Christ Be All Around Me

In one paragraph

Pastor Mark picked up where he left off the previous week in Hebrews 4:14 through 5:10, working through the passage that describes Jesus as our great high priest. He spent the sermon building a case for why that title means something, drawing on the Old Testament priestly system and the mysterious figure of Melchizedek. The goal was not just to explain a theological category but to show why it...

Read together

1. Psalm 33 Opening verse: 'Let your unfailing love surround us, oh Lord, for our hope is on you'
2. Hebrews 4:14-5:10 The main preaching text for the sermon
3. Psalm 2 Quoted as God speaking to the Son: 'You are my Son, today I have begotten you'
4. Psalm 110:4 Quoted to establish Christ as 'a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek'
5. Genesis 14:18 Melchizedek, king of Salem, bringing out bread and wine and blessing Abraham
6. Numbers 16 The Korah rebellion, illustrating that no one takes priestly honor to himself
7. Philippians 2 Christ humbled himself, and God therefore exalted him above every name
8. Isaiah 7 Quoted as Jesus saying 'I will put my trust in him' and 'I will wait for the Lord'
9. Hebrews 2:9 Jesus made for a little while lower than the angels, crowned with glory because of his suffering of death
10. Hebrews 2:13 Jesus quoting Isaiah: 'I will put my trust in him'
11. 1 Peter 2 While reviled he did not revile in return but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously
12. 2 Corinthians 13 Benediction: 'May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of his Holy Spirit be with you all'

Talk about it

1. The pastor walked through several 'let us' encouragements from Hebrews, including 'let us pay closer attention to what we have already heard so that we do not drift away from it.' Where in your own life do you notice yourself drifting, and what does paying closer attention actually look like for you day to day?
2. The pastor described the difference between a throne of judgment and the throne of grace, and said believers can 'keep on coming before God and keep a right relationship with him through Jesus' sacrifice.' What gets in the way of you actually approaching God with that kind of confidence?
3. The text says Jesus 'offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears.' The pastor suggested Jesus may have done this regularly when he withdrew to pray, not just in Gethsemane. What does it do to your own prayer life to picture Jesus praying that way?
4. The pastor pointed to 1 Peter and said some in the room are going through difficult circumstances where defending themselves is not working and people are reviling them. He encouraged entrusting yourself to God who judges righteously. What does that kind of trust look like in practice, and what makes it hard?
5. The pastor said 'what you really believe is what you act on,' and tied obedience directly to genuine belief rather than to earning salvation. How do you personally hold those two things together, that salvation is by faith and not works, while also taking seriously the call to obedience?