Week Four Bible Study Companion Leader: Wendy Blight

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Clementine Rogers
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1 Week Four Bible Study Companion Leader: Wendy Blight Hi, friend! So excited to spend another week of our Bible Study Companion journey with you! This week, we ll look into the Greek translation of some words. Don't let that scare you. I ll walk you through what they mean, and I think you'll be excited and encouraged by what you discover. Today, we ll spend some time in one of my favorite books of the Bible, the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews chapter 6, the author of Hebrews expresses his desire to move his audience from elementary teachings about Jesus to deeper places of maturity. (Hebrews 6:1) He wants them to fully realize the hope they have in Jesus. And, that s just what we want to do here in P31 OBS! In Going to the Well from Chapter 6 of It s Not Supposed to Be This Way, Lysa encourages us with these words, My hope is tied to the unchanging promise of God (p. 105). And, on page 104, she tells us that we are anchored to the hope of God, a hope so few ever truly find. Let s talk a bit more about Jesus and why He is our hope and the anchor for our soul. Read Hebrews 6: We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever... (NIV). In this passage, the author reminds us that as believers in Jesus, we have unwavering hope because of Jesus title and position as our Great High Priest. To gain a deeper understanding of the significance of this passage, let s engage in a little history lesson. Under the Old Covenant, priests offered sacrifices on behalf of God s people for various reasons throughout the year. But, once a year, the high priest entered into a special room behind the curtain in the Temple, called the Most

2 Holy Place, to offer an annual blood sacrifice for God s people to atone for their sin to be made right with God because of their sin. The people, because of their sin, did not have the right or privilege to enter into the presence of God. Only the high priest had that privilege because of His anointed and appointed position. Under the New Covenant, everything changed. Jesus ushered in a new way for God s people to deal with sin. Jesus made Himself the sacrifice. Read Luke 23: Jesus gave His life for our sin once and for all as a final offering. No more annual sacrifices required. The tearing of the curtain in the Most Holy Place symbolized Christ s opening a new way to God. No longer did His people need a priest to enter into God s presence. When Jesus died, He didn t enter into an earthly temple as the high priests did. He entered into God s sanctuary, heaven itself. He transcended time and space. Traveled through heaven s innermost courts into the very presence of His heavenly Father. Once there, He sat down in His rightful place, at the right hand of God the Father. Did you notice how in Hebrews 6:19 the author of Hebrews compared Jesus to an anchor? Friend, as long as you and I stand firm and hold tight to Jesus, to the gift He gave us at the cross, our souls are anchored to Him. We are secure. Our hope is not found in people, relationships, finances, jobs, fame, ministry, power or success. Our souls are anchored in an indestructible sanctuary that nothing and no one can take away! Satan will try to shake us loose. He will attack, isolate, lie and tempt. Lead us into deep sorrow and pain. Distract us with trials and struggles. Trigger doubt and unbelief. All schemes to lead us to distrust God. To ask: Are you there, God? Do you hear me, God? This is just too hard, God.

3 But, when we have Jesus as the anchor of our soul, we know, no matter what Satan brings, God is there always. God loves us always. His plan is good always. Nothing is ever too hard with Him always. Our part is to hold tight to Jesus. To remain tethered to Him through His Word and prayer. Read Hebrews 2:1. We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. What does the author of Hebrews instruct us to do in the first half of this verse? The author calls us to pay attention. In the Greek, this word is prosecho. It means to hold to, turn to, attend to. And the author adds the words most careful to emphasize the importance of how much attention we need to give. This word in Greek means beyond measure, extraordinarily. Interestingly, the word prosecho is another nautical term (like anchor), that means to moor a ship or tie it up. The second half of Hebrews 2:1 contains a warning. What is the warning? Drift away derives from the Greek word pararreo which means to flow past, to slip, to glide by without giving heed to a thing and only occurs here in the New Testament. It s clear the author wants them, and us, to know that there is great

4 danger if they don t heed what they are learning. They risk drifting away from the faith perhaps permanently. What a perfect visual for us! Without an anchor to secure a ship in place, the currents will carry it away into high winds, jagged rocks or terrible storms. Similarly, if our lives are not anchored securely to God s Word, we too will drift away from our faith. If we neglect Bible study, Scripture memorization, and quiet time, it leads to drifting. Drifting is generally a slow process. Few of us intentionally plan to make bad choices. But, we also don t plan NOT to make bad choices. Quite often, we simply make a decision without thinking through the consequences. We make small compromises, what seem to be minor decisions, that one day turn into something that can devastate our lives. Oftentimes, we don t realize it s happening until it s too late. Friend, knowing God s Word is not enough. We must know it, believe it, pay careful attention to it and obey it. We must hear AND LISTEN. We must set boundaries, truths, commands and lines that we commit to never cross. We set them ahead of time so when we are faced with a decision we don t even have to think about it. What does it look like to pay attention to the Truth? How do we neglect what we have heard?

5 What are you actively doing to ensure you keep yourself from drifting? Is there a specific place you see where you are drifting? What steps do you need to take to stop the drift and get back on course? Friend, as we close today, remember our salvation is a great gift, purchased at an even greater price. It brings great promises, blessings, strength, hope, peace, joy, and deep and abiding love. It leads to an even greater inheritance in Heaven. Will you join me today in committing that we will do our best to never ever allow our hearts to drift away? We will commit to stay in the Word and live our lives in obedience to that Word. To know the truth and live the truth because we know that when we do, it changes everything! Write a short prayer of commitment below.

Sermon Notes of Guest Speaker Jeff McSwain's Sermon on October 18, 2015 "Hebrews Initiative #6: Behind the Veil: Humanity Anchored in Belovedness"

Sermon Notes of Guest Speaker Jeff McSwain's Sermon on October 18, 2015 "Hebrews Initiative #6: Behind the Veil: Humanity Anchored in Belovedness" [In today s sermon, part 6 of a 12 part series on the