Mission Impossible?
by Barry Newton
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to fan the flame in the hearts of God's people so that their faith and service to God burns brightly. Although the target group of Christians are not themselves eye-witnesses of Christ, they have heard from those who are.\1 Although by this time you might expect them to have grown into profound teachers of the message, they have not.\2 In fact, it appears that the grist of living in an oppressive sinful world where the promises of Christ are not immediately seen, coupled with a certain forgetfulness, have been eroding away at their faith, so now they are in danger of drifting away because they are weary.\3 Unfortunately, the failure of some to gather for worship, revealing abandonment of the faith, has already begun encroaching upon some.\4
Mission Impossible? Hardly! Whether then or for today's congregation, the message of Hebrews focuses upon those unshakeable girders capable of rekindling the passion of those whose hearts have not yet been hardened. Clearly perceiving the present bound together with an anticipation of the prize yet ahead can ignite the church of the firstborn in worshiping an awesome God and living by faith. Those reliable girders for life upon which the author of Hebrews would have us mediate involve Jesus' nature and what he has achieved for us. Embracing the truth about Jesus leads to devoted living.
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1/ Hebrews 2:3
2/ Hebrews 5:11-12
3/ Hebrews 2:1,8; 3:12,14; 10:32-35; 12:3-4,12
4/ Hebrews 10:25