Beyond Sunday: the Lamb Worthy of Praise
Catch up: this week’s Sunday morning message.
Jesus is worthy of our praise. Worthy is the Lamb. Jesus is the Lamb of God who offered himself for the life of the world and we bow and worship him, all heavens and earth. Do we recognize Jesus is the Lamb and receive the gift of His sacrifice?
Catch up: this week’s Sunday morning message.
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00:00:03 [Music] All right. Hey everyone. , welcome back to Beyond Sunday. Today, , is another exciting one cuz we get a a special guest with us, Erin. How are you doing today? Doing great. You are not new to this podcast anymore. This is like your what, third or fourth time? Probably. Yeah, something like that. for your stuff. That's good stuff. , how are you today, Devin? Fantastic. Oh, that's aggressive. But, yay. That's good. All right. , we'll dive in in just a minute, but before we do, take a
00:00:42 look at this [Music] video. Heat. Heat. [Music] All right. So, , this week was a little bit different. This was fun because, , Pastor Aaron, you got to preach here at NextStep. And so, , we just mixed things up all in all sorts of ways. , so, one of you two, tell us what the the bottom line, the big idea was for this week. Where were we at? Why are you looking at me? Go for it. Okay. This one was on as we move in and towards Pentecost away from resurrection Sunday is that this one of of who
00:02:00 Jesus is like the lamb and for me this one landed as the lamb who redeems. Right? So seeing Jesus as the lamb as we've maybe talked in in previous podcasts about that we see Jesus as the one who who died and and resurrected but is attached to the person of God that Jesus is God. And so last week we made a bit more of that connection obvious this one of Jesus being the lamb and the lamb who was slain that then we we read about in revelation in Paul's vision and and that that all who are in the earth and
00:02:40 under the earth and angels in heaven are all singing praises to the lamb who is worthy of our praise. And for me though, the other piece of that is the lamb who redeems. like the broken things, the lost things. Yeah. I ended up leaning a lot more into the worthy of God being worthy of everything. yeah, I think I repeated that like 15 times of like God is worthy of everything that we have to give. including our praise and that is going to cost you your life. looking at like the story of Paul Saul and how his
00:03:14 life was radically altered and and Peter who gave his life. Yeah. I got to listen to both. So I was in the room with Aaron and then Dev and I watched your recording. and it it's once again it's cool just to see same text and some some of the same things but also the different way that the spirit kind of speaks or moves. , so I know Erin, you you said you repeated it like 15 times. , which is actually super helpful for those of us listening because yeah, I was able to walk away like yeah, this idea of Jesus
00:03:50 asks everything of us. , but you also said at the top and this was like one of the things I highlighted as you were talking, Jesus asks everything of us and he doesn't ask anything of us that he hasn't already given. , and that was an echo for me. , as we're looking at trusting the guide and and knowing that part of , part of the cool thing about Jesus, his life and his ministry is that he did show us what it looks like to , live on this earth to be in relationship with God and and to be here , part of the
00:04:23 kingdom work. And so that idea of like , it cost Jesus everything and and what he's asking of us is nothing that he hasn't already given. so that's been resonating with me since yesterday. Well, in both of these stories too, you have the scriptures that in Acts of Saul's conversion. you have the scripture in in John of Peter's I redemptive moment that Jesus offers him in this in that conversation. and also like I've got a mission and a purpose for you which we also see also
00:05:02 in souls of this words that ananas gets of like you're going to go heal him so he can see again but I'm going to reveal to him what what this mission and purpose has and what the cost will be. Right? But I think in both of them there is a a sense to the mission that God's calling both Peter and Saul to that there's a cost to this. And we read that in scripture and what what they heard and from what I can tell like neither one of them shied away from that. There was some hardship of things that were going
00:05:42 to it was going to cost them cost them everything but didn't shy away from it. And some of what I sense even in Peter's story of when John says, "Isn't that the Lord?" Right? Isn't that our Lord? That he jumps out of the boat 100 yards from shore. , so he's probably swimming. He's probably having to swim for a little a little bit. Like it just jumps out of the boat while they're trying to navigate this net full of fish and make it to Jesus. Then the boat gets to shore. And it's so funny. John is not
00:06:13 does not care to paint Peter in a good light at all. But there's like they get the boat to the shore and then Peter had already gotten to Jesus and he comes and helps the boat in like okay now you guys are here I'll help you. but that piece of like Peter couldn't couldn't wait to get to Jesus. Could not wait. there was something about about being in his presence. , and for me that was, I suppose, one of those things that's still sticking with me is this, , yeah, Peter's hurriedness to get out
00:06:47 of the boat and get to Jesus. And, , he just couldn't wait. He couldn't he couldn't he couldn't wait a hundred yards for that boat and the and the and the fish to get to shore. It's funny as you're talking about that, the thing that's sticking in my mind is part of the passage it said they didn't need to ask who it was because they knew that it was the Lord. And it's sticking out to me of like with thinking about redemption, with thinking about offering our everything to God, looking at my life, but also I think
00:07:19 your guys' lives as well. Like the places that we can look and say like, "Hey, that's somewhere that was redeemed and that's somewhere where I see that like that was the Lord." like I don't have to ask. Like I know that that was God coming in. And and I feel like then that also then makes me desire to pour it back out to the Lord of like here's my praise cuz like and I feel like I'll keep saying this. but like where I am in life is only because of God and I want my life to then translate into
00:07:49 praise and gratitude for the one that has given me everything that I have in the first place. , yeah. I don't have to I don't have to ask who it is. Like, I know that it exists. I exist because of the Lord. Yeah. You you touched on that, Erin, yesterday, but you said are we willing to give Jesus everything? I wouldn't have chosen this, but I wouldn't trade it. And so there's something even in that of like it's easy to look back and see the spaces like that was God, that was Jesus where he redeemed. But even the the
00:08:24 trusting of like this isn't what I would have chosen. but I can see clearly your hand in it. I also see the significance though in in Saul's conversion of the the almost seems immediate of breathing murderous threats to those who were professing faith in Jesus as Jesus the Messiah to his encounter with Jesus. he's in Damascus for three days not eating, not drinking, blind. And Annas comes and lays his hands on him. He's healed. He's baptized. And it says that he's he stays there for a while regaining his strength.
00:09:05 [Music] and then for several days he was with the disciples in Damascus and immediately began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogue saying this man is a son of God. there's just is the turnaround is so fast. It's like I've had an encounter and now I cannot help but tell you the truth. I cannot help but share with you what I have witnessed and testify to Jesus is the son of God and he is the Messiah. And to the point where I mean if you read further into Acts nine like the followers of the way, followers
00:09:43 of Jesus were like is he just trying to trick us? What is this guy saying? but it was like that like in the same immediacy that I I sense Peter jumping out of the boat running to Jesus. I I see another in another way just a really quick turnaround encountering Jesus teaching there in the synagogue Jesus is a son of God which speaks to the power of the the encounter or the presence I guess right so it's so such a powerful thing that it's like the change occurs there is a because because Aaron you pointed out
00:10:25 and this was I thought this was so good cuz I I don't know that I thought through this all the way, but you called out like some of the things that Paul that changed for Paul. So, we know like, okay, he goes from murderous threats to proclaiming the name of Jesus or whatever. We know that his name changes, but I don't know that I'd thought through like yeah, his friends, his what he's known, his purpose, like here's what I do. everything that that he'd been taught all like just so many of those things
00:11:00 that changed for him and yet yeah I I don't know it was like this is what we're doing and I I guess there's something even I'm thinking like about the disciples initially Jesus says come and follow me and everything changes for them also in that moment even not knowing fully what they're saying yes to or what they're what they're doing. , so there is something about that kind of an encounter with Jesus. Yeah. It makes me wonder too like how much how much did life change after that
00:11:38 immediate change. Like you mentioned the disciples and obviously when the disciples said yes to Jesus, everything changed and they saw things differently and like their lives changed. Same with Paul, same with Paul, Saul. , but it makes me wonder like after that initial saying yes to Jesus, , does it how much how much does it continue to change? I feel like in some ways like that initial that initial yes is like the most drastic and like the most like 180 life altering and then in a way it's
00:12:16 like the slow like one by one yeses that don't necessarily shift everything so radically. But I wonder if that I don't know in some ways it seems like that first yes might be the easier one. it's big and it's radical and it's in the moment and it's Peter's like I'm not even going to think about this. I'm just going to jump out of the boat and go. I want for myself those kind of moments where there's this like I am in the middle of an encounter with Jesus. It's a whole lot easier to say yes in
00:12:51 that moment and let that whatever that thing is. But some of those residual like slower things and I guess that's maybe that's where it is. If we if we don't also allow that this is your like it'll cost you everything if we don't allow everything to change then either we're not experiencing the fullness the abundance or we're we're going to fall back into what was or what had been and so in some ways I wonder like in that moment on that road for Paul like okay yes I'll say yes here cuz what else
00:13:27 would I do I just met Jesus. but then yeah, it's like what what's the next time that he encounters his friends and he's like, "Hey, I'm actually not doing that anymore." Funny story. like I you know or you know the disciples walk away from everything and their families, their friends, their livelihood, their I mean they just walk away. at some point is there like a we didn't actually like I don't know what do we do with our our boats or like I don't know. I don't know what they walk away from, but like those things
00:14:01 seem maybe harder sometimes. Yeah. And for these two and maybe Saul specifically, yeah, he's got on one side, he has is a turn code, right? You're you're not one of us anymore. You're now saying the very thing that we were trying to snuff out and you now sound like them. And then on the other side of mistrust and like you know you were you were breathing murderous threats against us and yeah I hear what you're saying but I'm not sure I can trust what you're saying. I don't know you. I I know of you. Right. Ananas
00:14:40 is like I've heard of this guy. I don't want to be anywhere near this guy. So boy, what a lonely place to be. And especially as he shows up in the synagogue. you got because you have people who believe in Jesus who are there worshiping God knowing that Jesus is the Messiah. So they they come with a little different lens and you've got other Jewish believers and followers who are coming there worshiping God, reading reading the scriptures, reading the Torah, reading the law, reading the
00:15:11 prophets. And then you got this guy in there who's like you used to be us but now you're not us. And you got other people who are like, "You're for sure not us, but we hear what you're saying. It sounds like us." , boy, what a place to be. And , as maybe I suppose only Saul can because it isn't until like four chapters later that his name even gets mentioned that it's Saul, also known as Paul. So, it is not in a like that moment. His name's not changed from Saul to Paul, but but maybe in access
00:15:45 to different places that he'll be traveling. It's more a gentile kind of name versus more Jewish. So, but yeah, like having he's got no friends. You have you have alienated the one you came with and the ones you're now sound like, they don't trust you. Yeah. It makes me also wonder in what ways Paul got to then experience the character of God. Like in what ways like he's like, "Okay, I've given you everything and I'm suddenly all alone." And thinking about like in the times when I have felt alone, like Jesus has
00:16:27 shown up to me as comforter, as peace, as companion, like in what ways did Paul get to experience new aspects of who Jesus is and get to have that personal realization of like, oh, this is the God that I'm going to give up everything for. This is the one who keeps showing up, the one who is going to be my everything. who is worthy of my praise because like maybe he didn't feel alone simply because I don't know I mean he probably did feel one but like choosing to say yes then he got to experience more of
00:17:00 who God was or recognize like yeah I am I did give up everything and it was it it's so worth it like I I don't know that I read in any in any part of what we read of Paul. , I don't see a moment after that where he's questioning like, was this worth it? , so whatever that looks like, whether it's, , you know, he experiences more of God's character or he doesn't feel alone because he's with God or whatever. , I don't I don't think that I ever see a regret of like I don't know if this was actually
00:17:36 worth it. you know maybe a position actually pretty well to be what G what what God was calling him into what Jesus was getting his attention for is that you will be my disciple to the Gentiles right you've got you've got no friends among the Jewish followers whether they're Jewish and and follow the law but don't believe that Jesus is Messiah or they're Jewish followers who have converted believing that Jesus is the Messiah , we got no friends here, but among the Gentiles,
00:18:13 we got a brother in Christ. Yeah. So then you send one of the most educated individuals having been a disciple of Gileo to be the disciple to the Gentile and to the Gentiles who don't have a basis for scripture, for the law, for the Torah, for the prophets. They don't have the history there. They're they're yeah, they're coming from other backgrounds, other walks, other faiths, other other worshiping other idols or gods. And here you have one of the most learned men in the Jewish faith
00:18:51 coming to teach and to lead and to these churches popping up all over Asia Minor in their in their journeys and yeah beginning to walk out this way with Jesus but having no background like the other Jewish followers. Yeah. Yeah. And then on the flip side, you have Peter who who's I don't know, in a in a similar way, there's redemption in both of their stories. they both gave everything, but the I don't know the the story is so different for Peter and and his calling different, right? and and
00:19:30 where God chooses to use him and how God chooses to use him in some ways is the opposite of Paul. like the the not the education, not the learn, but but also in Peter's story, we do see a little bit I probably not I don't know that I would say regret, but there is a denial of of like, no, I don't know him. I don't know him. and yet redemption you know, yeah, redemption with a call, a purpose, a mission like do you love me? Yes. My sheep, right? I've called this this is this is this is part of part of this restoration
00:20:08 that's taking place. Be about this. Feed my sheep, care for them, love them. Yeah. Which is again, I think some of that connection piece to Jesus as the lamb, the lamb that was crucified, sacrificed, but also the lamb that's worthy of our praise. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And just the image, I keep coming back to the image in Revelation. and how it's just like worthy is the lamb who was slaughtered is the word in my NLT translation. Worthy is a lamb who was slaughtered to receive all glory and honor and blessing
00:20:47 and like and we get to join in with the sounds of creation. Like that's cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's finished. No, there's no other sacrifice needed. This is it. I've taken care of it. Yeah. God himself through his son Jesus is taking care of it. And we can we can rest in that. No more do I have to wait for another Passover year to offer a sacrificial lamb to cover my sins. Jesus has done that. And now through him, I have a way back to God. I have a way back to communion with God and in his presence as Jesus is the the
00:21:34 high priest that goes before he intercedes on our behalf. And it's like yeah further confirmation of like okay I've God to humanity. You have I've offered you these ways. You have you've tried but you're still missing it. I'm g I'm going to take care of it. I'm going to give you my son. I'm going to take care of it and we'll be the sacrifice that will cover for once and for all. Yeah. Yeah. So, as we wrap this up, what would you say is a kairos that is what you're hearing from God and how he's
00:22:11 inviting you to respond? Oh, me first. Okay. Oh. , yeah. I I'm sitting in I guess I'm in a kairos or I don't know. I'm in a I'm in something. I'm in a in a season in a moment. what's hitting me today actually came out of your message Devon and and conversation that we had earlier. , so in Peter in the that story in John 21 of Peter and the disciples and they're in the boat and you talked about they're out there because at that point like they had seen Jesus post resurrection but then then he wasn't
00:22:58 around. and you talked about kind of this like is there this thing in Peter that's like well I don't know what to do now so I'm just going to go fish. , and I know for you that's like a very calm and relaxing thing. , maybe it is for Peter too, but also for Peter it's just what he knows. Like that's like he's like, I'm just going to go back to what I know know to do and then then Jesus shows up and of course he jumps in and goes for a swim and there's this like you you said I don't know how you said it exactly but
00:23:31 this like just come and be with me Peter like come and let's have breakfast, let's share a meal. , and then it's in that that Jesus speaks like some really that's a very pivotal like Peter, here's your calling. Here's here's why here's what I have for you. , and I I think I find myself in a similar place as Peter in the beginning of that story, like, okay, so I'm just gonna fish. , I I am not sure what you're saying to me right now, God. , and I'm not sure exactly like what what
00:24:05 you might be calling me into or what you might have for me. , and as somebody who is a planner, , that's like, hey, it'd be great if you could like I don't actually care what it is, God, but could you just tell me? , but I think I I think I Peter resonates because right now it's like, okay, so I guess I just fish. I guess I'm just going to fish. , and I'm just going to watch the short longingly for like that invitation to breakfast where maybe there's a a calling out of like here's what I
00:24:42 have for you. Here's what here's what I have next for you. So, yeah, that's where I'm sitting. Good. How about you guys? for me it's this that that redemption that takes place the restoration I suppose both with Saul more maybe with Peter is this yeah this is a restoration of like at one point Peter had denied Christ I don't know him I'm not that guy [Music] to yeah very much like this is this is what it looks like to be restored by Jesus. And there are I I reflect back there are moments in my
00:25:33 life where that restoration has been so needed and pivotal. and I I think back even not that long ago was like just stop caring, stop carrying with you. what I have forgotten and and that's been really freeing. I think this is further I don't know maybe confirmation or reminder of if there's any bit of that you're still caring let it go. Stop caring. I've forgotten it. I don't remember it anymore. So if you're remembering it's because you're you not being obedient. Well let go. ,
00:26:17 I've I've I've redeemed this this brokenness. , so I don't know. I suppose in that Kairos, it's just a further it's more of a reminder as well that has already been there that it's like don't forget now. You've been redeemed. Don't carry. Don't pick it up. Don't It's like that. Yeah. Don't pick it up. Leave it. Leave it away. Yeah. So, it's good. It's been good. Yeah. Yesterday felt like a or preaching felt like one of those like preaching to myself, preaching to the choir of like I can look as you were talking
00:27:08 I'm like okay looking like the redeemed feels like looking backwards. whereas the am I willing to offer everything feels like the looking forwards. and kind of feeling like I'm in the middle of those two of like I can look back and see all the places not all the places I can see numerous places where God has been so active and and redemptive and such beauty. And as I'm sitting in this season in life where I have a lot of new beautiful things and a lot of just new things it it's I can feel myself
00:27:47 wanting to hold on really tight. and recognizing like am I still willing to give everything? Am I still willing to let everything be on the table? Like you say all the time like no sacred cows, everything's on the table. like, am I still willing to say, "Yes, Scott, I'm going to trust you with this because I can try to hold it and I can try and make it what I think it should be." , but I think it's kind of I guess it's kind of a mix of both of am I willing to still trust and give God everything
00:28:19 because God is worthy of everything. , and recognizing the places that have been redeemed and recognizing the places that I get to move from that. I love that visual of the redeemed is looking back to see the faithfulness of God in those areas been redeemed and the willing to offer it all is looking ahead. Are there still things I'm holding on to that I'm that God's inviting me to to offer it up? And I like that visual. It's good. Yeah. All right. Well, thanks for thanks for joining us and thanks for preaching for
00:28:55 bringing the word. Absolutely. and that that'll wrap us up. But thank you for listening. This is a space where we get to just have conversation conversations about what God is still saying, what God is showing us. so that the what what gets said on Sunday gets carried out into our weeks and our lives. And so our hope and our prayer is that you guys are also having conversations like this. we invite you to listen in, but but mostly we desire that you have spaces where you get to have these same kind of
00:29:23 conversations. So until next week, , enjoy the sunshine and we'll talk next time. Take care. [Music]
