Lindsey Blair and Bobby Gilles recap and discuss Pastor Jonah Sage's sermon from Hebrews 12:14-29.
Lindsey Blair and Bobby Gilles recap and discuss Pastor Jonah Sage's sermon from Hebrews 12:14-29.
Bobby: Welcome to the Midweek Checkup. My name is Bobby Gilles, and I am joined by Lindsey Blair. This past Sunday, Pastor Jonah Sage preached from Hebrews twelve, verses fourteen through twenty-nine in our series called A Life Worth Living.
Lindsey: Pastor Jonah encouraged us to look after each other and see the face of God. Now for those of you who either missed the sermon or need help remembering, let’s do the Midweek Checkup.
Bobby: Jonah began by saying that the life of faith is a race run by limping runners. We all limp; we’re all tired. But the writer of Hebrews says in chapter twelve verse sixteen: “Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn for a single meal.” It is NOT POSSIBLE to live a worth living by yourself. It is impossible to endure suffering and cultivate joy on the road of faith alone. And without each other, we will take the way of Esau; the easy way out.
Lindsey: Verse fourteen says, “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life.” The Greek word for "work" here means to move decisively and rapidly. It's not the typical word for "work" in the New Testament. It means to work with intensity and urgency. Sometimes it’s translated as “make every effort.” True peace requires intensity and urgency, real effort. This is connected to living a holy life.
Bobby: The urgency, intensity, and hard work of holy living is carried by the promise that WE WILL SEE GOD FACE TO FACE! That is the joy set before us, what breaths wind into our sails. At the end of our limping race, we get GOD. So how do we do it? Verse fifteen says, “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God.” To understand what “look after” means, we have to understand what it means to have curiosity and compassion.
Lindsey: Curiosity means we take interest in each other and learn to listen to each other. Pay attention, ask questions, listen. This leads to the response of compassion. Compassion is an emotional response to an emotional problem. It's a desire to help. It's feeling with action. So, we listen to one another with curiosity. We encourage one another with compassion.
We make every effort to build peace. And finally, we take a posture of gratitude.
Bobby: So, we look after each other to see the face of God. We are curious, confident that God is always up to something. Compassionate with ourselves and others, because that is how God is with us. And ultimately grateful, keenly aware that God came near, made his home with us, suffered and died for us, was raised for us, and is now seated on the throne of grace for us.
Lindsey: Next Sunday, we’ll dive into Hebrews thirteen as we continue our series called A Life Worth Living. And in Bible Fellowship, we’ll discuss the ascension of Christ from Acts chapter one, since this is the week when the church observes the ascension, one of the most important events in history. Join us and bring a friend.