Wednesday Night Services

Four times we read the words “By faith Moses” in Hebrews 11:24-29 and we will spend our time in tonight’s midweek service on what the faith of Moses was that the writer has in mind. One of the most common words in this passage captured my attention as I have been mulling over the life of Moses described here. I’m glad it did because it’s meaning is very enlightening to the faith of Moses.

Did you ever perceive that God had a hand in something but then He didn’t get involved to the extent that you thought? You may have committed to something you thought God was in and leading you into it, but it didn't get the support you thought, even counted on God supplying? Did you miss God? That may be what is in the minds of Moses' parents as we look at them next in Hebrews 11:23, and we'll show you why.

Why does a word used 21 times in the New Testament and always translated by the same English word, get changed this one time in Hebrews 11:22 to something very different? The word translated "mention" is never translated this way in any other verse, but here it is. What brought about the change and how does this get Joseph into the faith hall of fame? The only person given more coverage in the book of Genesis is Abraham, and still Joseph's life and multiple acts of faith take up 1/4 of the whole book! Yet this one action comes from only two verses at the end of Genesis. So, what makes this faith act so important? If we practice what Joseph did that got him listed among the faith heroes of Hebrews 11, we will bring a very desired trait into our lives, and one through which God can bless us!

Two things are in view in Hebrews 11:21 that puts Jacob's faith in the hall of fame list, not just the blessing of the sons of Joseph. Can you see the second and why it was significant? Jacob's faith is our topic in tonight's midweek service and we will look at both of the things in view here, why they stood out above all the other acts of faith by Jacob, and how this impacts our walk with God.

In Hebrews 11:20 the faith of Isaac speaking a blessing over Jacob and Esau in the next great faith act. The question I have been asking myself is how is this action 'hall of fame' faith worthy when Isaac was tricked into blessing Jacob with the blessing God said he would have? It seemed more an act of disobedience than faith! Well, we will look into why it is listed among the great acts of faith.

As we finish up with the teaching on Abraham from the author of Hebrews, he ends with the faith demonstrated in the test from God. There is much to be learned about tests that God sends, as in our ignorance we attribute much to God testing us which truly are not. How can we know if we are being tested by God? What happens if we fail: what happens if we pass?

How long have you waited for a promise from God or the answer to a prayer? For some I know it has been months or years on some things and I have heard the discouraged words. Could you imagine believing God for something that will never happen in your life time? Hebrews tells us these people died in faith and we have trouble living in faith. Also, what does it mean to see something "through the eyes of faith?" We hear that phrase a lot, but do we actually know what it means?

The author of Hebrews spends 12 verses on Abraham and Sarah and we will take on about half of them here. With Abraham we look at an act of faith that is often overlooked and with Sarah we have mostly negative verses on her faith (or lack of it) in the Old Testament, but here we have some very positive aspects of her faith. One word in verse 11 really threw me for awhile and I pulled from every resource I could find to solve it's mystery. We will go over that as well.

I think the thing that discourages me the most in the ministry is the battles that rise up between church members. That is likely because we don't face that great of persecution from the outside in this country, so the internal battles take center stage. Still, for me when people you care so much about and have sown a good bit into are on different sides of an issue it can tear you apart! The reasons are far more than I can get into here and not everyone would have a point of reference either, but when I come to a story like Noah and see how much he likely went through to do what God called him to do, I think man I can be such a wimp! If you wonder what he might have gone through, listen and see. How do you measure up in facing ministry difficulties?

Have you ever heard that God decided to take Enoch up to heaven so he "walked with God and was not for God took him." Sounds like it was God's decision, but that is not what the writer of Hebrews tells us. These two verses have much to teach us on faith as we look at the life of Enoch in Hebrews 11:5-6.

As we begin chapter 11 of Hebrews we have the familiar verse "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." So how does the context of the first 10 chapters help us to understand what faith is better?

We quote this verse often "The just shall live by faith" but understanding it in light of the full context really brings out the meaning of this truth, and wait until you see what the author of Hebrews launches into after this!

If you have problems with people (and who doesn't) this section of scripture will give you advice to solve most of them. If we just did what is in these 7 verse of Hebrews 10 we would be better and the people we are around would be better too.

If at all, as believing Christians, we hold dearly to our confession that we know God because we believe this scripture: "they that come to God must believe that God exists..." That's relational. However, there is more. There are those unusual moments when God prods, pries, pricks us or manifest himself in very strange ways. Those times, far removed from mere coincidences, often leave us wondering and affirming his invisibility. So then, what do you do "When You Know 'It Is The Lord '"? Play the key of D!

Why does a prophecy from the Old Testament (Psalm 40:6-8) get altered here when quoted in Hebrews 10:5-6? Psalm 40:6 reads "My ears You have opened" but Hebrews writes it as "“a body you have prepared for me." Why this change?

Why did God ask for the shedding of the blood of so many bulls, lambs, and other animals if only the blood of Jesus Christ could cleanse us from sin? The truth here will unlock some other spiritual principles in your life.

Why is the writer of Hebrews talking about goats in Ch. 9 when most of the symbolism of Jesus Christ involves a lamb? Well, the day that the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to make sacrifices for the people, it involved a goat, not a lamb. Why this change?

Hebrews 9 talks about the tabernacle with it's parts and furnishings, so we will be looking at these and what they have to do with what point the writer wants us to see.

Exploring an old saying in a new way, "The Proof will be in the Pudding" looking at God's strategy for making Godly pudding.

From Hebrews 8:6-13 we will take an in-depth at the "doctrine" of forgive and forget. Does God forget the sins He forgives us of? We hit on this lightly a year or so ago and had more comments about it than I expected. Since Hebrews here has one of the scriptures for this belief we will take the opportunity to study this. The misunderstanding of this gives the enemy ground to make people think the are walking in unforgiveness and never walk in what true forgiveness is.