Neac - Newtown: Erskineville Anglican Church

Hundreds of years before Jesus, the Jewish people were exiled into an unfamiliar land and placed under foreign rule. Out of hopelessness and despair, God used Daniel to remind them, and now us, to place our identity in God alone who reigns over and in every kingdom. Do not fear, but be courageous and live out the wisdom of Christ who is your solid rock.

Hundreds of years before Jesus, the Jewish people were exiled into an unfamiliar land and placed under foreign rule. Out of hopelessness and despair, God used Daniel to remind them, and now us, to place our identity in God alone who reigns over and in every kingdom. Do not fear, but be courageous and live out the wisdom of Christ who is your solid rock.

Hundreds of years before Jesus, the Jewish people were exiled into an unfamiliar land and placed under foreign rule. Out of hopelessness and despair, God used Daniel to remind them, and now us, to place our identity in God alone who reigns over and in every kingdom. Do not fear, but be courageous and live out the wisdom of Christ who is your solid rock.

Hundreds of years before Jesus, the Jewish people were exiled into an unfamiliar land and placed under foreign rule. Out of hopelessness and despair, God used Daniel to remind them, and now us, to place our identity in God alone who reigns over and in every kingdom. Do not fear, but be courageous and live out the wisdom of Christ who is your solid rock.

Hundreds of years before Jesus, the Jewish people were exiled into an unfamiliar land and placed under foreign rule. Out of hopelessness and despair, God used Daniel to remind them, and now us, to place our identity in God alone who reigns over and in every kingdom. Do not fear, but be courageous and live out the wisdom of Christ who is your solid rock.

Hundreds of years before Jesus, the Jewish people were exiled into an unfamiliar land and placed under foreign rule. Out of hopelessness and despair, God used Daniel to remind them, and now us, to place our identity in God alone who reigns over and in every kingdom. Do not fear, but be courageous and live out the wisdom of Christ who is your solid rock.

Hundreds of years before Jesus, the Jewish people were exiled into an unfamiliar land and placed under foreign rule. Out of hopelessness and despair, God used Daniel to remind them, and now us, to place our identity in God alone who reigns over and in every kingdom. Do not fear, but be courageous and live out the wisdom of Christ who is your solid rock.

Hundreds of years before Jesus, the Jewish people were exiled into an unfamiliar land and placed under foreign rule. Out of hopelessness and despair, God used Daniel to remind them, and now us, to place our identity in God alone who reigns over and in every kingdom. Do not fear, but be courageous and live out the wisdom of Christ who is your solid rock.

We are to face our hardship as part of God's discipline and development of us as his children. Inspite of opposition we are to continue to be faithful and ensure we “do not refuse him who speaks” (Hebrews 12:25 NIV11) in the person of his Son. The reality of our God is that he is a consuming holy fire, not to be taken lightly.

To encourage our faithfulness to the person of Jesus, we are to consider the faithful witness of all of God's people who “were longing for a better country—a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16 NIV11) and so persevered through what they faced. We are to “ run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:1–2 NIV11) We are to look for the fullness of God's promises not in this world, but in the perfect city to come.

On the basis of the remarkable ministry of Jesus our high priest and the blood of his sacrifice, we are to confidently come to him, unswervingly hold to him and encourage each other to persevere (Heb. 10:19-25). If we leave behind his sacrifice, only judgement will remain (10:26-31).

As the high priest of a better covenant, Christ entered the true tabernacle in heaven “he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12 NIV11) If the blood of the Old Covenant cleansed God's people, how much more can the blood of Christ cleanse us from our sin!

Jesus, as a greater high priest, also mediates a better covenant. By establishing the new promised covenant from the book of Jeremiah, the Old Covenant is laid aside.

Ed Shaw, author of the 'Plausibility Problem: the church and Same Sex Attraction' speaks to Church in the Graveyard on John 4

The writer of Hebrews in this passage establishes the legitimacy of Jesus as a priest, not in the traditional order of Levi but another little known order, that of Melchizedek (7:1-3). This significance of this order lies in patriarch Abraham's willingness to give him a tenth of everything (7:4-10). The failure of the OT priesthood is established by the need for another, prophesised in Psalm 110, in Melchizedek's line. Jesus' superior priesthood is based on his eternal ability to cover and save from sin.

In the first dire warning of Hebrews, we learn that to turn away from the final finished work of Jesus will end in destruction (6:4-8). This strong warning is accompanied by a hopeful exhortation to continue in the good faith the Hebrews have already shown (6:9-12). The ground of confidence is not in ourselves but in the sure promises of God spoken in the person of Jesus (6:16-20).

In the opening of the passage, we are given a clear summons to depend upon Jesus' work as High Priest. Jesus' ability to sympathise with our weakness gives us great cause for confidence in the mercy and grace we will receive from him if we draw near. Jesus' role before God and his humble path to obedience makes him our champion in need and sin.

As we continue our look at Hebrews, we see this week that the cosmic Christ of chapter 1 is also the one who came among us to taste death, defeat the devil, cleanse our sin and become a great high priest for us. Jesus shared our humanity in order to be a faithful high priest for us and to call us his brother. Jesus' humanity does not diminish his glory, but is instead the reason for it.

This week, we begin our look at the book of Hebrews. In the opening passage, we get a summary of the book as a whole. We see the glory of Jesus Christ, in whom is the final word spoken by God, the revelation of God himself in human flesh. He is the one who sustains creation and provides purification for our sins. He is vastly superior to angels! Our great danger is in drifting away rather than paying close enough attention to him. We are summoned to 'pay the most careful attention' (2:1) to the word of the gospel.

At the heart of the passage is reopening the theme of 1 Samuel: finding a leader. Because David, as good as he is, is found wanting at the end. They needed, and we need, someone who both stands with us in our predicament and leads us through it into salvation.