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The episodes are the weekly sermons from 922 Ministries (St. Peter and The CORE) of Appleton, Wisconsin.
Promise Land
Week 2 The CORE
Pastor Mike Novotny
Well, good morning, happy Sunday. Welcome back. Everyone to week number two, of our sermon series Promised Land For we jump in today, two really quick things. Number one, there was something that I meant to say last Sunday is really important that I said it last Sunday. And I totally forgot to say it last Sunday and I had to reap a consequences of not saying that. So before we start week two, I want to tell you something. I should have said in week, one Here, here you might remember I was talking about financial worries and fears that we have. I shared a little bit of my family's story with wisdom, teeth and car repairs, and everything else. And in the midst of that, I had meant to say this, just one little line that I totally blanked on in a moment. I meant to say, And I'm not telling you this so that you generous Christians can give me money.
I forgot to say that. So guess what happened? Someone like gave me a like a thick envelope and incredibly generous gift and I said I'm really sorry I just can't you know I can't tell a sermon and like get extra kickbacks and benefits from it. That would be very questionable then as I'm trying to give this envelope of money back to this, incredibly generous man I get a text from a woman from our church and she says hey I have a car for you.
I cannot be accepting cars. So just, you know, I said no to all the gifts from these incredibly generous people, so in case you left last week, thinking, oh, that was a little bit on the fence, I should have said something that I didn't, so that's thing. Number one. Thing number two, it is time. Him before. Sermon number two, for a pop quiz. I gave you homework. Last week. Hands. Nice and high. How many of you did the homework?
How many of you totally forgot about the homework? Yes, okay so I'm gonna let you keep this time so there's a little card in your bulletin. Pull this out right now, the point of the sermon series is not just five sermons about the promises of God. The goal is to get you to live in the promised land by putting these passages from God's word deep into your heart, which means you memorizing them over the next month. So, last week, you can see what we studied. Saint number one with me, you're ready for it. God is here, there's the promise and here's the passage repeat this with me. I will never leave you. I will never forsake. You it's a promise from Hebrews 13 verse 5. So I'm not gonna let you cheat next week. I'll make sure to memorize promise number one, and promise number two, before you come back next Sunday,
Sooner or later in my experience, almost every person has two big realizations about the Christian faith.
He's taking notes in your program. Love for you to write this down first realization. A lot of us have pretty early in our spiritual journey, is this? That Christianity is so easy.
When it comes to getting to heaven or being part of God's family or being saved or being in a right relationship where God is happy with you, most people until they discover the real good news of Christianity, have no clue that it is so, so easy. That Jesus, when he went to the cross for us, 2,000 years ago, didn't do like half the work, and I got to do the other half, he didn't pick up 80% of your spiritual check and I used to work hard to pay the other 20%. Jesus said, on the cross, it's finished because he did everything out of his great love for you.
Remember years ago, my last church. There was this teenage girl high school. Girl, we started coming to church, she came to our like new members Bible class and a lesson or two in she races, her hand with this. Look on her face and she says pastor Mike, I'm confused. I used to think that it was almost impossible to get to heaven here to work and work and work and work to be good enough for God. But based on what you're teaching me, it feels almost impossible, not to get into heaven.
That confused there. Wait, Jesus did everything. I just believe in Jesus and I'm good for all eternity. And that is what I taught her that is what Christianity teaches us. It's why it's such good news. It's a great passage in Ephesians chapter 2. Look at these epic words. The apostle Paul wrote in the New Testament, it is by grace, or undeserved. Love you have been saved through faith and this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God not by works so that no one can boast.
It's almost saying the same thing six times in a row. How easy it is to be saved. It's this grace that God gives us undeserved love. Not because you and I are such good people. It's through faith, not through effort or being better than anyone else. It's not of yourself. Just in case, you're wondering, salvation is nothing to do with you. Instead, it's this gift that God freely gives not by you working so hard, so you can boast about it, but just, by Jesus working so hard, so that you can rejoice in it. True Christianity is shockingly easy. There's no balancing, the scales, there's no fixing your own karma. There's no making it up to God. That there's no ten prayers. You say or a hundred dollars that you give to fix what you did yesterday. It's Jesus period. So easy.
But there's a second realization that lots of us have. We should write this one down too. That Christianity is also so hard.
It's not hard because you're earning your place in heaven, but that's a gift in Jesus name. What's so hard about Christianity? Is that as you're following Christ as a Christian? He asks you to love God more than you love anything else.
He wants the posture of your heart to be. You know I might think this and your friends might say this and you and I might feel this or really want this but at the end of the day the primary question for Christians is but what does God wants? And to always love God. More than anyone else is will, is so difficult.
You know, I said that primary difficulty of Christianity is the level in which Jesus calls us to love our father in heaven. Look what he says in Matthew chapter 22 Jesus speaking. He said, love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
You can like your friends, you can feel a thousand different things, but the end of the day, we're called to love God. Just a little bit more to seek him, first to prioritize. Him. It's why Jesus taught us to pray our father in heaven. Your will be done. Not my own.
And I'm not sure if you're spiritual journey, but that for me is where Christianity gets really, really hard.
It we're in a situation where it would be so easy to do this. But in the moment, Jesus is calling you to love God even more To trust God to prioritize God to do, the will of God.
For example, do you know anyone who's Let's say in your family, or in your neighborhood or your school or at your job, who's really difficult to love.
To almost your coworkers or classmates, kind of try to avoid them because they're notoriously difficult to love. If you sit next to that person right now in church, by the way, don't make eye contact or it's gonna get really if you're really awkward that's kind of life, right? This person's awkward. They don't have good social skills. They can't communicate. We avoid them. People folk fun at them. It's that kid from class. It's that woman at work.
But you know Jesus calls you to do.
To love, even that person.
To not avoid that person at church. The show on common patience and compassion and love and grace towards that person. That is super hard.
We have a strained relationship with someone, you know, maybe it's your mom, maybe it's your ex, maybe you're not a relationship like that right now often when there's a strained relationship, you know, this person sends against you and you probably send back against them and there's some distance between you
It's only natural to think, well, that person should apologize to me and that person should take the first step. But you know what? Jesus taught us to do.
To humble ourselves so often that we would own whatever part we had and just do everything we can to try to reconcile with another human being. Jesus famously said in Matthew 5, that if you're sitting in church bringing your gifts to God in your praise and you remember that someone else has beef with you. Lead church Jesus taught you can look this up go reconcile with that person. He cares so much about love and reconciliation. He calls us to like the standard of humility that no one else is teaching which is so hard.
Imagine you're a really good high school athlete. Like coaches are super impressed. Your future is bright. You know, the varsity is given, you might have a chance to play in college maybe into a scholarship and something's pushing you towards this, like, high level of athletic excellence, that is super time, intensive. It's traveling the country playing in tournaments, sitting in gyms on the field. And if you do that, What's going to be really hard to do something like this?
All right, you're gonna have to squeeze in a little bit of worship. Online is, you're always on the road, it's actually physically with God's people around God's word, and sometimes it's impossible to do both.
So, which one do you love more in that moment?
Or say you're like one of the many people in our church who live with same-sex attraction in their heart.
Or feel kind of trapped in the wrong body. When You know, sexuality is a big question for you. And those desires are real and they don't go away just because you pray.
What you do, you follow your hearts? If you live your whole life, trying to keep the standard in the Bible that feels almost impossible.
You could pick almost any commandments in the Bible in the end. Jesus calls us to love God. So much. It feels like so much. Sometimes it feels like too much.
It's the reason, I think a lot of people quit church, it's why they it might be raised as Christians, but in their college years or their 20s, they just say, no, that's not the kind of lifestyle. I'm one of that's too hard. That cross is too heavy. Denying this part of me just doesn't seem like the best way to live.
I kind of reminds me. About 25 years ago, when my pastor used to be my sensei
So I grew up at a church in Green Bay Wisconsin. And when I was in late middle school, on the new pastor who came to our church was actually a national champion of karate. So he starts in the church basement, a bunch of karate lessons. I sign up. I'm one of the older kids which meant on a lot of Saturday mornings. I had to physically fight my pastor. A complicated church experience growing up like you'd be like kicking me in the stomach. On Saturdays and preaching me the gospel on Sundays. It was interesting how that works. But whenever I would test for a new karate belt, there was always this one thing my pastor / sensei. Did you make us get into like this really deep stance? We have to put our arms straight out like parallel to the ground. And we'd have to stand like this and not move.
And higher up, you got in the rankings. The longer you had to stand until your arms were shaking and you just felt so weak like you couldn't do it. And then, you know my pastor would do He'd walk up right here. While the arms are trembling. Check his watch.
You take off his shoe.
And set it. In my trembling hand, he was a Christian by the way, he did love me deeply but and just when I thought, like I can't do this, then the weight gets heavier. It's just all the impossible to do sometimes.
For a lot of people following Jesus, is that kind of experience. Right? You're trying to be a good person. You're trying to be forgiving. You're trying to be trusting. You're trying to follow this biblical path, but then sometimes there's some command in here. There's something God says, but it feels like you're having the father, like drops this incredible weight. Anything I just can't carry this. I can't live this biblical lifestyle that I'm supposed to be living. This is too hard. I just need so much help.
I want to share that with you today. Because there's a promise in the book of Hebrews that can help you through moments. Just like that.
2,000 years ago, there was this group of Christians who were like trembling in weakness and about to give up their Christian faith.
It seems on the context that they had started to follow Jesus and it was super fun and joyful and exciting, and they're singing praises, but then, after time it got really hard.
Persecution was picking up their property was being confiscated, they were losing financially, socially relationally, and it was so hard that some of them thought, I don't, I don't know if I want to keep doing this. It's not about renouncing, their Christian faith, closing, their Bibles, leaving their churches, and just living in easier lifestyle than the one that Jesus had laid out for them to live. But before they left God, inspired the author of the book of Hebrews. We don't know exactly who it was to write this case. It's a book that's pretty short, 13, chapters long, and essentially, it's this overwhelming case to stick with Jesus. Even when Jesus is hard, But even when it feels like, you can't, like here's the reason why you should keep holding on firmly to this Christian faith that's been given to you.
So today if you feel like Christianity is too much, if you know someone who's just on the fence of just walking away from church and the Bible forever, I want you to notice the amazing promise, we find in Hebrews chapter 4, So people Bible with you, we're gonna jump in at verse 14 where we read these words.
Therefore, Since we have a great high priest, who has ascended into heaven, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith. We profess. So there's the big encouragement. Let's let's hold on to this firmly. Let's not give up on the faith. And also little word, the It's actually super easy to be a person of faith, as long as you get to define what that faith is. It's super tempting to be spiritual but not religious because normally that means you get to decide in the end. What's right? What's wrong? What you do, which you can't, what's much? More difficult is to hold on to the faith. Or the objective outside of you, you don't get to decide what it is. And the answer to the Hebrew is saying, let's hold firmly. Let's not give up for one second to the faith that we've professed this Christian people.
And did you catch at the start of the verse verse 14? He tells us why since we have a great high priest, since we have Jesus, the son of God.
Now this is a huge phrase for these people because all the people in the letter to the Hebrews, the recipients of this letter grew up Jewish And if you grew up Jewish, you knew all about the importance of having a high priest. If you read the Old Testament before, you know how this worked, they're all these Jewish people, the people of Israel. Who messed up in all the ways that you and I mess up, they send sometimes in their head sometimes in their hearts sometimes with their lips sometimes with their hands which was a problem because you have a god who is holy and perfect and pure God, who hates sin.
And so there's the system in the Old Testament where the high priest. Just one guy one day a year was called the day of atonement or Yom Kippur. You bring a very special sacrifice into the presence of God. An innocent land went on anything wrong, it's blood would be shed and for some mysterious reason, God said I will allow this innocent sacrifice to take your place to you.
Gonna have a good relationship with me.
So what is the author to the Hebrews doing? He's saying Jesus is like that for you.
Right? You struggle with A B or C? You know, you should do one, two or three, you mess it up. You break God's laws, you sent against them but instead of God being mad, or punishing you for yours, and Jesus stepped up as your high priest. You offered the sacrifice to take away your sin, so that you and I could be good with God, except he's really cool, Bible facts. This is the first time in the entire Bible. And look at the book of Hebrews is almost all the way to the end. This is the first time in all of these pages, that a high priest is called great.
And these pages, Lots of priests a few high priests but never a great high priest.
But then Jesus comes along. And the author says Jesus is like the high priest above the highest priest. Because he's enough to come back year after year after year, you know, leading some bull or goat or lamb to be slaughtered. Not what Jesus said, was step forward at one moment to offer one sacrifice, that would cover over the world since
So in case you're new, the reason we have this giant cross here in our church is because we believe Jesus on a single Friday, offered a sacrifice, so great. And so powerful that everything wrong you've ever done was taken care of right there.
And if Jesus would do that to make you and God good, If you would show it out on the cross, it's finished. So, Christianity could be the easiest path to have. And believe in Jesus, you will be saved the author to the Hebrews the same. Since we have that Jesus, the greatest high priest of all. Let us hold firmly to this faith that we profess.
Let me say this clearly since it's so easy to forget, When you mess up at home,
Like when the situation gets the best of you and you worry, are you snap or your impatient with one of your kids? When you have too much to drink or click on the link that Jesus doesn't want you to The reason you don't have to wake up in the morning and punish yourself for that sin.
Is because Jesus was already punished.
The reason after waking up and mop around with guilt and shame or say 10 prayers or give 20 bucks is because Jesus already did the work. The reason you don't have to like wander around and just hope that you're good enough to make it to heaven, is but you can know, despite your weaknesses and your failures. Yeah, I'm good with God. He likes me, I'm his child and he's my heavenly father. The reason you can believe that despite all the struggles you have just like I do is because of this great line. We have a great high priest. We have a Jesus who didn't pick up half the check. He paid the entire bill since we have that since we have him the author says let us hold firmly to this faith that we profess.
But there's more. Now, look at verse 15.
Just in case you didn't know how great Jesus was verse 15 says four. We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses. But we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are. Yes, he did not send.
You know, if Jesus would just be the guy who took care of our sin, he'd be worthy of worshiping for the rest of eternity. But apparently, that's not all that. Jesus is here, he's also the high priest who empathizes with our weaknesses
Here's something I've learned. And husbands and wives in the room can tell me if I'm right about this. It is very, very hard in this life. To meet someone who has the power to fix a problem. But also that empathy to relate to a person before they try to fix it.
You know what I'm saying? I mean, some of you, if you have the resources to fix it, your brain goes into, like engineering-solving mode. You see this classically between husbands and wives or she's having a bad day and he's just like, well, here's what we're gonna do. Get out your notebook. Come, yeah, I'm gonna fix this, I mean he desires the use his resources to help but often what a person needs before we get to that point is just empathy understanding compassion. Love
And this verse is epic because it says, even though Jesus could snap his fingers and fix it. What he also does for you is empathize with your weakness.
Like, when you're going through it and you're tempted,
When you picture Jesus at the right hand of God, do you just see him doing this a lot?
But yeah, there's that is so hard. I'm so sorry you're going through that. Like you're living in a culture where it feels like people aren't doing the right thing, Jesus. Like, yeah, I get that.
You're surrounded by friends who are making really bad decisions and there's just so frustrating to you. Jesus, like yes, I definitely did that you're misunderstood by your family. They don't support your faith and your relationship with God. Jesus gets that. Have you been like hurts by someone send against betrayed by someone you thought you could trust?
Jesus like yeah.
Are you a victim of abuse, a survivor of it? Jesus, Yep.
Jesus, before he pushes, like his supernatural fixate button. He shows up with the biggest, most compassionate heart, like puts an arm around, struggling people, we don't have this high priest who so distant that, he's unable to empathize with our weakness, we have one who's been tempted in every way. Just as we are, don't miss this phrase yet, he did not sin.
Is shocking that some people don't know this, that Jesus lived for 33 years on this earth and he messed up a total of
Zero times.
When he was holier than his mom and dad. When it's stepped out, Joseph told him to do his chores. Jesus, never snapped back. Listen, Joe, you're not my real dad, and I'm better than you. You would have been, right? No, he was, he never sinned. He might have been tempted to you, but he never gave into that. And when people were like, nitpicking his words, starting rumors about him, slant, making up things. He didn't say Jesus. Never like, let the caps lock on, and just went off because they had a coming, he was tempted, but he never sinned. When he was overwhelmed and God's plan for him was difficult. He never just did his own thing or lived his own truth. He said, father your will be done. The reason, in fact that the sacrifice of Jesus worked is because Jesus was not a sinful human like me and you He was the spotless lamb of God and his blood was so, holy and pure that when he shed it because he was sinless, it was enough.
And so, the case is building, like wait, what? Why would you ever walk away from Jesus? If he is the holiest, most empathetic compassionate, selfless, loving sacrificial. Human was ever walked this earth? Isn't it better even when it's hard to stick with him?
And just in case that wasn't enough, This is one last verse I want to share with you today. Look at verse 16 is the one I'm going to ask you to memorize this homework. The author says, let us. Then since we have this Jesus, let us then approach God's. Throne of grace with confidence. So that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
You need help.
You need God to have mercy on you and listen to your cry. Do you need his grace and forgiveness? As you struggle to do the right thing? Because Christianity is hard, I love this line. Let us then approach God's throne with confidence.
It's the shockingly beautiful phrase, isn't it? Can you imagine approaching the throne of a king with confidence?
And when I roll up in my own garage, I come with confidence because as my garage If I'm coming to the office here at work. I stroll in without fear because it's my office. But if I stepped into your home, Even more, if I tried to visit the White House, if I was standing outside of Taylor Swift's tour bus, there's some places where we just know. I don't know if they're gonna let me in, but I don't belong here, so we get super nervous. So how can this passage say that you and I, despite all of our failures could approach, the throne of God, the king of kings, Lord of lords, like, angels are covering their faces, he? So, holy how could we approach a god like that with confidence in our hearts?
I'll tell you how.
Many years ago. There was this two-year-old, girl, who approached me at the pastor and the altar of our church, right? In the middle of a church service. Can you imagine it? Well, two-year-old strolling, right up here on stage. It was Easter Sunday. The place was packed, every chair was filled. We had extra chairs set up in the aisles. And this is at the last church I passed. It was a bit more formal and traditional so I used to wear one of those big white robes, you picture me in a rope and this is why many kids at our church, a little ones. One, two and three year old thought that I was Jesus. Yes, kids will be totally freaked out about me because you know when you read a children's Bible Jesus is the guy in the big white robe. So they thought that was me. It's so kids were kind of hiding behind their mom's legs but this one, two-year-old one Easter, Sunday did not, She's pretty smart. She actually waited until our little sister was kind of squawking and crying. Mom turned her attention to the right little two-year-old boom. She saw her chance that she ran. She gets out the aisle. It's so packed. Mom can't catch her. She's weaving in between the chairs. And yeah, I'm in the middle of church. And here's one of two-year-old comes strutting up, right to the pastor right in front of the altar, with boldness and confidence.
You know, I she did it.
She was my daughter. So I've been a traumatic Easter Sunday for cam. So your mom's getting appreciate what happened to them? She came up because I was not just the pastor, I was not just the church leader. I was the father who loved her.
And so I might have had the call or the office or the authority in the church, but I was so much more than that to her. Was the father that had proven year after year that I cared about her.
And this passage is so profound to me, it's saying that you and I can approach God's throne with confidence. Why? Because we're not just servants of the king. Not just followers of the Lord. We are sons and daughters of a perfect father in heaven. Remember how Jesus taught us to pray our Father.
And if God is love, And he loves his kids. A billion times more than I love my own. If his arms are wide open because all of our sin has been taken to the cross. Why would we not come before? His throne of power with confidence?
I love this scripture. It's saying, if you need help, God wants to help.
He's a good dad. It doesn't just have the power to fix your problems. He has empathy and compassion he sees you as sinless because of what Jesus did you don't have to look tremble and keep your distance. You can run into his perfect arms because he will help.
So particular notes, I might summarize this section of scripture like this Christianity is hard I'm gonna promise you otherwise the Christ promises to help.
You need someone to feel for you. Jesus will help you need someone to forgive you. Jesus will help you to access to the throne of the one who runs the universe for the good of his church. Jesus will help you need someone to take your place who hasn't sent Jesus will help you need someone to die for you. Someone who lived for you, Jesus will help with all of it. He is the one who gives us strength
And that's why sincerely hope that you take this homework home.
But you set this little card in front of your mirror. As you're getting ready in the morning, stick in the cup holder of your car as a bookmark. In the book, you read alongside your bed Because I have a bunch of lot of you. Feel right now in this moment, just a little bit more hope. Even more spiritual wind in your sales. I've just preached to the promise of God but you don't have to wait till next Sunday to get it. Embed this promise in your heart and you will escape the panic in the fear in the hopelessness, and you'll find that everything that Jesus wants is yours by his name. Before I say, Amen, let's go back to the dojo.
Some of you think that this is what Christianity is.
Hold on, don't mess up. Don't live for yourself. No hold. That's not true. Younger Christianity is
Same Bible. Same Christian lifestyle. But an incredible God to help you. Across, that will forgive you.
A strength that is more than enough. And so if you're thinking about giving up about not repenting about not believing about giving up on church and the Bible because there is some easier path, I would remind you that, Jesus is infinitely better. A Christianity can be hard but your Savior. Jesus Christ, is promised to help.