Sermon Notes: Hebrews

Hebrews 13:20-25
Clay Smith JFBC Senior Pastor
27th and final message in the series

Essential building blocks to running a good race:

1. Purpose - end goal
2. Strategy - why you're doing this
3. Pace - steady progress
4. Perseverance - keep going, finish the race

Getting to know Jesus is just the beginning

Hebrews:
Chapters 1-12 reads like a sermon
Chapter 13 reads like a letter tacked on to the end
Not sure who wrote Hebrews, but he was a preacher. Takes an hour to read the book, but he called it a brief word

1. Purpose v 20 to do God's will, to equip, mend, fix, resetting a bone back into place. God had a Will for all of us

Ephesians 4:10 we are his workmanship. We are valued by God to do his Will to benefit his mission.

Living the Christian life is…
A. To be able to hear from God
B. Do his will

2. Power. Strategy. No one is born a Christian. We all start separate from God. But with Jesus he brings us peace, brings us back from the dead…bigger than just his resurrection. He is exalted, sitting at the right hand of his father God

Purpose is different from the world. Not finding the thing that gives me satisfaction, makes me happy - but doing what God wants us to do

3. Prepare - keep our focus on God. Strategy. Don't do thing's because it feels like the right thing to do. Keep our focus on Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1 fixing our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfector of our faith, our leader. He initiated an eternal covenant of his blood. Jews keep covenants.

Hebrews 8:13 Jesus brought a new covenant and made the old covenant obsolete. We all come equally to God. Faith is only found in Jesus.

Five benefits

A. We have cleansing
B. We can be sincere
C. He changes our desires
D. Gives us grace and mercy
E. Hebrews 12 we have an unshakable kingdom with God

Hopefully this series has widened our view of God

4. Pace. See better the opportunities that God gives us. Run further. Gain endurance. God's view of my life is so much bigger than my own

Hebrews 12:7-12 stay disciplined, is painful but yields peaceful fruit. Comes through challenges and difficulty. Teach your kids how to handle adversity. See challenges as opportunities

5. Persevere. 13:24 greet the saints. You are not in isolation. You are not alone. So many leaders have failed. Most were all alone. To finish well we need the help of other strong believers and family

Hebrews 10:24-25 pledge to encourage other believers around us.