Saturday November 3, 2012

Read Hebrews 10:19-25

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We’re losing respect in the western world at a large rate of knots. Women are not respected. Even though we’ve had a feminist revolution and a desperate grab at sexual equality, women are increasingly being portrayed as sex objects and meat to please men. Parents are not respected. Children are rebelling against parental authority at younger ages. The elderly are not respected. More and more we are seeing them attacked, robbed, beaten up and sometimes even sexually assaulted. God is not respected in any sense as more and more people seek to remove the name and Word of God from any public place. Respect is dying.

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Yet when we look to the Old Testament people of God, we see that they had an incredible respect for God. They would not even pronounce the Hebrew name, Yahweh (given to Moses as the personal name of God in Exodus) but would say, ‘Adonai’ or ‘Lord’ as a respectful substitute. They stood in awe outside the temple not daring to enter into the sanctuary, let alone the inner sanctuary where God Himself dwelt.

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Sometimes I wonder if the awe and wonder of Hebrews 10:19 is lost on us because our lack of respect. Older folk may know something of what it means to stand in the presence of a great person, a king or a queen but we’ve lost that sense of awe and respect. Jesus has made it possible for you and I to enter into the inner sanctuary where God dwells. We can venture into the Most Holy Place where only 1 man in Israel could enter into and only once per year after much sacrifice for sins. Jesus has made it possible for you and I to stand before the living God, our Creator, the one who made atoms and astronomical wonders. We can approach the God who resembles a towering inferno.

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Such an awe inspiring privilege has consequences and implications for our lives. Reread today’s passage and see if you can work out how this awesome privilege should change our lives. There are five implications - two relating to God and three relating to each other. See if you can find them in today’s passage.

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Relating to God

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Relating to Each Other

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Now that you’ve found them, think about how you might be doing each one.

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Prayer:

Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

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Adoration:

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Confession:

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Thanks:

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Supplication:

¥ Pray that God would be leading and guiding the leadership in your congregation. Pray for the Session, the Committee of Management and other groups or committees that lead. Pray for each one specifically.

¥ Pray that God would make fellowship in your church this week so rich and so powerful that others are drawn into Christ and non believers willingly confess Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

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My Additional Prayer Points.

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