Hebrews Bible Study Week Three: Friday

Friday -Texting


Focused Passage: Hebrews 4:11-13

Daily Readings: Psalm 119

So it’s official, we can no longer text while driving (or talk without a headset for that matter). A state law has been put into place that calls for a secondary offense for anyone caught texting while driving. This should come as no surprise to anyone, seeing that the number one cause for traffic accidents isn’t speeding, but being preoccupied/distracted while driving. The question that has run through my mind since this law took effect is, “how will they know?” If your phone is on your lap and you are texting while holding the steering wheel with one hand…How are they going to catch that?

Similarly, we live out our own preoccupations/distractions as if life hinged on these moments. Not even realizing that these distractions are causing chaos and confusion. Worse yet, we think that no one is evening noticing…or we pass them off like these things are important things in life. We need the great TEXT (God’s Word) to help us to take a look in the mirror at self…and see exactly what it is that is inhibiting us from enjoying the rest God has offered.

1. What stands out as a key description of God’s Word in your reading of Psalm 119?

2. How does striving for rest (4:11) connect with God’s Word being a discerner of thoughts and intentions of the heart (4:12)?

3. Would you call yourself preoccupied or distracted right now (limiting your ability to find rest in Christ)? What has God’s Word revealed to you about yourself?

Hebrews Bible Study Week Three: Thursday

Thursday -TGIF! (Thank Goodness It’s Friday)


Focused Passage: Hebrews 4:9-10

Daily Readings: Gen. 2:1-3; Col. 2:13-17; Matt. 11:28-30; Rev. 14:13

Thank Goodness It’s Friday is a popular phrase and a well known restaurant is a glimpse into the heart of people’s desire for the work week to be over. But did you know that the phrase actually began back in the 1950’s by ABC as the motto of their Friday evening, prime-time programming. Shows like, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and Leave it to Beaver became famous during these prime-time spots. What did the executives at ABC credit for the success of TGIF programming? Simple…people wanting time to sit down and rest after a long week of work and dealing with the daily grind. It was time to pause, sit down in front of the TV and get some laughs. Why not? They deserved it.

Here we are in the twenty-first century, going from one place to another, overwhelmed with heavy schedules and loaded expectations. Yet, Christ offers us rest through salvation. Because of an act on Friday two thousand years ago, we can have the rest of a TGIF heart every day. Our eternity is secure! His work is done! We just have to rest in the promises of God as we walk by faith.

1. Why do you believe it is so difficult for us to find rest in Christ alone?



2. What does it mean in Heb. 4:10 that we have “rested from our works like God did from His?” How is this significant for our lives?



3. What did Christ mean in Matt. 11 when He said that His “yoke is easy and burden light?” What distractions do you see keeping you from enjoying the daily rest that Christ has offered?

Hebrews Bible Study Week Three: Wednesday

Wednesday – Ranger at Rest


Focus passage: Hebrews 4:1-8

Read: Matthew 11:28-29; Psalm 119:165; Joshua 1

Many people are looking for peace, joy, and contentment in life. They search for the kind of rest that Hebrews 4 speaks of, but most would rather reject Christ and His offer of rest through salvation.

As I write today, the Texas Rangers are playing in the Major League Baseball playoffs. Among the Rangers is an all-star player named Josh Hamilton. Josh was the very first player chosen in the 1999 draft, but five years later he was suspended from baseball for substance abuse. He’d become an alcoholic and cocaine addict. Because of a string of poor choices, he nearly destroyed his marriage and family and almost killed himself. God had better plans. In his book, Beyond Belief, Josh relates how God changed his heart and led him out of the wilderness to salvation and rest. He says that his inward transformation began the day he was saved and he was strengthened when he surrendered to God completely. His recovery would have been impossible without his relationship with Jesus. His life changed from “hopeless to hope-filled” when he turned to God. The destination of Josh’s journey through his wilderness would have been vastly different without faith in Christ. Josh found the rest and peace that the alcohol and cocaine could not give.

1. Entering into the promised land, Canaan, was a symbol of entering into God’s rest, entering into a life and relationship with Him. What other examples does the Bible give of God’s rest?



2. Remember the point in your life when you accepted God’s offer of rest, His gift of salvation. How is your life different than it could have been because you trusted Christ for your salvation?

Hebrews Bible Study Week 3: Tuesday

Tuesday – The Cold Rebel


Focus passage: Hebrews 3:16-19

Read: Psalm 78; Romans 2:5-10; John 12:37-40

On the Discovery Channel program “Man vs. Wild”, Bear Grylls is placed in some remote, isolated location to spend the next 3 to 4 days finding his way back to civilization. He takes very little more than the clothes on his back and a small backpack. The theme of the program is Bear showing how to survive in all types of wilderness, from the high elevations of the Alps, the desert of Africa, to the jungle of Brazil. During one show, Bear is in the high, snow covered mountains. It’s very cold and windy. While trying to find a way down, he comes across a partially frozen stream. He describes how to avoid falling in the ice cold water and talks about the dangers of getting wet in those conditions. Amazingly, to prove these points, he removes his cold weather gear, stripping to his pants and t-shirt and then jumps into the water! He quickly crawls out and stutters through the need to get wet clothes off and warm up. To me, purposefully putting yourself through that kind of suffering is crazy. Bear obviously knows what he’s doing…and he’s also getting paid. What about us? Don’t we sometimes find ourselves in a wilderness trying to find our way out? Unfortunately, many times our wandering is self inflicted just like in Bear’s case. Because of some unbelief and disobedience toward God, rebellion takes us away from God’s intended path and we end up in a ‘wilderness.’

1. From Romans 2, what is the result of disobedience and unbelief?

2. We all rebel against God. Describe a time when you rebelled and found yourself in a wilderness. In what way did you disobey?

3. What did you feel during that time of rebellion?

Hebrews Bible Study Week 3: Monday

Monday – Symptoms of a Sick Heart


Focus passage: Hebrews 3:7-15

Read: Psalm 95; Proverbs 28:14, 29:1

Last year in the U.S., 75% of all deaths from heart disease were caused by arthrosclerosis. Arthrosclerosis occurs when fat is deposited in the walls of the arteries and hardens there. As the deposits grow, they narrow the space in the artery, reducing the oxygen and blood supply to the organs. Symptoms can be shortness of breath, sweating, numbness, anxiety, loss of speech, and chest pain depending on which artery is affected. Ultimately, arthrosclerosis or in layman’s terms, hardened arteries, can cause a heart attack or stroke.

In Hebrews 3, the writer exhorts us to avoid the hardening of our heart. Our heart is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. As sin grows, room for the Holy Spirit gets smaller, reducing our supply of God’s love, wisdom, joy, and peace in our life. The symptoms include disobedience and rebellion. In the end, a hardened heart may turn away from God.

1. When was the last time you asked the Physician to perform a heart checkup? What is the condition of your heart toward God today?

2. From Hebrews 3:13, what is one way we can avoid a hardened heart? What other things can you do to create a lifestyle that will ensure your heart has a clean bill of health?

Thoughts from the Catalyst Conference

I and some of our staff and leaders had the privilege of attending the Catalyst Conference this week in Lynchburg, Va. The speakers were two dynamic leaders, Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel. Here are some impressionable quotes from that conference:

First Session: Gaining and Sustaining Momentum

     Three Components of Sustained Momentum: New, Improved, Improving

     Momentum is never triggered by tweaking something old but introducing something new
 
     The only way to keep newness is constant evaluation



Second Session: Busting Barriers with Mindset Changes

    Think differently about programs. We can reach more by doing less.
    
     We are overprogrammed thus wearing people out.

     Everything comes back to mission. What is our mission?
    
     Quit doing what others do well and do what you do well

     Limitation is the most fertile ground for innovation.

     Don't recruit volunteers...instead release leaders



Third Session: Creating Personal Spiritual Momentum

     I will do today what I can do, to enable me to do tomorrow what I can't do today.

    The way most people do the work of God destroys the work of God in them.

    The quickest way to stop seeing what Crhist things about you is to focus on what others think about you



Fourth Session: Don't be that Couch

     When you own something, like a ministry, you always think it's more valuable than it is. It may need to be thrown out...but you have given a false value to it.

     What programs or ministries need to be thrown away because of ineffectiveness and lack of mission?

    What have we fallen in love with that's really not effective in ministry?

    Churches are in decline because we are more in love with the type of ministry that with unbelievers

Hebrews Bible Study Week Two: Friday

Better than the Best


Focused Passage: Hebrews 3:1-6

Daily Readings: Deut. 32; John 3:27-35



There are constantly people trying to determine who’s the best…the best athlete, actor/actress, or team. As they say, “To be the best…you’ve got to beat the best!” It reminds me of the time I was invited to the NBA All-Star VIP pre-game event in Washington D.C. (While not connected…I did get to meet Michael Jordan). During the event, they had different All-Star style games you could play. One of my favorites was the three-point contest (they also had the dunk contest game where you could jump off a trampoline…yes…I dunked). I waited in line to try to beat past NBA three-point contestant champions. There were five shots at five racks around the three point line. The top score was twenty-one. When my turn came…I was in the zone. I hit the last shot to reach twenty-one points…tying the high score. On that day, I tied an NBA All-star three-point champion.

When you begin to compare any Biblical figure (or anything for that matter) to Christ…Christ always wins out. As if He wasn’t the best before the cross…What He did for us proves His superiority.



1. To the Hebrews, Moses was one of the greatest leader and lawgiver. In what ways is Jesus greater than Moses?



2. Moses was a “faithful servant” in God’s house. Jesus is a “faithful son” over God’s house. Why is this significant to us?