Let Us Draw Near

In one paragraph

Ray preached from Hebrews 10:19-25, the passage he called one of his favorite paragraphs in the New Testament. After a chapter and a half on what Jesus accomplished as our great high priest, the writer of Hebrews turns to what that means for how we actually live, and that is what this message worked through. The whole argument of Hebrews 10:19-25 rests on a "therefore." Everything the book has...

Read together

1. Philippians 4:7 quoted before prayer: 'the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus'
2. Hebrews 10:19-25 main passage for the sermon, the 'therefore' paragraph on drawing near, holding fast, and stirring one another to love and good deeds
3. Hebrews 4:1 quoted as earlier lettuce: 'let us fear if while a promise remains of rest that anyone of you may seem to have come short of it'
4. Hebrews 4:11 quoted as lettuce: 'let us be diligent to enter into that rest so that no one will fall through following that same old example of disobedience'
5. Hebrews 4:14-16 quoted: 'since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, let us hold fast that confession' and 'let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace'
6. Hebrews 6:1 quoted as lettuce: 'leaving the elementary teachings about the Christ, let us press on to maturity'
7. Acts 15:36-39 quoted in full to illustrate the word paroxysm as Paul and Barnabas's sharp disagreement over John Mark
8. Matthew 11:28 quoted in Spanish Bible distribution story: 'Come on to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest'
9. Hebrews 13:20-21 used as the benediction: 'may the God of peace who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will'

Talk about it

1. Ray talked about the word 'therefore' in Hebrews 10:19, saying it connects what Christ has done to what we are now called to do. What difference does it make to you personally that you can approach God with confidence because of Jesus's blood, rather than on the basis of your own record?
2. Ray used the phrase 'lettuce' to walk through several 'let us' commands in Hebrews. Which of those three, let us draw near, let us hold fast the confession, or let us stir one another up to love and good deeds, do you find the hardest to actually live out, and why?
3. Ray described the Greek word for 'stir up' as a passion word that can mean provocation, irritation, or even angry dispute, and he pointed to the sharp falling out between Paul and Barnabas as its other use in the New Testament. What does it look like in practice to provoke someone toward love and good works rather than toward conflict?
4. Ray said that in a church split, roughly 20 percent of people simply drop out altogether, and he connected that to the warning in the passage about not forsaking assembling together. What has kept you coming back to a church community during a hard season, or what almost caused you to stop?
5. Ray shared how his small habit of handing out Spanish New Testaments in sawmills eventually connected him to a mission trip and changed the direction of his life, and he said it started with praying, 'God, what would you have me do?' Is there something small you are already doing, or feel nudged toward, where you might be asking that same question right now?