Pastor: Pastor Eric

How can we measure faith?  One way in which some attempt to measure faith is by looking at the results.  They say that if a sick person is not healed, then they don’t have enough faith.  Or, if someone is praying for something that they are not receiving, they are not receiving it because they don’t have enough faith.  I’m pretty sure that the people who say or teach things like this don’t read the entire Bible, just bits and pieces of it.  I’m convinced that we can’t really “measure” faith.  Whatever measuring of faith needs to be done is […]

“Faith…the final frontier”…no, wait a minute, that’s “Space..the final frontier” and then cue the music from Star Trek.  That would be Star Trek the original one not Star Trek the Next Generation or Star Trek Galaxy 5 or whatever other iterations they have come up with.  But I digress…. Faith is not the final frontier.  Faith is the beginning, the foundation to all of our lives.  In Hebrews chapter 11, we read about faith.  Here are the first six verses of chapter 11:  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it […]

Today we turn the clocks back an hour, “gaining” an extra hour in our day.  What do we do with it?  How will we spend the extra hour that we have?  Time is such a powerful thing.  It is truly a resource that we are given by God to spend for His glory.  We talk about “saving time” by doing things quickly or more efficiently but in reality we can’t save time at all.  When we wake up feeling sick or just weary, wouldn’t it be nice if we could “save the day” and use it later when we feel […]

In Hebrews chapter 10, the writer is telling us that Jesus Christ is better than any animal sacrifice and that only Jesus Christ’s sacrifice can take away sin.  This would have been very encouraging news to the Jewish reader of Hebrews.  They grew up with the sacrificial system, where animals were sacrificed for forgiveness of sin.  But what they didn’t realize then, is that God accepted these animal sacrifices only because He knew of the ultimate sacrifice that His Son would make.  The animal sacrifices were of value only because of what Jesus was going to do.  Hebrews makes it […]

One of my favorite lyrics from a Christian song is from the song, “Praise You in the Storm” by Casting Crowns.  The lyric is this:  “I was sure by now, God You would have reached down, and wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day, but once again, I say “Amen” and it’s still raining.  And as the thunder rolls, I barely hear Your whisper through the rain, “I’m with you”  And as your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away…  In a book written by Mark Hall, the frontman […]

The writer of Hebrews continues making the point that Jesus is “better” than anything in the Jewish religious system, or any other system for that matter.  Today the focus is on how much better Jesus is as a priest.  A priest or pastor, is often considered a sort of intermediary between man and God.  Now, this is not really a very good description.  In fact, the Bible states that there is only one mediator between God and man, Jesus.  Jesus is the only true mediator.  The reason this is so is, in part, because of what verse 28 of chapter […]

I really like the last three verses of Hebrews chapter 5:  12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. The analogy is pretty clear.  As followers of Jesus who have been following for a […]

In a previous post I mentioned how the main purpose of the book of Hebrews is to convince the reader that Jesus is better than anyone or anything else.  One of the comparisons that the writer is making is with the High Priest.  The High Priest was the highest spiritual office in the Jewish religious system…yet Jesus is so much better.  A High Priest, though respected and revered by many, was still a sinner.  He still failed from time to time…in fact, in Jesus’ day the high priestly office appeared to be held by men who were not very “good” […]

I’m catching up on Saturday and Sunday with three blog posts today from the book of Hebrews.  The first is Hebrews chapter 4 verses 12-13   12 For the word of God isliving and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.   What a great commentary on the power of the word of God.  God’s […]

I know that the title of today’s post sounds a little irreverent but I did it to “grab attention”.  We’ve all heard the phrase: “Been there, done that…got the t-shirt”.  People say that to let us know that they too have been to the tourist destination, or life experience, that we’re talking about…they have shared the experiences, good and bad and they know what we are talking about and/or dealing with.  In the book of Hebrews there is one central argument.  The argument being made is that “Jesus is better than Judaism”.  That one phrase encapsulates the entire book of […]