Hello Church Family,
I hope that you are having a great start to your week. I don’t know about you, but I love the series that Pastor Josh is currently leading us through on prayer. One of the things that he shared yesterday in his message that really stood out to me is that after the Lord’s Prayer is given in Matthew, Jesus never again repeated those exact words. It’s also interesting that none of the other New Testament writers share it verbatim either. It is a model for us and not something that we are to recite without meaning behind it. I know so many times, I may not repeat the Lord’s Prayer, but I do pray without passion and boldness.
I love this verse in Hebrews, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” — Hebrews 4:16 We are encouraged, not to recite meaningless words, but to come to God with boldness. This boldness means that we are confident that what we are praying is being heard by the God of the universe. The same God that hears our every need and cares for our every hurt. Remember that Jesus is the Great High Priest who intercedes on our behalf. In the Old Testament, priests were God’s chosen servants; they served as mediators between God and his people. They worked in the temple, praying for the people and bringing their sacrifices to God. They offered sacrifices on behalf of the people to make atonement for their sins. And only the high priest was allowed to enter the most holy place to stand before God. Earlier in Hebrews, Jesus is referred to as the “faithful high priest.” Here, in chapter 4, he is called the “great high priest.” This means He is actually the greatest of all high priests. He is the one true High Priest. Jesus is the greatest because, unlike all the others, He “has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Because He is sinless and perfect, He is able to stand before God as the one who can make atonement for our sins, and because of his perfect life, Jesus’ atonement for our sins is real and lasting. For this reason, we do not need to be afraid to enter God’s presence; in fact, we can have “confidence” when we approach God. We can be confident that we will “receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
So what is on your heart today? What needs do you have? Yesterday we were challenged to give these over to God and today I want to remind you to do the same. Don’t be afraid to approach God. Instead, approach him with confidence, knowing that even though we cannot do this in our own strength, we can do it through Jesus, the great High Priest.
Have a great week,
Mike Summy
Children's Pastor