Consider One Another

SERMON OUTLINE:

(1). What do we have? (vs 19-21):

• We have a bold confidence. (vs 19-20).

• We have a great priest (vs 21).

(2) What must we do? (vs 22-25a)

• We should draw near (vs 22-23).

• We should speak out (vs 23).

• We should stir up (vs 24-25).

SERMON BODY:

Reading: Hebrews chapter 10 verses 19-25

Ill:

• An anthropologist was working among the Xhosa (pronounce ‘forsa’) people in South Africa,

• He got together a group of kids and tried a little experiment.

• He put a basket full of fruit near a tree;

• And told the kids that whoever got there first won the sweet fruits.

• The kids lined up and waited for the man to shout ‘go’.

• When he gave them the command to ‘go’,

• He was surprised to see that they all took each-others hands and ran together,

• They arrived at the tree together and they then then sat together enjoying their treats.

• When the anthropologist asked them why they had run in that manner;

• When one child could have had all the fruits for himself;

• All the children cried out one word; ''UBUNTU,

• 'UBUNTU' in the Xhosa (pronounce ‘forsa’) culture means: "I am because we are"

• Paraphrased we would say;

• “How can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?''

• TRANSITION: These verses in Hebrews chapter 10;

• Are a reminder that as the Church of Jesus Christ,

• 'UBUNTU': "I am because we are"

• A good reminder that we need one another!

Note:

• As Christians, we all have something great.

• In these verses, the apostle Paul tells us two things we have;

• And because of these two things that we have,

• We should therefore respond in three specific ways.

(1). What do we have? (vs 19-21):

(1a) We have a bold confidence. (vs 19-20).

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body”

Ill:

• Edna Butterfield

• Tells the story of how her husband, Ron,

• Once taught a class of mentally impaired teenagers.

• Looking at his students’ capabilities rather than their limitations,

• Ron got them to play chess, restore furniture and repair electrical appliances.

• Most important, he taught them to believe in themselves.

• Young Bobby soon proved how well he had learned that last lesson.

• One day he brought in a broken toaster to repair.

• He carried the toaster tucked under one arm, and a half-loaf of bread under the other!

• TRANSITION: Now that is confidence;

• That is what the writer to these Hebrew Christians is exalting.

• The word here USED for ‘confidence’ can also mean ‘boldness or frankness’.

• A good understanding in this context would be that we have a bold confidence.

Question: Why do we need a bold confidence?

Answer: Because we are entering into the holiest place.

Ill:

• The operating room of a hospital is a foreboding place-almost sacred.

• The air is filtered, pure and clean.

• The walls and floors are immaculately scrubbed.

• The instruments are sterilized.

• A sign hangs over the entrance-Unauthorized Persons: Keep Out.

• The only people allowed in the operating room;

• Are trained physicians and select hospital personnel.

• But they, too, must be scrubbed and sterilized,

• Wearing disposable hospital greens with protective masks and foot coverings.

• In order for the operating room to fulfil the function for which it was made,

• It must be free from contamination.

• Even the smallest of germs can infiltrate and infect the very person who's there for help.

• The operating room is a special place,

• Set apart for private usage for the most delicate of duties;

• The saving of human life.

TRANSITION: The Holy of Holies was a similar type of place.

• The Holy of Holies is a term in the Old Testament;

• Which refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle;

• And then later the Temple in Jerusalem.

• You could say it was the cleanest, most sacred place on earth.

• It was off-limits to everyone except the high priest,

• And even he could enter only once a year, on the Day of Atonement.

So what the writer says in verse 19 would have sounded strange to his Hebrew readers.

• He tells them to enter into what has always been a ‘no go area’;

• To “to enter the Most Holy Place” and to enter with “confidence”.

• He then tells them the reason they can enter this area;