Want to learn more about Hebrews? Use these Bible Studies for personal devotion, group Bible studies, or teaching a church class. Below are links to the lessons in this 11-part series.
Have you ever had an event or a song that just made you feel like shouting praises to God? I recall that feeling when I was in college and I was singing in Pioneer Memorial Church. The organ and the voices swept me up into this wonderful praise to God. More recently, the same is true for the chapel praise services at Regent University. The music draws me into this joy of praising God. And then I return to the real world. Today’s study of Hebrews is a lot like that. It starts with praise and then turns to the serious matter of living while still holding onto the hope that inspires our praise. Let’s dive into our new study in Hebrews and learn more!
Do you have a best friend? Someone who is clearly closer to you than anyone else? The book of Hebrews makes the argument that Jesus is that part of the Godhead who has the closest relationship with humans. He created our universe. He became one of us. He redeemed us. One of His current occupations is pleading on our behalf against the condemnation of our sins. He truly identifies with us. Let’s plunge into our study of Hebrews to see what it has to say about Jesus and us!
What does the beginning of Hebrews teach us about Jesus? Two weeks ago we studied that the introduction to Hebrews started with praising Jesus. Last week we looked at how the first two chapters of Hebrews described the various aspects of Jesus’ work. This week we look at the way the beginning of Hebrews describes the nature of Jesus. We cannot learn too much about Jesus, so let’s dive in!
I’m blessed with a faithful brother. How about you? There are so many tragic relationships among family members. Siblings who will not talk to each other. Parents and children who dislike each other. All of my family relationships are great, and I think an important reason for this is that we all love the Lord. Our lesson this week is about Jesus as our faithful brother. Let’s jump into our study of the book of Hebrews and learn more!
How would you define rest? Is it sleeping? Laying on the beach? Watching television? What about a rest from being worried? A rest from fear? I think the Bible has a definition of rest that is largely different from our popular notions about rest. Because Hebrews describes this rest, let’s plunge into our study of the Bible and learn more!
Has someone defended you in a serious situation? How did that feel? Because of my job, I’m generally the one defending people who cannot afford to defend themselves. But, I recall decades ago I was playing a church-related volleyball game and Rick Armstrong defended me against a guy who I thought was mentally unbalanced. It is very rare for me to fear another man, but I felt fearful in this situation. Rick knew this fellow and he intervened. Jesus has been intervening for a very long time on our behalf to save us from eternal death. Our gratitude should be unbounded and never forgotten. Let’s turn in our study of Hebrews to learn more about how Jesus our Faithful Defender acts on our behalf!
Does life sometimes dissolve into boring routine? Do problems and challenges cause us to focus on them instead of God? Does success and wealth turn us away from a dependence on God? Are you tempted sometimes to just leave Christianity behind? We need to be anchored in Jesus so that none of these situations capture us and lead us from our faith in Jesus. Hebrews 6 addresses this problem. Let’s dive into our study of the Bible and learn more!
A “covenant” is in modern terms a “contract.” The nature of contracts is pretty simple under American law. The parties to the contract exchange promises to do something, and that something has value. That valuable something is called “consideration.” For example, I promise to give you a specific sum of money, and you promise to give me your car. The money and the car are valuable consideration, and the mutual promises constitute the contract. Theologians often find many covenants in the Old Testament. Our lesson this week is about one, the ambiguously termed “New” Covenant. Let’s plunge into our study of the Bible to understand better this new covenant, and to determine if it is truly new, or simply “refurbished.”
How many religions are you acquainted with? Every one that I know about involves a sacrifice of some kind. That sacrifice is an offering to the god of the religion or some sort of penance for sin. Something that belongs to you is given up. Christianity is different in that we do not earn our salvation by our works. Giving up our property does not bring eternal life. We do, however, have a sacrifice. But our sacrifice turns all the other religions on their head. Our God is sacrificing Himself, we are not sacrificing to Him. Let’s dive into our study of Hebrews and learn more!
Do you have any “veils” in your life? One of my favorite local restaurants has you walk through a curtain to enter. Not certain how sanitary it is to have everyone brushing against that curtain. There are many intellectual veils in my life. They consist of subjects on which I have an opinion, but then when I learn more I realize that I don’t have the correct understanding. The sanctuary in the wilderness, the temple in Jerusalem, both had a veil separating the holy from the most holy rooms. That is the veil we explore this week. Let’s plunge into our study of the Bible and learn more about what these curtains have to do with our lives!
Hebrews 11 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. Reason being that it explains some of our most successful and difficult times in life. It gives us critical insight into faith and understanding how God interacts with humans. When we accuse God, like Mary and Martha did in John 11 (verses 21 and 32), that He failed us at critical times, Hebrews 11 has an answer to bolster our faith. Let’s plunge into our study of the Bible and learn more!
