Community Group Questions: Hebrews 2:10-18

CG Questions: Hebrews 2:10-18

Jesus is Better: Liberator and High Priest

Icebreaker Questions

• Have you ever gotten a perfect score on something that you had to put a lot of effort into? What was that process like and what kind of feelings did you have as you put out the effort?  What kind of feelings did you have in the result?
• Have you ever been through endurance training for a specific purpose or goal?  How did you feel in the process of training?  When you reached the goal? What things helped motivate you in either of these situations?

Discussion Questions for VERSES 10-18

1. How can Jesus, as God himself, be made perfect?  What does the writer mean by this phrasing in verse 10?

2. How was Jesus tested through suffering as a man?  For what purpose did this serve?

3. In verse 10, “founder of our salvation” has also been translated as “trailblazer”.  In what ways do you see Jesus as the trailblazer for our salvation? 

4. Do you find yourself ever growing weary and losing heart as you interact with the culture?  How might it help to fix our eyes on Jesus as the trailblazer? (see Hebrews 12:3)

5. In verse 11, the writer quotes from the 22nd Psalm.  What verse from that Psalm did Jesus pray from his cross? What is significant about the truths being conveyed in v. 1 and v.22 of the 22nd Psalm as it relates to this passage of Hebrews?

6. What is the bond between Christians and Christ Jesus?  How did He bond himself with us? Can it ever be broken? why

7. Verse 13 is a reference to Isaiah 8:17-18.  How do these things also relate to the bond we have with Christ?

8. What accomplishments of Jesus does the writer highlight in verses 14-16?  As our heroic liberator, how do the actions of Jesus mentioned here, bind us to him even more?

9. So far in our study, we have heard the writer reference Jesus as PROPHETIC (ch.1) and KINGLY (ch.2).  What title does the writer give to Jesus in these final verses of chapter 2?  What kind of priest? (merciful/faithful/high/relative to our struggle)

10. Do you ever feel like God cannot relate to our angst and suffering as human beings? Why

11. Are you most inclined to approach God in shame or trust? Why

12. How does this passage relay good news about Jesus to address those feelings?

As brother, liberator and high priest, Jesus is unashamed to call us siblings before God and atones for our sins forever!  We can come before God with clean consciences and welcomed as sons and daughters because of all that Jesus does!

Hey! Pay attention!

There isn’t a single command in Hebrews 1.  Not one!

Hebrews 1 is a declaration that Jesus is better than everything else we attempt to put in front of Him. He is greater. He alone offers fullness of life. Wholeness. But there isn’t a command mentioned. Yet.

Until the word “therefore” shows up in verse 1 of chapter 2. “Therefore” is a word laden with meaning, isn’t it? It means what we’ve just read has consequences – it requires a response.

This declaration in chapter 1 MATTERS…so much so that the next verse is this: “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it…how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”

Have you ever had something extraordinary happen to you, and then actually had to pause and reflect to really appreciate what’s happened?

My first job out of college was working for a U.S. Senator. At 22, I found myself walking through the halls of Congress to the floor of the Capitol, past political figures and government officials I had only ever seen on television or read about in books. I was living a life I had dreamed about as child.

But I was so busy doing my job, stressed out and hurrying from place to place, that the magnitude of the experience eluded me. I never stopped to acknowledge how exciting it all was! Until one day, I was in an elevator by myself, and it hit me all at once. I paused long enough to appreciate what had happened! I paused long enough to fist pump the air, do an embarrassing dance, and thank God for placing me in such an exciting moment. And the next task became a bit sweeter. I was more present. I was able to appreciate the goodness of the gift.

God gives us so many good gifts. Friends, family, spouses, children, work, food, water, heat, health…but even more, He has given us LIFE itself. We owe our very existence to Him. And it’s so easy to go about our lives in such a way that we ignore the goodness of what He has given us. The essence of this goodness is Jesus Himself. The good gift that supersedes all other good gifts is Jesus, and His life, death, and resurrection. He’s the gift that gives meaning to ALL other gifts.

“HEY!!! PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD!!!” is the cry of Hebrews 2. In the midst of our loud and busy lives, it is a full-voiced, arms waving, grace-filled plea to pause and reflect on the miraculous truth that God created humans in His image – with inherent value and worth – and loved us so much, that despite our rebellion and rejection, He continued pursuing us by sending Jesus, fully human and fully God, to live a life we couldn’t live, die a death we wouldn’t have to endure, and wait for it…to rise again so we could share in His resurrection and glory. 

I know life is busy. I know it can be overwhelming – for better or for worse. But God forbid that we should neglect “such a great salvation.” God forbid that we should be so busy that we miss the goodness of the plot. God forbid that we should reject salvation.

Augustine once wrote this prayer, “You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back. Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness. Let us love. Let us run.”

See you Sunday!
Erika

Community Group Questions: Hebrews 2:1-9

CG Questions: Hebrews 2:1-9

Seeing Jesus

Icebreaker questions

• Who is someone you like to follow, read, listen, or watch in media?  And explain why they garner your attention.
• Can you describe a time in your life that you willingly did something humiliating for the good of someone else? Describe what that looked like.

Discussion Questions for VERSES 1-9

1. What do we mean when we talk about the gospel of Jesus?

2. What is the writer contrasting with the gospel of Jesus in verse 2, when he says, “the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution”? 

3. How important is the covenant made through the person and work of Jesus?  Is there a better covenant with God?

4. What kind of validations (vv. 1-4) are given by the writer of Hebrews for us to regard the gospel of Jesus as Christ?

5. What do we know about Jesus? What have we seen of Jesus? (two separate questions/answers may differ)

6. In what way, did we see Jesus as a little lower than the angels?

7. What was the purpose of Jesus coming in this way – living as a man and suffering humiliation as an innocent crucified on a cross?  Why do think Jesus (as God) would do such a thing?

8. In what way does Jesus garner greater glory, honor, and authority after his humiliation?

9. Why is this referred to by the writer of Hebrews as “such a great salvation”?  In what way is this true?

10. What is the ultimate reality about Jesus’ position and authority? Is there any evidence we have for this?

11. How much attention have you given to the gospel accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John?  Why or why not?

12. What importance does the writer of Hebrews place on the accounts of Jesus?  Should that rate them higher for us?

13. In what ways are you familiar with “such a great salvation” as mentioned in this passage? What’s so great about it?

14. What hope do we have of escaping judgment for sin “if we neglect such a great salvation” through Jesus?

15. Have you ever come to view Jesus differently in your life with greater honor and attention?  How so?

16. What “thing/idol” is holding your undivided attention today?  Can you describe how Jesus is better & deserves greater attention in your life?

Prepared 1/12/18 by Jon Davis

Weekly Announcements

Jesus is better.

Jesus is the difference maker. Jesus sets Christianity apart from every other belief system in the past, present, and future.

This may seem obvious. But it’s easy to forget, isn’t it?

It’s easy to forget that He is greater than everything else our idol-producing hearts raise up in His place. It’s easy to talk generically about God and how good He is, but leave out Jesus, the clearest evidence of His goodness, because He is less culturally acceptable than generic spirituality. It’s easy to become so excited about good things – gifts, even, from God Himself – that we elevate them above the Giver of all gifts.

And the irony of it all?

It’s to our own detriment.

We’re going to post up in Hebrews for much of this year, and one thing is made abundantly clear in Hebrews: Jesus is better.

The church audience of Hebrews had become obsessed with angels. It was the trendy doctrine of the day. They had elevated angels above Jesus.

Today we hardly talk about angels…which is a problem in and of itself for another day (they war on our behalf…how incredible is that?!)…but we have our own “doctrines of angels,” don’t we?

The idols we raise up, the generic spirituality we elevate above the Gospel of Jesus, the celebration of the gifts above the Giver…our “doctrines of angels” take different forms. What is yours? What does Jesus wants to supplant in your life?

 [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (Hebrews 1:3-4)

He is more excellent.

For His glory, and for our good, He is more excellent. Nothing else wholly satisfies our souls!

Jesus is extraordinary. There aren’t words in our human tongues to fully describe His might, His dominion, His love, and His grace. But on this earth, even the glimpse we have of His fullness is life-altering. I know this, and so do you. But in our humanity, we forget. Let's remind each other to choose Him over our "doctrines of angels" in the coming months. After all, even the angels were created to worship Him.

See you Sunday!
Erika

Community Group Questions: Hebrews 1

CG Questions: Hebrews 1

1. “God spoke” (Hebrews 1:1) Can any of you share a time when you know God spoke to you? How did it happen? What did He say?
2. How is God speaking through Jesus better than God speaking through the prophets?
3. Make a list of all the things Jesus is and the things Jesus did in Hebrews 1:1-4.
4. List a few ways Jesus is described. Which one is your favorite and why?
5. “After making purification for sins” the Bible says Jesus sat down. What does this imply? How can this encourage us?
6. Names are important. Do you know what your name means or why someone chose to name you what they did? Heb. 1:4 says Jesus’ Name that He inherited is Superior to the Angels. See also Phil. 2:10-11. Have you bowed to the Name/Person of Jesus? Are there areas of your life you’re slow to bow? Why?
7. Jesus is Superior to the Angels because Jesus is the Son. God the Father wants everyone to know that Jesus is His Son. See Mt. 3:17 and Mt. 17:5. If you are in Christ does God the Father “well pleased” with you too? How could such a thought motivate obedience?
8. Even though Jesus is Superior to the Angels ... angels are still very important. How are they described here? What are there jobs? (See 1:14)
9. Our theme for Hebrews is Jesus is Better. In chapter 1 we see Jesus is better than the prophets and the Angels. How is Jesus showing you that He is better today? What are you sometimes tempted to believe may be better than Jesus?
10. Spend some time envisioning Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father speaking a better word on your behalf (Hebrews 7:25). A word of healing, a word of forgiveness, a word of hope. Can you hear Him? He’s whispering ...”I’m better my child...draw near, look to Me.”

I’ll be praying for you all as you pray and study this week!

Prepared 1/9/18 by Steven Helfrich

Community Group Schedule

Dear Bridge Family - 

Our Community Groups will begin meeting again over the next few weeks. If you've been wanting to connect more deeply at The Bridge, these groups, most of which meet weekly, are a great way to plug in and experience all God is doing within our church family. Please click the button below to see the full schedule of groups and start dates. If you have any questions at all, please respond to this email or connect with us via our website. Sign-up sheets will be available in the lobby this Sunday as well. 

Have a great weekend, and see you Sunday!

New Year's Resolutions...Why even try?

I considered not making any New Year’s resolutions this year. After all, it seems as through I rarely keep them. It felt a bit dishonest to resolve to do something I might not actually do.

The sin I’ve clung to over the years – that I’ve often run back to when I've been overwhelmed or stressed out or needed comfort – and the one about which I’ve made many failed resolutions– is gluttony. Instead of running to my Father who loves me, I run to food. I stop pursuing physical health. I work more. I sleep less. I don’t exercise. And I eat whatever I want. And guess what? Like all sin, I end up weaker, more broken, and feeling worse than I did to begin with. There have been seasons in which the pattern has been broken and God has graciously provided freedom from it, and often, when I think I’ve overcome it, I've become apathetic or overconfident and fallen right back into it.

You know what’s refreshing though?

This is a struggle as old as the fall of man.

We’ll wrap up Nehemiah this Sunday, and you know how Nehemiah ends? In Nehemiah 12, the people of God dedicate the wall. They’ve accomplished what they set out to accomplish! They give great thanks to God, celebrate what has been done, and they make plans for continued obedience. But ten years later, they’re in full-fledged rebellion. They’re sinning like there’s no tomorrow, and they’re doing things that run contrary to the reasons they built the wall in the first place. They made resolutions. And then they broke them.

From Nehemiah, The Bridge is heading to Hebrews, but something has changed between Nehemiah and Hebrews. Rather, someone has changed the game. And Hebrews begins with an announcement of the One who provides freedom from the sin that plagues mankind.

Although I have broken resolution after resolution, and although the people of God broke their vows time and time again, God has been faithful. We’ll read in Hebrews about how He never gave up on His people. He doesn’t give up on you, and He doesn’t give up on me. Instead He has offered us the most precious gift in existence: through the death and resurrection of Jesus, He offered us Himself.

This is why we continue to make resolutions.

This is why in 2018, I’m resolving to walk in obedience when it comes to my health. I’m not giving up on resolutions. Because at the root of why I choose to go through a fast food drive-thru when I’m not hungry, or scroll through Instagram when I should close my eyes and get some sleep is a need for comfort in things that can’t bring me comfort. My heart is worshipping and seeking satisfaction elsewhere that only God Himself through Jesus can bring. He alone offers what my soul craves, and by the power of His Spirit and in the community of His church, this year I desire to rest so deeply in His love that it moves me toward fuller obedience for my good and His glory.

Whatever your resolution is this year – or whatever that thing is that you just haven’t been able to kick –  know this: your willpower won’t suffice. But His power is sufficient for you and for me. He has placed people around you to lift your arms when you get tired. He's given you His Spirit to supernaturally equip you to do things you could never do on your own. He didn’t give up on His people in Nehemiah, and He hasn’t given up on you. Don’t give up on yourself. 

May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. – 2 Thessalonians 3:5

Happy New Year!
Erika

Together in Community

Everyone is currently asking the question, “What did you get for Christmas?” Maybe because it’s fun to listen and share about wish lists come true, reflecting on good times we’ve had with others as we’ve exchanged gifts.  For many of us, it used to be the gifts that primarily got our focus, but more likely now it’s the people around us as the gifts are given that we enjoy the most.  It’s also that time of the season when we will look back and reflect on the year past as we anticipate the new one to come.  For some, the past year may have been chock full of cheer; yet for others it may have weighed heavy in pain.  In our focal text this week, we see the people of God coming together as a community to confess, mourn, pray, praise, and submit to God’s word.  As they enter this process, they are reminded of God’s gracious providence, experience renewed passion for Him, and recommit as a community called to live in His ways. 

Looking back over the past month, I am most grateful for the times shared together in community with friends and family.  I can recall some very special gatherings in recent times when I’ve been able to hear others share about their personal struggles and then be reminded about God’s faithfulness through those seasons.  There’s something special about coming together with other redeemed ones and recalling the redemptive pursuits of God in our lives.  Gathering in gospel community, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness to lead us rescued but still rebellious ones always back into His good and gracious presence and to our true identity as sons and daughters of THE King.  And if that’s true – can we really ever hear that said enough? 

Community groups at The Bridge have been on a semester break during the holidays and many of these will resume in the first couple weeks of January.  I know I’ve missed the regular engagement with parents and youth of the middle school group that I am normally with.  I know I look forward to reuniting our gatherings and gleaning from their stories and spiritual support as it always spurs me on to personal faith and action for Jesus.  I’m also excited about the prospects of facilitating another weekly CG for adults to meet in my own home space again.  So many opportunities to have conversations about God and His word, to share and pray over personal convictions, to bond over a shared mission of service, and to encourage each other in the good news and living hope of Jesus as the Christ.  I don’t want to take these opportunities for granted and I hope you won’t either.  The Bridge family has so much to be grateful for as we share in these gifts from God together. 

So as we embark on a new year, may it come to pass that we all hope in the assurance of Jesus to restore and sustain us forevermore.  May we know and relish our gracious Giver and the eternal Hope He lavishes on our lives through Christ.   May His extreme goodness and radical love compel us to supreme devotion toward our everlasting Father and His desires.  May you and I take every advantage of the truth in the gospel and the transforming power of His Holy Spirit for our lives.  May we be a people that value being together in community in order that we remember and recount God’s steadfast love through confessional praise and authentic conversation with others that God has placed around us.  May we be open to the work that God is doing in our midst right now and may we be earnest to unite as partners in faith knowing God works through all these things to draw each of us closer to Him and the heart of His Son.  All glory be to our Rescuer and King Jesus!

Grateful and hopeful in Christ,
Jon

A Confident Hope

This Sunday morning, we’ll sing a song we’ve heard many times before.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day is one of those songs we sing year after year, and yet I’d never really thought about the lyrics or learned about its history. Turns out – like many of the hymns we sing – the lyrics and its history are laden with extraordinary meaning and hope.

Famed American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lived in Massachusetts in the 1800s and had six children with his wife, Fannie. In 1860, Fannie’s dress caught fire, and while Henry was badly burned trying to put out the fire with his own body, she tragically died the following morning, leaving behind Henry to care for their six children.

Two years later, at the age of 18, his eldest son Charley left home, to join President Lincoln’s Union army to fight in the Civil War. On December 1, 1863, Henry received a telegram that his son had been shot through the left shoulder and was severely wounded.

That same year, on Christmas Day, Henry “wrote a poem seeking to capture the dynamic and dissonance in his own heart and the world he observed around him. He heard the Christmas bells that December day and the singing of “peace on earth” (Luke 2:14), but he observed the world of injustice and violence that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook. The theme of listening recurred throughout the poem, eventually leading to settledness of confident hope even in the midst of bleak despair.”*

This year, whether you find yourself in the midst of sadness and despair, or whether you find yourself in the midst of a season of great joy and abundance, may we rest and rejoice in the truth found in Romans 8:

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The baby in the manger grew up, walked the earth, gave up His life for you and me, and lives today to intercede for us. Even as we dwell on an earth still broken by sin and plagued by despair, like Longfellow, we have a confident hope in the One who overcame sin and despair…the One to whom every knee will one day bow, and every tongue will confess that He, Jesus Christ, is Lord. It's this truth that allows us to pray, "Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you," with expectant hearts, knowing that He has, indeed, been good.

The merriest of Christmases to you and your family!
Erika

*Taken from column by Justin Taylor, writing for The Gospel Coalition. 

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

____________________________

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

____________________________

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

____________________________

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

____________________________

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

____________________________

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

____________________________

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

Christmas Eve at The Bridge

Just a reminder:

On Christmas Eve at The Bridge, we'll gather for an abbreviated version of our weekly worship service at 10 AM, and then again for our annual Candlelight Service at 5 PM. Have a blessed week!

Weekly Announcements

Don't Miss Him

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV)

This prophecy from Isaiah opens with the birth of a child.

He would be born in a stable, laid by His virgin mother in a humble feeding trough.

The Word became flesh. God became human.

He did not have to. He was not obligated to. He willingly became like you and me.

Jesus is our unimaginably, mind-bendingly Wonderful Counselor.

Jesus is the indescribably just and righteous Mighty God.

Jesus is our sustaining, Everlasting Father, and He is the Prince of Peace who brings us shalom, who makes us whole.

The greatness of His kingdom and His being is eternal.

And yet He came into our sin-plagued midst, dwelt among us, and voluntarily gave His life so that you and I could experience the fullness of life.

And then, defeating darkness, He resurrected from the dead. Jesus is our risen and reigning King.

And yet we can still know Him intimately. He lives to intercede for us.

Why?

Because our Creator God’s zeal – His passion, His fervor, His jealous love for His people – knows NO bounds.

God loves you.

He loves you because He loves you because He loves you.

That’s why.

Don’t miss the jaw-dropping, earth-shaking, life-giving heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ this Christmas. And as His love transforms you, give it away. Unleash it on everyone you meet.

We serve a gloriously good God, friends.

With great joy and for His glory,

Erika

Living Waters

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
 yes, I will remember your wonders of old. – Psalm 77:11

In the busyness and chaos of this time of the year, do you find it surprisingly easy to forget God’s faithfulness and goodness? I do. As I move from one thing to the next, I can become so wrapped up in the trappings of the holiday that I don’t pause to enjoy the beauty and the magnitude of the hope that this season represents.

The Israelites, too, struggled with amnesia when it came to God’s faithfulness to them. They had to be intentional about remembering how and why He was faithful. So at the end of Nehemiah 8, we find them celebrating the Feast of Booths, during which they built and stayed in temporary lean-tos to remind themselves of the many ways God provided for them while they were in the wilderness, en route to the Promised Land. It was a reminder to trust not in bricks and stone, nor in the new wall that circled Jerusalem, but to trust in God alone for provision and protection.

Just as the Israelites remembered God's faithfulness during the Feast of the Booths, we have an opportunity during this Christmas season to remember God’s faithfulness to us. 

You see, just over 2,000 years ago, the Israelites were again celebrating the Feast of the Booths in Jerusalem. As they had done in Nehemiah’s day, as part of the temple celebration, the priests poured a full pitcher of water into a bowl at the altar to remind themselves of how God had provided water from a rock in the desert when they were desperately thirsty.

But this time, a man named Jesus stood up in the temple courtyard and made a declaration that shifted history. To the temple priests and all who could hear, He said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him (John 7:37-38).”

Just as God had delivered water from a rock to quench the thirst of His people in the desert years earlier, He had again delivered water…but this time, they would never thirst again!!! And neither will we. 

We needn't go through this entire season depleted. Are you thirsty? Are you empty? Are you weary?

Come.

Remember.

Rest.

Drink from His living waters. 

This Sunday morning at 10 we'll remember together at The Bridge. Hope you're able to join us!

Joyfully,
Erika

Weekly Announcements

There are lot of great things happening this December...don't forget mark these dates on your calendar!

Longing & Waiting

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.
- Nehemiah 6:15

It happened! They completed the wall! In 52 days, no less!

The wall is built, but there is still unrest. There is still longing.

The longing that God has placed in the hearts of His people to be with Him – to commune with Him – to experience the fullness of His unfathomable loving kindness – this longing remained for the people of God even after the wall had been built. It was a longing that would not be fulfilled until a small baby boy was born in Bethlehem hundreds of years later – a baby who would be the Savior of the world.

As we approach the beginning of December, Advent reminds us that we, too, are waiting.

“Even on this side of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, there is brokenness in our world no cart full of Black Friday bargains can fix; there is hunger in our souls no plateful of pumpkin custard can fill; there is twistedness in our hearts no terrestrial hand can touch. “The whole creation,” the apostle Paul declared, “has been groaning together for redemption” (Rom. 8:22).

In Advent, Christians embrace the groaning, recognizing it not as hopeless whimpering over the poverty of the present moment but as expectant yearning for the divine banquet Jesus is preparing for us.

In Advent, the church admits, as poet R. S. Thomas puts it, that “the meaning is in the waiting.” And what we await is a final Advent yet to come. Just as the ancient Israelites awaited the coming of the Messiah in flesh, we await the coming of the Messiah in glory. In Advent, believers confess that the infant who drew his first ragged breath between a virgin’s knees has yet to speak his final word.”*

As we continue to learn from Nehemiah, may our hearts look forward with anticipation, willing to push pause on the busyness of this season to allow ourselves to fully feel the longing that God has placed in our hearts as His people. And as we long, may we be thankful for the Messiah who has come – the One who has granted us citizenship in a City of God that will one day be free of opposition and unrest.  It is this truth that invites us to wait well. It is this truth that undergirds our hearts and minds with the "joy of the Lord" Ezra mentions in Nehemiah 8. It is this truth that leads us to worship.

See you Sunday!

*Taken from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-celebrate-advent/ by Timothy Paul Jones

Giving Thanks

For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands. – Nehemiah 6:9

When we begin Nehemiah 6, the oppression has ceased, and the wall is miraculously nearing completion. The people of God have persevered, and victory is near. But their enemies haven’t given up. In fact, Sanballat and the gang are back and more determined than ever.

Nehemiah could have looked at the situation and decided there was no way the wall would get built without bargaining with his enemies. He could have compromised. He could have acted from a place of fear and made idols of self-preservation, comfort, and safety. He could have. I might have.

But the term "self-preservation" is an oxymoron. It leads only to decay. Only God can preserve. Nehemiah knows this. He is on guard. He is wise. He refuses to walk away from the work God has laid on his heart, and because he stays focused on His Father’s business, he doesn’t fall into the many traps laid by his enemies. He trusts that as he continues the work, God will be faithful to bring it to completion. And God – ever faithful to His Word and ever benevolent toward His people – does exactly this.

Many of you have been moved to action lately. You’ve heard the call of God to pick up your tools and build. You are walking in faith, in obedience to what God has for you. Praise God! He is working through you to build His kingdom on earth!

So remember this, friends: no man – no enemy – can thwart God’s purposes. Sanballat never had a chance. Nehemiah knew this. Do you?

When you are faced with opposition – temptation to sin, the brokenness of our flesh and this world, doubt, a desire to self-preserve, apathy, illness, suffering – don’t compromise! Don't fall prey to the ironic idols of self-preservation, comfort, and safety, as I have many times. Be about the Father’s business – continue to build, continue to worship, continue to love, continue to stay humble, continue to be thankful! He is faithful to bring to completion what he begins! 

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. – 1 Peter 5:6-11

May we be people who thank our God for His goodness and faithfulness this week and every week. May we remember that even in our suffering, the God of all grace who has called us to Christ, will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us, now and forevermore. Now, O God, strengthen our hands and bring to completion the work which You have begun. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

With great love and joy,
Erika

Come & Feast

Nehemiah 5 is a story of oppression, injustice, conflict, and resolution among the people of God. It is a story of broken, tired people, who have reverted to sin and are treating one another poorly because they have lost sight of their identity and mission as the sons and daughters of God. Immediate gratification has taken over as their king.

Through Nehemiah, God delivers some tough love to His people in the form of a reminder about who they are, whose they are, and why they exist. Nehemiah goes on to invite many of them to feast with him at his table, where he models selflessness, generosity, and grace.

A few hundred years later, Jesus Christ would perfectly personify the qualities that Nehemiah displayed on occasion; Jesus was and is selflessness, generosity, and grace in the flesh. And as Nehemiah invited these people, fresh out of conflict and sin, to feast at his table, Jesus invites us to feast at His table. It is at this table, through His life, death, and resurrection, that we find unity, peace, and joy.

Is there a brother or sister in Christ with whom you're experiencing conflict right now? Someone whom you need to forgive? Or maybe from whom you need to ask forgiveness? Is there someone with whom you need resolution? A relationship that needs to be restored? 

As we go about the rest of our week, may we live and love one another and our King as Jesus prayed for us in John 17:

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” - John 17:20-26

Sunday, let’s come – humbly and joyfully – and feast at His table, together.

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