Common Ground Church Worship 08/8/2021 Beaverton, OR

good morning brothers and sisters and welcome to the house of god this morning i would like to read psalms 133 is a short psalm from verse 1 to 3 and i'll be reading from the king james version behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity it is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard even aaron's beard that went down on the skirts of his garment as the dew of heaven and as the dew that descended upon the mountain of zion from there the lord commanded the blessings even life forevermore let us pray god our heavenly father we thank you for the blessings of life we thank you for the blessings of good health we thank you for the blessings of friendship and above all we thank you for the gift of your son jesus christ who came and shared his blood so that we all can share in your inheritance dear god your word says that blessed are they who hunger and test for righteousness for they will be filled dear god we come in your presence today hungry for your word hungry for righteousness hungry for your presence oh god feel us oh god those who are watching online oh god feel them feel each and every one of us so that at the end of today's service we'll leave this place healed we'll leave this place fulfilled who leave this place happier than we were before we came come there for oh god and be with us in jesus name we pray amen well welcome and good morning everyone welcome to our online audience it's so good to have you and to see all your faces here i also want to share a psalm this morning it's a very familiar psalm psalm 23 but it's really centered me this this week and i hope that it can center you in a heart of worship it says the lord is my shepherd i lack nothing he makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me beside quiet waters he refreshes my soul he guides me along the right paths for his name's sake even though i walk through the darkest valley i will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me i just want you to focus in on worship and allow this time to just draw your heart to god and let this first song just draw your heart into a place in the throne room of god let's sing together [Music] wood is the lamb who was slain holy holy is he sing a new song to it moose it's on heaven's mercy sea holy [Music] with all creation i sing praise to the king of kings you are my everything and i will adore you [Music] clothes and rainbows of a living color [Music] glory and power be to [Music] [Music] is to come with all creation i sing praise to the king of kings you are my everything and i will adore you filled with wonder a struck wonder at the mention of your name your name is [Applause] creation i sing praise to the king of kings you are my everything and i will adore you [Music] is [Music] creation i sing praise to the king of peace you are everything and i will adore you [Music] let's give god praise [Applause] will you stand to your feet as we sing this next song [Music] i see the king of glory coming on the clouds with fire the whole earth shakes the whole earth shakes i see is love and mercy washing over all our sin the people see [Music] the people singing [Music] [Music] is [Music] i see a generation rising up to take their place with selfless faith selfless faith i see [Music] on our knees [Music] is [Music] [Laughter] is [Music] up my eyes to the things [Music] everything i am i walk from earth into [Music] eternity sing that make again clean open up my eyes to the things [Music] breaks yours everything i am for your kingdom's course as i walk from earth into [Music] eternity [Music] is [Music] is we are going to sing extravagant next and as probably all of you know this is a song that's really close to my heart and it's one that i had the honor to introduce to common ground and as i was reflecting on those words this morning i was thinking about how worship is truly a choice that we make and it is a choice because of god's ultimate sacrifice of his only son the veil was torn and we can worship him anywhere and lift his name up anywhere and there's a particular beauty in that because it's the freedom that allows us to make that choice and that choice is pleasing to him and he's deserving of all the praise and he is above all things and his name is above all other names so let's worship him with this next song you were a lover before time's beginning you gave your love freely withholding nothing jesus [Music] my jesus you carried the weight of the world on your shoulders you stopped at nothing to prove you were for us jesus my jesus it's extravagant it doesn't make sense heaven knows just how far you'd go say you [Music] love [Music] you comfort us in our greatest unravelling jesus my jesus you are the dawn that is breaking within me you are the sun that is rising around me jesus my jesus it's extravagant it doesn't make sense we'll never comprehend the way you love us [Music] [Music] you love us to say you love us here is all my love it's yours no conditions when you hold me close no i won't resist it here is all my love it's yours no conditions when you pull me close know how long resisted here is all my love it's yours no conditions when you pull me [Music] it doesn't make sense we'll never comprehend the way you love us how far you'd go say you love us [Music] my dad is going to be accompanying me on the piano for this next song um and it's also one that we have done quite a bit recently but um it's one that i grew up singing it's your name and i just think the poetry and power of the words is something that is uncommon in modern worship music and i just think it's so beautiful and it just professes the name of god and how powerful it is it is truly powerful and i just want to sing this together with all of you so sing loud and let's worship as morning dawns and evening fades you inspire songs of praise that arise from earth to touch your heart and glorify your name your name is a strong and mighty tower your name is a shelter like no other your name let the nation sing it louder cause nothing has the power to say your name jesus in your name we pray come and fill our hearts today lord gave us your name is a strong and mighty tower your name is a shelter like no other your name let the nation sing louder cause nothing has the power to say your name is a strong and mighty tower your name is a shelter like no other your name let the nation sing it louder cause nothing has the power to say your name let's pray together dear god i am an absolute all of you the power of your name the freedom of being able to choose to worship you and being able to worship you absolutely anywhere god i pray that you are glorified and lifted up by these praises and that each heart in this room is overwhelmed and filled by the power of your holy spirit prepare our hearts for the words that avery's about to share with us and i just thank you for your many blessings in your name amen if you would like your kids to join our kids ministry this morning we invite them to join us right now we want to release them to our kids ministry and miss laurie and she'll take you to our ministry where you can spend time together learning more about jesus christ let's give god a handclap of praise for our kids in jesus name good morning everybody i am so happy to be here in the house of the lord um to be with all of you uh thank you for your presence caitlin vanderkamp welcome back home girl good to see you um i was gonna say something about tessa but what i'm feeling right now i need to just preach so i'm going to move on from that and then i'll do my avery emotional thing at another time not in front of y'all we conclude our series in revelation this is the eighth sermon in the series called seven i invite you to open your bibles to revelation chapter 3 revelation chapter 3 and as always i invite you to stand to your feet as we read god's word together revelation chapter 3. so good to see all of you there's a lot happening today several of us have a variety of activities including a wedding that i am performing this afternoon if you see me darting out to the parking lot that is the reason it is not personal it is i have a zimbabwean wedding to go to so god be praised for the motherland [Laughter] revelation chapter 3. i'm excited about this message i am intrigued by it i'm convicted by it may the word of god move in our hearts and minds today cause us to move take one step closer to the very image of jesus christ let's read it together revelation chapter 3 beginning at verse 14 from the english standard version this morning to the angel of the church in laodicea right the words of the amen the faithful and true witness beginning of god's creation i know your works you are neither cold nor hot would that you would either be cold or hot so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold i will spit you out of my mouth you say i am rich i have prospered and i need nothing not realizing that you are wretched pitiable poor blind and naked i counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich in white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen save to anoint your eyes so that you may see those whom i love i reprove and discipline so be zealous and repent behold i stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door i will come into him and eat with him he with me the one who conquers i will grant him to sit with me on my throne as i also conquered sat down with my father on his throne he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches before i have you sit down i want to pray for dr tim and his evangelistic ministry up in washington state today we want to be praying that many men and women boys and girls would say yes to jesus as they preach the gospel of jesus christ somebody ought to say amen to that so why don't you spend the next few moments why don't you just lift up prayers for tim for the e-global team and then i'll take us out in prayer in just a moment let's pray let's pray father there are things that we need to be excited about and zealous about and the preaching of the gospel this is at the top of the list father we ask your continued hand of blessing on the ministry of e team global and how this ministry touches the hearts and lives of people who know jesus people who have never said yes to jesus for evangelists all over the world glorifying your name sharing good news the message of hope we ask that your hand continues to bless at it as it has been doing we pray in jesus name amen and if you believe that we just read the word of god then say amen you may be seated our reading is a picture of jesus standing on the outside of the church in laodicea he's wanting to come in but i need us to understand as we read this that it is jesus standing on the outside of the church it is not the world not sin or man not the lost jesus is trying to get into his own church they are the church of jesus christ it's just that jesus is not inside there it's a completely different picture of the one that we use in evangelistic teaching or gospel messages to the the one who doesn't know jesus and i'm standing at the door and i'm knocking and if you let me in i'll come into your life that application is true but in this text i need you to see before we begin that jesus is trying to get inside of his own church the church is actively doing church stuff with jesus knocking on the door hoping that somebody would let him back in this is the message to the church in laodicea will you let jesus back into your life the word laodicea literally means rule of the people or justice of the people or let me just reverse that the people rule it's one of church it's a kind of congregation that the way that they make decisions is they decide they consult themselves you recall uh we've been describing the country of turkey pretending this back the stage behind me is the country of turkey and we've said that every single one of the churches in asia minor minor that the apostle john writes to they exist towards the western side of turkey three of them right along the coastline ephesus smyrna and pergamum and then there's four other churches that are more east of those churches and this last church laodicea is south it's the most southern town and it's the furthest east from the coast uh if you recall ephesus is below the midline and and leodacia is even south of that it is the youngest church the youngest town rather founded during the pre-roman era built along a major road and that road helped this town to become a premier thoroughfare for commerce and trade at three major industries in laodicea the first was a a banking center ah it was the banking center for a time in asia minor uh including a gold exchange had a textile center i find this fascinating layout a seal was known for the sheep that would graze outside the city and the sheep produced this glossy black wool and and the wool was so popular that it was in demand by textile companies all over the known world at the time it was also a center for medicine one of the products that the city of laodicea produced was nicknamed the phrygian powder if you look this up you can find all kinds of information about this phrygian powder it was a powder that they created from stones that you could find in and around laodicea and they would take this powder from these stones and they would add water to it and they would mix it and they would use it as an ointment for eyes it would place this ointment on your eyes and supposedly anyone who had problems seeing you would anoint their eyes and this powder would help them to correct their eyesight their vision just like the city of philadelphia who had a a a devastating earthquake in ad 17. leodacia also had its entire town destroyed from an earthquake in ad-60 unlike philadelphia though when the romans told the philadelphians we want to help you out they accepted help including being tax exempt from tiberius caesar ah but not the laodiceans see the laodiceans they they were rich very wealthy they had a lot of money most of the citizens of laodicea they were well off and they were self-sufficient and so when nero said we're going to help you out leoducia declined the help from the most powerful ruler on earth we don't need your help we can rebuild our town with our own wealth and our own finances and with our own means and they did so they rebuilt the entire city never needing a dime or resource from anybody else one of the fascinations about laodicea that i was really intrigued to discover that when uh when historians and architects people who dig in the ground and look for archaeologists thank you it's the lights it's the lights archaeologists discovered that the town of laodicea because of how um how advanced they were in engineering they had created two aqueducts and through the writings of historians and ancient theologians more information has come to light about these aqueducts see laodicea lay in a valley between two rivers and these rivers they had very low poor water supply and so leoda sia knowing that the people needed water they decided let's get some good water let's get water that we can use for taking showers that will help heal our bodies and let's get some cool water that will help us to quench our thirst and so what they did was they built two aqueducts they built one from the odyssea to the town of hieropolis almost six miles north of the city because hieropolis had a natural hot springs approximately nine miles southeast of laodicea was the city of colossae apostle paul wrote a chur wrote a letter to the church in colossae and colosse had a natural cold springs and so leoducia had two aqueducts they would get hot water flowing down from the north and they would get cold water flowing up from the southeast all the hot water i don't know about you but when i take a shower i'd prefer the water to be hot i don't know about you but when i want to drink some water i don't want you to hand me no hot water the water was cool and refreshing but you know aqueducts over time they they build dust and sediment and and minerals and and aqueducts break down and you know how it is you build stuff and stuff breaks down and it became known throughout the world that lay out a seal was the city that spent all of that time and energy and money building aqueducts to get hot water and cold water and they were the town that was always sick they were physically sick they had the teeth that were rotting it was because they were drinking lukewarm water all the time that made them ill and i think this is so fascinating because it is jesus who just digs in and cuts to the chase like no other letter that he communicates of all the seven churches in asia minor jesus calls out a hard to detect spiritual sickness it is a social sickness that slowly destroys the body of christ ah from the inside out it seems noble often feels righteous but it sickens the stomach of christ threatens the integrity of his church this sin of self-sufficiency how are you doing today sister oh i'm good i'm good i'm good i don't i don't need anyone i can handle it hey hey brother are you in a life community group with anybody no no no no no no no i'm i'm good we're good really busy i can handle it do you have a a faith community for you and your family no no no no we're good we're good our membership is in heaven me and god we're good beware of the subtle spiritual destruction of self-sufficiency was destroying the church in laodicea and it is the ones who are being destroyed from the inside out that are the last ones to know about it jesus writes through the pen of john take a look at it let's look at it together verse 14 of chapter 3 to the church or to the angel of the church in the city where the people rule laodicea the words of the amen the words of the one who lets it be so the one who has all power all authority yeah your church people rule but this letter's coming from the one who ought to rule uh the one who built the church and everything points to him connects to him begins and ends with him when he speaks then the words of what he says that's what is so he rules the amen the faithful and true witness you can count on his witness you can count on his words they're not just the opposite of false they're real they're authentic they're genuine he is the faithful and true witness the beginning of god's creation the the source the reservoir of god's creation not not that he was the first one that was created no no no nothing was created without him nothing that has ever been created ever got created without this one the amen the faithful and true witness the beginning of god's creation he is jesus the son of god can you say amen to that i know your works again jesus as he writes he lets the angel or the messenger or the leader of that congregation no communicate this to the rest of the members i know you i see you recognize what you are doing and this is interesting to note because jesus says i know your works to a church that is not allowing him in you see the image in revelation chapter one is that jesus is in and around and about the churches oh and he keeps the messengers the leaders close to his heart ah but jesus is so powerful he's so mighty he's so authoritative and he's so loving that even a church where he's got a knock on the door to ask for permission to come in his church he still knows them he knows their works he sees them and he cares about them don't forget this is the same jesus that loves his people so much he even loves the mostly dead so he loves this church well he cuts to it you are neither cold nor hot you're not the hot springs and you're not the cold springs as a matter of fact uh you're not the one or the other just kind of this confusing yucky middle ground i would that you were either hot or cold do you see a very interesting maybe confusing but certainly insightful message of jesus christ completely different than what i've understood this passage to teach growing up jesus would rather you be completely cold to him or completely hot on fire for him he can work with either one whether it's the hot springs or whereas the cold springs i can work with that i i can work with i can do something with that i could speak into that i can i can influence that there's something to be said about jesus continuing to fan the flame of those who are on fire for him oh and there's something to be said about the holy spirit that as we used to saying sing in bible camp can light the fire ah he can he can do something with someone who is completely cold to him or turned off it's not the cold or the hot that he's got an issue with it's the lukewarm that he has an issue with verse 16 so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold i will vomit you out of my mouth the scripture says you nauseate me i cannot stand lukewarmness in my church jesus tells laodiceans make a decision be hot i can work with that or be cold i can work with that ah but being this weird funny glitch in the middle i remember my dad was preaching a gospel series in hanford california and i i'll never forget this if i ever see this young man again i'm probably going to wring his neck after church one day we went to i think they call it a a soda fountain you know any andy griffith fans in the house you know so you go to this place it's like it's like an ice cream parlor or whatever but then there's the counter and you get up you can kind of order your drink a shake or a malt or whatever and i remember my buddy he was the pastor's son of the church that dad was visiting preaching that week and we ordered our drinks i don't remember what we ordered and then he said hey avery ask for a glass of water i said all right so i asked for a glass of water it'd been a long evening all right and so i reached for the glass of water and he said i almost called his name out loud that could be liable i don't know i should not do that he said every before you drink it smell it you ever ask anybody to smell water based on my experience if you have a friend that asks you to smell water they are not your friend so i did and the water as one chef said had a smell it smelled like rotten boiled eggs it was gross he said look at it have you ever had anybody to ask you to look at water i've never had that experience before then nor since then i said yeah and i looked at the water and it had a distinct tint of brown you ever drink brown water if you did it wasn't because you wanted to it was something nasty and gross and unhealthy and the city of hanford california of which there are believers in jesus christ that i love very dearly some of them i might on purpose send this video to just because who have drank that water all of their lives for years they do their best to treat it treat the sulfur content all that kind of stuff and to the best of their ability they got that water as healthy as they could get it and it was still brown and it smelled like rotten boiled eggs and jesus says i cannot stand lukewarm christians can't stand them oh they make me sick i i wish that you would make a decision for me be hot for me i could work with that be cold be cold i i just don't want anything to do with jesus jesus says i can handle that it's that thing in the middle it's just yucky because lukewarmness always wants the room to adjust their temperature to them always lukewarm wants the hot to be less hot lukewarm always wants the cold to get a little warmer i am ruling my life you were just to me that's the believers in leodocia do you know that i would rather eat cold chicken than warm chicken cold chicken is off the hook but that warm stuff you're just not sure whether or not you should reheat it or put it in the refrigerator or throw it away you're not sure if it's been living in the uh the bacterial zone as alton brown would say you're just not sure you ever get a glass of iced tea some of us love drinking iced tea and during the day the ice melts and then the tea is just watered down and warm and it's funny how you go and grab some ice and you put the ice back in the tea and even though the flavor is a little bit off still it tastes better than that watered down warm stuff and jesus can't stand watered down warm christians that's who he's talking to in laodicea ah let me let me give you some spiritual examples of what i'm talking about maybe you can relate to this or understand this you know somebody who's lukewarm is is eating spiritual food but only about once a week you know bite-sized appetizers y'all stay with me all right ah they're running the christian race but going about half speed you know kind of jogging the christian race uh the lukewarm is building their spiritual house but the foundation it's it's not completely jesus it's kind of a mixture of of my personal goals and the needs of my family and and the political pundits and and and how my followers on social media respond and and a little of jesus ah lukewarm has a list of excuses why i can't use my gifts and talents for christ i'll do it eventually but lukewarm for some reason eventually never shows up eventually it's the guest that keeps staying home never comes to the party ah should i say it juan i'm gonna say it lukewarm makes zeal be a black or white or asian thing not a love for jesus thing pastor avery that's not how we we do things in our culture let's see if we still friends at the end of this sermon lukewarm sits on the sidelines critiquing ministry never participating in ministry satisfied with having kids ministry long as somebody else is volunteering this is what lukewarm does see this stuff doesn't doesn't help us if we don't make application lukewarm is always fussing at others about being too enthusiastic too loud tessa you're singing too many songs don't you sing some songs i know girl just got to be just we're spending too much money and ministry is lukewarm you know just chill bring the temperature down stop being so radical i'm gonna hear these amens in my mind and now i'm gonna pipe them in later lukewarm strives to be nice it's all about being nice do your best to avoid speaking truth in love because sometimes it ain't nice the goal of a lukewarm church is to keep going not life transformation not discipleship not gospel but make it to the next sunday make sure the bills are paid make sure that avery didn't tick off everybody just keep the ball rolling now i'm not talking about common ground i'm talking about laodicea this is the church that makes jesus sick to his stomach if god is worth serving shouldn't we serve him with all our might why go half speed why find yourself approaching the judgment day and you're jogging what is it about what jesus has done for you that causes your outward appearance to convince people you love god and you're hot on fire for him my dad used to say that a a little boy was riding in a wagon in the in the old country of oklahoma and they were riding along this dirt road there was this wooden fence and over the fence there was a mule mule hanging over the fence and the boy told dad dad look at that mule he must be a christian the dad said son why in the world would you say that boy said look at that mule look how long his face is he must be a christian got this notion somehow some way being suave and sophisticated and bougie is what god wants us to be and i'm wondering if there are those in this world who are stuck in the lukewarm zone i don't want to be that and i want to be around people that are on fire for god ah and you know i know some white people that are on fire for god yeah i said that ah and i know some asian people that are on fire for god oh and i know some wands that are on fire for god yes every now and then i find some brothers and sisters that are on fire it ain't got nothing to do with color it's got to do with a love for jesus this is how jesus concludes his seven letters to the churches in asia minor man he drops the hammer i am not putting up with this half stepping going half speed christianity either you're in or you're not i can work with either one of those but kinda in i'm just kind of pregnant no you're not you either are you aren't jesus is teaching this church you've got delusions of grandeur man you lay out a sea and church or a you are a sovereignty filled with emperors wearing new clothes in my mind that analogy really worked you think you look good and you sound good and you're doing good and you're not any of that church in laodicea the options are hot cold in my tablet hot it's colored red and cold colored blue let's keep reading this let's read it fairly quickly because we want to make an application and we want to use this application to help frame our time together at the lord's table verse 17 you say i am rich this is what they're saying they're saying they are rich i'm rich i have prospered i need nothing that's that's the reputation of the church this earthquake wiped the town out and do you know they had so much resources that they rebuilt the whole town just from the resources that they had they don't need anything they got this this is what you're saying and then jesus replies not realizing that you were wretched pitiful poor blind naked this is shocking had to be shocking the church in laodicea was in a town that was one of the commercial capitals of the region of pergamum pre-roll and then after the romans took over the region because of where they were located on this major road because of what they could do in exchanges and trade they had a lot of stuff man they were they were the church that had barns built and all the barns were filled to the rim it had to be shocking to them to hear jesus say you don't realize what you actually are what you actually look like how i actually feel about you wretched pititable who wants to be pitied i don't nobody wants to be pitied poor we mean poor i got a lot of money blind we mean blind we sell the phrygian powder we've got we actually have the copyright we got the trademark we sell it all the world we mean we're blind and naked naked look at my black wool jacket don't it look good it's glossy and everything i mean i'm naked they see everything in the carnal everything in the physical and they don't recognize that to jesus none of it matters none of it matters verse 18 i counsel you i want to give you some words of advice buy from me gold refined by fire now he's using analogy right he's using code that is going to make sense to the christians in laodicea buy from me gold what are you saying jesus i know you all have gold but i have some gold that you don't have your count is dried up it's empty the spiritual gold that i have the spiritual riches that i have that is refined by fire just like jesus himself refined by fire so that you may be rich what do you mean so that i may be rich i am rich no you just think you're rich you keep looking at your wells fargo account that's not what i'm talking about this is shocking and i need you to feel the emotion of the church it has everything that can do anything that makes all of the decisions for themselves i need you to feel the weight of the shock of the son of god telling rich people they are poor nothing let's keep going and white garments so that you may clothe yourself the shame of your nakedness may not be seen remember we discussed how when conquering armies would parade through their cities after they would take over a town to show that they were victorious they would wear white white garments oh you believe that you're looking good yeah you think that the world sees you and they're in awe of what you have it might be the case but to me i'm not impressed and again it makes sense to the church in laodicea and sav ointment to anoint your eyes so that you may see my daughter she's got this saying which every time she says it it's funny and irritating at the same time she says oh he know what he's doing that applies here jesus yeah you know what you're doing oh yeah yeah get a salve for our eyes i i i see what you're doing there lord you're you're using what exists in our town against us yeah that's that's what he's doing you're blind and you cannot see i'm talking about spiritual things i i need you to be poor in spirit i'll i'll i'll give you riches i need you to be clothed in righteousness clothed in righteousness i need you to humble yourself and understand that spiritually you were blind but by the power of jesus now you see this is what jesus is saying to this church the next thing i want you to know as we draw to a conclusion is a statement that he only makes to the church in philadelphia prior no other church does jesus say what we're about to read now this is the church again that jesus is standing on the outside trying to get in and jesus tells this church the lukewarm church the one that makes him sick to his stomach those whom i love i need us to hear that this morning this afternoon that jesus the son of god loves us ah that surely is worth an amen jesus loves us loves me he loves you now in general it's true but it's more powerful if you make the application to the laodiceans the church that he just dropped the hammer on he said i wouldn't drop the hammer if it weren't for the fact that i love you i love you dearly so those who i love i reprove and i discipline but i don't do it just because i'm a whole meanie i do it so uh be zealous and repent i'm trying to point you to a place trying to invoke some change some life transformation don't just keep thinking the way you're thinking going the same place that you're going i i need something different from you i need zeal i need zeal enthusiasm sight meant got to get louder for jesus that is what i need from you i want you to be hot i want everything about you the way you think the way you behave the way you interact i want it to be different than everybody else i want the world to see you on fire for me and they want to be around you because you're on fire that's what i want and the only way that that happens is if you change your mind the way that you think about this thing because the way that you're going i'm not impressed with that there are some theologians some who focus in the areas of eschatology end times that would say as they read through the the scripture of the revelation of jesus christ that they would they would conclude some would conclude that when jesus comes back again he will come back to a world where the majority of the church is stuck in the lukewarm zone that that's actually going to be normal for the church let me back that truck up again and run over it again some theologians not all believe that when jesus comes back he's going to come back to a church in which he's not inside of he's going to come back to a church where the majority of those who claim to be christians make jesus sick to his stomach that hurts my heart oh i don't want to be that oh i don't want to be around folks that are trying to get me to change the loudness of my voice or to change my passion for god or to reduce the temperature that i have for him because i make them uncomfortable [Music] i mean none of that did i just do i want you to think about are you hot or cold or some weird thing in the middle why verse 20 behold i stand at the door and knock now do you understand how different how significant this imagery is it's not just that person who doesn't know god and jesus is knocking at the door of their heart it's the one who goes to church the one who used to go to church the one who kind of knows jesus the one who kind of confesses jesus the one who kind of wants to do right the one who kind of fill in the blank it is that person jesus is knocking on the door now i've got this feast i got i got a i got a meal for you it's got some good stuff oh and it's got flavors you know and it's cooked to the peak of perfection you know it's not one of them steaks that you actually need a knife a fork will do i get this feast and the reason why i'm knocking on the door is because you are in the house and you think you're full and you're starving you think you've got food and your tables are empty you believe that you're living the good life you are not recognizing that in the past 30 days you have not slept most of those days because life is tearing you apart in your search for the true meaning of life time and time again you fall short there's got to be something better than what i'm experiencing and jesus is knocking he's knocking i i got something for you i got something for you and then paul and linda you know the old analogy that probably you grew up with like i grew up with this picture of this door that it has a door handle but that handle is on the inside there's no handle on jesus side in other words if the door gets open you're gonna have to open the door i'm gonna have to open the door we want jesus to be like swat and kick the door down and that's that's not how this works jesus is telling the church in laodicea and by illustration and analogy to us i want to be in your life want to be in your life listen to me now i have given everything for you i want to be around folk who know it and act like it i want to be around people frowning all the time making me feel uncomfortable because i know jesus i'm 55 years old i'm getting too old for that i know some of you are going to school me later you just a baby just just settle down to settle down i want you to internalize this message as jesus knocks wants to come in wants to eat with you wants you to eat with him verse 21 wants you to be a conqueror a conqueror in this text someone who is no longer going half speed jogging and it's one of those imageries that makes jesus even more sick not only are they jogging but they huffing and puffing and throwing their arms up like they doing something you ever seen anybody like this they're just walking down the street all right that would make more sense if you were actually running i'll come in if you want to be a conqueror i'll grant that for you i'll allow you to sit with me in my throne it's this imagery of i am ruling i am conquering i am victorious and i invite you to experience that with me that is the imagery seven churches in asia minor seven churches that jesus threw the pin of a prisoner on the isle of patmos writes and there's one central message that jesus tells every single one of these churches i know you i know you and i want you to be with me i know you i i want you to be with me so because of that i want to tell you some stuff and i'm going to help you with some things and i want to reveal some things about me to you it is the revelation of jesus christ worship team come to the stage as we draw now to the lord's supper we ask that you would consider the time that we would spend together in remembering jesus christ we are going to be entering into a time of communion if you have not had communion with us before there are tables placed around the room that you can go to and there's little communion kits the top layer has the cracker and the bottom has the juice we just want to invite you into this time we're just going to be playing some music and whenever you feel ready and comfortable you can go and take communion let's enter into this time with a word of prayer lord thank you for this time to just reflect on our relationship with you and just help us all to take a moment and truly look at ourselves and allow you to look into our heart and just let us cry out and tell you how much we need you how much just the opportunity to worship means to us the opportunity to be in a community of faith means to us i just pray that everyone in here can have their heart open to you and just prepare them to take communion and be reminded of the great and just immense sacrifice that you made for all of us so that we could worship and so we could have the choice to worship and the choice to follow you um and i just pray all these things in your name amen [Music] [Music] [Music] you're making a new one [Music] you [Music] when i trust you i don't need to understand [Music] making make me an offering make me whatever you want me to be i came here with nothing but all you have given me jesus break new wine out of me [Music] [Music] [Music] you were breaking [Music] make me whatever you want me to be i came here with nothing but all you have given me jesus bring new wine out of me jesus bring new wine out of me cause where there is power there is new freedom and the kingdom is here i laid down my old place to carry your new fire today [Music] cause where there is [Music] to carry your new [Music] [Laughter] [Music] make me a vessel make an offering make me whatever you want me to be [Music] we're going to end with a song blessed be your name and this is a very joyful song i want you to just stand and sing this together with me and feel free to clap and just praise god [Music] blessed be your name in land that is blessed be your name when i'm found in the desert place though i walk through the wilderness bless it be your name every blessing you pour out i'll turn back to praise lord still i will say the name of the [Music] lord [Music] bless it be your name for the sun shining down on me when the world's all as it should be blessed [Music] [Music] when the darkness closes in lord still i will say the name of the [Music] lord [Music] take away you give and take away my heart will choose [Music] take away [Music] bless it be your name [Music] take away [Music] blessed be the name of the lord bless it be your name bless it be the name of the [Music] i lord [Music] so i wanted to uh make a couple of announcements um first one probably won't come as a shock but um given the cdc's updated guidance and um the the best data that we have coming in right now with the delta vir the delta variant surging again in the country and washington county being an area how did they they described it substantial yes substantial transmission in washington county we're just the the reopening committee has uh been discussing this and has pretty unanimous unanimously uh uh made a recommendation to the elders that we ask folks to once again be wearing masks indoors and stinks but it is what it is and we want to just be following the recommendations of our our health officials health experts and also to just be uh applying an abundance of caution um and so um we would like to ask regardless of whether you've been vaccinated or not and i think most maybe all of the congregation that can be vaccinated has which praise god for that um but we are asking that people starting next week just be wearing masks indoors for for worship service and we will still be maintaining our social distancing uh you know our hand washing hygiene um but if you have any concerns with this you know of course raise that with with uh with the elders with me um or or the other elders um and we can talk it through but you know common ground has been wonderful at just going with the flow treating others as equal to themselves following the example of the lord and i'm just really we are really really grateful for that the other thing that i've been asked to announce is um there will be a new sermon series starting next week called the importance of worship um that'll start next week with uh dr tim and uh followed by derek juan and kayla blue so first uh first off i i would like to say thank you to avery uh pastor avery for the uh for for the prior uh sermon series i know when he chose revelation i was like wow where are we going with this avery but uh it was a real blessing brother so thank you very very much and uh please give encouragement to uh to our other uh preachers uh common ground has always been blessed with an abundance of of gifted speakers and we're very much looking forward to uh to the next sermon series so thank you and now i'll invite avery back up to close so your indulgence for a few more minutes juan would you come on up brother well thank you for being here today i don't want to take up too much of your time but however if you have any pre-teens at uh starting at the age of 12 all the way through high school that may be 18 or 19 years old this applies to you this is actually an invitation to you if you have kids raining ranging in those ages in addition to that i'd like to send an invitation to you if you in any way feel like you are uh somehow akin to those ages if you think that you could have fun if you think that you could hear them out if you think that you could hang out with them in any way then this invitation is for you next sunday i'd like to take some moments of your time after their service immediately after the service and just stay here with us i just want to have a chat with you um i'm thinking about uh how to best serve our teenagers uh what to do what not to do with all the things that we're currently um encountering as uh our brother just shared with us some of the changes that were now also taken into effect next week so i want to make sure that anything that we do um in service of our teenagers it's not just something so that we can say we're doing something sort of being like lukewarm right but i want to make sure that anything that we do that is going to be of benefit to your teenagers into your family and so i just want to have a conversation with you about what that possibly could look like and um so that we can begin to make those commitments and ensure that the bottom line whatever we are doing that our teenagers are continuing to grow in the knowledge of jesus christ and that any any of them who do not know him as lord and savior of course jesus that this would be the opportunity for them to hear the voice of christ in their life and so i want to partner with you and your families thank you and we'll also follow up with an email text just to remind you about that i wanted to invite tessa back up please um i think it's i'm sorry i was a little late but maybe you all know or don't know that this is um tessa's last sunday as our worship leader and so i just wanted to send her out with some thoughts um when um when i heard that you were coming on as worship leader i thought well certainly you're capable you have the gifts you have the gift of music you have the heart of worship and um and i think what was beautiful is that struck me at the event at your house the worship night when you called yourself worship pastor and i think it was good it started to kind of think i went yes because worship leading is more than having those gifts of music and in a heart of worship on your own but it is about pastoring the congregation and so i did a quick internet search because i was like uh in my mind i have an idea of what leading is versus pastoring but i liked what this blog was that i found that it said a worship leader is someone who leads god's people to adore praise give thanks help express how they feel and repent during a time and place of worship but all worship leaders are worship pastors i don't care what your title is maybe you're a worship director or worship coordinator if you have the responsibility of putting songs in people's mouths which have significant formative power over their spiritual lives you are pastoring them you are showing them how to relate to god you are teaching them biblical and theological doctrine and worship leading is pastoral work and i think over the course of the summer we've seen you pastoring us leading worshiping putting words in our mouths that transform us give us god's truth um maybe put us in a place of repentance i you probably see me crying sometimes because because of through the work that god has been doing through you so um i want to continue to encourage you as you lead and pastor people through the giftings that god has given you and we have so much appreciated your work through us this summer and i think personally too how you have ministered to me and um encouraged me and pastored me um and to and i found out that we're actually quite similar in our personalities we're both enneagram nines if that means anything to anybody that by doing what you have done and showing up and asserting yourself in this role and you have certainly been blessing people with your full presence so continue doing that and as a little token of thank you we have a gift and i just want to pray over you so if you'll join me in prayer emily father we thank you so much for tessa and the gift of her life and the family you have placed her in with all the beautiful music that you have gifted her with and that she may continue to use the gifts of music and worship and leading and pastoring into her next steps in her journey returning back to lipscomb you would go ahead of her and how you would continue to use her to serve and to love others in the name of jesus we pray amen this enneagram 7 wishes you a great day in jesus name bye-bye

Channel: Common Ground Church Beaverton

Views: 55

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: sermon, revelation, church, worship, common ground, beaverton, portland, oregon, community

Id: ETC3bzUjws0

Length: 99min 6sec (5946 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 11 2021