Podcasts about hebrews chapter

In this episode a quote from Joseph Campbell,  "When you realize that eternity is right here now, that it is within your possibility to experience the eternity of your own truth and being, then you grasp the following: That which you are was never born and will never die." , "NTI" Hebrews Chapter 1 & 2 and "Thought of Awakening" #133 & 134 were contemplated.

In Hebrews Chapter 1, we find a powerful and compelling description of Jesus—“the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being.” God Himself speaks, revealing the divine nature and supremacy of His Son. Today, Pastor Jack Morris shares how that same radiance can shine through us when we draw close to Christ. As we live in fellowship with Him and are filled with the Holy Spirit, we begin to reflect His character, His love, and His light. Join us as we explore how to live in a way that mirrors the beauty and glory of Jesus in our everyday lives. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1528/29

One of the most beautiful truths in the Bible is that Jesus is ONE OF US! We have a man that has overcome, a MAN that represents us before the Father, the overcoming MAN Christ Jesus!

Resilient Faith - The Book of Hebrews - Chapter 13

I've been doing a 5 minute a day bible study through the book of Hebrews on my Whatsapp group. This is the first few recordings through chapter 1. I hope it's as much of a blessing to you as it is to me!

Resilient Faith - The Book of Hebrews - Chapter 12 - Pt 2

In Hebrews Chapter 3 we'll see great reminders about Jesus' superiority and some strong warnings about keeping the faith. Then, we'll examine the dangers of unbelief and learn about God's rest, including how new covenant believers enter it.

Christians are always talking about faith. My faith walk. Faith this, faith that. So what is faith? Not the theory? But what does it look like when you live it? The sort of faith that pleases God.   What Is Faith? It's really quite amazing, but over a thousand weekly editions of this program, Christianityworks, have gone to air since it launched way back in 2004.  It's been quite a walk of faith with all the obstacles that we've faced along the way and so today on the program we're kicking off a series of messages called, “Having the Sort of Faith that Conquers the World”. These two words “By faith” appear over and over again in the Bible. And in fact, if we go to the New Testament book of Hebrews, we'll see that's pretty much the place where they're most densely packed together. By Faith. Now faith, it's something that Christians talk about a lot – our faith walk, faith this, faith that. But what is faith? When and where do we need faith? How do we get it? It's something that Jesus talked a lot about so let me ask this, do we really understand what faith is? Do we really know what the outcome of faith is meant to look like in our lives? They're the questions that we're going to be pondering and exploring and journeying through together over these next few weeks on the program starting with today. Okay then, so what exactly is faith? Well I suppose that many of the people listening today perhaps you're one of them, would point me to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1 to answer that question, it says that: Faith is the assurance of the things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen. Well and good, that's the most concise definition of faith in the bible, that's the stock standard definition, tickity-boo, who needs a series on faith? We know what it is: it's the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. But as much as we Christians quote that verse and its one of the most quoted Bible verses of all, do we really understand the context in which it was written? Let's look at it again, it says exactly: Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. So what's that word "now" doing at the front of the verse? What's that all about? Well, that word is called a conjunctive, in other words, it ties this verse to what came immediately before. Ah, so this verse doesn't stand alone, there is a context, something that comes before that we need to get in order to really understand the verse. So, what comes before? Well, here it is, the previous chapter, Hebrews chapter 10 and we'll kick it off just at verse 26. Listen carefully because we're going to unpack this in a moment. Hebrews chapter 10, starting at verse 26: For if we wilfully persist in sin, after having received the knowledge of the truth, then no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the advocacies. Anyone who has violated the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witness. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the Blood of the Covenant by which they were sanctified and outraged the spirit of grace? For we know the one that who said ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay' and again ‘The Lord will judge his people'. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  But recall those early days when after you'd be enlightened you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution. And sometimes partners with those so treated. For you have compassion for those in prison and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions knowing that you yourselves possess something better and more lasting. Do not therefore abandon that confidence of yours, it brings a great reward. For you needed endurance so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised for yet in a very little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back but we're not amongst those who shrink back or are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved. Now Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. So what's the context? The context is two things, the punishment that will surely come if we reject God's grace and mercy and continue on in sin and the second part is about the extreme trials that we're bound to face in life. In fact the Hebrew believers, the ones who were reading this letter, were facing incredible trials! They were being persecuted like you wouldn't believe. And so the writer of this letter was saying, you know something, you're going to struggle with sin, and you're going to face incredible trials and so what you need, what you really need to get you through, is faith. To tell you the truth if you put it like that I'd frankly rather be in a situation where I didn't need any faith, because faith is what we need when we're battling sin. Faith is what we need when we're in a dangerous uncertain place. Faith is what we need to be saved from something we can't save ourselves from. To persevere through situations and ordeals to make it out to the other side of something we'd rather not be in the middle off. Wouldn't it be so much better from were you and I sit, if we didn't end up in places were we actually needed faith? Because faith is the assurance of something we hope for, which by definition means we don't have it right now and we wish we did. And faith is the evidence of that thing that we can't see yet, because all we can see is what we're in the middle of which are our circumstances, and we're hoping for so much more. And yet, as we're going to see shortly that's exactly how God sets things up. You have sin in your life and I have sin in my life, but in and of ourselves we just can't get rid of. We've struggled with it for years and we couldn't' do anything about it until we started putting our faith in Jesus. We couldn't overcome sin or set things right until we put our trust in Jesus. And the same thing's true of the many obstacles we face in life. Perhaps you're someone who's been listening to these programs for a while and you're thinking to yourself, ‘Oh that Berni guy seems to have things all sorted out. What an easy life. He gets to be on the radio and tell us how to get it right.' But you wouldn't believe the challenges and the trials involved in getting out there and doing what Gods called us to do at Christianityworks. The attacks that come against the ministry because Satan doesn't want people hearing about Jesus, he doesn't want us doing what we are doing. The trials when people fail, when the finances are tight, you name it. It's either happened, or it' s going to happen. And just in the same way you face trials, you face temptations, you have mountains that get in your road and stop you from doing the things that God's called you to do. You have sicknesses you have struggles, and people come against you, financial issues – my friend that's what faith is for. Faith is the assurance of things we hope for and the evidence of the things that we just can't see yet. You and I need faith and that's why we're going to be talking about it over the coming weeks on the program.   Big Picture Faith. Are you familiar with that term that saying that someone's lost the plot? What it means is that we've lost sight of were we are going, we've lost sight of the objective. We've managed to get things completely "out of kilter", "out of bounds", or "out of whack" as we as Australians like to say. "Oh man, hasn't he lost the plot!?" And often it happens when we become focused on just one thing in our lives, let's say a single relationship or a single thing that's not going quite right. When we're hurting, we focus on just that one thing that is hurting. Sometimes we lose the plot when we are so focused on making ourselves happy that we forget about everyone and everything else and somehow, the more we try to make ourselves happy the more empty we feel. It seems to me that they one sure way of feeling depressed is trying really, really hard to make yourself happy. So the reason we lose the plot is that we lose sight of the bigger picture, we're so focused on that one thing that we can't stand back. We're busy working hard at life, living life, peddling harder and faster and then the storm strikes especially when there is a head wind blowing and it's slowing us down. It is the easiest thing in the world to lose sight of the big picture, the context, the sense of meaning and purpose and direction that we once seemed to have for our lives and now the harder we go at it, the murkier it appears to get. What was once clear when we were young now seems to be blurry. Sometimes it's like we're living our lives in a fog. You know what I'm on about here right? And then one day you wake up and you think to yourself, I think I've lost the plot! That place right there is a scary place. I've found myself in that situation, when I'm busy working hard, even, working hard doing things for God, none of us is immune to this here. I don't get some exemption certificate from this stuff just because I work in a Christian ministry. This is real life. This is real stuff. What we're talking about this week on the program, in fact over the coming few weeks is faith. It's a phrase, two simple words, “by faith” that appear over and over and over again in the Bible, especially in the 11th chapter of the New Testament book of Hebrews. Now, we need faith for all sorts of things, we need faith in Jesus to be forgiven by God and to be set free to live an eternal life in His presence. We need faith to make it through the trails and the difficult situations and make it to the other side of those. And as it turns out we need faith to get a sense of the bigger picture, to keep the balance and sense of perspective right over our lives. So that we don't loose the plot or so that when we do loose the plot we can pick it up again. Have a listen to this. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 3: By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible … In other words, by faith we know that everything that was created, was created by Jesus. He is the Word of God that is being referred to there. The worlds, the cosmos, the universe, the little ant that crawls cross the floor, everything … the worlds were created by Jesus, God spoke them into existence through Jesus. "Let there be light.” He said, and there was light! “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place and let dry land appear.” And it was so, and God called the dry land Earth, and the waters were gathered together and He called them the Sea's. and God saw that it was good … and on and on. A universe that with all our brilliant technology we can only see part of, and the part that we can see with our radio telescopes is so big, its so vast that it would take light – travelling of course at the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second or 300,000 kilometres per second – it would take light 15 billion years to travel from one end of the known universe to the other! Even the nearest star to the earth after the Sun is called Proxima Centauri, it's about 4.6 light years away. Now that doesn't seem too far does it? But if you and I were to hop into a car, say at 100km per hour and travel that distance of 4.6 light years, how long would it take us? Well, just about 7¼ billion years. And that's without any toilet breaks. It's the nearest star after the sun, and the rest are all much, much further away! Why is this important? Here's why. We live on this earth as though this is all there is. Now we know there is a sun up there and it's really big and its really hot and its about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometres away. We know that there is a universe out there that's huge. But day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, we live life really as though they don't exist. We live life as though the only thing that exists is my own "here and now", this instant: what I'm working on, what I'm doing, what I'm trying to achieve, what I'm feeling, what I'm struggling through, what ... Do you see my point? We completely loose sight of the big picture. I see all around me, every time I travel to India, I come back with a fresh realisation that the narrow privileged lives that we lead here in this affluent, blessed country we call Australia, is completely atypical, completely abnormal in the big picture of the rest of the world. And it's in this narrowness that we lose our way; its in this narrowness that we loose the plot. Let's look again at that verse on faith that I read out before. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 3: By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God so that what is seen was made was made form things that are not visible. Faith gives us the context that we need, faith is about knowing in our heart of hearts that there is God out there who made it all, He's so big, so powerful, so intelligent, so loving, so awesome that He created the whole cosmos. Even the bits beyond human science can see. And He placed you and me here on this earth in perhaps the only inhabitable place in the whole universe. That's the big picture. And so instead of telling our God how big our problems are we need to start telling our problems how big our God is. Instead of obsessing about this problem or that disappointment, instead of sweating over the little things in our lives, in faith we can stand back and see the big picture, the God picture, the faith picture. By faith we understand that God made it all. By faith we can rest in this God who loves us so much that He sent us His son to die for us. By faith!   God-Pleasing Faith Now there is a huge part of me I have to tell you that wants so much to please God with everything that I think and everything I feel, and say and do, I really, really, really want to please God. Really I do! But someday it seems that all I have to do to blow it is to wake up and get out of bed in the morning. Does that make sense? You want to do what's right, you know what's right with all your heart you want to please God, but you just can't seem to do it. It's like there is a war going on inside you, you want to do what's right, but every time you want to do what's right, evil intentions are lurking there right over your shoulder, whispering into your ear. Well it's not just me, it's not just you. The apostle Paul who wrote almost half the books in the New Testament he had exactly the same problem and you can read all about it in Romans Chapter 7. So how do we please God? Let's go back to that book towards the end of the New Testament, the book of Hebrews chapter 11, which is where we have been spending out time together today, and let's have a look because there is an answer in there as to how you and I can please God. And the answer isn't working harder at being good. Let's pick it up, Hebrews chapter 11, beginning at verse 4: By faith able offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain's. Through this he received approval as righteous as God Himself given approval to his gifts. He died but through faith he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken so that he didn't experience death, and he was not found because God had taken for it was the tested before he was taken away that he had pleased God. And without faith, it's impossible to please God for, whoever may approach Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. That's really interesting because back there in the book of Genesis, chapter 4 when we read about Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve's two boys, were not really given a reason why it was that Abel's offering was acceptable to God, but Cain's wasn't. There's a bit of a hint. We're kind of told that there wasn't something quite right in Cain's heart, but that is all we're told. It certainly had nothing to do with physically what he did. Both Cain and Abel brought an offering to God. Cain's was rejected while Abel's was acceptable to God and as a result, out of envy, Cain murdered his brother Abel. So what was the difference between the two. The answer is faith. Its there in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 4: By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain's. Through this he received approvable as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts. He died but through faith, he still speaks. See Abel gave his offering to God in faith. And as God showed through His response to Cain, an offering without faith isn't pleasing to God at all. It's not just the physical act of making a sacrifice, that sacrifice has to come with faith. And again, we read that Enoch had been blessed by God because he's pleased God because of his faith. Executive summary, bottom line, what's God saying here? Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 6: You see without faith, it is impossible to please God. For whoever would approach Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. And it's not just here in the book of Hebrews that we discover the importance of faith in pleasing God. Jesus himself told people the exactly the same thing. When someone asked him, “Lord what do I have to do to be saved?” He answered quite simply, “Believe in me”. How often have you and I worked so hard at pleasing God as though anything we can do, can possibly add to what He has already done for us, and what He's planning on doing? Sometimes I think that we behave as though God is totally completely and utterly depending on you and me to fulfil His plans. As though without us, God's plans for this world are going to fall over in a screaming heap, and God's going to go, "Oh man! What am I going to do?" And so we work so hard, we work hard! And we bring Him the offering and we bring Him the sacrifice. We see all the problems facing us and so we bring in the offering from the field like Cain with little to no faith in our heart. Well, guess what? Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Would you please note that word, "impossible"? What it does not say is that without faith you won't please God quite as much through your labours as you would have done if you put a bit of faith in the mix. That's not what it says. The Bible clearly says that without faith it is completely impossible to please God. The Greek words used there for "impossible" mean literally to be completely without strength, impotent, powerless, weak, disabled. That it is unable to be done, it's totally impossible. Why? Because God is God. And He has put us here in this physical world that is removed from His spiritual dimension, yet the spiritual dimension, the God dimension, the presence of God is as real and as present as the nose on my face. The thing is that we just can't see it. Our act of Love, our act of pleasing God is honouring him by believing that He is, that He does exist and that He is in the business of blessing and rewarding those who seek Him. Why does he do things that way? Well, just think about it, God has something of a problem when it comes to eliciting a free will love response from you and me. If we could see God for what He is, if we could see Him face to face in all His power and in all His glory, hey, there would be no free will involved. In the face of that power, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. So He removes us from that presence, He puts us in a place where we lay hold of Him, not by seeing Him, but through a layer of adversity we call life. Through a cloud of unknowing, never quite seeing Him clearly in this life. And we lay a hold of Him, we honour Him, we love Him, we serve him, we obey Him by faith. And that is why without faith it's impossible to please God. Ask Cain, ask Abel, they'll tell you all about it, because by faith that story is still being told today. So the next time that you feel the need to work your back side off to please God, remember this, your work isn't so much the thing that pleases Him, it's not about the sacrifice so much, its about you, its about me, its about our faith! When we do what we do in faith, my friend, that is what pleases God.

Resilient Faith - The Book of Hebrews - Chapter 12

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The first few verses of Hebrews Chapter 12 tell us the Christian life is a race… or, more appropriately, a lifelong marathon. After spending all of Chapter 11 giving his readers (both first century Jewish Christians and us today) a remarkable list of Old Testament faith hall-of-famers for our encouragement, the author lets us know how we can run this often-difficult race. In three short verses, he gives us the keys to running this race of living the Christian life successfully. And the best part is, the outcome is not dependent on our performance! To win this race all we have to do is… keep running! Today’s passage will show us how we can do just that!

Pastor Seth Troutt explores Hebrews Chapter 8, focusing on the concept of the New Covenant and the power of a new heart through Jesus Christ.Using personal experiences and scripture, this sermon examines the shift from the Old Covenant to the New, highlighting the direct access believers have to God. As part of our series in Hebrews, Seth explains how the New Covenant, with its promises, grants us a closer relationship with God, free from past practices.Join us to understand the implications of having Jesus as our high priest and how this change impacts our walk with God.00:00 - Introduction09:46 - Copy and Shadow13:06 - The Better Promises28:18 - Obsolete31:30 - From Obsolete to Complete**HOW TO FIND US*** SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YouTube CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/@IronwoodChurchAZFACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/ironwoodchurchaz/ INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/ironwood.church/WEBSITE https://www.ironwoodchurch.org/

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Understanding the Supremacy of Christ: Hebrews Chapter 4 Study Join Pastor Sal as he leads an in-depth study of Hebrews Chapter 4. This insightful sermon addresses the significance of God's word, the importance of faith and obedience, the role of Jesus Christ as our ultimate high priest, and the necessity of striving towards spiritual rest and salvation. Pastor Sal also clarifies key biblical terminologies and corrects common misconceptions, underlining the importance of living a life grounded in scripture, avoiding false doctrines, and understanding the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ for humanity.

Sin is such a funny word. Short – but judgemental. And yet this thing called “sin” lies at the heart of Easter. Jesus died to pay for our sin. So what does that actually mean – “sin”?   Sin By Another Name This week we're still doing a retrospective on Easter and I thought we should ask a question. What makes Easter? Why did God do it? Why did God send His Son to die for you and me? Last week we saw that you and I are so incredibly precious to God. The Psalmist back in Psalm 8 asks the question. He says: I look up your huge skies, dark and enormous, you handmade the sky, the jewellery, the moon and the stars are mounted in their settings. Then I look at little old me and I wonder, why do you bother with us? Why do you take a second to look our way, God? It's a good question. And the answer is that we're so incredibly precious to God. And the more precious something or someone is, the more we do for that something or someone. Sadly in our world today, people pick the wrong things and make them precious. People pick wealth or they pick fame or they pick career or they pick status – always these external things – and they end up sacrificing their lives to them to no avail. But you and I are different. You and I are precious in the sight of God, in God's heart. And Easter is about Jesus on the Cross. Easter is about the most incredible sacrifice; the Son of God crucified, punished on our behalf. We've had a look at that already on the program over the last couple of weeks. But He was punished for you and for me. And for a long time I wondered, why? I mean, why did God go to those lengths? Look at me, look at you – we're not that bad. Okay, we're not perfect, at least I'm not, but isn't the whole ‘Easter, Cross, crucifixion' thing just a bit extreme? Christians talk a lot about "sin". Now for most of my life I thought of "sin" as being this really old-fashioned, stuffy, church concept. I mean, "sin"? Really? These days? Old fashioned, moralising, guilt trips. It belongs to a view of religion of the past that's not relevant today. People are writing books about it. A well known scientist by the name of C. Dawkins wrote a book called "The God Delusion" and someone who was writing that book up said this: The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong but potentially deadly. And part of that is this notion that we have in the world today, that sin is some man-made religious concept. We live in a society that denies sin, whatever that might mean to you. Right? Wrong? Well they're fluid concepts, their circumstantial. It kind of depends what works for you. But the word "sin" – which I, for many years thought of as this stuffy, outdated concept – the word "sin" in the Bible literally means "to miss the mark". Today we say ‘missing the point of life'. And because of the society we live in – the society that puts ‘me' at the centre of my world, puts "you" at the centre of your world – we do whatever feels good to make us better and have more fun and more comfort. Okay, there's some social responsibility, but by and large we live in a selfish world. And in that society we kind of don't notice somehow that sin's going on. We notice the shotgun murders and that sort of thing, but in our lives day by day people deny the concept of sin. There's a wonderful parable called, "the boiling frog syndrome". You've probably heard of it. The notion that if you have some boiling water and put a frog in it the frog will jump straight out because it notices the water is hot. But if you begin with cold water and you gradually, gently heat the water the frog ultimately will die because he doesn't that the water is getting hot and it kills him. Global warming's a bit like that. I mean, we've been denying it for years. Governments and big business have been denying it because it's politically and economically expedient to keep pumping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, slowly cooking the earth. It's been obvious but we've denied it. A while ago I went to see Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth". Whatever your politics, whatever your views of matters "green" are, it's absolutely a "must see" if you didn't see it. He makes a point that the number of category 4 and 5 hurricanes have almost doubled in the past 30 years. The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled in the past decade. Malaria has spread to higher altitudes because of warming in places like the Columbian Andes – 7000 feet above sea level and at least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming by moving closer to the poles. It kind of paints a picture of a world out of control. It's so bent on consuming that we're prepared to destroy the planet. When we look at the facts they're obvious. The whole consumer treadmill, the economy based on greed, the boiling frog syndrome just denies that reality. We behave as though it doesn't exist. We do that with a lot of things. In the west where people are wealthy by global standards we ignore poverty, we ignore the wars and the starvation and the thousands of children that die every day of poverty. We just behave as though they don't exist. They still do but we just ignore them. The point of sin is that it's a bit like that boiling frog syndrome. It's deceptive. Through our selfishness we kind of rationalise; we deny the reality; we stick out heads in the sand and pretend. Well, it's not my problem. I'm not the one getting things wrong. The Apostle Paul in Romans Chapter 7 verse 11 writes this. He says: For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment deceived me and through the commandment put me to death. You see, sin is deceptive. In 2 Timothy Chapter 3 verse 13 he writes: Evil men and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. And Psalm 36 verse 2: With his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin. And that's right on the money. We kid ourselves. We try and behave as though sin doesn't exist. Just stop and think about the last 24 hours and say, what did I do to hurt someone? What did I do to step on someone? What did I do to ignore someone? What did I do that ruined their lives and my life? Come on, we are masters of self-deception. It doesn't matter how much we deny it, when we look around the world, around society, around our own lives, sin is alive and well. "Missing the point of life" is alive and well and people are slaves to it like lemmings jumping over a cliff and the price … the price is being robbed of life itself. It's walking around like a living dead. But God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him wouldn't perish but have eternal life. That … that right there is what Easter was all about.   Simply No Excuse I'm going to ask you, have you ever been pulled over by a policeman for speeding. "Driver, do you know why you've been pulled over? Do you realize that you were exceeding the speed limit by whatever it is?" I have, and it's a horrible feeling. And you know there is simply no excuse. Speeding kills – it's as simple as that. Imagine speeding and killing a child coming out of a school, or someone you love or an elderly person crossing the road. Measured against the consequences, speeding is crazy; it's ludicrous; there's just no way you can justify it or you can excuse it, the consequences of speeding is death. Yet most drivers speed every day. That attitude "I've got to get there, just got to get there. I'll save 30 seconds, I'll save 1 minute, I'll save 2 minutes off my journey." That attitude completely misses the point, doesn't it? And that's such a good example of sin. "Sin" means "missing the point". Come on, look at our lives, look at the stuff that we want to descend into – being selfish, being greedy, just lying a little bit, a bit of deception, pompous egos, treading on people, crushing them – and then do you know what we do? We rationalize it. We justify it. We say it's everybody else's fault. They don't measure up to my mark, or they did me wrong, or that person over there hurt me and that's why I had a go at them. Come on! It misses the point and in God's eyes there is simply no excuse. We began the program today with the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 8, looking up at the heavens and the stars wondering, "God who am I that you should even give me a second thought?" The Apostle Paul takes that one step further in Romans Chapter 1 and verse 20, and he writes this: For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities, His eternal power, His divine nature, they've been clearly seen being understood from what's been made, so we are without excuse. In other words, you look around and you can't help but come to the conclusion that God is God. It's like speeding. When we deny God, when we turn away from Him, when we say, "No, no, no, I'm going to live my life buddy", there's no excuse. It's blindingly, glimpsingly obvious. Look around. The fact that God created it all is so obvious; God's majesty and His love and His wonders shine out through all the things He's made. I've said before, we are masters of delusion and so we are. Somehow for years I rationalised it but in my heart of hearts I knew that God was God, I knew that Jesus was the Son of God, but we get used to the fact that our lives are missing the point. We get used to the fact that we're off doing stuff and ignoring God. And then we try even harder to have a life of meaning. We work harder to earn more money or more recognition or to get a better career or … even though in our heart of hearts we know it's never ever going to hit the mark. It's like we've become slaves to it, we've become addicted to this sin, this treadmill, and we're compelled to keep going in the same direction. Put yourself in God's shoes for a moment. He creates you and me out of love, in His own image, and He gives us in this universe on this earth that He's made for us – He gives us the freedom to accept or reject Him. And this freedom comes from His love too. And He watches you and me take our freedom and reject Him and miss the whole point of creation and then suffer the consequences. And we do suffer. Missing the point brings suffering. Sin has its consequences. Loneliness, pain, doubt, isolation, a lostness, hurts, no real sense of identity. We get to a point where we've completely lost sight of the fact that you and I have been created in God's image – to delight in Him. And let me tell you, when God sees us in that state His heart aches for us. I was reading a book in my personal time with God the other day. In the Book of Judges when Israel had rejected God so many times and they came to God because God had sent punishment on them. They were defeated and the Amorites were fighting against them, and God said, "No, forget it, you people have rejected me so many times, go worship your gods, go worship your idols, go and suffer the consequences." Then God looked down upon His people and He saw them suffering and the Bible says He just couldn't help Himself. He had to go and help them. That's what God is like. He loves us. He wants to bless us. And when He sees us suffering the consequences of sin He can't help himself. His heart aches for us. And that's why, just at the right time, when you and I were still powerless to deal with any of that, when we were still busy rejecting God, just at the right time Jesus Christ died for the ungodly. He dragged that Cross to Calvary, He allowed Himself to be nailed to it. He took the burdens, the consequences, the pain of my sin and your sin once and for all. He paid the price that you and I should pay and greater love has no man than to lay down His life for His friends. And whoever believes in Jesus, believes that's exactly what happened there on the Cross of Christ at Easter. They're set free from the burden and the consequences of their sin. If we believe that with our lives we are free to have a relationship with God. We don't have to live under the burden of sin anymore, as slaves to sin with our whole lives missing the point. The moment we believe in Jesus its ground zero, it's a clean slate; it's a start again fresh. When we look at the Cross of Christ and say, "I believe", God our Father says, "My child, I forgive you". When we put our faith in Him the gates of heaven are flung open wide and there's a wild party. You might say, "But Berni, I took that step years ago and look at my life!" And I say to you, have you taken that step with your life. I mean, do you live your life in that reality every day? Come on, that's what Easter is. It's Easter every day because by shedding Jesus blood on the Cross, by His sacrifice, you and I have forgiveness every day. Through that empty tomb you and I have a new life every day – today, tomorrow, the next day, for all eternity. That's it. That's Easter.   A Personal Call Well you know, you and I are looking back on Easter. Here we are, a few weeks past Easter and you might think, why is this guy still yapping on about Easter? Why are we still looking back at Easter? Come on we've had the chocolate, we've had the long weekend. We've moved on, let's get on with the rest of the year. Let's get on with something new and fresh and exciting. But hang on a minute, I just believe that it's Easter every day. I just believe that God wants us to live and walk and breathe and have our being in the reality of the fact that God became man in the person of Jesus Christ and that He suffered and died to pay for my sin and your sin. He took our death, the death that we deserved, on His shoulders and He died that death for us. He rose again and He gave us a new life – a forgiven life, a life eternally in relationship with Him. You see, you and I are so incredibly precious in God's eyes. Do we get that? He loves us so much He's given us this freedom to choose Him or to reject Him. And you know, every day we have that choice in the way we think, where we put our trust, what goes on in our heart, what we do, what we say, everything. Jesus died for every person who's ever lived – for you, for me and for billions of other people. That's a huge thing. He bore all of our sin. Have you done something wrong and you woke up the next day – maybe you've hurt someone, you had an argument, you said something you wish you could take back right? – and you woke up the next day and you realise, you remember back the stupid thing you did and the consequences and the pain and the hurt. You know, you've hurt someone you love, whatever it is, and you just have to live through the consequences of that. It's sin. It's a terrible feeling. You know what I'm talking about. Imagine if you could experience it in one time, the consequences of all the mistakes, every sin you have made in your whole life. How would that feel? It would be unbearable wouldn't it? If we could feel all our sin and the consequences of it in one moment I think it would kill us. It would be unbearable. So now put yourself in Jesus' sandals for a minute. He bares the pain, the punishment and the consequences of all the sins of the whole of the human race for all time at that one place on the Cross. My, how Jesus suffered. We just can't see this as some huge macro act of God in history – it is that but if we restrict it to that we miss the point. Jesus died for the one, He died for me, He died for you to set us free from the slavery of sin, the slavery of living a life that completely misses the point, the slavery of living a life that will end in eternal separation from God. You know the worse bit about slavery? It's the fear, it's the lurking knowledge deep down inside that we're missing the point of our lives. And at the end of the day there will be a reckoning. That makes the life of sin a true life of slavery. In Hebrews Chapter 2 verse 14 it says this: Since we're human, of flesh and blood, Jesus too shared in our humanity so that by His death He might destroy Him who holds the power of death (that's the devil) and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For this reason He had to be made like His brothers and sisters in every way in order that He might pay the price for the sins of the people. How many people live life in the fear of dying? I used to. I don't any more because I know I believe in Jesus. I know that when I die I will go to be with the Lord my God, not because I'm such a great person but because I believe in Jesus. No more fear, no more lurking sense of a life without purpose, a life that's missing the whole point. Paul in Galatians Chapter 5 verse 1 says: It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. In other words, the reason Christ did what He did was to give us freedom. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. You know, we can run but we can't hide. You and I can pretend that it's not there. We can do the boiling frog thing and say, "Sin's not an issue in my life. There's no such thing any more in this day and age." But sin is a reality, sin is slavery, sin has consequences. We keep on doing those same old, same old, same old things chasing after money or fame, treading on people, hurting people, whinging about people, whatever it is, whatever your brand of sin whatever your Achilles heal is – we keep doing that and it has consequences, it ruins relationships, it ruins our lives and it misses the whole point. I want to ask you again today, have you given your life over to this truth. I mean day by day do you walk, think your thoughts, make your choices in the wonderful knowledge incredible gift of life. Jesus died for you. Jesus paid the price for you. Jesus, here and now is calling you to be free of the slavery of sin and death once and for all by putting your faith in Jesus. Not just a single one-time act but a life lived in the truth and reality that Jesus died for you, that you might be forgiven. Jesus rose from that grave for you so that you might have a life eternal. This is not about taking a guilt trip here. It's about God calling you to Himself through His Son. Do you want that more than anything? Do you want to be close to God? Do you want to be with Jesus for the rest of eternity from this moment forward? Why don't you pray this prayer with me? Father,I've heard the message of Jesus today. I believe that Jesus died on the Cross for me and I want to accept Him as my Saviour, the one who set me free from the slavery of sin. But not just my Saviour, I want to accept Him as my Lord. I give my life, God, into your hands for you to be the Lord of my life above all other things, all other hopes and dreams and desires. Father, I'm so sorry for the things I've done in the past. I turn away from them right now. I want you to fill me up to overflowing with your Holy Spirit. Father give me the new life Jesus died and rose again to give me. I want to know Your peace and Your freedom and Your joy and Your love. I give my life to you in Jesus name. In Jesus name, Amen. This is where life is at. Not some rule-based constricting religion – freedom … freedom from all the things that we are enslaved to that ruin our lives. Freedom from wandering aimlessly through life towards a disastrous end, Freedom from the consequence of our sin and into a life with purpose and meaning and joy and wonder and glory, a life that only gets better and better, a life that goes for all eternity. Will there be trials in this life? Is it tough following Jesus? You bet you. Jesus never promises a bed of roses, He never promises a cake walk. In fact Jesus promises that when we put our faith in Him, there will be trials, there will be people and spiritual forces that come against us. But ultimately putting our faith in Jesus is about a new life. That's it. That's what Easter is all about. That's what Jesus was doing on the cross for me and you. All we need to do is to hear that message and let it sink into our hearts and hold onto that deep inside and never ever let it go. Easter. Jesus. Freedom. Life.

July 14, 2024, Bro. Sherman Thomas preached a sermon entitled, "As A Community of Believers: We Need Each Other. The foundational text was taken from Hebrews Chapter ten, verses twenty-four and twenty-five, reading from the English Standard Version, "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, nor forsaking the assembling of ourselves togehter, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

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What is the unforgivable sin?  Pastor Bo delves into an age-old question so that you can have peace and assurance for your salvation.  While looking at Hebrews 6 as well as other scriptures, he uses his typical humor to take us through this weighty topic and help us stand firm in the presence of the doubt and fear the enemy may send our way. (00:00) Knowing Salvation and Avoiding Fear(14:51) Continuing in the Faith(30:50) Understanding Blasphemy and Salvation   www.citylightnyc.com 

Follow the new podcast here: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | All platforms ----------------------» For the Neville Goddard listener: Get the 30-Day Unlock God Mode Program «  Unlock God Mode is a 30-day program designed to elevate your manifestation skills and and align you with your deepest desires. Join this tranformative course designed to help you connect deeply with life and achieve your goals with clarity and purpose. Claim the early bird sale (limited-time) at unlockgodmode.org * * * In this lecture, Neville Goddard reaffirms that the only subject he ever truly discusses is the power of imagination—which he equates with God and Jesus Christ. He asserts that man's imagination is vast enough to contain all possibilities, and that no one can experience anything unless they have first walked there in imagination.The Central Teaching: Imagination is GodNeville identifies the eternal body of man as imagination, which Scripture refers to as Jesus. He challenges traditional religious interpretations that limit Jesus to a historical figure, instead presenting him as the personification of divine creative power within every individual.He explains that nothing happens without first being imagined—consciously or unconsciously. Every event in life, from personal circumstances to world affairs, is the outpicturing of imaginal activity. Whether or not one recognizes this truth, imagination is the driving force behind all events.The Power of an Imaginal ActTo illustrate this principle, Neville shares an example of how a lawyer's imaginal act led to a significant real-world event. The lawyer passionately imagined a future scenario while defending a case, and years later, events unfolded exactly as he had foreseen. This highlights Neville's key point:The interval between the imaginal act and its realization may be longer than we remember, leading us to deny our own harvest.He warns that people often fail to recognize the connection between what they once imagined and what later manifests, leading them to dismiss imagination as the cause.Faith is Response to RevelationNeville emphasizes that faith is not about acquiring new knowledge through external means but is instead a response to revelation. The greatest revelation, he asserts, is the realization that imagination is Jesus Christ, the creative power of God.This means:Prayer is simply imagining with feeling and intensity.The Bible is a psychological drama happening within the individual, not a historical record.Accepting this truth allows one to walk "the new and living way" into the Holy of Holies—the realization of divine identity.The Inner Path to GodNeville references the Book of Hebrews (Chapter 10) to describe this new and living way, explaining that:Entry into the Holy of Holies (divine realization) is through the "blood of Jesus."The curtain that separates man from God is the "flesh of Jesus"—one's own sense of self.Upon spiritual awakening, the individual experiences a profound inner event where the body is metaphorically "torn" and they ascend into divine realization.He describes this moment as a lightning bolt splitting the body, revealing a living, liquid gold substance—the true blood of Jesus—which then carries the individual into the Holy of Holies, their own skull, where they merge with God.The Ultimate AwakeningNeville teaches that this journey is about awakening to one's true nature as God. He states that:Everyone will eventually experience this unveiling.It happens in stages—first through the practical use of imagination (the "law") and later through mystical experiences (the "promise").One's ability to experience divine awakening depends on how far they are willing to "walk in imagination."Key TakeawaysYour imagination is God. Everything in your world is a reflection of what you have imagined.You cannot experience what you have not first imagined. Everything unfolds from within.Faith is responding to revelation. Accepting imagination as the creative power of God leads to transformation.The "Holy of Holies" is within you. Entry into divine realization is an inner experience, not an external event.All will ultimately awaken to their divine identity. The journey may be long, but it is inevitable.Final MessageNeville urges his listeners to fully accept the power of imagination, for it is the only true path to transformation and awakening. The moment one truly understands this, they begin walking "the new and living way"—the path of realizing their own divinity. ***Download the free Neville Goddard PDF Guide at manifestwithneville.com - Discover the transformative power of Neville Goddard's wisdom with this FREE 60-page guide on his 12 timeless principles of manifestation and reality creation.★ Follow the podcast for daily lectures from the mystic Neville Goddard ★FREE RESOURCES:• Join the FREE Neville Goddard newsletter• Join the FREE Telegram Channel• Feeling is the Secret • Full Audiobook* * *The James Xander Trip Podcast:• Listen on Spotify• Listen on Apple Podcasts• Listen on YouTubeDIVE DEEPER:• The Unlock God Mode Course• The Infinite Wealth Guided Meditation* * *ABOUT NEVILLE GODDARD:Neville Goddard (1905-1972), was an English writer, speaker and mystic. He grew up in Barbados and moved to the United States of America as a young adult. Neville Goddard was perhaps the last century's most intellectually substantive and charismatic purveyor of the philosophy generally called New Thought. He wrote more than ten books under the solitary pen name Neville, and was a popular speaker on metaphysical themes from the late 1930s until his death in 1972.Possessed of a self-educated and uncommonly sharp intellect, Neville espoused a spiritual vision that was bold and total: Everything you see and experience, including other people, is the result of your own thoughts and emotional states. Each of us dr...

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Jesus and Moses: Understanding Hebrews Chapter 3 In this episode, we delve into Hebrews Chapter 3, exploring the comparison between Jesus and Moses. The script discusses how the writer of Hebrews emphasizes the superiority of Jesus over the prophets, angels, and even Moses. By focusing on Hebrews 3:1-6, the script details the faithful work of Jesus as the builder of God's house and the ultimate High Priest. It contrasts this with Moses' role as a servant within the house, highlighting the completion of God's plan through Jesus. The episode encourages believers to consider Jesus, understand His completed work, and place their confidence in Him over the laws and figures of the Old Testament.

The Book of Hebrews - Chapter 5 - Resilient Faith

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The Book of Hebrews - Chapter 4 - Resilient Faith - There is a peace, and a rest, that God offers us. How can we experience that rest? Chapter four of Hebrews gives us an idea of what it takes to enjoy rest in God.

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Join us as we dig into the Book of Hebrews.

Resilient Faith - The Book of Hebrews - Pt 3 - Hebrews Chapter 3. Why does is matter that Jesus is greater than Moses? In Chapter 3 of Hebrews we are given 2 reasons why, and then two instructions we are to follow as Christians.

Join us as we dig into the Book of Hebrews.

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In this episode of The Crosswalk Devotional, we examine the quiet yet powerful impact of subtle sin on our spiritual lives. Often, it's the small compromises we make that can lead us away from God's intended path. We’ll discuss how these hidden struggles can drain our strength and disrupt our relationship with Him. By sharing personal stories and biblical wisdom, we’ll highlight the importance of self-reflection and vigilance in our faith. Together, we’ll explore practical ways to recognize and confront these subtle temptations, helping us to regain our spiritual momentum. Join the Conversation: We want to hear from you! Have you faced subtle sins that have impacted your journey? Share your insights with us on social media @LifeaudioNetwork or via email. What steps have you taken to strengthen your faith in the face of distractions?

Resilient Faith - The Book of Hebrews - Chapter 2

Joshua 2:1-24 | Andrew Murch | Joshua 2 introduces us to someone, who is quite honestly, unexpected as someone God would use. Her name is Rahab. She is mentioned alongside towering figures of the faith such as Abraham, Moses, Noah, Gideon, and King David in Hebrews Chapter 11. How is this possible? Why is it so shocking and unexpected? It's surprising because Rahab is a prostitute. And almost every time her name is mentioned in the Bible she is known as Rahab the prostitute. Not a religious giant as you would expect but a person most people would be ashamed to be associated with. But God saw things differently. God saw a heart of faith and someone who believed in Him wholeheartedly.

"The general idea of this letter is to demonstrate that Jesus amply fulfills all the highest conceptions of the Jewish religion, and is infinitely superior to any predecessors... There is, therefore, for those who belong to Christ far greater privilege in knowing God, but far greater responsibility in serving him loyally". Originally published as part of Letters to Young Churches.