Tag: Digging in Deeper

Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 2:14-15

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“Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Death has always been the great equalizer. Everyone dies eventually, should our Lord tarry. It doesn’t matter how wealthy or poor you happen to be. No amount of privilege or bad luck will impact this ultimate outcome. People of great resources have occasionally tried to put it off for as long as they can, but their efforts always prove futile in the end, all the resources put toward that end wasted. And although some have tried to make all of this sound poetic and beautiful, for most people it has been and remains terrifying. Jesus broke that fear. Let’s talk about how.

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Digging in Deeper: 2 Peter 1:3-4

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“His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

For the last few weeks, I have been taking my congregation (and you as well) on a journey to understand how to read the Bible a little better than they did before. This has mostly been Christianity 101 type of stuff, and the next two parts of the series will be no different. I had been planning on this series for a few months and was pretty excited about it. Engaging with the Scriptures and encouraging followers of Jesus to do that in their own lives is something I’m pretty passionate about. But personally, I don’t always practice that passion as well as I feel it. As I fell asleep last night and when I was lying in bed for a bit this morning before getting up, I was thinking about what I would be writing about today. Leaving for the office a little later, I still didn’t know. Then God did what God has a knack for doing and gave it to me in a rush. We’re going to spend a little bit of time this morning engaging with the Scriptures together and seeing in action why doing it can make such a difference in our lives.

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Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 2:8b-9

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“For in subjecting everything to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him. But we do see Jesus – made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone – crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What is it that makes Jesus so great? That, perhaps more than just about anything else, is the question the author of Hebrews is seeking to answer over the course of his letter. While there are several good answers to the question generally and three in particular to which he gives the lion’s share of his attention, we see his arguing for one here that may not be something we think about all that often. Let’s dig in to what he’s talking about this morning.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 12:19

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Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, ‘Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What do you do when you can’t decide between two options? If possible, you choose both. This past week I finished watching a miniseries and finally watched a movie that first came out a couple of months ago. I had always planned to write a review of both once I finished watching them. I hadn’t planned on finishing both in the same week. And yet, as I have gone back and forth on which one to write about first, it became clearer and clearer that they both covered a whole lot of the same theological ground, although from different directions. Trying to treat them separately just didn’t make sense. Today, then, we are going to span two totally different media universes and talk about the recently completed Marvel series, Moon Knight, as well as the fairly recent latest offering from DC Comics, The Batman, and see how two different visions of the world reveal the Gospel is still the greatest vision of reality there is.

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Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 2:1

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“For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever wanted to quit something? I remember being asked by a neighbor once to do some yardwork for him while he was out of town. He wanted me to take out some weed grass in his yard. He was going to pay me for it, and I enjoy detailed, tedious work, but it was too much even for me. I got about halfway through and was ready to quit. It was much harder than I expected it to be. Following Jesus is no small task either, and the audience of the author of Hebrews was struggling with it. As a result, he encouraged them to stick with it. Let’s learn from their lesson today.

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