01-31-16 The Lettuce Patch: Let Us Consider How...

As we go into February, I probably ought to take a moment and remind people of all of the things coming up that you could take part in.

First off, February 7th is our annual Super Bowl party here at First Covenant.  Come bring your snack tray or bag of chips or two-liter bottle of something to drink or whatever you want and join us as we watch the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos battle it out on our massive, 11-foot big screen (we’re projecting it against the wall of our Narthex, so that’s the biggest screen you’ll ever see the Super Bowl on in your life).  Even if you don’t much like football, it’s a great chance to come and spend some quality family time with other FCCers on comfy couches.

The next weekend--on Saturday, February 13th--we’ll be hosting our annual Intersection Restaurant of Love.  Not only can you support our Youth Group, but you can also bring your significant other and eat a delicious meal for a ridiculously low price in a remarkably romantic atmosphere.  Again, I encourage you to come join us--tickets are on sale now.

Then, at the end of February, we’ll be having our annual Spring workday to prep the church building for a new year of ministry.  Please keep open the morning of Saturday, February 27th.  Even if you can only work for an hour or two, your help would be greatly appreciated.

In our message this week, we continued our look at the “Lettuce Patch” of Hebrews, focusing on the three “let us” commands in Hebrews 10:24-25.

Actually, I just lied to you.  There aren’t really three “let us” commands in Hebrews 10:24-25, even though some Bibles translate the passage that way.  In truth, the “commands” of verse 25 are really just telling you how you’re supposed to live out the command of verse 24.

So what the writer of Hebrews is telling us is that we must all work to “spur one another on” (in its all-but-literal sense of “being a goad to prod each other into action”) toward being loving and doing the right things in life.  And how we do that is by continuing to meet together (not just on Sundays, but sharing our lives with one another and not letting our faith devolve into some quiet, personal, individualized thing), and by encouraging one another (not in an “Attaboy!” kind of way, but in a “Get off your duff and do something!” kind of way).  The whole command of verses 24-25 really does have the force of being loving and encouraging cattle prods for one another, reminding everyone that we have clear and definite commands from God that we’re supposed to live out--to vertically draw close to the Lord in sincerity and assurance of faith, to horizontally be unwavering in our commitment to confess the Gospel message to everyone around us, and to continually consider how to help one another do all of these things more and more.

The fact is, we have no idea when Christ is returning--but if He does come back, say, tomorrow, and He asks you what you did with the blessings and the Gospel message that He gave you to invest into other people’s lives for His kingdom and glory, then how will you and I answer Him?