WORD up!

 I had planned to write devotions for each of my homiletics, but when I returned from a 10-day trip to Scotland and Ireland, I tested positive for covid, and that threw off my schedule.  I am getting caught up, and will get right back on writing devotions as soon as possible.  Thank you for your prayers, grace and patience.

 Divisions ( run-on sentence OK, direct verbiage from Scripture/Principles are Aims for each Division – a truth about God, a truth about man, a truth about God’s relationship to man;  a sin to avoid, promise to trust, example to follow, command to obey, truth to believe ): 1.Priesthood of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:1-4) Principle:   Melchizedek points to Jesus as King of righteousness and peace, and a priest forever. 2.Priesthood of Levites (Hebrews 7:5-12) Principle:   Levites point to Jesus as a perfect priest . 3. Priesthood of Jesus (Hebrews 7:13-28) Principle:  Jesus is the perfect Great High Priest without beginning or end.   Subject Sentence ( 10-word sentence with proper structure showing exactly where you are in Scripture ): Melchizedek and the Levites point to Jesus's perfect, permanent priesthood.   Aim (“ To Cause My Audience To…” Know, See, Learn, Understand, etc .): TCMATK Christ-followers are called to be a kingdom of priests, and Scrip...

I am a perpetual student.  I am constantly learning something.  Right now, I am taking a class in Basic Biblical Greek AND learning to read Hebrew.  This quality also makes me a Bible study addict.  I LOVE how studying God’s Word with the Holy Spirit as my Teacher ALWAYS reveals something new to me – even if I’ve read that passage dozens of times!  Do you find this to be true regarding your study of Scripture?  Not so much?  When I feel that way, I stop and pray that God will “Wow” me!  He does.  Every.  Single.  Time.  Try it for yourself.  In fact, let’s pray that together right now:   Heavenly Father, we are anticipating that You will “wow” us today.   Open our hearts and minds to the truth in this sixth chapter of Hebrews.   Teach us something new and mind-blowing.   In Jesus’ name.   Amen.   In this week’s study of Hebrews, we are talking about sanctification .   It’s kind of...

Divisions ( run-on sentence OK, direct verbiage from Scripture/Principles are Aims for each Division – a truth about God, a truth about man, a truth about God’s relationship to man; a sin to avoid, promise to trust, example to follow, command to obey, truth to believe ): 1.Move Beyond the Elementary (Hebrews 6:1-8) Principle:   Lack of maturity puts you in jeopardy of destruction. 2.Better Things (Hebrews 6:9-20) Principle:   Our unchanging God promises blessing and hope.   Subject Sentence ( 10-word sentence with proper structure showing exactly where you are in Scripture ): Hebrews teaches: move beyond the elementary teachings to better things.   Aim (“ To Cause My Audience To…” Know, See, Learn, Understand, etc .): TCMATK Pursuing maturity in Christ and cooperating with God in your sanctification brings great blessing.   Application ( not yes or no question.   Meant to bring about heart change ): 1.Where are you struggling to ma...

Today, we’re looking at Hebrews 4:14-5:14.  We’re going to talk about the Big Ideas of priesthood and maturity .  When we walk away from our time together today, I want you to know As followers of Jesus, the great High Priest, His people are called to maturity (and the priesthood) .   Holy Father, I ask in Jesus’ name that You would open our hearts and minds to the Scriptures today.   I pray that You would encourage us and bring us to a new place of worship.   I ask that You would give us a higher view of You and conviction of our sins and a hunger to confess those things so we may be cleansed.   Transform us today.   Amen.   Attempting to study this set of verses using homiletics was really challenging for me.   My Subject Sentence was interpretive rather than factual and objective: Jesus, the great High Priest calls His followers to maturity .   I also really struggled with dividing these verses.   I wanted to keep it as ...

Divisions ( run-on sentence OK, direct verbiage from Scripture/Principles are Aims for each Division – a truth about God, a truth about man, a truth about God’s relationship to man; a sin to avoid, promise to trust, example to follow, command to obey, truth to believe ): 1.Jesus, our great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-5:10) Principle:  Jesus enables His people to approach God’s throne with confidence. 2.Milk or solid food (Hebrews 5:11-14) Principle:  Jesus’ people grow in maturity.   Subject Sentence ( 10-word sentence with proper structure showing exactly where you are in Scripture ): Jesus, the great High Priest calls His followers to maturity. (interpretive)   Aim (“ To Cause My Audience To…” Know, See, Learn, Understand, etc .): TCMATK As followers of Jesus, the great High Priest, His people are called to maturity (and the priesthood).   Application ( not yes or no question.  Meant to bring about heart change ): 1.In what areas a...

Are you stressed?  Isn’t everybody?  Maybe not.  I truly hope not.  Personally, I’ve been a teeth-grinder since I was a child.  Yes, I’ve been stressed for a long time.  A few years ago, I started sleeping with a mouth guard because I began suffering the consequences of that teeth-grinding behavior.  Where are you reaping consequences of stress in your life?   Here’s a follow-up to our opening question: If you’re stressed, why are you stressed?  Stress is usually a response to fear.  Here’s a follow-up question:  How do you deal with your stress?  Exercise?  Food?  Alcohol?  Therapy?  Drugs?  Extreme Sports?  There are positive and negative ways of dealing with stress.  But wouldn’t it be nice, as a believer in Christ, to walk in the freedom and rest Christ bought for us with His blood.   We are discussing Hebrews 4:1-13 today.  These 13 verses are all about rest for God’s people ....

This was challenging!  I really struggled to come up with divisions.  When I finally sat down any prayed for God to show me possible divisions,  the homiletics started to flow.  So remember, always pray before approaching God's Word, so His power will guide your time with Him. Divisions ( run-on sentence OK, direct verbiage from Scripture/Principles are Aims for each Division – a truth about God, a truth about man, a truth about God’s relationship to man; a sin to avoid, promise to trust, example to follow, command to obey, truth to believe ): 1.Some shall never enter God’s rest (Hebrews 4:1-5) Principle:   Those who believe enter God’s rest. 2.Sabbath-rest for the people of God (Hebrews 4:6-10) Principle:   Those who disobey and harden their hearts don’t enter God’s rest. 3.Enter God’s rest or perish (Hebrews 4:11-13) Principle:   Obey God’s Word to enter His rest.   Subject Sentence ( 10-word sentence with proper structure showin...