When Pain Becomes Purpose: God’s Training Ground for Growth

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:05:49] Ctk the time has come for us to begin our service and so if you would stand please and if you would join us for this song of gathering my name is mark best i'm an elder here at christ king presbyterian church we're so glad you're here if you're visiting this morning a special welcome to you in particular the restrooms behind the sanctuary the women to my right men's to my left in this easter season we celebrate the resurrection of our lord christ jesus we also look to the father who gave us
[00:07:57] life through the sacrifice of his son please join me in this call to worship from isaiah 40 do you not know have you not heard the lord is the everlasting god the creator of the whole earth
[00:08:14] ever become faint or weary there's no limit to his understanding he gives strength to the faint and strengthens the powerless.
[00:08:28] Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength.
[00:08:38] They will soar on wings like eagles.
[00:08:41] They will run and not become weary.
[00:08:44] They will walk and not faint.
[00:08:48] Pray with me.
[00:08:49] Lord, we come to you this morning in need of a heavenly Father.
[00:08:52] you are steadfast when we need you in every season of our lives we call on you this morning to meet us as we worship and celebrate the resurrection of your son our king christ jesus amen please

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:09:09] remain standing as we sing a hymn of praise please be seated our confession names just a few of our

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[00:12:56] thoughts and deeds that demonstrate our need for a savior we name our sin in front of the king knowing that christ will not turn us away he will instead engage our hearts and turn us away from
[00:13:08] darkness hear this call to confession from proverbs do not despise the lord's instruction my son and do not loathe his disciples for the lord disciplines the ones he loves just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights. Read this confession with me. Father, we confess that we
[00:13:31] prefer comfort over correction. We strain back with your disciples as if your hand were against us instead of for us. We grumble in hardship instead of trusting your heart. We resist your pruning and then wonder why we bear so little fruit. You have called us your children that we
[00:13:57] live like orphans. We doubt your care, question your purposes, and chase lesser loves. Forgive us for treating your holiness lightly. Forgive us for settling for shallow joy when you are shaping eternal glory remind us that your discipline is not punishment for condemnation but the loving
[00:14:25] work of the father who has already secured our redemption in christ bend our stubborn wills soften our resisting hearts train us to trust that every hardship passes through your hands before it reaches ours and by your grace teach us to endure not with clenched teeth
[00:14:50] but with steady hope through jesus christ our savior and our righteousness amen spend a few moments in silent confession from psalm 103 our assurance of pardon as far as the east is from the west so far he has removed our transgressions from us as a father has compassion on his children
[00:15:43] so the lord has compassion on those who fear him thanks be to god in christ we are forgiven please stand and sing with us

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[00:15:53] remain standing as we prepare for our offering this offering is an act of worship where we

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:19:01] return a portion of what christ has given to us so that the church can further his kingdom if you're a visitor this morning please scan the qr code and one of the cards in the pew share your contact
[00:19:14] information with a member of the staff will reach out to you let's pray lord use these tithes and offerings to comfort the needy and reveal your kingdom in christ's name amen please sing with us

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:19:30] please have a seat my name is matt brower i'm the youth director here and i've got a few

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:23:12] announcements for us this morning the first one is that we have a new sunday school class starting next week and james is going to be leading us in the question of infant baptism and we want to
[00:23:24] bring clarity on our church's conviction regarding baptism and infant baptism in particular as well as just have an open-handed conversation, discussion on different views, different convictions on this throughout Christian history.
[00:23:39] So bring your questions, bring your curiosities, it's going to be a fun time.
[00:23:44] Next, the women are getting together for a lunch next week at Little Ray after the service.
[00:23:51] The women's ministry will be providing the meal, so just show up, enjoy the food, and the fellowship.
[00:23:58] Kids, the women's ministry does love you and care about you, but this event is for adults.
[00:24:04] The women's team does need to get a head count for food, so if you can, please sign up for that in Church Center ahead of time.
[00:24:11] That would be incredible.
[00:24:13] Last announcement is CTK is hosting a book event on Friday evening, May 1st.
[00:24:21] Marty Solomon has written a book called The Gospel of Being Human, how asking better questions of the Bible reveals who we are.
[00:24:32] So this book is trying to reclaim the goodness and fullness of being made in God's image and what the Bible holistically has to say about that.
[00:24:42] There are some beautiful correctives in this book to certain theologies that are prevalent today.
[00:24:49] So Marty wants us to reclaim a more biblical picture of the good news of being human.
[00:24:55] we hope you'll join us for that the event is free but space is limited so there's also a sign up if you could do that all right now i'd like to invite jeff up for a baptism good morning it's our

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:25:09] privilege this morning to witness and to participate in as a congregation the baptism of reed emil so i'm invite john and kelsey and also miles and bowen if you guys would come up and one of our elders in training eddie looper is going to come and help me so you guys emails you
[00:25:25] come right here. Eddie, if you'd come here and grab the water for me, that'd be great.
[00:25:29] We get the joy and privilege in our church of seeing a lot of baptisms. And I know that that can be kind of rote, and we get sort of used to it. So I've got a couple word pictures. If y'all
[00:25:41] been around the church, you know I love analogies. I've got two analogies for you today for what we're doing. The first is a tattoo, and the second is a microchip. So I know there's a fair amount of
[00:25:53] ink in our church. All right, raise your hand if you have a tattoo. Come on. I know there's a bunch of you. There's rumors that even one of our pastors has one. I don't know. A tattoo is something that
[00:26:09] a person gets that a lot of times tells a story. You can ask them, you can say, what is that about?
[00:26:14] And they have a story behind the picture that's on the outside of their body. And they can also tell you the circumstances of when they got that. Oh, I was in college, and here's what happened,
[00:26:25] and I was with my friends, and this is what this means, right? Baptism works like that.
[00:26:30] That's at least one part of it. Baptism is an outward sign that we put on our children and converts to Christianity, adults, youth who have not been baptized. And it tells a story.
[00:26:44] It shows off Jesus' cleansing.
[00:26:47] And many people can tell the story about what happened, why they got that, when that happened.
[00:26:52] But because we believe in a God who is a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God, that's not all that baptism does.
[00:27:03] It also functions like a microchip.
[00:27:06] Now, if you have a dog, you might have gotten a microchip put in your dog.
[00:27:11] Anybody done this before?
[00:27:13] Yeah, a couple.
[00:27:14] Come on, hands raised high.
[00:27:15] Be proud of your dogs today, all right?
[00:27:18] And they take the dog, local anesthetic, or knock the dog out, and put a little microchip in the fur between the shoulder blades.
[00:27:27] And that functions in a very different way.
[00:27:32] Because if your dog becomes lost, somebody could find your dog, take it to the vet, and they can scan that.
[00:27:39] And that little tiny microchip tells that person who the dog belongs to and actually provides a way for them to bring that dog back home. Now, why am I telling you this? Because we have a God
[00:27:53] who makes promises. And we believe in the generational promises of God. In fact, one of the things that I love about John and Kelsey is the generational faithfulness of God that's been evidence in their family. Kelsey lost her dad recently, Gary. And I believe he's here with us
[00:28:12] as that great cloud of witnesses watching what's going on. But there's a story in their family of God's faithfulness over generations. And when they put, we put water today on Reed, that water is not
[00:28:24] just a picture like a tattoo. It's also a microchip. And his whole life, do you know what that water's going to do? It's going to call him to Jesus. We have lots of people in our church who have
[00:28:38] adult children who are wayward. We're not walking with Jesus. And if they have had water put on them in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, we believe that story is not over yet.
[00:28:52] That that covenant sign and seal calls their name, says this one is Jesus's, and that will work over time. Trust in the sign. Let's use these vows written in our bulletin on the screen to call
[00:29:10] one another to remind each other what we're doing biblically. Through baptism, God gave us a gracious sign of love and hope in Christ. Let us hear again the promises God has made to us in
[00:29:20] Christ. Baptism is the sign and the seal of God's promises to this covenant people. In baptism, God promises by grace alone to forgive our sins, to adopt us into the body of Christ, the church, to send the Holy Spirit daily to renew and cleanse us, and to resurrect us to
[00:29:42] eternal life. This promise is made visible in the water of baptism. Water cleanses, purifies, refreshes, sustains. Jesus Christ is living water. Through baptism, Christ calls us to obedience, to love and trust God completely, to forsake the evil of the world, and to live a new
[00:30:03] and holy life. Yet when we fall into sin, we must not despair of God's mercy or continue in sin, for baptism is the sign and seal of God's eternal covenant of grace with us. John Kelsey, I'm going
[00:30:19] to ask you these vows, which I've asked you before. Bowen and Miles, you don't remember this, but we did this with you guys. So I'll ask you these questions. The right answer is I do.
[00:30:30] Do you acknowledge Reed's need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ and the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit? Do you? Do you claim God's covenant promises on his behalf? And do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation as you do for your own? Do you?
[00:30:47] Now, do you unreservedly dedicate Reed to God and promise in humble reliance upon divine grace that you will endeavor to set before him a godly example, that you will pray with and for him, that you will teach him the doctrines of our holy religion, that you will strive by all the means of
[00:31:05] God's appointment to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Do you? Amen. Our God made a covenant with Abraham, the father of all who believe, saying, I will establish my covenant
[00:31:17] as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. Peter preached the gospel to the church
[00:31:31] saying, the promise is for you and your children. So do you, who are members of Christ the King, if you've stood up and taken vows here, do you promise? Do you receive this child, read into this church as one whom God has called according to His covenant? Do you now promise to
[00:31:50] surround him with Christian love and to pray for him and to set an example for him of genuine faith and virtue, do you? You do. For whoever welcomes this child in Christ's name welcomes him, and
[00:32:03] whoever welcomes Christ welcomes the one who sent him. Hi. So what is the given name that this family has given to this little boy? Reed Lewis Emil is also known as Reedy Rue. Is that right? Reed,
[00:32:27] I baptize you and put another name on you today. I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we claim this one for you.
[00:32:46] Thank you for the promises that you give in your covenant to our children, the children of believers, and to all who would put their trust in you, that it's really true, that the promises are real, that the Holy Spirit's powerful, and that you are faithful. We pray that would be lived
[00:33:06] out in Reed's life. We pray that our church would more and more be a place where covenant kids come and find again the hope that they have in Jesus. We lift up Reed and his parents to you
[00:33:19] and his brothers. We pray they would have all that they need to show him the gospel and live out the gospel. And thank you for this family. We pray that the body of Christ would really be the
[00:33:28] body of Christ to them in Jesus name amen let's sing read into the fellowship of our church let's

[00:33:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:33:36] sing Jesus loves you this we know you ready Jesus loves you this we know for the Bible tells us so Little ones to Him belong They are weak, but He is strong Yes, Jesus loves you
[00:34:13] The Bible tells us so

[00:34:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:34:18] Good job. At this point in our service, this is time for gospel hospitality. We remember that God calls us to be a family, and we greet everybody. So nobody can sit down. If you'd stand
[00:34:42] and greet one another in Christ's name, we're also going to dismiss our kids to their continued times of worship. The peace of Christ be with you. Come meet Reed.

[00:34:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:34:49] You may be seated. I want to welcome you this morning. If we've not met, my name is Jeff

[00:41:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:41:50] Bradford, and I'm pastor here. And I am really delighted to be with you this morning at Open Up God's Word. If you would, would you find, locate the Scripture? We have Bibles and the Hughes. We're going to be in Hebrews chapter 12. You can also find that in your bulletin
[00:42:08] and on the screen behind me. While you're returning there, I'll give this intro.
[00:42:13] One of the most popular and famous TV shows of the last many years is The Office, in which there's one episode called Fun Run, in which the boss, Michael Scott, organizes a charity 5K event for raising awareness for rabies. Have to watch it to get that part. But he's in terrible
[00:42:35] shape, and he doesn't train. And to get ready for the 5K, he looks up online what to do, and he realizes carb loading will be the key. And so he carb loads, he eats an enormous amount
[00:42:49] of fettuccine Alfredo right before the event, which he has not trained for. And not only does he crash during the event, he ends up in the hospital from dehydration. So, on brand. You know, today we're picking up a passage about running, about running a race, preparing to run the race
[00:43:07] of faith. And the writer of Hebrews wants you to go the distance and not crash. So, today, no shortcuts, no carbo-loading. We're going to learn what God's training plan looks like from this passage. So, as is our practice, would you read this aloud for me? Verses 1 through 17.
[00:43:28] Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
[00:43:51] For the joy that lay before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won't grow weary and give up. In struggling against sin, you have not
[00:44:12] yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood, and forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons. My son, do not the Lord's discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives. Endure suffering
[00:44:36] as discipline. God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline. But if you are without discipline, which I'll receive, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them.
[00:44:58] Shouldn't we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them. But He does it for our benefit so that we can share
[00:45:11] His holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weak knees and make straight paths for your feet so that what
[00:45:33] is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead. Pursue peace with everyone and holiness. Without it, no one will see the Lord. Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no
[00:45:48] root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and defiling many. And make sure there isn't any immoral or reverent person like Esau, who sold his birthright in exchange for a single meal.
[00:46:02] You know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, even though he sought it with tears because he didn't find any opportunity for repentance. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but God's Word lasts forever. Amen. Now, this passage has a word that's repeated
[00:46:25] over and over and over again that requires explanation to modern people. That word's discipline. And in our culture, that is entirely a negative word. That's on par with, we might think, timeout or spankings or penalties, restrictions, and consequences. But the word actually is the
[00:46:50] word paideia, which is the word where we get pedagogy in our language, which is more like how we use it in academic circles, a discipline of study. Someone could be in the pedagogy, the discipline of engineering, or nursing, or accounting. What they mean by that is that they
[00:47:12] are studying. They're putting themselves through the paces to learn that discipline in order to be able to be proficient in that for their lifetime. There is one place in this passage where it's a negative term. That's in verse 5, where what is in view there is something that's
[00:47:29] out of alignment that needs to be corrected and brought back into alignment. But the big point of this whole passage is not negative. This is super positive. This is a picture of what God's program
[00:47:43] looks like for change in a person's life. And maybe a better word in our context is training.
[00:47:51] So, that's what I'm going to use for the rest of the sermon. And you could go through this whole passage and replace every word where it says discipline with training. So here's my main idea.
[00:48:00] God uses pain to train for gain. God uses pain to train for gain. And I have three points. Training works, training hurts, and training confirms. And I do want to cite one source for this sermon. I
[00:48:17] listened to a sermon by a pastor in South Carolina, Brian Habig, this summer, which really framed kind of a lot of what I'm doing with this for today. So thank you, Brian. Training works. You ever wonder
[00:48:29] what is God doing in my life? Nobody's ever wondered that before? Yeah, a lot, right? Lots of us. What is God up to now? I don't know the details for each of you, but I can tell you
[00:48:42] the big picture of what God is up to in your life. He is into transformation. He is into major transformation. And it doesn't start with training. And here's why. Because you can't train dead things. There's no coach in the world who can train dead athletes. It just doesn't work.
[00:49:09] The Bible's take on our natural condition apart from Jesus is dead in our transgressions, in our sins. There's no life in us that He can train. It actually starts differently.
[00:49:24] It starts with Jesus. You know, I think one of the reasons that we are obsessed as a culture with zombie movies, why people like zombie movies so much, is there's something in the human subconsciousness that knows I'm walking dead apart from Jesus. Yeah, that's why the
[00:49:47] cranberries sing about it, zombie, zombie. But like there's something about that. All the monster movies have some tie-in subconsciously to Christianity, and particularly this one, because this is what we are apart from Jesus. We are zombies. We read the gospel, though, in verse
[00:50:05] two. For the joy set before Him, this is what we did on Easter, Jesus endured the shame, went to the cross, endured the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Jesus, to review
[00:50:18] where we've been over the last few weeks. Jesus is the scapegoat who takes away the sin, and He's the sacrificial goat who's killed for the penalty of sin for us. On the third day, He's resurrected from the dead. He ascends into heaven and sits down at the right hand of the
[00:50:34] Father. Now, you know a lot of these things, so let's talk about it in football terms. Okay, this is what's happening in what Jesus is doing in your life. Hike, right? Jesus fades back with
[00:50:45] the ball. And this is what happens. He takes all. It's what He does at the cross. He lays down His life. He pays the penalty for our sin, the sacrificial goat. He takes away the sin. He's the
[00:51:02] scapegoat. And then in His resurrection and ascension, He sits down at the right hand of the Father, from which He's ruling all things by the word of His power. But before He does that, instead of passing the ball, he turns around and hands it off. And he hands it off, this is 1
[00:51:23] Corinthians 15, to the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, okay, is running the play from that point.
[00:51:32] Jesus is up in heaven. Holy Spirit is running the play where he is doing two things in the life of a person. He comes and by uniting you with Jesus, applies all of what Jesus has done to a person
[00:51:45] in his life and death, and he applies the resurrection to you. Here's another way I put it. You guys know I like Russian nesting dolls. Here's our Russian nesting dolls for this morning.
[00:51:58] This is you. This is you, dead in your transgressions and sins. Here's what the Holy Spirit does to you. He puts you situated in Jesus. You are in Christ. You are credited with His righteousness. You are justified. You are a Christian. But He not only does that,
[00:52:21] He gives you the Holy Spirit's power inside of you, right? Holy Spirit in you, in Christ.
[00:52:28] And that Holy Spirit power is what makes a dead person alive and allows them to grow and allows them to change. And this is when the training program starts. Got it? All right, good.
[00:52:42] So, let's talk about the training program. Let's talk about the training program of God.
[00:52:48] At the end of this passage, it says this, no training seems enjoyable at the time. We can put this up on the screen. No training seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained
[00:53:04] by it. Or in verse 12, He does it for our benefit so that we can share in His holiness.
[00:53:11] This is God's training program, and it works.
[00:53:16] This is how we know it works.
[00:53:17] We're going to see in this passage how this has worked over and over again in the life of people.
[00:53:22] But let me just tell you this first.
[00:53:24] It doesn't come easy.
[00:53:26] And the reason why we need to be trained is even though we're justified in Christ, we're in Christ, even though we have the Holy Spirit, we are still self-dependent people.
[00:53:38] We live by sight and not by faith.
[00:53:41] We hold on to things that we know will kill us.
[00:53:45] There is a destructive, self-destructive tendency in each one of us.
[00:53:51] And so God is like, time to start the training.
[00:53:54] Time to start the training.
[00:53:56] The chapter before this one, which we preach through all in January and February, Hebrews 11, highlights the history of God's training program in the lives of all these people.
[00:54:06] You can go through, it's called the Heroes of Faith chapter, and he goes through like person by person throughout Old Testament history. And if you read it, you're like, these people's lives, several things in common. Not great. Not fun. Lived in tents my whole life.
[00:54:24] Barren until we were ancient. And then had a child of promise. What? Received promises, but not the fulfillment of the promises. Lived here as strangers. Always had a tent and never a house. And what we read is over and over God's training program in those people's lives. And you
[00:54:42] know what the big summary is? It worked. It worked over and over in their lives and it's going to work in your life. But here's the problem. Second point, training hurts. Training hurts. Training of
[00:55:01] all kinds involves some pain. That's why the beginning of this passage, verse four, it says this, in struggling against sin, put this up on the screen, struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Ow, ow. And verse 11, no training seems enjoyable
[00:55:20] at the time, but painful. This training is going to hurt. Now, if you've done any physical training for anything, it hurts. And training involves enduring the right incremental amounts of pain over the right time period for the right results. You don't just, if you're going to like, I'm going
[00:55:44] start weight training, you don't go into the gym tomorrow and try to max out how much you can weight lift. That's ridiculous. You're going to hurt yourself. If you're training for a marathon, you don't go out the first day and try to run 26 miles. That's going to hurt you. That's impossible.
[00:56:03] But training involves the right increments of pain over the right time period for the right results.
[00:56:09] You can have those training guides for a marathon, like here's how much you can run Monday and then Wednesday and then the long run on Friday. Am I by myself up here? Anybody know what I'm talking
[00:56:18] about? Okay, y'all are… Okay, I'm not sure this morning. So, when you weight train, what are you doing to your muscles? You're tearing them. You're tearing muscle fiber so that it heals back and grows. And that's why you're sore. That's why weight training hurts. Now, let's imagine, is
[00:56:40] there, could you imagine a person whose job it is to hurt you? Yes, that's called a coach.
[00:56:50] That's what their job is entirely. Their job is to hurt you. And what's funny to me, I remember my father-in-law, he loved his high school football coach, but he did not sound like a lovable person to me. This guy put him through the ringer. He was tough on him. He was
[00:57:08] mean. And I'm like, you love this guy? There are a lot of people who are like, I love my coach because they did not let me, they didn't ease up. They were not nice. We never were buddies.
[00:57:22] To this day, I'm still afraid of him. Let me put up a couple of coaches. Let's see if you can recognize these people. I'm going to give you a quote about or by each one.
[00:57:34] So first, winning is fun, sure. But winning is not the point. Wanting to win is the point.
[00:57:39] Not giving up is the point. Famous coach, Pat Summitt, University of Tennessee, Lady Vols. Let's go. Right? Okay. Second one. A coach is someone who can give you correction without causing resentment. Who's that? We got another one? Keep going. I got five of these. There he is. Probably
[00:58:03] can't see this very well. John Wooden, right? Right. UCLA. Or how about this one? Here we go.
[00:58:12] Okay, he treated us all the same like dogs This is the great Vince Lombardi, very good Green Bay Packers, alright, here's another one Alright, this is for the Other kind of football fans, right He was a great man
[00:58:31] A great manager, he knew when to put an arm around you And when to give you a kick Anybody know?
[00:58:38] Sir Alex Ferguson from Manchester United, very good, okay Last one, you can boo for this one If you want to, okay, right Right. Okay. This is what he said about him. It's a way of life, not just football. It's about
[00:58:52] holding yourself to a higher standard. This is who? Nick Saban from Alabama and LSU, right?
[00:58:59] So, these people are famous for hurting people, and they're respected and loved for it.
[00:59:08] Similarly, the Christian life is a long-distance race. The word here for race in verse 1 is agon, which is their name. Actually, they use that for the pentathlon in the Olympic Games in Athens.
[00:59:22] Five event which had discus, javelin, long jump, foot race, and wrestling. It's where we get our word agony from. Yay! Christian life is an agon. If that was their agon, what about ours? God uses
[00:59:40] pain to train for gain. One of the things that's really hard for people is distinguishing between hurt and harm, because they may feel the same. Somebody who wishes you harm wants your destruction.
[00:59:57] Somebody who allows hurt in your life may actually be training you. That may be your coach.
[01:00:06] And in our minds, we think about the Lord, and we're like, what is God doing? Why is this happening to me? Many of us in our hearts are like, I'm not sure this is a coach. I feel like
[01:00:19] God is trying to kill me. But God's Word says over and over, He's up to good. He is training.
[01:00:29] You know, it should be a clue for us, verse 5, which is a quote. That's why it's in bold print.
[01:00:35] My son, don't take the Lord's discipline lightly or lose heart when you're approved by Him.
[01:00:39] Those are the words of Job, the paradigmatic sufferer of the Old Testament who lost finance, family, personal losses, home, everything, physical health, he was in God's training program.
[01:00:58] Let me just clarify a couple things. If you are a believer, God is never paying you back for your sin. I can't tell you how many times I've sat across the table from somebody who says, I think
[01:01:11] God's paying me back. It's painful to hear as a pastor because I'm like, you can't distinguish hurt and harm right now. You can't distinguish hurt and harm. Let me just break this down really quickly. Punishment. Punishment means paying back for the wrong you've done. There's a code of
[01:01:31] justice that's been broken. There's a ticket that needs to be paid. There's a late fee. There's a charge against you that needs to be settled. Verse 2 tells us that Jesus paid the full penalty for
[01:01:43] you. He paid it in His own blood for the joy set before Him. He endured the cross. He is not punishing you. Second, there's discipline or training. This is the coach. This is the loving
[01:01:59] work of God to change your character over time by allowing little units of pain at the right moments to help you grow, to become dependent, to remember who's your Father and who's in charge of you.
[01:02:14] And then consequences. Sometimes we think consequences are punishment. Consequences are just natural results from bad decisions. You have sex outside of marriage, and there's a baby.
[01:02:24] That is not God's punishment. That's biology. That was funny, y'all. Sorry. You cheat on your spouse, and a marriage is broken. You neglect your children, and they're estranged from you.
[01:02:38] You cheat at work and get fired. You use AI to write your paper in college, and you get flunked for the class. Those aren't punishment. Those are natural consequences. God does not shield people from natural consequences. Tim Keller, who was a pastor from New York in our denomination,
[01:02:58] endured a lot of pain and suffering from various forms of cancer. He eventually died of pancreatic cancer. And he once said this, an ounce of sin can harm us more than a ton of suffering.
[01:03:09] Sin can harden our hearts so that we lose everything, but suffering, if handled rightly, can make us wiser and happier and deeper. That's a man who's saying, it hurts, but it works.
[01:03:28] God's training, it hurts, but it works. So, hence training. The Christian life is lifelong training.
[01:03:36] it hurts at times. I remember years ago, Jesse Ventura became the governor of Wisconsin and, sorry? Minnesota. Thank you. Okay. Been a pro wrestler. He famously said this. He said, you know, Christianity is a crutch for weak-minded people. And I'm like, Jesse,
[01:03:59] you've got no idea what you're talking about. Because God's training plan is hard. Jesus said it. Look at, we'll put this on the screen, Matthew 7. Enter by the narrow gate. The gate is wide
[01:04:14] and the road broad that leads to destruction. There are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life? And few find it. Christian life is not an
[01:04:27] easy life. It's not for weak people who need a crutch. Can I get an amen to that? But it's the right road, and it's a good way. And God is working for your training. So as training works,
[01:04:42] as training hurts, as training confirms, number three, confirms relationship. It confirms relationship. I can summarize the entire passage this way. No training, no dad. Training, dad.
[01:04:56] Let me explain. In our day and age, it's very normal for somebody in the general public to talk about people as God's children. But that's a misuse of that term. Not everybody, biblically, is a child of God. We are all made. Every person you ever meet is made in the image and likeness
[01:05:13] of God, and that's a beautiful thing. But not everybody is a child of God. There is one and only one natural child of God. Who is that class? The right word in church? Jesus is the only child
[01:05:26] of God. Everybody else is not born a child of God, but is reborn a child of God. Has to be born again. Has to be adopted into Christ's family. Has to be brought in. You are not naturally,
[01:05:40] no one is naturally a child of God. And that's not being mean. That's just being clear.
[01:05:49] This is one way you can determine if you are God's child. Training. Training's happening in your life.
[01:05:58] You're like, I can't understand why things are hard right now.
[01:06:02] Maybe God's up to something.
[01:06:05] He's good, and it's not harm, but it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.
[01:06:11] By contrast, let's imagine this.
[01:06:13] It's a hard one.
[01:06:15] What is life like as a person who is under God's wrath?
[01:06:21] A person around you who's under God's wrath.
[01:06:24] Now, you might think, oh, their life must be horrible.
[01:06:27] It must be filled with all kinds of pain and suffering.
[01:06:30] Not necessarily.
[01:06:32] Romans 1 says it this way. When a person has so hardened their heart to God, to idols, to live apart from Him, in His wrath, He may hand that person over to their desires. And what does that
[01:06:48] mean? They may be really happy. That may be your next-door neighbor who's out shining his BMW this morning, like, everything's good. And you're looking at him going like, why? Why is my life so hard, and his looks really good. And that may be, not guaranteeing this as a pastor, but it may
[01:07:09] be that that person is under God's wrath. They have so hardened themselves and run from God that God has, in effect, said, okay. And their life looks bulletproof, and they seem really happy as a pagan. And you're like, dang, I'm not sure I like being God's child. You know, I'm not telling
[01:07:31] you to go use that on your neighbors. Please do not go around and put notes under people's doors where it seems like they're going great and be like, under God's wrath. Don't use that on them.
[01:07:44] Use that on you in your heart when you're comparing, which is really unfair. But when you're comparing, remember, God is actually confirming relationship when He's training us.
[01:07:59] You don't know what's going on with your neighbor, but you can discern what's going on with you.
[01:08:04] Maybe God is confirming His love for me.
[01:08:08] Now, this isn't a parenting sermon.
[01:08:10] It's a sanctification sermon.
[01:08:12] But there's some confusion in modern America about parenting versus the Bible's take on parenting.
[01:08:19] The Bible's take on parenting is that parenting doesn't mean removing obstacles and creating ease for a child.
[01:08:27] We think in our culture, parenting means giving comfort.
[01:08:32] The Bible's take on this is parenting means preserving a relationship.
[01:08:38] So this is why in our culture we have parents that come in and kind of rescue their children from something really hard.
[01:08:45] We have a nickname for that called helicopter parenting.
[01:08:48] Or they come and clear out the obstacles in the path.
[01:08:51] That's called nickname for that snowplow parenting.
[01:08:54] Or like, just don't want the kid to have to suffer in any way or have any hardship.
[01:08:58] When the Bible says that actually could be really good for them.
[01:09:03] And what God's up to in training is not a modern American view of gentle parenting.
[01:09:09] He's like, I am forming and shaping you.
[01:09:13] And sometimes that's hard.
[01:09:16] But I am preserving and developing a deep relationship.
[01:09:20] That's his big goal.
[01:09:21] You become Christ, like Christ, you depend on Christ.
[01:09:26] How do we apply this?
[01:09:28] Well, the last part of this passage I'm going to look at, and I'll put this up on the screen, verses 12 and 13.
[01:09:34] This is going to sound a little weird to us.
[01:09:36] Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees.
[01:09:40] Make straight paths for your feet so that what's lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.
[01:09:47] Has anybody ever said to you, stand up straight?
[01:09:52] Stand up straight.
[01:09:54] You know, there's something that's been in the water in our culture in the last couple of years about like, oh, if you stand up straight, if you square your shoulders, lobster pose, this is really what it says, you feel there's something that happens inside of you. You feel
[01:10:11] stronger. Now, I don't know about how that really works, if that's really true, but that's the Bible's version of this today. Power pose, power pose, self, soul. Here's what I want you to do to apply this sermon. I want you to do this every day this week. I want you to find a place where
[01:10:34] you're alone and you can look in a mirror. And I want you to look in the rear view mirror of your car. Maybe you do this in the parking lot. Somebody thinks you're on Bluetooth. It's totally
[01:10:42] fine. Or you do this in the mirror upstairs in your bathroom and you're like, self, get it together.
[01:10:49] Believe the gospel. You're a child of God. This is real. He is with you and he is for you. Now, believe the good news. There's something about doing that, where we're calling ourselves like, remember, this is real. Last week, I called an interview with Ben Sass and Ross Douthat that
[01:11:20] was really profound. If you don't know the name Ben Sass, he served eight years in the Senate.
[01:11:26] He was later president of the University of Florida. And this past fall, he was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. Now, if that doesn't mean anything to you, that's a death sentence. Nobody survives pancreatic cancer. It's no cure. He actually
[01:11:48] shouldn't be here right now. Usually the timeline on this is super fast. And he is preparing to leave behind a wife and three kids. And I'm going to put up an image of him, but I'm just going to
[01:12:00] warn you it's disturbing. Let's put this up. If you can't tell, he's got lesions on his face, and they open up a lot at night. So he's bleeding a lot. He's been in a ton of pain.
[01:12:23] And this is what he says in this interview. I got my diagnosis mid-December. I have pancreatic cancer, stage four, already metastasized. They told me right away on day one, this is not operable.
[01:12:35] you are way post-surgical he says death is terrible we should never sugarcoat it it's not how things are meant to be but it is great that death can be called the final enemy it's an enemy
[01:12:48] but it's a final enemy and then there will be no more tears i believe in the resurrection i believe in a restoration of this world so i do not feel great fear about my death i hate pancreatic cancer
[01:13:02] I would never wish it on anyone, but I would never want to go back. Listen to this. I would never want to go back into a time in my life when I didn't know the prayer of pancreatic cancer.
[01:13:18] After my diagnosis, I kept hearing the Pauline phrase in my head, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now, what was so striking about this interview, and I really committed to you, was not the words. The words were powerful. But what was even more striking was the joy coming
[01:13:36] off this man. You can feel it in the interview. He's not flippant, and he's not pretending or denying. He's like, real talk. But there is a joy coming off this man in Christ, even in the midst
[01:13:50] of what we would say, that's the worst training I've ever heard of. I'm not sure if that's harm hurt. How could God treat his child like that? And you know what he'd say? I would never want
[01:14:03] to go back to a time in my life when I didn't know the prayer of pancreatic cancer. Brothers and sisters, if you're a believer, you're in Christ. His Holy Spirit is in you. Stand up
[01:14:23] straight. Believe the gospel. If you're not a Christian, we want to invite you to know him.
[01:14:33] There's no substitute than knowing Jesus.
[01:14:35] In just a minute, I'm going to invite you how to do that.
[01:14:37] But let's pray together.
[01:14:40] Father, we thank you.
[01:14:42] Lord, we need your word.
[01:14:43] There's nothing like your word.
[01:14:45] It has a way of changing the way we interpret our world around us and even ourselves.
[01:14:51] We need a corrective this morning on the way we're looking at our neighbors and we're looking at our circumstances because it sure doesn't feel fair sometimes.
[01:14:59] And Lord, yet we thank you that Christ is real, his spirit is here and in us, and that the gospel is true. Strengthen our weak knees. Give us endurance for the race. We pray this in Christ's
[01:15:19] name. Amen. Let's respond to God's word together in song.

[01:15:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:15:57] You may be seated. On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus Christ blessed the bread,

[01:19:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:19:24] breast the meal, and then turned and broke the bread and gave it to his disciples and said, my body broken for you. The same manner after the supper, he took a cup filled with wine and said,
[01:19:37] this is the new promise in my blood for the forgiveness of your sins. This is my blood poured out for you, for your forgiveness. Drink this, all of you, in remembrance of me. Scripture says every time we eat this bread and we drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he
[01:19:52] comes again. This morning, I invite all who are baptized Christians who have owned their faith in a church, have become members in this church or members in another church, to come and receive as from Christ's own hands, His body and His blood. When Scripture tells us to examine ourselves,
[01:20:13] it does so because it's not meaning how great a runner are you, but are you in the right place?
[01:20:20] Do you have God as your Father and the Spirit living in you?
[01:20:23] Are you a Christian?
[01:20:25] If you're not a Christian, we're so glad you're here this morning.
[01:20:27] If this is your first time in church, we're glad you're here this morning.
[01:20:29] This is the one part of our worship service that you cannot participate in.
[01:20:33] This is a privilege of those who have identified themselves publicly in this church or another church with Jesus.
[01:20:39] So I have lots of kids who are in various stages of understanding the gospel, and yet they're not ready until they've stood up and owned Him publicly.
[01:20:47] that can say, I am his, and he is mine, and they can examine themselves.
[01:20:52] Let's use this liturgy, this new liturgy in your bulletin to call each other around this table, because this is not an individual act. This is a community celebration. Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. We, though many,
[01:21:13] are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. Let us love one another, for love is from God. As we share this table, make us one in Christ. I may invite those who are helping
[01:21:27] distribute the elements, if you guys would come on forward at this time. Let me pray and dedicate these elements to the Lord's use. Father, we pray that you would take this ordinary bread, it's ordinary wine and grape juice or to use it for strengthening us for the race remind us of
[01:21:46] whose we are and who we are or help us to go the distance together we pray this in christ's name amen just a moment i'm invite you if you are going to participate in the word supper you'll
[01:22:00] stand where you are either down here or upstairs you'll come to the middle of the room down here and come forward. There'll be six stations up front. Go to any of them that are open,
[01:22:08] tear off a piece of bread, and take a cup. Introduce yourself so they can invite you to receive, and then you're going to go back up the side aisles and go back to your seat.
[01:22:17] If you would like prepackaged community supplies, gluten-free, come see me. I'll have a tray of those in the middle. They have not made contact with any bread, so you're good if that's an allergy for you. Same thing for you upstairs, but you'll go to each of the doors upstairs. We'll also have
[01:22:33] somebody in the back in the narthex which is that that's the fancy name for lobby if you would like somebody to pray for you this morning uh go see them during this time of communion you could just
[01:22:42] go up the aisles or come down the stairs and they'll be right there let's prepare to come to the table together and receive as from christ's own hand his body and blood would you come

[01:22:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:22:51] your bread the bread that we eat is it or not a participation in the body of christ broken for us

[01:28:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:28:56] take and eat. Hold up your cup. And the cup that we drink, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ poured out for you? Take and drink. I'm going to invite you to receive a benediction this
[01:29:26] morning from the book of Hebrews, but I want to invite you to do so with your hands like this.
[01:29:32] This is a good word from God I'm pronouncing over you, and you're just catching it. You're just receiving this. And now may the God of peace who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus
[01:29:47] Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. May he equip you with everything that is to do good, that is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory now and forever. Amen. Would you respond with the doxology? Go in peace.