Standing on the Promises, Heeding the Warning

In one paragraph

Pastor Mark opened in Hebrews 6:4-12, the passage he described as probably the strongest warning in the New Testament, and held it in tension with the encouragement that follows it. He asked the congregation to let the text sit in their own laps rather than reach for a comfortable theological position, and tied the whole thing to a call to persevere in faith. Pastor Mark set up the passage by...

Read together

1. Hebrews 6:4-12 main passage preached through the sermon
2. Hebrews 5:11 cited as the earlier use of the word for dull or sluggish in hearing
3. Proverbs 16:3 commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established, offered as guidance on discerning between two good options
4. Proverbs 3:5-6 lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path
5. Hebrews 2:1 we should pay more attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it
6. Hebrews 2:3 if we neglect so great a salvation how then will we be saved
7. 1 Corinthians 1:18 the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but the power of God to those being saved

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ramon talked about the normal progression of the Christian life going from milk to solid food, and said that regression is abnormal. Where do you honestly see yourself on that progression right now, and what do you think has helped you grow or held you back?
2. The writer of Hebrews describes people who have been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, and shared in the Holy Spirit, and then warns that falling away makes renewal to repentance impossible. What does that warning stir up in you personally when you let it sit in your own lap rather than applying it to someone else?
3. Pastor Ramon quoted Robertson McQuilkin: it is easier to go to a consistent logical extreme than to remain in the center of biblical tension. Where in your own faith do you find yourself gravitating toward one extreme to avoid sitting with tension?
4. The agricultural illustration in Hebrews 6 pictures ground that receives rain and either produces useful vegetation or yields thorns and thistles. What does useful vegetation look like in a person's everyday life, and what are the thorns and thistles that tend to crowd it out?
5. The passage closes with encouragement that God is not unjust and will not forget the work and love shown toward His name, seen in how believers minister to one another. What does persevering in that kind of love actually look like in your specific circumstances this week?