Finish Well (Hebrews 3:7-19)

It's funny how much you end up depending on technology to help you.

And one of those ways was actually this morning, I came in and I was like, man, I'm tired.

I don't know why I'm so tired this morning.

And it was five minutes before the service started, I realized that time had changed.

And I was like, that makes sense.

And I'm glad I realized that before the service started,

so I can understand why we have a few less people here today.

I would have been thinking, what did I say last week that offended so many people?

But I am excited to be back having two services this week.

We had a wonderful Disciple Now weekend and looking forward to the fruit that comes from that for many, many weeks to come.

But one of the things that we're going to be talking about today as we continue in our study of the book of Hebrews is finishing well.

And I know this may be hard for some of you to believe, but there was a time in my life that I actually used to run a good bit.

I know it's hard to believe now, but there was a time when I ran a good bit.

And in fact, in high school, during track, I would run long distance.

I wasn't a very fast sprinter, but I could run a long ways relatively well.

And I can remember learning a very valuable lesson my ninth or tenth grade year.

And that's not how you start a race, but it's how you finish a race.

And I learned this the hard way because if you've ever been to a track meet,

and I'm sure the Thigpins will agree with this, that track meets can sometimes be very, very long.

They can just go on forever, and you're just sitting there waiting and waiting for a 10-second race, a 12-minute race at the most.

But you're sitting there waiting for a long period of time for this.

And so one of the things that they do sometimes to help speed this process up is the longer distances,

they will run the boys and girls together, especially like the two-mile.

They'll sometimes run those together.

And I can remember as a ninth or tenth grader, we were doing this.

And then as soon as the race started, I realized that there was a lady, a young girl on our team that had an interesting strategy.

As soon as that starter pistol went off, she took off out of there.

I mean, like sprinting.

And I panicked.

I'm like, I can't let her beat me.

And so I took off running as hard as I could this first lap of the race.

And so I'm running just as hard as I can, got one lap in, and I'm done.

I mean, I'm like tired.

I'm breathing heavy.

I'm done.

And I realized I've got seven more laps to go of this.

And so I learned very quickly then, it's not how you start the race, but it's how you finish the race.

And this was a lesson that served me well until college.

And I was coming back still at that time running some.

I was coming back.

And we had a KERHI military weekend, and we had the race up KERHI.

And I was like, I'm going to enter this race.

I've been running a good bit.

And so I entered this race, and I'm running.

And if you've ever been up KERHI, you know the last couple hills, there's a really long stretch where it's got this long straightaway.

And you just kind of have to put your head down and just run because you don't want to look up and see how far it is ahead of you.

And I'm just running along.

And all of a sudden, I hear somebody coming up beside me.

And then I look over, and it's this lady who, I kid you not, is in a long-sleeved button-down shirt just like this.

It was buttoned all the way down.

A skirt that goes down to her ankles, hair in a bun, and tennis shoes on just running.

And she just comes up beside me and goes, tough, tough hill, huh?

And I'm like, yeah.

And I'm like, that's all right.

It's not how you start.

It's how you finish.

I'll catch her on the way back.

Never saw her again.

Never saw her again.

It's taken me a while to admit that.

But I'm glad it's off my chest now.

But all of this to say, much of this passage that we're talking about today is learning to run well.

Much of our passage today deals with finishing well.

Not just looking at the part, at one part, but persevering to the end.

If you remember from last week, we had a clear emphasis on the fact that Jesus is better than Moses.

Not just a little bit better.

Not that they're a little bit equal and that Jesus just kind of passed them out a little bit.

But no, that Jesus is far superior than Moses.

And so on the heels of that, on the tail end of that declaration that would have been pretty significant for the original audience to hear,

on the tail end of this declaration, we find ourselves in Hebrews chapter 3, verses 7 through 19.

Hebrews 3:7–19

And so if you have a copy of God's Word with you, I want to invite you to follow along as we read this.

Hebrews chapter 3, starting in verse 7, this is what the Word of the Lord says.

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

It says this,

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

As it is said today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

For who were those who heard and yet rebelled?

Was it not all of those who left Egypt, led by Moses, and with whom was he provoked for 40 years?

Was it not those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?

And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?

So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

And so from this passage, there's a couple of observations that I want us to clearly see today.

A couple of observations that I think are very applicable to us, just like they would have been applicable in the time that they were written.

And to begin with, I want to encourage you to don't miss what is right in front of you.

I want you to be careful that you don't miss what is right in front of you.

It says, therefore, as the Holy Spirit says today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

On that day of testing in the wilderness where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for 40 years.

While this is not a major point of what we're going to be sharing today,

I think it is significant to look at that very first phrase where it says,

therefore, as the Holy Spirit says.

This is a clear reminder to us that these words, the words that we're studying, the words that we're reading,

the words that we find throughout Scripture are God's words.

They're authoritative to us.

They're significant to us.

This isn't just something that people made up and just decided to put all these collections together.

No, these were divinely inspired and we should see them as such.

And we should see them as God's words.

We should see them as authoritative in our lives, not only to tell us how to live our lives,

but to also tell us where salvation lies and what we should be giving our lives to.

And so basically what the author is saying here, he's saying, remember what God told us back in Psalm 95.

And then he goes on to share how the people wandering in the wilderness didn't enter into the promised land

because of their hardened hearts.

He's saying, don't be like that.

See who God is.

Clearly see what is right in front of you.

Clearly see what we have been sharing over and over again,

that Jesus is far superior to anything and everything and give your life to him.

The therefore at the beginning of this section tells us to consider what was just said.

We just learned that from the previous section is that Jesus is greater than Moses.

He says, for Jesus has been counted of more glory than Moses,

as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.

For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.

He's saying, you thought Moses was great.

Well, you're right.

He was pretty great.

But let me tell you about one who is far greater, far superior than Moses.

The last section in many ways mirrors the first three verses of Hebrews.

Hebrews chapter 1, the first three verses.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

In chapter 1, we are told that Jesus is the heir of all things.

He is the creator of all things.

He is the radiance of the glory of God.

And last week in that section, we were reminded that Jesus, as the son, is the heir.

That he is the creator.

That he's the true recipient of glory.

In light of all of this, the author is saying, don't harden your hearts.

See who Jesus is.

Don't miss what is right in front of you.

Don't miss what we have been shown, what we have seen, who Jesus is.

He does so, and he does this.

He has this reminder with a well-known example of Israel wandering in the wilderness.

Now, in the history of the world, you would be hard-pressed to find a movement of people

on a large scale like this, of a group of people that started so well and yet ended so poorly.

Think back to the last time that you read through Exodus.

Or for some of you, it may be here recently.

But think back to the last time you read through the book of Exodus or maybe watched The Prince of Egypt.

I don't know.

Pay attention to this because some of these things might come up tonight in Bible trivia.

And I want to encourage you that, hey, come out to that.

We're not putting anybody on the spot.

Guys especially, we need you to come out.

I want to win this very, very badly.

And so please come out tonight and help us with that.

Nobody's getting put on the spot, but we'll just have a great time with that.

But looking back on these several chapters of this start of the Exodus out of Egypt,

we see God working in some incredible ways.

When you start looking at Exodus 7 and where Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh,

and Pharaoh says, no, you can't go.

And then he says, okay, well, there's going to be some plagues that happen.

And the first plague that we see here is the Nile turning to blood.

The Nile River, the source of their life in so many different ways is turned to blood.

And then the next plague is all of these frogs that come about.

And they start coming up out of the Nile and they get into everything.

It starts talking about them getting into the ovens, into the pantry, and all of these different areas.

And then a lot of times you don't think about it, but then all of these frogs had to die at some point.

And I love how the ESV says it right here.

And it lets me know that there was at least a few Southerners who were involved in the translation of this.

It says, and the frogs died out in the houses, in the courtyards, in the fields,

and they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.

It says the land stank.

And so we see that all of this is taking place.

All of this is happening here.

And then the third plague, the gnats, and then the flies, and then the livestock dying out,

the boils that happen, the hail that comes.

We also see the locusts, and then the darkness.

And for three nights, or three days, there was darkness on the land.

And so we're seeing all of these things.

And then finally, the night before the departure, at midnight,

with the smell of roasted lamb in the air, which is far better than the stank of frogs,

the smell of roasted lamb in the air, and the blood above the doorpost of the Hebrews,

God struck down the firstborn of Egypt.

And with that, Israel began their departure after over 400 years of bondage.

But God continued to work.

God continued to provide.

God, He led the way with a pillar of cloud in the sky by day.

And then this pillar turned to fire by night to not only provide them light,

but show them the way to go.

And then when Pharaoh comes and decides,

He says, I don't want to let them go.

And he starts to pursue them.

This pillar comes between Egypt and Israel,

and it becomes as a barrier for them.

And then God parts the Red Sea so that the Israelites can walk through on dry ground.

And then as the Egyptians come through, they get swallowed up in this.

And all of a sudden, we see God provide over and over again for His people.

Yet they continually harden their heart against Him.

It began so well,

and yet ended so poorly.

Of the 600,000 men plus the women and children that left Egypt,

only two over the age of 20 ever got to see the promised land,

Joshua and Caleb.

The rest died in the wilderness.

Kent Hughes, he notes, he says,

The grand and terrible lesson of Israel's history is that it is possible to begin well and end poorly.

He says,

In fact, this tragic human tendency dominates much of human spiritual experiences.

He says,

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart,

leading you to fall away from the living God.

Now, this is a challenging passage on many fronts.

You've heard me say many times in many different sermons

that God, as our Father,

wants His children to have an assurance of salvation.

He wants them to have this assurance that they are His,

and there is nothing that is going to be able to take them from that.

In my opinion, it would be very difficult to read 1 John.

It would be very difficult to read other passages throughout Scripture and think differently.

But when you look at a verse like this,

it can be challenging.

But we must understand and we must remember to look at the verses that are surrounding it.

Context is so helpful when understanding difficult passages like this.

And so if you look down to just a couple verses past that,

we were just reading verse 12 there.

And if you look down to verse 14, it says this,

You see, perseverance is the evidence that you truly belong to Christ.

Perseverance is the evidence that you truly belong to Him.

Those who are truly saved, who have placed their faith and their trust in Jesus,

those who have seen that Jesus is far greater than anything and everything in this world,

are the ones who persevere.

George Guthrie notes, he says,

The believer should take care or beware because within any Christian community,

there may be those whose outward association does not reflect the inward condition of the heart.

And this is a reference to someone being inside the covenant community who seems like a believer,

but later proves to have an unbelieving heart.

Think of it like this.

I recently read a book or was reading a book that was on a completely different subject than what we're talking about today.

But it was sharing an example.

It was talking about the difference between the crowds and the disciples in Jesus' ministry.

You know, a lot of time we talk about the disciples

and we think about those disciples who, those 12 that were with them

and then more that would follow Him around.

But there's also great crowds that would follow Him.

They were really interested in things.

And the author was making this distinction based off of the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.

In the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, which takes place in Matthew chapter 5,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Matthew begins the sermon by kind of setting the stage of what is happening,

by kind of giving you an example of the scene that Jesus is getting ready to preach to.

And it says this.

It says,

Seeing the crowds, He went up on the mountain,

and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him,

and He opened His mouth and He taught them.

And so there seems to be this distinction that is made between the crowds.

There's a large crowd of people and then a small group of disciples.

And when Jesus began to teach, the crowd was listening,

but His attention was focused on the disciples.

You see, the crowd was a group of people who liked Jesus.

They were really interested in Jesus.

They were fascinated by Him, intrigued by His words and His actions.

Wherever Jesus went, they were there.

The crowd was aware of His healing powers and miraculous signs,

and they wanted to get in on that.

Jesus was popular at this time,

and they enjoyed riding that wave of popularity.

Jesus sounded like a great idea at this point.

And they were called the crowd because there were a lot of them.

And there always are.

There always are those people who are interested,

who like the idea of Jesus,

but they're not ready to give their life to Him.

And then there were the disciples.

This is a smaller group of people who don't just like being around Jesus,

but have decided to trust Jesus and to follow Him with their lives.

The author, Josh Smith, said,

he says,

Jesus was never impressed by the crowd.

The crowd didn't make Him feel better about His ministry.

He was never interested in building a crowd.

He didn't see any real value in a large crowd of fascinated people.

Jesus wanted disciples.

He wanted people to trust and follow Him,

not just be around Him.

And that's why when Jesus ends His Sermon on the Mount,

He ends this sermon with an invitation.

The crowd is still there.

Many who are interested,

but not yet followers,

not those who haven't given their life to Him,

saying,

I want to follow you.

And this is why on most Sundays,

I try to include a gospel presentation,

because I can't tell the difference.

Jesus could look out at the crowd,

and He could see that there were those there

who were not followers of Him.

I don't have that ability.

But Jesus concludes His sermon this way.

He says this,

You see, this message was not only called for a response from the crowd at this time,

but this message calls for a response from us today.

Responding to Jesus means not only hearing Him,

not only hearing His words,

but trusting and following Him.

It is believing that He is the only one

who can save you from your sins,

take you from death to life,

and then in response to that belief,

choosing to walk in obedience to His commands.

This is what a disciple does.

This is what a follower of Jesus does.

The question becomes,

Are you a part of the crowd?

Are you just a face in the crowd?

Or are you one of His disciples?

Don't miss what is right in front of us.

The author over and over again has been telling us

that Jesus is better.

He's far superior to anything and everything

that we could put our confidence in.

He's far superior to all those things

that we could put our hope in.

And He's saying,

Now, don't miss this.

He says,

Our fathers, they missed it in the wilderness.

They saw God perform all kinds of miracles.

They saw God provide over and over and over again,

yet they hardened their heart.

He's saying,

Don't miss what's right in front of you.

We've been given Jesus.

We've been given the greatest gift

we could ever imagine.

He's left the glory of heaven.

He lived the life that you and I couldn't live,

died on the cross for our sins,

so that those who place their trust and faith in Him

can go from death to life.

The author is now saying,

Don't miss this.

But the other observation that I want us to make today is this.

And it's the importance that we hold each other accountable

and finish well.

We must hold each other accountable

and finish well.

Verse 13 says,

But exhort one another every day,

as long as it is called today,

that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

For we have come to share in Christ,

if indeed we hold our original confidence

firm to the end.

We are to exhort one another every day,

as long as it's called today.

I love the phrasing here.

When are you to encourage one another

and hold each other accountable?

Every day.

Well, what part of the day?

As long as it's called today,

do this.

All day, every day,

we are called to help one another,

to hold each other accountable,

to encourage one another.

And we are to do this,

so that no one may be hardened

by the deceitfulness of sin.

In other words,

we need to take this warning seriously

and urgently while it is still today.

We need to take this serious.

We should be regularly exhorting one another

to press on and to not drift away.

Michael Kruger, he notes,

he says,

Accountability is a great ally

in the war against apostasy.

And we all need it.

Often times,

our temptation is to say,

I don't need this.

Look, Brad,

I believe in God.

I don't need this in my life.

I don't need those

to help keep me accountable.

I'm not going to fall away from that.

Well, the Israelites

could have said the same thing.

I don't think any of them

would have said

that they don't believe in God

after all the things that they saw.

Yet, how quickly

were they hardening their hearts

and turning to something else?

How quickly were they

taking their eyes off of God

and putting it on other things?

We need accountability.

We need people in our lives

that love us enough

to hold us accountable

and to speak truth into our lives.

One of the reasons

that we put such a heavy emphasis

on Sunday school

and live groups in this church

is because of this.

It's because smaller groups

with people that you're close to

foster this type of relationship

far better than a large group

like this might.

Small groups

where you get to have

that intimacy with one another

are much more important

in keeping each other accountable

and having this sense of community

than other things.

We need corporate worship.

Don't get me wrong.

We need this.

We need teaching

that seeks to follow God's word

as closely as possible.

But we also need people

that will speak truth

into our lives.

We need opportunities

to share our disappointments

with people who genuinely love us.

We need those

that will celebrate with us.

And we need people

who love and care for us enough

to step into our lives

and to speak truth in love.

When do we need this?

As long as the day is called today.

We need this.

A few years ago,

well, actually 19 years ago

when Catherine and I moved to North Carolina

we went up there

and we knew very few people

when we moved up there.

Just a couple other couples

were the only people that we knew

when we moved up there.

And so very quickly

after we moved up there

we began to visit some churches

wanting to find a church

to plug ourselves into

and get planted into.

And we found a church

that we really enjoyed a lot.

The pastor was a great communicator.

Catherine has said before

he's probably one of the best

exposures of God's Word

she's ever heard.

Now I'll take that a little,

you know, personally.

But no,

at that time

he was a great exposure.

They had a great worship team

that did all kinds of things.

But what really

plugged us into this community

was when we started going

to a Sunday school class.

And we started getting plugged

into this sense of community

because all of a sudden

we went from knowing

very few people up there

to having a whole group

of people that loved us,

that loved us enough

to invite us over to their homes,

that loved us enough

not to just spend an hour

with us on Sunday mornings,

but loved us enough

to invite us in their homes,

to see their kids,

to come over to our house

and began to do life

with one another.

This group helped keep us accountable,

helped us to focus

on the main things.

And it wasn't just something

that was for a season in our life.

This is something

that has continued

to be a blessing in our lives.

Just a few weeks ago,

it was actually the beginning,

one of the first Sundays in February,

I was getting ready

to come up on the stage to preach

and I got a text

from one of those guys

in that class.

And the text just said,

preach the word,

praying for you this morning.

What an encouragement.

Preach the word.

I'm praying for you this morning,

helping keep me accountable

to stay true to God's word

when I teach his word.

What an encouragement.

What a challenge.

We need Christian community

in our lives.

We need Christian community

in this journey,

in this race,

in this long obedience

in the same direction.

We need those

who will keep us accountable.

Perseverance is the true test of faith.

Jesus made this point

in the parable of the sower

when he indicated that some seed,

and this is the seed

that fell on the rocky ground,

some seed immediately sprang up,

but it didn't last

because it had no depth of soil.

You see accountability groups,

the people that will love you,

that will hold your hand

through difficult times,

that will be there for you

when things are going great

and when things are going bad.

We need that

because that helps develop in us

a depth of soil.

It helps us develop in us

a strong faith

in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Verse 14 again provides

some great commentary on this

when it says,

For we have come to share in Christ

if indeed we hold

our original confidence

firm to the end.

This verse reminds us

that God is the one who saves.

But we also are called

to hold our confidence

to the end.

And ultimately, here's the thing.

Ultimately, we need God

for this as well.

We need God to save us

and we need God to sustain us.

The Bible tells us in Philippians

and says,

I am sure of this,

that he who began

a good work in you

will bring it to completion

at the day of Jesus Christ.

He who began a good work in us

will also be with us.

He who began that good work

of salvation in us

will also sustain us

in this journey

of our Christian faith.

And again, in 1 Peter,

it says,

According to his great mercy,

he has caused us

to be born again.

God causes us,

God saves us

to be born to a living hope

through the resurrection

of Jesus Christ from the dead

to an inheritance

that is imperishable,

undefiled, unfading,

kept for you in heaven,

who by God's power

are being guarded.

He saves and he guards

and he sustains through faith

for a salvation

ready to be revealed

in the last time.

We also see this

as we continue

in the book of Hebrews.

We need God to save.

We need God to sustain.

And in his grace

and in his infinite wisdom,

he has given us

a community

to encourage one another

along the way

and to hold each other accountable.

Again, as Kruger says,

accountability

is a great ally

in the war against apostasy.

We all need this.

Think about how differently

it might have been for Israel

if they had daily encouraged

one another

instead of being so negative.

Instead of grumbling

and quarreling,

instead of putting themselves

in isolation,

isolation and particularly

isolation from the

mutual encouragement

of the body

is a dangerous thing.

In isolation,

we are quick to listen

to the world.

We're quick to value

the things that the world

values.

When you're alone

and unaccountable,

it is tempting

to take the easy course

instead of the right one.

We need this accountability

in our lives.

And so may we never

lose sight

of what God

has already done for us.

May we never

lose sight

of what God

has already done for us.

May we clearly

see the love

God has displayed

for us

on the cross.

keep your eyes

fixed on this truth

of God's word.

Persevere

in what he's called

us to do.

Don't miss

the good news

of the gospel

that is available

to each and every

one of us.

Don't rely

on a past experience

where you may have

prayed a prayer

or done something

where it really

didn't mean something.

You wanted the insurance,

the fire insurance,

but you didn't give

your life to Jesus.

May we see

the value

of giving our life

and following him

with it.

The author has shown

over and over again

that Jesus

is better than anything.

He is the one

that can give

life to us.

He's the one

that gives

us his life.

He's the one

that will never

disappoint.

So don't just

be a face

in the crowd,

but be a disciple.

Verse 19 here,

it tells us,

it says,

so we see

that we,

so that we see

that they were

unable to enter

because of unbelief.

They were unable

to enter

because of unbelief.

I had a professor

who told me one time,

he says,

you want to know

what you truly believe?

And we're like,

well, yeah,

we want to know

what we truly believe.

You know,

I believe

what the Bible says.

I can get all

of these answers

right on the test.

He says,

if you want to know

what you truly believe,

then there's a formula

for that.

He says,

it's stated belief

plus actual practice

will show you

what you actually believe.

Stated belief

plus actual practice

will show you

what you actually believe.

He says,

you can say

that you believe

in whatever you want

to believe.

You can say

that you believe

that you can fly,

but you're not going

to jump out of a plane

without a parachute.

He says,

you can say

whatever you want to say.

You can say

that you're faster

than a lion,

but I can promise you

if you're in a jeep

on a safari,

you're not going

to jump out of that jeep

and slap a lion

and then take off running

because you think

you're faster than it.

You can say

whatever you want to say,

but your actions

are going to show

what you actually believe.

You can say

that you believe

that Jesus

is greater and better

than anything

in this world.

But what are your actions

showing that you think

is the best?

What are you giving

your life to?

Because you're going

to go after,

you're going to follow

whatever it is

that is most valuable

to you.

Stated belief

plus actual practice

equals actual belief.

If this is something

that you're ready

to do today,

to give your life

to Jesus

and not just be

a statement

that you're making,

but you're saying,

hey, I really believe this.

I really believe

that Jesus is better.

If this is something

that you're ready

to do today,

then I encourage you

to come down

in just a moment

during our time

of invitation.

But if you are

a disciple,

then I encourage you

to do two things.

One,

love those around you

enough

to speak truth

into their lives.

I don't

and you don't

have magic glasses

that tell us

who saved

and who isn't,

but the Bible

does tell us

that we will know

those who follow Jesus

by their love

and by their fruit.

Love people enough

to point them

to Jesus

and encourage them

to follow Him.

But two,

put yourself

in a position

to have others

come alongside you

and keep you accountable.

Maybe that means

joining this church.

Maybe you're not ready

to come down this morning,

but maybe you're ready

to have a conversation

with me.

I'd love to have

that conversation.

But maybe that means

that you're ready

to join a Sunday school class

or a life group

and get plugged

into that community

where it's not as easy

just to be a face

in the crowd,

but you'll have people

who love you,

who will walk alongside you,

who will encourage you,

who will be there for you

during difficult times,

who will be there for you

when everything's going well,

and who will love you enough

to hold you accountable.

There is a level of intimacy

and community

that is hard to reproduce

in a large setting,

so maybe you need

to get plugged in.

And I realize

that these things

can be difficult to do.

I realize that sometimes

it's hard to step in

and do this.

You may have had

a bad experience before,

but don't let that stop you.

This is something

that is so important

that don't let

a bad experience

stop you

from getting plugged in.

I'm sure we've all

had a bad meal before,

but we don't stop eating,

do we?

No.

This is something

that is vital to us

that God has called us

to have as a part

of our lives.

So make sure

that we intentionally

get involved

and plugged

into these things.

I know that it can

be challenging,

but God,

but if God is moving

in your life,

then I encourage you

to follow Him.

Jesus is better

and Jesus is worth it.

Don't miss what is right

in front of you

and hold each other

accountable

and finish well.

Father,

thank you so very much

for who you are.

We thank you for Jesus.

We thank you

for the difference

that He makes

in our life

each and every day.

Lord,

thank you for loving us.

Thank you for sending Jesus.

And so,

Lord,

I pray

that as we go

through this study

of Hebrews

that we see you

more clearly.

See who you are

and what you've done

for us

with fresh eyes.

To see you clearly

and help us

to not miss

what is right in front of us.

Help us to not miss you

as we go through

this study.

Lord,

help us to see you clearly.

Help us to give

our lives to you.

And so,

Lord,

I pray that if there's

someone here today

that hasn't given

their life to you

and they're ready

to do that,

Lord,

that you would give them

the boldness

and courage

to step forward,

come down,

have a conversation

with me at this time

or maybe right after

the service,

grab me and say,

Brett,

I need to talk.

I need to get this right

because I see Jesus clearly.

I see that He is

far better

than anything

and everything

that I'm giving

my life to

and I'm ready

to give my life

to Him.

But Lord,

I also pray

for those of us

who've given

our life to you,

those of us

who aren't just

a face in the crowd

but are your disciples,

Lord,

that you would give us

the boldness

to hold those

accountable in our lives,

that you would give us

the grace

to receive

that accountability

when it's given to us

in love by others.

And so, Lord,

however it is

that you're speaking

to us today,

that you're moving

in our life today,

Lord,

I pray

that we respond

in a way

that shows

that you

and you alone

are worthy.

We ask all this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

I'm going to invite you

to stand.

We're going to sing

a song of invitation

this morning.

If God is speaking to you,

won't you come

as we stand and sing?