Thanks to Jesus, our sins have been forgiven through an atoning sacrifice far better than any sacrifice before or since. Thanks to Jesus, we have a high priest interceding for us at the right hand of the Father, a better priest than any who has ever (or will ever) live. The author of Hebrews has taken ten chapters to drive these two points home. Now the question is, how should we live? Our task in this life is to draw near to God in faith, to hold fast to the hope of good things to come, and consider how best to encourage one another to love. "Draw Near, Hold Fast, and Consider" is the second sermon in Desiring A Better Country, a series on Hebrews 10-11 about the long history of sacrifice and faith that gives us hope for the future. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

Jesus says we should have joy, but we live in a world full of injustice, an age of great suffering. It's hard to feel anything but despair, anger, and outrage. Of all the emotions, joy seems most out of place. Yet we have reason to hope: God promises there are good things to come. In fact, the very best thing -- the cross of Christ -- has come already, and the cross stands as a promise that the rest will also come. Forgiveness of sin is a reason to rejoice, and also a reason to hope that the end of injustice and suffering is on its way. "Good Things to Come" is the first sermon in Desiring A Better Country, a series on Hebrews 10-11 about the long history of sacrifice and faith that gives us hope for the future. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

Mark returns for the conclusion of the series: As a culture, we are drowning in debt. Once we dreamed of getting rich, now we dream of getting out from under our mortgages and credit card balances. We ran up debts chasing after whatever we wanted -- but along with all the stuff came the bill. Was it worth it? One thing is clear: people who know what it feels like to be in bondage to debt can truly appreciate what it means to have your debts canceled. Because the real debt we're trapped under has nothing to do with money. It's the debt of sin we can never pay. "The Canceled Debt" is a sermon on Colossians 2.13-14 about how Christ's work on the cross frees us from the crushing debt of our own sin. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

Feeling dissatisfied? You're not alone. We all feel a little trapped, boxed in by choices that haven't delivered on their promise of happiness. We don't have enough stuff and want more -- or we have too much and want to let go of it. If our circumstances haven't led to satisfaction, we tell ourselves, the solution must be to change those circumstances. And then we remake our lives only to find the old dissatisfaction creeping in again. The Apostle Paul discovered the secret to satisfaction, regardless of circumstances, and it set him free to fulfill his purpose. You can discover the secret, too, by looking past your circumstances and finding satisfaction in your Savior instead. "Satisfied in Christ" is the sixth part of our Summer Series, a sermon by Rev. Ethan Sayler from Lennox Ebenezer Presbyterian Church. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

We don't talk about marijuana very much in church, which is too bad, because it's pretty much everywhere these days. There are some decent arguments floating out there saying that cannabis isn't very harmful, that it has benefits, that it should be legalized. Christians should listen to these arguments, but listen to the Word of God even more closely. Ephesians 5 lays out an ethic involving a Christian community filled with the Spirit, living in anticipation of the return of Christ. They experience genuine transcendence in genuine community, moving toward a genuine hope. Drunkenness, and by extension the "high" lifestyle, and by extension all the escapist options of the modern world, are knock-offs. Pot can only offer mock transcendence in a fleeting community without direction. The gospel offers more. "The Marijuana Sermon" is the fifth part of our Summer Series, a sermon by Dr. Nathan Hitchcock, Assistant Professor of Church History and Theology at Sioux Falls Seminary. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

One way to measure the value we place on things is to ask what we would sacrifice in order to have them. What would you give up for the kingdom of heaven? That's the question Jesus probes in a series of parables found in Matthew 13, where he compares the kingdom to a buried treasure and a priceless pearl. In both cases, the people who discover them give up everything in order to have them. We would be ready to sacrifice everything, too, if only we understood the true value of Christ's kingdom. "Priceless" is the fourth part of our Summer Series, a sermon by Rev. Philip Postma, assistant pastor at Lennox Ebenezer Presbyterian Church. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

As we've seen in our recent study of Hebrews, the lessons people drew from the Old Testament weren't always the right ones. When the Pharisees caught the disciples plucking heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath, for example, they confronted Jesus. Clearly, this was a violation of the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy! But Jesus reminded them that David had done something much graver -- eaten the Bread of the Presence from the tabernacle -- without being punished, and the priests serving God in the temple did the same. The disciples served in an even higher place: the presence of the Lord of the Sabbath. "The Lord of the Sabbath" is the third part of our Summer Series, a sermon by Brandon Haan, the Reformed University Fellowship minister at the University of Minnesota. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

As Christians, our confidence can be summarized in these words of the author of Hebrews: "he who promised is faithful." God makes promises of grace, and he will keep them. It's not our own choices, deeds, or moral character that saves us. What matters is knowing Christ and believing him. "Do You Know Him? Do You Believe Him?" is the second part of our Summer Series. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

We often think of prayer as the thing you do when you can't -- or won't -- do anything else. Prayer is seen as the opposite of taking action. But in Mark 9 we discover there are some tasks so daunting they can only be done with prayer. Maybe we don't act less in the world because we pray instead. Maybe it's become we don't pray enough. And when it comes to prayer, what does success look like? How do we know if we are doing a good job? "Learning How to Pray" is the first part of our Summer Series, an exploration of how the life of prayer connects to daily discipleship. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

If all the sacrifices made by the Old Testament priests were shadows looking forward to the true sacrifice made by Christ, as we saw last time, there's another kind of sacrifice the death of Jesus invokes: the bloodshed that ratified ancient covenants. When God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, it went into effect only after a sacrifice. The same thing happened when God covenanted with Moses in Exodus 24. So, when God proclaimed the new covenant of Jeremiah 31, it was only natural that this once-and-for-all promise would be put into effect by a once-and-for-all sacrifice. If the death of Jesus looks backward, atoning for a whole history of sin, it also looks forward to an everlasting salvation that will come to all who eagerly wait for him. "Eagerly Waiting" is the final part of our series We Have A High Priest, examining the nature of Christ's priestly work In Hebrews 7-9. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.