Running the Race
“Hebrews calls believers to run with perseverance, throwing off everything that hinders and fixing their eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. The great cloud of witnesses offers encouragement, not a gallery of flawless heroes. Those men and women had failures and weaknesses, yet they trusted God and kept going. Their lives testify to his faithfulness, and their hope reaches toward that gathering before the Lord, a number that cannot be counted.”
Faith Trusts and Acts!
“Hebrews 11 makes a plain, sweeping claim: without faith, it is impossible to please God. The faith that pleases him believes that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Life, busyness, the flesh, the world, and the devil all work against that seeking. Yet God invites believers to trust his character and his promises.”
The Righteous Shall Live By Faith
“Hebrews builds toward the great call of chapter 11 by first saying, “the just shall live by faith.” Faith is not a side part of Christian life. Faith is the banner from start to finish. Christ has opened a new and living way through His blood, so God’s people can draw near with confidence, hold fast their hope, and refuse to throw away that confidence when hard days come.”
Let Us Pray
“Hebrews 10 puts a big “therefore” in front of the church. Because Jesus is the better High Priest, who offered the better sacrifice, who brought the better salvation, God opens a new and living way into His presence. The torn curtain says, “Everybody come on.” Christ has done the work, and His people can draw near with sincere hearts, full assurance, cleansed consciences, and washed lives.”
All Is Complete In Christ
“Hebrews 9 through 10:18 repeats what human hearts need to hear again and again: Jesus Christ and the new covenant are much better. The old covenant was a progressive revelation that taught Israel, and through Israel the nations, to look for the Savior. The tabernacle, the washings, the sacrifices, the priesthood, and the blood all stood as shadows of the reality that would come in Christ.”
The Better Covenant
“Hebrews 8 brings the main point back into clear view: Jesus is better. Jesus is the better High Priest, seated at the right hand of the Father, because His work is finished, His authority is complete, and His ministry never ends. The earthly priests served in a tabernacle made by men, offering sacrifices again and again, but Jesus ministers in the true tabernacle in heaven, the one the Lord erected and not man.”
The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Jesus
“Hebrews brings Melchizedek before Hebrew Christians to show that Jesus is far more than another priest in a long line of priests. Melchizedek, the king of righteousness and king of peace, appears in Genesis without the usual genealogy and points toward the eternal Son of God. Abraham’s tithe and the blessing he received establish that this priesthood stands above Levi, above Aaron, and above the whole system that came through the law.”
Guest Speaker: Craig Cook
This Sunday we had a guest speaker, Craig Cook, share the Word and a ministry update regarding his work as a missionary in Spain.
Pressing On to Maturity in Christ
“Hebrews 6 calls Hebrew Christians to leave the ABCs and go on to maturity. The foundation matters: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, resurrection, judgment, and the basics of life with Christ. But the foundation was never meant to be the whole house. The writer presses believers beyond merely giving a nod to Christianity into a faith that is rooted deep enough to stand through bad times, frustrating times, and hard trials.”
Grow Up!
“The author of Hebrews grieves that believers who should be growing into teachers still need the elementary truths of God’s Word all over again. Milk has a purpose for infants, and new believers should not be discouraged for needing it. But milk was never meant to be the permanent diet. Solid food belongs to those who have trained themselves by constant use, who are pressing into the Word instead of merely staying near it.”
Our Great High Pries
“Hebrews contrasts the earthly high priest with Jesus. The earthly priest came from among men, knew weakness, offered sacrifices for the people, and had to offer sacrifice for himself too. Jesus fulfills the office better than Levi, because God appointed Him forever after the order of Melchizedek, and Jesus needed no sacrifice for Himself. Jesus stands before the Father as the sinless advocate who can say, “Father, I’ve been there.”
God's Living Word
Gust Speaker: David Shirley
“Psalm 46 stands over forty-six years and says what needs saying first: God is a very present help in trouble, and God says, “Be still and know that I am God.” The number forty-six becomes a sweet reminder of mission, rest, priestly setting apart, and the Lord’s faithfulness, because God has done well and deserves all praise and honor.”
The Heart God Wants
“Hebrews was written to Jewish believers whose faith was teetering, and the letter keeps putting Jesus in the center because Jesus is better than Judaism, better than prophets, angels, law, and Moses. The writer honors Moses as faithful in God’s house, but Christ stands higher because Moses served in the house and Christ rules as the Son over the house. God’s house is God’s people, the church, and membership in that house shows itself by holding fast the confidence and hope in Christ.”
The Better Builder
“Hebrews has already made it plain and simple that Jesus is better. Chapter one says Jesus is better than angels, better than prophets, better than anything and everything. Chapter two shows that the new covenant is better than the old covenant, because grace is better than the law. Hebrews 3 takes that same theme and says Christ is the better builder.”
The Deadliness of Drifting
“Hebrews 2 sounds one of the strongest warnings in the New Testament: “pay the most careful attention” so that drifting does not happen. The sirens in Homer’s Odyssey give a picture of the danger. The song sounds beautiful, but it pulls sailors toward death. The warning of Hebrews is not about a mythical danger, but about a real one: distraction, neglect, familiarity, and that slow drift away from “so great a salvation.”
The Supremacy of the Son
“Hebrews sets Jesus above everything the Jewish believers were tempted to go back to. Jesus is better than the prophets, better than angels, better than the law, better than Moses, better than Joshua, better than the priesthood, better than the temple, and better than the sacrifices. The letter strengthens teetering faith by saying, again and again, that Jesus is not just another part of the old system. Jesus is the King of glory, the final sacrifice, the mediator of a better covenant, and the One who makes all the promises of God sure.”
Remember the Lord
“Liberty reaches its high-water mark at the Table, where Jesus gives his body and blood and promises to drink the cup new in the Father’s kingdom. The Lord sets people free indeed, not by national charters but by the new covenant that trades their sin for his righteousness. From there Psalm 33 lifts the room into praise. The Psalm calls the upright to sing a new song because the word of the Lord is upright and all his work is trustworthy. The Psalm ties what God says to what God does. His word and his work stand together.”
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
“Luke 18 sets the point on the front end. Jesus tells a story so that disciples should always pray and not give up. The text meets the ache of long prayers that feel like they hit brass skies and answers it with a command, not a suggestion. Prayer becomes the antidote to discouragement, because prayer turns hearts to the God whose Word says, I am God and there is no other, the One who knows the end from the beginning and has proven His faithfulness.”