I find myself. It's easy for me to receive that, but I don't do a good job of giving that. So my question to you again this morning as you think about that, who is somebody in your life that you need to be intentional with to love and encourage? And then secondly, are you being a person that's willing to receive that love and encouragement for someone else? So as the people of God this morning, I want to encourage you to think deeply of others, always encourage love and godly works. Then lastly, number three from the text, consistently gather as we await his return. Let's look at verse 25. Again, point number three on your handout, consistently gather together as we await his return. Verse 25 says this, not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other. And all the more as you see the day approaching. Again, the society that we live in right now is all about me. And our digital age has challenged us because we feel as if we're connected to more people than ever, but we're really not close to anyone. We live in a society that thinks if you know this person on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or whatever social media platform you're on, then you're close to them. But in all reality, we are connected more to a lot of people, but we're probably not as close to anyone as we've ever been.
And so we live in this age where it's like we feel connected, but again, in all reality, we're not at all. And the scripture is telling us here to not neglect meeting together. Clearly in the text here, people were not coming together as the people of God. They were not coming to church. They were not showing up to worship. They were not being together. And the writer of Hebrews is saying in all emphatic term, you and I need to be people that come together as the people of God. And he says all the more as the day is approaching. We need this community more and more as the day comes, as Jesus' return is getting closer and closer and closer. This world is getting harder and harder to be a follower of Christ. And what's the attitude to fight against that? Well, it's to be the people of God and be encouraged from the people of God. And really, what greater testimony to show a lost and dying world that is going away from God very quickly than anything to really be people of love and encouragement and that are consistent with that. Very important word that I think the Lord led me to use right there, consistent. You know, statistics show us the average church attendance today is one week out of the month.
And the people that show up one week out of the month say that they are a consistent church member. Well, I can tell you this. I don't go to the gym, okay, at all. But if I showed up even once a month, I would not be considered by whoever is at the gym a consistent gym member. Now, I know we're busy. I know life is going on. I know there's a lot of different things and there's people watching on live streams. There's people watching on YouTube today as well and in multiple different scenarios. But I would encourage you as we read the scriptures for you and your personal walk with the Lord, you and your family, we are going to be as consistent as we can to be together with the people of God.
We are going to make Sundays a priority. We are going to make our groups a priority. We're going to have our kids in the room because we understand the magnitude of the people of God being together. And so that's the picture here. That we are people. We are people that are not downplaying the importance of coming together as God's people.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book entitled Life Together. And if you want to read more about biblical community, I encourage you to pick that book up. It's very challenging. And this is what he said in his book. Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than they love the Christian community itself become the destroyers of that Christian community. Even though their personal intentions may be ever so honest, earnest, and sacrificial, no actual church or community or friendship or family or marriage can ever possibly live up to the wise dream of the ideal church or community or marriage or family or friendship. What he's saying there is just this, that out there we think things will give us what we need, but in reality they won't. But in here, as the people of God, if we're living out what we've talked about earlier, thinking deeply about each other, loving each other, we will experience what we need for godly living. This is God's intentional plan for our world, the church, the people of God, being obedient as followers of Christ. I had a friend growing up that played football at Auburn. And as an Auburn football player, I always used to love to talk to him and ask him just in general about the game. Because I just enjoyed football and sports. And so I'd always ask him this question, I would ask him this, what is the moment that is the most exciting for you as a college football player? And this is what he'd look at me and he would say, he would say, Chase, what I enjoy most is the moment that we come out of the tunnel together. You know the moment I'm talking about before the game where all the players are in the tunnel coming out of the locker room and about to go on the field and at that point in time at Auburn they would do it like this, they would come out and they had their arms locked like this and the smoke would be going and everybody would be cheering and they would walk out with their arms locked like this a little ways going out onto the field and then once they got out there a little ways out then they would take off on the field and be ready for the game. And I remember asking him, I said, why that moment? Why that moment? And he looked at me and he said this, because in that moment with our arms locked, going out on the field, we all understood at that moment what our job was to do and we had each other's back and we're going to do whatever we could to fulfill that job and do the best we could to win the game. And what a picture that is of God's people. That we can be people that have locked arms together to know that God is calling us to make disciples, to bring light in a dark world and we lock arms as people that are thinking deeply, loving and encouraging each other and we're going to be the ones that are going to face this world together and we're going to walk through life, whatever God brings towards us and our goal is to do it together, locked arms, because we know that we have each other's back, we are there for each other and we just want to say yes to God.
What a picture. It's sitting with people, not just sitting next to people. So this morning, main idea, as we move to our application and wrap up, the church is God's intentional plan for love, encouragement and growth in godliness. God's people, Hebrews chapter 10, we're called to love each other, to think deeply about each other and to gather together consistently as we await his return. As we close this morning, I'm going to give you three practical application points that I hope can kind of wrap up our entire study of Hebrews chapter 10, 19 through 25 together. And again, just a reminder, there are three, three things that the writer of Hebrews is encouraging and challenging us to, to experience God on a deeper level. And so I want to give you three things in closing. And as I do that, I want to read Hebrews chapter 10, actually verses 26 and 27. So look at that with me as we wrap up this morning. For if we deliberately, verse 26 of Hebrews chapter 10, for if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of sin. But a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of fire about to consume the adversaries. Why do I read that? Because I just want to encourage us about the importance that as we hear from God and hear from his word and we're challenged from his word, it's so easy to walk out the door and stop thinking about it. You know, one of the hardest things about our, you know, working in the church, if you teach anything, if you're a connection group teacher or Sunday school teacher, one of the most hard things to think about is to know what your class would say at lunch if you ask them what the lesson was about. You with me? You're like, and some of you are like, at lunch, what it got, you know, your kids in the room, your mom said, what'd you learn today at church? You're like, I don't know. The goldfish were good.
And we laugh, we laugh about it because we know the struggle of that is real. So the encouragement here as we look at Hebrews 10 verse 26 is if we've heard from God, may we not deliberately go on sinning and do what he's telling us not to do, but do what he's telling us to do. So practically as we apply three thoughts this morning, number one, seek God's presence daily. We see that again in verse 22. If you and I want to be people that fulfill God's plan for our life and godly living, I want to encourage you, verse 22, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. To be a person that daily is drawing near to Jesus. Our pastor tells us this all the time. Our proximity, our closeness to Jesus will dramatically change all that we do. Brother Lawrence, a 17th century monk, says it like this, the presence of God, a subject which in my opinion contains the whole spiritual life and it seems to me that whoever duly practices the presence of God will soon become spiritual. May it be your desire to practice the presence of God. So number one, seek God's presence daily. Number two, stand firm constantly on God's promises.
Stand firm constantly on God's promises. Verse 23, we studied this in April, but let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering since he who promised is faithful. Be reminded of that thought this morning. In our worship, a lot of things will not be faithful to you, will not fulfill what they've told you they would do, but he who promised God himself through Jesus will be faithful. We can constantly and firmly stand on the hope that we have in Christ. Eugene Peterson says it like this. He says, hope does not mean doing nothing. Hope means going about our assigned task confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions. So seek God's presence daily. Stand firm constantly on God's promises than what we talked about today. Number three, sit regularly with God's people.
Sit regularly with God's people. Verse 24, let us watch out again for one another to provoke love and good works. May you and I be people that sit regularly, not just in a row, but we sit across from someone, maybe at your dining room table, maybe at a coffee table, maybe at your office where you're intentionally spending time with them to think deeply about them, to push them to love and to encourage them to godly living versus worldly living. Sit regularly with God's people. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it like this. The church is the church when it exists for others. I'm going to say that one more time. The church is the church when it exists for others. So this morning, are you just sitting next to people in your daily life or are you sitting with people? Who is God calling you to sit with, to think deeply about, to encourage, and to spend time with on a weekly basis? In the 1800s, an architect had an idea to build a structure that in his brain would be one of the greatest structures, of our world. He built this structure and while he was building the structure, the citizens of the city demanded that he tear it down. Demanded that it was the worst idea that there could be. Yet from the moment this architect conceived the idea, he took pride in it and loyally defended it from those who wished to destroy it. He knew that it was destined for greatness, the story goes. Today, this structure, is one of the wonders of our modern world and stands as the primary landmark in Paris, France. The Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower, the architect said that this would be the structure of all structures. People around him said, no way, this is a terrible idea, let's tear it down. And since it was constructed and finished and built in 1889, we know it as a landmark, a landmark for Paris, France. Why do I tell you that story this morning? It's because the reality is true about the church.
Jesus built the church. It was built through an unlikely band of disciples. He defended it, he prayed for it, and he prepared his people to spread the gospels. Outsiders looked in and said, this will not work, this does not make sense. They still do today, but the structure of the church and the people of God, I, I hope and believe is destined for greatness if we would allow God to use us to truly be the church. And we will be people that make a difference in our world if we fulfill what Hebrews 10, 24 and 25 says. So this morning, what does it look like for you to be close to people? Who is it that God's put in your path to spend time with, to think deeply about, to love and encourage? Let's pray together.
This morning, with your heads bowed and eyes closed, I just want you to process through that question for just a moment. And I believe the Holy Spirit can work in a moment like this and bring somebody to your heart. Who is the one person that God has put in your path to think deeply about, to love, to encourage, to push, to follow him compared to following the things of the world?
And would you just take a moment if God has put that person on your heart and asked you to do that? Ask that God, just say this to God, God, would you help me this week to be intentional with them? Would you just pray that? God, would you help me to check on them this week? Would you help me to spend time with them this week? Would you help me to sit, not just next to them, but to sit with them? Would you just take a moment right there where you're sitting and just pray that to God? God, would you help me to be an intentional follower of yours to love and encourage whoever that person is that God's put on your heart?
Then can we be united across the room and pray that for our church? Could we pray together just across the room? God, would you allow our church to be people that are intentional about other people in this room that truly love and encourage and, again, as we've already said, push each other to follow Jesus? Would you just pray that for our church? God, would you help our church to not just show up and sit in a row, but to sit with each other and to be what you're calling us to be as the church?
Now, with your heads bowed and eyes closed, I just want to encourage you as we process through God's word this morning in a time of response. I don't know what the Holy Spirit is doing in your hearts. I know the things that he's taught me specifically throughout the study of this passage, but I don't know what God's doing in your heart. And so this morning as we respond, every time we talk from the scripture and speak the gospel, there demands a response. For you to ultimately say yes to God, versus saying yes to self. And so maybe here, your response this morning, you feel God calling you to make a decision to follow Jesus. Everything we talked about this morning about biblical community is centered in what Jesus has done. We are from different walks of life, different backgrounds, but our common bond is through the blood of Jesus. And maybe you're here this morning and you've never made a decision to follow Christ, understanding that you're a sinner, that you need a savior, and you have a desire to commit your life to Jesus. You need a life to following him. And so in just a moment after I pray and Brother Aaron and the team lead, if you feel God calling you to make a decision to follow Christ, I encourage you to come down the aisle, grab one of our staff, let us know that, and we'll talk to you more about that. You can also go to our welcome center after the service, and we'd love to talk to you there. Maybe you're here this morning, we're gonna baptize a couple people in our second service today. Maybe you're here this morning and you know you need to be scripturally baptized, where you have followed Christ, but you have not been baptized after your salvation, and you feel God calling you this morning to make a decision to be obedient in baptism. And you can come in just a moment and share that with our team as well. And then also maybe this morning you feel God calling you to join our church. What I love about the message that I just preached, it's not an easy message and it's hard to live out personally, but I truly desire that, and I believe our church desires that as well. That this church desires to be a church that loves and encourages other people and that pushes us to following Jesus. And so maybe you're here and you feel God calling you to join our church and be a part of our family that we call Ridgecrest. And if you're feeling God call you to make that decision, I encourage you to come down forward. And then lastly, maybe here this morning you just need to come to the altar and pray. You need to come, maybe someone God's put on your heart to spend more intentional time with, or maybe you got a difficult relationship and you just wanna come to the altar and bend the knee and seek the Lord in prayer. So as I pray, I'm gonna ask, I'm gonna ask God to move in our midst and say amen. Once I say amen, if you will stand, Brother Aaron and the team will lead us. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this morning. Thank you for your word that's not, God, always easy to read and study and grapple with because it's hard stuff that we struggle with. And so Father, in a world that struggles with relationships, in a world that struggles with closeness and community, God, would you strengthen me to be intentional, to be a person of love, to be a person of encouragement. Would you strengthen each of us to do that? And God, would you help our church to just be what it is you're calling us to be, to consistently meet together, to push each other to love in the good works that you're calling us to. So Father, would you move in our midst now, strengthen us if you're calling us to do something specific today in response to you. Would you move in our hearts and help us to say yes. Above all, God, again, we thank you for Jesus and the life that we have because of the life that he lived. It's in his name we pray, amen.
Well, I'm so glad that you have tuned in to the broadcast today. I hope you've been encouraged by God's word. Sure has been a joy to share it with you. And even now, people at Ridgecrest are making decisions for Christ. Perhaps as you've watched this broadcast, you've recognized the need for your own decision for Christ. The prompting of the Spirit has caused you to recognize that you need Christ as your Savior. And the good news is you can receive him. Right where you are. The Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Right where you are, you can call on him. Say something like this from your heart to him. Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me. I know I'm a sinner and I know that you came into this world and died on the cross for my sins. And right now, I invite you to come into my life. Forgive me and be my Savior. I can assure you if you'll call on him, based on what God has already told us in the Bible, that he'll hear that prayer and he'll answer that. And he wants to begin this new journey. He wants to begin this new journey in your life with you, transforming you into his image. We'd love to help you with that decision as well. You'll see a QR code on your screen. And if you would scan that, or you'll see contact information, or if you'll contact us about your decision today, we'd love to help you take next steps. There are no strings attached, no fees involved. We'd just like to help you begin that journey with Christ. You may be watching this broadcast today and say, I need a church family to belong to. I already know Christ as my Savior. And I'd like to be a part of the Ridgecrest family. Also, if you will, scan that QR code. That'll take you to a location and we'll be able to help you make those kinds of decisions like becoming a member here, or if you've never been scripturally baptized, those kinds of things. So contact us through that QR code or through the contact information on the screen. Well, again, it's been a joy to have you with us today. And I hope you've been encouraged by God's word. Whatever decision we can help you with, that's what it means. Contact us. May the Lord bless you.