If we think of church as a steepled building, or a business, or a service or program, or a marketplace of spiritual goods and services, then we have lost our ecclesiological map, and we’re in trouble, whether or not we realize it. But, we can always turn back to the simplicity of God’s Word for a refresher course in Church 101. And by God’s grace that’s exactly what we’re going to do over these next four weeks. Our challenge is to better BE the church that Christ desires. In order to meet this challenge, we must begin with a basic question: What is the Church? Today, we’re going to look at the nature of the Church through three lenses: definitions, descriptions, and depictions of the Church in Scripture.
Hebrews 13:17-25 - "Church Leadership"
If a church leader fails to understand and appreciate the leadership principles set forth in Hebrews 13, then it will result in failure. And if a church family fails to uphold and apply these biblical principles, then it will implode, just like too many other Christian churches. Today’s big idea is simply this: Church leaders must be Christ-like leaders. Our passage includes three key ingredients to Christ-like leadership that honors Christ and blesses Christians: God-given authority, Christ-like humility, and Biblical community.
Hebrews 13:9-16 - "New Covenant Commitments"
As New Covenant believers, we sometimes struggle with what it means to be a Christian. And the author of Hebrews knew that, which is why he concludes his letter with one last reminder of our Christian commitments. The New Covenant calls us to a life of commitment, so we need to know what’s expected of us. Today’s passage lays out three basic Christian commitments: 1. Our commitment to the Gospel; 2. Our commitment to discipleship; and 3. Our commitment to worship.
Hebrews 12:28-13:9 - "Christian Worship"
Christians are called to offer an acceptable service to God, so we must look to God’s Word to determine what’s acceptable. Today’s passage teaches us that our Christian worship involves loving other Christians, honoring Christ, and pursuing Christlikeness.
Hebrews 12:18-29 - "Holiness"
A sense of familiarity can dull our appreciation of the awesomeness of God. In particular, we fail to appreciate His holiness: His majesty, power and purity. Today’s passage teaches us that, by appreciating God’s holiness, we can better understand His grace. The gospel of Jesus Christ reveals God’s holiness and God’s grace, and we must embrace both in order to live as we ought to. In the two parts of today’s passage, we see that God’s holiness requires grace; and that God’s grace should result in our holiness.
Hebrews 12:12-17 - "Spiritual Orienteering"
We could think of Hebrews 12 as “spiritual orienteering.” We’ve already seen how the Christian life is likened to an endurance race. We know that Jesus has already run the race ahead of us, and that our ultimate destination is to be with Him. But Ch. 12 also teaches us that as we are running this race, we will inevitably face suffering and hardship, which can be disorienting. We can end up straying from God’s path and losing our way in life. But if we stay spiritually oriented to Jesus, we can stay on the right path, and will eventually arrive at our destination. In today’s passage, we see three indicators that we’re on the right spiritual path, oriented to Jesus, and three indicators that we’re on the wrong path, and in need of a course correction.
Hebrews 12:3-11 - "Suffering & Discipline"
Today’s passage is all about suffering. We tend to think that nothing good can come out of our suffering. But that’s not the case. Scripture teaches us that suffering can always produce spiritual fruit. Like other passages in the New Testament, Hebrews 12:3-11 lays out a process of spiritual growth that begins with suffering and ends with spiritual fruit.
Hebrews 11:1-40 - "Living By Faith"
Faith allows us to see and experience life in the full light of God’s truth. Today’s passage reveals how we can first perceive the truth of God’s Word by faith, and then how our perception of God will help us persevere.
Hebrews 10:19-39 - "Hang In There"
Like the kitten on the cheesy 80s motivational poster, we’re going to need some help in order to hang in there! And that’s exactly what today’s passage is all about. We can hang in there, as long as we have faith and hope in Christ.
Hebrews 10:1-18 - "Freedom From Sin"
Christians are freed from sin by the sacrifice of Christ, so let’s live like free people. Today’s passage helps us do that by removing two major obstacles: 1. Not understanding the insufficiency of our own sacrifices to free us from sin (which we see in the animal sacrifices under the Old Covenant); and 2. Not understanding and appreciating the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice to make us free.
Hebrews 9:1-14 - "Christ the Masterpiece"
As Modern readers, we can have a very hard time understanding and appreciating the significance of certain Old Testament realities, like the Tabernacle. But if we miss the point of these things, then we won’t be able to fully appreciate the beauty of God’s redemptive plan throughout the ages. The Tabernacle was only a preliminary sketch of God’s future masterpiece, which was the finished work of Christ for our redemption. For the purposes of today’s sermon, we’re going to look at our passage in two parts. First, we’re going to look at the preliminary sketch in vv. 1-10, and then we’ll turn to the finished masterpiece in vv. 11-14.
Hebrews 8:6-13 - "Better Promises"
In Christ, we have the better, unconditional promises of God, and these should fill us with love, joy, peace, and hope. The Old Mosaic Covenant was conditional in that it required obedience to the Law of Moses, which involved priests offering animal sacrifices, which pointed forward to the sacrificial death of Christ. But the New Covenant in Christ is unconditional because of the finished work of Christ, as we will see in today’s passage. If we miss this unconditional aspect, then we won’t experience the full blessing of living in communion with God: having the treasure of His grace and the hope of a heavenly inheritance in Christ.
Hebrews 7:20-28 - "Rest Assured"
Even though most of life’s circumstances don’t come with a guarantee, the most important things do. The author of Hebrews makes it abundantly clear that the benefits of believing in Christ are absolutely, 100% guaranteed. If we can hold on to the guarantees of God in Christ, then we can persevere without knowing what’s around every corner. In Christ, we can rest assured. Today’s passage targets two things that give us absolute assurance in Christ: His permanence and perfection.
Hebrews 7:11-19 - "The Hope of Perfection"
The opposite of the Gospel is self-righteousness or works-righteousness, the illusion that we can somehow attain perfection on our own, through our own efforts. We must let go of that illusion of self-perfection, since perfection is only possible through Christ. Today’s passage is a stark reminder of that simple fact. It reveals the inadequacy of the Levitical priesthood to make anyone perfect, and it reveals the supremacy of Christ and the perfection of His priestly service on our behalf.
Hebrews 7:1-10 - "The Mysterious Melchizedek"
Scripture often provides “solid food” in some unexpected places. In today’s passage, we see how to make a “meal” out of the mysterious Melchizedek. And some basic Bible study steps make this a 3-course meal: 1. Observation (What does our passage say?); 2. Interpretation (What does it mean?); and 3. Application (Why does it matter?).
Hebrews 6:13-20 - "The Anchor of Hope"
If our hope is just a wishy-washy feeling, then we won’t get very far in life. But Christian hope is an objective reality, so we can take hold of it. In today’s passage, we see that our hope is in God Himself: in His age-old promises, and their permanence throughout the ages.
Hebrews 6:9-12 - "Convincingly Christian"
As Christians, we are claiming to be the recipients of God’s grace in Christ: of His forgiveness, of eternal life, of God’s indwelling Spirit. But sadly, it’s all too easy to live our Christian lives unconvincingly. But we are called to follow Christ convincingly. And today’s passage helps us understand what that looks like. Here we see three familiar aspects of a convincingly Christian life: faith, hope, and love.
Hebrews 6:1-8 - "Growth, God Willing"
God willing, we will grow. And this will happen, not in spite of our difficulties, but as a direct result of them. But in order to grow in this way, we need to take to heart three key principles found in today’s passage: 1. We must forge ahead; 2. We must not fall away; and 3. We must all face judgment.
Hebrews 5:11-14 - "Progress or Regress"
When we stop becoming more spiritually mature, we become less mature. There is no spiritual “neutral” -- only spiritual progress and spiritual regress. Progress means to move forward and regress means to move backward. In today’s passage, the author is concerned that his Hebrew readers have lost spiritual momentum- they’ve stopped moving forward, and started moving backward.
Hebrews 5:7-10 - "Our Suffering Savior"
Suffering can lead us away from God. But the suffering of Christ was meant to reconnect our hearts to God. And the hope that we have in Christ helps us to persevere through the suffering in this life as we await the life to come, in which there will be no suffering. The big idea today is simply this: Jesus suffered to save us. In our passage, we see two basic realities: 1. Jesus suffered with us, and 2. Jesus suffered for us.
