This week, we continue to observe the lives of “Heroes of the Faith” in Hebrews 11. In today’s passage, we come to Abraham–the Father of the Jews–and his descendants. But why do we refer to Abraham in this way? And why is he held in such high regard in this passage? How does his faith speak to the lives of the recipients of Hebrews and to our lives today? Discover these answers and more as we look to Abraham to learn what it means to live in light of the promise of God.
In our passage today from Hebrews 11, we will begin to observe the ways in which these “Heroes of the Faith” lived their lives. The three men mentioned in this passage are part of the same family—a family of faith, but as we examine the correlating passages in Genesis 4-6, we will be able to contrast these three men with men with another family—a rebellious one. In each case, legacy and heritage played a role in the ultimate outcome.
Last week, we noted that “the grand key for perseverance is faith. Knowing this, we are set up for the greatest exposition of the subject of faith found anywhere in Scripture—in chapter 11.” (R.Kent Hughes) So as we move into the eleventh chapter of Hebrews this morning, we will begin our exposition with a definition for faith. After that, we will take a few minutes to consider some of the “people of old” that are not mentioned by name in the remaining portion of the chapter. And then, finally, we will look at some foundational teaching about faith.
The message last week was one of the most difficult passages that I have ever tried to exposit in my 34 years of preaching! The crazy thing is that the previous paragraph—verses 19-25—is one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture! We cannot pick and choose what we like or what we want to believe in the Bible, because “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). So, today, let’s look now at the encouragement that the author offers to this beleaguered group of Christ followers in Rome as they endure the trials and the difficulties related to living by faith under the malicious reign of Emperor Nero.
As we continue our study in the Book of Hebrews, we have come to a section of Scripture that can easily be misunderstood. In order to understand our text, I think it is important for us to understand a particular theological term. What is apostasy or an apostate?
As we approach this section of the Book of Hebrews, I want to pause to once again notice the “therefore” at the beginning of our text, Hebrews 10:19-25. In light of all that has been written in the first nine-and-a-half chapters, we must now conform our thoughts and behaviors with the teachings on faith that follow this “therefore.” As we consider these seven verses, I’d like for us to ask ourselves two main questions: why do we have this confidence that the author speaks of? And what should we now do with this confidence?
Join us this morning as Pastor John O’Connor explores the dangers of living lives that are distracted.
This month, we have focused on the themes of Advent—hope, peace, joy—and today we will be looking at love. It is difficult for us to understand the love that God has for us… the love that He demonstrated through the gift of His Son, but God’s love is a theme we find throughout Scripture. As we’ve considered these themes of Advent, we have focused on the writings of the Prophet Isaiah. These prophecies of the promised Messiah were written over 700 years before their fulfillment. We will look again to the prophet’s writings in a few minutes, but first I want us to focus on the writings of another of the Old Testament books of prophecy—the Book of Lamentations.
As we enter into this third week of our Advent studies, let’s pause for a moment to remember that advent refers to the coming of or arrival of the Messiah. While looking at the prophecies that foretold of His coming, we have seen several, overarching themes that have arisen. The first week, we talked about hope, and that hope is to be found in nothing other than Jesus Christ. The second week, we considered the concept of peace, and determined that only Jesus is able to provide us with real lasting peace. Today, we are going to focus our attention on the concept of joy.
If I were to ask for a show of hands, I wonder how many of you could honestly say that your life could be described as peaceful… We sing the words—“Silent night. Holy night. All is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin, mother and child. Holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace.”—but do we even know what peace looks like? As we continue our sermon series—Anticipating Advent—today, we will once again be looking at the writings of the Prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah 2:1-5, there is a prophetic poem that addresses the future of Judah and Jerusalem. This poem “shows that when God restores Jerusalem and the family of Abraham, all people will be drawn to the Kingdom of God, resulting in peace among all nations.” Isaiah predicted that there would be a king—like His ancestor, David—that would bring peace to all nations. And in Isaiah 9, the prophet describes the arrival of this king.