A More Excellent Ministry

In one paragraph

The pastor opened Hebrews 8:1-13 by naming the section's declared main point: we have a high priest who has taken his seat at the right hand of God in the heavens. That single claim, he said, is what the entire argument of the letter has been building toward, and what the rest of Hebrews will continue to unfold. The sermon began by establishing what "main point" means in Hebrews 8. When the author...

Read together

1. Psalm 34 basis for the opening song, taste and see that the Lord is good
2. Psalm 51:12 quoted as an honest prayer, restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit
3. Hebrews 2:17 Jesus had to be made like his brothers and sisters to become a merciful and faithful high priest to make propitiation for sins
4. Hebrews 3:1 dear brothers and sisters, think carefully about Jesus whom we declare to be God's messenger and high priest
5. Hebrews 1:3 Jesus is the radiance of God's glory, exact representation of his nature, who made purification of sins and sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high
6. Hebrews 8:1-13 the main sermon text, the more excellent ministry of Christ as high priest and mediator of a better covenant
7. Exodus 25:40 quoted to show Moses was told to make all things according to the pattern shown to him on the mountain
8. Exodus 25:8-9 God commanded Israel to construct a sanctuary according to the pattern of the tabernacle he would show Moses
9. Jeremiah 31 longest Old Testament quote in the New Testament, cited in full to describe the new covenant God will write on hearts
10. Hebrews 7:11 if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, what further need for another priest after the order of Melchizedek
11. Psalm 51:11 David pleaded that God would not remove the Holy Spirit from him
12. Romans 12:2 benediction, do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind

Talk about it

1. The pastor described the new covenant as internal and dynamic rather than external and static. What does that difference look like in your own daily experience of following Christ?
2. The sermon pointed out that the Levitical priests were still going through their temple routines even as this letter was being written, and the writer of Hebrews warns the readers not to go back to serving a copy and a shadow. In what ways are we tempted to settle for an external, go-through-the-motions faith instead of the real thing?
3. Jeremiah received the word of the Lord faithfully for forty years and was rejected every time, yet he kept looking forward to this new covenant. What does his example say to you about faithfulness when the results are discouraging?
4. The pastor said that putting our faith in Christ initially saves us, but putting our faith in him day after day sanctifies us and makes us whole. How have you seen that ongoing, daily trust actually change something in you over time?
5. The sermon closed with Romans 12:2, the call to be transformed by the renewing of your mind rather than conforming to the pattern of this world. Where in your life right now do you feel the pull to conform, and what would it look like to push back against that through what God has written on your heart?