Journey to The Journey

In this week's passage from Hebrews, the author warns us to pay attention. He says, "we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it." So, what does he want us to pay attention to? How does paying attention protect us from drifting away? And what simple practices can help us to become better at focusing our attention where it should be?

The author of Hebrews wastes little time getting to the heart of the matter. In fact, the entire first chapter is aimed at immediately establishing for his audience the supremacy of Christ. Your ESV translation likely even contains the section heading, "The Supremacy of God's Son," at the beginning of chapter 1. But, what do we mean when we say that something or someone is supreme? And why is it so important to the author of Hebrews that he establish Jesus as supreme?

Like father, like son. That’s an old saying people use to point out that sons, more often than not, turn out to be like their father. That reality may excite or depress you, but that’s beside the point. The reason that saying is often true is that we all tend to imitate those who take care of us. We pick up both their good and bad qualities as we’re figuring out life for ourselves. In many ways this is true of our relationship with God, only we’re nothing like God when we sin. He’s a father who always does what is right and good. When we do what is wrong, we don’t resemble Him in any way at all.

In this week's lesson, Cody asked us the question, "What is the object of your faith?" If you profess to be a Christian, then you likely know that the answer to that question is, obviously, Jesus. The problem is, a lot of different people who would claim to fall under the banner of Christianity would likely present to you many different descriptions of Jesus...who he is, what he taught, and what it means to follow him. With so many choices, who is the arbiter of truth when it comes to Jesus?

Knowing the ins and outs of God’s plan of redemption is a beautiful thing. The meaning and significance of that Gospel have been taught and shared around the world for centuries. It’s no wonder— understanding how and why Jesus did the things He did can be incredibly inspiring to think about. However, merely being captivated by the story of Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll ever be changed by Him. The details of the gospel of Jesus become life changing only when someone appreciates their personal need for what He’s done.

This Sunday we’re starting a new teaching series through the book of Hebrews! There’s always something special about the first Sunday of a new study. Gathering on that first Sunday always renews an excitement in my heart to teach God’s people. However, this weekend feels a little awkward though doesn’t it? Here we sit in a stay-home order that’s sure to last the entire month of April. I don’t like that we can’t physically gather, it’s not ideal. I’m not cut out to be a YouTube-preacher and I miss seeing your faces more than you know. All that being said, I’m no less excited to study through this season together!

Bad stuff happens. It takes little life experience to understand that something isn’t right with this world. There’s pain, suffering, hurt, injustice, and death - it’s messed up. Nobody likes it but everyone knows the world has a tremendous amount of problems. It had troubles yesterday, there were more today, and unless something drastic happens, it will continue tomorrow too.