We tend to consider ourselves and how worthless we are or how awesome we are. In the book of Hebrews, God wants us to consider who we really are, consider what life is really about, and most importantly Consider Jesus. Join us, as we encourage one another through the book of Hebrews, to Consider Jesus. #hebrews #2021
First century Christians were in danger of giving up due to the drastic amounts of persecution. Jewish Christians especially had it hard as they were breaking free from Jewish legalities into the fullness of the gospel. How do you encourage people in hard times to hold strong? This is the context of the letter to the Hebrews.
In any Bible study, the most important element is to keep the context in front of the group at all times. It’s easy to look at the passages through our own context and that will change the meaning of the passage all together. Also, a rule of thumb I always keep is:
“Turn to what you DO know to answer what you DON’T know.”
So, let’s get to know the context of this letter.
At the top, you got the circumstances. As in any hard situation, it’s easy to begin to consider other things, anything to make life easier. For many Christians, they began to add onto “Jesus” to make sense of their hardship. Jesus plus angels, Jesus plus Moses, Jesus plus anything=religion. When you add things to Jesus you get man’s effort to get to God; better known as “religion”. But the author or Hebrews makes it clear that the “word spoken” is God’s word alone acting through Christ alone. He warns his reader to “pay much closer attention” and not to add other things, even in hardship.
It is unknown who the author of Hebrews is. The most popular belief is Paul but there is much debate and uncertainty on this. Other thoughts of authorship range from Barnabas or Luke to Clement of Rome or Apollos. Basically, nowhere in the letter is the authors name given. Neither is clear data telling us the year in which it was written. General thought is that it was written in the second half of the first century but it is unclear if it happened before or after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. What is clear is that it was written in a time of great persecution. While it’s not agreed upon that the letter was written to a Jewish Christian audience, that is the most popular belief. Interestingly, in the midst of so much mystery about authorship, date and audience, the author turns to what we know for sure—God’s word and God’s work.
The letter to the Hebrews can be broken down in simplicity by the following outline:
Take out a piece of paper and write out everything you know about Jesus. Write anything that comes to mind. No particular order-just write.
When you hit hard times, hard questions, or have hard relationships, you want to turn to the things that you know are true. Turning to the things you know are true about God and Jesus are most comforting. Yet it’s very easy to lose sight of those things. You can even begin to question if some of the things you “thought” were true really are true. This is the situation in which we find this letter being written.
The core of the Christian faith is to live in responsive obedience to the word of God and the work of God. Jesus is the revelation of all that God has done, is doing, and will do! We must not add any of man’s work to this. We must know what is true of Jesus. The letter to the Hebrews helps us Consider Jesus
Do you want to love God and others? In addition to going to church and re:group, communicate with God and others during the week. Text, email, call, write, and meet with people. Focus on gratitude. Say, “I’m grateful to God for you, and here’s why.” Tell God and others about your brokenness, hope in Jesus, and the commitments you have made leading to transformation. You’ll find that the more obedient and grateful you are to God and the people He has placed in your life, the more you will grow and help others grow.
Remember silence is not bad. There are people who will never speak if the “speakers” constantly interrupt the silence. You may have to tell your group that :) Some of these questions are designed to move through quickly others are designed to move more slowly. It is about people engaging not getting all the answers or questions. Honor other peoples' time and end group ON TIME even if you don’t get through all the questions. Also, remember that it is ok to say I don't know, but I will try to find out.
At fxchurch, we desire to be a humble and confessional people by modeling it ourselves first. Re:groups are not a place to come to fix others but are a place to GO KNO SHO GRO in relationship to God and others. Our desire is to help people be led in a spirit of grace and truth. We will not condone sinful, selfish, or self righteous hearts and behavior. We will practice patience with others as they discover and are changed in heart and behavior. Anything that is said in the group should not be shared outside the group (unless seeking the counsel of a church leader) so gossip among group members should not take place. Above all else, have fun as you GO KNO SHO GRO.
<aside> 📖 from the fxpress re:group vault, a resource of fxchur.ch
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