Good Morning
Stand with me and lift up your bible and repeat after me.
This is my Bible.
I am what it says I am.
I can do what it says I can do.
I am going to learn how to be what it says I can be.
Today I will learn more of the word of God.
The indestructible, never ending, living word Of God.
I will never be the same.
I will never be the same.
In Jesus Name
Who has been your best teacher in your life so far?
I had a teacher who I always use for that security question on my email.
I never think about him until I am online and I am asked that question.
But I am learning that he was my best teacher here on earth until I met the best teacher in my life.
Can you guess the name of who that teacher is?
He was a man that had to still show people how good He was even after he had given up His life for you and me.
Turn with me to the book of Hebrews in the bible and say, “Amen” when you are there.
Hebrews consists of 13 different chapters and nobody really knows exactly who wrote it. A lot of people say Paul but after an extensive research has been done over the years it has been found to have not been Paul as he was not alive when it was written.
The writer of the book was called by the Lord to share a few things with the people that surrounded him because people were falling away a little bit from the Lord and what had transpired since Christ died and rose again.
They were going back to the old ways.
Sound like maybe something that has happened in a life you may know?
They have fallen back to the way things were before they got to know Him.
Sound familiar.
Remember how it was when you did not know the Lord in your life?
Remember how you felt new when you first did?
That is what the Book of Hebrews is about. Continuing to be new.
The writer started by explaining in Chapter 1 that Jesus was for real and was greater than any angel.
In Chapter 2 the writer told the Hebrews to pay attention to the past and to remember that Jesus came to earth to live among us as a man and teach us about life.
In chapter 3 the writer shared that Jesus was greater than Moses. That may have been a shocking reminder to the Hebrews. They still a little set in their ways and thought that the commandments from Moses were still the most important.
The writer reminded them that the Holy Spirit was relevant the daily life of a Hebrew.
In Chapter 4 the writer reminds us of something that is very important and is very difficult to maintain in life as we know it each week. The Sabbath day.
What do you do on the Sabbath? Many people in the early 1900’s would be very upset with how things are today. In the early 1900’s on a Sunday you would not see a store open or a restaurant. The Lord was first in most families lives and that has changed over the years.
A historic revival started in Los Angeles in 1906 when a black man named William Seymour shared a message that continued to spark a hunger for the word of God to be important and to be the first in most people’s minds. The revival started that year and continued for three years with Reverend Seymour sharing the word 7 times per week. The revival continued with other ministers until 1915.
Imagine driving by Walmart on a Sunday morning and seeing it closed along with gas stations, restaurants, and all retail stores closed. Not on Easter or Christmas or Thanksgiving but every Sunday.
People used to spend time together going to church, having a meal and then enjoying family time together.
Now people go to church and have a time allotted so they can go their favorite place to eat a meal and if the service goes beyond that time, they leave a bad review on Facebook.
Times have changed.
Chapter 5 talks about people sharing the love of God by doing what the call is. To share the love of Christ.
Chapter 6 tells us to get up and use what the Lord gives up to show his love to all of those we can.
I have shared this before but I saw a movie a long time ago about a man who did not want god in his life how he was irritated every night when he walked to a local restaurant to have his evening meal and he would pass by a street minister that would say to him every time, “Jesus loves you”.
Finally, he snapped and yelled at the man and the man stopped and listened and said, “I am sorry you are having a hard life but no matter what you are going through, Jesus loves you and wants to be a big part of your life.”
He yelled, “Why would Jesus want me? I am not worth anything. I hate my life and I hate you.
The man replied, “Jesus loves you just as you are and would love to make you a new man from this moment forward. Just ask Him to forgive you and make you new.”
“How can He make me new? I am not worth it.”
“Jesus died on the cross for you so you could be forgiven”
The man cried out, “God forgive me” and fell to his knees in tears.
He asked the Lord to make him new by forgiving him and loving him and teaching him how to love others. His life changed that moment.
That is the certainty of God’s promise.
We can make new habits.
Chapter 7 is about Melchizedek and how he was used as an example of walking with Christ.
Chapter 8 is about the high priest. Those who already in ministry and those who are just breathing.
People who are all called to share the love of Christ. Believers and those in ministry. We are all called to share Him in our lives and be with Him in all we do.
Chapter 9 is one of my most favorite things personally. Worship.
I loved music growing up. Motown, rock, and even country.
I sang along with a lot of songs but never in public.
When I entered the ministry, I had do something that I never expected. I had to lead worship. I was terrified and one of the folks that was part of the location I was at saw my worry and he suggested that I would use the song of importance to me personally, Amazing Grace.
It went well and I became hooked, addicted and in love with the Gospel in music. I love to spend time in worship.
Early in my years of ministry, I was invited to share the message at a large church in Philadelphia that a friend of mind was the assistant pastor. When I got there, he told me that service was usually 2 to three hours depending on worship.
I said, “How long?” and he repeated 2 to 3 hours. What a night, worship lasted about an hour before the message and about 45 minutes after. Worship was worship, not singing a few hymns. No one watched the clock.
We worshipped the Lord. I shared that with my congregation and we changed what we were doing. We spent more time in worship and we usually ran past the normal time service was over. Praising Him. O my.
The other part of chapter 9 is about the blood of Christ shed for you and I.
Wow. A person who sacrificed Himself for just me, and you.
Who would you sacrifice yourself for?
I would for my wife, my family, my friends and any that person I knew God called me to step in for.
I mean that. How about you?
What continues in Chapter 10 is about Christ’s sacrifice for us once and for all and rising back to life to live inside and with those who ask Him to.
But it also shared about being able to persevere.
Let me ask you a question. How would you feel if you knew the Lord Jesus Christ was definitely coming back to call all the believers home tomorrow at 4PM?
Most of us would say, “Not yet! Please could you wait a couple more days?”
We do not know when we will leave this earth. We must persevere. Verse 19 is about the call to persevere. We must hang in there. Amen?
Chapter 11 is about how to persevere. By Faith.
This has become a book in the Bible that I lean on when I go through trials in life. I don’t know about you but mine are not as tough as the people in the chapter of the Bible.
Each of these verses are about people in the Bible who walked by faith.
Verse 1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Verse 7 is about Noah. He was probably called crazy by most people maybe some who were family members and friends. His faith was real.
Verses 8-12 are about Abraham. Wow another crazy person and his wife. Can you imagine if someone in our time had a baby while in their 90’s?
How about....
Isaac?
Jacob?
Joseph?
Moses?
Rahab?
Gideon?
Barak?
Samson?
Jephthah?
David?
Samuel?
And the prophets?
Verses 39 and 40 sum it up.
“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
God has a plan for life. We just have to decide if we do it our way or we make a habit to put Him first.
Chapter 12 is a book of the bible that reminds us that God does do some things that we may not like. He disciplines us. This book reminds us that life will not be perfect.
God will let us go through things for His purpose during our lives. That is hard to handle sometimes. Being disciplined by the almighty. Or going through hardships.
There is a great book by the author John Grisham called, “The Testament”.
It is a book I reread once in a while to remind myself of hardship and sacrifice. A woman that was a missionary could become the wealthiest woman on earth or continue the calling God has had on her life.
What would you do? She chooses the right one.
Follow God or become wealthy first?
Chapter 12 continues and reminds us of hardship by trying to do it our way all the time. It might not work well. Amen?
This part of the chapter reminds us that God must be first because he has a plan.
Chapter 13 verses 1 thru 8 I believe are the most important is this book that was written for the Hebrews. Let’s read them together.
The one I want to close with is verse 8;
“Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever”
He does not change.
We can. Amen?
Let’s go to Him in prayer...
