Confidence to Enter, Boldness to Go

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray returned to the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector from Luke 18, which had been on his mind since preaching it a few weeks earlier. From there he moved into the closing verses of Hebrews 10, framing the morning's communion service around three "let us" exhortations. A story from a short-term mission trip to Morocco, made heavy by the morning's news of the earthquake near...

Read together

1. Luke 18:9-14 the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, which had been preached two weeks prior and was revisited as the thematic foundation of the sermon
2. Hebrews 9 the old covenant and its sacrificial system contrasted with Jesus as the once-for-all atoning sacrifice
3. Hebrews 10:19-25 the main text read and expounded, covering confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus and the three let-us exhortations
4. Hebrews 4:1 cited as an earlier let-us exhortation: therefore let us fear
5. Hebrews 4:11 cited as a let-us exhortation: let us be diligent to enter that rest so that no one will fall through following the same example of disobedience
6. Hebrews 4:14-16 cited for the great high priest who has passed through the heavens, tempted in all things yet without sin, so let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace to receive mercy
7. Hebrews 6:1 cited as a let-us exhortation: let us press on to maturity, leaving behind elementary teachings about Christ
8. Acts 15:36-39 cited to illustrate the same Greek word used in Hebrews for stirring up, here describing the sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark
9. Jeremiah 31 referenced as the Old Testament proclamation of the new covenant that Jesus declared fulfilled at the Last Supper
10. Joel briefly referenced alongside Jeremiah as a source of the new covenant promise
11. Romans 12:1 closing charge to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, as your true and proper worship

Talk about it

1. The tax collector beat his chest and prayed, 'God be merciful to me, the sinner,' and Jesus said he went home justified. What do you think it actually costs a person to pray that prayer and mean it?
2. Pastor Ray described Abdel praying that God would reveal the truth, and promising to live the rest of his life for whatever God showed him. What strikes you about that kind of prayer, and what would it look like for us to pray with that same openness?
3. Hebrews says we can have our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. Pastor Ray made a distinction between getting rid of guilty feelings and getting rid of guilt itself. How have you seen that difference play out in your own life?
4. The passage calls believers to 'let us draw near,' 'let us hold fast,' and 'let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.' Which of those three do you find hardest to do consistently, and why?
5. Pastor Ray said the goal of stirring one another up is not just getting together but getting the gospel out of our 'little cells.' What is one practical way your group could encourage each other toward that kind of outward movement?