Category: <span>Blog & Bible Study</span>

In our last class we started chapter 12. The first few verses show us that the examples of faith that have come before us are to spur us to take off every weight and every sin and to run this race concentrating always on Jesus. When we concentrate on Jesus, when we choose to make...

I once had a friend tell me that he believed that the eleventh chapter of Hebrews was completely parenthetical, that it stood in between chapter 10 and 12 as a perfect bridge between the promise of an identity of those who do not draw back and Jesus as our perfect example.  While parenthesis may not...

Tonight we will finish Hebrews 11, the great chapter of faith. The chapter starts with what has become our definition of faith, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” From that definition the rest of the chapter filled with examples of faith that illustrate the definition. From...

Hebrews 11 begins by telling us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for , the evidence of things not seen.” The rest of the chapter then reveals faith in action through the examples of the men and women that lived by faith in obedience to God’s voice in their lives. In this week’s...

On Monday night Geannine led us in intercession with mercy being our focus, seeing God as merciful, giving thanks for His mercy and praying for His mercy to be seen, received and rejoiced over by our community. As we worshipped and prayed I was struck by the thought that mercy is not for effect. I...

The author closes Chapter 10 with a great promise of identity for his readers, “But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.” Chapter 11 is then the foundation for this promise. We are not those who draw back because faith won’t allow...

Our first few verses tonight close out the section of the letter that proclaims Jesus as our superior High Priest and superior Sacrifice of the new covenant. Christ’s death was once for all, His priestly offering was accepted and His priestly work was finished, so He sat down at the right hand of God to...

This week I had a friend come and visit from out of town and he asked if I could take him to see some of historical sites in Philadelphia. I immediately agreed but didn’t have the heart to tell him that even though I have lived in the Philly area since 1991 I have never toured...

In this passage the author of Hebrews continues his focus on Jesus’ superiority by revealing the enormous and eternal power of Jesus’ blood. The blood of Jesus is something we sing about, pray over others and trust in but I’m not sure that we have fully understood it’s purpose and it’s power. “The blood of Jesus” does...

Tuesday at sundown is the beginning of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. You can read about God’s implementation of the Day of Atonement to Israel in Leviticus 16. One of the things that has stood out to me as I have been praying is the beginning of verse 34, “This is to be a...