Don’t Lose Sight of Christ
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
WEDNESDAYS THIS SUMMER -
I remember when Apollo 13 suffered a very severe failure in space and the three astronauts were close to never returning home. This is wonderfully played out in the movie “Apollo 13″. In one scene, the astronauts are told to fire their engines in order to speed up their return home around the moon. They had no navigation system and they had to find a fixed point out their little window (earth), fire the engines, and control the ship for 39 seconds, keeping earth in the center of the window. If they lost track of earth, they would never return home. Although very difficult, they never lost sight of earth and made it safely home.
The Book of Hebrews has a theme much like Apollo 13: “…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus,…” (Hebrews 12:1-2). The author of the book of Hebrews wrote a letter to struggling Christians asking them not to lose sight of Jesus but to keep Him in their focus.
Some of the people the author was writing to were going back to the practices of the law of Moses. Others were adding on angels as part of their worship. Still others had questions about the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. Persecution was a part of life and causing some to back away from the faith. With all of these “pressures,” the author was encouraging believers to stay focused on Christ. He’s the only way to get where you know you want to be – home.
Our struggles today are different in many ways. What takes our eyes off the Lord is all the “things” of life, self-centered Christianity (God is here for me), and the many distractions of a “Madison Avenue” culture. The author, if he were alive today, would be writing us the same conclusion – keep your eyes focused on Christ. He is the only way. “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.” (Hebrews 12:28)
Hebrews will be our focus on Wednesday nights beginning May 6th. The children’s program will be concluded by this time, but the Bible study is for all. We will start at 6:30 and end by 7:30. Coffee and tea will be served as I lead us through the letter to the Hebrews.
The summer has many distractions with lots of it summertime fun. Praise God for that. Yet, I would encourage you to set aside one hour in the middle of the week to stay focused on Christ? I look forward to seeing you May 6th at 6:30PM.
Blessings,
Pastor Mike
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