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Weekend Recap – Prayer, Prayer and Christ

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Yesterday’s sermon, Clinging To Christ, from Hebrews 4:14-16 is online.  The sermon was led by this big idea in this portion of Scripture about Jesus being our high priest and the exhortations to hold fast our confession and draw near to the throne of grace with confidence.  It was an encouraging and needed word in my life.

In the PM, we met for corporate prayer praying together for some needs that are pressing in our congregation.  We typically do this once a quarter and have found it to be most productive when the Elders lead out with some specific requests.

At any rate, we enjoyed a tremendous Lord’s day and I’m grateful that I got to participate in it.

Weekend Preview – He’s Tuned In

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This coming Lord’s Day we will, Lord willing, look at Hebrews 4:14-16 and the amazing picture we are given of our sympathetic high priest, Jesus the Son of God.  In reading to prepare for this, I thought Kent Hughes gave an amazing illustration that helps us see just how tuned in Jesus is to us:

His instrument, so to speak, was the same as ours. It is a fact that if you have two pianos in the same room and a note is struck on one, the same note will gently respond on the other, though not touched by another’s hand. This is called “sympathetic resonance.”

Christ’s instrument was just like ours in every way. And hear this! He took that instrument, that body, to Heaven with him. It is his priestly body. And when a chord is struck in the weakness of our human instrument, it resonates in his! There is no note of human experience that does not play on Christ’s exalted human instrument. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses” — praise His name!

I hope as you consider the picture we see of Jesus in Hebrews 4:14-16, you too would be humbled by the truth that He’s tuned in to your struggles and the result would be you praising God.

Gospel Friday – Do You Really Need The Gospel?

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Every Friday I try to post something related to Gospel centrality.  And, I was thinking this AM about how little I really “feel” my need of the Gospel.  Sure, press me objectively and I realize that as a sinner, I am separated from God and without hope apart from Christ.  But, subjectively, I thought I did pretty well this morning on my own.  And, this is a particularly frightening thing to me. 

You see the reality is that I am a sinner.  In preparation for Sunday’s sermon on Hebrews 4:12-13, it was intriguing to see the way God’s Word is so effective at cutting through the surface to the real, substantial issues of the heart.  Furthermore, God’s Word will render us guilty as we stand before God someday.  I need to be one who enters God’s rest not because I pulled my bootstraps up and finally got with the program.  I need to enter God’s rest by ceasing from my works (Hebrews 4:10).  Therefore, today, in those moments you don’t feel your need of the Gospel, take a moment, pause, and consider your soul.  The reality is that you need the Gospel far more than you let on…

Weekend Preview – Word, Rest, Today, Etc…

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Now that we are through the July 4th weekend, we will return, Lord-willing, this coming Lord’s Day to working through the book of Hebrews, specifically dealing with Hebrews 4:12-13, possibly one of the most familiar verses in the book of Hebrews.

It wasn’t until I was studying this fresh again for this sermon, that I think I finally realized the importance of these two verses in context. Sure, we’ve used these verses (especially in Bible church contexts) to justify (rightly!) the centrality of God’s Word. However, the writer of Hebrews isn’t writing to give a mere apologetic for the importance of the Scriptures. He’s writing to help us persevere in the Gospel.

Remember 4:12-13 comes at the conclusion of the entirety of chapters 3 and 4. What we saw in those chapters was the need to not be like the children of Israel, disbelieving God’s good promises and failing to enter His rest, failing to have a faith that persevered when tested. Thus, the writer of Hebrews urged us to hold onto the confidence we had at the first. He urged us to not let go of the Gospel and to hold onto Jesus as the core foundation of our faith.

In this sense, then, He reminds us “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” God is able to discern whether or not we are listening to the clear message He has spoken firmly and finally in His Son. This is the call of Hebrews 4. It has far-reaching ramifications and applications. Today, then, if you hear His voice, don’t harden your heart, but believe. His Word will expose your heart, therefore, cling to Jesus as your hope.

Weekend Recap – On Sin

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Yesterday’s sermon, On Sin, from Hebrews 3:12-13 is now online. In that sermon, I tried to unfold how having believing hearts nurtured in the Gospel equip us to be aware of sin’s schemes and fight it together in community.

We had an amazing morning of worship, too. I’m really grateful for the musicians and singers who use their gifts to bless us week in and week out.

Weekend Recap – Vacation…

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Well, it’s the Monday AM of our vacation. We had a great weekend worshipping at Grace Church of Ovilla. Sunday afternoon, we headed to the Dallas World Aquarium. Then, for supper, ate downtown at the Spaghetti Warehouse.

Back home at Crestview, we were served by Mickey Zimmerman from Grace Baptist in Manhattan. I was excited about his sermon on justification from Romans 3. Will get that on the web as soon as I return.

At any rate, being on vacation reminded me that it is a time to guard our hearts. I remember John Piper saying in a sermon (out of Hebrews on drifting) that “Vacation is a dangerous time for John Piper.” He was suggesting this was due to the fact that he wasn’t in the Word as consistently and was out of the normal loops of accountability with the people of the church. I feel this, too, in my soul. So, I continue to fight sin so that even on vacation, I can live to glorify and enjoy God.

Hope you had a great weekend and experienced the Lord’s favor in corporate worship.

Weekend Preview – Enter God’s Rest…

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This coming Lord’s day, we hope to gather together to celebrate how we can enter in God’s rest — through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. We will gather at the Lord’s Table and continue to proclaim His death until He returns. We will also plan to spend some time in Hebrews 4:1-11 and its call for us to not miss out on God’s rest.

Commenting on the amazing rest we can know through faith in Christ, Kent Hughes writes:

Fellow-Christians, God does not offer us just any rest. He offers us, in his own words, “my rest” — the repose of soul — divine rest. It is cosmic in its origination, as old as the universe. And as such, a continuing Sabbath is available to all. It is the ideal rest, for it comes from a loving, almighty God.

Take time to consider God’s Word — God offers you rest for your weary soul in Jesus. Come to Him. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Weekend Recap – Greater Crime

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Yesterday’s sermon, The Greater Crime, from Hebrews 3:7-19 is now online. This sermon series in Hebrews is really pressing our perseverance beyond the traditional praying it and really meaning it and then being done to persevering in the Gospel itself. We must continue in the things we have heard and become convinced of to the end to prove we are sharers in Christ. At any rate, I hope the message is profitable for you.

Weekend Prep – Perseverance

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This Sunday, Lord-willing, we will be back in the book of Hebrews, specifically Hebrews 3:7-19 (yes, this will take us through chapter 3). It’s long been said that the Christian life is not a sprint but a marathon; it’s not so much about starting but finishing well. I think chapter 3 of Hebrews gives us insight into this.

Specifically, this week’s sermon will orient us as to how to avoid the mistakes of the children of Israel in the desert as well as use insights from Psalm 95 to direct us to persevere by believing.

We will also be exhorted to exhort one another so that we aren’t hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Do you realize that sin is very deceiving? If so, what steps are you taking to remedy it? And, are you embracing the remedy clearly demonstrated in God’s Word: community? There is quite simply lots to think about as we come to worship. If you get a chance, look over Psalm 95, then read Hebrews 3 and ask God to stir your heart to persevere to the end.