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Weekend Preview – Assurance in Promise of God

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This coming Lord’s Day, we hope to look at Hebrews 6:13-20.  This passage picks up where 5:10 left off, prepping us for the amazing truth we will consider in chapter 7.  You might remember, though, that a firm issue was dealt with in 5:11-6:12 — spiritual immaturity.  In response to this, in 6:9-12, the writer gives them encouragement about what he sees in their lives.  In Hebrews 6:13-20, then, we see:

What the writer is concerned to show is (1) the solemnity of God’s promises; (2) His unchangeable character and, therefore, (3) the absolute certainty of His Word. This is really an explanation of the basis of the Christian’s full assurance of hope. Having given these stern warnings, now he is going to explain on what basis a Christian may rightly have full assurance of the hope of the Lord Jesus Christ. (quote by Donald Guthrie)

I hope you will pray for this in your life this week and find it as we unearth God’s Word this coming Lord’s day.

Weekend Recap – Confidence

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Another weekend is in the books and we had a great one.  I was coming off a 3 day/2 night retreat with our elders.  We discussed 2012, future leaders, future plans, current visions and strategies and how we can be more effective in serving Crestview.  Very good stuff.

On Sunday AM, my sermon Confidence came from Hebrews 6:9-12.  The writer of Hebrews wrote to encourage these he had called out as spiritually immature by encouraging them to have confidence for the future based on how they lived today, not based on something in the past.  Hope would be found as they rested in God’s promises and continued to trust Christ.  I hope the sermon was encouraging to you.  It said much about encouragement, serving others and assurance of salvation.

In the evening, our church met in small groups.  We continue to discuss Jerry Bridges book Respectable Sins.  My group discussed ungodliness.  We thought about ways that we can repent of this by centering more on God throughout our daily lives.

It was a full day and weekend and we’re off on another one.  Blessings to you as you seek to honor God in it.

Weekend Preview – You, Yes You, Are A Minister…

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On 8/14, Lord willing, we plan to look at Hebrews 6:9-12.  One verse that stands out is v.10, highlighting the ministry of these people to their fellow believers.  Sad to say, but much of the contemporary church creates a great divide between “ministers” and laity.  Here’s John Stott weighing in (from his book The Contemporary Christian, p.140):

all Christians without exception are called to ministry, indeed to spend their lives in ministry. Ministry is not the privilege of a small elite, but of all the disciples of Jesus. You will have noticed that I did not say that all Christians are called to the ministry, but to ministry, diakonia, service. We do a great disservice to the Christian cause whenever we refer to the pastorate as “the ministry.” For by our use of the definite article we give the impression that the pastorate is the only ministry there is, much as medieval churchmen regarded the priesthood as the only (or at the least the most “spiritual”) vocation there is.

In this section of Hebrews, the writer has dealt with spiritual immaturity. But because these Christians aren’t just nominal Christians (professing something but not living it) but actually serve others, they can have hope and confidence in their spiritual standing. I wonder if your current service to others would point to you being one who has spiritual fruit? Of if you would just be Christian in name only, not in deed? Come this Sunday and see how we live relates to what we believe.

Weekend Recap – The Hard, But Good, Work of Ministry…

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Enjoyed a full Lord’s Day.  The hard, but good, work of ministry included:

Preaching Hebrews 6:1-8 (which some consider to be one of the most difficult texts in the Bible) on Spiritual Immaturity, Part 2.  We also enjoyed a visit from Wayne and Dianna Penner, who are transitioning from Brazil to South Africa this Winter.

In the evening, I presented a talk on why we are changing our strategy on ministering to children on Wednesday nights, including presenting our new curriculum God’s Story.

It’s hard to deal with difficult texts and change long standing programs but it is a good work.  I trust that God will honor my attempts at faithfulness.

One of Your Converts?

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…a popular story comes from the life of evangelist D. L. Moody:

Moody was once approached by a stumbling drunk on the street who slurred, “Mr. Moody, I’m one of your converts.” To which Moody replied, “You must be, because you’re certainly not one of the Lord’s!”

This coming Lord’s Day we will be looking at Hebrews 6:1-8. This passage, maybe more than any other in the NT, will rock us to our core to see whether or not what has taken place in our lives is really genuine. The thrust of the middle section makes us wonder, “Am I a pretender?” Begin asking God to work through His Word to determine whether or not you really are His.

Weekend Recap – Full Day, Oh and…

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…we dealt with immaturity as well.  The audio from 7/31/11 is now online: Spiritual Immaturity (1) from Hebrews 5:11-14.  The sermon sought to unpack the writer’s intent in moving people out of immaturity into maturity by centering them on the proper foundation of the Gospel.

On top of the sermon, we enjoyed a report from a missionary, commissioning of our Arizona mission team and the Lord’s Supper.  It was a glorious and full morning.  I hope you had a rich day of worship, as well.

Just One Word…

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…makes such a difference.  I found this out just today as I was prepping for a sermon this weekend on Hebrews 5:11-14.  This passage exposes spiritual immaturity specifically highlighting the sluggish hearing to which the readers have fallen prey.  They ought to be living out the implications of the Gospel and sharing that with others (like Jesus commanded in the Great Commission).  Instead, they are needing a steady diet of milk, getting nourished again on what the Gospel is and how it relates to life  Then, in v.14, we read:

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

The phrase translated “constant practice” reflects how most translations understand the original word in the text, transliterated as hexis. It’s only used one time in the Bible and its meaning is hard to get at. What this verse means with the translation “constant practice” has the implication that mature and those who are working hard to hold onto their mature state must constantly practice to have discernment.

Researching this word today, I came across a journal article by John Lee from 1997 on what this word means and he proposes this translation:

But solid food is for adults, who because of their mature state have their senses trained to distinguish good and bad.

The implication of this is simply staggering. Instead of working hard to be mature, the state of being mature means having good senses to distinguish good and bad.  This is more in keeping with the Gospel, it seems to me.

The translation and interpretation mentioned first above almost suggest a works oriented system.  The latter seems to suggest that the Gospel does a work that leads to perseverance.  This leads O’Brien to write (in his Pillar commentary on Hebrews):

So because of their mature condition, the faculties of adults, that is, their physical senses including their minds, have been trained to discern both good and evil.

The Christian world, in some pockets, is consumed with knowing the Word, eating the meat of the Word and moving onto maturity. The writer of Hebrews is saying that the work of the Gospel in our lives naturally leads to maturity. If we would continue to flesh out the implications of the Gospel in our lives, we would inevitably end up mature.

Just one word does, indeed, make all the difference.

Weekend Preview – “Stop Being So Immature”

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… at least that’s what the warning of Hebrews 5:11-14 sounds like.  Here’s a great summary from George Guthrie’s excellent commentary:

In [these verses] the author offers a bald assessment of his hearer’s current condition. They exhibit a dullness as learners of God’s truth, even though they have been engaged in the Christian walk long enough now to be teachers of others. The preacher likens them to infants [still drinking milk], who cannot handle more substantive fare.”

I wonder where you struggle to be a learner?  It might be that some of us don’t like the deep things, because they will require some effort, and, quite frankly, we don’t want to put it forward.  It might be a matter of priorities for some of us.  Others struggle to just get passed the milk.  Regardless of where we’re at on the journey.  The writer of Hebrews (read: God) wants us to wake up and realize that not choosing to deepen in the truth is a choice to stay immature.  These things simply shouldn’t be.  Oh, that God would give grace this coming Lord’s Day as we look into these things.

Weekend Recap – Qualified

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The sermon from 7/24/11 entitled Qualified from Hebrews 5:1-10 is now online.  In this sermon, I sought to unfold what is an amazing text of Scripture, showing how amazingly qualified Jesus is to not only be our great high priest, but, deeper, to be our Savior for all of eternity.  We need this truths as anchors for our souls.  I hope you profited from this message.

In the evening, many of our church’s small groups gathered.  It was an enriching Lord’s Day.  I hope you were blessed.

Weekend Prep – You Need Real Hope

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Prepping for this coming Lord’s Day (7/24/11) and a sermon on Hebrews 5:1-10, I listened to a sermon by Piper entitled He Is the Source of Eternal Salvation for All Who Obey Him from Hebrews 5:4-10.  In explaining why this passage is so important, he said at one point:

All hell will rage at you one day with this one message—especially when you are nearing death: your salvation is not sufficient; your guilt remains; condemnation hangs over your head; and the wrath of God is not removed. At that moment you will need truth about the foundation of your eternal salvation. And one truth that will strengthen your confidence in that hour is the truth that you have no ordinary High Priest, but one who has the infinite dignity of the Son of God, and he has therefore become the source of eternal salvation.

I was really excited when I heard Piper say this, because this was exactly why my heart was excited. There is quite simply no Savior like the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope as you think about His perfections, you see how qualified He is to be THE source of our salvation.