Jesus Is . . . ! Series

Jesus Is . . . !

Hebrews 13:7-25

November 19, 2017

I was going to start my message with this . . . Well, today is the day. Today we are finishing our study of the book of Hebrews. We’ve taken a look at discovering who Jesus is in our lives. Early in the book, we discovered Jesus is

bigger and better than the angels

bigger and better than Moses and Aaron

bigger and better than the best of the sacrifices

bigger and better than the great high priests

bigger and better than Melchizedek, the great high priest

We’ve learned Jesus is the great, holy and pure sacrifice. He’s the One who gave His life for us. He’s the One who is the same . . . yesterday, today and forever. And today, we finish with some exhortations for the church which is based on who Jesus is.

Well, that’s really how I started today’s message. But, let me give away the ending. If you don’t want to hear me, just put your hands over your ears for 20 seconds. We will have one final week on Hebrews next Sunday. I’ll tell you more later in the message.

As for now . . . Do you remember playing the game Follow the Leader or Simon Says? Those games are predicated on you following whoever is leading. You do whatever the leader does and do whatever Simon says. Sometimes it’s pretty easy, sometimes it’s pretty difficult

Leaders come in all shapes, sizes and varieties. Leaders can be anyone in our world. They can be business leaders, but also they can be politicians, teachers, coaches, pastors, parents, peers. The list of potential leaders is endless. Sometimes, we have people who are leading who we really trust and admire. Those are people who are willing to do the very thing they are asking you to do. People who you see as moral, ethical and trustworthy. People who truly care for you. People you are willing to follow.

At other times, we’ve had some leaders who may ask us to do some things which are really unreasonable. Maybe even things which are illegal, immoral or unethical. We have a much more difficult time following those leaders, don’t we?

Now, as we begin to look at our final chapter of Hebrews, beginning in 13:7, the writer tells us ~

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

Very simply, the writer is asking us to remember our leaders. Remember those who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the way these leaders live their lives, then we find people who are really living that life of faith, we are to imitate their faith. Don’t have the exact same faith, don’t imitate the way the walk, but use their example to help you live a life of faith.

Remember these people. Don’t take their example lightly or for granted. Good leadership is hard to come by. It’s not always easy.

Something else to hold onto is this ~

If you are a follower of Christ, then there is most likely someone or a few people who helped you to follow Jesus, to proclaim Him as your Lord and Savior. You believe in Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit.

But maybe someone asked you to come to church one day

Maybe it was the way your aunt or uncle lived their lives

Maybe it was a parent who faced tough times, but their faith never wavered.

Maybe it was that Sunday School teacher

or public school teacher.

Maybe it was a grandparent who always told you Bible stories

Maybe it was a pastor

Maybe it was someone sitting near you, who welcomed you.

Maybe it was someone in church you got to know and you saw their faith.

That’s a long list of potential leaders. There are the official leaders. They have different offices like Pastors, deacons, elders, deaconnesses, trustees, finance. Generally those are the official leaders.

The point is someone loved and cared about you enough to tell you about Jesus. They taught you about Jesus, they loved you enough to show you who He is. Someone in your life showed you by their actions, told you with their words the right path to take.

So, how did they show you the right path? They knew the right path because before they could be good leaders, they had to be good followers first. You see, a good leader has to be a good follower. And a good leader has to follow the right leader - - - - and the right leader is Jesus.

There are so many people we can thank. If I had to thank people in this church for being a leader to me, there wouldn’t just be a one or two. There would be many of you who are here, and some who are no longer with us, who showed me what it really means to lead and love and care. Be sure to thank those people, be sure to give thanks and honor those people who have made a very real and tangible difference in your life. We should value and honor good leadership.