Many of us have had an unwanted spiritual encounter that felt dark. Typically, when people share these stories, they tend to happen at nighttime. In Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul writes to the church in Ephesus about the unseen spiritual battle. He taught them about salvation by grace, Christian living, life transformation, and house-hold relationships. This thought might be the most important part of the letter because it applies to every aspect of what he’s written. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches from Ephesians 6:10-20 on how to stand strong in Christ, because you're in a battle against a cunning and merciless enemy.
In Hebrews 13, we are left with a number of concluding thoughts from the author. At first reading it almost appears as a number of short “tweets” that he is leaving us with. But upon further examination we see more cohesion. The author wants us have encouraging actions, figure out how to bless our leaders, live a lifestyle of worship, and live an equipped life. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches the conclusion to our sermon series on Hebrews.
The author of the book of Hebrews longs for the early church to thrive in their faith. In Hebrews 12:14-29 we see his passion for that. Listen in as Doug Meye shares three drumbeats that every Christ follower needs to regularly hear.
Discipline isn’t a word that most of us like to hear. In fact, we would rather lay in our warm bed than be disciplined to get up in the morning. When we think about discipline and the letter to the Hebrews we are reminded that the primary purpose of this letter was to encourage the early church. Some of the early believers were considering walking away from their faith and the author is encouraging them to stay strong in the Lord. In Hebrews 12:4-13, the author will encourage them to stay strong in their faith in three ways. He encourages them to be in God’s word, to endure discipline, and to persevere during our discipline. The author knows the peace that waits for them on the other side of their current discipline. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches on how following the Lord’s disciple leads to peace in my life.
Most of us have been distracted at one point in our life. We forgot our training, the power of those who’ve gone before us, and what we’ve learned. As we move into Hebrews 12:1-3, the author teaches us to remember those who’ve gone before us. He helps to draw our attention back to what is most important. He also exhorts us to throw off the sin that entangles us. Finally we are encouraged to keep our eyes on Jesus. So often we are distracted and fail to think of the great things in God. Listen in as Pastor Neal talks about keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus in a world full of distractions.
Hebrews 11 focuses on living a life of faith when we can’t see the outcome. Faith is growing all around us. The end of Hebrews 11 focuses on growing in our faith when we are faced with suffering. The author makes a unique shift here. It’s an interesting topic to study this because we avoid suffering at all cost. We don’t want to suffer. We like our comfortable lives but God meets us in times of suffering. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches on how our faith grows most in suffering from Hebrews 11:32-40.
We continue through the Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11:7-31. In this sermon, we are encouraged to live according to God's Word, leaving behind a legacy of faith in the likeness of those who have gone before us. We are reminded that the "Faith Heroes" of Hebrews 11 aren't on some other level than us, but that they too lived everyday lives as we do today. Would we be reminded to know God's Word, and to respond to God's Word by faith in the way we live our lives.
Many people have called Hebrews 11 “The Hall of Faith.” And rightly so, as the chapter outlines the great heroes of the faith that we read about in the Old Testament. The chapter starts out with what most people think of the definition of faith but is really the description of faith. Sometimes we think of what faith is not, instead of acting on our faith and living it out. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches on Hebrews 11:1-6 and explains how faith comes from hearing the word of God.
As we wrap up Hebrews 10, we learn the importance of drawing near to God, holding on to hope and finding encouragement in community. Listen in as Pastor Doug Meye teaches us how perseverance is key in knowing Jesus.
Starting from the beginning of the book of Hebrews we’ve learned how Jesus is greater than the prophets, greater than angels, greater than Moses, greater than Joshua, greater than the Aaron, a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, established a new Covenant, and entered the heavenly tabernacle to pay for our sins. That summarizes the first thirteen weeks we spent in the book. Today we look at how Jesus is our perfect sacrifice. Listen in as Blaze McEntee teaches on the holiness of God from Hebrews 10:1-18.