Homework: 1a. What are the benefits of being a part of this church? 1b. Why are those things best experienced with fellow believers?

Hebrews 10:18-25: Now when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices. And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. This is the new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us through the sacred curtain, by means of his death for us.

And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's people, let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24-25 [NLT]

Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.

=Agavph = “ Agaph ” is God’s kind of love:  Sacrificial  Unconditional

Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. =Agavph = “ Agaph ” is God’s kind of love:  Sacrificial  Unconditional

Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.

“amazing, God-driven, God-revealing, acts”

Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.

paroxusmovV = “ paroxusmos ”

Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. Greek word paroxusmovV means … Provoke!

Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.

Greek word is katanoevw = “ katanoew ” meaning “consider”

Think of ways to provoke one another to amazing, God-driven, God-revealing acts of sacrificial and unconditional love and good deeds.

Homework: 2a. What are some amazingly loving good deeds we could do as individuals, in a group, or as a church? 2b. How can you stimulate others to join you in these things?

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do…

† Christian community is necessary for obedience. † Christian community is necessary for emotional, relational, and spiritual health. † Christian community facilitates evangelism. † Christian community facilitates spiritual growth.

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other…

Greek word parakalevw = “ parakalew ”

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other… Warn against things that take us away from God: † Sin issues

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other… Warn against things that take us away from God: † Sin issues – even “small” sins

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other… Warn against things that take us away from God: † Sin issues – even “small” sins † Distractions

“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.” -- D.A. Carson, For the Love of God

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other… Encourage what brings us closer to God: † Ways of learning about God † Ways of connecting to God † Ways of serving God † Ways of healing by God

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.

Summary: 1. Form strong friendships with other believers and spend time with them. 2. Encourage each other in faith and hold each other accountable, to stay in a healthy relationship with God. 3. Think of ways to provoke each other into amazing acts of love, and do them together.