Sermon Transcript March 29, 2015 J e s u s i s J e s u s i s B e t t e r A sermon series on the book of Hebrews Loving God, Loving People, Making Disciples Jesus: A Better Hope Hebrews 10-11 This message from the Bible was addressed originally to the people of Wethersfield Evangelical Free Church on March 29, 2015, at 511 Maple Street, Wethersfield, CT, 06109 by Dr. Scott W. Solberg. This is a transcription that bears the strength and weaknesses of oral delivery. It is not meant to be a polished essay. An audio copy of the sermon on CD is available by request at (860) 563-8286. An audio version of this sermon may also be found on the church website at www.wethefc.com. 1
Sermon Text Hebrews 10 1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book. 8 When he said above, You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, Behold, I have come to do your will. He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds, 17 then he adds, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. 26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine; I will repay. And again, The Lord will judge his people. 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of 2
endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For, Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. Hebrews 11 1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, Through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and 3
sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. 29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated 38 of whom the world was not worthy wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Jesus: Our Confident Hope As we are making our way through the book of Hebrews, this morning we transition into the practical section of the book. Up to this point, the author has been building his case. He has been making his appeal. He has been urging his readers to not drift away from God and to not harden their hearts against the voice of God lest they fall away. Throughout this letter, he has been calling them to hang in there and to persevere in their faith, to hold their original confidence firm to the end. In other words, he is encouraging them in their faith, like I am encouraging you to keep on keeping on. Keep on believing. Keep on trusting God. Keep on following Jesus. Keep on surrendering and submitting your life to Jesus. Don t you find we often need that same kind of encouragement? Here is what you find as you walk through the first ten chapters of Hebrews. The encouragement to keep on believing and trusting God is anchored in the object of our faith. It is anchored in Jesus and the supremacy of Jesus over all things. In other words, Jesus is worth it! A lifetime of following Jesus is worth it! Throw what you want up there to compare to Jesus and each time, Jesus comes out as being of greater worth. He always comes out on top. And that is what the writer of Hebrews is demonstrating. What about angels? Jesus is better. What about Moses? Jesus is better. What about the Old Testament priests? Jesus is better. What about the old covenant? Jesus is better. What about the sacrifices for sin in the Old Testament? Jesus is better. Feel free to come up with your own list if you want. Feel free to throw whatever you 4
want up there to compare to Jesus and Jesus still comes out on top. What if I try to do life on my own, without God? Jesus is better. What if I sacrifice it all to gain the world and to make it my goal to have the most toys possible at the end of life? Jesus is better. What if I live for pleasure and just simply feed all my urges and desires. Jesus is better. What if I make it my ambition to do good? Well that is relatively good but if it is apart from Jesus, it is still missing the main thing. What about religion? Religion is good, but if it is not centered on Jesus, you are missing it altogether. Some of you know this because you have been chasing something in life and it hasn t satisfied. It is part of the reason why you are here this morning. And if it is not Jesus you are chasing, then you know there is something missing. There is still an ache in the heart and an emptiness yet to be satisfied. St. Augustine put it this way, Because God made us for himself, our hearts are restless until they find their rest in him. Why? Jesus is better! How is it that Jesus is better? If I could take these ten rich and full chapters and boil the argument down to two thoughts, it would be this. First of all, Jesus is better because Jesus is the Son. And by the Son we mean that he is the one who sits supreme over all things and is Lord of all. That is what we are going to celebrate next week when we come and take a peek into the empty tomb. The resurrection of Jesus is his crowning moment and as he ascends into heaven he sits in authority over all things. So Jesus is better because there is no one who has greater authority than Jesus! But that is not all. Not only is Jesus our king, but he is also our priest. A priest brings others to God through the offering of sacrifices for sin. And so what we discover about Jesus is that not only is he our priest, but he is also the sacrifice for sin. That is what we will celebrate on Good Friday. Here is what we read of Jesus in Hebrews 10:11-12, And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ has offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. There is that mixture of priest and king again. He sat down because the work of atonement is finished! He is at the right hand of God because he rules over all things. Jesus is better! And so these ten chapters are boiled down to a concluding statement in Hebrews 10:16-18. Here it says, This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord, I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds. In other words, when we come to Jesus, he fills us up on the inside and fills us with a love for God and for people. And then it says, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. All of our guilt is gone and all of our sin is forgiven in Jesus. Jesus is better! It is with this in mind we make transition to the practical impact this makes on our lives 5
and how we live day to day. Hebrews 10:19 begins that transition to the practical with the word Therefore. In other words, since Jesus reigns over all things and at the same time is our priest and our sacrifice for sin, Therefore, we have confidence to approach God. Since Jesus has come into our lives and is changing us from the inside and since through Jesus our sins have been forgiven, Therefore, we have confidence to approach God and we know that he joyfully receives us. Because of Jesus, our relationship with God is marked with a measure of confidence. This practical section begins with the assertion, we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus. The word confidence is a settling word. We don t need to fear any hesitation or reluctance to approach God. An attitude of confidence is key to persevering in our faith. It is essential to helping us keep on keeping on. Because of Jesus we have a confident hope that causes us to persevere. It is sure. Would you use the word confidence to describe the tone of your faith? Are you confident that in Jesus you have full access to God who greets you with arms opened wide and that with Jesus you have a better possession and a great reward? I find the warning of Hebrews 10:35 to be interesting. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence. Through this warning, we are being encouraged to hold firm to our faith with great confidence and to not loosen the grip of our faith in Jesus. What could tempt you to throw away your confidence in Jesus? I think there are two things that stand out in my mind. One would be our daily struggle with sin and our flesh. And so we begin to lose confidence because we wonder if God will accept us with open arms because we keep messing up. That is the context of verse 19 where we are told to draw near to God. Why? Because we have a great priest over the house of God. We are told to draw near to God. Why? Because we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus. Our confidence is not in ourselves. Our confidence is in Jesus, the cross and the empty tomb! Thus we draw near with hope. Our suffering is also something that can tempt us to throw away our confidence in Jesus. That is the context of verse 35. These people who received this letter, we find out in verses 32-35 that they had suffered greatly. Some were imprisoned. Some had their property confiscated because of their faith. As Christians, we are not immune to suffering and hardship and illness and death. And yet, these people endured in their faith in the midst of their suffering. How? They knew they had a better possession in Jesus and a greater reward. They were marked with a confidence because they had eyes of faith to see what was theirs beyond this world. It says at the end of the chapter, But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. That is a confident faith that does not waiver. 6
And so the practical result of all that we have in Jesus is that we should be marked with a confident faith. It is a faith that is anchored in a real hope that we have in Christ. So practically speaking, what does God give us to grow us in our confidence in Christ? We all struggle with doubts and we have those things in our lives that tempt us to throw away our confidence. What does God give us to keep us from throwing away our confidence and losing grip on our faith? Do you know what God gives us to build our confidence in Jesus? He gives us salad and stories. The salad is in Hebrews 10:19-25 where four times we read, Let us... Let us... Let us... Let us. A steady diet of these four things will grow your confidence in Jesus and help you persevere in your faith. The stories are found in Hebrews 11. Here you have story after story, often in difficult circumstances, where people of faith have endured because of the confidence they had in God. Hebrews 11 opens, Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. The salad sustains us. The stories inspire us. The result is a growing confidence in the hope we have in Jesus and a faith that perseveres to the end. A Steady Diet That Sustains Us - Let us... Let us draw near to God - This is a great invitation. If you have repented of your sin and turned in faith to Jesus, the invitation to you is to continually draw near to God. This is an invitation that is repeated numerous times in the book of Hebrews. For example, in Hebrews 7:25, it says, Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him [Jesus], since he always lives to make intercession for us. What does it mean that Jesus makes intercession for us? It means that Jesus is our priest forever and it is based on his one time sacrifice for sin. And so, we have a permanent access to God through Jesus. Jesus will never cease being our priest. He is a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.. The sacrifice for our sins will never cease being able to atone for our sin. We have unhindered access to God! So draw near! Why wouldn t we? Charles Wesley wrote the words to this hymn, Arise, my soul, arise! Shake off thy guilty fears; The bleeding Sacrifice in my behalf appears. Before the throne my Surety stands; My name is written on his hands. He ever lives above, for me to intercede, His all-redeeming love, his precious blood to plead. His blood atoned for all our race, And sprinkles now the throne of grace. 7
Five bleeding wounds he bears, received on Calvary; They pour effectual prayers, they strongly plead for me: Forgive him, oh, forgive! they cry, Nor let that ransomed sinner die. My God is reconciled; his pardoning voice I hear. He owns me for his child; I can no longer fear. With confidence I now draw nigh, And Father, Abba Father! cry. Again, in Hebrews 4:16 we read, Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. In Hebrews 11:6, drawing near involves believing and seeking after God. And so we come back to our verse in Hebrews 10:22 where we are encouraged to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean. In other words, keep turning to God in prayer. Sometimes when we stray from God or struggle with sin, we don t feel worthy to draw near. Or we question how God will respond to us. Well, we aren t worthy, and yet, our acceptance before God is not found in our performance. Rather it is found in the cross of Jesus. How long is Jesus our priest? Forever! That is how long we have access to our loving Father, so Let us draw near and live in humble dependence upon God. Maybe it is a daily prayer of confession and surrender. Maybe it is the thoughtful praying of the Lord s Prayer. Maybe it is daily asking for the filling of the Spirit. Whatever the case, as we daily draw near, we gain confidence in our faith. Let us hold fast the confession - The word confession needs to be defined here. Often when you see that word, you think of confessing your sins. That is not how this word is being used here. Here, the word confession means our confession of faith. It is a reference to our statement of faith and what we believe. It points us to the creeds and what we believe. We rehearsed part of our confession this morning when we said, We believe in the personal and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission. Because we know that there is something beyond this life and what we do in this life matters for the life to come, it motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission. Our confession brings confidence to our faith. I like how the word hope is tied to this phrase. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. When we come next week and we proclaim, He has risen!, 8
that is our confession. In the response you can hear how our confession breeds confidence. He has risen, indeed! This is our confidence! Our entire faith hinges on Jesus Christ who was crucified, buried and risen from the dead. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, we have no hope and our faith is in vain. This is why every Sunday we make confession of our faith. This is what holds us. This is what defines us. This is what shapes us. This is what reminds us, even though many in our world may scoff at such thing, we rest in the hope that through Jesus, we have the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works - I don t feel I need to say much about this one because this is what we have been talking about quite a bit over the past few months. It is in the context of relationship and Christian friendship that we grow in the confidence of our faith. It is through relationships that we receive encouragement and we work through our struggles together and pray for each other. You have been hearing story after story of how our Community Groups have increased faith in God and have given strength for the journey. Our confidence in our faith grows when we take time for community. I am so excited that staring in April we will have at least 23 Community Groups and about 230 people in these groups. As you take time to invest relationship around God s Word, you will grow more confident in your faith. Let us not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some - I know that in the ESV the words Let us are not there, but it is implied. There is something unique being referred to here. Literally, this phrase means, do not forsake the assembly of yourselves. The word translated meet together refers to the formal gathering of God s people for worship. We are not to neglect what we are doing right now. This is important. The weekly worship service ought to be a high priority in your weekly schedule. Just like you wouldn t think of missing work or missing class, or dare I say your favorite TV show or that game - this needs to be a priority in your life. It is not a surprise that regular church attendance is in decline in our country. It doesn t surprise me because it is a statement of where our culture is with regards to faith. The good news in all this is that we know we are living in a mission field. Here is what concerns me. Regular attendance is no longer defined by weekly attendance. On any given week, 30% of the congregation is missing. Regular attendance in the worship service now means twice a month. What we are doing right now is important to the forming of our faith. Kevin DeYoung wrote an article and this was the title, Worship Is More Important 9
Than Your Small Group. You can understand why that would catch my attention, given the forming of our Community Groups. But it was not an article against small groups. He values small groups. But they don t supplant the weekly gathering of God s people for worship. Here is what he said about the weekly worship service, There is a reason the sermon has never been exchanged for a question and answer time. We gather to hear proclamation, not discussion. The pastor is ordained to minister the truth of God s Word and to administer His sacraments. Therefore, when he enters the pulpit he is to speak and apply the words of Christ to his people... We need to hear a Word from outside of us. He is the Creator, we are the creation. He is the King, we are his subjects. He is the Head, we are the body. He speaks, we listen. Like Job, it is right and good that we would put our hands over our mouths and just listen to what the Scriptures tell us about who God is and what God requires of us. Fallen human beings need the weekly routine of listening, which requires the halt of questioning, philosophizing and speculation... There is a time and place for discussion and asking questions about the Word of God. It serves a real purpose, but frankly, it matters more what God has to say than what we have to say. 1 This weekly gathering is designed to build confidence in our faith. I often find that there is a connection between those who are drifting away from God and those who have drifted from the weekly gathering of God s people for the worship of God and the proclamation of God s Word. So in very practical terms, God has given us means of grace to grow us in the confidence of our faith. If you feel that you have a waning confidence in Christ, ask yourself: Am I daily drawing near to God through Jesus? Am I holding fast to the confession of our faith? Am I connected into Christian community and relationship? Am I attending the weekly worship of God with his people? These are the things that sustain us! There are the things that keep us from throwing away our confidence. Stories That Inspire... By Faith The final verse of Hebrews 10 leads us right into Hebrews 11. Hebrews 10 ends like this, But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. And then we walk into Hebrews 11, often called The Hall of Faith and we have all these stories of those who have lived with confident faith 10
in God. They did not shrink back. It is here we read of such giants of the faith Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Moses, just to name a few. We find in the beginning and the end of this chapter that these people were commended for their faith. It is in verse 6 where we are remind that without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. So what was the common thread that held together these stories of faith? Do you know what it is? It is hope! It is the assurance and certainty that the promises of God will be kept and that there is something that awaits us beyond this life. And so we can persevere, even in trial and death because we have hope. It is the conviction of things not seen. Faith is a specific trust in the elements of Christian hope which we share with Old Testament believers, such as a heavenly country (11:16) and a better resurrection (11:35). And so our faith is focused on the future; on things not yet seen (11:7), or things seen from a distance (11:13). Although Abraham left home without knowledge of where he was going (11:8), he was looking forward to a city designed and built by God. 2 Because of Jesus, we have a better hope. That hope is not wishful thinking. Rather, it is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. This hope is sure because we know that Jesus has risen from the dead. Therefore, since we have this hope, let us walk through this life with confident faith as we obediently persevere and continue to follow Jesus. Kara Tippets died this week. This mother of four, lost her two year battle with breast cancer. She was 38 years old and the wife of a pastor in Colorado. She chronicled her journey through a blog titled, Mundane Faith. She gained national notoriety when she wrote an open letter to Brittany Maynard, the 29 year old who this past November ended her suffering from brain cancer through assisted suicide. In this letter she wrote to Maynard, Dear heart, we simply disagree. Suffering is not the absence of goodness, it is not the absence of beauty, but perhaps it can be the place where true beauty can be known. In your choosing your own death, you are robbing those that love you with the such tenderness, the opportunity of meeting you in your last moments and extending you love in your last breaths. 3 Tippets died on March 22. Her last entry in her blog was posted March 25 and it was designed to be posted after she died. She writes, It's impossible for me to not imagine coming to this place again to share my heart new with you. It seems impossible that this journey has finally come to an end. But I've done gone and 11
Conclusion flown away to the land of no more tears - won't you rejoice with me? My pain is gone, my fears are calmed, I'm in the sovereignly good hands of Jesus. He is my forever enough now. What bliss I'm sure I'm enjoying. It's hard for me to separate my feelings for that place and this. 5 We have a hope that is sure and this hope is what give us a confident faith. May our stories of faith inspire others. It doesn t mean we don't lament or struggle or grieve the suffering we encounter in our lives. We do. And yet, we do not waiver in faith because our hope is sure. We endure! Why? We have a certain hope! And so, the outworking of our faith in the Son who reigns and our eternal priest who ever lives to intercede for us is that we are marked with a confident faith. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. So... Eat your salad and read your stories! Let us draw near to God Let us hold fast our confession Let us stir one another to love and good deeds Let us not forsake the weekly gathering of God s people Be inspired by stories of faith past and present and in doing so, God is writing your story of faith as you rest in the hope we have in Christ. May it be said of us, By faith, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. 1 Kevin DeYoung Worship Is More Important Than Your Small Group March 3, 2015 http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2015/03/03/worship-is-moreimportant-than-your-small-group/ 2 Alan Perkins God Revealed in the Son 2009 http://www.journeychurchonline.org/adobe/ Hebrews.pdf 3 Sarah Pulliam Bailey Kara Tippets, who wrote an open letter to Brittany Maynard, has died March 22, 2015, www.washingtonpost.com 4 Kara Tippets Letter to my readers upon my death March 25, 2015 http://www.mundanefaithfulness.com/home/2015/3/25/letter-to-my-readers-upon-mydeath by Dr. Scott Solberg - All rights reserved 12