Discovery Church: Grand Rapids

Heaven is more real than the broken world we see around us. Christ’s sacrifice sets us free to live in his presence, allowing us to start to experience that eternal reality even now in the body of Christ.Hebrews 9:11-14, 23-28Pastor Matthew Wright joins us as Pastor Paul and Renae are on vacation.Watch the full service on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/Fj0jr-wRgmU

This week, worship began with communion. A short pause is included in the podcast where communion was served before the talk begins.Because of Jesus, we have access to what is better than what this world has to offer. Being the better high priest and offering a better sacrifice, we have access to a better life, a life that has its totality in Jesus. Why would we go back to anything that is inferior?Hebrews 8:1-13Watch the full service here, including a big announcement from Pastor Paul: https://youtu.be/a9xNvgr1a_g

The resurrection of Jesus is so profound, such a pivotal point in history, that because of it, everything is different. Because Jesus rose from the dead, He offers us a fresh start as He has the power to change everything!Mark 16:1-8Watch the full service: https://youtu.be/Q7o7LK9MOOA

At different times in our lives, we all need some sort of rescue. To “be saved” is to “be rescued.” The stories and ceremonies within the Old Testament all point towards the One and the way that Father God would provide rescue—through His selected Lamb. We are saved by the blood of the Lamb.Exodus 12:1-6; John 1:29-31Watch the full service: https://youtu.be/X2YXgy9d9B4

This week was Discipleship Emphasis Sunday, which involves a Bible Project video and small group discussion, so there is no new talk to share. Please enjoy this old but still relevant talk from 2022, preached by Pastor Paul Sausser.Acts 8:26-40Our society is highly polarized, especially with political differences. Humans are good at division. Philip and an Ethiopian, who are so different, connect deeply for no other reason than that God is up to something. God, through the work of his Son Jesus, is reconciling people. The book of Acts is God creating a new humanity, a redeemed humanity, one that brings diverse people together into His family for His glory. God is intent on destroying boundaries that separate people from one another.View the full service on our YouTube channel.

Just as we need mediators in many parts of our lives, we need a spiritual mediator to be the go-between between us and God. In Old Testament times, God provided the High Priest. Now, Jesus is the only High Priest we need to mediate on our behalf before God. He is the only One who clicks all the boxes of what is needed in a spiritual mediator.Hebrews 6:20-7:5, 9-10, 20-27Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. (Hebrews 7:26-27) Watch the full service on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/oBnjFnj_W4A

Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant. Fulfilling the requirements of every priest that ever existed, Jesus became the high priest (the one who offers the sacrifice), the altar (where the sacrifice is made), and the sacrifice (the actual offering) once and for all, for us. He is solid and stable, never moving, so on Him we can place our anchor.Hebrews 6:1a, 4-8, 12-20Watch the full service here: https://youtu.be/wa1MRFZ6c7g

On Discipleship Emphasis Sundays, we have a shorter talk to make time to watch and discuss a video from The Bible Project. Watch this month's video here: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/priests-of-eden/Adam and Eve, our first parents, were made in God’s image. As God’s image bearers, they represented God to all of creation, working and worshipping in the Garden, embodying God’s heavenly wisdom and rule on Earth. They were like priests in the Garden, where God’s holy presence resided. Though Adam and Eve were deceived and fell into sin, God’s mission is to redeem humanity by sending His Royal Priest—Jesus. Jesus is the One who restores the blessings of Eden.Watch the full service here: https://youtu.be/kaZhLrIFik8Discussion QuestionsIce Breaker: What faith tradition did you grow up in, and was there a practice or any similarities about priests at work?God forbade any image of stone or clay to represent Him. His people were/are His image. How has this shaped how you view yourself and others?How do priests represent God to the people, and also represent the people to God?Is there anything about the tabernacle/temple that caught your attention?What do you think about the Garden being an early symbol of the tabernacle?What do you think about Adam and Eve being royal priests in the Garden?How does Jesus serve us and serve God by being a Royal Priest?How can the promise of a True Royal Priest (Jesus) not fade as humanity spiraled into deeper and deeper sin (Genesis 4-11)?What do you think of both the tabernacle and the priests as gateways that link Heaven and Earth together? (Kind of deep.)How does any of this shape how we enter into Monday? Verse: So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this… I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15)

The role of the High Priest was to be the highest representative of God to His people, and God’s people to God. Because of this, the qualifications of the High Priest were high. Jesus fulfilled all the human qualifications of being a High Priest, but more than that, He was appointed as Father God.Hebrews 4:14-5:10Watch the full service here: https://youtu.be/0s_7iBX0HWM