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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.

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.

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 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 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.

Hardness of Heart…

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This coming Lord’s Day, we will be looking at Hebrews 3:7-19 and a negative example of what faithfulness to God looks like (from the children of Israel in Numbers 13-14). One of the big warnings is to not have a hard heart. Here’s an excellent definition from William Lane in his book Hebrews: A Call To Commitment:

Hardness of heart signifies treating the Lord with contempt; it is the refusal to believe in the Lord; it is choosing to listen to human voices of despair rather than listening to the voice of God. (p.64)

As you think about your response to God’s Word, are you characterized by a hard heart? Think about your response? Do you treat God with contempt? Are you refusing to believe Him in any area? Are you choosing to listen to human voices over God’s voice? Check your heart and keep it with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life (Proverbs 4:23).

All I Have Is Christ Animated Video

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This coming Lord’s Day, May 15, we will show this video as our offertory…

Some things about this:
1) The song is amazing in helping us hold onto Jesus as our Righteousness
2) The setting of this video and the setting of the readers who read the book of Hebrews the first time were pretty much the same. Both were holding on Christ as their hope and both needed hope to persevere.
3) Christ is our only Hope. He is able to sustain us in that difficult hour of testing.

I hope this inspires fresh courage in us all.

Weekend Preview – Men’s Ministry & Mother’s Day…

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We have a busy weekend coming…

First off, our Men’s Ministry 7 in ’11 breakfasts will meet Saturday, 5/7 at 7AM. Conor Eastman will be talking about gluttony. Plan to join us for fellowship, teaching and prayer from 7-8AM.

On Sunday, in the AM service, we will have baby dedications, but also continue working through Hebrews, looking at Hebrews 2:10 and the Founder of our salvation. F.F. Bruce, in his excellent commentary mused, “There are many who are ready to tell us confidently what would and what would not be worthy of God; but in fact the only way to discover what is a worthy thing for God to do is to consider what God has actually done.” There might be some out there who wonder why salvation is a certain way and what it does. Hebrews 2:10 opens up to show some of the answer. Therefore, join us for Sunday AM worship at Crestview, 10:15AM. We will have no PM activities on Sunday.

Easter Preview – The Gospel

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Tomorrow at Crestview, Lord willing, we plan to work our way through 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, looking at the basics of the Gospel. Much like we all love Linus saying, “That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown…” I’m hoping to help people understand exactly what Good Friday and Easter are all about. I hope you come ready to worship our Glorious Savior. If you get a chance, read 1 Corinthians 15 to prepare yourself for our an amazing day.