Saturday, October 31, 2009

Unit 9/10 - Chapter 13: Announcements & Benediction

I. Introduction - Like title says, two main themes in Ch. 13

A. Announcements
B. Benediction
C. "the Preacher" has finished his main theme of his sermon - i.e. superiority of new covenant in Christ

II. Announcements - Moves from theoretical to practical. 4 Ways of demonstrating Christ's love

A. Hospitality - show mutual love, "philadelphia", brotherly love

1. Not only to those you know but also to strangers
2. "for by doing that some may have entertained angels without knowing it"
3. Am reminded of our friend John who comes to our potlucks.

B. Ministry with the Wounded

1. Has to do with the prison ministry and care of victims of abuse and torture
2. Many christians were imprisoned in very poor conditions and dependent upon charity of others for survival.
a. "The Christians became so notorious for their help to those in prison that, at the beginning of the fourth century, the Emperor Licinius passed new legislation that no one was to show kindness to sufferers in prison by supplying them with food and that no one was to show mercy to those starving in prison." (Barclay, p. 227)
b. Recall Paul' s plea to come quickly or he might not survive the winter (II Timothy 4:9,20)

C. Sex and Money

1. Keep yourself pure in marriage
2. Be content with what you have and don't be acquisitive - "What is inventive about this is, first, the suggestion that the love of money is not so much the product of greed as it is the fear of abandonment, and two, the intriguing theological claim that when Jesus Christ grasps our one handin love it frees us to open up the clenched other one and let the money go." (Long, p. 144)

D. Worship and Service - apparently some members were getting off track. Appears to be two main features to the problem.

1. Some in the congregation were confusing grace with regulations. Still were thinking adherence to food regulations and laws was path to purity. The preacher suggests this is due to a failure of nerve.
a. Suggests they need to be bold, "leave the old tent with its ineffective sacrifices"
b. Take the "bold approach to the heavenly sancturary made possible in Christ."
2. Congregation has a problem with the public side, the outside dimension of the Christian faith.
a. minister to people
b. "Our sacrifices are praising God, confessing God's name in public, doing works of mercy, and sharing what we have with others, --in other words, right out there in public view we are to worship, evangelize, empathetically serve the needy, and exercise generosity to others." (Long, p. 145)

III. Benediction

A. Closes with summarization of key theological messages and greetings to congregants
B. Key theological messages

1. God is a god of peace
2. Who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ
3. The great sheperd of the sheep
4. By the blood of the eternal covenant
5. Make you complete in everything good, so that you may do his will
6. Working among us that which is pleasing in his sight.

Bibliography

Barclay, William. The New Daily Study Bible - The Letter to the Hebrews. London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002

Harrison, Everett F. Interpretation Bible Studies. Louisville: John Knox Press, 2008

Long, Thomas G. Hebrews, Interpretation - A Bible Commentary for Preaching and Teaching. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1997

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