Hebrews: A Story Worth Sharing

Good Morning!

I’m excited to start this study of Hebrews.

I believe that God is going to do great work in all of our lives as we learn to share our stories.

As I mentioned last week, the entire redemptive process that began with Adam and Eve through today is our story.

Our focus in studying Hebrews is to learn and be encouraged by the details of our redemptive story with a twofold goal.

First, that so that we can share the story with others.

Second, that we help them find themselves in that story of redemption.

Focusing on the details.

That means that we are not going to fly through this book just to get it done.

We are going to do as the Bible Project video suggested, we are going to take the time to look at the references and so that we can fully understand what the author is saying.

Some of that will happen here on Sunday mornings, some will happen in a life group, and hopefully, some of it will happen during your personal study time.

It won’t be possible for us to read every cross-reference that is listed.

For example, there are twenty-three references just in verse one!

However, I will pull ones that I think are particularly helpful in understanding the author’s point.

Those references are there so that we can let scripture define scripture.

The references show the continuity of what God has been doing throughout our redemptive history.

Do you remember the connect the dots pictures from when you were a kid?

You trace a line from one dot to the next and it makes a picture.

By taking the time to read the references, we are connecting the dots in our heads of all that God has done and is doing in the life of his people.

We get a much more complete view of what God is doing when we connect the dots.

I do think it would be an incredibly good use of our time in life group to pull up those references and use them to frame the conversations we have about the scripture.

In doing so we will be teaching ourselves and one another how to have conversations built upon the foundation of scripture.

I have a friend that, in the course of the conversation, will quote so many scriptures that it is hard to follow what he is trying to say.

This is not what I’m going for. lol

My hope is that by reading through and digesting these stories they will become a part of who we are.

They will shape our worldview so that we begin to see the world as God does.

As we abide, the scripture will bring the richness and depth God wants in our lives.

I have no desire for us to just learn a bunch of facts, but rather that we would see the goodness of God’s eternal plan and that we would see His great love for His people.

Hebrews was written to remind the church of what they already know and to encourage them.

The expectation was that they would share that encouragement with others.

That brings us to our first goal.

Sharing the story.

Who is the best storyteller you know? Who and why.

Mine is Jerry Clower, a comedian because he brings you right into the story.

If you have never heard of Jerry, let me know and I can make some recommendations.

Jerry is able to bring you into the story because he is telling his own stories.

He brings details in that could not be there if they weren’t his stories.

Telling your own stories is easier than telling someone else’s because the details are already in your head.

I don’t know if you have noticed, but I don’t use sermon illustrations that aren’t mine.

I share stories from my life to help bring clarity to scripture that can be difficult to understand.

I’m sure that you have heard someone share an illustration before and it just didn’t seem to carry any weight.

This is what happens when we share a story that is not our own.

It doesn’t carry the same weight as one that you share from a personal experience.

It can’t because there is no emotional or physical attachment to it.

When I tell you a story from my life, I bring with it the pain, joy, angst, or excitement that I felt as it was happening in real-time.

That cannot be reproduced by anyone else.

Do you see where I am going with this?

We often struggle when trying to share the gospel with others because it feels like we are trying to tell someone else’s story.

It only feels that way because we haven’t taken the time to look at and process the details.

The details are what make a story great.

Have I ever told y’all the story of a friend that got shocked by an electric fence three different times in a matter of seconds?

That’s a story for a different day, but my point is, that if you weren’t there and don’t know why or how it happened, you would not be able to understand why it is a funny story.

I know all those details because I was there.

I saw his reaction the first time, the second time, and the third time it got him.

I saw a man that is typically very composed, be everything but composed.

As we study this book and look into the details, we are going to discover the emotion behind why the author is saying what he is saying.

Where there was confusion before, there will be a wealth of knowledge.

This story of God’s redemptive work will begin to feel like it belongs to us.

Let me be clear, I do not want or do I expect that we are going to just memorize a bunch of things.

That isn’t the goal.

The point of this is to become familiar with the overall concepts so that we can draw on those things as the Holy Spirit leads.

This brings us to the second goal of this study.

Helping others find their place in the story.

I don’t know if you have ever thought about this, but anytime you learn something, there is a good chance that one day you will teach it to someone else.

This is how knowledge and wisdom are passed from one generation to another.

We aren’t learning all this about our place in the story for just our own benefit.

There is a clear expectation throughout scripture, that we share with others what we learn about God.

The most obvious example is found in Matthew.

Matthew 28:19–20 CSB

19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Sharing what we have learned about God is how we help others find their place in God’s story.

Our testimony of God’s grace and forgiveness are needed as much today as they were when this book was written.

This process of helping them find their place begins by building relationships with people in order to earn the right to be heard.

We have become pretty good at developing relationships here at TGP.

It is a major focus of who we are.

We use the BLESS acrostic to remind us not only of how to do that but also of the purpose behind the relationships we build.

If we truly love others, then we want them to know that God loves them.

God wants everyone to know that He has been working through all generations to bring us back to himself.

In BLESSing others, we have the opportunity to draw on the knowledge we have gained through study and the personal experiences that we have from abiding, to tell the story of our redemption.

In sharing our story, we open the door for others to become a part of the story too by receiving salvation.

As we walk out our faith in front of the people in our lives, we become a living testimony of how much God loves his people.

People see our sins and when they come to understand that God forgives us and loves us anyway, it shares the truth that God loves them in the same way.

Hebrews is the story of our redemption and isn’t just a story that we share with others, it is also a story we need to hear over and over again.

Hebrews was written to encourage a church that was struggling.

Finding encouragement when we need it most.

I have pointed out before how many of you guys are involved in the ministry of our church.

We are a small church and there are many needs that need to be met.

A large number of needs and a small congregation can quickly lead to burnout if we lose sight of why we are doing what we are doing.

We see it happen in churches all the time.

I know that there are many here, that are privately struggling with things in their lives.

This book was written for times like some of you are going through right now.

When things seem hopeless and difficult, God wants us to remember that He is good and wants our best.

This book was a reminder to a church that was struggling, of what they have in Christ as their savior.

Often when life gets tough, we need the same reminder.

No matter what it may be that you are struggling with, God knows and is right there with you.

As we study through this book we are going to be challenged, we are going to have to face difficult reminders of past events, or we will find ourselves in hard circumstances.

This book will be our encouragement.

It will be our reminder that even when life is hard, God is still working.

Even when we can’t see it, God is working.

We will be reminded of this because we see this truth play out time and time again in the lives of those that came before us.

The author is going to continually point back to the lives of those in the Torah.

We will see the work of God in their lives during the difficulties.

In every situation, God is working to bring us back to himself and to know him better.

Seeing this over and over again in scripture will train our brains to see hard things, not as God forgetting about us, but exactly the opposite.

God has not forgotten us, He is with and working through us!

Yesterday, I got a text from Leah about making space for us to share testimonies on a weekly basis.

I was so excited when I got that text because it is something that I have wanted to do for a long time and because it fits right in with the theme of where God has us in this study.

We are going to get to share the stories of what God is doing in our lives.

You can share things that God is speaking about.

Stuff you are struggling with and how God is using that struggle.

We are going to have a dedicated time each week when we can be encouraged by what God is doing in each other’s lives.

We will look to scripture and read things like this.

Psalm 118:5–6 NLT

5 In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free. 6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?

When I was thinking through all this yesterday, Miki immediately came to mind.

Everyone may not know this, but Miki has not been able to be here for medical reasons.

However, she is super active in Life Group and is our prayer warrior every Wednesday night for our NexGen ministries.

Miki has stories to share too and since she can’t be here, as God leads her to share, we will record those things and play them on Sunday morning.

I want you to know this because the same may be needed in your life at some point too.

Just because you can’t be here on a Sunday morning doesn’t mean you can’t share a testimony that God is telling you to share.

We need to hear what God is doing in one another’s lives.

This is a major source of encouragement and it is one that we often neglect.

I want to close out today with verse one of chapter thirteen.

Hebrews 13:1 CSB

1 Let brotherly love continue.

In his final words to the church, the author reminds them to love one another.

He is reminding us of the words of Paul and Peter.

Romans 12:10 CSB

10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.

1 Peter 1:22 CSB

22 Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly,

Sharing the story, helping others find their place in the story, and finding encouragement are all acts of love.

This is our directive for the year.

We are to read and proclaim the story that is worth sharing

Leah lead us off with this passage and it is so fitting for today.

1 John 1:1–4 CSB

1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Let’s pray together.