1. "If we have turned from our rebellion against God and trusted in Jesus, we have everything heaven can give. Joy, righteousness, freedom, steadfast love, deep and boundless peace. We have all this in the one we've been given, Jesus."

2. "In pressing through hard circumstances as you're able to, to make it to our gatherings, you're showing not just what you believe, but how much you believe it."

3. "You might be asking, why is God doing this? But beloved, let me gently remind you, there is something God wants more than our understanding. Namely our trust."

4. "We meet and we meet on the Lord's Day, which is Sunday, the first day of the week. The first day is called the Lord's Day because that's when Jesus was raised from the dead, which is to say the first fruits of the Resurrection. Jesus claims the first day of the week."

5. "We're so culturally conditioned to think that Sunday is the weekend. But in Scripture, on God's calendar, it is the week's beginning, the week's dawn. Far from being a day reserved for brunch, Sunday is a day for such a better meal, feasting on the Word of God with the people of God."

6. "You need someone to help you carry out the greatest commandment, to love God and your neighbor. You need someone else to stir you up in love. And the reason why you need stirring, the reason why we need a catalyst, is because sin makes us slow in love."

7. "Sin makes us spiritually sedentary. Like a bad engine, a sinful heart makes us break down and stop. Our gatherings together then, brothers and sisters, are God's jumper cables for our love and good works."

8. "The Sabbath is not about us napping on Sundays, though we can. It's about Jesus saving sinners. And if we know ourselves to be saved, we will be those who pursue good works and consider how to stir up one another to good works until we make it home to our eternal rest."

9. "Ain't none of us here so spiritually healthy that we are immune to deception. Ain't none of us here so godly that we don't need someone else pushing us toward holiness."

10. "Isn't it kind of God to command the very things we need? Like encouragement. God says, Gather, because you need encouragement."

Observation Questions

1. According to Hebrews 10:24, what two things are believers called to stir up one another toward?

2. In Hebrews 10:25, what habit does the writer warn against, and what does he say some people were already doing?

3. What does Hebrews 10:25 say believers should do "all the more" as they see something drawing near, and what is that something?

4. According to Acts 2:42, what four things did the early believers devote themselves to when they gathered together?

5. In Hebrews 3:13, how often does the writer say believers should exhort one another, and what is the purpose for doing so?

6. What did the original recipients of the book of Hebrews experience, according to the sermon's description of their circumstances (wrongful imprisonment, plundering of possessions), and how did they respond to such treatment?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why does the writer of Hebrews connect the command to meet together with the command to encourage one another—what is the relationship between gathering and mutual encouragement?

2. The sermon explains that "encouragement" in this passage means more than just uplifting words when we're down. What does the sermon say encouragement primarily means in this context, and why is this kind of encouragement necessary for believers?

3. How does the phrase "as you see the day drawing near" (Hebrews 10:25) provide motivation for Christians to keep meeting and encouraging one another? What "day" is being referenced?

4. The sermon states that "sin makes us spiritually sedentary" and that our gatherings are "God's jumper cables for love and good works." What does this metaphor teach us about why God commands believers to gather rather than leaving it optional?

5. How does the sermon connect the concept of Sabbath rest with the work of Christ on the cross, and why does understanding this connection matter for how we view Sunday gatherings?

Application Questions

1. The sermon mentions various members who made sacrifices to attend—elderly members using all their strength, kids choosing church over travel sports, parents scheming for childcare. What specific obstacles currently make it difficult for you to prioritize gathering with your church, and what is one practical step you could take to overcome one of those obstacles?

2. Hebrews 10:24 calls us to "consider how" to stir up one another to love and good works—meaning we should think intentionally about encouraging others. Who is one specific person in your church community you could intentionally encourage this week, and what would that encouragement look like practically?

3. The sermon distinguishes between encouragement as uplifting words and encouragement as exhortation to avoid sin. Is there a relationship in your life where you need to either receive or offer this kind of honest, sin-confronting encouragement? What makes this difficult, and how might you take a step toward it?

4. The sermon challenges the cultural view of Sunday as "the weekend" and presents it instead as the Lord's Day—a day to give to the church through hospitality, mercy ministry, and evangelism. How do you currently view and use your Sundays beyond the worship service, and what is one way you could reorient your Sunday to reflect that it belongs to King Jesus?

5. The sermon warns against self-righteousness toward those who cannot gather due to legitimate health concerns. How can you actively extend grace and maintain meaningful connection with church members who are unable to attend in person, rather than allowing distance to grow between you?

Additional Bible Reading

1. John 20:19-29 — This passage shows the early disciples gathering on the first day of the week after Jesus' resurrection, establishing the pattern for the Lord's Day that the sermon emphasizes.

2. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 — This passage explains the Lord's Supper and the proclamation of Christ's death "until he comes," connecting to the sermon's point about looking for Jesus' return through our gathered worship.

3. Mark 6:30-34 — This passage shows Jesus inviting his disciples to rest after ministry, illustrating the sermon's point about Jesus providing rest while also continuing to pour himself out for others.

4. Matthew 11:28-30 — Jesus' invitation to the weary and heavy-laden to find rest in him directly supports the sermon's explanation of how true Sabbath rest is found in Christ.

5. Colossians 3:12-17 — This passage describes the corporate life of believers who encourage one another through teaching, admonishing, and worshiping together, reinforcing the sermon's emphasis on mutual encouragement within the gathered church.

Sermon Main Topics

I. Since We Have Jesus, We Have Everything Heaven Can Give

II. Let's Keep Meeting (Hebrews 10:24-25)

III. Let's Keep Encouraging

IV. Let's Keep Looking

V. Closing Exhortation and Prayer

Detailed Sermon Outline

Brothers and sisters, if you would, grab your bulletin and flip back to that hymn on page five. Yet not I, but through Christ in me, yet not I, but through Christ in me.

Look at that first stanza we sung earlier together. We sang, what gift of grace Is Jesus my Redeemer? There is no more for heaven now to give.

Is that not an arresting line?

If we have turned from our rebellion against God and trusted in Jesus, we have everything heaven can give.

Joy, righteousness, freedom, steadfast love, deep and boundless peace. We have all this in the one we've been given, Jesus. And since we have Jesus, what should we do?

Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. We're not sure who wrote the book of Hebrews, but it was written to a group of Christians who were in a hard time for being Christians. Some of them were wrongly imprisoned, others had their stuff stolen. But even then, they accepted such treatment, the plundering of their possessions, with an awe joy because they knew they had a better possession coming.

They knew they had access to God and could approach him with confidence because they had Jesus. And what does the writer of the Hebrews tell them to do since they had Jesus? Several things, but we're going to lock in on verses 24 to 25. Let's read it now. Hebrews 10 starting in verse 24, the writer says, since we have Jesus, let us consider.

How to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Brothers and sisters, I don't feel that I need to hammer you with the truth of this passage that centers on the importance of our meeting together. One of the main reasons I don't feel the need to do that is because you're here in a parking lot, at a new time, and yet another new location. And you already believe that though this meeting may be harder logistically than those we had in DC, it is just as significant and beautiful spiritually. But what's more beloved, in pressing through hard circumstances as you're able to, to make it to our gatherings, you're showing not just what you believe, but how much you believe it.

So, if you're here and you're not a Christian, it is wonderful to have you. Thank you for coming and visiting, especially as we're not in our normal location. Our church's meeting house is back in DC. But with that said, let me just encourage you to let this gathering be its own testimony to you.

Hundreds of members of our church are here in odd and harder circumstances because we have Jesus in our lives. And as we confessed earlier, we believe that he matters for our lives and what we do with them on Sundays. And what's more, we have hundreds of other members who believe the same just as much as we all here do, but they're unable to gather with us because of legitimate health concerns and risks.

But for those of us who are able to gather, brothers and sisters, my goal is not to hammer you with the importance of meeting together on Sundays, but to encourage you in it.

That we might keep doing it all the more, as our passage says. In other words, family, I mean for this sermon to be a big biblical bear hug, though I'll keep my social distance. And more seriously, this past Friday was my late father's birthday. And I remember one day in high school, I was discouraged about something. I can't even remember what it was now, but I remember what my dad said.

He simply looked at me and said, Hey man, hang in there.

And CHBC, I want to say the same to you. After all, we have Jesus. Oh, we're going to be more than all right. So what should we do since we have Jesus? Three answers.

First, let's keep meeting. Since we have Jesus, point number one, let's keep meeting. CHBC, be encouraged. By God's grace, we're faithfully obeying his command to keep meeting. Meeting Together.

Look back at our text. It's quite possibly the clearest command in Scripture we have to keep meeting together as a church. Read with me starting in verse 24. Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some. So apparently some people at the time who claimed they belonged to Jesus thought they didn't need to gather with Jesus' followers.

And the writer of Hebrews is saying they're wrong.

After all, friends, how can anyone claim to love God as their Father but not love their brothers and sisters? And how can anyone love their brothers and sisters if they refuse to see them? Now, this verse doesn't mean you can't ever miss church or that if you do, you're necessarily refusing to love your brothers and sisters. Maybe you have an illness or travel, but what this verse is saying is you shouldn't make it a habit of missing church when you're able to come. As our church covenant says, we will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

Now, to be sure, beloved, this part of the covenant has perhaps never been more challenging for our church members to uphold than it has this past year. But let those of us gathering here beware of any self-righteousness that assumes someone not gathering with us is necessarily forsaking us because that's not necessarily the case. If someone is like, yeah, I could come, but I'll just take a break from church for a while, well, yeah, that's a problem. But if someone who is dying to get here but fears dying if they come decides to hang back, well, that's quite another thing. And grace should abound.

After all, this is a unique season, friends. Earlier this year, our entire church ceased meeting for the longest stretch that it ever has in its 142-year history, with the understanding that we weren't disobeying Hebrews 10:24-25. So we temporarily suspended our gatherings for the public good. Because Hebrews 10:24-25 isn't the only command in scripture. But as soon as we could, we gathered.

And praise God, more and more of us are able to start gathering. And if our gatherings have been challenging for you, take comfort from the book of Hebrews. After all, our verse would have certainly challenged the Christian, the Christians, the writer of the Hebrews was addressing, given the suffering Christians were facing. Surely not a few of his readers at the time were wondering if gathering with the church was worth it. And the answer was yes, and it still is.

Brothers and sisters, I recognize that for some of us, Sundays used to feel like a feast, and now maybe they feel more like a famine. And maybe you're like, I'm just not getting much out of church these days. I just don't understand what God is really doing through church right now. You might be asking, why is God doing this? But beloved, let me gently remind you, there is something God wants more than our understanding.

Namely our trust. At CHBC, to encourage you, so many of you are exemplifying that trust. Elderly brothers and sisters, it may take all your strength, but you're showing up here. Kids, maybe you're deciding to come here on Sundays instead of being on a travel sports team.

Single brothers and sisters, you're still coming, though you have to be distanced from your CHBC family, parents with little kids, maybe you're having to scheme extra hard for how one of you attends service while your spouse hangs back for the kids' nap time, and yet you make it work. Anna, you're here in a cast. Brothers and sisters, I could keep going, but beloved, you're enduring as much to meet together because you trust God.

Hallelujah! And we're not the only Christians to trust God and meet together. Since day one, beloved Christians have met because they believed God and they wanted to grow in that belief. Acts 2:42 says, the believers there at the first church devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Brothers and sisters, this is our Christian heritage.

Heritage. This is what our family does. We meet and we meet on the Lord's Day, which is Sunday, the first day of the week. As we read in John 20 earlier, this first day is called the Lord's Day because that's when Jesus was raised from the dead, which is to say the first fruits of the Resurrection. Jesus claims the first day of the week.

And I say as much because we're so culturally conditioned to think that Sunday is the week end. But in Scripture, on God's calendar, it is the week's beginning, the week's dawn. Far from being a day reserved for brunch, Sunday is a day for such a better meal, feasting on the Word of God with the people of God.

Far from being a day reserved for sports, Sunday is a day, first and foremost, reserved to take up the activities of the Lord. So in 1 Corinthians 16, the church there gathers and takes up an offering. In Acts 20, the church gathers to break bread. And I could keep going with what we do when we gather, but I'd run out of time, which goes to show, as Michael Horton, a theologian, said, that far from being a prison, The Lord's Day is a palace, one that belongs to King Jesus in the morning and evening.

Friends, do y'all remember evening service?

We used to have them. And I mention as much to highlight how many people in this church view Sunday as the Lord's Day. Brothers and sisters, so many of us gave not just our mornings but our evenings to the church. When I came to CHBC, this really challenged me. I used to see Sunday as a weekend day to go to church in the morning and otherwise the rest of the day it's for me.

Now I see them as a day to give to the church, to take up good works like hospitality and mercy ministry and evangelism for the Lord.

And if you need to be reminded of much, beloved, keep coming to church because that's what will encourage you to remember as much. Which leads us to point number two. Well, what should we do since we have Jesus? Let's keep encouraging. Since we have Jesus, point number two, let's keep encouraging.

CHBC, be encouraged. By God's grace, we're faithfully obeying this command to keep encouraging one another. Let's look back at our text starting in verse 24. Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another. Brothers and sisters, not in an ultimate sense, but in a very real sense, We need one another.

You need someone to help you carry out the greatest commandment, to love God and your neighbor. You need someone else to stir you up in love. And the reason why you need stirring, the reason why we need a catalyst, is because sin makes us slow in love. Sin makes us spiritually sedentary. Like a bad engine, a sinful heart makes us break down and stop.

Our gatherings together then, brothers and sisters, are God's jumper cables for our love and good works. And CHBC, by God's grace, y'all jumpstart each other so faithfully. I love how in verse 24 it doesn't just say, Let us stir up one another, but let us consider how to stir up one another.

One another. That is, we should think about how we can encourage others to bring about more love in this church. And so many of y'all do that. The CHBC social email is often full of opportunities to love. The deacons of the church often think about opportunities to facilitate love.

I think of how Cyrus and Ashley Najjad were leading up some of the member care efforts at the beginning of the pandemic. And I remember Ashley writing this report to the elders. This is what she wrote. She said, Cyrus and I continue to be amazed by the care members have shown one another during this time. We have a growing list of over 40 members who have taken the initiative to reach out to us and offer to serve others during this time.

We need more requests for assistance so we can give everyone jobs. Smiley face emoji. Ashley continued, saying, We have had some requests for service, and with each one, we've had multiple people offer their assistance. At times, we feel like game show hosts awarding a prize, with the prize being an opportunity to serve others.

Brothers and sisters, she's talking about you guys stirring up one another to love and good works. Look with me at verse 24 where it says, Love and good works. You might be struck to see good works in this verse. After all, I thought today we were focusing on the Christian Sabbath. Why then are we talking about work?

I thought the Sabbath was about rest.

Well friends, it is about rest, but that rest is primarily rest for our souls, which we find in Jesus. That's not to say we don't need physical rest or that kind of rest isn't good or coming. So in Mark 6, after Jesus' disciples go out and teach and do a lot of work, Jesus says to them, Come away by yourself to a desolate place and rest a while. Jesus is like, Hey, fellas, we've been breaking our backs. Let's go and rest for a while.

Though it's sad if you keep reading Mark 6, people follow Jesus and he winds up getting no rest at all. In fact, he kept pouring himself out and he did as much all the way until the cross.

That's not because Jesus was burned out and addicted to work. It's because through his work, he was securing rest for all of those who would turn from their sins and trust in him. Earlier we talked about Jesus' resurrection, but three days before that, Jesus hung on a cross in the place of sinners. Though he lived the perfect life, Jesus took the wrath sinners deserved. He died in their place so that anyone who would turn from their sins and rely on him would be forgiven of their sins and live with God forever, enjoying rest, a rest from the troubles of this world, rest from the weariness and shame sin brings about.

If you're here and you're not a Christian and you feel exhausted from trying to escape or carry the weight of your sins, Jesus today, Jesus's word for you today is simple, come to me.

All who are weary and labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

If you're here and you've done as much, if you've come to Jesus, brothers and sisters know that we enjoy this rest now in part, but one day we will enter into eternal rest fully.

Brothers and sisters, the Sabbath is not about us napping on Sundays, though we can. It's about Jesus saving sinners. And if we know ourselves to be saved, we will be those who pursue good works and consider how to stir up one another to good works until we make it home to our eternal rest. That's what we're looking forward to. Which leads to our final point.

What should we do since we have Jesus? Let's keep looking. Since we have Jesus, point number three, let's keep looking. CHBC, be encouraged. By God's grace, we're faithfully looking for Jesus to come back.

Look back at our text with me in verse 24. It says, Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.

Not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Brothers and sisters, the day that the writer of Hebrews is talking about is that day when Christ returns in judgment. And one of the primary ways God has set up for you to know that you're going to make it through this judgment is this gathering of believers. And the encouragement we can give to you. And just as a sidebar, isn't it kind of God to command the very things we need? Like encouragement.

God says, Gather, because you need encouragement.

When he says encouragement, the writer of Hebrews doesn't just mean giving one another uplifting words when we're down, though that's wonderful. And we need that too. But here the writer primarily means encouragement to stay away from sin. In this sense, encouragement is more like exhortation, warning, rebuke if necessary. So in our last point, we talked about encouragement positively, meaning what we need encouragement to pursue, love and good works.

In this point, we're talking about it negatively. Meaning what we need encouragement to avoid, namely sin and deception. If you look earlier in the book of Hebrews, chapter 3, verse 13, the writer says clearly, Exhort one another every day, as long it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Friends, ain't none of us here so spiritually healthy that we are immune to deception. Ain't none of us here so godly that we don't need someone else pushing us toward holiness. No, beloved, all of us here need to be reminded of the truth if we're going to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, as Hebrews 10:23 says. And so we meet on the first day of the week, We meet throughout the week so we may encourage one another to hold fast to our hope. And CHBC, to encourage you, y'all do a great job of holding one another accountable that we might hold onto our hope.

Our church covenant says, We will walk together in brotherly love as becomes the members of a Christian church, exercise an affectionate care and watchfulness over each other and faithfully admonish and entreat one another as occasion may require.

And CHBC, you do this because you see the day drawing near. You're looking for it. And one of the ways we look together, brothers and sisters, is we gather together and take the Lord's Supper. For as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Beloved, this coming, this day is drawing near and you believe it.

One of the things that was most encouraging to me as a pastor during the pandemic was when the church was scrambling to try and get together to meet and not a few of you wanted to do so for the sake of the Lord's Supper. It's like we got to eat the family meal together again. We can't eat it by ourselves. There's lots of things we can't do by ourselves in the Christian life. And so we keep meeting, we keep encouraging, we keep looking together.

Brothers and sisters, as I said at the beginning, I didn't feel the need to hammer you with these truths, but to encourage you in them.

After all, sometimes we don't need convincing but encouraging. I mean, isn't it encouraging when someone comes along and says, Hey, you know all that stuff God says you should do? You're actually doing it by God's grace. You should keep going and we should get going to the Lord's Supper. So let's pray together.

Father, we're so thankful that we don't just have Jesus, but that first and foremost, He has us.

As we meet together and encourage one another and look toward Jesus coming again, we ask that this meal would strengthen us. So we could do just that all the more. Father, help us to rely on Christ and rest in Him as we eat together now. In Jesus' name, Amen.