1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:04,680 My friends, in light of that promise that that wish that we 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:07,520 just made that prayer, why don't you stand for the hearing of the 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,000 word of the Lord? Peter writes. 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,320 We do not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,760 to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we 6 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:22,800 were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:27,680 For when we received honor and glory from God the Father, and 8 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:31,560 the voice was born to Him by the majestic glory, this is my 9 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:33,600 beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. 10 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:37,880 We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven, for we 11 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:40,920 were with Him on the holy mountain, and we have the 12 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:44,920 prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you do well 13 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,960 to pay attention as to a lamp shining in the dark place until 14 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,280 the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 15 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,400 Knowing this. First of all, that no prophecy 16 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,040 of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. 17 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,080 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but 18 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,720 men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy 19 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,200 Spirit. And this is the word of the 20 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:10,160 Lord. Thanks be to God. 21 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:14,040 Lord, great grant to us now to not just hear your word, but to 22 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,400 be changed and transformed by it that it's possible for Lord. 23 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,560 For as your Scripture has been inspired by You and written, 24 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,760 given to us by the Holy Spirit, so we trust that Your Holy 25 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,400 Spirit, now indwelling us, would inform us and instruct us in the 26 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:29,920 ways in which we should go through. 27 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:31,800 Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen. 28 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:37,920 Please be seated 1st. I want to give a quick thank you 29 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,840 to the congregation for allowing Kelly and I to be gone last 30 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,120 week. We took a quick trip and enjoyed 31 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,560 ourselves very much so did some hiking out in some of the 32 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:47,880 national parks. So thank you again for the 33 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,040 graciousness of the congregation in terms of giving us the time 34 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,040 away to do that. Over the past week or so I was 35 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:58,520 involved in a four part meeting. There was it was a long meeting 36 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:00,040 and there were four different sections. 37 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,120 I had to move from 4 different rooms and in each room I had to 38 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,600 introduce myself. And the first time I introduced 39 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:07,360 myself, it was just kind of automatic. 40 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,160 I just kind of, I wasn't thinking about it and I just 41 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,760 kind of introduced myself kind of the way you would do so. 42 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:16,000 But by the time I had to do it the fourth time, I thought 43 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,400 through a little bit, hey, what do I actually want to say about 44 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:21,400 myself? What, what, not just the knee 45 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,160 jerk reaction, this is who I am, but how do I actually want to 46 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,640 express who I am? So I gave some thought to it and 47 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:29,640 it came across a lot more clearly. 48 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:31,120 It had some more force behind it. 49 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,480 Just my matter of introducing myself because I had to do it 50 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:36,960 four different times. Well, over the past two or three 51 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:41,240 years, Hebron Church has spent a lot of time thinking through how 52 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,400 we want to introduce ourselves. Who are we as a people? 53 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,760 Who are we as a congregation, as a particular expression of God's 54 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:51,720 Kingdom here in this place? How do we think of ourselves? 55 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,400 And So what I want to do over the next 810 weeks together is I 56 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,120 want to look at a description that I have written about who 57 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,000 the church is. Well, this is what Hebron is. 58 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,320 This is how I want to think of myself, how I want us to think 59 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,600 of ourselves as we introduce ourselves to people. 60 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,800 Hey, this is what Hebron is. And be able to give a quick 61 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,200 little definition, a quick little description. 62 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,040 Now that's kind of what I, we're going to do over the next couple 63 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,880 weeks is take one part of that description each week and kind 64 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:24,880 of say, look, This is why I think this is an important way 65 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,520 of thinking about us. Now we're doing that for a 66 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,760 couple of reasons, 2 primary ones, 1 is that I hope to remind 67 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,720 us of who we are. Many of you have been involved 68 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:37,560 in Heaven Church for a long period of time. 69 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:40,760 And a lot of these things, I hope are going to think be 70 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:45,200 statements or distinctions about who we are as a church that 71 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,760 you're going to be able to say, yeah, I recognize that in us. 72 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,360 That's who we are there. I want to remind us about who we 73 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,560 are at this point. But additionally, I also want to 74 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:58,400 remind us of who we aspire to be because they're going to be some 75 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:00,560 of these things that we talked about that you're going to be 76 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:02,680 able to say, yeah, I kind of see that. 77 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:04,640 But boy, we could do a whole lot better. 78 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:09,040 I believe that in so many ways we could do a whole lot better. 79 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:14,600 And so this description that I have is both descriptive of who 80 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,120 we are, but I think it's also descriptive of who we want to 81 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:20,959 be. So here's the definition or 82 00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:25,160 here's a a description of Hebron Church that I think that we're 83 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:27,280 going to look at over the next couple of weeks together. 84 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:32,160 Hebron Church is a biblically based, Christ centered community 85 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:36,400 of disciples, A reformed classically evangelical church 86 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,520 in the Presbyterian tradition, worshipping, growing and serving 87 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:42,400 Christ in the East Hills of Pittsburgh. 88 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,320 Hebron Church is a biblically based, Christ centered community 89 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,840 of disciples, A reformed classically evangelical church 90 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:54,360 in the Presbyterian tradition, worshipping, growing and serving 91 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,200 Christ in the East Hills of Pittsburgh. 92 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:01,240 Now let me be clear that that is not all that we are. 93 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:03,640 That definition is not comprehensive. 94 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,800 It is highlighting particular ideas that I think that we can't 95 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,080 let go of. But I don't say anything there 96 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,320 about our youth ministry. I don't say anything in that 97 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:17,040 definition about our global connections, in the global focus 98 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:19,440 that we have, an intention that we have. 99 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,280 I don't say anything there about our fellowship, our love and our 100 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:24,600 grace for one another. I don't say anything about our 101 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,800 Donuts that follow after worship each week. 102 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,640 There are many things that are not spoken of in this tech in in 103 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,120 this little description. And I realize that. 104 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,800 But what I have highlighted, I think are some key components, 105 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:42,000 key ideas that will help us in this new stage as we are moving 106 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,000 into a new stage of life together as a body. 107 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,080 We're moving into a new denomination. 108 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,120 We're moving into a new school year. 109 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,720 We're moving into a new beginning with a lot of 110 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,520 ministries. I want you to move into a new 111 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:58,120 stage of commitment, both to the congregation here, to the 112 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,440 church, but ultimately to our Lord, and a new faithful 113 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:03,840 decision about what to do with your life. 114 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:07,280 And I think that part of that is going to be helpful if we know 115 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:10,920 exactly who we are, if we have a good idea of what you're going 116 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,600 to experience as you're part of this community. 117 00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:15,720 I want you to experience the fellowship. 118 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:17,080 I want you to experience the love. 119 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:18,680 I want you to experience the doughnuts. 120 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:21,560 I want you to experience all the joys of being part of Heaven 121 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,520 Church. But these characteristics, the 122 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,200 ones that I just ran through, I believe are essential to our 123 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:30,200 understanding. And So what we're going to do 124 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:32,200 over the next couple of weeks is that we're going to take one 125 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,240 each week and we're going to talk about it and basically say, 126 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,800 why is it? What is it and why is it 127 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,760 important for Heaven Church to think of itself very consciously 128 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:45,600 that we are a biblically based, Christ centered community of 129 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:50,120 disciples, Reformed, classically evangelical church in the 130 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,080 Presbyterian tradition? I want us to thank each piece of 131 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:55,880 those things. Why is it important for us as we 132 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,640 think about who we are and specifically, of course, above 133 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:04,880 all else, how does this arise? How does our identity arise out 134 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,360 of our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ? 135 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,680 How is it reflected in the Scriptures itself that that's 136 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,760 what we are doing? So we are starting today with 137 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,720 that very first one. Hebron is a biblically based 138 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,560 community of disciples. We're a biblically based church. 139 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,760 I need to make a quick caveat here for a second so that you 140 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:29,680 don't get thrown off every church to some extent, no matter 141 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,720 what what its theological leanings across the board. 142 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,840 Every church to some extent is biblically based. 143 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:39,400 The Bible is our source of understanding of who Jesus 144 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,680 Christ is a revelation of God. And any church that has any 145 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,400 connection to history throughout the time recognizes that 146 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,520 throughout history, the church has always been, has always 147 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,680 evolved. His has grown in its connection 148 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:54,120 and understanding of the Scriptures. 149 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:56,320 Now there are different understandings of the Scriptures 150 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:00,440 and what the Bible means to the church, but every church to some 151 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:02,360 extent is connected to the Scriptures. 152 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:06,440 When we say here at Hebron that we are biblically based church, 153 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:10,320 we're identifying particular characteristics or highlighting 154 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:14,880 particular characteristics, and I want to hit on just three of 155 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:19,800 them today, the nature of the Bible, the purpose and the 156 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,760 function of the Bible. And then thirdly, the authority 157 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:28,120 of the Bible, the nature of the Bible, the purpose of the Bible 158 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,520 and the authority of the Bible. I think that the way in which we 159 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:35,720 talk here at Hebron Church about being a biblically based church, 160 00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:39,280 what we are talking about is some characteristics that hit on 161 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:42,480 those three ideas. Now the first one is this the 162 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:47,560 nature of the Bible again, rarely do you run across 163 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:50,240 somebody that has a very dismissive view of the Bible. 164 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:53,840 You do run across, you know, Karl Marx or somebody a lie on 165 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,720 those lines that understands the Bible is, you know, pack of 166 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,400 lies, etcetera, or an expression of the oppressor upon the 167 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:03,400 oppressed. And there are folks that 168 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,680 understand it is a book of myths or something along those lines. 169 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:10,040 I'm, I'm not diminishing those, but within the church community, 170 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,680 within the Christian community as a whole, by and large, most 171 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:16,600 people have some sort of an appreciation for the Scriptures. 172 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:19,560 They recognize, for instance, that the Scriptures do a great 173 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:23,600 job of telling us about the historical development of the 174 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:25,720 religious belief of the Israelite people. 175 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,720 The Israelite people is documented their religious 176 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,440 traditions for about 2000 years. It's a wonderful book that kind 177 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:37,000 of details and shows that other people are very caught up by the 178 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,480 fact that it's a very moving and inspiring witness to what God 179 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:43,480 does. And so they are captured by, for 180 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:48,280 instance, Paul's, sorry, David's descriptions in the Psalms that 181 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,720 talks about his inner experiences with God. 182 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,520 And it's kind of like reading a biography of someone's 183 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,240 interactions with their Lord. And the Bible kind of 184 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,680 articulates that there are various views of the nature of 185 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:01,960 the Scripture that it's a witness. 186 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,280 It's it's a witness to what God does. 187 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:08,480 What we understand here at Heaven Church and what we are 188 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:12,080 going to consistently operate under is the notion that this is 189 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:16,320 a belief is the teachings that the Scripture is the word of 190 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,640 God. It doesn't simply contain the 191 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:22,320 word of God. It doesn't point to the word of 192 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,200 God. It doesn't tell us a little bit 193 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,440 about the word of God. Rather, the Scripture is the 194 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:32,360 word of God. It's not that the Scripture 195 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:38,480 somehow comes from from from ourselves or from humanity or 196 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,280 from our understanding. And it tells us a little bit 197 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:44,320 about our interactions with God. You can read Marvelous. 198 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,280 I read a couple of interviews with from Mother Teresa over the 199 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:53,240 past couple of weeks and you're inspired, you're motivated, 200 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:55,880 you're moved. You can, you can hear the Lord 201 00:10:55,880 --> 00:11:00,280 speaking and you can, you can feel the grip of the Lord in my 202 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:04,720 in my heart as I was reading these these interviews with 203 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,680 Mother Teresa. But that's not the word of God. 204 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:11,280 The Word of God is that this scripture, when we talk about 205 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,120 the Scriptures, when we hold up the Bible, we are not saying 206 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:18,440 that this is that this is a word about God. 207 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:21,520 We are saying that this is the word of God. 208 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,840 This is the word from God. Now I don't have time and that's 209 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,520 the point of our gathering together is not to give you an 210 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,880 apologetics lecture. An apologetics lecture would 211 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,360 simply be 1 where I would try to demonstrate from the Scriptures 212 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:38,080 and from our reason that it is reasonable, it makes sense for 213 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:40,920 us to understand this indeed as a word of God. 214 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,680 I am simply stating today that that is the understanding and 215 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:48,040 the belief of Heaven Church. If we are going to be a body 216 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,600 together, we collectively are going to experience the 217 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:55,560 scriptures as God's word. Doesn't mean everybody in the 218 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:57,680 room here believes. That doesn't mean that everybody 219 00:11:57,680 --> 00:11:59,840 has the same view of the Bible that I do. 220 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,680 But the leadership of the church and what you're going to hear 221 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:04,960 through our ministries, what you're going to hear through 222 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:08,160 everything that we take do together as a body is hey, 223 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:12,600 scriptures are God's word. And as such, this is secondly, 224 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,000 it has a certain purpose. The scripture is the ultimate 225 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:21,280 source of true knowledge, the ultimate source of all true 226 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:23,880 knowledge. Now how do you learn something? 227 00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:26,720 You learn things by your experience. 228 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:28,600 Most of us learn things by experience. 229 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:30,240 You know why? Why do you know not to shut the 230 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:33,520 your fingers in the car door? Because you've had it done once 231 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,280 or twice, you know, you learn not to do that again. 232 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,640 You learn from our parents. We learn from our teachers. 233 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:41,600 We learn from the books that we read. 234 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:44,920 We learn from our society and friends that are around us. 235 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:47,960 We learn from our reason, our own understanding. 236 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,080 All of these things are sources of information. 237 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,160 They're sources of knowledge for us is how we get to know the 238 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,640 world around us is how we get to know the things that are 239 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:58,640 important to us. It's how we get to know our God, 240 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:00,800 in part through the teachings that we get. 241 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:05,360 A lot of you, fortunately, are unfortunately end up hearing and 242 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:09,080 learning about your faith from me and from the rest of the 243 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,640 leadership here at Heaven Church or from a Bible study leader. 244 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:14,000 What do all of those things have in common? 245 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:19,280 Usually by time somebody's four or five years old, they realize 246 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:21,800 that their parents make mistakes. 247 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:25,600 By the time they're teenagers, they realize that their teachers 248 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:28,520 can be wrong. And by the time they get to 249 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,920 college, hopefully they've learned that their friends can 250 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,520 be wrong. And if they get to a certain 251 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:38,240 level of maturity, people realize that their own heads and 252 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:42,960 their own hearts can be wrong. All these things can be wrong, 253 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:44,840 can lead you in the wrong direction. 254 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,160 And this is the beauty of the Scriptures being the Word of 255 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:50,640 God. For we have a ultimate, 256 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:55,240 faithful, infallible, true source of knowledge. 257 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,800 What the Bible tells us we know to be true. 258 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:01,800 I've said this, I've told this story in the past, and it was 259 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:04,680 clearly an informative decision. You guys are in trouble because 260 00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:07,520 the clock's not up somewhere. So I'm just going to keep going 261 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:12,600 and going and going, OK. This experience was impactful in 262 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,160 my life. And so it, it shows itself. 263 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,520 When I was in campus ministry, I was sharing the gospel with a 264 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,880 young woman and she said, well, I believe God is a big cat. 265 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:25,800 And I said, you believe God is like a big cat? 266 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:29,800 No, he is a big cat. You mean God has cat like 267 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,040 qualities? No, he's a big cat. 268 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:37,040 Big whiskers, nose, ears. And of course I said, where did 269 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:40,080 you get such an idea? She says, well, that's just what 270 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,840 I believe from in here. And she taps her heart. 271 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:48,760 And that's where so many of us find our ideas of what we're 272 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,200 going to follow, what we're going to believe is true one way 273 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,800 or the other. And Hebron Church stands here 274 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:56,800 and says that's not what we understand. 275 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,440 We understand the Scriptures as a source of our knowledge. 276 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:04,400 Now, you might think it's funny that there would be a young 277 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:06,720 woman, 20, some year old woman that would actually believe 278 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,240 God's a cat based on, you know, big whiskers and everything 279 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:14,360 based on her own heart. But that's so often what we do, 280 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:18,720 the influence that we gather, the people that shape our 281 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:24,080 thinking and our understanding. Podcasters, influential 282 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:30,120 political figures, the government, our friends, our 283 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,520 family members. Every one of those things can be 284 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:36,240 a good influence and they can provide good insight. 285 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,680 I'm not denying any of those things, but every one of them 286 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:43,080 can be wrong. What we have when we proclaim 287 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:45,640 that Hebron Church is a biblically based community of 288 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:49,160 disciples is that we are articulating that we hold 289 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:53,960 passionately to something that we know to be true. 290 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,960 And So what the Scriptures do is that they provide a framework, 291 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:01,640 They provide a picture. They provide, in philosophical 292 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,280 terms, a worldview. This is the way God sees. 293 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:10,800 This is the way God sees the world, not through a podcast, 294 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,760 not through a wonderful speaker that you trust explicitly, not 295 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:18,000 through your pastor, not through, but through the 296 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,120 Scriptures is where God says, here is my understanding of the 297 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:23,560 world, God, this is the way I created the world. 298 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:26,400 This is way I redeem the world so that you can see it like 299 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,960 this. Our job as believers is to learn 300 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:33,800 what the Lord is teaching us so that we are shaped, so that we 301 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:35,760 are taking the inputs from the world. 302 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:40,440 We're taking this political description description. 303 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:44,160 We're taking this political position. 304 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:45,920 There you go. And we're trying to say we're 305 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,080 not shaping and molding our world to it. 306 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:53,120 We are shaping and molding that view so that it fits 307 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:56,840 appropriately under God's position, under his worldview, 308 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:01,000 under his understanding. And we only do this by holding 309 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,920 passionately and maintaining the Scriptures as the authority of 310 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:06,880 God's Word. And that's the third 311 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:09,920 understanding. The 1st is good, it is God's 312 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:11,440 Word. That's the nature of Scripture. 313 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:15,839 The second is that this purpose is to communicate truth to us. 314 00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:18,880 And then thirdly, it comes so with authority. 315 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,880 Now, what is authority? I, I was told as a kid that I 316 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:26,319 was, that I was in authority, that I pushed the boundaries, 317 00:17:26,319 --> 00:17:28,240 that I struggled against authority and that kind of 318 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:29,720 stuff. And I kind of remember one of 319 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,080 those ideas that my mom would say, OK, here's the line, don't 320 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:34,360 cross it. And in no time I was right up to 321 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:38,320 it. Then I had my toes over it and I 322 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,840 had half my foot over there. Then I put my one leg over the 323 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:43,400 line. I was such an annoying kid. 324 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,720 I had to have been so terrible. But So what is authority? 325 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:52,720 Authority is something that has the right and standing to direct 326 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:57,200 the way you live your life. It has the right and authority 327 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:01,040 to direct your life. What has authority over your 328 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:05,000 life? Parents do, and legitimately so, 329 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:10,960 the government does. And legitimately so our society 330 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:13,280 does. And legit the government does. 331 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:15,920 That's why I pay taxes. My parents do. 332 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,480 That's why I kind of live the way that I live. 333 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,400 Society has authority over me. That's why I wear clothes. 334 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,360 You know, all these things kind of direct and have authority. 335 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:29,640 But what do we know? What happens when those 336 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:33,160 authorities clash? What happens when the government 337 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:36,320 says to do one thing and my parents say to do another? 338 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:40,960 Or my heart tells me to do one thing and the church tells me to 339 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:43,600 do another? What happens when legitimate 340 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,760 authorities clash? In my mind, This is why we have 341 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,400 the Scriptures. The Scriptures function as the 342 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:55,040 ultimate authority in our lives. It's not the only authority. 343 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,360 It's not the only authority that guides and directs the way in 344 00:18:57,360 --> 00:18:59,760 which we function as a church, the way you function as a 345 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:02,440 Christian disciple. But it is the ultimate. 346 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:05,920 It is the final authority. It is the arbiter between all 347 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:07,840 things. So if the church tells me one 348 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:10,920 thing and my heart tells me another thing, how do I decide 349 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:14,040 which one to do? You turn to the Scriptures. 350 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:16,480 The scriptures is the guide in the direction. 351 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,480 My friends tell me to do one thing, my parents tell me to do 352 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:21,080 another. How do I decide? 353 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:23,440 The scriptures is the ultimate authority. 354 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,720 The scriptures are the one that dictate and direct me and guide 355 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,240 me in the ways. And how do we know these things? 356 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,600 Of course, the only way to know these things is to study the 357 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:34,920 scriptures is to spend time with them. 358 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,800 This is exactly what our text leads us to understand. 359 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:43,920 If you have your Bible open in Second Peter chapter 1, Peter 360 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,480 says we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known 361 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:49,320 to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 362 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:54,280 You can hear the the Peter is saying, look, I know you want to 363 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:56,160 know why we think the way we think. 364 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:58,680 It's not because it came out of our minds. 365 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:01,200 It's not because I'm such a wise person. 366 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,560 It's not because I'm studied. It's not because I'm brilliant. 367 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:09,120 Why we follow these things? Because God Himself has revealed 368 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:12,360 them to us. God has spoken these things into 369 00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:15,040 our hearts. And then he cites the poignant 370 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:20,160 mount amount of transfiguration where God himself spoke to the 371 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:22,560 disciples. This is my Son, listen to him, 372 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,800 follow him. And then later it goes on. 373 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,960 Peter goes on in verse 21 and says this, For no prophecy has 374 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:34,640 ever been produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God 375 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:39,120 as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit and spoke from 376 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:41,800 God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 377 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,560 In other words, once again, the nature of the Scripture, it's 378 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:48,400 not our thinking, it's not Paul's thinking, it's not 379 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:50,800 David's thinking, it's not Peter's thinking. 380 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:53,520 They are being carried along by the Holy Spirit. 381 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,800 The Holy Spirit is the one who is providing us the Scripture. 382 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:01,360 Because the Holy Spirit provides us the Scripture, we know that 383 00:21:01,360 --> 00:21:05,600 it's source of knowledge is true and we know that it's authority 384 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:10,320 is absolute. So what does this mean for us as 385 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:14,440 a church? Hebron Church is a community of 386 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:16,560 disciples that is biblically based. 387 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:22,760 It means that everything that is being taught here must be in 388 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,800 accordance with the Scriptures, absolutely everything. 389 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,760 It means that you as a congregation has an automatic 390 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:32,040 check that you must exert in everything that we do. 391 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:33,720 You come to a program here at the church. 392 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:36,120 You come to a worship service and you hear a sermon. 393 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,160 You come in involved in a Bible study here at this church. 394 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:43,000 Everything that we talked about has to come forth from the 395 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,200 Scriptures. That's the point of what we are 396 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:49,320 doing here together, as this community of body functions 397 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,480 together, we function under the authority of the Scripture 398 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:55,640 itself. And therefore, as part of this 399 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,800 body, you are submitting not to my authority, not even to the 400 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,560 authority of the session, not to the authority of some 401 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:05,360 denomination. We are submitting ourselves to 402 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:08,640 the authority of Scripture, each and every one of us. 403 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:10,920 What does it mean that we are biblically based? 404 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:16,120 It means that there is a, a, a document in a Bible. 405 00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:19,680 It means that God's word is that which guides and directs and 406 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:24,040 leads us into all things. And therefore, what does it mean 407 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:27,480 for you to be a biblically based Christian? 408 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,840 Because if you're going to be a part of this community, sooner 409 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:34,800 or later, we're going to encourage you to be a biblically 410 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:40,440 based follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, which means that you 411 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:43,440 have to immerse yourself in the Scriptures. 412 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:45,920 Somebody shared with me a little bit earlier. 413 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:50,640 Imagine if we treated the Bible like we treat our phones 414 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,200 constantly near me, always know where it is. 415 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,480 Any downtime, I'm grabbing it and I'm leafing through it. 416 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,920 I'm scrolling through it because it's so important to me that I 417 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,560 can't let go of it. I'm telling you that's I see 418 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:09,160 people with their phones and me, I know myself with my phone and 419 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,080 all of these kind of things. Oh, that we would have a passion 420 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:16,560 to hold on to the Scriptures like we're passionate to hold on 421 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:22,440 to our phones. What does it mean for you to be 422 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:26,760 a biblically based Christian? It means immersing yourself in 423 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:31,800 the world view of the Scriptures so that you can be assessing all 424 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:35,480 of the information that you get from society, from your friends, 425 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:38,920 from your own heart, that you assess that according to the 426 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:42,800 Scriptures and discern that which is true and what is right 427 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,320 and what has authority in your life. 428 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:47,800 That's what it means to be an authority. 429 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:52,160 Biblically based congregation, A biblically based Christian. 430 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:56,160 If you wanted. Forget it here. 431 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,880 This is a better question on a more obvious question if you 432 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:02,760 have not yet read the Gospel of John this year. 433 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,960 We're now in September. If you have not yet read the 434 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:09,280 Gospel of John, no matter what reading plan you're involved in, 435 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:13,920 no matter how engaged you are in the Scriptures, I beg you, read 436 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:15,800 the Gospel of John. Do it in one setting. 437 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,560 If you've got 3 hours of time, do it across 30 days. 438 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:23,800 If you've only got a 20 minutes at a time, spend time reading 439 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,600 the Gospel of John. If you want to know how to start 440 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:30,400 as a biblically based Christian, as part of a biblically based 441 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:35,400 community, start right there. Let's pray, Lord Jesus Christ, 442 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:38,400 we ask through your blessing and guidance and direction upon us 443 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,360 as we want to be faithful to what you lead us to now and 444 00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:46,040 forevermore. Lord, open our hearts always to 445 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,960 Your word that we would be faithful to its teachings, 446 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:53,800 understand its authorities, and be obedient to You and all that 447 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:55,600 we do. We pray through Christ our Lord, 448 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,760 we ask, Amen. I'd encourage you at this time 449 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:02,400 to stand and let's affirm our faith together. 450 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:08,280 What is it that we believe? What authority from God directs 451 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:13,120 us how to glorify and enjoy Him? The only authority for 452 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:18,160 glorifying, enjoying Him is the Bible, which is the Word of God. 453 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:22,720 What is the Word of God? The Holy Scriptures of the Old 454 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:27,680 and New Testaments are the Word of God the only role of faith 455 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:28,840 and obedience.