Hebrews
Encouragement for a life of faith
Part 8
“Now What?”
Hebrews 10:19-25
How many people here like to be honked at?
For me that just really gets my blood boiling
To be sitting at a red light
And have someone blow their horn at me as soon as the light even thinks about turning green
It irritates me to no end
Actually it makes me want to break at least 2 of the original Ten Commandments
Honking can be rude and can be misused
On the other hand
I love it when someone passes by my house and sees me on the porch and gives a little beep on their horn
This type of honking is encouraging
It makes me know that I am acknowledged even loved
When I think of this type of encouragement
I can’t help but think of the huge flocks of Canada Geese that will begin making their way south in the next couple of months
Seeing those v’s of geese and hearing them honking at each other is a sign of the coming of fall, shorter days and cooler weather for me
I never until now spent a lot of time contemplating why the geese honk
In my older days
If asked this question
I would have just said something smart
Like
Their geese
That’ what they do
But now I understand better about why they honk
The lead goose is breaking the wind current for the rest of the geese
He is setting the course
And he is setting the speed at which they fly
And being the leader is hard work
He gets tired
He gets discouraged in a goosey kind of way
And the ones in the back
Honk
To encourage him
Their honks are a sign of love- once again in a goosey kind of way
They are saying
Keep going
You’re doing great
We are with you
And he is encouraged to continue
But
The geese in the back are also encouraged
The ones in the back hear
Come on
You’re doing great
The ones in the middle encourage both those in front and those behind
The ones near the front are also being encouraged to fly up and take the lead when the one in front gets tired
Constant encouragement from their peers is what makes the huge flocks of geese make the long trip south every winter
We as Christians need encouragement as well
So in our study of Hebrews today we are going to see what the writer has to say about our part in encouragement
Before we dig in let me recap just a moment from last week
Last week we took a hard look at Jesus as our high priest
We saw how he and he alone has the perfection needed to be able to serve in that position
And how as our High Priest
His perfection makes us – not perfect
But perfectly forgiven through his perfect sacrifice
We have heard though this series some strong admonishments for better Christian living
We have been stepped on
And stomped on
And we have also been encouraged
And we may want to ask “Now What”
All of this mashing is in an effort to get us doing what God has called us to do
And that is
That we are
To Show the love of Jesus
Let our light shine as the kids song says
Please open your bibles to Hebrews 10
If you are perceptive and have been following along with this series
You will notice I jumped forward about 3 chapters in this study
The material I skipped is important and is further study on Jesus’ role as our High Priest
I strongly encourage you to read and study this for yourselves
Or
Come to our Sunday Morning Round Pen Bible studies where we dig deeper
Hebrews 10 Beginning in verse 19-22
And so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death,[b] Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
We can boldly enter heavens Most Holy Place
In common terms
We have direct access to God
We don’t need to make an appointment
No need to stand in line
Jesus gave us this direct access through his own sacrifice
But our writer goes on to say
That we need to fully trust God
With sincere hearts in order to fully reap the rewards of having this unlimited access
He goes on to say that because of Jesus’ payment of our debt
Our guilt has been covered and our sins have been washed
And we can stand in the full presence of God almightily
Perfectly forgiven
Because of the perfection of Christ
So we come back to the question
Now what?
Turn back to Hebrews 10
Verse 23
“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”
Hang onto the hope we received though a relationship with Jesus
Don’t turn to the right or the left
Don’t try and go back to the gate of your old life
Don’t drift
Have a belief that we will receive the hope that was promised
And stand on those promises
Let me remind you of just a one of God’s promises
God said all who believe in Jesus will be saved
All means all and all means you
No matter where you have been or what you have done
You have the ability to be forgiven
The ability to be saved
Through Jesus
But we have to ask
What is the purpose of this salvation?
What now?
Does our salvation give us a free pass?
Can we just sit back and coast our way into heaven?
The answer to those questions is yes
-------- But----------
Not if we want to get the entire blessings God has for us
As I have said many times the cross------ salvation’
Is not the finish line
But the starting point of our relationship with Jesus
The starting point of our Christian walk
Matthew 22:37
Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[e] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[f] 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
This verse begins the outline for successful Christian living
Or first job is to love the Lord with everything we have
And our next is to love others
And I can think of no better way to love others than to
Tell them about Jesus
We have discussed this many times
We have a responsibility as believers
To tell others so they can receive the same amazing gift that we have received
Matthew 28:18-20
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
And
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
This is our job
Our responsibility
Our duty
Our commandment
Tell the lost and dying world about Jesus
To go to school and to work and tell people about Jesus
In Grand Saline
In All of van Zandt County
In Texas
In America
In Africa
In all of the world
In hope that some will listen and be saved
That is our duty to the lost
Plant seeds
Water the seeds
And allow God to change them
But
What is our responsibility to the saved?
Our Brothers and Sisters in Christ
To see just some of our responsibilities
Turn back to Hebrews 10 for the answer
“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Let us think of ways to motivate
To encourage
Each other
Let us think of ways
Means this is active
We are doing something
To encourage others
We all need to be encouraged
This is a rough old world
Problems abound
And Old Slick loves to use discouragement to cut us out of the herd
Single us out
Illness and injuries
Death
Money problems
Relationship problems
Kid problems
Addictions and hang-ups
I could go on and on
We get tired
We get beat down
We get discouraged
Even disgusted
And we need to be lifted up
All of us
So today let’s look at some of the way we as believers can encourage each other
By our Words
Do our words to each other speak love?
David showed a really good example of this at the back to school bash
( Show tooth paste)- ask for a volunteer
Squirt tube of tooth paste out on a paper plate
Now ask them to put it back
Our words are like that toothpaste
Once they have left our mouths we can’t put them back
Are your words encouraging each other?
Building each other up
Or are they tearing down
How we speak to each other or about each other as believers
Is important
We need to be like those geese
Constantly encouraging each other no matter where in the line we are
In the lead or in the back
Our words are powerful
They can show love or hate
Build or destroy
What are your words doing?
Next we encourage each other by our actions
How we relate to each other is important and it does matter
Do you greet your brothers and sisters warmly?
Smile
Shake hands
Hug
Does your body language show love?
Are you there to lend a hand?
Express true concern?
Help someone
The church?
Are your actions encouraging?
God has given all believers gifts and when we use the gifts we have been given
It encourages others to use their gifts
Are you using your God given gifts?
Are your actions showing that you want to be part of the team?
That you want to encourage others?
We encourage each other with our prayers
Prayer is powerful
Prayer is life changing
We all need to pray
And we all need prayer
One of the best ways to encourage someone is to walk up to them and ask if you can pray for them
We all say we will pray for you
But we need to pray with them
I know this is hard
But it does get easier
As I said
We all need prayer
And we all need to ask for prayer
But we also need to ask
Who are we praying for?
Who are we praying with?
Are we a faucet of life?
Or a drain?
We encourage each other by coming together to fellowship
Hebrews 10:25
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
Fellowship is important for believers
Spending time with other believers is where we get our own encouragement
And is also a great way to encourage others
Sharing experiences and hardships
Shows others that they are not alone’
That we all have problems
Listen
You may not think that your attendance is important but you are missed when you are not here
You are an important part of the body and
It encourages others when they see you here
And prayerfully you will be encouraged as well
So for the last part of this sermon
I would like to really outline some practical ways we can encourage others
I would ask that you pray about your part in encouraging others
Words
Speak love
Call someone when you have not seen them in a couple of weeks- this is not just the Pastors , Elders, lay pastors or the leaderships’ job, it is the responsibility of all of us
Acknowledge they were missed
Call someone and just say I was thinking about you today
Ask them about their lives
Get to know them
Send a card or a letter of encouragement
Send an email or a text
Tell them good job
Or thank you
Speak positive – be a faucet not a drain
Actions
A hug
A handshake
A pat on the back
Showing compassion
Showing concern
Remembering their name, the names of their families, what they do , where they live
Can have an amazing affect on someone’s outlook
An impromptu act of kindness
Has a great way of encouraging others
Small gifts of love
A desire to help carry others burden
Getting involved
Act positive- be a faucet not a drain
Prayer
Pray for and with others
Ask them to pray with you and for you
Come together in the prayer circles
Volunteer to pray
Encourage others with your prayers and be encouraged by theirs
Fellowship
Come to church
Come to the ministry events
Be involved
You are an important part of the church
And your involvement encourages others
And you will also receive encouragement from their involvement
These are very simple but often overlooked ways of encouraging each other
As I said
We all need encouragement
Whether you are leading or following
Or just somewhere in the middle
Our words, actions, prayers and your attendance have an effect on others
Close from the heart
Pray
