A New & Living Way - Hebrews 10, verses 19-25

On Sunday, 12th December 2010, the leadership of Abundant Life, Limerick launched "A New & Living Way to Live - a journey to genuine Friendships".

Sometimes, we ask one another the question " How are you?", to which the reply may be "I'm ok!" or "I'm not too bad".
What does that mean? Do we want to know more? Do we want to relate deeper to one another? Do we want genuine friendships?
Maybe asking "How are you really?" could bring a deeper response and help us relate beyond the layers that keep people at a distance.

Follow up:

We have 25+ nationalities represented in Abundant Life, and no one culture has perfected genuine friendship. We desire a New Testament Christian culture of friendships, where honesty, integrity, trust, love, openness, commitment and respect play a vital part in our relationships. Abundant Life's vision is to be a "friendly growing Irish church", so we are on a journey to genuine Friendship in 2011.

The following message will give you an idea of what we believe God is saying to us: -

If I was to summerise these seven verses Hebrews 10, v19-25, this would be it ... the local church is a confident community, experiencing the presence, power, love & hope of God daily, transforming their city and their world through love and good deeds.

Many people ask today ... "Why bother with church?"
Well, why do people go to Abundant Life?
I would like to think they come because God is central to all we do; the Bible is the inspired word of God & instruction guide for living, and Jesus has provided us with a NEW and LIVING WAY to LIVE. Let's look at this phrase ...

NEW means Freshness; Vitality; Latest relevant lifestyle. People nowadays, especially those outside the church, want something NEW. They don't want religion that is irrelevant but they do want spirituality - genuine spirituality.

LIVING involves Life Giving; Meaningful; Contagious & Purposeful living. Being reconciled (and it is very hard to live without being reconciled to God & fellow man) flourishes us.

WAY means Jesus has made available a new way, an open door to God for us. We are on a Journey and this New & Living way to life will take time. Yes, we have good relationships but God wants us to go deeper & be more real. There are no experts among us. No one culture has this perfected. Let's leave aside anything that hinders the culture of the Kingdom of Heaven among us. Embrace hospitality, friendship and the challenge of being real people. This will take time, teaching, being intentional & living life together - and will involve change.

Hebrews 10:19-21, the first half of our passage is the life changing message of Jesus. His Blood, His Flesh/Body sacrifice has opened the door to God. This innovative & renewing way is for all. It cost His life for us to enter.
As great High Priest, Jesus stands alongside us & supports us morning, noon & night - all the time. The Holy Place is our home. Here we experience the love, power & presence of God our Father, Jesus & Holy Spirit
Let's all take up the offer. The Old Testament kept the people at a distance. The New & Living Way brings us near. So, take advantage of what Jesus has done. Make it real.
v19 says "We enter". v20 says "He did it for US". v21 says "We have a great high priest". The new & living way to live is not just for me but for US. We do this together - John Wesley used to often remind his Methodists … “The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion”.
And we enter, despite all our failings BECAUSE Jesus paid the
Cost of entry. Divine Love, the Cross and the Resurrection have brought us Continuous & Unwavering Support from heaven.

Who likes lettuce? Isn't it good for you?
Well, our passage mentions it 4 times: -
Let us draw near
Let us hold unswervingly
Let us consider
Let us not give up meeting together
If the plural is mentioned 4 times, we better pay attention to it. Not just individual, but let's do it corporately.

Verses 22-25 contain the keys to building our relationships: - Truth; Faith; Hope and Encouragement.

V 23 also talks about Hope. The Gospel creates HOPE.
The world’s hope is Uncertain. But
Biblical Hope is expecting with pleasure. It is Confidence and Certainty. This certainty affects the way we live NOW. There is a better place for our neighbours to live. Jesus is the Way to a Better Future & Eternal Joy

Verse 22 stresses that we be true to ourselves. If we are sincere, genuine and honest, then friendship has a great chance of blossoming. Isn't it so hard to relate if someone is not genuine? You normally end up taking rubbish & being bored, instead of edified.
Our verse also talks a lot about the heart, our attitudes and the need for cleansing, dealing with guilt, protecting our conscience, being washed clean. Why?
Well, true friendship means being yourself, warts & all. Relating to God & your friends with a good estimate of yourself - and not covering up your failings, sin or the times you make a bags of things.

Verse 22 - talks about Faith. Having full assurance or confidence in God is a step of growth. We are to be a confident people with no doubts about your faith, your conversion, your born again experience, your relationship with God. The first lesson in our Foundation Course is Assurance of Salvation. Why not use the Foundation Course, or a scripture verse or the List of Questions provided as tools to enhance your relationship with someone else in the church and make you confident in God?

Verse 24-25 ... V 24-25 - focus on Encouragement. This is a key to Living this New Way. Encouragement is the Key to Faith; to having Confidence; to being a Christian community; to being a genuine & honest people. Encouragement makes Love & Good Deeds Happen.

We are going to spend many Sunday's in 2011 teaching on encouragement, genuine relationships and hope.
Here's a taste of what's to come: -
- The power of a well timed word
- Obstacles to encouragement
- Relationships - Totally open v Totally committed?
- Goal & Desires
- Developing Character
- Handling your emotions
- How encouragement works
- How do I change?
- Recognising Opportunities
- Responding to Opportunities
- Skills of Communication

We are confident God is going to bring about a much stronger "friendly" Abundant Life church.
Let "A New & Living Way to Live - a journey to genuine Friendship" help us be a confident community, experiencing the presence, power, love & hope of God daily, thus transforming our city and our world through love and good deeds.