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16 - Hebrews: Conclusions |
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Hebrews has been a challenging text for me, and I hope that it has challenged you both in your teaching and in your own faith. As we close the study and turn our attention to other texts, here are some questions for discussion and thoughts for consideration about the book as a whole. In addition to what we have here, you may want to spend some time discussing future study plans, and perhaps matters with individuals and families as we all approach the summer months.
Wrap-up Discussion Questions1. What has this book taught you about the work and person of Jesus? What do you think/feel/understand better about who Jesus is and what he has done?
2. How has this book affected the way you think about God's covenant with Israel in the Old Testament? What is your understanding of the old covenant?
3. What texts from this study have you found particularly inspirational or helpful? What seemed like something new, or was surprising? What has proven most challenging?
4. Sometimes it is difficult to read these texts and empathize with the communities of the first century that produced/received them. In what ways have you found yourself saying, “These people really are a lot like us.”? Or has the text felt distant?
5. What sums up the message of the book, as it has spoken to you? What would this author have to say to our church, were he to stand before us now?
6. This letter is written as a letter of exhortation, a word of encouragement to act faithfully. In what ways do we need and receive encouragement from our own community? What ways do we need more encouragement?
7. As a part of the memory challenge that we introduced at the beginning of the study, have you been able to engage in that challenge? How has it been beneficial, or why did we fail in that challenge?
Closing thoughtsA. This text has some difficulties in study, not the least of which is the long sustained argument in the middle of the book. However, the benefit of studying such a text is that we gain a very thorough understanding of the basis of our faith and confidence in the Lord. Hebrews has shown us how completely Jesus has dealt with our guilt before God! This is cause for great gratitude and worship! One of the benefits to me has been the chance to reflect on how amazing the salvation we receive is.
B. This text has also been useful because of its level of difficulty. It is a text that challenges our minds and forces us to really think, and that's a good thing. Sometimes it has made me read the section at hand multiple times before getting a good grip on what it was saying, and there have been times when I've had to seek out answers better than what I could come up with on my own! That's a good thing, too! What do you think about how we balance studies like this? Can a study be too challenging, so that we lose interest and become discouraged and more distant from the scriptures? Can a study be too easy, so that we end up only studying the basics over and over again and never move on to meatier subjects and deeper maturity? Which do we more often risk?
C. Finally, let us all be encouraged by this study to never, ever give up when it comes to our faith. Let our determination to follow Christ in times of ease or times of difficulty, in times of struggle and in times of victory. Let this text serve as a place where we covenant together to help each other in faith, encouraging each other. And let us be mindful of our covenant with God, by which he redeems those who remain faithful.
Be Faithful!
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