From the Pulpit

“All children, except one, grow up.” With these words J. M. Barrie begins his classic work, Peter Pan, the title character of which has endeared himself to many for his ability to fly, his wild imagination, his friendship with Tinker Bell, his adventures with the Lost Boys, and his battles with Captain Hook. But behind the carefree facade of the story lays a cautionary tale, one hinted at by the opening line. Throughout, the characters resist, mock, and fight the inevitability of adulthood, instead choosing to live in Neverland. Determined to shirk the responsibilities and expectations of maturity, they naively select perpetual juvenility.

The author of Hebrews has spotted Peter Pan in the church—believers flying around in a state of arrested development, belonging to Christ but refusing to grow-up in Christ. And, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he wants to correct that, inviting believers to experience the beauty and blessing of spiritual maturity.

Many Christians take for granted the fact that we have access to God—that we can sing about him, talk to him, hear from him, be changed by him, and offer service through him. But these are incredible and privileged realities made possible only by God’s grace. In reality, sinful humanity has no business receiving anything from he who is holy, holy, holy other than judgement (Ex 33:20; Isa 6:5; Luke 5:8). Yet, God has made perfect access to himself possible through a perfect High Priest.

God’s people do have access to God today and the author of Hebrews is encouraging us to not forget that reality, to not shrink back from that reality, and to not take for granted that reality. Instead, we are to know our high priest, and let our growing knowledge of his perfection change, excite, and fuel the way we live our lives for him.

It’s been said that “history repeats itself. It has to—nobody listens the first time around.” That there’s a cyclical sense to history is both observable and biblical. Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl 1:9). He also agrees that many people fail to learn from the past: “Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who repeats his folly” (Prov 26:11). According to God, those who unnecessarily relive their own messes are fools. Those who seek to understand the present and anticipate the future without examining the past are fools.

The author of Hebrews doesn’t want his readers to be fools. Instead, he wants them to study their history, to remember the mess their ancestors made, and to avoid the same error. And, likewise, the Holy Spirit calls to the people of God in all eras: “Don’t let history repeat itself. Learn from past sins and, instead of forfeiting rest in unbelief, find rest in obedience.”

An anger that is left unchecked, can lead to destructive consequences. However, a righteous anger can lead to godly living. Discover how we can master this emotion through self-control and through a biblical understanding of anger. Self-control is not just a matter of willpower, but a spiritual fruit cultivated by the Holy Spirit. Learn how to resolve anger and channel our emotions in ways that honor God and bring peace to our lives and relationships. Join us as we uncover the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in helping us control our anger and live in harmony with others.

Discover the transformative power of managing anger in a way that honors God. In the second part of this series, we will explore the fine line between a righteous anger and sin. Learn about the destructive effects of unchecked anger and bitterness, and understand how physical, verbal, and even mental rage can damage our relationships and spiritual well-being.

Anger has often been viewed as a sinful emotion. However, through this sermon, we will explore the transformative power that a righteous anger has, when it is fully aligned with God’s will. Three types of righteous anger will be examined: frustration, indignation, and jealousy. Learn how Jesus' frustrations with His disciples, His righteous indignation against sin, and His zealous jealousy for God’s house, can spur the believer towards godly living and loving service that is aligned with Scripture. Discover how a righteous anger can be harnessed for spiritual growth and a deeper devotion to God.

Writing to a group of tried, tempted, and tired believers, the author of Hebrews reminds them of the absolute, immeasurable, and unrivalled supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the climactic and cumulative self-disclosure of Almighty God to humanity, the uniquely exalted one who humbly and sacrificially accomplished God’s perfect plan, identifying with sinners, dying for sinners, pardoning sinners, and now representing sinners. To look anywhere other than the Son is to settle for deficiency. To cling to anything other than the Son is to settle for instability. To follow anyone other than the Son is to be led deceptively. Simply stated, Jesus is the greatest. There is none like him. He’s as unique as he is awesome, approachable and powerful, our brother and our King, our payment and our Priest.

The Lord Jesus Christ is a person of paradox. There are realities about him that don’t immediately and obviously make sense to creatures like you and me. So, perhaps it’s unsurprising that, during his first advent, many of his greatest lessons shared that confounding quality. For example, he instructed his disciples that, “Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:44–45). The Messiah will be magnified through service? The Almighty will be set above all by dying for all? How does that work? How does that make sense? How can the supremacy of the Son be seen through the the humiliation of the incarnation? Hebrews 2 explores that paradox by showcasing its paragon, the one who uniquely and perfectly exemplifies its truthfulness, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Siblings may look a lot alike until they’re standing side-by-side. A forgery of a painting could fool many until it’s hung next to the original. A runner might consider themselves quite fast until they’re in the starting blocks next to an Olympian. Why? Because proximity can highlight dissimilarity.

The original recipients of the letter to the Hebrews seem to have been forgetting the unique beauty, power, and authority of Jesus. In their immaturity and vulnerability, these believers were struggling to see the difference between Christ’s priesthood and the old priesthood, between his sacrifice and the former sacrifices, between Jesus and Moses, between the Son and the angels. So, the author sets them next to each other, confident that proximity can highlight dissimilarity and, if his readers can only see Jesus and anything else standing side-by-side, the unmatched magnificence of the former will be caught and be convicting.

While there are many ways to get to know another person, the best way is to listen to them when they speak, to hear them describe their sense of right and wrong, their memories of the past, their desires for the present, and their goals for the future. Indeed, it’s near impossible to experience relational intimacy with anyone apart from deliberate attentiveness to what they reveal about themselves.

And what’s true of our relationships with the people around us is true of our relationship with the God above us. If we desire to know our Creator—to worship him rightly, walk with him truly, rest in him fully, grow in him obviously, trust in him totally, talk about him joyfully, and bring people to him urgently—we must listen attentively when he speaks, how he speaks, and through whom he speaks. God wants to be known and he’s gone to great lengths to make that possible. Are we listening?