Two Mountains, Two Mothers: Grace and the Unshakable Kingdom

Uh before we get to the sermon, I want to just talk about just a few of those things because I just it's so exciting. May I just even clarify Kingdom Conference. I woke up this morning and I came to this church early and I get the notices whenever someone gives a review to Journey Church. I don't think I should get those notices. Okay. Uh someone gave a one-star Google review this this morning. Uh because we're charging for the Kingdom Conference. So I just want to explain out loud that we are inviting guests in and we're actually paying those guests. And so what we're doing is we're expecting a movement of God. So I just want to really clarify uh what this is for and why we're doing it. We're we're believing God is doing something so special in our region. It's it's actually something central Oregon has never experienced before. We we're believing that. And so we're having a kingdom conference. Thursday night is pursuit night. It's totally free. So you don't have to uh pay for

the first night. Uh we've got Ross Johnson coming that first night. And man, does he have a testimony. He's got a testimony. Ross Johnson will be here. We're going to worship our little hearts out on Thursday night. It's totally free. And then Friday night, it's not Friday, it's Friday night, we've got Russell Johnson from Pursuit Northwest. I tell you, God is moving mightily in the Pacific Northwest right now. And that's where we start to charge is we're going to charge that night and we're expecting greater things. So, uh, Friday night, we've got Russell Johnson. Then Saturday morning, uh Saturday morning we have Pastor Hillary Harris from the Father's House. That girl knows how to preach. Uh she's a clear communicator. Uh she's been through some difficult days and because of that, it's just producing greater

things. And then on Saturday night, we've got Kenan Clark here coming all the way from Alabama. Somebody Kenan Clark will be here in the house. And then finally on Sunday morning, I'm just going to put a bow on this. We got to have to have a old guy in the house. Okay. So, uh, I'm going to wrap this up on Sunday. And by the way, Sunday is free. Sunday is free. Uh, but because we are having speakers, I just wanted to bring some clarity to what that is. And, uh, if you want to go on there and, uh, leave your one-star reviews, it just captures attentions. All right. Just, uh, that's what we do. But, uh, I didn't expect to share that, but I just felt the need to clarify. And, uh, since last Sunday at Journey Church, we say like one year is like a dog year at Journey. Uh, and that's no understatement. like what God does in this church. It seems like he expedited things. This last week

felt felt like six months to me. We had a preacher last week, Pastor Ryan from the father's house who was here and he came in and brought a fire message literally. Uh it was about the church being on fire, Acts chapter 2 that we need to be devoted, be devoted to the Lord, each other, and to the presence through prayer. And I it just it shook me in a good way. I got refreshed. And uh he gave some prophecies over several people, over children, over Pastor Kara and myself and over this house and uh different people in different ways. And little did I know the trajectory of how that would start my week. I really needed that. You know how sometimes you just need the Lord more times than others? I just really needed that. And this week has been wild. Uh so one of the things I've asked you to pray for, at least I asked the social [music] media world. I went down to the park and I just said, "Hey, would you pray for us for our baptisms because the Ben Parks

and Wreck, which is like a really powerful uh governmental entity, uh told us, and I I didn't say it this bluntly, but they flat out told us you cannot do baptisms uh in the river where you normally do baptisms. Uh you absolutely cannot do this." And we kind of pushed back and they said, "No, listen. We created an ordinance a year ago. you guys didn't listen to it a year ago and you did it anyway, so you cannot do this. And so, uh, a team met with Parks and Wreck on Monday, a team of five people. I'm just going to pull up my notes here just to get this, uh, accurate here. Um, team of five met with parks and wreck and the gal that oversees this complete area. We're praying for her and, uh, it

was intense and she said, "Absolutely not. you may not and cannot do baptisms in that portion of the river. And there was a number of other things. They said, "You can't do this, you can't do this, can't do this, can't do this, all the things that munching music can do, but the church, you can't do that." And she wrote a long email uh to one of the staff members who was at that meeting. And I'll just quote, this is quote. I'm going to read this. I know it was not an easy conversation. And by the way, this is Monday night when they shouldn't be working. I know it was not an easy combination. Here are a few updates and notes from our meeting. Use of the nonsanctioned river access. Do you like that language? Use of the non-sanctioned access will be allowed this year.

So, we're going to do baptisms. And I believe we're going to do more baptisms than we've ever done before. Oh, we got that Monday night this week. Now, I got to keep reading with the caveat, this is her language, not mine, with the caveat that the event cannot be in Drake Park for future years. Come on, somebody. You tell me God's not working when the parks and recck says no more outdoor church. I I just got to testify our God is so good. And do you know we're not even going to worry about future years? All we're going to do is worry about this year because we believe God has started a movement and we want to be a part of that movement of God.

You may have seen in the video that I I recorded with Pastor Leanne earlier this week. She said she would be back in the back to meet you. She's not going to meet you because she's homesick with a cold. So, uh, Pastor Leanne, we love you. And uh but we we for the first time ever we're saying, "Hey, if you're business owner and you're like-minded and you're Christian and you have uh the same belief system and your business wants to sponsor us, you can come alongside and and sponsor us." And we don't know if this was going to work or not work. I mean, there's no pressure to anybody to have to do that, but there is a cost that comes with this. And [music] it would help us offset our cost if a business wanted to step in. And if you have a business and you want to do that, that would be awesome. But little did I know that our first donor came in and just absolutely miraculously met with me this week and just blew us away. So, I mean, we we got our first business

sponsor, I would just say God is so faithful and so good. And as if that's not good enough, like when I was meeting with him, we came just to talk shop and uh we're meeting having breakfast and a a gal comes over to the table and how many of you like to wear your Journey merch out wherever you go, right? And so we're just having breakfast and I'm wearing Journey Church, Kingdom Come right right on my chest. And she comes over and is like, "Are you the preacher?" Uh and I was like, "I try sometimes, you know." And uh she said, "Well, I got to testify to this story. I had cancer and I had a tumor in my arm the size of a cantaloupe. And people in your church prayed for me and now I'm cancer free.

[applause] And here's what's wild. The businessman I'm having lunch with says, "So, do you go to Journey?" She says, "No, I can't. I work every Sunday. The people in your church at Journey Redmond, Journey Ben, when we have pursuit nights, Journey Redmond has them on Wednesday, we have them on Thursday. When we pray, we see cancer disappear. Uh we're not against doctors. I even told her that. I said, "I'm not against doctors." She's like, "I am because I don't have insurance." So, I said, "We just believe God is even a greater doctor." And I just want to testify to the goodness of God. Finally, I'll just uh close with one more story. And I there's been so many this week. I feel like I just live like six months in one week. It's like God's faithfulness this week. Uh on Friday, uh I I work on

Fridays. I get ready for the sermon on Friday. And we're supposed to have a men's meeting Friday. Do you guys remember the second service? Was anybody here second service? I know it's the first service. Second service, the pastor prophesied that the men of this church would be the leaders of the movement of God. It was really powerful. And at the 11:00 a.m. service, he had all the men stand up. And uh it was really cool because he had no clue that we actually had been meeting a men's committee believing for a movement of God with the men at this church. It's amazing. And we had a meeting on Monday, excuse me, on Friday on Friday at noon. Supposed to have a meeting for this this vision that we have for this. We really believe it's God's vision and we're going to be unleashing that vision uh shortly. But we have this meeting at noon and I get an alert on my phone. How

many you got that alert for that fire at like 11 something? Right. I get an alert on my phone and about 1 minute later, my 17-year-old daughter uh FaceTimes me. He's like, "Hey, Dad. Uh like right out our backyard, there's like a huge plume of smoke. Uh we live on the east side of Ben, southeast, uh just just less than five miles from where the fire was." So, she's like, "What do I do?" And I said, "Oh, just stay calm, sweetheart. Uh it's no problem. We'll we'll figure this thing out." And then I tell my wife, and she's like, "Stay calm? you tell her to leave right now, you know, like we're getting out of here, you know, like. And so, uh, I literally I missed the men's meeting. I'm like, I I miss the men's meeting because of a stinking fire. So, I go to my house and we start packing our bags and we're checking in with the other neighbors and this giant fire

truck comes into my culde-sac and goes down there, sitting down there for like five minutes. So, I race down there with my daughter. We run down there say, "What's the update?" And you here's the update. We're scoping it out because if we have to fight the fire here, we want to know what we're up against. We want to know what homes are here and what the terrain is. So, they're checking it out. I said, "All right, thanks." So, one more thing. Can I pray for you guys? The one guy, the driver, cuz I'm like I'm up in his grill like cuz I had to climb up there and he looks at me. He's like, "Uh, sure." You know? So, I I prayed over them. I prayed over their families. I prayed for God's favor and blessing and protection. And then I prayed just God, would you shift the winds and would the fire just would it would they not even have to fight the fire? Little would it be a few hours later because of God bless the first responders who step in. God bless them.

Policemen, firemen, paramedics to those that step in and people just stepped into action so quickly like within two or three hours that fire was completely contained. Completely contained. Now, I just tell you right now like why it was contained so quickly. Cuz I prayed for it. I just want you to know right now. I say that jokingly, but I also say it in all seriousness. Like, why not? I mean, he he did a financial miracle in our life. Was it just that same day, Kara? Friday. Was it Friday that he he did a financial miracle? Uh my wife noted, you know, uh you know, you ever get those deferred payments that or deferred um type of uh things in your life where you just got to do it like a

tooth problem or, you know, a broken leak in your house? Do you guys know those kind of things? Well, we had one of those kind of things in our home where we had to pay for it and we didn't want to pay for it. And she's like, "Ah, I got to pay for this thing." And I said, "Well, let's pray for it." And we prayed out loud in our kitchen. And I I tell you how much it was. It was $3,400. $3,400. And literally we prayed and within hours of that prayer, we got a check for $3,700. We didn't expect to get. So, uh, you tell me God's not faithful. So, we saw that God's going to cover the cost of that and the tithe. We believe in tithing at this church. Uh, you can't afford not to tithe. If you say, "I'm too poor. I can't tithe. I don't have enough money." That means you're controlling your money and not trusting God with it. When you trust God with it, oh, he's a miracle working God. Amen.

He's a miracle working God. And I say that not [music] to get your money, but for you to be prosperous because we have a God of abundance. And so with that said, that's it's updates. I I wasn't supposed to share all that. I'm already 10 minutes into my sermon. Uh which is terrible for me. If I don't get to where we need to go today, I'm going to pick up and do part two next week. I might be able to with the help of the Holy Spirit. Uh so Lord, we trust you today that you would speak to all hearts that it wouldn't be a preacher, it would actually be you, the living God. Your word is active and alive. So I say speak to us now in the name of Jesus Christ. So be it and amen and amen and amen. Could you all thank Paxton and the worship team today for their hard work. Thank you guys. Thank you. Appreciate you. [applause] This is our time to receive a word from

God. If you brought your Bibles, would you get it out now? I want to just remind you, don't just get out your Bibles on Sundays. Get it out every day of the week. This is a book. The Bible says that faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of Christ. You want your faith to increase, get into this book. You don't need a preacher to do that. You need the word of God. If you want to hear from God, get into this book. If you brought your Bible, hold in the air like you care. Even if you didn't bring it, just know God has a word for every one of us. I want you to join with me and shout word on the count of three. Here we go. One, two, three. Word. We're getting into God's word. If you know it, say it with me. So God's word will get into us. I want to ask you, where's your hope? Where's your hope? What are you trusting in? What are you turning to? What captures your attention every morning

when you get out of bed? Where is your hope? Because in this world, everything in your life at some point will be shaken. Everything will be shaken. Your plans will be shaken. I just told you the story about a fire. I had a plan to go to a meeting, but those plans got shaken. Relationships will get shaken. Your emotions will get shaken. Your family will get shaken. Cities will get shaken. Nations will get shaken. Cultures will get shaken. And you've got to ask yourself that when those things are shaken and when something's gone out of your life, where do you put your hope?

The scripture we're going to turn to today talks about the kingdom of God because we believe that Jesus told us we can pray your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And if that's true, we can have kingdom come in our lives today. The author of the text we're looking at tells us it's an unshakable kingdom. that no matter what you face, no matter what you go through, the kingdom of God cannot fall away, cannot fall apart. This is an unshakable kingdom. That no matter who you are, no matter how old you are, no matter what you go through, you have an unshakable kingdom, which means that you are unshakable. Just just slap your neighbor, say, "I'm unshakable." I'm unshakable. Turn to a different neighbor and say, "You're unshakable."

If you don't know what I mean by that, you will today. You are unshakable. The title of today's sermon may not make sense at first, but hopefully it will by the end of our time together. It's choose your mountain and your mama. Choose your mountain and your mama. I know it might sound weird, but it won't in just a moment. Say it with me. Choose your mountain and your mom. We find ourselves in the book of Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. If you got a Bible, I want you to find the book of Hebrews. It's one of 66 books that make up the Bible. It's in the New Testament. The New Testament is everything after the birth of Jesus. The writer is writing to those who are Hebrew by birth. It's it's Jewish people, but really the whole book is for everyone because the entire book is about Jesus.

It's all about Jesus. And the whole point the writer wants every one of us to know the reader is that Jesus is greater. So when you read about Moses in the Old Testament, Jesus is greater than Moses. When you read about the sacrifices that someone would offer to God as a thanksgiving, as an offering, Jesus is a greater sacrifice. When you read in the Old Testament about high priests that would help people get to God, Jesus is the greater high priest. So the whole book of Hebrews is all about the supremacy of Jesus. He is supreme over all. There is no one greater than Jesus. The book of Hebrews it's all about say it with me Jesus. So we come to Hebrews chapter 12 and the

author is concluding this whole story about how Jesus is greater. Jesus is greater. And there's a self-reflection to the reader. Where are you at with Jesus? What are you living for? Because what you live for matters. What you put your hope in matters. The previous chapter says without faith, it's impossible to please God. God wants you to turn to him, to trust him, to put your faith in him. That you wouldn't just believe sometimes that you wouldn't just have an identity and call yourself a Christian, but this it would be who you are. And today, you're going to see the author wants you to choose your mountain. And we're going to look at another text and choose your mama. We're going to cover quite a bit of text today. If you're able to, would you stand for the reading of God's word?

Hebrews chapter 12. I'm going to start with verse 18. I'm going to read to the very end of the chapter. Hebrews chapter 12, starting with verse 18. I'll read you the text and then we'll understand it and and more than that, be transformed by it. Today, I often say, and then I'll I'll share the application, but I don't want you just to have application. I want you to be transformed by the text today. Hebrews 12:18. For you have not come to what may be touched. He's talking about the first mountain. A blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further message be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given. If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.

Indeed, so terrifying this mountain was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear." Here's the second mountain. But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, somebody shout, Jesus. Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on

earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." This phrase yet once more indicates the removal of things that are shaken. That is things that have been made in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, would you read the remainder of the text with me? Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire.

This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. I think we've all experienced a shaking at one point or another. That shaking comes in so many different forms. It comes for the child who finds out her parents are getting divorced. It comes to the spouse that receives those divorce papers and didn't see it coming. It it comes to the the parent who watches their their child run away from home and do things they never dreamed of their child doing. It comes in the form of a doctor's diagnosis. It comes in the form of that phone call. that comes in the form of of a great economy and things are going well until they're not and there's a great recession and all of a sudden things are shaken.

We will all be shaken. So what do you have in your life that will actually remain through the shaking? The author says in verse 28, therefore let us be grateful. Shout grateful. Grateful. You want to know who has the kingdom of God? A grateful people. They know what they've been saved from. They know what they're saved to. They know what they have inside. They have according to the text here, the receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And that let let us then our response to this unshakable kingdom is to offer to God acceptable worship. What does acceptable worship look like? You acknowledge who God is. He's actually God. with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

We live in a world that's increasingly unstable. Nations against nations. How many times have we heard the talks between Iran are just about done? We we see wars, nations against nations. We watch in our own nation. What a beautiful nation we live in. God bless America. But the division, the shaking economies, institutions, cities, families, even emotions. Come on, somebody. You know what I'm talking about. Even our bodies. Bodies that are healthy one day, but not the next. plans, relationships, even things we thought would never go away suddenly in just a moment disappear.

Jesus before his death said, "See, Matthew 24:4, see that no one leads you astray. See that no one leads you astray, for many will come in my name, saying, "I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray." And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you're not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Jesus warns all these are but the beginning of birth pains. Jesus warned every one of us that you could be led astray from the unshakable kingdom. Jesus warned that there will be

things that happen in this world that will make you listen to a message contrary to the Christ that is the chosen one of God. Some people will say they have the solution. Some people will say they have the answer. And Jesus warns that when you see these things, you don't need to freak out. You don't need to worry. You don't need to wonder. You don't need to be filled with anxiety because it all depends on what's inside of you. Governments will shake. But the King of Kings, he still sits on his throne. Of all the things that happen in this world, the the cultures, they might shift and try to tell you what the truth is, but the truth of King Jesus will never change.

Your circumstances may be uncertain, but one thing you can be certain of is Jesus is the King of Kings and still sits on his throne. You see, when everything seems to be moving in this world, we can be certain one thing is not moving. That's Jesus the King sitting on the throne. When the economies are up one day and down the other, Jesus is still sitting on the throne. When the culture absolutely loses its mind and you think who would actually believe this, you can come to King Jesus and he's still sitting on the throne. When I don't know what tomorrow holds, I know who holds it. It's King Jesus who still sits on the throne. And when hell comes at me with all of its fury because don't you know, when it rains, it pours. I can still turn to

Jesus because he sits on the throne. The kingdom of heaven does not freak out. It never worries. It never wonders. There's never an emergency meeting in heaven where Jesus says, "Guys, I didn't see this one coming." We might freak out when we hear about something, but not King Jesus. His throne is established. His promises are sure, and he is the true, the way, the truth, and the life. And you could be certain this is an unshakable kingdom. This is something you can keep turning to. You can keep trusting in. and my confidence can't be in anything other than Jesus. So, Hebrews 12 comes to us and paints a picture of a of a way that you can examine your own life. It's a metaphor of such where where you can look and say, well, if things are off in my life, I have to examine internally what am I living for? What am I hoping in? Where

do I put my trust? Where's my energy, my resources, my giving, my time? What am I putting my trust in? And the writer of Hebrews comes to the end of the book. It's all about who again? Jesus. And decides to talk about mountains. Almost as if it was written for those of us in central Oregon. Come on, somebody. I want to talk about those two mountains because you have to choose which mountain will I live on? Which mountain will I identify my life? Which mountain am I choosing to define who I am? I want to start with the first mountain. And if you would allow me today, I want to just go back to the drawing board, Professor Keith, for just a moment. Uh, this is not art class. This is theology class. So, let's talk about the first mountain. If you're taking notes, you can draw or you could write it down. The first mountain is Mount Si. So, you could write this down. Mount Si.

Mount Si represents God. But the author paints the picture, if Mount Si, could you tell this is a mountain? I'll put some snow at the top. God's at the top. Okay, God's at the top of this mountain. This mountain represents fear and separation. Because when you read Hebrews 12 18- 21, you read about some terrible things. You you you read about a storm that's brewing. You read about a sound that you no longer want to hear because when they heard this voice, people were begging that it would stop. Not even the beast could go to this mountain or else they would be stoned. It was a mountain that could not be touched. There was fire.

There was clouds. There was a trumpet sounding. It was so terrifying. Hebrews 12 21 tells us, "Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear." This is Moses. Moses that confronted Pharaoh says, "I tremble with fear." I've got the reference wrong here. It's verse 12, verse 21. Moses concludes this mountain is a mountain of fear. Now why would a mountain that represents God be a representation of fear and separation?

Well, we come to the reality of who God is. God is eternal. God is all powerful. God is all knowing. He is majestic and glorious. He is completely perfect, never made a mistake, completely holy, never been unpure, absolutely completely holy. So if you really think about a God that is all of those things, it is terrifying. This is no casual mountain where you come and have an encounter where, oh, my my church is up in the woods. Well, I'll just tell you, if you meet with God on this mountain, you see how terrifying God actually is. He's great and glorious. And when you understand who you are compared to this great and glorious God, it changes everything.

Mount Si is the very place that God met Moses on the journey from slavery to the promised land. This is where God gave the Torah. Torah means the law, the instructions of God. So you might think of Mount Si as a representation of the law. that if you were to try to keep the law to get to God, it would absolutely be impossible. Because where you fulfill some laws, when you get to the next laws, you'll realize there are so many that there's no way you can keep them. How many have ever broken a law of God? Come on, somebody. You know the ten commandments. Honor your mother and father. How about do not covet.

Do not covet. That that one of the ten commandments. Don't lie. I mean, it's really easy to break one of the laws. And Mount Si represents the law that if I'm going to get to God, I've got to be as good as God to get to God. So, there's fear and separation. Romans 3:20 tells us, "For by the works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." The Bible says that the law is like a mirror. It shows you who you actually are. So the more you read the law, the more you understand who you really are. Because we could lie to ourselves, justify ourselves, but the law will actually expose what's actually in you.

The law tells you how righteous God is and how unrighteous you are. If you want to do a deeper study on the separation, read Genesis chapter 3 and just take it line by line and see that prior to sin, we had a perfect relationship with God. But when sin entered the story, it separated us from God. The prophet Isaiah would say, "But your iniquities, the things you've done wrong," he's saying, "have made a separation between you and your God. Your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. So if I come back to the drawing board, Mount Si represents fear and separation. God is here and you are here.

So whether you consider yourself religious or non-religious, believing in God or not believing God, you're here and God is here and there's a separation. That that's the first mountain. If I can really put it another way, it's your efforts. You will never be able to earn your way to heaven. You'll never be good enough where God is like, "Oh, finally you did it. I'm so grateful. I've been waiting for this day. You're so good. You're just as good as me. Now you made it up the mountain." We would simply put it, your behavior cannot change your relationship with God. Mount Si exposes human effort and it comes in many different forms. as Jesus warned in Matthew chapter 24 that he

warned us. Many will actually try to lead you astray from the truth that there's only one way to the father. That's through him. And many will say there's other ways. Some people will say it's good to be atheist to say there is no god. A theist says I choose to say that we come from nothing. And others will say, "No, actually it's it's based on religion and doctrine that if you just do enough and if you're part of the right tribe and you look the right way, behave the right way, then you'll have access to God." And the writer of Hebrews says, "If you want this Jesus, no one can actually make their way up Mount Si." But then he brings up this second mountain. Let's go ahead and write this mountain. This mountain looks a lot like the first because this mountain too represents God.

The same God. So how can you have one god that's terrifying then you have another god? This is Mount Shout it out if you know it. Mount Zion. Mount Zion represents grace. It represents grace and freedom and a right relationship with God. Mount Zion is the mountain of grace and celebration. When you read the dichotomy of between these two mountains, Mount Zion is the mountain of grace and celebration. Let let's start with the first verse describing this mountain. Hebrews 12:22. Remember the whole book of Hebrews is all about Jesus.

So those who believe in Jesus today, if you trust in Jesus, he's going to talk about you. those who believe in Jesus. He says, "But you, if you've believed in Jesus, don't worry about Mount Si. But you, if you've believed in Jesus, but you, if you have Jesus, don't worry. You don't have to worry about Zion. You don't have to worry about working your way to heaven. You don't have to worry about being good enough. But you have come." Do you see this language? It's not another day. It's not a better day. It's not go get your life together and then come to Jesus. This isn't uh one day you're going to figure this out. One day you're going to know enough about the Bible. One day you're going to go to church enough and you're going to feel like you're a Christian enough. No, no. But you have what? You've come. Today is the day of salvation. This is our day of reckoning. This is our moment. This is

our turning point to recognize that the kingdom of God is not someday or another day. You have come to where? Mount Zion. This is our mountain. Remember this is metaphoric. Choose your mountain. Do you want the law or do you want grace? Do you want to try to do it on your own or do you want to see who's done it for you as Jesus? You've come to Mount Zion to the city of the what? Shout it out. Living God. We have a living God. Never be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every other religion in this world is false. It's fake. It's drawing people away from God. We don't have to do it with meanness. for the Holy Spirit gives you the fruit of kindness and gentleness. But we have to know we have the one true living God. And on this mountain, there's the image of a a

heavenly Jerusalem. Jerusalem represents the city of God. But a heavenly Jerusalem represents the restored Jerusalem that's talked about in the book of Revelation. That God's going to make everything new. If sin tainted this world, don't worry. God's going to make it right. If sin broke this world, don't worry. God's going to give us a better version of what we've ever experienced. The heavenly Jerusalem and to the innumerable angels and festal gathering. This is beautiful. The writer is simply saying this. If you come to this mountain, let me let me grab my uh marker here. If you come to Mount Zion, this is the same God that is equally eternal, equally all powerful, equally

all knowing, but instead of you being here, you actually you are on the mountain with God. And if you're on the mountain with God, you know why you're on the mountain with God because you didn't do it. And so instead of like taking this so serious where you're going to act like you've got this whole thing figured out, you're going to celebrate with the angels and a festival celebration, you're going to actually know what you're saved from. And so instead of walking up the mountain, you're dancing up the mountain. You're eating up the mountain. You're drinking up the mountain. Because if you read about the Jewish celebrations in the Old Testament, they knew how to celebrate. We got a problem with our holidays. They're often just one day. You read about the Jewish celebrations, they'd last seven days. And there was wine and there was food and there was music and there was dancing. And in this

kingdom, it it's a picture of grace and celebration. You know what we've made church? We've made church something you come and do. You come in, you grab your coffee, you come in and sing songs, you hear the preacher, you go home and we That's not church. At some point, you participate in what the angels are doing and giving God glory. If I know what I'm saved from, I'm not here for you. I'm here to say that he's saved me and I'm going to act like it. I think sometimes we forget what we're saved from. Your name is written in the lamb's book of life. Which means that when you get into heaven, it has nothing to do with you being there. God wrote your name there because of the blood of Jesus. Your citizenship is not in this world. Our kingdom is the kingdom of heaven.

and our king is sitting on the throne and our future is secure. So when we come to Mount Zion, we say, "I know what I've been saved from. My home is in heaven." And here's the good news. Here's why it says that it's like a heavenly Jerusalem. You don't have to wait to get to heaven to start experiencing heaven. Too many times we talk about Jesus is saving you from your sins and now you have the free gift of God that you get eternal life. All that is true, but it's not just a free ticket to heaven. You get heaven inside of you. You get an unshakable kingdom inside of you. If Jesus is the King of Kings, he has dominion inside of you. Some of us are trying too hard. Something shaken. Oh, how am I going to deal with this? I didn't expect that financial problem. I didn't expect that person to run out of my life. I didn't expect the world to be the way it is.

When you have the unshakable kingdom, you come back to the king. remember how terrifying he is. There's nothing he can't do. So we join the joyful assembly of all the angel songs and we celebrate. So h how do you get Mount Zion? Jesus made it really simple and he made it really clear because remember but you have come. You can have this today. Jesus said in in in Luke uh chapter 10 verse 20, let me give you the context. He sent out his disciples to go heal the sick and cast out demons. His disciples, those who were following him, went out and did that. And they came back to Jesus. And they're like, "You'll never believe it, Jesus." It worked.

Demons fled. People were healed. And Jesus said this, "Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." We should expect signs and wonders. Jesus can heal and he can use you. You can cast out any demon because you have all authority against the enemy. You can crush Satan under your foot, not because of you, but because of Jesus. But that's not why you come here and worship. You come here and worship because of the one that saved you. You come here and worship because you know you have a heavenly home. So we should operate in the authority of the kingdom. But even more, we should operate with the kingdom, saying, "I know who I am." Too many times I I feel like church

feels more like a funeral or celebration of life. You ever been to one of those? You come and it's serious and then at moment you laugh and then you go back to serious and then you might laugh again and get serious. And that's sort of how church is. And I have a feeling that sometimes we just got to remind each other maybe we should have a detector at the door like do you really know why you're here? Do you know what you're saved from? I was talking to some pastors and we were all sharing our stories and some of the pastors were really saved from some stuff like drugs and you know uh addiction and all kinds of hard past and some were saved in the Jesus movement. Some were heard the gospel and received it and others had a story of just I was raised in the church and then other pastor Yeah. Yeah. That's the best story

right there. Raised in the church. It is the best story if you still know what you're saved from. It's not a great story to be raised in the church. Never have done drugs. You never did crack cocaine. You never prostituted yourself. You never robbed a bank. You never murdered anybody. Some would say, "Well, that's a good life." Not if you don't know what you're saved from. Do you know that you've been rescued from hell? That's why it's exciting that you didn't do crack cocaine or prostitute yourself or rob a bank or murder somebody because I have been saved into heaven and heaven has been saved into me. Because the Bible says when you believe in Jesus, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit. And Romans 8 tells us that nothing can separate you from the love of God. You might accidentally go back to drugs, but not even that can separate you from the love of God. No demon, no famine, no

naked. You could get shaken, but you still have the kingdom. And that's not an excuse to go back to your old ways because Proverbs says it's like a dog going back to his vomit. You should keep running back to Mount Zion. Choose your mountain this day. And you need to know this that you didn't do it, but God did it for you. Uh, do I have time to talk about your mama? It's in the Bible. So, every Tuesday the staff, we study this text. Every Tuesday, we study whatever the preacher's preaching on. We come together as a staff and we pray over the text. We read the text. We talk about the text. We ask questions about the text. And so, I was sharing Hebrews chapter 12. And Pastor Brandon, like a prophet, opens up Galatians chapter 4.

If you have a Bible, turn to Galatians chapter 4 and we'll talk about your mama because the author is Paul and he's writing to a region of churches that are are Jewish people who have believed in Jesus. So they got Mount Zion. They got they got grace, they got celebration, but they started to add back on Mount Si. So they said, "If you really want to follow Jesus, we got to go back to the law. God gave us the Torah, so we got to go back to And by the way, Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but they're now saying, "No, to really be saved, you still have to do every rule." So, it's kind of a contradiction. It was like, "Yes, you could be saved by Jesus, but you still have to follow every single rule." And so, so Paul writes to the Jewish Christians and he's like, "Hold on a second. Can I just give you a paint

you a picture?" And instead of mountains, he says, "I'm going to paint a picture of two mamas." Galatians 4:22. For it is written that Abraham, Abraham, who is the father of our faith in Genesis, God gives Abraham a promise, a covenant that out of you will come a great nation. The problem is his wife is too old. Her womb is too old to have children. They're they're they're experienced in age, you could call it. And God says, "Out of you will come a great nation. For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman." So, there's two sons by two different women. So, two different mamas. Are you guys tracking with this? One by a slave woman. And I'm going to write this down just so you know who the mamas are. One by a slave woman. Her name's Hagar. She was a servant of the

house. Now, here's what's really crazy about the story. Sarah comes up with the idea and says, "Listen, I can't have a child. Maybe you should sleep with our servant, our slave girl, Hagar." And Abraham's like, "Sure." Why not? Like, "You said it. I'll do it." Now, I just want to say, "Just because your spouse says it doesn't mean it's the word of God." So, Abraham sleeps with Sarah. Bad idea. She gets pregnant and has a son named Ishmael. And God comes and speaks to Abraham and Sarah and says, "That's not what I was talking about. I gave you a covenant. I gave you a promise. And a covenant cannot be broken." So God says, "If I give you a promise, you can be sure of this. As sure as God told Abraham, it's sure in your life as well." His promises can't be broken.

It might seem like it's shaken. It might seem like it's not there. We just said it. It's why we sing these songs. Even when I can't see it, even when I can't feel it, his promises are still true. So then you come to Mount Zion and you've got this other mama and she laughs at the idea that God will do it. She literally laughs. How many of y'all have laughed at God's plans? This is the road through this divorce or through this pain, through that bankruptcy or through that loneliness, through that. Yeah, you can laugh at it. When she has a boy, guess what she names him? Laughter. It's Isaac. And I just want to say there's way more joy on the journey of Mount Zion because you could laugh at God's plans. And you're not laughing at God. You're laughing with him.

Remember when I tried to do it myself? Remember when I tried to do it? And by the way, it's not that God abandoned Hagar and Ishmael. He He loved them, but it wasn't the promise. So if you're a prodal right now, you're trying to do your own thing. God loves you, but that's not the promise. This is how it's interpreted. Verse 24 through 26. Now, this may be interpreted allegorically. Choose your mama. This is an allegory. Okay? So, this is just a this is meant for you to say, "What am I choosing? My way or God's ways?" Now this may be interpreted allegorically. These women are two covenants. One is from Mount Si bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Si in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem. These are the ones that are trying so hard to do it on their own. For she is in slavery with

her children. But the Jerusalem above is free. And she is our mama. Come on somebody. You choose. You choose your way or God's way. It's the same God, but you're trying to you're taking the role of God here. You're trying to be good enough. You're trying to make a way. Or you say, "God has made a way." And how did he make the way? Somebody shout it out. It's all about Jesus. We got the same one true God. God made a way for you to have access to him through Jesus. And I'm going to close with this quickly because you need to understand today. It's nothing you can do. It's all about what Jesus has done for you. Galatians 3:3 says, "Are you so

foolish having begun by the spirit? If you believe in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit. Are you now being perfected by the flea flesh?" If you have Jesus, don't go back to your old ways. If you have Jesus, don't don't think that you're still a sinner. Don't think that you could still do it. Don't think that you if you have Jesus, he has made the way. You could take a note of that today. Jesus made the way. At the center of Zion is not you. It's Jesus. Jesus made the way. Hebrews 12:24. Jesus. Somebody shout Jesus. Jesus the mediator of a new covenant. Jesus is the mediator. He stands between the two parties, humanity and God, and stands between them. And to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Abel's blood cried out for

justice. He was the first person we read in the Bible that was murdered. He was murdered by his older brother Cain. Cain murders Abel and Abel's brother from that point forward cries out justice. He didn't deserve to die. But Jesus dies. And why is that a better blood? Because of the blood of Jesus. Not only do you have justice with God where he takes your sins on the cross, he who is without sin took your sin on the cross, you are forgiven. Then he goes even further and says you're redeemed. Then he goes further and says you're adopted. Then he goes further and says you have a great inheritance. He goes further and says you are accepted. You are made new. This is the blood of Jesus. [applause and cheering] If you are on Mount Zion, you are completely clean.

The blood of Jesus doesn't say that your sin wasn't bad. Yes, your sin separated you from God. But that's when you tried to do it on your own. When you have Jesus, it changes everything. Peter says this, "For Christ also suffered once for sins. He died on the cross for your sins. The righteous Jesus for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God. Choose your mountain." I also want to say, "Choose your mama." Jesus offers us a new covenant. And Colossians tells us he's delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom. Someone shout kingdom. the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins who made the way. Jesus. And he's letting you know

today that you are a promised child of Sarah. She's our mama. We get every promise God gave when it looks like it's too late. You have a God that will make a way. You don't have to take matters into your own hands. You don't have to strive and try and say, "Well, God said it. How am I going to get it?" All you got to do is choose your mountain and choose your mama today. So, how do you do that? Well, I tell you, it's a free gift. And we've been told today you you can have this. It's a response to who God is. Jesus said, "The time is fulfilled. Now is the time. The kingdom of God is at hand." Meaning, the kingdom's right here. Repent and believe in the gospel. That word repent means turn to God. Trust in God. But it also means leave your old ways. When you

repent, you're simply saying, "I have an acknowledgement that I need a way to God. I need a way to this mountain." And the only way is through Jesus. And that doesn't mean you do it some of your life. Doesn't mean with some of the things in your life. You have to surrender it all. It's all in all obedience. Because if you don't, you got one foot on one mountain and one foot on the other mountain. You got to just turn to Jesus. Go all in. And you might say, "That sounds radical, pastor." It is. And it's awesome. Yeah. Because the results will be better than you ever thought. You'll see who you are because of who God is. It's not a formula that if you do this and you do this and you do this, you'll have this. That's going back to Sinai. But when you choose Jesus and you do this, you see Jesus and you do that, you see Jesus. And even when you make a mistake, you see Jesus. Repent and

believe in the gospel. I came here today not to preach a bad news. I came here to preach the gospel, which means what? Good news. Repentance means I'm turning from myself. I'm turning from my sin. I'm turning from the ways of this world. Remember Hebrews 12:28. We are receiving a kingdom. We are receiving a kingdom. Do you see that language? Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom. We're receiving a kingdom. It's yours. You can receive it. It's yours. You can receive the kingdom right now. And when you do, you do with a heart of gratitude because you didn't do it.

Jesus did it for you. Be grateful. You know why this church is so great? I love Journey Church. I just love it. This is like been my favorite year of Journey Church this year. I love this church. I love it because of you. Why do people serve in this church? They've received the kingdom of God. That's why we don't call our volunteers volunteers. They're superheroes. They're leading people on a journey of transformation. Jesus, they're not perfect, but they're saying, "I got it, though. My name's written there, so I might as well give back something that he gave me." When we talk about money here, it's not about money. We've received the kingdom. You know, you can make all the money in the world. You could be a billionaire. And you know what happens when you die? You take nothing with you.

None of it's yours. But when you've received the kingdom, you're generous with what God's given you. Even if it's a little or a lot, when we worship here, often times you'll see young people here and periodically some not so young people up front. Why? Why will they press in? Why would they jump? Why would they raise their hands? We've received a kingdom. And by the way, that invitation has no age. We've joked that it's like 8 to 80, but we've had older than 80 up here. and we've had younger than eight. What What is your response to the kingdom? Why do you love someone else? You've received the kingdom. You can't really love like Jesus until you've been loved by Jesus. Why do you forgive someone?

Some of you get so angry so quickly. Can I tell you why you're getting angry so quickly? You're on the wrong mountain. If you really want to forgive and have God's grace, you got to receive it first. You got to deal with some stuff. And when you do, God's going to take care of it because you know what the last verse says of this chapter? For our God is a Say it with me, consuming fire. This is not a contradiction. We call him a God of grace, but we also call him a God of consuming fire. Do you know what fire does? It consumes. We've seen that over and over again. We see it with our neighbor to the north, Spokane. 700 homes destroyed by fire. When when fire was near my house, what was I concerned about? That it was going to consume the house.

We saw it with cities like Palisades and Paradise and Lahina. Fire can consume in just a moment. And the Bible says our God is consuming fire. But if you tie him into the eternal God, the personhood of God, Malachi says he's a refining fire. So if you have the unshakable kingdom in you and that fire comes, do you know what? He burns off all the junk. Idolatry is gone. Pride is gone. Bitterness is gone. He burns it off of you because you're in his presence. You have access to the all-consuming fire which makes you pure. It makes you righteous. It makes you redeemed. This is who God is.

He loves you so much that he can't leave you the same. But it only happens for the surrendered heart that says, "I choose you. I choose this mountain. I choose this mama." And I know it may have sound strange at the beginning, but did someone get a revelation today? I want to give you an invitation that if you came to church [music] today, you're not quite sure if you've believed in Jesus, you want to receive this free gift of grace. Jesus himself said in John 14:6, he says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father but through me. That's not an option. It's not just a good idea. This is the reality that could change your life forever. With every eye closed, this is the serious moment that I want to ask you if you want this Jesus who loves you, who wants to forgive you, and he wants to give you the power of God himself, seal you with

his Holy Spirit, fill you up from this day forward, God's going to expedite miracles in your life. God's going to show you what he's capable of doing through you. If you want to receive this Jesus today, would you just throw your hand and keep it up? I want to see who wants to receive that. Praise be to God. Praise God. Yes. Praise God. Anyone else? Just Praise be to God. So proud of you. Your whole life you've been wanting this. And this is the moment of convergence where God is making a way. Praise God. Amen. Praise Yes. [music] Praise the Lord. Amen. I want all of you who raise your hands today to know this confidently that God sees you. He knows you. He loves you. And I want to pray with you right now. Prayer is talking to God. It's listening to God. You could pray anywhere at any time. When you leave here today, you have an unshakable kingdom. So pray all

the time to this God. If you're like, "Pastor, I don't know how to pray. It's just talking. Just get real. You can get angry. You can get happy. You can be grateful." I want all of us to pray with those that raise their hands all over the room and even those by the way of live stream or listening in whatever form. I want you to pray out loud with me. There's something about praying out loud. You're speaking to the heavenlies that with confidence who God is today. Would you pray this with me? Lord Jesus. I believe in you. I confess my sins. I repent today. I receive your kingdom. I receive your grace. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done in my life. In my life as in heaven as in Jesus name. Amen. And amen.