Strengthen the Weak and Make Straight Paths

In one paragraph

The pastor preached from Hebrews 12:12-17, a passage he said had been unusually close to home for him that week. The text calls the church to strengthen its weak members, pursue peace with everyone, and stay alert to the things that quietly take root and defile a whole community. He read the passage twice and worked through it carefully against the backdrop of the preceding verses on discipline....

Read together

1. Hebrews 12:12-17 main passage read through twice and expounded throughout the sermon
2. Hebrews 7:11 read as the therefore passage leading into the main text, on discipline and sonship
3. Isaiah 35:3 identified as the source of strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble
4. Proverbs 3:11-12 cited as the correct reference for the discipline passage, correcting a prior misattribution to Psalms
5. Hebrews 12:1-2 quoted on the cloud of witnesses, laying aside encumbrances, and fixing eyes on Jesus as author and perfector of faith
6. Proverbs 4 quoted as watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established
7. Psalm 34 cited in Septuagint form as seek peace and pursue it, also quoted by Peter
8. 1 Peter 3 quoted as he must turn away from evil and do good, he must seek peace and pursue it, attributed to Peter quoting Psalm 34
9. Hebrews 4:1 quoted on fearing lest any should seem to come short of the promise of entering his rest
10. Hebrews 3:7-15 quoted at length on today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts, the wilderness generation, and holding fast the beginning of assurance

Talk about it

1. The pastor described discipline as something God uses to make us share in His holiness. Has there been a season of discipline in your life that, looking back, you can see produced what the text calls 'the peaceful fruit of righteousness'? What did that look like?
2. The sermon pointed out that the text says roots of bitterness are 'springing up,' not that they might spring up someday. What does it look like practically to deal with a root of bitterness before it spreads and defiles others around you?
3. The pastor talked about pursuing peace with all men, not just the ones we tend to agree with or like. Where do you find that hardest, and what would it actually cost you to pursue peace in that situation?
4. The Esau example was held up as a warning about trading something eternal for something that only lasts a little while. What are the temporal pressures in your own life right now that could tempt you to shrink back from what God has called you to?
5. John Ortberg was quoted as saying 'this moment is God's irreplaceable gift to you.' The sermon applied that to holding forgiveness against someone today. Is there someone you are aware God is prompting you to forgive, and what is keeping you from doing it?