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Jan 26, 2025

Listen Up.

Listen Up.

Passage: Hebrews 1:1-4

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: Worthy: His Worth, and a Life Worthy of Him

Keywords: peace, shepherd, glory, covenant, worthy, pleasing

Though a tide may be turning, faith, of any stripe, in a modern world can feel fragile–that is, prone to second-guessing–given the number of well-worn religious and philosophical traditions which live in close proximity to one another. At the same time, though, a life that disregards faith can leave one no less unsteady. To those uncertain about commitment or uncertain about steering clear of any faith commitment, one enduring question remains: why might Jesus be worth listening to?

 

CENTRAL TEXT:  Hebrews 1:1-4

Heb. 1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

 

PREPARATION:   John 1:1-5; 1 John 1:3, 4

LEADER:  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

ALL:  that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

 

PRAYER/SCRIPTURE READING/CONFESSION OF FAITH:   Isaiah 6:1-7 & Matthew 7:24-28

LEADER:   In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: 

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”  And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

The Word of the LORD

ALL:   Thanks be to God

 

CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

CONFESSION OF SIN:  

LEADER:  Let us confess our sin to God.

ALL:  Father, Your Son’s most frequent question was “who do you say that I am?” In His word, His life, His death, and His resurrection we find our answer. In ways seen and unseen this week, forgive us for thinking Him less than He is, less worthy of the attention He deserves. Help us to see Jesus–to be humble and grateful again,  and, as often as the moment calls for, to be made unafraid.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 1 Peter 3:18

LEADER:  For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,     

ALL: Thanks be to God.

 

BENEDICTION:   Revelation 21:5-7

LEADER:   And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

DISMISSAL: Amen.

LEADER: Let us go forth to serve the world as those who love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

ALL: Thanks be to God!

 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 

  1. What reasons might the average person raise for why no religious notion should ever be considered more significant than another? What are the strengths of those reasons? What if any weaknesses do they possess?
  2. Let’s get personal: how confident would you feel to speak to anyone interested to know why you might see Jesus set apart from other respected faiths or philosophies? Why?
  3. Let’s get cultural: have you noticed any trend toward greater favorableness toward Christianity among modern people? What accounts for what you might notice?
  4. Read the passage again aloud, Don’t think too long, but what is the author’s main purpose in just those first four verses? What project does he appear to be committed to?
  5. What claims does he make to support his purpose?
  6. How does this project challenge the modern project to prioritize the homogenization of various faiths and philosophies?
  7. Let’s end on the personal: if these first four verses about Jesus are true, how does that change what you are thinking, struggling with, or fearing right this hour?

 

ILLUSTRATIONS:

 

 

 

QUOTES:

  • “Fragilization”:  In the face of different options, where people who lead “normal” lives do not share my faith (and perhaps believe something very different), my own faith commitment becomes fragile—put into question, dubitable.
    - James K.A. Smith’s helpful definition of a word used by Charles Taylor to describe a widely held modern experience of religious faith

 

  • [There was a time when] non-belief in God was close to unthinkable for the vast majority; whereas today this is not at all the case. . . . An atheist in the Bible belt has trouble being understood, as often. . .do believing Christians in certain reaches of the academy...
    - Charles Taylor

 

  • . . .what I’m trying to do, is put into words how hard it is to be without religion. To feel your way through this world without moral guidance. To exist without any sense that you belong to something bigger. To have nothing to atone for; nobody to feel indebted to. And to show that yes, we might not be shackled to old-fashioned morality anymore, but this world will certainly shackle us to something—fame, followers, feelings, our own reflection. All of which seem to make us miserable. After all the mental health awareness, girls and young women are more anxious and depressed. After all the female empowerment, we are more fearful and risk-averse. After all the mantras about self-love and self-expression, we seem even more unhappy with who we are. It’s just not working.
    - Freya India

  • For myself, I always write about Dublin, because if I can get to the heart of Dublin I can get to the heart of all the cities of the world. In the particular is contained the universal.
    - James Joyce

  • The relativism which is not willing to speak about truth but only about ‘what is true for me’ is an evasion of the serious business of living. It is the mark of a tragic loss of nerve in our contemporary culture. It is a preliminary symptom of death.
    - Lesslie Newbigin

  • The gospel is not just the illustration (even the best illustration) of an idea. It is the story of actions by which the human situation is irreversibly changed.
    - Lesslie Newbigin

 

BOOKS / DOCS

The preceding both taken from a page of dozens of different plans–including some for students of every age