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Summer Scripture Series: A Better Priest

Pastor Robbie continues our Summer Scripture Series - moving through the book of Hebrews, speaking out of 7:11-28!

This week, we continued our Summer Scripture series, where Pastor Robbie and others are going through the Book of Hebrews, verse by verse, to bring out their immediate meaning. This process of ‘exegesis’ is important to bring out the originally intended meaning of the author to their original audience!

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Our text is a look at the changing of the priestly guard that Jesus has brought—basically the theological version of the transition of power.

The peaceful transition of power is actually one of the most difficult problems in the world of politics. Whether you’re in a monarchy of kings and queens, a democracy of elected representatives, or even a tribal system with chiefs and chieftains, it’s almost always a tense moment when power has to be transferred. There are always questions: Will the people follow the new leader? Will there be a split or a revolt?

Pastor Robbie speaks out of Hebrews 7:11-28 diving deeper into the office of the Old Covenant priesthood and the role that Jesus played in transforming the office from what it was to the New Priesthood we understand today. Referring to verses 11-12 saying, “Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.”

Pastor Robbie comments, “This verse lets us know that the law was given to support the priesthood and not the other way around. The priesthood and the tabernacle with its sacrifices were the means God used to render the sinful people acceptable to Himself. Then, the Law was given with its impossible demands to awaken the people to their true condition, their sinfulness, their hopelessness outside of God, so that they might adhere to the sacrifices. As it says in Galatians 3:24, The Law was simply a guardian or a tutor to lead us to Christ. Now understand that this all must have been shocking to the Jews listening, which is why they would say to Stephen and Paul in Acts 6:14, “for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” Jesus changed the game. Everything that the Jews knew to be true and help as sacred was intended to point to the most Sacred one: Jesus. Without the New Testament and its Messiah, without the New Covenant, the Old Testament is like reading The Lord of the Rings without The Return of the King — it’s absolutely incomplete.

Referring to verses 13-14, “For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.” we see that the change in the priesthood was complete, it was an absolute change from the top down.

Then, in verses 15–17, we learn that there is also a different authority for this priesthood.

“This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”

“In verse 19, there’s the parenthetical reference, (for the law made nothing perfect). I don’t want to confuse anyone here today, so let me help your theology a little church, The Law is perfect, but it's perfection isn’t like the Coronavirus: You can’t catch it by coming in contact with it! That’s just not what the Law was for. It was made, not to create perfection, but to reveal the absence of it. The law, as Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, came to actually increase the trespass of humanity, to bring everything into its custody like a prison warden.”

Jesus brings us into the throne room of God and simply says, “Abba, Father, this is someone who needs to talk to You.” He came to fulfill the Law, to bridge the gap between man and God, to be a mediator for us all, to give us unprecedented access to God most High. He is our new Priest, the best and final forever priest.

Speaking to verses 26-28, “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.”

We’ve already seen today how Jesus is a superior priest because of God’s sworn oath, God promised - and we saw that he is better because of Christ’s eternality, his priesthood is permanent, everlasting. Now we see his superiority because of his person.

He is holy, uniquely God’s Holy One. He is set apart to God. He stands accepted before God. He is innocent - literally without evil. Whereas we are intrinsically evil in our motives and actions, there is nothing but good in him. He is unstained. The OT High Priests had to be externally without imperfection, but Jesus is unstained within. He walked through the muck and the mire of this world for 33 years but was never stained by sin.

He is part of humanity because he took it on for our sake, but he is separate from sinners because he is separate in his character from human sin nature. And he is exalted above the heavens - resurrected, ascended, and glorified at the right hand of God. If this were a job application for the job of forever High Priest, Jesus just blew the competition out of the water. He is more than worthy and the only one who is so.

What is a priest and what is a priest for? A priest is your mediator between the self and the transcendent. Every human being is filled with a longing for the transcendent, the glorious, the spiritual, the divine. Who is your god, and who gets you access to him?

That is the question we need to consider because there is only one true and living High Priest and only one God. And if we trust in any other, no matter how passionately or authentically, our trust will be a false trust, and we will perish.

Jesus Christ - he is the One who saves to the uttermost. Rest in him today.

SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

Summer Scripture Series: A Better Priest - From the times of Melchizedek moving forward, the role of the priesthood held a vital role in Israel’s covenant relationship with Yahweh - while different in scope, the Royal Priesthood of Jesus expands and magnifies the availability of relationship with Yahweh!
Main Scripture Passages: Hebrews 7:11-28.
Length and Content: Considering this section going through 17 verses this past week, we were not able to cover everything discussed - watch either the video recording or the podcats to get the full extent of the content covered.
A Necessary Transition: “The death and resurrection of Jesus introduced a new and permanent priesthood that brings the Levitical priesthood to an end, along with its Law. You see, church, the Levitical Priesthood was provisional, the Melchizedek Priesthood is permanent.”

If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
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Join us next Sunday as we continue to meet at the Premiere Cinema 10 at 10 am!

We hope that you and your family are well, and know that You Are Loved!

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Summer Scripture Series: Melchize-Who?

Pastor Robbie continues our Summer Scripture Series - moving through the book of Hebrews, speaking out of 7:1-10!

Pastor Robbie spoke out of Hebrews 7:1-10 saying, 'For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him, Abraham apportioned a tenth of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother in genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.’

Continuing in verse 4, ‘See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior, In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.’

Pastor Robbie began by going over who Melchizedek was, as mentioned in Genesis - he references Genesis 14:17-20 saying, “After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was the priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”

Now, some see Melchizedek as what is called a “Christophany,” meaning an appearance of the Lord Jesus prior to his incarnation. You can see why right? Here’s a King of Salem, which later becomes Jerusalem. King of Salem literally means King of Peace. His name, Melchizedek, is a compound Hebrew word, from the words melek (king) and zedek/zadok (righteousness). And that is a key point: The text isn’t saying that Jesus is like Melchizedek, but that Melchizedek is like Jesus—that Jesus is the true and better Melchizedek, just as he is the true and better Temple, Lamb, Passover, Adam, Moses, David, and so on. This is a case of something we call typology, that this in the OT is about that in the NT, Melchizedek is a type, or a shadow of Christ, he’s not Christ. God wrote the story of Melchizedek in living history, to later teach us something of the Person and work of Jesus. So that is the origin of this designation, High Priest of the Order of Melchizedek.

There are 3 aspects of this living type that God wrote into the character of Melchizedek in Genesis 14 that establish the qualifications for Jesus to stand as High Priest in this order:

1) Jesus must be the King of Righteousness - referencing passages such as Jeremiah 23:5-6 and Psalm 132:11, the Kingship of Jesus was to be established through the Davidic line. This is where the Jewish categories for Messiah got a little messed up. See, they were waiting for a King. But, church, they were thinking too small. Jesus would be the true and final and perfect Prophet, Priest, and King! To the Jews, this would be the same idea as us claiming someone to be the President, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Speaker of the House, all in one—it just isn’t done! Where is the separation of powers? Well, you need that with sinful people. But God is righteous. This King is King of Righteousness, and so he exercises all power with perfect justice.

2) Jesus must be the King of Peace - Jesus is the true King of Salem, not just the King who sits on the throne of David, of the New Jerusalem, but also by translation, the King of Peace. As the Priest-King, he makes peace in two directions: vertical and horizontal. Referencing passage such as Colossians 1:19-20; Romans 5:1; and Ephesians 2:13-17 we see that Jesus came with a Kingdom, and his Kingdom makes men free, and his Kingdom makes peace among those free men. Jesus has given us new hearts, hearts filled with humility and meekness rather than pride and arrogance. And guess what? Jesus promised, Matthew 5:5, that the meek will inherit the earth. He is the King of Righteousness, the King or Prince of Peace - but you know, church, the trouble for many people is that they want the Peace, without the Prince. They want the warm and cozy peace in their life, without submitting to King Jesus. And I can tell you, friends, that’s simply not how it works. When we submit to King Jesus, we submit everything. If you want the peace and the righteousness that he freely provides, then you need to embrace him as king and lord over your life. He wants to be your King and your High Priest - but with that comes acceptance and submission.

3) Jesus must be uncreated and eternal, as the Son of God - I’m going to sit on this for a second because this (Heb. 7:3) is the main verse that some would use to point to the Christophany of Melchizedek. This is not saying, again, that Melchizedek was immortal and uncreated, but that he is without father or mother or genealogy or beginning or end in the text. Without father and mother simply means they were unknown for Melchizedek. In some of the rabbinical writings we have access to, expressions like this often mean that the father and mother had simply died and the child was an orphan. One theologian puts it like this: “Melchizedek was not an angel or some superhuman creature; nor was he an OT appearance of Jesus Christ. He was a real man, a real king, and a real priest in a real city. But as far as the record is concerned, he was not born, nor did he die.” Essentially, it’s fair to assume that he obtained his position not by genealogy, like most kings, but by divine appointment. He didn’t have the earthly credentials, but God saw something there in him. Something that would make him a precursor to Jesus.

You are not. I am not. And so we are unqualified for this office. So we have the origin of this order, the qualifications for it, and finally, in verses 4–10, we unfold the supremacy of the order of Melchizedek.

The point of Jesus’ cosmic High Priesthood is the steady anchoring of our souls in the very presence of God. The point is that, by identifying with us fully and coming down to truly dwell with us where we are, he could bring us to identify with him fully and bring us up to truly dwell with him where he goes. Jesus is our great, immortal High Priest after the order of Melchizedek—and he is so in order that we might be seated with him in the heavenly places.

So listen: I know this is high theology, talking about Christophany and typology, but this is good news, church! You have a Priest, the God-Man Jesus, interceding for you. He is the King of Righteousness and of Peace. His body is like bread, given to satisfy. His blood is like wine, poured out in covenant. And he has set a table for us now, even in the presence of the enemies the Father is putting under his feet and calls us to come and eat and drink—he has paid for this feast, and he welcomes us now!

SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

Summer Scripture Series: Melchize-Who? - In these first ten verses of Hebrews 7, the author of the book teaches us the origins, the qualifications, and the supremacy of the Melchizedek Priesthood; The point of Jesus’ cosmic High Priesthood is the steady anchoring of our souls in the very presence of God.
Main Scripture Passages: Hebrews 7:1-10; Jer. 23:5-6; Psalm 132:11; Col. 1:19-20; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:13-17
The High Priest is the King Of Righteousness - ‘But Jesus is God. And he is Christ. And Christ is Prophet, Priest, and King. He is not a priest from the Levitical order, the Aaronic Priesthood, but the High Priest of the Order of Melchizedek. He is the King of Righteousness.’
The High Priest is the King Of Peace - ‘Jesus makes a vertical peace between God and men by the blood of his cross. He removes our sin from us, gives us his righteousness, raises us from death to life, and mediates peace with God on our behalf; He makes peace horizontally, peace between men who by their sin were at war with one another.’
The High Priest is the King Of Life - ‘The point of the author of Hebrews is that, while Melchizedek is like all of this in the text, Jesus is like this in reality. It’s a typological relationship, one that points from Melchizadek in the Old Testament to Jesus in the New Testament.’

If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD

Join us next Sunday as we continue to meet at the Premiere Cinema 10 at 10 am!

We hope that you and your family are well, and know that You Are Loved!

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Summer Scripture Series: Trust God's Promises

This week we heard from Pastor Robbie, continuing in our Summer Scripture Series - moving through the book of Hebrews, speaking out of 6:4-20!

Pastor Robbie spoke out of Hebrews 6:4-20 (ESV) saying, ‘For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit. and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls upon it, and produces a crop useful to those whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned’

Continuing in verse 9, ‘Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.’

Continuing in verse 13, ‘For when God made a promise to Abraham since he had no one greater by who to swear, he swore by himself, saying, Surely I will bless you and multiply you. And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure ad steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’

He begins by stating, ‘Now, this section of Scripture has been debated, fought over, and argued for 2000 years. I am going to do my best to guide us step by step through essentially a theological minefield. This whole passage really touches on one of the most difficult and complex issues to understand—this issue of salvation and the security of the believer.

It is a difficult issue, on the one hand, because we read this text which seems ominous, seems scary - BUT on the other hand, if there is one thing clear about salvation in the New Testament, it’s that it is nothing like your car keys, your sunglasses, or my kid’s stuffed monkey every single night at bedtime—you can’t lose it. Our salvation isn’t our own church, because we are not our own, but instead, we belong to God. ‘Jesus’ isn’t property that we can misplace; we don’t own him, he owns us.’

Let’s read verses 4-6 again, and then lets walk through three ways we can potentially understand those verses. I want to be fair and present the three arguments, and then I’m going to share the rest of the message from one of these options based on my understanding, based on my studies, and based on my conviction and discernment as I believe the Lord has led me.

Option 1) True Believers Who Fall Away - There are some who see this group as actual genuine Christians. They would hold that God supplies grace to those who are trusting Him, but the ultimate perseverance of any believer depends on the cooperation of his own free will. Therefore, any Christian whatever his state, is capable of falling away and the condemnation that we read about.

Option 2) True Believers Who Fall Away but as a Hypothetical Situation - Some might argue that the author is taking the “what if” line of thinking. If salvation is through Jesus alone, and one “tries” Christianity, then walks away, what else is there for them?...there is no hope! Hypothetically speaking.

Option 3) Professing Believers Who Fall Away - The argument here is that the people the author is speaking about are not true believers, only ones who “appear” so. They have seen that the Lord is good, they have been around other believers, and may have even seemingly demonstrated some of the fruits of the Spirit - but they were never Spirit-filled, and thus never true believers. They were visitors, not permanent residents.

Now before you freak out on me, church, there is a big difference from falling away and falling into sin. Judas fell away (that’s apostasy); Peter fell into sin (he backslid). Categorically different things. We’ll come back to that before we’re through today.

Through my study of this passage and many other passages in Bible, because how many of you know that to study a topic in the Bible, you don’t just look at a single verse out of context, you look at everything the Bible has to say about a particular topic - and in this case, the Bible has a lot to say about our security in salvation, which is why I could not lean into Option 1. I don’t believe the author is intending to mean here that true believers are falling away from God and that their hearts are being hardened so as to never return. Here’s some of what the Bible says on the topic - consider verses such as Romans 8:29-31; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; Phil. 1:6; John 6:37-39; Eph. 4:30.

I don’t believe it could be the second option either. There are other reasons that include the language of the passage, the tense of words used, and so on, but I’ll give you logical reasons. If it were hypothetical and both the author and the audience knew it, the power of the argument would be lost. When I tell my daughter IF you do that one more time, THEN I’m going to spank you - but both she and I know that I have no intention of spanking her because I’m a big pushover, that warning is useless. Furthermore, if the author knew it was hypothetical but the readers thought it was real, then the author’s integrity would be in question. So that leads us to the last option. Option 3.

The point of these texts is not that you can be born again and then un-born-again. It’s not that you can be regenerate, that is, spiritually raised from the dead, and then spiritually die again. Those who believe in losing one's salvation should also realize that this section of Hebrews is not talking about losing and regaining faith, but instead renouncing it so as to never be able to regain it. The point is that we will see people who seem to be part of God’s Kingdom, who prove by their leaving that they are not.

Can I help someone again that might be freaking out in their seats as I talk about this? For those who think that they’ve committed this sin of apostasy - If you’re concerned about it, that tells me that you have not committed it and that you are absolutely still capable of repentance. Can I also say this, God alone knows the point of no return. We as believers should never consider anyone beyond his reach and we should continue to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with all, sharing the love of Christ with all, even if someone seems to have apostatized. We don’t give up hope and we don’t assume what’s in someone’s heart no matter what their mouths and actions say.

So if there is this sin, this sin of apostasy, which is so bad, so heinous, so terrible that your heart will be hardened toward the Lord - then what do I do to ensure that doesn’t happen? How do I stand strong instead of falling away? You MOVE! You have to continue to move toward God. If you have never given your life to Christ, continue to move toward him. If you are a believer here, continue to move toward him. He says show earnestness, be convicted and act on that conviction; he says don’t be sluggish, what’s the opposite of sluggish - moving at a fast pace! Working! Serving! Loving! It is in love that we move away from apostasy, whether you agree with me on my understanding of this passage or not, sprinting the other way is a logical way to avoid this pitfall. I believe that you can’t sincerely love the saints and be moving towards apostasy or even complacency or spiritual sluggishness at the same time, any more than you can stand up and sit down at the same time.

Is he calling you to come today? Are you hearing this gospel message today with fresh ears and a willing soul? This gospel promise is the promise of God, sworn on God, to bring us to God. He doesn’t just want to fix us, he wants to change us into a new creation, one that is safe and secure in Him, our souls anchored to the Father.

SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

Summer Scripture Series: Trust God’s Promises - Even in the face of potential apostasy in a community, the promise is sure and steadfast! What promise? That we have a great and an immortal High Priest forever, who has passed into the holy of holies in heaven—behind the curtain, the Temple veil—to intercede on our behalf and to bring us there through union with himself.
Main Scripture Passages: Hebrews 6:4-20; Romans 8:29-31; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; Phil. 1:6; John 6:37-39; Eph. 4:30
The Importance of the Promise: Those who are in Christ with a sense of concern surrounding their faithfulness necessarily suggests the presence of that which they desire to keep - trust in God’s Promise.
The Reality of the Uncomfortable: The reality is that there are people in every faith community that are not ‘true believers’, yet we are not the ones who necessarily determine who those people are - that’s God’s Job.
The Danger of the Warning: This is a firm, sobering warning. It’s a warning that probably leaves most, if not all, of us in a position of self-examination; if someone could fall away who has experienced all of those things, wow, this is a warning that we cannot ignore.

If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD

Join us next Sunday as we continue to meet at the Premiere Cinema 10 at 10 am!

We hope that you and your family are well, and know that You Are Loved!

Guest User 8/7/20 Guest User 8/7/20

Summer Scripture Series: Grow Up

This week we heard from Pastor Robbie, continuing in our Summer Scripture Series - moving through the book of Hebrews and speaking out of 5:11-6:3!

Pastor Robbie spoke out of Hebrews 5:11-6:3 saying, ‘About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.

The title of the message this morning is Grow Up. And look, I know what you’re thinking. Depending on how you say that phrase, it can be kinda offensive. It can hurt my feelings. It can rub you the wrong way. Like when your friend is whining about laws or restrictions or about having to wear a mask, and you hit them with a “just Grow Up.” Or when you’re younger and you want to do something outside of the rules, but your little sibling tries to convince you not to, you hit them with a “grow up,” So when I say that the title of the message today is Grow Up, do I mean for it to chastise you or remind you? Do I mean for it to be exhorting or encouraging? Am I trying to rebuke you or redirect you? And the answer to those questions is: Yes. Because that’s what the original author, the preacher that brought these words to the Hellenistic Jewish Christians, that’s how he approached this.

There is a doctrinal feast, ready to be laid out for the Hebrews and for us, but there is an obstacle, something that makes him pause right in the middle of this conversation. The obstacle is going to make it hard to get the food on the table the right way. The topic of Jesus’ high priesthood is apparently something of deep and transformative importance—something worth a few chapters of biblical meditation. But the doctrinal immaturity of the Hebrew Christians is making this rich feast a difficult one to serve. So his response is to issue a loving, pastoral rebuke. Hopefully, church, you have a capacity for that—for the correct, loving, shepherd-hearted rebuke of a faithful pastor.

There are four parts to his rebuke, four ways that they need to Grow Up in, that will help us understand the text and rightly respond to it:

1) They are Dull of Hearing (v5:11).

The dullness of hearing that he’s talking about is specifically, in this context, a dullness to hear the Scriptures. These are Hebrew Christians, Christians who not only have the apostolic teaching of the New Testament, which as they read this letter was still being written and circulated and read in churches—but also the Old Testament Scriptures. They knew the Bible—or they should have.

2) They are Doctrinal and Spiritual babies (v5:12-14).

Which implies, right, that the Bible is a thing that takes skill to use correctly. You have to grow up into this book. A child can open it and God will wonderfully, simply meet him there! He’s a good good Father and meets us where we are when we first come to him. My kids hear and understand as we read it together at home. But as you grow up, you will need to grow up in your understanding and work in this book.

3) They weren’t building on the Foundation (v6:1-3).

What that means is that there is not one particle of wisdom, truth, doctrine, or anything that is not to be found in Christ. Doctrinal maturity isn’t advancing past Christ, it’s building on Christ. The picture is of a house with a foundation. The foundational doctrines are those that hold up the structure above. Just as you don’t start building a house by putting the shingles on, you don’t start your theological discipleship by settling the dispute between Armenian and Calvinism. We start by getting the whole “Christian” thing right.

4) They have had plenty of time (v5:11-12).

The spiritual immaturity that we’re talking about in this text has nothing to do with time. There are many in the Church today who are the equivalent of a 29-year-old who can’t tie his shoes! The author says that they should have been teachers by now! That’s a strong statement since we know from elsewhere in the New Testament that not many should be teachers since teachers will be judged more strictly. Teachers are responsible to handle high theology with a clean conscience and a ready mind. That’s where the Hebrew Christians should have been; this wasn’t that they didn’t have enough time.

Do you see how all of these issues really find their connection in the knowledge and love of the Word of God? That’s it, right, that’s the needful thing. Do you want to be mature? Do you want to be able to discern good and evil? Do you want to be able to teach others and help others mature? Then love and live in this book! It’s all here, church. And can I qualify that I am not discrediting any other form of communication with the Lord in this sermon, but I felt the Lord teaching and stretching me in this week, so this is what I came to share with you today. Church, it’s time for many of us to Grow Up.

SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

Summer Scripture Series: Grow Up - Similar to how the author of the Book of Hebrews addressed their audience, there are many people in the church who have ceased in their maturation - we are called to do better for the sake of our relationships with Christ.
Main Scripture Passages: Hebrews 5:11-6:3
Ancient Errors for All People: They are Dull of Hearing (v5:11); They are Doctrinal and Spiritual babies (v5:12-14); They weren’t building on the Foundation (v6:1-3); They have had plenty of time (v5:11-12).
Some Practical Ways to Help: Be here every Sunday - or whenever you’re able; Get involved in a Missional Community - be in community with other believers seeking the same thing; Cultivate a mentality that loves reading and studying Scripture; Leave immature things behind.

If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD

Join us next Sunday as we continue to meet at the Premiere Cinema 10 at 10 am!

We hope that you and your family are well, and know that You Are Loved!

Guest User 6/29/20 Guest User 6/29/20

Summer Scripture Series: Jesus is Better

This week we heard from Pastor Robbie, continuing in our Summer Scripture Series - moving through the book of Hebrews!

This week, we began our Summer Scripture series, where Pastor Robbie and others will going through the Book of Hebrews verse by verse to bring out their immediate meaning. This process of ‘exegesis’ is important to bring out the originally intended meaning of the author to their original audience!

Pastor Robbie begins by introducing our series saying, ‘In both of our first two Summers, we did a book study where we took 12 weeks or so and walked verse by verse through a book of the Bible and we called it the Summer Scripture Series. The first year 1 Peter, last year was actually two books; Colossians and the short letter to Philemon. It is one of my favorite series that we do at Legacy City because I feel like I am a teacher at heart. I mean, sometimes you all bring the preacher out of me, but I really do just love teaching on the Word and principles of God. So, back by popular demand, we are going to spend the next 12-14 weeks walking straight through the book of Hebrews!’

I really do love to study straight through books of the Bible because they are God's direct and perfectly communicated truths, we’re reading this line by line and phrase by phrase, we have no choice but to be impacted by his Word. His text is so rich and it makes such an impact when we read it in its entirety. Expository teaching is what this is called, or some might call it exegetical teaching, it’s where I work through the text verse by verse - and this is truly my favorite way to teach, because, here’s the thing, it's a lot easier to pick one or two verses, it's a lot easier to pick a topic and talk about what we think about those various things, it's a lot more difficult but more fruitful I believe to study this way - and I say that having just led you through several topical teaching series. I believe, of course, there is a place for both, and both are beneficial. But I pray that it will be fruitful for you and for our church as we study the book of Hebrews together. Some weeks, we will simply read the text and stop to talk about it, some weeks, God may show me a few points to pull out of the text!

“1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

He’s starting us off and taking us all the way back - long ago. You know church, the gospel narrative didn’t start during the age of the Roman Empire, it started long ago in the narratives of the Old Testament. In fact, the account of God’s saving work in Jesus Christ begins at the very beginning of creation. Likewise, Jesus and his work on the cross was not the first time that God intervened in our history. While that was clearly the most significant, God has been active in setting the stage for Christ’s incarnation since the beginning of time and he has specifically been active through speaking.

So now, let’s talk Jesus. Because in the next two verses, we see 7 things facets of Christ explode before us. These verses are so theologically rich. I’m going to give you the seven and then we’ll touch on them briefly. In these two verses, Jesus is noted as being an heir (or an inheritor), creator, sustainer, radiator, representor, Purifier, and Ruler.

This is our God, this is our Savior! Created all things, holds all things together, Rules over all, loves, pursues, prays for you and me. Jesus is better than anything else you can imagine. He is better than that bad relationship you’re still in. He’s better than that addiction that you say you want out of but you really don’t. He’s better than the retail therapy that’s putting you further and further into debt. Jesus is better!

SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

Summer Scripture Series: Jesus is Better - In the face of a world that embraced s culture contrary to the work of Jesus’ ministry, the author of Hebrews assures us that no matter what we have experienced, Jesus is Superior!
Main Scripture Passages - Hebrews 1:1-4; Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:17
Jesus was Apart of Creation - Jesus was not simply a man that was born of earth, but was with the Father, eternally existing and was apart of Creation in the beginning.
Jesus is the Radiance of the Glory of God - Jesus radiates who God is in the fullness of His Image - He is an exact imprint of His nature!
Jesus Sits At the Right Hand of the Father - Jesus is the Son of Man, the Suffering Servant who has purified the sins of mankind before the Father - no one matches His honor and glory, so much so that He dwells with the Father, interceding on our behalf!

If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD

Join us next Sunday as we continue to meet at the Premiere Cinema 10 at 10 am!

We hope that you and your family are well, and know that You Are Loved!

Guest User 4/9/20 Guest User 4/9/20

Words From the Cross - Compassion and Substitution

This week we heard from Pastor Robbie, continuing in our Words From the Cross series, speaking about some of the last moments and phrases that Jesus exhibited from the Cross!

Our staff and elders hope that all of you are doing well during these very uncertain times of the COVID-19 health crisis - we were so glad to be able to meet with you at the Drive-In Movie Theater this past week - we will be also having this upcoming service there also! More information will continue to roll out through our Social Media platforms to keep you up to date. You can continue to find information on this subject going forward here. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we have recorded all of our recent sermons and they are available on our Facebook page; every Sunday evening they are live-streamed and archived starting at 7 pm!

This past week we ended up continuing our meetings at the Drive-In Theater! They were thrilled to be able to provide the space, so thankful in fact, that we will also be having services there until further notice! Again, this will be done specifically in-line with social distancing measures in places, from our cars but still gathered together!

We began our Words From the Cross series the week prior, to begin building up towards Good Friday and Easter - this recorded sermon is available at our Facebook page, details and a link to that is down below. Pastor Robbie continued this series in the last week approaching such an important and reflective time in our year. He began saying, ‘I'm excited about the message today because we started a new short series last week called Words From the Cross. These are the words that Jesus spoke when he was on the cross, the last words, his last phrases are what we’re going through, and I want you to understand that I believe that these words that Jesus spoke are very powerful. I believe that he wanted us to hear them and he wants us to apply them to our lives, because he went to such extremes to get to speak out and to let us hear them.’

This sermon series was planned months ago, it’s been scheduled long before any of us knew what COVID-19 was, long before anyone even considered we’d be in the midst of a quarantine fighting to wrestle down an invisible health threat. But it gives us great joy to know that God knew, and God’s got this! These words of Jesus this morning should speak directly to us in the midst of our current situation.

Our source material jumps around a little bit from the records of the different Gospels but surround similar events. You can find them all listed under our Key Take-Aways below.

Throughout all of these passages, we see specific things that point to much of Jesus’ purpose and intent with his actions on the cross. ‘Jesus showed compassion while on the cross. He didn’t think about himself, he thought about others. How are you showing compassion to others during this current storm? Are you spreading hope and joy, or fear and pessimism? Are you thinking of and reaching out to others, or just circling the wagons and fending for yourself? Church, there are so many ways to show love and compassion in the middle of this social distancing. We just have to have a heart to do it and a willingness to be creative. Here's the deal church, Christ was abandoned so that you could be adopted. Christ was abandoned on that cross, so that you didn't have to go through it! So now, you don't have to feel abandoned! Galatians 4:5 says that God sent him to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive adoption as sons and daughters. We can receive adoption! Thank you, Jesus, that you did that for us!

Jesus was abandoned so that we could live! Jesus was abandoned so that he could be our substitute. Listen to his cry from the cross! It was for everyone who feels lonely, everyone who feels abandoned right now, for the orphan, for the widow, for the single parents struggling to make ends meet, for the mother standing at the bed looking at her dying child, a father who’s without work, a prisoner in his cell, women who've been abandoned by her husband, people that have hit rock bottom, people with coronavirus, people that are quarantined right now - the word from Jesus on the cross is for you! It's for you today! Are you gonna receive it? Are you gonna live in his peace? Are you gonna live in who he is?

SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

Words From the Cross - Compassion and Substitution: Jesus’ actions on the cross through the last moment of his life, and in the harsh conditions of death allowed us to be able to be in relationship with the Father, bringing life to all those who would accept it.
Main Scripture Passages - John 19:25-27; Matthew 17:45-46; Mark 15:34; Isaiah 53:5-6;
YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN! - Our Staff and Elders are praying for each and every one of you; reach out if you’re in need!
Main Points - 1) We must never minimize the awfulness of sin (Hab. 1:13); 2) Jesus can identify when you feel abandoned (Heb. 4:15); 3) Because Jesus knew abandonment we can experience life (2 Cor. 5:21).

If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD

Join us next Sunday as we return to the Drive-In Movie Theater for our Gathering; all Gathering, until further notice will be held here

We hope that you and your family are well, and know that You Are Loved!

Guest User 3/25/20 Guest User 3/25/20

Hope Has A Name

This week we heard Pastor Robbie speak about the need for us to lean into the Hope that we have in Christ during these uncertain and difficult times!

Our staff and elders hope that all of you are doing well during these very uncertain times of the COVID-19 health crisis - we were so glad to be able to meet with you at the Drive-In Movie Theater this past week - we will be also having this upcoming service there also! More information will continue to roll out through our Social Media platforms to keep you up to date. You can continue to find information on this subject going forward here. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and we hope to be able to engage with you from our cars!

This past week we ended up trying something new, something that we didn’t know how everything would go - we decided to reach out to the Greenwood Drive-In theater and see if they would be willing to host our Gathering. They were thrilled to be able to provide the space, so thankful in fact, that we will also be having services there until further notice! Again, this will be done specifically in-line with social distancing measures in places, from our cars but still gathered together!

In light of everything going on, Pastor Robbie boldly proclaimed some very outright and powerful truths from Scripture - Hope Has A Name church! During all of the chaos and turmoil that is going on around us, we know that the God of our world has everything under control, that nothing escapes His view and mind! Ps. Robbie began by saying, ‘Listen, just because we're practicing social distancing doesn't mean that we're practicing spiritual distancing. Although we are not touching physically, how many of you know that today we're gonna connect spiritually because of the power of God's Word and presence?! And, hey church, here's the good news about our God - while we practice social distancing, the worse it gets for us - the closer God gets to us. The Bible says he's close to the brokenhearted, the psalmist David said if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. You cannot get away from God's love, he is close no matter what season you are in. And so maybe you’re here today and you’re afraid, you’re nervous, you’re anxious about this pandemic. I want you to hear me say this: God is near. Your hope should be in him, and with that hope comes a peace that passes all understanding. Hope is attainable, peace is attainable - not just attainable, but readily available.’

‘I am convinced that hope is something that we all need right now. But what does Hope mean, seems like a broad word that could mean different things to different people. It’s a word we throw around too casually, honestly, and the true essence of the word gets lost. So, let’s start with what we don’t mean. Hope is not “I hope my favorite restaurant doesn’t close down during all of this” or “I hope the MLB still gets to have a season.” Hope is not “Will the kids get to go back to school this semester? I hope so.” That is biting your nails waiting to see how things play out and anticipating a chance they will work out. That’s not hope church, that’s wishful thinking.

So what IS hope? Here’s my definition: hope is an expectation based on the truth and promises of God. Hope is, as one writer put it, not a “hope so” but a “know-so.” Hope is knowing there’s peace before you while circumstances currently wreck you. Hope is knowing deliverance is coming when your circumstances suggest it never will. Hope is knowing that although your tears are flowing, your laughter is coming. You see, Hope is always linked to faith. And true hope and real faith are always rooted in God. Hope, true hope, living/breathing hope, biblical hope, is always grounded in God—His ways, His promises—and trusting God and His ways and promises despite the circumstances we’re in. Despite the pandemic. Despite the uncertainty.’

Pastor Robbie speaks out of 1 Peter 1:1-7 (ESV) which has to do with some difficult things going on in the ancient world, particularly with the Christian communities! Read this portion of Scripture in light of the rest of this article.

‘Those of you that attend Legacy City know that I love teaching exegetically, and it takes every ounce of self-control to not go off target here, so I’ll skip some of the juicy bits in order to focus on our topic for today. Peter starts by telling us who he is, he defines his audience. But what’s really at the heart of Peter’s first words here?...I’ll answer, it’s this: YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN! Maybe this is a Truth you needed to hear!’

‘Verse 3 talks about not just hope, but a living hope the Word says. A hope that is full of life, a hope of immortality, a hope of eternity spent with God, a hope whose root is found in the grave of Christ, the empty grave from which he has risen and which is the assurance that because He has risen, you also shall rise. Because of Jesus, we have a past, present, and future hope.’

Living hope keeps our hearts in that world while our lives are in this one. Living hope that’s convinced that laughter is coming though tears are flowing. How do you keep your heart in that world and in that Truth? By keeping your heart’s eye on something we read earlier: 1 Peter 1:4-5 inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Focus on eternal things, church. Focus on the joy set before you. Focus on the God who is guarding you with his power through faith. Focus on HOPE. Why? Because we know-so. Salvation isn’t just wishful thinking, it’s truth. Deliverance isn’t just “I’d like this to happen”, it’s as if it already has happened, that’s how much we can count on God. That’s why we have Hope, because we know that Jesus Christ died for us as a fulfillment of God’s promises. Jesus became our hope! In the good times and the bad, our Hope has a name. In the midst of your trials, your hope has a name. During however long this coronavirus stuff lasts, our hope has a name and we shout it at the top of our lungs, Jesus!!!

SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

Hope Has A Name: ‘More precious than anything or anyone in this life, more precious than any experience in this life, any financial wealth, fame, and security in this life, is born-again faith that leads to living hope.’
‘Hope is knowing there’s peace before you while circumstances currently wreck you. Hope is knowing deliverance is coming when your circumstances suggest it never will. Hope is knowing that although your tears are flowing, your laughter is coming.’
YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN! - Our Staff and Elders are praying for each and every one of you; reach out if you’re in need!
‘Focus on eternal things, church. Focus on the joy set before you. Focus on the God who is guarding you with his power through faith. Focus on HOPE'.’

If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD

Join us next Sunday as we return to the Drive-In Movie Theater for our Gathering!

We hope that you and your family are well, and know that You Are Loved!

Guest User 3/17/20 Guest User 3/17/20

4XL - 4 Sermons, 4 Leaders

This week we heard from four different young leaders in our church community sharing what message(s) God laid on their hearts!

Our staff and elders hope that all of you are doing well during these very uncertain times of the COVID-19 health crisis - we were so glad to be able to meet with you in-person in the theater this past week, however, for the time being, our services will be held online only until further notice. More information will continue to roll out through our Social Media platforms to keep you up to date on where this stream will be held and the conditions therein. You can continue to find information on this subject going forward here. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and we hope to be able to engage with you in our upcoming live-stream!

This past week we had four young adult leaders in our church community come and teach on what the Lord was guiding them to share with us all: Drew Unrue, our Assimilation and Communications Intern; Jordan Collins, our Worship Pastor; Jordan Kirby, a Seminary Student, and Drummer on our Worship Team; Jacob Bonetti, our Legacy Youth Intern.

Drew spoke about the need for the Fear of the Lord in our lives, saying ‘Habakkuk’s intention was to show us that our questioning and knowing has a limit – that while we seek, the fear of the Lord is the beginning and end of all purposeful wisdom as it applies to our lives here on earth.’ Speaking out of the first and third chapters of the book of Habakkuk, we see Drew mention specifically that while Habakkuk is asking very difficult questions about how God engages with our world, we must come to understand our need for a reverent fear of the Lord in our world. Even in the face of this righteous fear, we know that God is love (1 John 4:7), and we see this ending resolution that Habakkuk declares at the end of his book saying in Hab. 3:17-18 ‘Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.’

Jordan Collins spoke about an analogy using a simple glass of water, but revealed a very important concept about how we react to various situations in our lives. ‘You fill a glass up with water, knock it over, and there’s water on the floor. Why is water on the floor? Because you knocked over the glass? No. Because there was water in the glass.’ We see this played out in Matthew 15:18 saying, ‘Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.’ Jordan continued saying, ‘ The world encourages us to merely better our reactions by taking steps of positive behavior when faced with difficult emotional situations where we may react in a bad way (take deep breaths, go for a long walk, take a cold shower, slow down). All of these means are healthy things for sure but they ultimately only solve the surface level issues. The symptoms. But because we are believers we follow Christ’s example, which is to deal with the heart. Jordan concluded with a great and convicting reminder leaving us with, ‘Daily put to death what is earthly in you and put on love and heavenly traits. Remove the dirty water from your glass and instead fill it with clean and pure and God-honoring water. That way, when difficulties show up, your only option is to pour out what is right. Let worshiping our God, who is worthy of all honor and all praise, be the way that you transform and change the way that you react. You Spill what you Fill so let Christ and Christ alone be what is inside of you and what pours out of you.

Jordan Kirby spoke out of the book of Esther, describing a good bit of the story that surrounded the people of Israel being saved through the actions of an orphan girl who rose up to the position of Queen in the kingdom of Persia. As we watch the story unfold, we see Esther being taken by her uncle Mordecai, and she eventually finds favor with the King, allowing her to rise to the position of Queen. With events going on between Mordecai and a high official named Haman the people of Israel are threatened with slaughter - when Mordecai prompts Esther with this, Jordan describes, ‘Mordecai approaches Esther stating that, ‘The King is going to find out that you’re a Jew, you may as well at least try and do something about it - you could die then, or die later, but who’s to say that God has not placed you in this position to be able to save us?’ This story speaks directly to the various events that take place for the sake of the people of God that are in God’s control, which are influenced by God’s sovereignty in our world. God is famously never mentioned in this book of Scripture, yet the events that continue to come about show us that God has a hand in every thing going on as it concerns His covenant people. No matter what threat we are facing, like the global pandemic right now - God is in control.

Jacob addresses Worship, Prayer, and the Word when we consider and come to terms with our Awe of God. Jacob began by saying, ‘The thing that’s cool about awe-inspiring things is that often, humans will have some sort of reaction to something that produces awe. For example, my dad and I love to look at stars. It is truly awe-inspiring to see the vastness of the sky. What did people do in response, we decided that we want to explore it and we have.’ This is my challenge, church: Do we live in awe of God and if we did, what about our lives or church would look differently? Concerning worship Jacob states ‘Church, when we are in awe of God, our worship looks different. Obviously worship is not just song, it is all that we do which glorifies God, but church, as we worship as a body, if we took a moment to reflect on who God is according to His Word, do you think our worship would look differently? Concerning Prayer, ‘So I ask if we are truly in awe of God and his power and his ability to already know us, why is prayer often one of the later things on our minds when something good or bad happens? Why do we treat prayer as some sort of ritualistic exercise when it is an opportunity to communicate with the awe-inspiring God who has saved us, knows us, and delights to hear our requests!?!’ Concerning the Word, ‘Personally, I believe that the Word of God is inerrant. That means that I believe every Word in the Bible can be read as if God is speaking directly to us. That means when I read in John 3:16 “for God so loved the World,” that means that God is saying that he loves the world. If we are in awe of God, why would we not want to hear what He has to say?’ Jacob concludes by challenging us if we would agree with his declaration, ‘I believe that all three areas (and the rest of our lives) are greatly impacted by our view of God. I believe that if we were in awe of Him, then our lives, and this time, would look radically different.’ - Do we look radical when it comes to these things as a church community?

Each 10 min. Sermon is available on Spotify and Apple Music - check them out via the links below!

SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

Drew Unrue: Coming out of Habakkuk 1 & 3 - The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and what we need to lean into during difficult times or with difficult questions.
Jordan Collins: Coming out of Matthew 15:18 - Let worshiping our God, who is worthy of all honor and all praise, be the way that you transform and change the way that you react. You Spill what you Fill so let Christ and Christ alone be what is inside of you and what pours out of you.
Jordan Kirby: Coming out of Esther - No matter what threat we are facing, like the global pandemic right now - God is in control.
Jacob Bonetti: Coming out of Psalm 95 - Ultimately, I believe that if we constantly viewed God as the splendid, amazing, God that He is, our lives would look vastly different, including mine. So church, instead of living our lives as the world tells us (in light of who we are and our identity) let us live and participate in this body in light of who God is.

If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD

Join us next Sunday as we go Live Online for Legacy City Church’s first Online Service!

We hope that you and your family are well, and know that You Are Loved!

Guest User 3/11/20 Guest User 3/11/20

We Can Do Great Things Together

This week we heard Elder Adam Weyer speak about the needed teamwork of those in the Church for the sake of the Kingdom!

This past Sunday, Elder spoke a one-off message surrounding the needed sense of teamwork in the Kingdom of God for the Mission of God. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!

Adam began by saying, ‘Last week, we heard from our strategic partners, who are part of our team and His team and this morning, I pray that we learn how important it is to be a part of both of those teams as well. Because you see, this whole church thing doesn’t work because of Robbie, or Jordan, or the rest of the church staff, it works, because we work as a team. In fact, we are called to work as a team. All throughout Scripture, this idea of working together is woven throughout – Moses, Noah, David, Paul, and even Jesus had a team. None of them went at it alone. They all knew the importance of having others around them. The importance of working together toward a common goal and that is what we are called to do as Legacy City and as the Church. We can’t do His work without the person sitting next to you or the person in the row in front of and behind you.’

Adam goes through several different major quotes from famous figures that speak to the capacity for us to be able to assist those around us. The Kingdom of God needs many different people to fulfill all of the different things that are needed to provide and love people properly.

‘And this idea isn’t only relegated to locker rooms before a game, John 3:30 says, “He must become greater: I must become less”. These were the words of John the Baptist when settling a dispute about baptism. In order for any team to be successful, be that athletic, corporate, or even Legacy City, I must think less of myself and more of Him. I must allow myself to reflect Him. And then and only then, will this church be as successful and fruitful as we are called to be. But as I reflect on successful teams that I’ve been on, success not only occurs because of this idea of making myself less important than the team as a whole, but also because people understood their roles. The members of the team understood that they didn’t have all of the answers and that others on the team had strengths that they didn’t have. As the world-famous philosopher Rocky Balboa once said, “You got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps.” And this idea of roles isn’t new, let’s look way back in the book of Numbers and see how God believed in this idea as well.’

‘Listen to what Vince Lombardi told his Green Bay Packers, one of the most successful NFL teams in the 60’s and 70’s, “Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” And I would add this is what makes a church work. This is the only way that our church, Legacy City, is going to work. Everyone in this room is committed to the group effort of spreading His name throughout Greenwood and the surrounding communities. And how do we do this? Scripture lays it out pretty clearly in Acts 2: 44-47, 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” The church worked together. They were a team.’

‘Listen to this quote by Mother Teresa, “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” Not just good things, but great things. But we must rely on each other. And why this sounds so easy to do, it isn’t. I started to think to myself why is this so hard to do? And it’s because pride doesn’t want us to admit that we don’t know how to do something. Pride stops us from asking for help when we need it. Pride blinds us to our need for help.’

‘Listen to what Phil Jackson has to say about that, “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” The same thing is true with Legacy City. We all have been given gifts to use and need to rely on those gifts and learn to rely on others who have gifts we don’t have. He gives us different gifts. No one in this room doesn’t have a gift that is supposed to be being used as a part of the team of Legacy City. God did not pass you over in the gift line before you were born. If you think you don’t have one, I encourage you to pray and ask for discernment and revelation because we all do. And when you allow yourself to use your God-given gift, it gets woven into the beautiful thing called Legacy City and He uses you as part of His Church. And we can’t be jealous of the gifts that other people have. For instance, I can’t and you don’t want me to do what Jordan does every Sunday or attempt to be artistic in any way. And if I allowed myself to reflect on what I can’t do, instead of what God gifted me to do, I miss opportunities to use those gifts to advance His Kingdom. So focus on what you have because God created the Church and our church to be diverse.’

‘We are all called to make the church stronger by using our gifts. When you don’t, it just weakens His Church and our church. If you are gifted with the ability to work with kids and you don’t volunteer to help with Legacy Kids, you are weakening the church. If you are gifted with the skill to build things and you don’t volunteer at Habitat, you are weakening the church. If you are gifted with the skills of being a people person and you don’t volunteer on the Host team, you are weakening the church. God has put everyone in this room here for a purpose. He has a plan for you to strengthen this church and His Church, you can’t ignore that plan. Imagine if Jesus ignored the plan? Imagine if Moses ignored the plan? Imagine if Paul ignored the plan? His plan is perfect. Be a part of it.’

‘Like we learned last week, there are organizations in this community that are also ForGreenwood. And we need to continue to support these organizations by using the talents that God has placed in this church through His people. Again, no one is here by mistake. He knew that you would be here this morning and you are here for a reason. As Herb Brooks said when addressing the 1980 US Hockey team before the semi-final match in the Olympics, “Great moments are born from great opportunity.” Every day God gives us opportunities for greatness. He gives us opportunities to use the talents He’s given you as a part of His team for greatness. Don’t miss these opportunities.’

SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

We Can Do Great Things Together: ‘Discover your talent and be a part of the team. Because when you make that choice, greatness occurs. Not our greatness but His greatness.’
Main Scripture Passages: Acts 2: 44-47; 1
Corinthians 12:7-27
Main Quote 1: “Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” – Vince Lombardi
Main Quote 2: “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” – Mother Teresa
Main Quote 3: “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson

If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD

Join us next Sunday as we hear from Four Young Leaders in the Church about what God has laid on their hearts to teach on!

We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!

Guest User 2/25/20 Guest User 2/25/20

Grace Bomb: Grace Bombing a Hard Heart

This week we heard Pastor Robbie speak about the numerous Grace Bombs found throughout the Book of Jonah!

This past Sunday, Pastor Robbie brought us a word from the Book of Jonah and the extents that God went to Grace Bomb the people of Nineveh in spite of Jonah’s reluctance. Even in the face of a people that lived in absolute opposition to God, He desires to see them loved and brought into right relationship with Himself. We have concluded our Grace Bomb series and just in case anyone is joining us for the first time, for even more info than what we will be discussing here, you can find more information at their website here. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!

Before getting into the main passages we would be discussing which came specifically out of the Book of Jonah, Pastor Robbie had some powerful words for that we may have considered saying,

“We believe that Grace Built People Grace Bomb People, so this doesn’t end here today, and for some of us, it’s only just the beginning. And if you’re just joining us on this Grace Bomb journey, don’t worry, I’ll catch you up with where we have been and where we are going in just a moment. But I want to start with some amazing Grace Bomb stories. And to echo what I said last week, please please share those stories, share them now, share them later when they happen, and please, share them often! Someone told me this week that they felt weird sharing the story and essentially taking credit or receiving recognition for Grace Bombing someone - I get that, but as long as we have the understanding that it isn’t about us specifically, but is about us encouraging others. And I have biblical support for that: Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. Your act of love and generosity could be the catalyst that encourages someone else to move with the Holy Spirit. The reaction that you get from a Grace Bomb could be the motivation for someone to step out of their comfort zone and step into obedience in the Lord!”

The Book of Jonah serves as a very specific reminder that the people that we are not inclined to love are the people that God is seeking to love and Grace Bomb no matter what we think of the situation! God called Jonah to preach to Nineveh, the capital city of the nation of Assyria, one of the greatest enemies of Israel. Jonah has made his prophetic living preaching against these people. Jonah was horrified that God wanted Him to now preach to the Ninevites. Stories were told that when they fought, they killed every person, including children. Jonah viewed people differently than God viewed people. And isn’t that the case with us? When we think about certain people, maybe even whole people groups like Jonah, do we think that they deserve the grace of God? Do we think about people the same way that God does, with love and hope and mercy and grace? Or maybe we’re fine with them receiving grace, but we just don’t want to be the ones to give it. So like Jonah, we run away. We retreat to our houses, to our cozy jobs, to our comfortable friend groups, all of the while, God is calling us to take Grace the Ninevites living next door, around the block, across the railroad tracks...Who was Jonah, and who are we, to be the deciders as to who receives the grace that we were freely given in the first place?!

The main passage(s) of Scripture surrounds the entire Book of Jonah, and Pastor Robbie goes through each chapter thoroughly with very specific applications - way too much to be able to cover here in this post; we encourage you to go and listen to the Podcast for this Sermon to get all of the great breakdown Pastor Robbie gives!

Essentially Jonah resists God’s call on his life to go and prophesy to the people of Nineveh by trying to escape to Tarshish - he is humbled before God for the error of His ways and concedes to his task, heading back to Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-3:2). During this section we see God humbling Jonah to realize the foolishness of trying to escape what mission he has been given by a sovereign and holy God.

The last two chapters deal with Jonah still reluctantly going to prophesy to the people of Nineveh to turn from their evil ways, and their soften hearts respond positively to this message! Jonah should be joyous and celebratory over the Grace and Love that has been shown to the people of Nineveh but instead throw a temper-tantrum because He didn’t want them to be made righteous. God then uses a plant with its life-giving shade to Jonah and he is upset when God takes it away from him; this is used as a lesson to show Jonah that he is more concerned about the life of a plant than the 120,000 people who found redemption through God’s moving through Jonah (Jonah 3:3-4:11).

Pastor Robbie concludes the message with a convicting thought for each and every one of us saying,

“God loves lost people, even the violent people of Nineveh. He’s saying “Jonah, people are more important than your plant,” and this should be so clear to him, and to us! - he’s mourning a plant more than lost souls! Why? because as I said in the beginning, he doesn’t see people the way that God sees people. God is for the least, the last, and the lost and there is nobody too far gone to receive his free grace. So, there’s this cliffhanger ending, where we don’t get to see the full redemptive outcome in Jonah’s life - kinda leaves us thinking: Will we love who God loves? Will we demonstrate this in not holding back Grace Bombing anyone as the Lord leads - even those we may feel hard-hearted towards? Is having a hardened-heart a barrier in moving forward in our Grace Bombing journey?”

We must consider the conditions fo our hearts today. Are we like Jonah worried about something trivial, while there are thousands of people in our community that need to experience the Love of God? We are able to make an impact church! Legacy City Church is committed to impacting the City of Greenwood as we will hear from many of our Strategic Partners this upcoming week - we hope to see you there!

SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS

Grace Bomb: Grace Bombing a Hard Heart - The Book of Jonah serves as a very specific reminder that the people that we are not inclined to love are the people that God is seeking to love and Grace Bomb no matter what we think of the situation!
Main Scripture Verses - Jonah 1-4
Jonah Doesn’t See People the Way God Sees People - God sees each and every person in the world as someone worthy of Love, and are those who He desires to know on a personal relationship level; Jonah didn’t, he thought he knew which people should and should not receive God’s Love.
Do We See People Like God, or Like Jonah? - We see that God is concerned very much with how we view other people - we all have to potential to be the Jonah we see in chapter 3; God desires to use our obedience to mighty things in our world. Are you ready to join Him?

If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.

To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:

Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD

Join us next Sunday as we hear from our For Greenwood partners, non-profits in our community seeking to join with YOU in helping provide for much-needed services in our City!

We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!

LEGACY CITY CHURCH