The Crossing Church Sermons

Lessons on Faith from Noah, Abraham and Sarah

As we enter Hebrews 11, the famous Hall of Faith chapter, we learn that while we have many temptations to quit following Jesus, we have inherited from others an enduring persevering faith to continue with Him. And this is not crazy, this is faith.

The writer of Hebrews continues to encourage those believers and us to stay the course with Jesus by helping them look back at how far they have come and the good they have experienced with Jesus and a look forward to what is to come and why it will be worth it.

In the strongest warning passage in Hebrews, the Spirit of God is helping us to see the eternal hopeless consequences of turning away from Jesus and facing God's wrath and condemnation.

Family, Servant, Missionary are key descriptors of the new identity we have received in Jesus and His Gospel. As we recast vision for 2021, hear how the Spirit is sending us as missionaries to our city in our missional communities.

What does it mean to be made Family by our Father in Heaven?

Because of everything Jesus has done to make us God's fully forgiven and cleansed people, we can draw near to Him, live with a constant hope, and live in this new community of God's people

Unlike the Old Testament sacrifices, Jesus the once and for all final sacrifice accomplished everything necessary for us to be redeemed, forgiven, sanctified as God's people forever.

Jesus, a priest King, like Melchizedek, is the source of our life, our better hope, and intimacy with God.

We are encouraged to move on to maturity by God's grace, not falling away but persevering with Christ demonstrating the reality of our life with Him through fruits of obedience.

The Old Testament High Priesthood prepared God's people for our Great High Priest - the Son of God, Jesus. He alone is the eternal priest, the suffering priest, and the sufficient priest and source of our eternal life.

God's Word is Alive, Effective, and Penetrating. While we are constantly tempted to believe the lies of our enemy and retreat from God's rest, God's Word help us to fight with truth against the enemy's lies. So we can continue in belief and continue in His Rest

God's Rest, first revealed after creation, promised and imperfectly experienced by the Israelites, but still available today to those who believe will one day be perfectly experienced by all of God's people for all of eternity. This drives our striving and labors today - knowing we are secure in His rest and His work.

The writer of Hebrews gives warnings through the reminder of how easily the Israelites fell from joy and commitment to grumbling and unbelief. The writers urges the church to combat this unbelief by encouraging one another.

The writer of Hebrews clearly shows who we are, who Jesus is, and then urges the church to consider, cling to, fix our eyes on Jesus.

In today's passage, be amazed at all that Jesus has done to transform our sinful broken reality as humans. This passages is filled with the necessity of the incarnation and what Jesus was able to accomplish for us in taking on flesh.

The writer of Hebrews gives us our first warning passage by sharing his pastoral concern about drifting away, sharing his argument about Jesus and his new covenant being superior to the old covenant mediated by angels, and by warning us not to neglect this great salvation Jesus has accomplished.

Jesus created the angels, rules over them, is worshipped by them, and sends them to serve believers. Therefore, we can worship Jesus alone because He captivates us more than angels or anything else, we can trust Jesus because He is our King, and we can give our lives in serve to the spread of His gospel.

To a group of believers tempted to quit pursuing Jesus, the writer of Hebrews begins to exhort them to persevere by laying a strong foundation focused on the Son of God as God's final and fullest voice. There is not one like Him - how can you turn away?