Richard Owen's Sermons

The writer finishes the letter by requesting that his readers pray for him and bear with his word of exhortation. He also prays to the God of peace and of power, that God will equip his readers through his Word, his Church and his Spirit, to the glory of God.

We are called to live a certain way because we have come to the holy one who makes us holy. The exhortations in this passage are not just a list of rules but are part of our DNA.

We stand not at Mount Sinai, which was a place of fear, but at Mount Zion, a place of joy, because of Jesus who is a mediator of a new covenant.

We are meant to run the race together as a body, encouraging, challenging and sharpening one another. All are encouraged to run the race.

The life Jesus calls us to is a life where we can expect hardship. There’s nothing wrong with lamenting or wrestling with God in difficulties, but we must also remember that God is treating us as sons.

We can react badly when hardship and trials come, but we should not look to our circumstances for ultimate truth. We mustn’t forget that God is treating us as sons.

Discipline from God is seen in the context of family relationships. It is fundamental in the relationship between father and child. It is painful but fruitful. Parental discipline is just a poor imitation of God’s discipline.

Jesus is the pioneer of our faith. He didn’t just lead the way but he made the way. He is also the perfecter of our faith who finished the work of redemption on the cross.

We need to get rid of sin, but also of anything else that hinders us running the race. We are not to focus on the cloud of witness, or their faith, but on the object of their faith.

Living by faith takes us out of our comfort zones, but the people of God in the Old Testament had their weaknesses turned to strength. We can trust God in all circumstances.

It is easy to focus on ourselves rather than on Jesus, and make excuses why we can’t trust him. But it’s not about us, it’s about him, and we are called to trust and obey him.

Moses’ parents were helpless to protect Moses against Pharaoh, but they trusted God. Moses could have remained a prince of Egypt but he trusted God and chose Christ over comfort.

Isaac, Jacob and Joseph all looked ahead to the future. Isaac knew that God had chosen to bless Jacob and Jacob knew that God had chosen to give Ephraim a greater blessing the Manasseh.

Abraham believed God when tested, when it didn’t make sense and with everything. Like him, we too are encouraged to trust God in all circumstances.

Abraham had faith to go where God told him to go even though he wasn’t told initially all that God would do for him. We like to see what God’s plans are for our future, but God wants us to take a small step of faith even when we don’t know what will happen.

Noah’s faith is described as a holy fear. He is commended, not because he built the ark, but because of his faith.

We don’t see great exploits with Abel and Enoch, but we see two men walking with God day by day which are examples for us.

Faith helps us not only to look forward to our hope, but also to look back at what God has done. We can be creative with what we already have but only God creates the world out of nothing. Faith is not blind but is based on God’s revelation through his Word and through his Son.

Faith is described: it is believing God. Faith is commended. In Hebrews 11 we see faith in action.

Without Jesus, there is only judgement. We are called to persevere by remembering God’s faithfulness in the past, by looking forward to what is coming, and by holding on to what is true.