so Father thank you so much for this opportunity that we have to gather you
said in the Word of God in the book of Hebrews that we should not forsake the
assembling of ourselves especially as the time of your return gets closer and
so Lord we thank you that we can gather thank you for the freedoms that we enjoy
in our nation Lord you said to pray for those in authority so right now Lord we
take a moment to pray for our president and our vice-president our senators our
Congress men and women Lord those in places of authority in Washington those
in places of authority and local state governments and and local city
governments father thank you for the influence of prayer upon our nation let
us not no matter what it looks like no matter what's happening in the world
around us let us not draw back from the power and the place of prayer for those
in leadership because as your people pray I thank you it gives you the avenue
it gives you the way it gives you the means to work and to move and to
minister to those in places of authority in Jesus name thank you Father
for the work of the gospel the spreading of the gospel that we may lead peaceful
and godly lives so that the gospel can go forth and greater and greater
dimensions and ways in our nation and the nations of the world in Jesus name
and everybody said amen amen and praise God thank you for the Holy Ghost who's
our teacher and he'll teach us and revealed to us we receive a spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him this morning amen so in a few
moments we're going to be taking communion and communion is a celebration
it's an honoring of the work that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did by
going to the cross as a sacrifice for sin now if you have a tablet or you have
a smartphone you can read the scriptures and read some of the note points this
morning on you version maybe you've downloaded the youversion app to your
phone where there look for a live event new creation church Longmont Colorado
and our notes are there otherwise use the back of your bulletin
write these things down there's a there's something that happens in our
memory process in our brains when we're not just listening but when we're
writing some people like to take notes some people like to draw pictures of
what they're hearing don't just doodle but draw pictures of
what you're hearing unless maybe the doodling is helping you listen I know
sometimes people learn different ways so take notes not because I'm so good but
take notes because of the scripture take notes of what the Spirit of God may
speak to your heart today so communion is a celebration of what Jesus did in
his coming in his sacrifice for our sin and I do need to say this that communion
should only be taken by those who have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ
now you don't have to be a member of new creation church to take communion but
you do need to be a member of the body of Christ and you might say well how do
I become a member of God's family how do I become a member of the body of
Christ well the scripture tells us in the book of Romans chapter 10 verse 9
and 10 that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved for
it is by believing in your heart that God or that you are made right with God
and it is by confessing with your mouth that you're saved
so that scripture gives us the key to our relationship with God it's all
through Jesus everybody say it's all through Jesus I have relationship with
God because of what Jesus Christ did for me and his death his burial and his
resurrection he came as a sinless sacrifice the Old Testament picture was
a lamb that was slain blood that was shed in the Old Testament it was a
covering in the Old Testament it was the picture of the sacrifice and Jesus
fulfilled that when he came to this earth he was the spotless Lamb of God he
was the sinless sacrifice God manifests in the flesh God the Son of God coming
as a man yet without sin so for you and for me as we prepare to receive
communion the question is do you know Jesus Christ personally now I know in
this service I know most of you in this service have a relationship with Jesus
but just in case I don't know you I can't see you I don't know every person
here personally because it's a hard thing and just because you're in church
doesn't necessarily mean you're saved did you know that any more than sleeping
in a garage makes you a car how many of you remember that old skit we used to do
the old skit you know kids would come out and they would pretend they were
chickens and somebody would say what are you doing where are chicken's why are
you a chicken because we spent the night in a hen house okay and then they go
back and they come back out and they're driving like cars and what are you doing
now oh we're cars what makes you think you're a car we spent the night in a
garage then they come out and they are you know real pious and holy looking and
they what are you doing now well we're Christians why are you a Christian well
because we go to church I mean you know going to church is good but it's not
just going to church it's about a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ
amen it's a personal thing so you take Romans chapter 10 verse 9 and 10 and you
confess Jesus as your Lord you say I believe Jesus is the Son of God and that
he came for me and I ask him to come into my life because the scripture says
whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved so if you do that then
you're a child of God you know a lot of times people like to say oh we're all
children of God no or not the whole world is not children of God until they
accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior they may be created by God
they're human beings but they're not children of God until they make Jesus
Christ the Lord of their life so once you do that you're a child of God and
then you can understand and begin to grow an understanding of what communion
what this celebration means in the church as we remember what Jesus did in
his death burial and resurrection so today we want to just talk about five
quick things about the blood of Jesus what does the blood provide or what does
the blood do and I know looking here there's a lot of this that might be a
reminding but for some it may be a great stirring up for some it may be a great
Wow I've let that go and so as I'm
mentioning these points if you can write them down take a couple of quick notes
because then as we take communion in a few moments you'll be able to celebrate
there might be one of these things that the Holy Spirit points out to you this
morning that you just needed to be reminded of of what he did in his death
in his burial and his resurrection well we're about to celebrate so number one
the blood redeems us everybody say redeems us now I know we don't use that
word as much today and so it it bears defining so first let's go to first
Peter chapter 1 verse 18 and notice what the scripture says the scripture says in
first Peter chapter 1 verse 18 and 19 knowing that you were not redeemed from
corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by
the tradition of your father's but with the precious blood of Christ everybody
say precious the blood of Christ is precious as we heard a few weeks ago
Daniel groves our camp speaker he ministered on the Sunday morning after
camp and he didn't tell us where he was I don't think he told me he might have
told Kevin but he was speaking at a conference or he was speaking at a
church and and the pastor or the head of the conference or whoever was there
began to make a comment now don't make reference to the blood of Jesus because
that sounds kind of gory and that it's kind of scares people and we want to be
able to relate to people so we don't we don't want to talk about the blood
because it can offend people how many of you know the Bible says that the blood
of Jesus is precious and it's okay to talk about the blood it's okay to talk
about what Jesus did his death burial and resurrection
because if he didn't shed his blood we wouldn't be here right now
amen we wouldn't be here we would we wouldn't have relationship with God we
wouldn't understand what Jesus came to do
who knows if how much of the earth would even still be here because the Bible
says Christians are salt and light amen so the Bible says it's the precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot so the word
redeemed means and you can look this up if you have a Study Bible in the Greek
you can look up these Greek words it means to liberate by payment this is
what redeemed means liberate by payment or to deliver from the evils of every
kind that's shouting ground isn't it the blood of Christ delivers us from evils
of every kind Wow that's what the blood came to do now the
scripture says it was your aimless conduct this is what the blood came to
do we came to be redeemed how many of you know you're redeemed from something
but you're also redeemed to something Amen you're redeemed from death but
you're redeemed to life you're redeemed from depression but you're redeemed to
peace you're redeemed from something but you're also redeemed to something don't
forget that so the Bible says that the redemption came because our ways were
aimless that means empty profitless or useless you were redeemed from useless
ways by the precious blood the precious blood was valuable the precious blood
was costly the precious blood was dear so it's nothing to be ashamed about to
think about to talk about to thank God to thank Jesus for the blood as his
blood is why we're here if it wasn't for his sacrifice we wouldn't be here if it
wasn't for his sacrifice we'd have no relationship with God we would still be
lost we would still be in darkness we would still be separated from him but he
saw to it that his blood sacrifice we would have access
into the presence of God that's one of the points we're going to talk about in
just a minute so first and foremost number one he redeemed us I love Hebrews
chapter 9 verse 22 the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 22 according to
the law almost all things are purified with the blood and without the shedding
of blood there's no remission of sins
without the shedding of blood there's no remission of sin remission means
pardoned remission means freedom remission means deliverance it means
forgiveness it means Liberty it means as if they've never been committed now a
number of years ago when we did our remodel project we painted this room so
and we built fake walls over the brick there used to be and there still is
because it's a wall so there's brick back there but it's covered don't even
know that's covered when you paint something sometimes maybe there's a an
ugly pink or an and you might like pink but there might be some ugly color you
move into a house and you need to ask Kevin about his testimony one of the
things that he was referring to as he was receiving the tie the moment ago was
the awesome deal God brought to them on their home they bought one house and
then they sold it made a profit on it they bought another house less than it
was valued for quite a bit less I'll let him tell you all the details so those
are one of those God kinds of deals amen but when we did our remodel project you
know as you move into a house and sometimes you paint sometimes you you do
things because you make it yours since so when we remodeled we painted there
were colors that were outdated because you know colors and things change so but
we covered those so if you scratched away some of the paint you'd find old
paint you might find old behind you know I think we took the wood off of those
walls so there's no wood on those walls anymore but typically what happens is
you cover some something so it's still there it's just covered you can't
see it but how many do you know when the Bible talks about remission it's not
talking about a covering when the Bible talks about remission the Bible talks
about it being washed away it talks about being completely wiped away so
what does that mean that means that when it comes to your sin when it comes to my
sin it's not just covered up because the Bible says in other places in the book
of Hebrews that the sin the sacrifice of the animals the goats and the lambs all
I could do was cover their sin but it never really helped cleanse their
conscience because it was still there they knew it was just covering it was a
temporary thing but friend I want you to know this morning that the blood of
Jesus when it comes it can cleanse our conscience you don't have to live with a
guilty conscience we're gonna talk about that in just a moment so remission means
a washing away of sin so the blood of Jesus redeems us number two the blood of
Jesus brings us close everybody say brings us close I'll have you know God's
not mad at you God wants you to be close to him he
wants us to enjoy relationship with him Ephesians chapter 2 verse 13 says but
now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near everybody
say brought near brought near by the blood of Christ it was the blood of
Christ that brings us near to God one translation says United us isn't that
good that's a good picture it United us we were separated but the blood of Jesus
made a way to unite us with God now you might be there you might be watching you
might be listening and you you might say but pastor you don't know what I did
know I may not know what you did but I know enough about the Bible and what
the Bible says about Jesus sacrifice to know that there is no sin no stain that
cannot be forgiven that cannot be washed away and if you're still dealing with it
maybe you're a believer and you're still living in condemnation I want to
encourage you you need to just soak yourself in the Word of God that talks
about forgiveness that talks about if you've confessed your sin
maybe you did before you became a Christian and you said Jesus I confess
you as my Lord did you know that that's gone everything in the past when you
said Jesus be the Lord of my life everything in the past is washed away by
the blood of Jesus you're brought near he said i pastor you don't know what
I've done no but the scripture says in Colossians
chapter 1 verse 20 and by him to reconcile that means bring together all
things to himself by him whether things on earth or things in heaven having made
peace through the blood of his cross peace means to establish harmony what
did he do in his death burial and resurrection what did he do when he died
on the cross what did he do when his blood was shed
he established harmony between you and God he established harmony between me
and God that's good news so you might be thinking well I did this
and I did that and I God can't love me or God can't forgive me or God He shed
his blood and washed it away now maybe he has a believer in well I'm getting
ahead of myself so we'll talk about us as believers later all right
so God's not mad at you he brought you close we can stand before him without
the sense of guilt or shame because that's what the blood does it makes a
way for us to come so the blood redeems us the blood brings us close number
three the blood cleanses us everybody say cleanses us now these are all
interrelated but here's the part for believers because you know how many of
you know that sometimes we as believers after
we become a believer in Christ we still blow it anybody know what I'm talking
about maybe it was in our thoughts maybe it was in our words maybe it was in our
actions maybe we did something and we knew on the inside and you say aha how
come I knew that on the inside because now when you've asked Jesus Christ to be
the Lord of your life you've got the Holy Spirit on the inside of you
your spirit how many of you know your spirit has a voice it's called your
conscience and so when you do something that your conscience begins to bother
you that's because the Holy Ghost is on the inside your spirit is alive to God
and your your spirits voice your conscience is saying you shouldn't have
done that it makes you feel bad you feel guilty maybe you feel shame now the key
is here in 1st John chapter 1 verse 7 through 9 okay now this is now I know
there's some controversy in the body of Christ today concerning first John there
are some who teach that first John was written to sinners false first John was
not written to sinners first John was written to believers you read it in the
very beginning in the opening statements that John made ok so 1st John chapter 1
verse 7 says but if we are living in the light as God is in the light then we
have fellowship with each other and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from
all sin but if we claim we have no sin we're only fooling ourselves and not
living in the truth but if we confess our sins to him you say well pastor what
if I don't know all my sin we'll see that's the key see when when you confess
Jesus as your Lord everything is washed away you're forgiven you don't have to
confess all your sins to get saved you confess Jesus to come into a
relationship with him you confess Jesus you don't have to confess all your sins
you can say I am a sinner or Lord I have sinned
forgive me but you don't have to sit there and say you know in 1961 I did
this in 1970 I did this in nineteen some of you were born in 2000 so in 2000 I
did this in 2010 I did that you don't have to make a list is then you might
think well what if I forget one then what happens no so coming to Christ you
confess Jesus Christ as your Lord you say Lord I'm a sinner and I need
forgiveness of my sin and the moment you confess Jesus the blood that He shed is
applied to your life and your sin is washed away but then we walk through
life and then we do things sometimes as we grow in our relationship with God
we're still dealing with our flesh we're still dealing with our soul and we may
do things that displease God we may do things that go against the Word of God
we may do or commit a sin what do you do then then you know how many how many
times moms and dads have gone into the kitchen and little little Tommy's there
and got cookie crumbs all over his face and the cookie jar has the lid kind of
half on it and you say did you eat that cookie nope why didn't you do any
cookies he knew what he did right do you know what you did so he's at that at
that point we know we blew it we know and so you can say Lord you can stop
right that in there and you can say Lord I ask you to forgive me because I did
this the quicker we learned to do that the more we keep our conscience soft and
our ability to hear from the Holy Ghost the more we ignore that the more we can
fall prey to the enemy and deception Bible has a lot to say about that
so as we as we are sensitive to our conscience so we do something we say
Lord I shouldn't have said that I ask you to forgive me boom that's all it
takes that's what this is talking about that's what first John is talking about
that's what this cleansing is talking about now we know that the cleansing
overall has to do with all of our sin when we come to Christ but it also has
to do thank God and once we're a believer if we blow it you're not
getting saved all over again amen you don't think it's a oh Jesus I
believe you're the son of God no you're already in relationship with him it's
just strained you're already a child of God but now you did something that you
knew displeased God because it went against his word and so notice what the
scripture says it says it'll cleanse us from Oh wickedness or all evil and you
know a lot of times we we have this thought that well we kind of sometimes
forget that we're at all you know and we say well God can forgive lying but you
can't really forgive murder or God can forgive stealing but he he can't forgive
adultery or God can is we do no no God says when you confess maybe even after
you were a believer you did something you confess it and you ask God to
forgive you the Bible says he cleanses us from all everybody say oh all
wickedness all evil all sin aren't you glad praise God
you know we sing and I know a lot of you know the song what can wash away my sins
nothing but the blood of Jesus well I can make me whole again nothing but the
blood of Jesus the blood of Jesus can cleanse us from all wickedness and in
Hebrews chapter 10 I referred to this but it cleanses us from a guilty
conscience Hebrews chapter 10 verse 21 and 22 says this we have a great high
priest who rules over God's house let us go right into the presence of God with
sincere hearts fully trusting him for our guilty consciences have been
sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean and our bodies have been washed
with pure water you know the Bible describes the devil
as the accuser of the Brethren so you might need to maybe you're being
accused maybe you're being reminded of the sins of the past maybe he's a sin of
last week but you ask God to forgive you but it's still hounding you you may just
need to come back over to some of these through the blood Scriptures take some
of these scriptures and and and soak in them for a little bit so that that blood
and the reality of the power of Jesus blood working in your life can remove
that guilty conscience amen all right so the blood of Jesus cleanses
us number four the blood of Jesus gives us access everybody say gives us access
we've kind of referred to this but act Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19 just a few
there in Hebrews chapter 10 19 says and so dear brothers and sisters we can
boldly everybody say boldly we can boldly enter heavens most holy place
because of the blood of Jesus that's that being brought near that's that
coming in to his presence when you have a sin consciousness you don't want to go
into the presence of God you feel like God's mad you feel like God's angry you
feel like I I'm out of step with God but when you confess it the blood cleanses
you the blood gives you access so that you can confidently go right in to his
presence you're his son you're his daughter and he loves you I said it
before but he's not mad at you so it says you have enter into heavens most
holy place because of the blood of Jesus by his death verse 20 excuse me Jesus
opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the most holy place so
are you depressed this morning in his presence is fullness of joy get into his
presence are you tired or weary he says come to
me all you who labor and tired or weary and I will give you rest come before him
you you have access to him because of the blood of Jesus are
SiC Jesus carried your sin and your sickness Wow you have access number five
and then uh sure's if you want to get ready worship team if you want to get
ready number five says we're set apart everybody say set apart mmm you're set
apart Hebrews chapter 10 verse 10 a lot of great scriptures concerning the blood
in the in the book of Hebrews the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 10 for
God's Will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Christ once
for all time you're made holy in God's mind as his son as his daughter you're
made holy in God's mind you're set apart some scriptures say sanctified
sanctified I know that's not a word that you always hear today in our modern
vernacular but sanctified means set apart it's very simple made holy it
means to be purified it means that the blood of Jesus purified you set you
apart because you're his everybody say the blood made me his Wow
the blood the blood made me his praise God so I know simple message concerning
communion this morning but what does the blood do it redeems us the blood brings
us close the blood cleanses us the blood gives us access into his throne room
into his presence into the Holy of Holies you can go with confidence and
the blood sets you and I apart that's why we live different we don't live
different from the world because we think we're better than the world there
are there are certain things we should not do as Christians because they bring
reproach to the name of Jesus they confuse people
because we live like the world as Christians sometimes live like the world
in the world gets confused they see no difference between the life of a
Christian and the life of someone who doesn't know Christ and it brings
confusion into their lives but if you realize you're set apart you realize I
am set apart for God so that means I live a certain way how many know the
blood of Jesus can help you live that way amen
you
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