Community by (Divine) Design
Hebrews 10:19-25

• Read Hebrews 10:1-25.
  •  What, from these 25 verses, moves you the most?
  • What has God done for us?
  • What does this text call us to do for God?

• In our day, attendance at church one or two times a month is considered “regular attendance.” Do you think this would be God’s definition?

• What challenges threaten to keep you from church? How can you make it a priority to be at church whenever you are able? Is it anyone else’s business to encourage/exhort you when attendance is a challenge for you?

• Name some friends/neighbors/co-workers that you could invite to church or to home group. Pray, as a group, for these names.

• Spend the remainder of the time discussing our church’s mission statement, which is taken from our church constitution, which is taken from Scripture.
  • Exalt the Lord
  • Establish believers
  • Engage the world with the gospel

• In what ways do we, as a church, strive to fulfill this mission? In what ways can our home group live out our mission?

Extra Notes

Martin Luther: At home or in my own house there is no warmth or vigor in me, but in the church when the multitude is gathered together, a fire is kindled in my heart, and it breaks its way through.

In Hebrews 10:1, we are told that the law was a shadow of the real thing, of a right relationship with God. It is like having a picture of your fiancé when you are away from him or her for six months before your wedding. You cherish that picture and stare at it for long periods of time, wishing you were with your sweetheart. When you get married and are together, though, while you appreciate the picture, you don't spend nearly as much time looking at it as you used to because you have the real thing, a living beautiful or handsome being with personality whose laughter stirs your soul and whose touch and scent comfort and inspire you. How silly would it be after 10 years of marriage to say, "I am leaving you — I am going back to the picture. I have such fond memories of how you looked on that particular day, and the frame and matting of this picture mean more to me than you, so I will see you later."

That's what these Jewish believers were considering. They were thinking about going back to the law, which was only a shadow of the real thing. The same is true with us when we play with our old lives, dabbling in sin and enjoying its pleasures. Like those who are bound to the law, those who are slaves to sin will live with regrets and guilty consciences. Why would we choose that? Let's choose, rather, to be a church of men and women in Christ who worship the Lord with grateful hearts.