Fix Your Thoughts

Fix Your Thoughts

Hebrews 3:1-6 NIV

1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.

2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.

3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.

4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.

5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future.

6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

Outline

Fix Your Thoughts On Jesus (v.1).

Jesus is Greater Than Moses in His Person (vs. 2-4).

Jesus is Greater Than Moses in His Ministry (vs. 5-6).

Good Morning brothers and sisters!

It is always a joy to come together to worship our God and to have fellowship with one another. So let us continue our worship this morning through the preaching and hearing of His Word.

PRAYER:

Illustration

Imagine with me for a moment, that you are watching a basketball game. And it is your favorite team playing in the finals. There are only two seconds left in the game. And your team is down by one point. One of the members of your team has just been fouled. The referee immediately awarded him a personal foul. So he walks toward the foul line to take his free throw. Now, you get so excited knowing that if he makes these two shots, your team will become the champions.

But, not everyone watching wants him to make those two shots. Some people are going to do all that they can to distract him. Some will yell, some will boo, some will call him names, and some will wave plastic sticks to get his attention. They know that if they can distract him for a moment, the ball will fall to the floor without going through the basket. And he cannot ask the referee to tell everyone to be quiet, so that he can concentrate on his free throw. It is not going to happen. The best thing for him to do would be, to fix his thoughts on the basket, and not focus on those distractions. Brothers and sisters, we are like that player who is about to take that very important throw in the midst of all kinds of distractions.

Introduction

There’s so much going on in our lives…. Busy schedules. Health issues. Business deals. Financial crisis. Deadlines at work. Bills that need to get paid. Balancing the checkbook. Thinking about our career. Thinking about family. Thinking about future. And the list goes on… and on… and on.

It is not easy to focus on one thing, when we are surrounded by all these things. There are lot distractions out there that are competing to grab our attention. It is becoming more and more difficult to keep our mind focused on something. And what we normally think about, are the things that we can see, feel and touch. But, Jesus, whom we can’t see and touch, often becomes far from our thoughts. That's why our topic for today is, ‘Fix Your Thoughts.’

If you have your Bibles with you, please, turn to Hebrews 3:1-6. In this passage, the author tells us where to fix our thoughts and he provides two reasons why we must do so.

The author begins with this call in verse 1…

1. Fix Your Thoughts On Jesus (v.1) - He is the apostle and high priest.

1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.

The author of Hebrews is addressing Christians as “holy brothers and sisters”, meaning those who are sanctified by Christ. Christians are children of God and brothers and sisters to one another. We ‘share in the heavenly calling’, meaning we are together in this call to persevere in our faith and focus on Jesus. The word “fix” comes from a Greek word that has the idea of concentrating our gaze. It is to look away from other things so that we can focus all our attention on one thing. It means to put our mind completely upon Christ. This is not just a call, it a command to fix our thoughts on Jesus.

Here, Jesus is identified as our Apostle and High Priest. Apostle means “one who is sent.” Jesus is the One sent from God to earth as His representative. And High Priest is the “one who is a go-between, who offers a sacrifice so that there can be reconciliation.” As our Apostle, Jesus speaks to us from God. And as the High Priest, Jesus speaks to God for us. As the Great High Priest, Jesus not only performed the sacrifice; He was the sacrifice. He died on the cross on our behalf.