Hebrews 10:19-25
19 Brothers and sisters, we are not afraid to enter the Most Holy Room. We enter boldly because of the blood of Jesus. 20 His way is new because he lives. It has been opened for us through the curtain. I’m talking about his body. 21 We also have a great priest over the house of God. 22 So let us come near to God with a sincere heart. Let us come near boldly because of our faith. Our hearts have been sprinkled. Our minds have been cleansed from a sense of guilt. Our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold firmly to the hope we claim to have. The God who promised is faithful. 24 Let us consider how we can stir up one another to love. Let us help one another to do good works. 25 And let us not give up meeting together. Some are in the habit of doing this. Instead, let us encourage one another with words of hope. Let us do this even more as you see Christ’s return approaching.
Faith builders of our children,
Some of you have decided to come back to church and some have not. We love and pray for your family either way. God has given you this great task of being the primary builders of faith in your children but with COVID-19 it has become even more important to see this role.
From conception of each of your children and beyond they are most influenced by you as their parents. God has also put other people in the lives of your kids to help in spiritually raising them. At times we experience this help from grandparents, aunts, uncles, older cousins, the church family etc. that are helping to spiritually bring our kids up because they too are followers of Jesus. We certainly want you to know that our Chapel Hill Kids teams are here to also partner with you in this task of helping children to regularly come close to God. We hope to inspire, equip and support you on this path.
How are you doing building faith in the home? We pray that it is going well. We know there are times you may be tired, weary, empty, or exhausted in your role but here are some encouragements for you. Whenever there is an emptiness in my life in whatever God has called me to do, He tells me this...
Come Close to God
In the first part of the Hebrews 10 passage, the author describes how life changed for the people of God once Jesus came. When Jesus died on the cross, he made a way to come close to God and also made a way ALL of our sins to be forgiven and cleansed!
"...let us come near to God with a sincere heart. Let us come near boldly because of our faith. Our hearts have been sprinkled. Our minds have been cleansed from a sense of guilt. Our bodies have been washed with pure water.
God laid out a path for us to come close to God. The author basically says, (Paul’s paraphrase)…
"Do it. Come near to God boldly because of your trust in Jesus. Be cleansed of your sins!"
I hope and pray you are personally and regularly coming close to God and being cleansed of your sin.
Don’t give up meeting together - Stir up one another to love and doing good.
In verses 24 and 25 it says:
“Let us consider how we can stir up one another to love. Let us help one another to do good works. And let us not give up meeting together. Some are in the habit of doing this. Instead, let us encourage one another with words of hope. Let us do this even more as you see Christ’s return approaching.”
This inspired writer of Hebrews says (Paul's paraphrase again)…
"Hey, don't you forget to come close to God by gathering with others who also need to come close to Him. It will become more and more important as we get closer to Jesus coming back”
God is telling us to not give up "meeting together". When we meet together each week at a building we call church, meeting together seems easier. You may be asking...what about when we don't feel comfortable going to the church building quite yet? Understand that the context for the people first reading this text in Hebrews were actually meeting together in homes just as we have at times needed to do during COVID-19. God was telling these followers of Jesus not to forget to meet to worship and learn God’s Word whether it be in their own homes as a family or families gathering in a friends home.
The truth is that you can forget or get out of the habit of having this kind of meeting together even in your homes. I hope you are meeting together as families all focusing on and worshiping God. There is power in meeting together.
Now as I watch families return, it is easier to see how the closeness of worship times is stirring and spurring us on towards love and doing good. What we have hoped is that you are not giving up this meeting together in your homes if you have not yet decided to come back to the building.
Please don't forget to come close to God...together...as families. We hope you are drawing close to God and learning His Word at home.
Has God kept stirring you from home? We sure hope so.
Whether at home or meeting together at church, our hope is that you are deciding to worship in truth, learn from the Word, and that this meeting together is nudging you towards loving others and doing good.
We have been having such a great time putting together all that we have been offering for children to learn each week’s lessons. Whether you continue to worship and learn at home or at church we hope you still use the tools on our web site to teach the lesson all week long as a family. To have your children do the lesson video and small group questions may be a challenge but it can help spur your family on to love and doing good there in your homes and neighborhood.
Please, just do what you can with all we offer and know that the greatest teacher is your example as they watch you closely. Let them see you come close to God. Let them see you not forget to meet as a family to worship and hear the Word of God.
Think about how you can continue to meet together and allow God to spur your family on to love and doing good. Come close to God.