Strengthening Faith In Hard Times

God Is Still Speaking

November 21, 2021 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 1:1–3

Jewish followers had stepped out of Judaism into Christianity BUT were changing their mind in order to escape persecution. That's why I've titled our study series: “Strengthening Faith in Hard Times." Hebrews is aimed at strengthening faith to avoid going back OR falling into a spiritual standstill. Paul's appeal is based on the superiority of Christ over Judaism’s system of Law. Point being, everything is better with Jesus, so don’t go back!

Greater Than Angels

November 28, 2021 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 1:4–14

The book of Hebrews is aimed at strengthening the faith of the Hebrew-Christian’s in Rome who were going back to Judaism because of the discomfort of persecution. Many of the Hebrew-believers were drifting into a spiritual standstill by neglecting regular worship services (Heb. 10:25) NLT. This is a great lesson for all of us and a wonderful reminder to guard this in our lives AND a teaching moment for our kids. Today, Paul makes some statements in these verses about the angels, so let’s consider some general truths about angels.

The Guardrails of God

December 5, 2021 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 2:1–4

Today, we will see the first of five warnings in the book of Hebrews. Take note of the progression of these warnings: 1. Drifting from the word (2:1-4) 2. Doubting the word (3:7 – 4:13) 3. Dullness to the word (5:11 – 6:20) 4. Despising the word (10:26-39) 5. Defying the word (12:14-29) These are progressive signs of decaying faith. They’re indicators of a toxic-spiritual-life which devastates a person with unnecessary scars! (Pain that could be easily avoided.) Paul is just pointing out that the problem isn’t a lack of knowledge but rather a tendency to let the constant distractions water down Christian convictions!

This Impacts My Life

December 12, 2021 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 2:5–18

Satan wants the conditions around your life to distort God’s love for you! And HE often tricks us into neglect God’s truth because of how we feel. Faith is a willed obedience to God, and if we want to finish our Christian race well we have to live our Christian race well. Listen, Satan try’s to seduce us away from the sufficiency of Christ in every area of our life. So, the lessons found in this epistle to the Hebrews is perfectly suited for today’s Church!

Lessons of Faith

December 26, 2021 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 3, Psalm 77:1–11, Proverbs 4:20–27

We’re going to make some simple applications to help us live the Christian life! While Hebrews is a difficult book to teach, it does not mean that we can’t grasp some basic truths and be strengthened in the faith. This is magnified as Jesus is compared to Moses. Moses was a faithful man but still he was a flawed sinner. On the other hand, Jesus was… AND is… forever faithful.

Why Can’t I Rest?

January 23, 2022 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 4

God offers everyone peace with God thru Jesus’ death and the peace of God by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Why do so many struggle with RESTING in God!?! (Hebrews 4) answers that question. Hebrews was given to 2nd generation Christian’s who were struggling with cultural change that challenged the foundation of their faith! “Will I remain in Christ or will I doubt Christ?” The temptation was to go back / to give up / AND to minimize life changing truths.

Do You Want To Move Ahead OR Fall Back?

January 30, 2022 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 5:1–10, Proverbs 26:13–16

God used this High-Priest system to cover over the barriers of sin until Jesus came and took away sin! Remember this was written in (AD 68) two-years before the destruction of the Temple. So these people knew much more about the High-Priest AND sacrifices that were needed to approach God then you and I do. And under this imperfect system for man, (v.3) the High-Priest had to offer sacrifices for people & himself. These Jewish believers were drifting from the access… Which was now ONLY found in Christ. Their relational & practical understanding of Jesus had weakened and as a result – their faith was also weakening! This speaks to the Church in 2022!

Why Do I Keep Suffering Like This?

February 13, 2022 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 5:12–14

Today we’re going to see Paul pivot from his arguments about the superiority of Christ over angels / Moses /& even the Law. And he’s going to make the application of grace under the Priesthood of Christ! However, he presents this in a negative form because the recipients of Hebrews had become lazy in listening & slow in responding! Their spiritual growth had stalled out. Maybe that describes your spiritual walk to? You have been a Christian for many years, but your growth & maturity is not reflected in a life of obedience & service to Christ. You too, have become Lazy in listening & slow in responding! This portion of Hebrews addresses the issues of slow OR regressive spiritual growth!

The Dangers of Standing Still

February 20, 2022 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 6:1–3

In (Heb. 5:12-14) we learned that a lack of enthusiasm is a direct result of NOT putting basic truths into action this causes an immature spiritual state! Therefore to get past the poor spiritual condition they would need to leave the basics and press on to perfection / maturity. Which is living out what they were taught. The Christian life is a marathon but the effort is total devotion & 100% surrender. Growth requires ACTION!!! Can that be said about you? Is that how you’re living out your salvation?

How do I Respond to the Difficult

February 27, 2022 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 6:4–12, John 6:22–71

In Hebrews 6:4-12 Paul lays out some difficult content that can cause our heads to spin! We need to chew on his words we need to ask for clarification and decide how to respond. In the ministry of Jesus, He often brought His disciples to the crossroads of tough truths. It was at those crossroads where they had to do some introspection. * They had to chew of His words… * They had to ask for clarification… * They had to decide how to personally respond to the difficult!

Lessons of Faith to Follow

March 6, 2022 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 6:13–20

Paul points all the way back to the father of faith – Abraham, who was an example of trusting God by demonstrating what it was like to wait! The lessons of Abraham give us perspective. What is your common response when you don’t get what you want? Is it complaining? Is it anger? Is it giving up? Is it making excuses? These are not characteristics of faith. Think about this: how long have you been waiting for God to help you? Can I give you some perspective? Delay = Is the tool God uses... to teach us submission. Suffering = Is the tool God uses to teach us to trust Him.

The New Order of Priesthood

March 20, 2022 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 7:1–4

In the book of Hebrews, the context points to the sufficiency of Christ! The context of this chapter is the Priesthood of Christ. Hebrews 7 is considered the pinnacle of the entire Epistle of Hebrews because it focuses on the unchanging priesthood of Christ! Remember that the work of the High Priest was to represent man before God. A topic 21st Century Christian know little about because we’re 2,000 after the Cross of Christ! Yet, the original audience of (Hebrews) was totally familiar with the Law of Moses, sacrificial systems, temple worship and even the role of the priest before God.

Moving Forward from The Past

March 27, 2022 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 7:11–28

The original readers of Hebrews were falling away from the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). So they needed Gospel truth again to understand the superiority of Christ and in the case of (Heb. 7) the Priesthood of Christ was being explained to them! And let’s just say it can be difficult to grasp within our 21st Century world. However, people within the Church today often times begin relating to God by their own goodness! Departing from GRACE received by FAITH! And maybe some of you are doing the same!?!

Truth That Enables Me

April 3, 2022 • Jeff Cramer • Hebrews 8

Under the old covenants a righteous walk was the “pre-condition” for fellowship with God. Starting in (Ex. 19:5) the “if / then” principal was given. If man does this, then God will do that. This is how man related to God under the Laws of Moses. It seemed to be fear based it seemed to be performance driven. Under the New Covenant righteous walk is the result of fellowship with God which is founded on grace & received by faith. The New Covenant is anchored on what Christ has done and not dependent on human performance. The joy under the new covenant is that it entirely depends on God’s Grace. The New Covenant tells us what God will do. Obedience to God is born out of a love for Him not thru a fear of punishment from Him. This totally changes the way we relate to God!

Access That Changes Our Life

May 15, 2022 • Jeff Cramer

Paul is presenting another life changing truth about the superiority of what Christ has given man! In other words, he’s presenting the power of what Jesus accomplished and how it impacts our lives on a daily basis. However, under the OT system people lived under a set of religious processes that only provided a temporary solution. Worshipers were kept aware of their sin because of the regular animal sacrifices they gave. They knew their need for a savior, and they were waiting.

Westminster Calvary