“Superior to the Angels” [Matt's Messages]

“Superior to the Angels”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus - The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

February 1, 2026 :: Hebrews 1:5-14  

Do not fix your eyes on angels.

Last time we were together, we opened our new series on the sermonic Letter to the Hebrews with the overarching theme, “Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus.”

And that’s also our theme as a church for this year: “Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus.”

The writer of this letter was encouraging these apparently primarily Jewish Christians in the first century to run the race of their lives focused on Jesus at the starting line and, especially, at the finish line. And he tells them to not take their eyes off of Jesus. Not for one second. To not get distracted. To not get discouraged. To not stop running towards Jesus. To not drift off or go backwards! 

He says in chapter 12 of this letter, “[S]ince we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:1-2).

That’s the message of this sermonic letter, and that’s what we are focusing on in these days as a church.

Not on angels.

Do not fix your eyes on angels.

Why would you? Well, angels are pretty amazing! The Bible says a lot about angels. They are really fascinating. 

For one thing, angels are real. We should not fall into the ditch on the other side of not thinking about angels as real things in our world. Angels exist. There are multitudes of them! They are numerous. Thousands upon thousands exist. Probably millions upon millions! Maybe billions upon billions?

I don’t know how many angels might be right here in this room? There is some evidence in the Bible that God gives every Christian at least one guardian angel (see Matthew 18:10, though there it says that they are in heaven). So there may be at least 170 right here, right now?

Chapter 12 says that we as Christians “have have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn” (Hebrews 12:22-23). Are we in the presence of thousands of angels right now? I don’t know. Maybe there’s just a few right here, right now. They’re invisible, so I don’t know. And that’s okay!

But they are real. They are all over the Bible. 

Think about all of the angels in the Bible stories that you know. Michael and Gabriel in the Book of Daniel last year.

Gabriel coming to the virgin Mary to tell her about the Son of the Most High before that first Christmas.

The army of angels lighting up the sky and singing to the shepherds when Jesus was born.

There are angels from Genesis to Revelation. They are real. They are here. They are numerous. They are powerful. 

Angels are supra-human personal worshipful spiritual beings. And they are often sent by God to deliver a message. Angels are supernatural messengers from God. God sent angels when He gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. That’s what chapter 2 is going to emphasize about angels. 

And they do miracles! Think about how the angels helped Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter 3 (see Dan 3:28) and shut the mouths of the lions in Daniel chapter 6 (see Dan 6:22). And rescued the Apostle Peter from prison in Acts chapter 12.

They don’t just deliver messages. They deliver miracles! Angels are powerful.

And they are pure. Think about the seraphim in the vision of Isaiah chapter 6, flying above the Lord in the temple. Burning. “Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying” (Isaiah 6:2). Pure, fiery, awesome creatures that attend the very presence of God.

Angels are real, and they are scary! Nearly every time an angel appears to humans in the Bible, the first thing they have to say is, “Do not be afraid!” Because they are fearsome creatures.

Angels are not cute. We have gotten that all wrong. If you think about angels as little round cute things with their faces on their hands, you are not thinking about the real angels.

And they are not former humans. Angels are not humans who have died. 

I love the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and I love the character of Clarence Oddbody, Angel Second Class (A2). He’s one of my favorite characters in a movie of all time. And he’s supposed to be a clockmaker that died like two hundred years earlier and then never got his wings. So he’s sent to help poor old George Bailey. 

But as fun as that story is, that’s not how it works. You do not become an angel when you die. Your deceased loved ones are not angels. That’s not in the Bible. Angels are not ghosts.

Angels are supra-human personal worshipful spiritual beings that are created by God to serve Him and guard and guide God’s people (see Graham Cole’s excellent Against the Darkness for more biblical angelology).

Last year at Stay Sharp 2025, Greg Strand taught us about angels and about fallen angels. If you want to learn more, I would recommend going to back and listening to the recordings of that.

Kids coming to Snack and Yack today, Mrs. Sass and I are going to ask you to tell us some things you know about angels. What are they? What are they like?

Angels are real, and here, and numerous, and powerful, and pure, and scary. They are fascinating. They are wondrous. They are amazing, and they are inferior to the Son.

That’s what Hebrews said in the first four verses of chapter 1. What we studied last time. Let me read it to you again. Remember there were no niceties at the start of this letter. No mention of whom it’s from or even whom it was to. He just launched in and then rhapsodizes about the Son. Verse 1.

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.  So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs” (Hebrews 1:1-4).

You can see where we get our title for today (v.4). “Superior to the Angels.”

We learned last time that the writer of this letter loves that word “superior” to describe Jesus. He’s going to use it at least 15 times in this letter, detailing over and over again the things that Jesus is superior to. Jesus is better; Jesus is greater; Jesus is superior to...the angels. And therefore, we should fix our eyes on Him.

Now, if you’ve got that, you’ve got the main point of this section. Jesus is superior to the angels. The angels are inferior to Jesus. 

But the writer doesn’t just want to say that and move on. He wants to show that. He wants to prove it to these Jewish Christians by looking at their own Bible and pressing home what the Old Testament said about the Son.

So he gathers up at least seven quotations from the Old Testament and throws them at these Hebrew Christians one at a time in a quick succession.

You can tell by looking at your Bible and seeing how the spacing changes all of a sudden. In most versions, verses 1-4 are a block of text, a dense paragraph, that was all one long sentence in the original Greek. And there were like 7 descriptions Who Jesus is: heir of all things, co-maker of all things, sustainer of all things, the radiance of God’s glory and the perfect picture of His being, the purifier of His people, and the co-ruler of the universe!

And then, in verses 5 through 14, there’s all of this spacing that changes. You see lines of poetry and quotation marks in our English versions. The CSB has the quotations in bold print. And it’s bold all over the places for 10 verses. And your Bible may have footnotes that show where all of these quotations can found.

Psalm 2:7

2 Samuel 7:14

Psalm 97:7 (or perhaps Deuteronomy 32:43 or both)

Psalm 104:4

Psalm 45:6-7

Psalm 102:25-27

Psalm 110:1

This is how the writer to the Hebrews thinks. He thinks Old Testamenty. Remember, He said that, in the past, God had spoken to our forefathers “at many times and in various ways.” And we should hear and heed those past messages from God.

This afternoon, I recommend that you get out your Bible and go look up all seven of these quotations in their original contexts. Because I assure that the writer to the Hebrews did. He may only quote a verse here or a verse there, but he’s got the whole thing in his mind. And he expects his readers to have read these passage in their original contexts. 

If we did that in these sermons, we might spend several years getting through Hebrews. Because he’s going to do this again and again throughout the book. We’re just going to scratch the surface. [This lecture by D.A. Carson goes deeper into three of them.]

The whole Bible is hyper-texted. Double-click on any part of it, and it will take you to another part. Hebrews is especially like that, because he wants to make his points about Jesus from the parts of the Bible that these Jewish Christians knew and loved.

So, he says in verse 4 that Jesus, “...became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.” What name is that? 

I think it’s the name, “Son.” That’s the name He’s always had for all eternity, and it’s the name that He inherited when He was resurrected and ascended back to the Father.  That’s the point of verses 5&6.

“For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’? Or again, ‘I will be his Father, and he will be my Son’? And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God's angels worship him’” (vv.5-6).

The writer starts with a basic question, “For” (which shows that he’s proving his point) “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father....?’”

What is the answer to that question? Which angels?

None of them, right? God has never said to any angel, “You are my Son.”

But He has to Jesus.

I have three points to summarize this section this morning, and here’s number one.

Jesus is superior to the angels by His:

#1. UNIQUE SONSHIP.

God has never said to any angel, “You are my Son.” But He has to Jesus.

Now, notice that this means that Jesus is not an angel. Jesus has not ever been an angel and never will be. This goes against the teachings of some of the cults out there. Do not believe anybody who comes to your door and says that Jesus is the archangel Michael or that Jesus was a brother angel to Lucifer. That’s not what the Bible says.

The Bible says that God has never said to any angel, “You are my Son.” But He has to Jesus.

We know He said it at Jesus’ Baptism and at His Transfiguration, but the writer to the Hebrews takes us back to Psalm 2.

Some of you studied Psalm 2 this last week because we sent a Worship at Home Guide for the snowstorm last Sunday and it included a sermon I recorded in December of 2020 on Psalm 2.

Psalm 2 an enthronement psalm, probably sung over King David’s sons when they took the throne. And they were all called “God’s Son” in a way. Not because they were God the Son but because they were taking up a special role representing God to His people. 

That’s what the second quotation is saying in verse 5, “Or again, ‘I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.” That’s from 2 Samuel 7:14 where God promised to build a house for King David. David wanted to build God a house, but God said, “No, I will build you one.” David meant the temple, but God meant a dynasty, that there would always be a Son of David to rule over Israel. And that Son of David would have a special relationship with God, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.”

But we know that it was pointing to something much greater. We know that most of the sons of David did not live up to the name, “Son of God.”  Remember all those disappointing thumbs-down kings in the Books of Kings and how it eventually led to exile in Babylon and Persia? They were poor Sons of God. So God had to do something about it.

We know that, one day, a Son of David would come and perfectly fulfill Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14. A Son of David that would be the perfect Son of God because He is God the Son! And even if He would die, He would come back to life and ascend to heaven to take up an eternal throne and, one day, bring the kingdom of kingdoms to Earth! Verse 6.

“And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God's angels worship him.’”

That’s either Psalm 97:9 or Deuteronomy 32:43 or both. I won’t get into the complex textual questions. The point is clear either way.

The Old Testament calls on the angels to worship God. And the writer to the Hebrews knows that the Son is God. He’s the firstborn Son of God. The preeminent Son of God. The heir of all things from verse 2). And the angels are supposed to worship Him.

Now, it’s true that sometimes the angels are called “the sons of God” collectively in the Old Testament. But none of them are called by God, “My Son.” None of the angels are called “The Firstborn Son.”

But when God brings His firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

Now, I’m not sure when that “bringing into the world” happens. It might have been at that first Christmas when the sky lit up with angels singing, “Gloria In Excelsis Deo.”

Or it might be still to come when Jesus returns with His holy angels like we learned about in 2 Thessalonians 1 a few months ago.

I tend to think it’s talking about when Jesus came back into the world from the dead and ascended up to the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. In my mind, the angels just went crazy that the Son had returned victorious. “Let all God’s angels worship him.” 

It might be any of those or all three. Because Jesus is worthy all the time. 

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

Don’t fix your eyes on angels?!!! Fix your eyes on Jesus. The angels do!

Here’s the application for you and me today:

Worship Jesus with the angels.

Don’t worship the angels! Worship Jesus with the angels.

Now, I’m telling you if an angel appeared to us today, right here, right now, we would all be tempted to worship him. That happened to John the Revelator in chapter 19 of the Apocalypse. He ran into angel and fell down at his feet. It was glorious! But the angel said, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!” (Revelation 19:10). 

Worship the Son of God! That’s what we came to do this morning, and we have done it, and we’re going to do it again. “Let all God’s angels worship him.” And let’s join them!

You see, the angels know that Jesus is uniquely the Son and so is infinitely superior to them. So they worship Him. And so should we.

Now, in verse 7, the writer picks out a passage that is about angels. He quotes Psalm 104, verse 4. Verse 7. 

“In speaking of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.’”

Now, that does sound impressive. Angels can be winds. Angels can be flames of fire. Angels are powerful servants of God. 

In the Psalm, it emphasizes how God controls the forces of nature and makes them do His bidding. Winds and lightning obey Him. But the flip-side is also true, God can send angels in the forms of wind and fire. 

Angels are amazing, make no mistake. But notice how fleeting those things are. Winds and fire. Those things are here and then gone again. They are temporary and ephemeral.

But see how the writer contrasts Psalm 104:4 and Psalm 45:6-7. That’s verse 8.

“But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy’” (vv.8-9).

Now, we could spend a whole message just unpacking Psalm 45. And in fact, we have. Five years ago, in February of 2021, I preached a Valentines’ Day sermon on Psalm 45 and showed how it relates to Hebrews 1. You might want to go back and listen to that.

Psalm 45 is a wedding song. It’s really different from any of the other psalms in the Psalter.  And this part is addressed to the king, probably a Son of David on his wedding day. Maybe Solomon’s first wedding day. Maybe all of the Sons of David had it sung at theirs. And in that psalm, the singer seems to call the king, “God.” It’s really remarkable. It’s probably like Psalm 2 where the king is standing in for God because he’s supposed to be a Son of God. But it was prophetic as well. Because, one day, a King would come Who was not just like God but was God Himself! So that the song was truer than it ever had been before.

And the writer of this letter understood that. He knew that Psalm 45:6&7 was about Jesus! 

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, [notice that! This God has a God! Sounds a lot like verse 3 to me! God, your God] has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy'" (vv.8-9).

Do you see the comparisons? The angels are fleeting and ephemeral. They are winds and fire. But the Son is eternal. His throne lasts “forever and ever.” And the Son is (v.9), “Set above your companions...”

He is greater! He is superior! Because He is God! And He has the Holy Spirit without measure. He has been anointed (He’s the Messiah) with the oil of joy. Which I think must be the Holy Spirit. 

Now, I’m not sure if the “companions” here are the angels (which would further his argument) or His people (like you and me). It’s true of both.

The point is that Jesus is superior. Because He is God!

And because He is God, He is the Creator. That’s where he goes next in verse 10. Quoting from Psalm 102, verses 25-27. Verse 10.

“He also says, ‘In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end” (vv.10-13).

He’s saying the same thing as he did in verse 2–that Jesus, as God the Son, was there at creation, helping to create everything there is. And so, He is eternal. 

In other words, Jesus is superior to the angels by His:

#2. UNCHANGING CREATORSHIP.

He was there at the beginning. He was the architect of creation. He was the master builder at the start of all things. 

And one day, when He decides to remodel the universe, Jesus can just roll it all up like my wife rolls up our clothes and tosses them in the laundry.

How many times do we change our clothes? I change mine several times a day. I have the clothes I walk in the mornings. The clothes I feed the fire in three times a day. The clothes I wear when I’m at work and out in the community. And my pyjamas, the clothes I sleep in.

They all change. They all wear out. I don’t wear any clothes that I wore when I was a teenager except a few of my neckties. (They still fit!) And some of them are getting pretty old.

But Jesus never changes. His years never end.

Jesus will never wear out!

I don’t know if the angels get old?? But I do know that they are created. Verse 7 says that they are made. But verse 10 says that the Son is the maker. Even the angels can be changed. But the Son remains the same.

What did we sing this morning? Hebrews 13:8 does say, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Here’s the application of this truth. We should:

Trust Jesus to always be the same.

Don’t fix your eyes on angels?! Fix your eyes on Jesus. He never changes. We need Him to be like this! Everything in our lives is changeable and fleeting. 

How many things have you trusted in that failed you? They changed on you. The terms and conditions changed on you. That’s life in this sin-sick world right now. And we’re never told in the Bible to put our trust in angels as amazing as they are. But we are told to put our trust in Jesus and that He will never change. Jesus will never wear out because He’s God! He’s the Creator! 

Angels are just a part of God’s creation. Jesus is the Creator Himself.

Now, you might not be tempted to trust in angels, but I think that an awful lot of people are. Go to the book section at Ollies and look for all the books about angels and see if they are good biblical books that teach what Hebrews 1 teaches about angels.

Scroll through your social media feed or tap on a hashtag for #angels, and see all of the offers on hand.

“If you click on this picture of this angel, then you will be blessed this week with good health, with money, with restored relationships.”

All of the stories out there about angels. All of the shows. “Touched by an Angel.” “Highway to Heaven” (for those of us old enough to remember Michael Landon).

All of the sightings. All of the distractions! Do not fix your eyes on angels. They are wonderful, but they are wind and fire. Fix your eyes on the One Who made the angels and never changes.

In verse 13, the writer goes back to that same basic question, “To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet'?”

What’s the answer to that one? Same thing, right? None of them. 

God has never said to an angel, “Come up here and sit next to me.” But He did say that to Jesus. 

The letter writer understands that the Father said that to the Son all the way back in Psalm 110. Which is one of the most wild and wonderful of all the Psalms. I have called it before “The New Testament writers’ favorite Psalm” because the New Testament authors just loved to quote Psalm 110.

This writer sure does. I think this is one of about 10 times that he quotes Psalm 110 in this little letter!

He keeps say, “right hand,” doesn’t he? He said in verse 4. He said in chapter 12, verse 2 in that same place he tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and...sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

That’s Psalm 110. We don’t have the time to study it in-depth. But we did do that about five years ago in June of 2021 when we were studying the Psalms during the pandemic. You might want to go back and listen to that this week some time.

Again, the psalm is prophetic and messianic. Maybe more than any of the other psalms. The Lord Jesus befuddled the Pharisees and teachers of the Law by asking them a question about it. “Whose Son is the Christ?” (See Matthew 22:41-46.)

The careful reader of Psalm 110 realizes that ultimately God the Father (“the LORD”) is inviting God the Son (“my Lord”) to sit on the throne right next to Him.  And that’s a place that no angel could ever sit.

So Jesus is superior to all the angels by His:

#3. UNBEATABLE CO-RULERSHIP.

He sat down! He was victorious in His death and resurrection and ascended to the Majesty in Heaven. And took His rightful place! Co-ruler of all of the Universe! Because He is God the Son.

Now, notice that there is still some mopping up to do. “My Lord” is supposed to sit at the right hand “until [the Father makes His] enemies a footstool for [His] feet.”

The kingdom has not yet come in all of its fullness. We’re still waiting for that. We are still waiting for salvation to come in all of its fullness. We are saved. We are being saved. And we will be saved. 

But Jesus is sitting. He’s not threatened. He’s not in trouble. He’s not even fighting. He’s got all of the coolness and calmness of The Ancient of Days. He is the unbeatable co-ruler of everything. Sitting at the right hand.

But angels? They are not sitting. They are being sent. They are being sent out to and fro. Verse 14.

“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”

What’s the answer to that question? Yes, they are. That’s what angels are. They are serving servants. “Ministering spirits sent to serve.”

Notice how superior Jesus is to them.

There many of them. There is only one of Him.

They are spirits. He took on a full human nature. He is embodied.

They do not send Jesus. Jesus sends them.

They are servants. He is the unbeatable ruler.

Now, obviously, He was sent. And He was a servant. But He was successful in His mission, and He returned to the Father and sat down. 

They are being sent to serve...us! Did you notice that? The angels are sent to serve the Lord by serving His people. Verse 14, “...those who will inherit salvation.” Salvation is still on the way, but it’s coming.  

And it’s coming to all who believe in the Son.

And while we wait for that salvation, the angels are being sent to serve us. They guard us. They guide us. I don’t know what other things they do. They do it quietly most of the time. I don’t need to know what they are doing. I just need to know that they are doing it!

This doesn’t mean that we tell the angels what to do. They aren’t our servants who obey our wills.

They are God’s servants who serve us at His will.

So, I think the application of this truth is:

Thank Jesus for all the help.

Thank Jesus for sending those ministering spirits to do their thing (whatever that is!) while we wait for the salvation to come.

Don’t fix your eyes on the angels. They’re invisible most of the time anyway. They’re doing their work there in the background. Be grateful for them. This room might be full of them right now. That’s wonderful.

But they are not the point. They are inferior.

Fix your eyes on the One Who is the point. The One who is sits at the right hand. 

Fix your eyes on Jesus. He is infinitely superior. 

***

Messages in this Series:

01. The Song - Hebrews 1:1-4

Read More

“The Son” [Matt's Messages]

“The Son”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus 

The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

January 18, 2026 :: Hebrews 1:1-4  

“Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus” 

That’s the name of this new sermon series that we’re starting today on The Letter to the Hebrews, and it’s also the theme of my pastoral vision for Lanse Free Church in 2026.

Today is our Annual Reports and Vision meeting after we “mangia” on our Italian feast, and we’re going walk through a review of the Lord’s work in us in 2025. A record-setting year in so many ways! And we’re also going to hear about our hopes and dreams and goals for 2026.

And in my annual pastoral report, when I got to the vision part, I just wrote, “I don’t have a grand plan for 2026.” Some years, I have a big idea of what specifically I want us to work on and try to achieve. Last year this time, it seemed like we were really close to getting a pavilion out there to foster relationships with one another and serve our community. And, praise God, we did!  And I’m sure we’re going to do more big things in 2026, but I don’t have a grand plan for them.

But what I do know is what I think we should focus on this year. Or more specifically whom we should focus on in 2026, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is our Light and our Salvation. He is the Stronghold of our lives. A life-changing relationship with Him is the one thing that we must pursue this year.

We need to be fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Those words come from chapter 12 of this book of the Bible. The writer says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:1-2).

He pictures our lives as a race, and Jesus is set before us at the finish line which Jeff has so helpfully illustrated for us in the new sermon graphic. And he says, “Fix your eyes on Jesus.”

Don’t take your eyes off of Him. Not for one second. Don’t get distracted. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t stop running towards Jesus. Don’t go backwards! Stay focused on Jesus.

If we do that as a church, we’ll end up where we are supposed to be when we get to 2027 and beyond.

And that’s the central message, I think, of this entire book of the Bible, and it’s the point of the first four verses which we are studying today.

Interestingly, these four verses are actual one long “elegant and eloquent” sentence in the original Greek (Schreiner). It takes like four sentences in English to do what the writer did in just one in Greek! This writer is a incredible thinker and author. He is an amazing theologian. 

And we also don’t know who he is! This is a strange letter because it isn’t signed. There is no “from” or even “to” in the header of this “email.” 

We know it’s a letter because of the greetings that are included at the very end. But it’s not a letter like most letters. In fact, it’s more like a sermon. At the very end of the letter, the writer calls it, “a word of exhortation” or a “word of encouragement”–the same Greek word as we emphasized in the letters to the Thessalonians last year. It’s a "kick in the pants" kind of encouragement letter.

We could call it a sermonic letter.

And it comes unsigned. Now, the recipients knew who wrote it. They clearly had a close relationship with him. He knew them. He knew what was going on with them. The recipients were apparently primarily Jewish Christians (Hebrews) who were having second thoughts about following Jesus.

We don’t know exactly where. Somewhere in the Roman Empire in the first century, probably before 70 AD when the temple was destroyed. They might have been Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem or perhaps more likely, they were in Rome itself.

Wherever they were, they were getting scared. These Hebrews were being persecuted, not for being Jews (which is hard enough most places in this world), but for being followers of Jesus Christ. And they were seriously considering going backwards. Drifting off the path. Dropping out of their race. Quitting on Jesus.

Know anybody who has done that? Have you been tempted that way yourself?

These folks were. They were feeling the pressure. And their friend knew it. And so he wrote them this letter.

We don’t know his name. Some people think it was Paul, and that’s possible, but he writes very differently than Paul who also signed all of the other books by him in the New Testament. Some have though Silas or Barnabas. A lot of different names have been thrown out there. [Maybe even Priscilla with her husband Aquilla? Possible but unlikely, especially because of the masculine participle in 11:22)] Maybe the most popular these days has been Apollos. 

We don’t know...and that’s okay. Because God knows and the original recipients knew and the church has long recognized Who the more important author of this sermonic letter is–the Holy Spirit Himself. And we know when we’re reading it, that this is the very Word of God.

And it’s telling us to fix our eyes on Jesus.

In fact, that’s where the letter starts. Did you notice how abrupt the opening paragraph is when Copper read it to us? This is unlike any letter I’ve ever gotten. There’s no, “Greetings! How’s it going there in Lanse? I hope this letter finds you warm and well-fed. How’s January treating you? Everybody healthy at your house?”

There’s none of that. It just launches in...

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe” (vv.1-2).

He gets right at it, doesn’t he? And he gets right to the Son.

He says that there have been and are two phases of God’s revelation to man. God has spoken in two ways. They are both similar (because it’s the same God) and dissimilar. Let’s look at it more closely. Verse 1.

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways...”  Now stop there for just a second.

The first thing that we must see is that God has spoken.

That’s super-important! Our God is a speaking God. He wants to be known. He wants to tell us things and often has. He is not a mystery in that sense. He is not a silent God. God could be God and not ever speak. He could be all-powerful, all-wise, all-knowing, omnipresent, holy, holy, and holy and never say a word. But our God wants to tell us things and often has.

In the past (what we call the Old Testament) God spoke to our ancestors in the faith through special spokesmen, through messengers, what verse 1 calls, “the prophets” at many times and in various ways. I love the old King James version there. It says “in sundry times and in divers manners.”

God spoke in lots of different ways over the years. Just look through your Old Testament and see all the ways and times that God spoke through the prophets.

And was that bad? No! That was good. That was wonderful that God would speak to His people. Last year we studied God’s words to and through the Prophet Daniel and then later the Tale of Queen Esther. Daunting but delightful!

The Old Testament was (and is) a good thing. But it was also incomplete. It was a like a cliffhanger. Remember the cliffhangers in the Book of Esther? What was going to happen to our hero? Tune in next time! Well, we got all of these promises in many times and various ways, and fits and starts and types and shows, and then....everything went dark and silent for 400 years. Verse 2.

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son...”

You see the contrasts? In the past versus these last days. We are living in the last days, and we have been ever since Jesus came the first time. We may or may not be in the last of the last days (when Jesus comes again), but we are in the last days (our Prayer Group just talked about that on Wednesday night).

And in these last days, God has spoken not just to our forefathers but to us. To New Covenant Christians. And He has spoken to us not by prophets but “by His Son.” Literally “in a son.” 

He hasn’t spoken to us through a mere prophet. He has spoken to us in a Son. There is a new and better kind of revelation that has come on the scene when Jesus came to us. He is not just a new mediator of the message, but He is the message itself! 

God’s Son is God’s Word. And He is the final word. The full and final word. He is the climax and culmination of the revelation of God! “[God] has spoken to us by His Son.”

Wow. What a privilege we have! To have a Word from God that is so wonderful and so personal because the Word is a Person! God didn’t just send another prophet. He sent a Son. The One and Only Son He had. No wonder the writer just jumps right into it! And no wonder the writer wants to fix our eyes on Jesus. Because He Himself is the message from God Himself.

What a privilege we have to hear that message. And what terrible thing it would be to ignore it. 

Church, we must:

#1. FIX OUR EARS ON THE SON.

As we head into 2026, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus and fix our ears on Him, as well. 

Jesus is the full and final way that God communicates Himself to us. And so we must listen to Him. And we do that by reading the New Testament, too. The New Testament is the record of and explanation of and application of the revelation of the Son. The Old Testament was great, but the New Testament comes along and completes and fulfills and ties it all together by revealing the Son.

The Son. This letter is going to make a big deal out of Jesus being the Son. Just like God did at Jesus’ baptism and at Jesus’ transfiguration:

“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5).

Fix your ears on the Son.

What Jesus says is true.

What Jesus says is right.

What Jesus says goes.

What Jesus reveals about God is what we need to know.

And we need to listen and not stop listening until Jesus returns.

Are you listening? Do you have your ears fixed on Jesus? Do you know what He says in the New Testament? Do you know what He promised? Do you know what He taught? Do you know what He commands? Are your reading your Bible? Are you listening?

Or do you have something else in your ears?

I like to listen to podcasts when I’m walking, and when I’m driving. But that can be dangerous to put on noise-canceling headphones or earbuds. [By the way, why do we call them “earbuds?” I don’t like the sound of that. Like some flower or something is going to grow out of my ears.]

So a couple of years ago, I got these new kind of headphones. They are bone-conduction technology. It sits on my temple and goes through my thick skull, and I don’t have to have anything budding in my ears. So I can hear the traffic! If Jim Beveridge is roaring down the road I’m on to check his traps, I can tell he’s coming and get out of the way. And that also means when Jim goes by, I can’t hear my podcast. I am rightfully distracted.

But in the ears of our hearts, we should have noise-canceling going on. We should shut out every distracting voice that isn’t the Son telling us what is true. I don’t mean to not be good listeners to people. I’m talking about our focus.

We must fix our ears on the Son and Him alone.

Why? Well, the writer is just getting started. The second he mentions the Son, he goes off on like seven different things that we need to know about the Son. Many of these things are going to be themes that he will return to again and  again in this letter. Let me read the whole thing to you from the middle of verse 2 on:

The Son “whom he [God] appointed heir of all things, and through whom he [God] made the universe. [He] The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.”

Wow! Just wow! What a Person this Son is?! Where do you start?

The writer starts at the end. He says that Son has been appointed by God as the “heir of all things.”  That makes sense. If God owns all things then His Son would be His heir. From Father to Son. He would inherit all things. And that’s quite a statement.  Because it includes everything, right? That’s what “all things” means. Jesus is due to receive all things. They are all His by right.

Look around you right now. Everything you see belongs to Jesus and one day will. There is coming a day when all things will come to Jesus. God has appointed it. 

And then, the writer goes from the future to the past. From the end to the beginning, to creation. Verse 2 again.

“...and through whom [the Son] he [God] made the universe.” 

Literally, “made the ages.” 

God’s Son was God’s Agent of Creation! The Son was there when God created the heavens and the earth. In fact, He wasn’t just there. He was deeply involved.

The Book of Colossians says, “For by [the Son] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him” (Colossians. 1:16).

All things! He isn’t just going inherit them. He made them! Why wouldn’t we fix our ears on Him?

Take sex for example. The world has a lot to say about sex. But the world did not invent sex. It’s God’s idea. And a good one, I might add. And Jesus was there when sex was invented. So, we probably ought to listen to Jesus when He says how sex out to be used. How we ought to treat our bodies and the bodies of other people.

And that’s true of everything. That’s true of natural resources, too. The land and the animals and the water. Jesus was used to make all of that, as well, and it’s all going to be His one day again. Are we doing what He wants with the Earth?

The Apostle John wrote, “Through [The Word] all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3). Why’s that? It’s because “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God...and the Word was God” (John 1:1). And that’s verse 3!

“The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being...”

Wow! What more wonderful words could we have to describe Jesus?!

“The radiance of God’s glory.” That’s as good as it sounds. Jesus is the shining forth of God’s glory.  Like if God was the Sun up in the sky, God the Son is like the beams of light that come out of the Sun so that we can see the Sun. Where does the sun end and the beams begin? There really isn’t a difference, is there? When we feel the beams of the Sun on us, we say we feel the Sun on us. And that’s right. So the Son of God is the beams of God’s glory showing us the bright splendor of God.

“The LORD is my light and my salvation–whom shall I fear?”

The writer of this sermonic letter would have loved the Nicene Creed that we recited all during Advent. He had been dead for 300 years when it was written, but he would have loved what it said about Jesus.

“[We believe] in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only begotten Son of God,

eternally begotten from the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one essence with the Father.

Through Him all things were made.”

They got that from this book, didn’t they?

Verse 3 says the Son is “the exact representation of [God’s] being...”

He is the perfect picture of God. If you want to see the Father, look at the Son!

I have heard that I look a lot like my Dad. People have gotten us mixed up before. And I think that’s a compliment because he’s really handsome guy. 

 

But Jesus is (in His essence) a perfect picture of God.

Because He is God, as well. “True God from true God...”

This is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday when we especially think about the image of God in humans from conception on. We are made in God’s image. Or, better, we are made according to God’s image. And that means that we should treat people with dignity. Unborn people. Born people. Citizens. Immigrants. Refugees. Police. Family. Enemies. People that look like us and people who don’t look like us.  People are not trash and should never be treated like trash. Because we are made according to the image of God.

But! The Son is the image of God (see 2 Corinthians 4:4)!

“The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being...”

Church, we must fix our hearts on Him!

#2. FIX OUR HEARTS ON THE SON.

Jesus is worthy of our worship. Other humans are deserving of our respect, but Jesus is worthy of our worship. 

He is God! The Son of God is God the Son. And we should fix our hearts on Him.

Are you worshiping Jesus with all of your heart this year? Or has somebody or something else snagged your attention? We call those things that take God’s place in our hearts: “idols.” And they can be things that are really good. Things that God has made but we let them slip into a position in our hearts that should be fixed for God alone: Money, Family, Popularity, Fun, Power All good things, but they become bad things when they become “god-things” for us.

The Son of God is God the Son. And we should fix our hearts on Him alone.

Are you letting yourself get distracted? That’s how you can end up falling out of the race.

The Son is the heir of all thing, maker of all things, the radiance of God’s glory, and the perfect picture God’s being. And here’s what He’s doing right now. Last phrase of verse 3.

“...sustaining all things by his powerful word.”

Wow. Jesus is holding everything together. “All things.”

That’s mind-blowing.  Look around the room right now. You see all the things? All the people? All the pews? All the wall-hangings back after Christmas. All the speakers. All the walls. All the ceiling. This says that all of that is “sustained” by the powerful word of the Son. And that goes for everything down that hallway. All of our Italian feast. And everything on our campus. The Ark Park, the Pavilion, the Lanse Free Fridge, the basketball court. Every blade of grass. Every cubic inch of pavement in the parking lot. All the way down to the core of the Earth and everything above us to the Sun out to the stars. He’s the reason why science works! The Son of God is “sustaining all things by his powerful word.”

If Jesus says, “Be no more,” it would all be gone.

Colossians 1 says, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). Do you believe that? 

No wonder we are supposed to fix our eyes on Jesus! Because He’s holding everything together.

Which makes the next phrase so shocking.

“After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

Now, given what we’ve seen so far, the fact that He is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven isn’t so shocking, though it is amazing to learn that Someone is worthy of sitting right there!

No, what’s really shocking to think about is that this One Who is the heir of all things, maker all things, sustainer of all things would also “provide purification for sins.”

He’s acting as a priest. We’re going to learn a lot about priests as we study Hebrews together. This is the place in the Bible where we learn that Jesus acts as a High Priest. Providing purification, cleansing, for sins. And we’re going to learn that He does this priest thing unlike any other priest. Because the blood that this priest offers to cleanse people from sin is His own blood. 

The Son of God became the Son of Man and was mocked, flogged, and crucified.

Mocked, flogged, and crucified?!

This Person? 

This Son was mocked?

This Son was flogged?

This Son was crucified?

Oh yes, and the letter will take us much deeper into what that means for us today.

It means, in short, that we are saved from our sins!

We have been purified.

He have been cleansed.

We have been washed clean.

All who believe in the Son have been purified. And that makes all of the difference in the world.

Have you come to trust in the Son for your purification? Have you fixed your heart on Him? If you have not yet trusted Jesus as your Savior, I invite you right now and right here to do so. He has provided purification for sins by His own blood, and it was efficacious! Because after He did that, what did He do?

“He sat down!” 

It was finished. His work was done. He no longer had stand. He could sit down, and look where He sat (see Psalm 110)! 

“At the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

We’re going to see that again and again in this book, too (8:1, 10:12, 12:2). His work is perfect, and He is exalted on High! He’s been given the name that is above every name. Verse 4.

“So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.”

And now we see one of this writer’s favorite words that gets repeated at least fifteen times in this sermonic letter. And it’s the word “superior.” Or “greater” or “better” or “more excellent.”  He’s going to have a long list of things for us that the Son is greater than. There are all things that are good, but Jesus is better. 

Like angels, for example. He starts there, and we’ll see that he goes on about it to the end of the chapter. Angels are good. Gabriel, Michael, and all of them are special messengers from God.

But Jesus is better.

Jesus is greater. 

Jesus is superior. 

And in His exaltation to the right hand of the Majesty in heaven, he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

Which I think is..."Son."

Now, of course, He has always been superior to the angels because He’s always been the Son. But He was made lower than the angels, in a way, when He took on humanity in His incarnation. But then He died and rose and was exalted as the God-Man and is above the angels once again. So He is superior in every way.

Church, we must fix our eyes on Him!

#3. FIX OUR EYES ON THE SON.

He is greater than anything else!

Why would we fix our eyes on anything other than Him? He is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven! He is the co-ruler of the Universe. He is the heir of all things, the maker of all things, the sustainer of all things, the ruler of all things. The radiance of God’s glory and the perfect picture of His being. Why would we fix our gaze on anything else? Why would we listen to anything other than the Son?

Lanse Free Church, in 2026, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

***

Bonus Message:

I preached on this passage once before, twenty years ago (when I first started posting them on this blog) on Celebration Sunday the year we first paved the parking lot: God's Son.

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LEFC Pastor's Report - 2025 In Review

Lanse Evangelical Free Church exists to glorify God

by bringing people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ

through worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service.

Celebration Sunday September 2025

The Annual Pastoral Report

Pastor Matt Mitchell

Year in Review: 2025

Dear Church Family,

Serving King Jesus as your pastor is one of the greatest privileges of my life. Thank you for giving me another year to preach the Word, equip the saints, and shepherd the flock of Lanse Evangelical Free Church. 

Ours has been a long and fruitful partnership. Our congregation is nearly 134 years old, and I have been the pastor for more than one fifth of our church’s history. And I’m not done yet! I am eager to see what the Lord might do in and through us in the coming year.

Serving the King in New Territory

In my pastoral report this time last year, I emphasized the new territories that we had recently entered in ministry together and laid out a vision of “Serving the King in 2025.” I’m pleased to report that, by God’s grace, that’s truly what we did. Read through the pages of this document, and you will be encouraged to see many of the ways that our church family rolled up our sleeves and served the King of Kingdoms over the last twelve months. These are some highlights:

Ark Park Pavilion

Probably the most obvious new thing that happened for LEFC was the construction, dedication, and utilization of our brand new pavilion for the Ark Park! We are praising the Lord for this sheltering structure that is now giving us a new place to foster relationships both for the church family and our community. The Ark Park Pavilion is a perfect complement to the playground which we launched twenty-five years ago and the Lanse Free Fridge which just celebrated its first anniversary of helping our neighbors to feed one another. Thank you to our trusty Facilities Team who coordinated all of the efforts to erect it, and thank you to everyone who gave over the previous five years to fund this project. You were serving the King!

Serving Neighbors in Kentucky and Lanse

In July, we sent a ministry team to eastern Kentucky to serve the King by serving precious people whose homes had been devastated by flooding in 2022. The eleven of us (in our bright green t-shirts) lived in an EFCA church building for a week and traveled up and down the “hollers” doing construction and re-modeling led by ReachGlobal Crisis Response missionaries (in blue t-shirts). The motto we learned that week was “People Over Projects.” 

After we returned, some of our team, along with others from the congregation, served the King by serving a homeowner here in Lanse who needed help cleaning up garbage that had been dumped in a ravine behind his house. I hope we can do more to serve others locally, regionally, and globally in the days to come. 

New Logo

For over a year now, a diligent group of our staff and leaders have been working on ideas for a new logo to express the essence of our church in one simple recognizable image, and we hit upon an acorn with a cross embedded in it. We hope it captures the idea of life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. The cross is red to symbolize what our King did for us in His sacrificial death, and there is a green leaf shooting from the top to symbolize our spiritual growth together as a church family.

The acorn fits with our location here in the woods of central Pennsylvania, and it corresponds with the tree logo of the EFCA down to using some of the exact same colors. Thank you to the team who worked on conceiving it, especially Jeff Schiefer, our resident graphic artist, who donated his time and expertise to crafting this deceptively simple and deeply meaningful logo for the church.

Every Good Deed and Word

For the second half of 2025, I endeavored to pray 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 for every family in our church directory:

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

I prayed those words especially for our hard-working church staff and leaders.

Jordyn Skacel has led the growth and development of our Family Ministries in the last year. Read her report in these pages to learn about the many events, programs, outreaches, retreats, classes, and resources that have helped parents to lead their families into a life-changing relationship with our King, Jesus Christ. We are blessed to have a lot going on for families right now. And she’s still just getting started. There is much more to come!

Cindy Green continued to clean up our many messes and help us to be good stewards of the building that the King has given us to share and use for ministry.

Jenni English kept us all pointed in the same direction, providing clear church communications and orchestrating all of the details of the church office. After two years of faithful service, Jenni is now transitioning out of this role as her family has moved out of state. She continues to run the office from afar while she trains her successor. Thank you, Jenni, for all of your service for us and for our King!

As we prayerfully searched for Jenni’s successor, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that the Lord was answering two prayer requests at the same time. Ever since we learned the sad news that the Quehanna Boot Camp and SCI Rockview would be closing, we had been praying for the many in our community and church who are affected. And the Lord led Keith Hurley who had been employed at Rockview to apply for the administrative assistant position for us which he will assume, Lord-willing, in early March. We look forward to seeing what our King will do in and through Keith in that new role.

I was privileged to serve the King alongside the other elders of our church–Keith Folmar (2025 chairman), Cody Crumrine (2025 vice-chairman), Keith Hurley, Curtis Quick, and Abraham Skacel. I believe that the King encouraged our hearts and strengthened all of us in every good word and deed done in His name in 2025.

Even More Growth

We continued to grow in 2025 in church participation, setting new records for attendance in Sunday morning worship. We averaged 171 people per Sunday, a 4.2% increase over the previous year (which was a record in my time here as your pastor).  We have grown significantly in attendance since the pandemic (up 24% from 2019), but we’ve been learning that the average attendance numbers don’t tell the whole story of just how large our worshiping community has become. Our attendance team tracked 467 individuals who came at least one Sunday in 2025! The previous year was 411 which had been another record.) The lowest attended Sunday was February 9th (121 people), and the highest attended was Resurrection Sunday (April 20th) with 254 people counted (more than the previous year). Perhaps the best number to focus upon is that we had 247 people who attended on average once per month in 2025.

We grew in membership, as well, taking in five new official members: Macy Mitchell, Roye & Cayli Houston, and John & Kara Suhoney. With a few departures and counting our five associate members, our membership now totals 96–which is also a record in my time here as your pastor.

Clearly we are continuing to grow which is encouraging because it means we have more people to bring into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ and more people to send out to make disciples of others. This growth is also challenging in many ways because it brings new complexity, logistical problems, space considerations, and scheduling issues. We are “a growing family in a smaller house,” and we don’t all know each other! Let’s endeavor to set new records in 2026 for making new connections, learning each others’ names, and serving one another in love. 

Pastoral Ministry

This was a very active year for me in ministry. Being the solo vocational pastor of such a lively and growing flock means that I always have something valuable to do and also that I have to learn to prioritize my time and to empower others to serve the King, as well.

Preach the Word (2 Timothy 4:2)

In 2025, I chose to lead our church into several daunting yet delightful books of the Bible which I had never preached through before with an overarching focus on eschatology. We began the year in 2 John and 3 John and then dove head first into the wild and wonderful Book of Daniel, focusing on the prophesy of “The King of Kingdoms.” After that, we studied both of Paul’s letters to the Church of the Thessalonians putting special stress on the “Eternal Encouragement” that we can enjoy and pass to others today. Near the end of the year, we reveled in the rollicking Tale of Queen Esther that raises the searching question “Where Is God?” and then answers it indirectly yet overwhelmingly in story form. I am so glad we are living in a comedy and that there is no such thing as chance! Lastly, during the holiday season, with the classic carol, “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” on our lips, we studied what the Bible has to say about the arrival of the Son of the Most High and prayed for His soon return–“Come, Lord Jesus!”

Abraham Skacel, Cody Crumrine, Keith Hurley, Chip Wolfe, Caleb Lucien, Jim Panaggio, James Laird, and District Superintendent Kerry Doyal also fed us nourishing meals from God’s Word in 2025.

Equip the Saints (Ephesians 4:12)

I spend a lot of time in meetings and sending messages to empower, equip, and guide our staff and leaders to develop our ministries. I continue to be encouraged at the beautiful blend of new and older members who are working together to do effective ministry at LEFC. Check the roster for any of our ministries, and you will see the names of both younger and more seasoned volunteers listed. Ministry is a team sport, and while I do also get into the game as a player, increasingly my primary role on the team is to be a coach and a cheerleader. 

I also get to invest in equipping ministry beyond our local church family. In 2025, I got to teach on the Tale of Queen Esther and Resisting Gossip for the School of Discipleship at Miracle Mountain Ranch. I continued to serve as the Chairman of the Allegheny District Constitutions and Credentials Board. I got to assist five pastors get their ministry licenses in 2025, and there are more candidates for credentials right now than we have ever had in the process. Once again, I coordinated the Stay Sharp Theology Conference and answered theological and governance questions for churches who are considering affiliation with our association of churches. I also led an ongoing district pastors’ gathering that meets near Pittsburgh several times a year.

On the national EFCA level, I continued to serve as the Book Review Coordinator for the EFCA Blog. We published three book reviews this year including one by our own Cody Crumrine! I also continued as a member of the EFCA Spiritual Heritage Committee which met both at EFCA One in Des Moines and also at my alma mater, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS), one last time at their campus in Illinois. TEDS announced this year that they are moving to British Columbia to become the seminary of Trinity Western University, our sister school in western Canada. This seems to be a good move for TEDS as they continue to serve our King by raising up well-educated leaders for His global church.

One highlight of national ministry for me this year was being included on the interview team for the new EFCA Director of Pastoral Theology and Care. As a long-serving local EFCA pastor, I know how valuable it can be for our churches to have someone in that key role, and it was a joy and privilege to get to interview candidates and to provide my input on the selection. The new director is Scott Barber who works closely with Greg Strand and will also be teaching at Stay Sharp in March. 

It is no secret that I love the EFCA, and at the end of the year, I got to shoot a video for the national office extolling many of the things I deeply appreciate about their ministry for us. 

Thank you for allowing me time to serve our King outside of the West Branch area. 

Shepherd the Flock (1 Peter 5:2)

In 2025, I had the honor of spending more meaningful time with the people of our church family. Thank you for inviting me to visit your homes and workplaces, to sit in the audience or the stands cheering on your talented kids at dance recitals, drama productions, musical concerts, and all kinds of sporting events. It is a great privilege to sit by a hospital bed or stand by the casket of one of your loved ones. I truly love getting to be present for both the high times and hard times for our flock.

I had the solemn privilege of leading two memorial services in 2025–John Walter (who had died in late 2024) and Christine Miller. That is  probably a record for the fewest I’ve ever led in a year.

This year, I had the joys of officiating for Roye and Cayli (Bundy) Houston’s and attending Chad and Meizhen (Belko) Green’s weddings. I also got to speak at George and Betty Leathers’ fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration.

We had a record number of babies (6!) born to people connected to our church in 2025! I had the privilege of helping four sets of young parents dedicate their little ones to the Lord.

In November, I was honored to play a part in baptizing three followers of Jesus–Whittaker Crumrine, Jon Michaels, and Holly Michaels.

I can’t be there for every special moment, but as your shepherd, I love getting to be present for every one that the Great Shepherd allows me.

Speaking of shepherding, my own pastor, Kerry Doyal, is on a much-deserved sabbatical from December 2025 through February 2026. He has done a fabulous job of shepherding me these last six years, and I’m glad he’s getting a break. Pastors need pastors, too, and I have one of the best. 

Thank you all, as well, for loving and supporting me and my family. This flock takes good care of its shepherd, and Heather and I are extremely grateful.

Vision for 2026 - Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

I don’t have a grand plan for 2026. 

I know some of the things we hope to accomplish this year. You can get a glimpse of them from the other parts of this annual report. We hope to partner with up to three new missionaries to reach out with the gospel both in the United States and around the world. We hope to send youth to WinterCon and Challenge. We are gearing up for another excellent Family Bible Week and Fall Retreat. The Facilities Team is going to upgrade the playground and try out a pickleball court. There are all kinds of new things in the works, but I don’t have a detailed plan for everything we’re going attempt together this year.

I have, however, settled on what I’m going to preach first, and that is the Letter to the Hebrews. The unnamed author of that New Testament letter is concerned that his readers are tempted to take their eyes off of Jesus and go back to their old ways. So the author reminds them just how superlative and superior Jesus is to every other option. Jesus is greater than anything else and therefore is worthy of our continued contemplation. In chapter 12, he writes:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrew 12:1-2).

I can’t think of a better focus for us in 2026 in all that we do as a church than to keep our gaze fixed on our King. He is worthy!

In His Grip,

-Pastor Matt

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“Glorious Things” [Matt's Messages]

“Glorious Things”

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

January 11, 2026 :: Psalm 87:1-7

I picked Psalm 87 for this morning because it’s so glorious and so...weird. I picked it because I really have never understood it. No matter how many times I’ve read it.

Every evening, I read a psalm to Heather Joy. I don’t know how many years now we’ve been doing that. Maybe twenty? Every night, I read the next Psalm in the Psalter. We start in Psalm 1 and we go to Psalm 150, and then we start over with Psalm 1 again. Some of them take a few nights to get through (like Psalm 119 because it has 176 verses!) but most are just one per night, so we make it all the way through the Psalms about two times a year.

And a few weeks ago, I read Psalm 87 once again to Heather Joy, and she just lit up, as usual. She loves it! She says, “My heart rejoices just hearing Psalm 87!” It thrills her to the core.

And that night I said, “I just don’t get it. I don’t know what’s going on here. At some point, I’m going to have to decide to preach it to really get a handle on it."

What is this psalm, this song, all about?

So, this week, as we’re in between sermon series, I was like, “I don’t know what to preach on this week,” and I found a note I wrote to myself that night. “Preach Psalm 87?” And I took it as a word from the Lord!

So here we are. Psalm 87.

It’s a psalm written by “The Sons of Korah.” There are about 12 of those sprinkled throughout the Psalter. The Sons of Korah were an inter-generational family of worship leaders that spanned many decades. They were a family who wrote worship songs for the people of God. Back during covid we studied a few of the Sons of Korah’s songs like Psalm 42, Psalm 46, and Psalm 84.

And this Psalm 87 was one of their greatest hits of all time. 

And it’s about Zion.

This is one of the “Songs of Zion.”

There about seven songs in that EP album (46, 48, 76, 84, 87,122, and 132). Not all of them were by the Sons of Korah, but a few were. 

The Songs of Zion are psalms that focus on the City of God. Jerusalem.

But not just Jerusalem as Jerusalem was but an idealized Jerusalem. A Jerusalem as God sees it. A Jerusalem as God wants it. A Jerusalem as Jerusalem will one day be.

I think that’s a lot of what is bound up when we read the word “Zion,” in the Bible. It’s not just the physical mountain on which the geographical city of Jerusalem was built. And it’s not just the geo-political city itself as it was in the time when the Sons of Korah were writing worship songs about it.

It’s more than that. It’s poetic and prophetic.

It’s what Zion stands for and what Zion will one day be.

That’s part of what makes it hard to understand, if you aren’t that into poetry (like me), and also what makes it so glorious because of what shines through as you study it and sing it for yourself.

In verse 3, the Sons of Korah sing to the city.

“Glorious things are said of you, O city of God...”

“Glorious Things!” The song sings to the city encouraging it that there are some wonderful things that are said about the city. Things that are so good that they are glorious. There are things that can rightly be said about this city that must be marveled at and celebrated and rejoiced over. And this city should take it to heart! “Glorious things are said of you, O city of God...”

And I think that as we read it closely, we’ll see that we (you and I right here in this room) can sing these same glorious things about us.

Because though we may not have ever even visited the earthly Jerusalem in the Middle East, we have come by faith, as the letter to the Hebrews says, “...to Mount Zion to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God...[We have come] to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. [We have come...] to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant” (Hebrew 12:22-24)!

And we will one day live in it. We are, and one day will, be the City of God. So these glorious things are in some way about us. No wonder Heather joy lights up when she reads Psalm 87!

Let’s see some of these glorious things. Number one. City of God...

#1. YOU ARE BELOVED!

Church, you are so loved by God Himself.

Let’s read the first three verses of Psalm 87.

“Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. A song. 

He has set his foundation on the holy mountain; the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, O city of God: Selah”

The word “Selah” probably is a musical notation to indicate an appropriate place to put a rest or an interlude in the song. It probably means, “That’s a good stopping place to take a breath and meditate on what was just sung. Stop, think, consider.” You don’t read the word aloud. You do the thing.

Stop, think, and consider this glorious thing said about you: You are beloved of God.

If you lived in Zion when the Sons of Korah were playing this song on the radio or streaming on your phone into your headphones, you’d be like, “Yeah, it’s so good to live here because God loves this city.”

Why? He loves it because He founded it. God is the “He” in verse 1.

“He has set his foundation on the holy mountain...”

The city of Jerusalem did not choose God. God chose the city of Jerusalem. He decided where it would be, and He made it holy. That mountain isn’t holy on its own or because it somehow recommended itself to God. No, it’s the other way around. That mountain is holy because the holy God chose to set His city down there. 

The holy God chose to “set up shop” there in Zion. The LORD led David to conquer Jerusalem and make it the capitol of Israel. The LORD led David to set up his throne there (see Psalm 2:7). The LORD led Solomon to build His temple there. Jerusalem became the leading city of Israel and the earthly headquarters of God Himself. That’s where His “home” was.

Now, God is not confined to the temple, amen? God is not confined to an earthly city, amen? He was not then, and He is not now, and He never will be confined. He is everywhere.

But that city was like a symbol of God’s presence on Earth. That temple was a visual reminder that God wants to dwell among His people and rule them. He wants to be at the center for them. In a special way, Zion stood there for heaven.

And therefore (v.2),  "...the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.”

And, boy, does He love the dwellings of Jacob! God just has a special place in His heart for the gates of Zion.

Now, why the gates? Perhaps because they are the entry way. God loves coming back “home” to Zion, so to speak. The gates of Zion are the front door with God’s name there on the plate. There’s no place like home. But the gates of a city meant more than that in ancient times. The gates of Hebrew cities were where the people gathered to do business and interact with each other in public and where most of the court-cases were held. 

The gates were where the people were. And the people are the most important thing about the city. It’s not the architecture that God cares about. It’s not the land or the buildings. It’s who is the city. That’s what God really cares about. He really cares about His city because He really cares about His citizens.

And that’s true for us, too, isn’t it? City of God, you are beloved! You are cherished. You are loved by God Himself. We are loved by God Himself! 

Think about that?! What a glorious thing.

We are loved by God Himself. And not because we somehow recommended ourselves to Him. 

We are not holy and beloved because we were so great. We are loved by God because God set His love us.

1 John 3:1, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 

Imagine that! In fact, God had every reason to NOT lavish His love on us. We were His enemies!

Which I think is the point of the next section of the Psalm. Verses 4, 5, and 6.

“‘I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me– Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush–and will say, 'This one was born in Zion.'’ Indeed, of Zion it will be said, ‘This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.’ The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: ‘This one was born in Zion.’ Selah.”

Just think about that.

Stop there and consider this glorious thing. City of God...

#2. YOU BELONG!

You! You belong to God. And there’s no reason for that outside of God.

This is the part of the psalm that I have struggled the most to understand. It’s got all of these names and all of this repetition and staccato syntax. It’s a bit like a freestyle rap in the middle of a song. And even when you get to understanding what all of the names point to, the meaning of it is so fantastical so majestical it’s hard to take in!

The biggest repetition is the word “born.”

“Born in Zion.”

“Born in her.”

“Born there.”

This one, that one. Born in Zion. Born in Zion. I almost titled this message, “Born in Zion.”

What a great privilege it would be to be born in the city that God loves, right?! If you are born there, you’re a citizen with all of the rights and privileges and prerogatives that come with being a citizen of that beloved city. You belong.

That’s what Heather Joy said to me this week when I asked her what all she loved about Psalm 87. She said, “It’s such a hopeful song of belonging.”

“This one was born there.”

You have a place. Safe, secure, happy.  And a place from conception and birth. “The one was born in Zion.” You belong!

But what makes the record scratch is that these people in verse 4 don’t belong!

Rahab?

Babylon?

Philistia?

Tyre?

Cush?

Maybe this message should have been called, “Stranger Things,” not “Glorious Things!” (I guess that name was already taken.)

Do these people belong? Are these people “born in Zion?”

According to God, yes. Because that’s Who is singing when we read verse 4. The Sons of Korah locate these words in the very mouth of God.

“I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me– Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush–and will say, 'This one was born in Zion.'”

That’s God speaking. “Those who acknowledge me.” “Those who know me will include Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush.”

Now some Hebrew scholars point out that this could be translated as a taunt to those five people groups (see alternate translation in the 1984 NIV, the notes in the NIV Study Bible, and the NET Bible). 

And some translations take it in that direction. Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush will all one day have to say, what a privilege it would be to be born in Zion. And, boy, don’t they wish it was true for them.

But most translations don’t do go there. And I don’t think that’s what’s going on here. I think it’s just like what you see in the NIV. 

God[!] is saying that Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush will be recorded as people who know Him and were even born in Zion! They will belong.

And that’s amazing. Because they really shouldn’t.

Who are these people? These are all people groups.

Let’s start with Rahab.

Rahab is a nickname for Egypt. This is not the Rahab that hid the spies in Jericho in the book of Joshua. That name is spelled a little differently.

This is the Rahab that is a mythical sea monster in the books of Job, Psalms, and Isaiah that stands for the chaos that the LORD in His wisdom and power overpowered and defeated. And that name “Rahab” was then applied to Egypt as is a nickname for the way that that nation was like the sea monster. Both chaotic and powerful and defeated by God.

Were the inhabitants of monstrous Egypt “born in Zion?”

How about Babylon?

Have we learned anything about Babylon in the last twelve months? We started in on the Book of Daniel almost exactly one year ago.

Was Babylon friendly to the people of God? No! Babylon took the people of God into captivity. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon ransacked and burned down the city of Jerusalem! The city whose gates the LORD loves more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

Were the inhabitants of Babylon “born in Zion?”

How about Philistia?

That’s closer to home. What do we know about the Philistines? Were they the allies or enemies of the Israelites? Yeah, enemies! 

Were the inhabitants of Philistia “born in Zion?” Maybe some of them were born in Jerusalem physically before David conquered it, but they sure weren’t happy citizens of Zion.

How about Tyre?

Tyre was not Israel’s enemy at all times, but they were often a snare to them. Tyre was a wealthy commercial city on the coast full of Canaanites, and it often brought temptation to greed and envy and worldliness to Israel. And the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28 is described as the enemy of God in words that remind most readers of Satan himself!

Were the people of Tyre “born in Zion?”

How about Cush?

Cush was at the south end of Egypt, basically Ethiopia. It was considered far away. If you remember, the Persian kingdom of Xerxes in the first chapter of the book of Esther stretched all the way from India to Cush (Esther 1:1).

Could someone who is born all the way in Cush be “born in Zion?”

According to the LORD, yes!

Not every single person in Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush will be citizens of Zion. But some will be.

I think that’s what this song is saying!

People who should not belong will belong! 

You belong. Because of God’s amazing grace.

These people were outsiders. They were Gentiles. They were pagans. They were enemies. They were threats. They were offenders. They were hostile. They were trouble. They were on the wrong side of the line in so many ways.

But the LORD Himself sings[!] in verse 4 that they will be included.

“This one was born in Zion.”

“This one and that one were born in her.”

I think He’s going beyond those five nations and throwing in more and more.

He’s saying, “England.”

He’s saying, “Russia.”

He’s saying, “China.”

He’s saying, “Japan.”

He’s saying, “Malawi.”

He’s saying, “Haiti.”

He’s even saying, “The United States.”

He’s even saying, “Pennsylvania.”

He’s even saying, “People from Lanse.”

“This one and that one...”

“This one and that one...”

“This one and that one were born in her.”

And in verse 6 He doesn’t just say it. He says He’ll write it! Verse 6.

“The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: ‘This one was born in Zion.’”

You belong. God Himself will write it! Verse 5 says, “The Most High Himself [El Elyon, the one above all other beings in the universe. The One we saw a few weeks ago Who will have a Son born of Mary, the Most High Himself] will establish her.”

This city is going nowhere. God says so. And you belong to it. God is writing it down.

What a glorious thing that is!

You see how this is about the future? The Sons of Korah were writing not just poetically but prophetically. The song keeps singing about what will happen. “I will record...I will say..It will be said...[He] will establish...[He] will write.”

This wasn’t happening in large part when the Sons of Korah were first singing it. When they were first singing it, Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush were all trouble. They did not belong.

But they could see a day coming when the nations would stream into Zion.

Many of the prophets had the same vision of the future. I think about the second chapter of Isaiah:

“In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore” (Isaiah 2:2-4).

I think Psalm 87 is singing about that day.

It did start back then. Gentiles like Rahab and Ruth made their way into the people of Zion.

Remember at the end of the Tale of Esther how people throughout the kingdom of Persia “became Jews” because of what happened with her and Mordecai (Esther 8:17).

And pagans from the East like the Magi (probably from Babylon) came and worshipped the infant Jesus some time after He was born.

And then it really picked up steam after Jesus came back from the dead! Jesus told His Jewish followers to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything [He had] commanded you.” And He said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

“You belong! And so will the nations who put their trust Me.”

This part of the song reminds us that we have work to do. We have been given a mission to make disciples of all of the nations. Not just the Jews and not just the Americans. All of them.

And that’s why we are expanding our missionary efforts this year. We are in the process of adding at least two new missionary families to that wall back there. Missionaries here in the States and missionaries across the world. Because the LORD says that the nations will belong.

The Son of Man will be given authority, glory and sovereign power and all peoples, nations and men of every language will worship Him (see Daniel 7:14 and also Revelation 7:9).

And people who have no natural right to be there will say, “I was born in Zion. That’s my birthplace. Check out my birth certificate. Check out the city register. Check out the Lamb’s book of Life.”

Even thought I was born in Shelby, Ohio, this book written by God says, “This one was born in Zion.”

City of God, you belong! Isn’t that a glorious thing?

Now, it sounds both amazing and really easy. It’s hard to wrap your mind around but then it sounds like God just says it and it is so.

But we know what it actually took for the LORD to do this. It took the One Who really did belong to be rejected for us who did not belong to become the ones who now citizens of the City of God.

The Book of Revelation chapter 5 says that the Lord Jesus was slain and by His blood purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation and made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve God, and they will reign on the earth. (See Revelation 5:9-10.)

By His blood. People who should not belong will belong! And that includes you and me.

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Can you believe that? Isn’t that a glorious thing? Have you turned from your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and your King? Then you belong! By His amazing grace, you belong. Zion is your birthplace. And you are a part of the City of God. And one day you will live in it. Or as Paul wrote, “the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother” (Galatians 4:26, see also Philippians 3:20).

“This one and that one were born in her.”

What do you do with something so glorious as this?

You sing! Right? You rejoice. You celebrate. You raise the roof. You marvel. There’s one more verse in this song, and it is all about how the city sings back to God. Look at verse 7.

“As they make music they will sing, ‘All my fountains are in you.’”

The “they” are the peoples. Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, Cush and this one and that one and this and that one as us.

As the city of God realizes how good they have it, they will sing, “We are blessed!”

#3. YOU ARE BLESSED!

City of God, you are so blessed of God.

Some of the Hebrew words are a little hard to translate. Some have “singers and dancers.” Some have “singers and pipers.” Anyway about it, this city is soaring with joy.

And they are all singing the same song, “All my fountains are in you.”

I love how they are singing together but they all use the singular “my.” Each one knows that they are blessed. Each one knows that they have it so good. They are beloved. They belong. They have all of the privileges of being a citizen of God, and there is no greater thing.

Because God has given them fountains!

Some of your Bibles says, “springs.” “All my springs are in you.” That’s not the kind that go, “boing, boing.” It’s the kind that goes “whoosh.” The kind that spring up with life-giving water. The kind that refresh you. The kind that the water dances and nourishes and supplies.

Psalm 46 is another Psalm of Zion. It says, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells” (v.4)

Psalm 36 says, “How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light” (Psalm 36:7-9).

And the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37-38, see also John 4).

And we sing, “All my fountains are in you!”

We are so blessed. And one day we will know this like never before.

In Revelation 22 (that we looked at a couple weeks ago), it starts like this. John says, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. [The LORD is my light and my salvation–whom shall I fear?] And they will reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 22:1-5).

We are so blessed and we will be so blessed.

In 1779, John Newton who wrote a little song called “Amazing Grace” (which we sang last week) wrote another little song called “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken,” based on Psalm 87. 

It’s hymn #278 in the blue hymnals. And we’re about to sing it. It’s set to the same tune by Franz Joseph Haydn in #9 that we sang at the start of our worship time today. 

As you turn there I want to point out where it is in your hymnal.

There’s different places where we could put this song. 

You could put in the advent songs about the Old Testament promises longing for fulfillment when the Messiah comes. Because it really wasn’t very realized when the Sons of Korah were writing it.

But our hymnal has it in the section of songs about the church. Johnny Newton knew that Psalm 87 was about us. The church of the firstborn.

Recently, I been using a new hymnal called, “The Sing! Hymnal,” in my devotional times in the morning. And this one is in there, too. But it has it in the back in the songs about the last things, song about the return of Christ and of heaven.

It fits there, too.

Because this Song of Zion is poetic and prophetic of that day when we know just how blessed we are. 

John Newton wrote:

“Glorious things of thee are spoken,

Zion, city of our God;

He whose word cannot be broken

Formed thee for His own abode.

On the Rock of Ages founded,

What can shake thy sure repose?

With salvation's walls surrounded,

Thou may'st smile at all thy foes.

See, the streams of living waters,

Springing from eternal Love,

Well supply thy sons and daughters,

And all fear of want remove.

Who can faint while such a river

Ever flows their thirst to assuage?

Grace which, like the Lord, the Giver,

Never fails from age to age!”

- John Newton

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