God Has Spoken Through His Son

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray opened the series on Hebrews by working through the book's opening four verses, a single masterfully constructed Greek sentence. His aim was to show that the central argument of the whole letter is this: Jesus is supreme above everything, and that claim is meant both to anchor and to challenge people who are tempted to walk away from following Him. Before reading a word of the text,...

Read together

1. Hebrews 1:1-4 the main text of the sermon, read aloud in full and parsed in detail
2. Psalm 1 mentioned as preached the previous week as buildup to the Hebrews series
3. Psalm 2 mentioned as preached the previous week as buildup to the Hebrews series
4. Psalm 34 mentioned as preached two weeks prior as buildup to the Hebrews series
5. John 1:1-18 referenced as parallel to Hebrews on Jesus as the creative agent of God, studied together previously
6. Colossians cited as another place where Jesus upholding or sustaining all things appears
7. 1 John 4:10-11 read as the benediction about God's love and the atoning sacrifice of his Son

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray mentioned that persecution was increasing among the original audience of Hebrews, and that some were beginning to fall away from following Christ because of it. Have you ever experienced a season where following Jesus cost you something real? What kept you going, or what pulled you away?
2. The author of Hebrews opens without identifying himself, and Pastor Ray said we simply do not know who wrote it, though we know God wrote it. How do you personally respond when there is a question about Scripture that does not have a clear answer? Does that uncertainty shake your confidence in the Bible or not, and why?
3. Pastor Ray walked through the verbs in Hebrews 1:1-4 and pointed out that 'being the radiance of God's glory' and 'upholding all things' are present tense, meaning Jesus is still actively doing these things right now. What difference does it make to your daily life to think of Jesus as presently sustaining everything rather than simply having done something in the past?
4. Pastor Ray described the central claim of Hebrews as Jesus being better than everything else, including the prophets, the angels, Moses, the priesthood and the sacrifices. Is there anything in your own life, a tradition, a comfort, a hope, that you are tempted to lean on instead of leaning directly on Jesus?
5. The sermon closed with the hymn 'Come Thou Fount,' and Pastor Ray noted the line 'prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.' He said Hebrews is both an elevation of Christ and a challenge not to give up on walking with Him. Where do you feel that pull to wander right now, and what would it look like practically to lean in instead of pulling back?