good morning clear view and welcome to
church
my name is cindy and i have the
privilege of doing the welcome today
if you've been with us for a while or
maybe this is your first time we're glad
that you're here we pray that today's
service
will be a blessing to you if you're
looking for a church
or you're looking for a place to worship
know that clearview
is always here for you uh today we will
be
blessed by colleen and the team with
music
uh maybe go grab an instrument and you
can join her with that and have some fun
uh if you don't have an instrument no
worries grab a box of pasta
and shake that maybe grab a uh grab a
pan and a wooden spoon
and have fun with that leah is going to
continue on with this series of
apocalypse now
so make sure you have your bibles close
by and you can follow along with her
let me just open up with prayer and then
we can begin the service
father god you are an awesome god and uh
we are thankful for this time that we
get to meet thank you for this
online platform where we just get to
come together
even if it's not in body we get to come
together in spirit
lord i pray that this service is a
blessing to all who are watching it
i pray that um we will be fed
by your spirit help us to have a good
time
and to um honor and glorify you and all
that we do
in your name i pray amen enjoy the
service
hi there clear of your church my name is
patty i don't know if you recognize me
behind this mask but this is me
and i used to sit in that corner over
there
typically before cool it began but on
september 13
we get to open our doors again and
welcome the church back into
the building so thank you for listening
thank you for being here
we have a couple things that we need to
keep in mind before we move forward
and these requirements are typical as
you've noticed
over the last few months the government
of ontario
has allowed for churches to have 30 percent capacity
that means in this worship center we can
have
31 bubbles 31 bubbles so if you are
bubbling with somebody
you can register together we'll go over
some of the details in just a few
minutes
we will have a hybrid so keep in mind
that while we gather
together in person we also have the
opportunity to gather
online via live streaming so there are
two options
that we're going to propose for the
whole church so that you can be in
person or
continue to join us via live stream
it's important to remember that we are
part of this discipleship journey
and so that we can be gathering together
whether digitally or
here in the building for those who wish
to join us here in the building there
are some important steps to keep in mind
here's the first one first we need to
register for the service
as space is limited so 31 bubbles mean
that you need to register using what we
call
planning center there will be more
details in another video
two sunday morning this might be a
little bit tough but sunday morning if
you've registered you need to be here at
9 45
so 9 45 before 10 o'clock we need to be
here
in the building you will be coming to
the front doors and then usher will
bring you to a designated spot here in
the worship center
and three once you're in the worship
center we ask that you stay
seated until the very end of the service
and at the end of the service the ushers
will also
let us out and show us where we can go
so please please remember while we don't
love these things and it's hard to
recognize each other
we need to wear our masks we need to
wear a mask
and we need to practice social
distancing social distancing as you know
is approximately two meters six feet or
eleven sultry hymnals lengthwise
so please keep your distance we also
understand that everyone has a certain
level of comfort so please keep in mind
that people's comfort levels
are different our services will be live
stream via
youtube 10 a.m every sunday morning so
we're looking forward to seeing people
but we're also making sure that things
are safe here
we look forward to seeing you please
keep in mind that whether we are in
person
or we are online you are part of the
family here at clearview and you belong
more than that you're part of the body
of christ jesus christ our savior
have a great day thank you and smiling
good morning clearview listen to this
psalm
130. out of the depths i cry to you lord
lord hear my voice let your ears be
attentive
to my cry for mercy
if you lord kept a record of sins lord
who could stand
but with you there's forgiveness so that
we can with reverence serve you
i wait for the lord my whole being waits
and in his word i put my hope
i wait for the lord more than watchmen
wait for the morning
more than watchmen wait for the morning
clear view
put your hope in the lord for with the
lord
is unfailing love and with him is full
redemption
and he himself will redeem you from all
your sins
good morning clearview my name is daryl
van laare i'm a deacon here at clearview
today's offering is for calvin
theological seminary
calvin seminary's academic programs are
designed to equip students with a
foundation and reform christian theology
and focus on the church as god's agent
of hope for the world
let's pray dear god thank you for calvin
theological seminary
please continue to bless the professors
as they influence the future leaders of
the church
i pray for each pastor in training to be
led by the holy spirit
as they prepare sermons that will have a
direct impact in people's lives
amen hi everyone my name is elisa rink
um i wish i could see your faces like
you're seeing mine
i understand that there are plans
underway for us to do just that
so let's try and be patient um
i would like to lead you in the reading
of
psalm 46 and it's a psalm that seems to
quiet my heart
when i think about the scenarios that we
find ourselves
perhaps in the midst of a challenging
time
i'm really mindful of our teachers
heading back to
school with a whole set of new
expectations and environments
perhaps students going to school
imagining the challenge of learning
while wearing a mask
i also think of people who are newly
or perhaps have been unemployed for a
couple of months
or even longer than that and really
struggling
financially and i also think of those
people who are living
in months of isolation and
we just want to connect specifically
to you and want to reassure you and
remind you to reach out
to clearview you're experiencing these
things
honestly i'm a little bit fatigued and
tired of
this world that kovit has created
as i work full time and balance these
new challenges that are right around the
corner
after labor day weekend i honestly
get bits of worry and panic not knowing
how all those details
are going to be ironed out
and yet god reminds us again that he is
very much in control
so let's read psalm 46.
i'm reading from the niv version
god is our refuge and strength
and ever-present help and trouble
therefore we will not
fear though the earth give way and the
mountains
fall in the heart of the sea
though its waters roar and foam and the
mountains quake
with their surging this is the best part
there is a river whose streams may glad
the city of god
the holy place where the most high
dwells
god is within her she will not fail
god will help her at break of day
nations are in uproar
kingdoms fall he lifts his voice
the earth melts the lord almighty
is with us the god of jacob is our
fortress
come and see what the lord has done the
desolations that he has brought on the
earth he makes war
cease to the ends of the earth he breaks
the bow
and shatters the spear he burns the
shields with fire
he says be still
that's the hard part for me be still
and know that i am god i will be exalted
among the nations
i will be exalted in the earth the lord
almighty is with
us the god of jacob is our fortress
and with that in mind let's go to god
in prayer
father we're so glad that you're in
control
that you see me that you see everyone
watching this video
now and in the future
you not only know what we're contending
with but you're right
there working things ahead of me
and right beside me for my good
father there are days when i'm not sure
that i can handle more challenge
i know many people who feel that way
will you come
and remind us that you are not changed
that you are interceding for us and help
us to find new ways of
daily living with you
during this new time
father just like we lifted our front
line workers to you many months ago we
lift
all those heading back into the
classroom
in your strong and loving
incapable hands father you have
and will equip them
bring them peace bring them reassurance
in the midst of a system that may look
and feel
so different give them sleep
holy spirit fall in their classrooms and
in their office space and in their cars
and in those moments especially where
they wonder how they are going to manage
father we pray for passion for teaching
for new ways to connect with your
students
and for joy
father i pray for gerda vanderland
father she steal
dilling with a stroke and the side
effects that are just
slow to resolve father work in our body
we pray that you would heal her with
your presence
that you would give her
new levels of patience and hope
that you dearly love her and that you
are working things out
for her bring alongside people who help
bring her the things that she needs
father i pray for the search committee
you are faithful to us
as a congregation give our committee
wisdom as they follow
your leading in the process that you
have laid out
we pray that you would bless the one
that will be called
and that you will prepare them for
father i pray for the plans underway to
get us back together in our church
building father we're excited
we thank you for the plans underway and
give us wisdom
and patience as we make all the
arrangements we pray for the staff that
are charged with this
that you would lead them through
father we thank you for the opportunity
can
to connect with each other like this
father we thank you for this day we
thank you
for the extra long weekend for those of
us who have three days off
in a row give us rest
and fodder join us in this time
in your awesome name we pray amen
we're finishing our last week of our
apocalypse now series
this entire summer we've talked about
the way
scripture points to the revelation of
god
the word apocalypse throughout
throughout scripture
reveals a little bit about god and about
god's
world and his creation and his hopes and
dreams
for humanity and
all of these different texts
continue to speak into our reality today
next week we're going to be starting the
re church
series i mean you're going to be
not seeing a film something filmed
in in a home we're going to be back in
the building
i thought it was only fitting that we
started out our first
week after the building was closed march
29th
in my house and we're closing it off
here
in my house and our
text this morning is hebrews 13 verses 1
through 19.
and it talks about the entire theme of
hebrews
is the revelation of christ
paul in his letter to the christians in
jerusalem
those with jewish identity and jewish
ethnicity
is encouraging them to
view the resurrection of christ
as a beginning of a new custom a new way
of being
they were afraid that they were losing
some of their traditions
and losing some of the things that made
them feel
secure in their faith and
paul was saying that the revelation of
christ
matters even though christ
is no longer with us physically
before we begin let's pray
heavenly father thank you for the
blessing
of worship it expands
space and time
we just thank you for the technology
that allows us to unite ourselves
to you and to form ourselves into your
body
worshiping you through computer screens
television screens
lord i pray that your spirit would speak
to us
that it would soft soften our hearts
and that he would give us the ears to
hear
all it is that you have for us
holy spirit would you illuminate your
words so that we could apply them to our
lives
would you give give us
real instruction that we can take away
so that we can grow a little bit more
into you tomorrow than we are today
or to pray that your voice would be
louder than all the others including
mine
in jesus name we pray amen
so i'm going to start reading our text
is hebrews 13 but i'm going to start
reading it
hebrews 12 28. there's a
natural break in the greek that makes a
little bit more sense and gives us a
little context
so therefore
since we are receiving a kingdom that
cannot be shaken
let us be thankful and so worship god
acceptably with reverence and awe for
our god is a consuming fire
keep on loving each other as brothers
and sisters
do not forget to entertain strangers for
by so doing
some people have entertained angels
without knowing it
remember those in prison as if you were
their fellow prisoners
and those who are mistreated as if you
yourselves are suffering
marriage should be honored by all and
the marriage bed kept pure
for god will judge the adulterer and all
the sexually immoral
keep your lives free from the love of
money and be content with what you have
because god has said
never will i leave you never will i
forsake you
so we say with confidence the lord is my
helper
i will not be afraid what can man do to
me remember your leaders who spoke the
word of god to you
consider the outcome of their way of
life and imitate their faith
jesus christ is the same yesterday and
today
and forever do not be carried away by
all kinds of strange teachings
it is good for your our hearts to be
strengthened by grace
not by ceremonial foods
which are of no value to those who eat
them
we have an altar from which those who
minister at the tabernacle have no right
to eat
the high priest carries the blood of
animals into the most
holy place as a sin offering
but the bodies are burned outside the
camp
and so jesus also suffered outside the
city
to make the people holy through his own
blood
let us then go to him outside the camp
bearing the disgrace he bore for here
we do not have an enduring city but we
are looking for the city that is to come
through jesus therefore let us
continually offer to god a sacrifice
of praise the fruit of lips that confess
his name
and we do not forget and do not forget
to do good and to share with others
for with such sacrifices god has pleased
obey your leaders and submit to their
authority they keep
watch over you as men and women who must
give an account
actually so that word men
it can say men or it can say men and
women we're not exactly sure if it was
all one
or the other so i will say it can be
either they watch over you as men who
must give an account
obey them so that their work will be a
joy not a burden
for that would be of no advantage to you
pray for us we are sure that we have a
clear conscience
and desire to live honorably in every
way
i particularly urge you to pray so that
i may be restored
to you soon this is the word of the lord
thanks be to god
so i'd like to put you in the story
these jewish believers of christ were
meeting regularly
in homes in jerusalem they shared meals
together
they would have sat down to hear this
story as the meal they were about to
eat together with being prepared in the
kitchen and
the scents would have been wafting into
the dining room
they would have been able to elbow with
some non-jews among their midst
and there was a longing in this church
in jerusalem a little
idea had started creeping in
a missing of the old ways
they were used to
celebrating once a year this
festival of atonement and we still
celebrate it
in jewish culture today yom kippur
and it was once a year where people
would come into the temple
and they would confess their sins and
the high priest would take two goats
and one would be a scapegoat and one
would be
a goat to the lord and the go to the
lord would be sacrificed it would
cleanse the
altar but the scapegoat would take
the all of the spoken intentional sins
of the entire community
now the go to the lord would take all of
the unintentional sins
so the things that they would did wrong
that they didn't recognize were wrong so
it was kind of a
cover-all sacrifice
but the scapegoat what
was a symbol
of all of the things that they knew they
were doing
so as the
the priest would accept the prayers of
the people people would be thinking
about the time that they were
mad at their brother or where they were
unfaithful to their spouse
or where they cheated on their taxes or
they didn't live the way they were they
should have been living
and the the people would all think about
these sins
throughout the year and then they would
ceremonially
place them heap them all on to the head
of the scapegoat and the scapegoat would
then be let out
out of the city and at first it was
enough
that this the goat would be outside the
city walls but in jerusalem
it was easy for that goat to come back
in or maybe to be
attracted to people and so they began
the tradition of
pushing the scapegoat off of a cliff so
that he could never
get back into the city
and at the end of this festival they
felt free
they felt forgiven they felt
close to one another they felt purified
and cleansed and they had
this visible high priest that they could
recognize who they knew who loved them
and it made them feel whole again
and at this time in the church they were
facing for persecution
and it was not an easy time and not only
that um
they might be subject to arrest or death
they were also ostracized from their
jewish communities
the thought of them calling non-jews
brothers and sisters meant that their
own brothers and sisters no longer
wanted anything to do with them
and they began to wonder as jesus
wasn't returning as fast as they thought
he would
whether they needed to go back to their
old ways
was it enough what he did when he was
resurrected now they
many of them saw jesus directly many of
them
knew his disciples so they may not have
doubted
his resurrection but they doubted
whether or not it mattered to them
today
and i think we can see that in our own
churches we may not
express the question
what does the apocalypse now mean what
does it mean to live the apoc what's the
mat what's the difference
what is the fact that jesus resurrection
what difference does it make to us
really today we might not
say that but if you look at the
statistics on church membership
it might reveal that
an underlying cultural question
because paul says in hebrews 13
that essentially that little group that
little church
gathered that because they inherited a
kingdom that cannot be shaken
the revelation of god through christ
it's their church that was the
revelation of christ to the world
you see paul was teaching them
that they were essentially the
apocalypse now
they were the church was the embodiment
of christ in the world
how they acted towards one another how
they loved one another
was their witness to the world
barna group just quite a few years ago
did a study on youth
and 60 of youth no longer go to church
and maybe they
leave the church just for a time and a
portion of them come back
usually when their kids are born or if
they face a significant crisis but
many of them never come back and the
barter group asked
these people when the researchers asked
why why did they leave the church
many of them said they actually still
love jesus but they just don't like his
church
and they cited lots of reasons
hypocrisy self-righteousness
decided the judgmentalism or the
historic oppression of the earlier
church and
many of them even pointed to the abuse
scandals of today
now many ways it's true those are real
things that
have plagued the church
and it may be that
those youth haven't asked what does the
revelation of christ mean to me today
but the truth is the church
is the body of christ today it is the
revelation of christ today
and so often when we look at a church
we're not looking for christ we're
looking for sin
and frankly if we're looking for sin
we're gonna find it in the church
because
as it's been said many times before it's
full of people
so it must be full of sin because all
people are sinful
and if we're only looking for sin we're
gonna find it but if we're looking for
christ
we have to look a little bit closer and
it involves
something on our part this is what paul
was talking to
to the church in jerusalem
because when you love each other and you
keep
on loving your brothers and sisters
something happens
when you love each other verses two and
three paul sort of
unpacks what that looks like when you
love each other you
you don't forget to entertain foreigners
as if they were angels or
which is an old testament reference to
abraham and lot but jesus
says if you whatever you do to the least
of these you do to me
and so paul would have been reminding
them that
when you're generous is when you
love your brothers and sisters and when
your
remembering those in prison those who
are suffering and suffering
right alongside when you're putting
yourselves in the shoes of those who
suffer
and you give a little cost of yourself
you're loving your brothers and sisters
in christ
and later on when paul's talking about
marriage and and keeping yourself from
sexual immorality
or or keeping yourself from greed what
paul is saying is that
you re you remember you live the
revelation of christ by
being trustworthy by being someone who
keeps their covenants by
remembering who your provider is
you see for these
jewish christians these were real issues
that divided their communities
we have real issues that divide our
communities today
just take one look at social media this
week there was
a politician
used scripture in a very questionable
way
i'm not going to comment on what what i
believe or not believe about this
politician but it caused
huge controversy and i read articles
where
on both sides of the debate people
wrote they weren't those kind of
christians they've created a separation
between
one kind of christian and another and it
doesn't just happen in the public sphere
it doesn't just happen on social media
we can see it happening in our own
churches sometimes
we might pass by our fellow brother and
sister in christ
and maybe we're friendly but our lives
are not impacted by theirs
we may not even know if they're
suffering because we haven't actually
submitted to one another to share that
part of our lives
sure we're close with some in the church
because those are the people we're most
comfortable with
or maybe it's other churches other
denominations
maybe we're comfortable with the
churches that our parents said that we
could love but
maybe there were other churches other
christians that maybe their customs were
just a little too funny and we
were just a little susceptible they're
just a little bit
um suspicious and so i mean we don't
hate them but we don't we don't
necessarily love them
paul was casting a different kind of
vision understanding that christ
was the ultimate scapegoat
they didn't need to be worried about not
being forgiven
they didn't need to wait until yom
kippur to feel connected or close to one
another
they could live it every single day of
their lives
he cast a vision of life as a
forgiven people who forgive
you see it was hard for the jewish
christians to accept
non-jews because they just had so many
different customs
but but paul's saying it's not the food
that that saves you it's
in verse 9 he says
it's good for our hearts to be
strengthened by grace not by ceremonial
foods which are of no
value to those who eat them
the jewish customs didn't save them it
was christ that saved them it was god's
work
in the atonement the final atonement
that ever needed to be done was done in
christ
and so because of that truth we can live
reconciled to one another and
pastor eric talked about that last week
that we can forgive one another
now i want to take a little bit extra
step beyond
beyond that this week paul's talking
about jesus as the sacrificial goat
the final um the final sacrifice
and this image can be a really helpful
way
for us to actually live into that
forgiveness principle
because in reality that bitterness
that that plagued the jewish church
can plague us too and it can keep us
from all the things that god wants for
us in our lives
because forgiveness can be hard
let's say for example you have a family
member who has a
starkly different opinion from you
and it gets under your skin maybe
maybe they live a way they live their
lives in a way that you just don't agree
with
and it every time you see them it's
something that just
somebody gets at your kids at your crop
you know what i mean
we have an image here that paul gives us
when we feel that we're owed
something by someone or when we observe
sinful habits in others
there's nothing that we have to do about
it for our own self
other than to lay those needs before
jesus he's already taken that sacrifice
so when you're
cousin from far away hurts your feelings
in an argument
you don't need to wait for justification
you don't need to wait for the world to
know you've been wronged or maybe that
hurts that you've experienced in the
christian community have been
deeper you don't have to wait until
you're proved right for vindication or
redemption
you can actually give that to the lord
right now
every day you don't have to wait for a
time of a year
you can release everyone around you
every single person
every single situation
from the debt that you have felt they
owed you
we do this not through
a ceremony but through a daily offering
of prayer
when our praises meet god
they do so through christ and so every
single day
we have the opportunity to look at our
our brother and sister
and be reconciled to them and to god
so we let's for example think of that
cousin
who hurt us maybe we
ask the lord to forgive them
or maybe we declare in prayer
that that person no longer owes
you anything
and then as the high priest office that
we've been given
through christ we can pray a prayer of
blessing
and abundance on even our worst
enemies we don't have to do that in a
ceremony we have
it at our fingertips we have it
every single day of the life of our
lives
we don't always
individually or collectively offer a
true reflection of christ
in the church it's true but whether we
like it or not
thankfully christ loves us
and he promises his people
that whatever rifts whether they be
ambivalent rifts
or violent rifts that he can take them
he's already taken them because he's
taken them for you and he's taken them
for i
for me he's taken our sins and he's
taken our offenses
and he's already dealt with him so he
promises us
that he can take any offenses that
continue to happen
so this morning as we close out our
series in apocalypse now
we can look at each other once again and
say you're the apocalypse of christ
and we could see christ through the sin
in in others and in the church
and in ourselves
thank you clearview church for being the
apocalypse
of christ i can't wait
until we can see each other again in
person
amen let's pray
heavenly father thank you so much for
your word thank you so much for your
church thank you so much for the
offering and the sacrifice
thank you for taking all of our offenses
taking all of our sins upon yourself
but i pray that you would continue to
work in us to keep
on loving each other lord would you help
us with this
there are areas in our life than our
bitter roots
little seeds that keep coming back lord
would you
bring those to mind and would you bring
people around us
that will help us would you bring us
into mutual submission and
accountability with one another
so that we can live the flourishing
beautiful purposeful lives that you've
attended
intended for your church i pray for a
blessing on your church
and i pray for a blessing on clearview
church in the name of jesus christ
the father and the son and the holy
spirit amen
at the end of the service they would
leave one another with a parting
blessing a benediction not unlike the
way
paul would end his letters they would
send one another
off out into the world with the good
news of jesus christ
to live their faith out day after day
and so as we
sort of step out of our homes
metaphorically and
step back into the building of the
church next week i leave you with this
blessing the end
of the of the chapter 13 of hebrews the
end of the letter
of paul to the church in jerusalem
may the god of peace whom through the
blood of the eternal covenant
brought back from the dead our lord
jesus that great shepherd of the sheep
equip you with everything good
for doing his will and may he work
in us what is pleasing to him through
jesus christ
to him be the glory forever and
ever amen go in peace
do
hey there uh if you are watching this
video it's because you are interested
in joining us for an in-person gathering
for our sunday morning
services uh in this video i'm just going
to be kind of
walking through the steps of how to
register where you can find this kind of
information
uh let's just jump in um so if you open
up
your web browser i'm using a macbook and
so i'm going to be opening up safari but
if you open up
google chrome or internet explorer or
whatever that is you're just going to
type in www.clearviewchurch.com
this is our church's website on this
website
um you've probably seen this before
there's lots of good stuff but we're
going to focus up here
on this register here button so you can
go ahead and click that
and this is gonna open up the eventbrite
page
uh eventbrite is just um it's just
allowing us to host
um you know our ticket sales we're not
selling tickets they're free
but we do need to register for the
services the reason we need to do that
is because we can only fit 31
social bubbles in our building right now
and so eventbrite allows us to register
you can register as a group
we'll get into that read through this
page this page has a lot of helpful
information as you can see through all
this
but when you're ready to register you're
just going to click on this green
register button right up here
uh once you click on that um you will be
able to
you'll find this page where you can
select how many people you are
registering for
uh so for this sake i'm just gonna do
two and we will hit
register
um at this point it's fairly
straightforward just drop your contact
information in
uh so i'm gonna put my name in here
on my email i'll have to confirm my
email as well
and once you've got that settled up
you can click register here
that is it um that's what you have to do
to register for a service
um you will get an email with the the
tickets
you don't need to bring those tickets
along you don't have to print them off
this is just for us to you know reserve
seats for folks and we can get a get a
feel for how many people are going to be
coming to our service
now keep in mind this registration only
opens
on thursdays at midnight in the morning
i guess
um so if you try to come to this page
before thursday
you you'll be able to remind yourself
there's a little button that says remind
me
but you won't be able to actually
register for the service yet
so just keep that in mind if you're
registering before thursday you won't be
able to do that
um if you have any questions
feel free to contact us contact the
church office
and hopefully we'll be able to help
we're excited to see you in a service
again soon
all right see you
