Sermon Intro

• The big day, once a year
• Yom Kippur
  • Describe the process
  • Seven days of cleansing
  • Multiple outfits
  • Bull for himself, goat for everyone else
  • Three entries into the holy of holies
• It was a holy process, a fearful process, a necessary process, a symbolic process. 

Passage

Hebrews 4:14-16 (NLT) 14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Hebrews 10:19–22 (NLT) — 19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

Body

1. Bold Access
   1. By the blood - Teach some on the theology of blood
      1. WE COME IN BODLY BY THE BLOOD
      2. So what’s the big deal about blood?
      3. Leviticus 17:11 (NLT) — 11 for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the LORD. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible.
      4. “The life of the creature is in the blood”
      5. “The wages of sin is death”
      6. The blood of God is what has been shed to pay the price for your sins
      7. SO..
   2. Shame gone
      1. WE COME IN BOLDLY BECAUSE SHAME IS GONE
      2. I used to have a dog, and all dog owners know what this is like, when he did something wrong, his tail would go between his legs and he would stay away at all cost!
      3. Shame keeps us from the presence of God. It kept Adam and Eve from walking with God. 
      4. The blood of Jesus washes our consciences and makes us bold
   3. Wanted by God
      1. WE COME IN BOLDLY BECAUSE WE ARE WANTED BY GOD
      2. We come in
2. Big Prayers
   1. Placed in His presence
      1. When we come into His throne room, we are in his presence, and our prayers rise before Him. By faith, lay your prayer right there in his presence. 
   2. On behalf of others
      1. One of the chief calls of a priest is OTHERS
      2. Throughout the Bible, people intercede for OTHERS
      3. Abraham - Genesis 18:32 (NLT) — 32 Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten are found there?” And the LORD replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
      4. Moses - Exodus 32:31–32 (NLT) — 31 So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!”
      5. Jesus - Hebrews 7:24–25 (NLT) — 24 But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. 25 Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
   3. Asking BIG
      1. When talking to a king, don’t ask small favors, ask BIG
      2. Reading about Nehemiah in front of the king... Send me, send people, send letters, send timber
         1. When you are in the presence of the Lord ASK BIG! 
      3. Jesus asked Bartimaeus, what do you want me to do for you. You better ask
      4. James 4:2 (NLT) — 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.

Closing

• Leading the church through entering into the holy place and asking God for things