Hebrews 10:18-39 Are you confident that you are forgiven? Are you assured that you will stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ rather than your own sin? Hebrews 10 continues to point us to the magnitude of what Christ made available to us and the difference it should make in our lives. Through Christ, we can know that full forgiveness has been achieved and there is nothing left to...

Hebrews 10:1-17 One question that we may contemplate is, “How were people saved who lived before Jesus?” As we consider this question, we need to reflect on Hebrews 10:12. This verse tells us that Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins for ALL TIME. The cross, unlike bulls and goats, is effective for those who lived before Jesus and for those who live after him. This means that everyone is saved thr...

Hebrews 9:11-28 How do you feel about blood? Some of us may feel nauseous at the sight of it, while to others of us it is no big deal. In the Bible blood is a big deal. In fact, the Bible is a bloody book. Hebrews 9:11-28 reminds us just how bloody it is, and even if you are the type of person who doesn’t want to see it, we need to be thankful for the blood that was spilled for us.The Old Testamen...

Hebrews 9:1-10 My freshman year of college I switched from being a math major to history. I went from numbers to stories and loved every minute of it. Do you love looking into the past and considering its impact on the present, or not? No matter how you feel about history, Hebrews 9 is a helpful history lesson. It looks to the past to help us understand that no matter how hard people participated ...

Hebrews 8:1-13 The book of Hebrews wants us to consider everything that is great and recognize that Jesus is greater. No matter how great the beauty we have experienced, Jesus is more beautiful, and he alone is fully satisfying. Part of the reason Jesus is superior is that the covenant he brought supersedes all previous ones. The new covenant is superior to the Mosaic because it transforms hearts ...

Hebrews 7:18-28 When Jesus came, he fulfilled the old covenant so he could enter into a new relationship/covenant with his people. This covenant was promised in the Old Testament and was brought into existence through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. It is through this new covenant that we can fully “draw near to God.” Under the old covenant the ability to draw near was limited, but through o...

Hebrews 7:1-17 All of Scripture points us to Jesus. From the fall of Adam and Eve, the promise came of one who would crush the serpent’s head. From the beginning of the kings of Israel the promise of a true, perfect king, the Messiah, would rule over his people. One person who clearly points to Jesus is Melchizedek. He appeared in Genesis 14, is mentioned in Psalm 110, and then is not seen again u...

Hebrews 6:1-20 One of the clear statements made throughout Scripture is that our salvation is secure. When we place our faith in Christ we move from death to life (John 5:24), we can know that we have salvation (1 John 5:13), and eternal life (John 3:16). These truths are clearly presented throughout Scripture, so when you read Hebrews 6:4-6, how do you put these verses together with the others pr...

Hebrews 5:1-14 Hebrews 5 tells us that all of us are called to be teachers. We have been taught the truths of Christ so we can teach others. So, what are the things we should teach?One of the things we are to understand and teach is that Jesus is our high priest. Jesus' world was filled with priests. Some priests served in the Jewish temple, and a myriad of priests in pagan temples throughout the ...

Hebrews 4:1-16 Rest is an elusive concept for most of us. We find ourselves running around like chickens with our heads cut off, and when we have a moment without work, we often fill the time with something that can’t provide real rest. We bingewatch Netflix, scroll social media, and surf the internet, but find ourselves as exhausted as before. In contrast, Jesus offers us true rest both now and f...

Hebrews 3:1-19 What are the key ingredients to a healthy relationship? You probably need a dash of transparency, a few cups of time, some teaspoons of shared life experiences, and faithfulness/ dependability that goes all the way through. If God is who we are going to ultimately rely upon, then we desperately need to believe that he is faithful. If you can depend on someone because they are reliab...

Hebrews 2:1-18 How detail-oriented are you? Do you sweat the details, or are you more of a big picture kind of person? When you get on a plane or embark on a cruise, how closely do you follow the safety briefing? Hebrews 2 begins with a safety briefing for life. We are all going to die, so we need to pay careful attention to what Hebrews has to say.The safety briefing for our life is a message abo...

Hebrews 1:1-14 The theme of Hebrews is that Jesus is greater than everything. As you consider your life, what inferior things compete with him for supremacy? What are you drawn to that will never satisfy?The author of Hebrews begins his argument by pointing out that Jesus is the ultimate king, creator, and savior of the world. Through each of these attributes he proves his superiority. As king he ...

Philemon 1:1-25 The idea of family runs throughout the New Testament but is especially heightened in the letter to Philemon. Do you understand your connection with those you are sitting next to in church and the obligations you have to them?While Paul was in prison, he was introduced to Onesimus. We are not given many details about their interaction, but their relationship was one of family; Onesi...

Titus 3:1-15 Titus 3 begins with a bad word. It calls for us to submit. Depending on your translation it may read: to be subject to, to put yourself under, or to yield. How do you feel about this word? How do you feel about living this out?One of the unique teachings of Christianity is a willingness to submit. The world tells us to assert our rights and make life about us, while Titus is told to t...

Titus 2:1-15 I am so thankful for teachers. I send my kids to school every day and am grateful that there are a multitude of people who daily teach my kids. I often look at their work and proclaim I could never do what they do. And that is true, but the challenge of Titus 2 is every leader is meant to be a teacher, and every believer is a leader, so we are all called to be teachers.As you read thr...

Titus 1:1-16 We begin the third pastoral or leadership epistle of Paul today. We move from letters written to Timothy to a letter written to Titus. A man strategically placed on an island to impact it with the gospel. The primary way he was to do this was by raising up more leaders. Paul’s desire was for Titus to multiply himself into the lives of others. He was called to be a leader who made lead...

2 Timothy 4:1-22 Flip through a handful of news channels and you will see talking heads spinning the day’s events in a dozen different ways. People tend to zero in on the voices with which they agree and tune out or disparage the rest. In many cases, this allows them to stray from the truth. We only hear what we want and resist the hard truths that we need to hear.Paul’s warning to Timothy in vers...

2 Timothy 2:22-3:17 Someone recently described themselves as being on the struggle bus as they attempt to follow Jesus. Though it is hard, it is worth it. In fact, everything in life that is valuable takes effort, intentionality, and work. We need to commit each day to becoming more conformed to the likeness of Christ. To conform to Christ is to see every area of our lives transformed. We must see...

2 Timothy 2:1-21 My kids used to love playing dress up. They would put together costumes and walk around the house pretending they were superheroes and princesses. Costumes may feel like a thing of our past, but Paul essentially challenges Timothy to live in permanent dress-up mode.Timothy is called to see himself as a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. As a soldier he is to stay focused on the ma...