Before I introduce our sermon text for this coming Lord’s Day, I want to express my appreciation for Matthew Elliott who preached in my absence last Sunday, and for Rev. Jim Daughtry who led our worship and Communion. I know you were fed richly from the proclamation of the Lord’s Word and from the fellowship of the Lord’s Table. Thank you dear brothers!

And then, let me also remind you of the big time change that happens on Saturday night as we Spring Forward one hour and enter Daylight Savings Time this weekend.

This Sunday, we will pick up our study of Hebrews at Chapter 8, verses 1-5. Here we discover yet another wonderful image of our Lord and Savior, that of “ minister” (v. 2). As we examine these verses, we will be led to consider a most critical and timeless theme that is running throughout the Epistle, that of despair.

While this word ‘despair’ does not appear in the letter, it is made evident by the frequency with which the author speaks of the “ hope” that we have in Christ. As we shall joyfully discover in this section of the Epistle, our Savior and King is not only our Great High Priest who has fully paid for our sins once-for-all in the past, but He is also our Great Eternal Minister who gives us hope and strength now in the present.

Like the very first readers of this inspired Book, we too face the threat of falling into the valley of hopelessness where we are tempted to give up, and to even neglect our confession that Christ is Lord. Yet, with eternal power and relevance, the Word of our King will speak to us yet again, and will bring life and renewed hope to our souls as we humbly receive it.