One and Done

[Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so do [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] come on and let them hear you out in virtual land we are eastern star church we thank god that we are the place where jesus is exhausted and the word is in play we are one church in three locations and online come on and lift those hands and let's enter into worship dear most gracious to the heavenly father lord god we thank you that new mercies tapped us on the shoulder this morning woke us up and led us to your house lord god thank you for saving a seat for us god we virtually connect all over the internet all over the world and we say thank you lord we acted you and connect us learners that were two or three are gathered in your name that you would be there in the midst so god we thank you for your presence we thank you for your power and in response lord god we surrender this praise to you all today so god is with the clapping of our hands the fruit of our lips lord god with all of our whole hearts look out we bless you we honor you in jesus name come on church family let's worship [Music] well i am a happy soul i've got goodness untold i've got another day i've got a lot to say [Music] everybody say hey well i've got new life sublime i've got my own right mind i've got a light to shine here's my bottom line clap [Music] [Music] clap your hands everybody say hey [Music] can i get a witness can i hear from you can i get a witness [Music] can i can i hear from you [Music] [Applause] hey [Music] good [Music] [Music] [Music] you can tell me [Music] i can't hold it [Music] [Music] good [Music] god's been good to me god's been good [Music] i don't even know god is a good god and he's been so good oh put those hands together if you love the lord [Applause] [Music] welcome to eastern star church where jesus is exalted and the word is explained thank you for joining us today is communion sunday join us in taking communion during our worship services set aside juice or water and crackers or bread as we remember the sacrifice of our lord and savior whether you're a member or a visitor we want you to grow with us go to easternstarchurch.org backslash events to register for our classes including teen talk mondays at 7 30 pm teen bible study wednesdays at 8pm crew conversations on tuesday at 7 30 p.m saturday school for adults june 19th at 9 00 a.m cruise saturday school for young adults june 19th at 10 am senior saints fellowship saturday june 19th at 10 a.m women of the word bible study saturday june 26th at 9 00 am new members orientation sunday june 27th at 2pm children under the age of 12 are invited to the children's church watch party with sister sandra on june 20th we will gather at 1 45 pm register for all these events and more at easternstartchurch.org backslash events teens a new team church video will be released next sunday on our youtube channel also everyone is invited to our noonday services every wednesday for an inspiring word if you prefer audio 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go to easternstarchurch.org to learn more about how we can help you and your family grow through fellowship and discipleship lord church family if you would please stand to your feet if you're able to do so it is prayer time amen how many believe in the power of prayer amen this is not a rehearsal we're in service y'all how many of you believe in the power of prayer come on and let them hear you out in facebook land and all over the virtual world somebody needs to know that god hears and answers prayers amen we ask that you would like love tag share this service right now with someone who may be standing in the need of prayer relationship with the lord we want to be a testament and a witness to the world that we can come humbly and boldly to the throne of grace that our god our father and the blessing and the privilege of being his children we can come to him asking what we will and his will shall be done in our lives amen so we want to lift up on today in prayer that the lord would cover our youth and families from hurt harm and danger we want to pray for teachers coaches and mentors as they seek to be a positive influence for our youth we want to pray for healing for the sick and the lord's comfort for those who have recently lost loved ones in this season of sabbatical we want to make sure that daily we are lifting up our senior pastor pastor jeffrey a johnson senior and our beloved first lady lady sharon we pray that they are being blessed already during this sabbatical season that they are embracing the spirit of try easy as dr frank thomas encouraged us way back when at the beginning of this journey so we pray that they are being blessed that our staff is embracing sabbath as well and that we as a church family are coming and that we are resting for a little while amen so we want to make sure also that we lift up the following in prayer in our church family tiffany fletcher carolyn flippin brenda henry connie jones deandre kelso and tiffany goodman guy and sabrina lavelle evelyn reed barbara sumler gail thompson and the families of bobby johnson senior and martha washington and if your name did not make the prayer list just be confident and have faith that it did make it to heaven amen so let us pray as minister hull comes and leads us in this time of prayer faith and thanksgiving praise you and bless you lord for all that you are for this opportunity that we have lord that regardless of all the stuff we've been through and the days and the times and everything that's going on lord that we have an opportunity to be here today with you lord lord thank you for your salvation lord free to us though it costs you sword so dearly lord thank you for our homes and our families lord thank you for those that uh every family is represented here father lord we ask your blessings lord upon our pastor father bless him in the mighty way lord that he would be able to operate in the way and along the vision that you have given him lord and help us to work within the ministry father using our time talents treasures and testimonies lord to support the ministry lord bless the leadership father bless bless his staff and everyone lord as we seek to bring the word to you to all the people in the world father lord we ask you a blessing upon those who are sick in their bodies minds and spirits father lord we just give it all to you lord touch lord because we we know you can lord we ask that you will father those who have lost loved ones lord give them a peace that surpasses understanding but in all ways we don't lose our faith father hallelujah and lord with this world with all the ups and downs ins and outs father we thank you lord because we know that you're in charge father hallelujah lord we know that there is nothing surprising to you lord and lord we stand in tiptoe anticipation of what it is you have for us father and help us lord to always be part of the solution and not part of the problem lord as your children lord help us to mature to you lord help us to grow in you lord to look born like you every day father hallelujah so that people may ask what must i do to be saved lord we give it to you we praise you we glorify you we claim victory today father lord this world is not in bad shape this world is in your shape father hallelujah we give it to you lord it's in jesus name we pray a man and a man we hear you [Music] you are [Music] [Music] [Music] we [Music] you are what does the cross of jesus [Music] your chain [Music] and the blood is [Music] upon the cross my savior die the lamb was crucified showed us love that this world had never known oh my love divine so divine true love you'll never find so that we might live well the cross will always represent the [Music] [Music] [Music] jesus came and did a judge for me [Music] help me say well the cross will always represent [Music] [Music] gave all on albany oh yes jesus came and did it just for me [Music] just for me [Music] just for me [Music] just for me thank you jesus yes paul jesus [Music] tell me just for me [Music] [Music] for me [Music] jesus came and did a job for me for me oh jesus [Music] hallelujah blessed be the name of the lord anybody excited that jesus did it for you way back on calgary seal that he died for you he shed his blood for you and had the audacity to raise up again just for you so if you're excited about that wherever you are give god a praise that god did it and he did it just for you lord we honor you we praise you we give your name all the glory honor and the praise thank you so much for the love that you displayed for us on calvary's hill and for the love that you continue to share with us on every single day your grace and mercy which are new every morning and we appreciate the love that you have for us thank you for jesus christ and salvation thank you for the church where we can log in or we can gather together as brothers and sisters of the faith to grab the encouragement that we need to continue on and god we also thank you for the power of your word so god as we are appreciative of the worship experience that we have thus far we ask god that you will speak a word to us speak a word to our hearts to our minds to our souls to our lives so that we can become better women and men who represent you and to be the light of this dark world so let the words of my mouth for the meditations of our hearts let them be acceptable in our sight god you are strengthened our redeemer in jesus name that we pray amen amen um there's a word from the lord found in the book of hebrews hebrews chapter 10 hebrews chapter 10 and i'm going to begin reading at verse number 10 but we will really examine verses 1 through 18 and in your private time just go ahead and read all of that we'll make you make up the context today as we continue our series of messages entitled the good news um we've already looked at what the good news means and paul gave us a definition of what the good news is in first corinthians chapter 15 where paul says that the good news is something that we can stand on in a shifty world that is something that hasn't just saved our soul in the past but continues to save us in the present and the future and paul lays out for us that the good news is the death the burial resurrection of jesus according to the scriptures so as we are examining the scriptures to see what this what does the good news mean for us in the time such as this we examine last sunday that jesus is the word made flesh and that god became flesh and dwelt among us and what what does that mean to us as a life of the believer then this past wednesday we looked at a love to live as the teachings of jesus the life of jesus the teachings of jesus betrayed this idea of love that the same love that god has shown us we as believers ought to extend that love and that grace to our neighbor and our neighbor is not by name or location but our neighbor is by need and so after looking at the life and the teachings of jesus today we want to look at the death of jesus and i want to look at that in hebrews chapter 10 verse 10 and it says in the new revived standard version and it is by god's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of jesus christ once for all and it is by god's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of christ's body once for all verse 12 says but when christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins he sat down the right hand of the father verse 14 says for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified a single offering a single sacrifice one time i want to talk about one and done one and done what it done is a phrase that is used typically in men's basketball when an athlete spent one year in college and then enters the nba draft they call that athlete one and done where an athlete spent one year in a system that was created for them to spend four years to develop to gain strength to mature as not just an athlete but as a human being to get the skills to showcase their skills so that the recruiters can see how great they are the potential that they have but there are just some players who don't need the four-year system all they need is one year and they call that player one and done players like kyrie irving or derrick rose or even a more recent one-and-done athlete zion williamson who in the face of a four-year system just needed one year to gain the strength the work ethic to showcase their skills and their talents and that one year that they were able to experience then took them to a whole nother level and they call it one and done and the writers of hebrews helps us to understand that derrick rose and kyrie irving and zion williamson aren't the only one or nones for there was another one and done who in the face of a system that was designed for rituals and religious traditions and repetitions and patterns in the face of a system that used religious rituals in an attempt to get closer to god hebrews says that there was a man named jesus who wasn't one and done one and done in the face of a system that a pr that was appreciative of systems and rituals and practices but here the writer of hebrews talks about a man named jesus who just sacrificed his body one time for every sin for all people wanted done why is this important it's important for the writer of hebrews but not just the writer of hebrews but for the audience that the writer is writing to after thousands of years of research it is unknown who the writer of hebrews is we don't know who the writer is we don't know the audience in which the writer was writing to but we do know why the writer wrote this particular piece of work the reason why the writers the writer of hebrews work wrote this particular piece of work is to really encourage the body of believers the writer is encouraging the believers who have just converted to christianity but are now thinking about going back to the jewish religion going back to the jewish way of life going back to where god had just delivered them from and so the writer of hebrews takes some time to defend jesus in a sense or at the same time to encourage the believers that you don't want to go back to what god has just brought you out of because according to the writer of hebrews jesus is greater than anything you can go back to and before we begin to look at the this group of people in a judgmental way if we could be honest that we could be a hunted there are moments in our life where we too have been tempted to go back whether it's going back to a certain religion or going back to a certain way of life going back to a certain attitude a mindset going back to a toxic relationship a toxic friendship going back to just how you want to live life all of us at some point or another have been tempted to leave jesus and to go back to where god has delivered us out of but i want to encourage you today that that to leave jesus is to go backwards that that you don't want to go back to what god has delivered you from because you're going to miss out on what god has to offer you in the life of jesus christ and in this good news that we are studying because as the writer of hebrews begins to write this particular work the writer of hebrews begins to use jesus and compare jesus to everything that the jewish religion has to offer so you go back and read throughout the book of hebrews you see the writer begins to compare jesus and says that jesus is better than anything that the jewish religion has to offer that he says that jesus is better than the angels jesus is better than moses that jesus is better than the tabernacle or the temple that jesus is better than the high priest that jesus is our high priest and by the time we get to hebrews chapter 9 and 10 the writer begins to narrow his focus not on moses and the angels and the high priests but on the sacrifices that the high priest and the priestly offices would would make these sacrifices in some cases every day weekly every year during the day of atonement the priest would go into the holies of holies and to make a sacrifice to god and so the the writer of hebrews is saying that you don't want to go back to all of that just stick with jesus because jesus is the perfect sacrifice and and and the writer of hebrews describes it as jesus being one and done that after all the sacrifices that the priest made it couldn't get us closer to god so jesus is the perfect sacrifice in that he is the bridge for humanity to get closer to god that because of all the rituals and the practices and the animals that were sacrificed none of that could get us to god so why would you go back to rituals and practices that couldn't get you closer to god well all you got to do is just hold on to jesus and let me just say this he's talking to a group of believers who are going through tough times and they thought that just doing all the good works that the jewish tradition had to offer would perhaps save them from the the persecution that they were experiencing but the writer of hebrews is letting them know that jesus is the perfect sacrifice he he begins to describe and define the the tradition of the religious experience i know i keep saying he but the writer is anonymous so it could be a sheep so we could just say the writer of hebrews to make it plain like that but the writer of hebrews is writing this in an attempt to remind the jewish people or these these new converse in christianity that he says do y'all know the law right and the law outlined all the sacrifices that needed to be done in an attempt to wipe their sins clean but the writer in fact in verse 1 says that the law was only a shadow of what was to come the law wasn't the substance the law was simply the shadow of the substance so in the law the law explained it was 613 commandments and the law then outlined all the festivals that they had to attend and all the different clothes and garments that they had to wear and all the the laws that they had to abide by then it broke down all the sacrifices that they had they had a peace offering they had a food offering they had a drink offering they had a burnt offering they had sin offerings and every day the writer says every day the priest would go in and make all these sacrifices then on the day of atonement every year the priests will offer a sacrifice and then they will put their hands on a goat and begin to confess all the sins of the people and then they will let that goat free into the wilderness and symbolic of all the sins that are leaving the nation and that goat would end up dying in the wilderness and after all those animals and after all the laws and after all the rituals they were still disconnected from god after all the animals that were sacrificed they were still disconnected from god because the writer says that the law was just a shadow of what was to come the law just pointed to jesus the law pointed to the fact that god was going to come down in the form of humanity and it was jesus who was the ultimate sacrifice see the reason why uh those priests will make those sacrifices for the sins of the people is because sin is expensive seeing costs and i don't know about you but my soul got a he got some expenses attached to it because the bible declares that the wages of sin is death so something has to die when sin is committed so so back in the day in the law the law said you got to kill a goat you got to kill a dove you got to kill an animal as a way to sacrifice god because it seeing cost so it costs the animal its life it costs the nation wealth it costs families and individuals food but with all of that it still couldn't get them close to the guy it's almost like they were making payments on a bill that would never wipe clean you ever had a school loan that was just outrageous and you've been paying that same school loan for 50 years and still it's like no work is being done because that debt was so big all the sins of the people that that they've committed and all the animals that they tried to get closer to god and still they were disconnected from god and and and because as we are trying to get a understanding of the good news the good news is only appreciative when you understand the bad news and the bad news is we couldn't get to god on our own 613 commandments and still nothing all the animals they had to lose their lives and steal nothing all of the laws and rituals and still and the writer says that all of the laws was a shadow it wasn't the substance it was just the rhetoric it wasn't the content it was just the form of it it was it wasn't the substance of it it was a shadow you if you hungry a shadow of a meal ain't gonna do you no good you need some substance that can hold you over and so because god still wanted a relationship with his people he knew that the sacrifices was just the shadow of what is to come he because the oh he talks about the old covenant the new covenant the old covenant was that the people agreed that they was going to do all of these commandments so that god can be their god and the people will be god's people but despite of them falling short of all the commandments and not falling and not holding on to their side of the bargain god still remained faithful even when the people wasn't and because of god's faithfulness the writer of hebrew says that that jesus became in consequence the consequence of their sin and in them not being able to get closer to god the bible says in verse 5 that christ came into the world and christ says that he was going to be the ultimate sacrifice and this is great news because here's a people who kept going back to the same ritual every single time to get this connection with god that they could never get to so the writer says why would you go back to a system that couldn't satisfy the need of your soul some of us knows what that's like we may not be sacrificing animals and going through rituals and having festivals but we know what it's like to go through the same habit over and over and looking for something that can never be satisfied going back to the same person looking for satisfaction but can never find it going back to the same situation over and over again looking for fulfillment in our souls but never going to achieve it because you ain't looking for jesus how many times you gonna keep going back to that bottle how many times you gonna keep going back to that man or that woman how many times you're gonna keep going back to that same drug not getting the fulfillment that you need the writer says you don't have to go through the same repetition and ritual because jesus paid the cost so that we can have a relationship with god and jesus is the one that fulfills our soul that jesus is the one that satisfies our desire because when god created us he put a hole in our soul that can only be filled by god no wonder why the riches of the world won't do because jesus is the one that satisfies our desires and the writer says jesus is one and done because jesus is the perfect sacrifice he is the scapegoat that the priest put his hands on and confessed the sins of the people he is the lamb that was slain before the foundations of the world he he is that animal that god slain in the garden of eden so that adam and eve could have some covering despite of their sin he is the ram in the bush that abraham found when he was trying to make that sacrifice that jesus is the perfect sacrifice and then the writer well he quotes out of psalm but he he he gives the quote to jesus in verse 5 he says sacrifices and offerings you have not desired but here it is but a body you have prepared for me and burnt offers and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure then i said see god i have come to do your will o god in the scroll of the book it is written of me the writer quotes jesus but is really a verse out of the septuagint that is the that is the law translated in greek it is it is the first five books of the bible translated in greek it is the old testament in greek and he quotes the greek scripture but attaches that quote to jesus it says that as jesus is the perfect sacrifice before the world was created god knew that he was going to need something to redeem god's people so jesus volunteered and said give me a body and let me do it myself and so as we talked about last week the word became flesh jesus came in the form of a human being and in the form of a human being jesus shows us not just the perfect sacrifice but the perfect standard of what obedience ought to look like obedience to the point where he gave up his body obedience to the point where he was willing to give his body in accordance to the will of god to the point where he was able to deny his flesh to deny his cravings to deny his appetites and his desires so that you and i could have a closer relationship with god he was able to use his body as a way of being a sacrifice to god and he displays for all of us the perfect example of what obedience ought to look like and how many of us are willing to use our bodies to be obedient to god that's a tough question i mean we we throw church clothes on our bodies and we use our bodies to sing and to preach and we use our bodies to teach class and and we use our bodies to do ministry but but are we willing to deny our flesh are we willing to use our body to be obedient to the will of god i mean i think it was paul that wrote to the church in rome and says to offer your body as a living sacrifice in other words sacrifice if sacrifice is a form of worship and paul says to allow your body to be a living sacrifice then maybe it is safe to say for us that how we use our bodies is a reflection of what we think about god how we use our bodies is a reflection of what we think about god jesus used his body as a tool to be obedient to do god's will so if if we call ourselves christians and believers and children of god then then we must ask the question will god be pleased with how i'm using my body but will god be pleased on how i identify my body on how i express my body sexually because because the bible says that our bodies are temples of god and for many of us we treat our church buildings better than we treat our own bodies so if we ought to use our body like jesus being obedient to the will of god can you should survey your body and find out the foods that you eat does that put you in a position to be obedient to god with your body we talk about sabbatical and savage and all that are you getting rest so that your body can be obedient to the will of god you say you praise god for the activity of your limbs have you done any exercise to show that you're really grateful for the activity of your limbs jesus is the perfect demonstration of obedience because he was willing to use his body as a tool to do the will of god even to the point of death and the death of jesus shows us that sometimes pain is a part of god's plan pain is a part of god's plan yeah i mean we're talking about jesus dying on the cross we're talking about jesus giving his life giving his body to the point where he didn't even want to do it he's in a garden of gethsemane begging god to let this cup pass from me but then he says not my will but thy will jesus understood that every now and again that there are there's pain a part of god's plan and the death of jesus shows us that we can't give up on god when pain sets in our lives jesus knows what it's like to have a cousin who got killed because of violence jesus knows what it's like to have a friend who died of sickness jesus knows what it's like to have to be a victim of social injustice jesus knows what it's like to be treated by like trash at his church home jesus knows what it's like to be disrespected to be beat on to be spent on nailed to a cross he knows what it's like to deal with pain and agony but in the midst of all that the bible says that it was a part of god's plan and i wonder how many of us go through the pains of life thinking that god has given up on us i wonder how many of us have thought about turning our back on the church and the community and jesus over the past 16 and 18 months i wonder how many of us thought about closing our bibles when things got tough but i dare you if you open up your word you'll discover that in this life you shall have tribulation jesus says you see what they do to a green tree what you think they're going to do to a dried up withered tree paul lets us know that we share in his suffering to share in his glory and there is no celebration in praising god over the resurrection without the crucifixion there is no crown for jesus without the cross of jesus and jesus says if you're gonna follow me you're gonna have to deny yourself pick up your cross and follow me because every now and again there's pain and agony that we have to endure and you know we we church folk like to quote jeremiah 29 and 11 for i know the plans that i have for you declares the lord plans to prosper you and not to harm your plans to give you hope and a future but you got to remember that when jeremiah is writing this they are they are receiving this in the midst of a 70-year bondage they're in exile they're slaves they've been disconnected from their families in their community they are going through and that jeremiah had the audacity to pen therefore i know the plans that i have for you declares the lord plans to prosper you're not to harm your plans to give you hope and a future which means if all you see is pain that's not the end of god's plan that if all you see is agony that means there's future around the corner that if all you see is hopelessness there is hope down the street you just gotta hold on to the promises of god and know that if you're going through pain it's a part of god's plan i like to tell this story about the time that my family and i went to hawaii for a little bit and we was on this trail going to this beautiful waterfall and uh the tour guide stopped at this beautiful plant and she was so excited that we get to smell this plant and she was talking about uh the aroma that came from the plant the smell that came for the plant but she says the only way you would be able to experience the aroma of this plant is if you crush its leaves first she says that there is something on the inside of the plant that i want you to experience but you can't experience it until you crush his leaves first so she passed the plane around and we begin to sniff in the smell my brothers and i we wild and so we forgot all the instructions so by the time it came to us we couldn't smell anything did she ask us well did you crush the leaves and after we crushed the leaves we were able to pick up the beautiful aroma that was on the inside of the plant and god began to speak to me and say every now and again just like you had to crush that plan i got to crush you because there was something on the inside of you that i can't get out until i crushed you and y'all i don't know about you well all of us can attest we've been through a crushing year we've been crushed in the job we've been crushed in the church we've been crushing our community we've been crushing our families we've been crushed as a nation and as a world evidently there is greatness on the inside of us that god is trying to bring forth and god said i can't do it until i crush you i will crush you to make you a better parent i will press you to make you a better spouse i will crush you to make you a better preacher i will crush you to make you a better leader i don't know about you but i'm going to embrace the crushing so that i can get to the next level that god has for my life i didn't mean to preach is hard but i'm almost done the bible says that that jesus is are one and done he paid the sacrifice one time and then i love what the writer says he sat down see that was a reference to the priests who never sat down in the holies of holies because the work was never done they had to keep going back every day every week every year to do the same thing but the bible says that when jesus did it he's a one and done he sat down that means it's finished that means there's nothing else to be done that means that you and i ain't got to go back to memorize all the 613 commandments we ain't got to go back and do all the rituals we don't have to go back and recognize all the festivals to get closer to god because god says even though all that righteousness you are still a dirty rag so god says i'm going to come down in the form of man because you can't do it i'ma do it for you and now we have the ability to get closer to god because of the perfect sacrifice and then the death of jesus here's the last thing the death of jesus is not just a perfect sacrifice it's not just the perfect standard of obedience but the death of jesus perfects imperfect people the bible says that the holy spirit witnesses to this that the holy spirit god through his holy spirit begins to it's a big church word sanctify us that's it's a big church word it just simply means to set us apart to make us holy somewhere else the bible says that that god seeks to conform us to the likeness of christ that sanctification to set us apart later on later on in the work he says that the spirit testifies that no longer do we have the covenant written in stone but now it was written on our hearts and our minds in in other words that that the death of jesus the death of jesus keeps us from being fake christians because god is not interested in outward expressions of righteousness god is more concerned with the inner well-being of our hearts and our minds in the old testament god says that man looks at the outer appearance but it's god that looks at the heart god is is less concerned with our sacrifices and our church clothes and and doing church work and doing all of this ministry and jesus says you're doing all that ministry but your heart ain't right you're doing all that work but your mind ain't right you can get up and preach and teach and sing and direct and and do all that stuff but you still mean evil and hard to get along with so so the writer says that because jesus died now the holy spirit can write the law of god on our hearts and our minds to the point now we're not doing good works to be saved we attempt to do the work of god because we are saved and it is not in the outward because some of us have an outward appearance but an inner rebellion so jesus says i need to write this on your heart i need to write this on your mind because many of us have given god our souls but we haven't gave god our minds and so god says i i need to write this on your heart i need to i need to do some inner workings i need to sanctify you to make you holy nowadays we call it a software update that's what jesus did for us he gave us a software update i i'm not really familiar with the samsung and android lifestyle i'm more of a iphone man myself and as a part of the apple family every now and again apple sends us these software updates and basically the software update is an improvement of how the system of how it operates it is not an upgrade in the outward appearance your phone still looked the same all apple did was send your phone and update to improve and increase the system from the inside and and and every now and again apple through the icloud through some stuff that we can't even see something that we can't even put our hands on something that we can't even touch but apple sends a software update on the inside so that our phone can operate better on the outside and the writer of hebrew says that this is what the death of jesus has done to the believer that it has given us a system update it has it has given us an upgrade in the spirit so no longer do we have to go back to the old way of doing stuff no longer do we have to go through rituals and processes and procedures no longer do we have to go through religious administerial processes but jesus came down to be the ultimate sacrifice of sin so now not only is our soul saved but our mind can be together not only is our soul saved but now our heart can be transformed because the death of jesus wasn't just some reformation or a fix of something that was broken but the death of jesus was a transformation it was something that needed to be changed and when you give your heart to god god has a way of transforming you because there is forgiveness of sin in the death of jesus there's salvation in the death of jesus there's deliverance in the death of jesus there's transformation in the death of jesus and he did it one time for all sins for all people to the point where whosoever shall call on the name of the lord shall be saved is there anybody in the room that is grateful for the blood of jesus because it reaches the highest mountain it flows to the lowest valley the blood never loses its power is there anybody excited that the blood still works i dare you wherever you are give god a praise that jesus died and now we have what it takes to eat to the throne of grace the curtain has been destroyed and we have access to the father because jesus died and it was a one and done and now your soul can be saved and we can thank god for the perfect sacrifice of jesus christ let's pray god we're grateful for the power of your word thank you god that even while we were yet sinners christ died that christ didn't wait until we got it all together because truth is we can't get ourselves together we tried that and the law was just a shadow of what was to come so god we're not going to get caught up on the shadow we're going to get caught up in the substance we're not going to get caught up in religious forms and fashions but we're going to grow in a deeper relationship with you so god i pray for anybody who's tuned in that's watching who don't have a relationship with you they've yet to confess the hope in christ i pray that they'll make that commitment today i pray that they'll tap in to your spirit today not just so they can wear church clothes and attend church events and do church work but so that you can begin to write the law on our hearts the law in our minds so that we are not performing but we are being a representation of you and of what you've done in our lives thank you for jesus christ his perfect sacrifice this perfect standard of obedience and thank you for the fact that we cannot just have salvation but be sanctified in you and so i pray for each and every person who's tuned in that you will continue to grow them and mature them as a child of god and i pray that for those who need a church home we need jesus they'll make that they'll make that commitment today it's in jesus name that we pray amen amen listen if you're tuning in online and you need jesus and you need a church home why don't you email us at membership easternstarchurch.org the bible makes it clear that there is no forgiveness of blood but there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood and what the animals couldn't do christ has already done and you need to accept that and tap into that right now in the name of jesus so i pray that you will email us at membership eastern startchurch.org but first say this prayer along with me father i come right now i know i've sinned i pray that you will forgive me for my sins i believe that jesus christ died on the cross and i believe that god raised jesus from the dead i'll receive you into my life for forgiveness of sin in jesus name amen so if you said that prayer for the first time or you said it for the 10th time i pray that you will email us at membership eastern starchurch.org for those who are in the room you may be seated for those who are tuned in online i pray that you will go and search for a piece of bread or cracker or some juice some water that would represent the blood cracker or bread that would represent the body of christ and could somebody give me a cup appreciate that as we get our hearts in our minds to take communion together thank you sir all right first corinthians chapter 11 verse 23 says for i pass on to you what i received from the lord himself on the night when he was betrayed the lord jesus took some bread and gave thanks to god for it then he broke it in pieces and said this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me and the same way he took the cup of wine after supper saying this cup is the new covenant between god and his people in agreement confirmed with my blood do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it for every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you are now seeing the lord's death until he comes let's pray god we are grateful for this opportunity that we have to worship together for the opportunity that we have to communion to commune together not just with each other but also with you as we partake in this i pray god that you will take the bread the cracker from its secular use make it sacred as it represents the body that was broken i gotta pray that you'll take the juice the water that you will take it from its secular use and make it sacred as it represents the blood that was shed for forgiveness of sin and i pray that as we internalize this we continue to grow in relationship with you and you can take us from faith to faith from glory to glory in jesus name amen amen let us take the the bread that represents the body of christ that was broken and bruised for us let us take that together now let us take the juice that represents the blood of jesus let us internalize together hey man came and did it just for me as we prepare to give today's offering can we just sing a verse of that can we sing university just think somebody needs that reminder just for me [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] for me all right church family it's time for the offering and uh because jesus did it for us now we in turn can do it for jesus in the form of a tithe and an offering and we ask that you will continue to give even over above that tithe of the tithe is just the minimum it's just the requirement that we ought to give that god has asked us for um but as pastor always teaches us you know people say that they are new testament christians so they ain't got to give well jesus expected us to give even more than that he said to give all your resources into the poor so we just ask that you will continue to be generous as you continue to be obedient to god's word through the eastern star church and we're grateful for that and so even today there are a few ways um in which that you can give to the eastern star church um you can always go to our website isshastartchurch.org give through that way you can give through mail write a check and send it to us in the mail 5750 east 30th street indianapolis indiana 4628 or you can text to give at 4577 esc in the message field okay so we just ask that you will continue uh to be supportive in the work that we are doing uh here at the eastern star church as god has been good to us we seek to reflect that in our community and our neighborhood in this country city and world um let us pray for today's offering god we're grateful for the gifts that you have given us now we pray that you will receive these gifts as we return them back to you to further your kingdom on this earth in jesus name that we pray amen amen all right now today at 2 today at 2 00 pm tune in to our website or our facebook page our youtube channel as we celebrate the graduates of this year okay we are so grateful for our graduates from high school to college whatever school whatever level we are we are celebrating and praising god with you in this season and on behalf of our pastor our senior pastor jeffrey allen johnson senior we just want to say we love you we are proud of you we're grateful for the work that you have been putting in and grateful that god has blessed that work so we're going to celebrate today at 2 p.m online in the virtual space let's gather together in the comments section and celebrate our graduates today at 2 p.m website facebook youtube as well amen all right i think we can uh close out or log out in a sense all right for our benediction let us stand if you're in the room let's stand grateful for your gathering today as we continue to this phase of coming back into the building and reintegration we're grateful for that god is going to continue to bless this and praying all right now i'm in the grace of our lord and savior jesus christ in the sweet communion of his holy spirit may it rest with you abide with you walk with you talk with you i pray that you are reminded you ain't gotta do all the rules and regulations because jesus has already taken care of that but i pray that you allow god to write his laws on your hearts so that you will not sin against thee and i pray that this will happen today tomorrow and forevermore let every heart say amen we'll see y'all [Music] wednesday in the [Music] [Applause] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Eastern Star Church

Views: 591

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: ESC, Bible Study, Noonday, Indianapolis Church

Id: swlL6-BsOs0

Length: 74min 41sec (4481 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 13 2021