Monday, June 29, 2009

Sunday Leftovers

In preparation for last Sunday, I felt like God wanted me to narrow the focus of my message to finding His rest and I'm glad I did. I was so amazed at how this message effected so many. Never in Jubilee's history have so many people come forward for prayer (roughly 80-90 people). If you were one those people who received prayer...I would love to hear a testimony of how God met with you. Leave a comment on this post or email me at bryan@jubileestl.org.

Narrowing the focus to God's rest was absolutely the right call, but there were so many leftover thoughts that I would have liked to included. I'll mention one of them.

In Hebrews 3, Jesus is compared to Moses and it's the writer's contention that Jesus is better than Moses. Now, this wasn't meant to discredit Moses (he was a faithful servant), but rather highlight the greatness of Jesus as a Son and builder of the house.

There are a lot of things we can say about why the writer chose to make this comparison, but the one that I find the most helpful will require us to be reminded that this letter is addressed to a 1st century Jewish audience. What we must remember is that most of these Jewish Christians were probably kicked out of the synagogue and perhaps their families for following Jesus. They became outcasts and their families were probably very disappointed for them turning their backs on the "family religion". It was necessary to remind them that in Christ, they most certainly belong to the House of God. They may have been cast out of the local synagogue, but they have not been cast out by God.

Maybe you have had a difficult time with your family for turning your back on the "family religion". You may even feel isolated and alone for doing so. The writer of Hebrews would remind you that you are not an outcast in God's eyes. If you are a believer in Jesus, you belong to the House of God.

Joint us this Sunday as we continue in our series in Hebrews, Rescued Faith. I will elaborate on finding God's rest and how we can help one another stay there.