April 29, 2024

Drawing Near to God

Hebrews 10.19-25

Because of Jesus we can draw near to God in full assurance of faith. Let that sink in for just a minute. Because of Jesus, we have full access to the Father. No longer is that access limited to one person, one time a year and only with the blood of bulls and goats. But because of Jesus’ once for all sacrifice of Himself for our sins, we need not fear but confidently step through the veil. Because of Jesus.

So let us do those things…provoke each other to love and good works, continually draw near to God, and hold fast our confession without wavering. May we be a light and a beacon of hope in this valley, as we anxiously await the return of our King. And may we do it together.

If you haven’t trusted in Jesus yet, please make today the day. It’s as simple as recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. Believing that Jesus is the Savior that God promised. He lived a perfect life. He died a sacrificial death on your behalf and was raised the third day conquering both sin and death, so that by faith in Jesus you can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life. You too will have the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Jesus.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Hebrews series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

April 22, 2024

Once for All

Hebrews 10.1-18

What more is there to say? Jesus paid it all. His once for all sacrifice…willingly giving Himself, perfect obedience to the Father…wiped out sin for all time. Every single one. For those who believe.

And because of that, the enemy can no longer hold our sin against us. Guilt and shame need no longer be a weapon we allow him to use to beat us down. That’s not a free pass to sin more. If you go that route, then you really don’t understand who you are and whose you are in Jesus. You have been bought with a price…the precious blood of the matchless Son of God. You are no longer who you used to be. You are a new creation. A citizen of a new kingdom. A son or daughter of the King. That defines who you are and should determine how you live.

The King is coming back, and when He does, we will all give an account for the way we invested the life He has entrusted to us. Did we invest it in His kingdom or in simply building our own? Every day we have a choice. While we’re still here, the work’s not done. We still have a job to do. To share our story…to share the gospel and the difference Jesus has made and the hope that we have in Him.

If you haven’t trusted in Jesus yet, please make today the day. It’s as simple as recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. Believing that Jesus is the Savior that God promised. He lived a perfect life. He died a sacrificial death on your behalf and was raised the third day conquering both sin and death, so that by faith in Jesus you can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life and a clean conscience.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Hebrews series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

April 15, 2024

The Mediator of a New Covenant

Hebrews 9.15-28

Jesus is the Mediator of a New Covenant. A covenant that has been inaugurated with His own shed blood. A covenant by which He has put away sin for all time for those who believe in Him by the sacrifice of Himself.

Jesus has taken care of the sin problem. For everyone who believes. And because He’s taken care of the sin problem (the root), all our sins (fruit) are forgiven. That doesn’t give us an excuse to sin…it gives us confidence to live the life He’s called us to without guilt or shame.

Jesus is coming back. The King will return. What will you say when He asks you how you invested the life He entrusted you with? Will it be a time of celebration or a time of regret? Good news is…you still have time to turn it around if you need to. If you’re still here, then He still has work for you to do. It’s not too late.

If you haven’t trusted in Jesus yet, please make today the day. It’s as simple as recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. Believing that Jesus is the Savior that God promised. He lived a perfect life. He died a sacrificial death on your behalf and was raised the third day conquering both sin and death, so that by faith in Jesus you can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And a clean conscience.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Hebrews series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

April 8, 2024

The Old and the New

Hebrews 9.1-14

The old and the new. The copies and shadows vs. the Substance. Paul said it before, but may we never get tired of hearing it…we have such a High Priest.

All that the OT anticipated…all that the sacrifices looked forward to…the pictures and the symbols. All of it. Is now fulfilled in Jesus. What the blood of bulls and goats could never fully accomplish, Jesus did. They covered sin for a time. He took it away for all time. They worked for the cleansing of the flesh. He provided the way for the cleansing of the conscience. Theirs was external. His internal. There’s was a knockoff. He’s the real thing.

Jesus entered into the greater and more perfect tabernacle, the holy place, not of this creation, once for all, offering His own blood, obtaining eternal salvation, cleansing the conscience of those who believe from dead works to serve the living God. Jesus is greater…

If you haven’t trusted in Jesus yet, please make today the day. It’s as simple as recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. Believing that Jesus is the Savior that God promised. He lived a perfect life. He died a sacrificial death on your behalf and was raised the third day conquering both sin and death, so that by faith in Jesus you can have forgiveness of sins, eternal life and a clean conscience.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Hebrews series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

April 1, 2024

Easter – A Living Hope

1 Peter 1

Jesus changes everything! Because of His death and resurrection we have a living hope…a hope that’s alive because Jesus is alive and a faith that continues to grow and mature as we follow Him. We need not live a life of fear, though the world around us is shaking, we can have confidence knowing that the temporary things may fade, but the kingdom remains.

So let us live as sojourners in this world. Let us live courageous and generous lives, preoccupied with the kingdom. And let us make an impact in the lives of those around us for Jesus…living like Him and living for Him no matter what comes our way.

Do you know Jesus as Savior today? If you have not yet trusted in Him, today can be the day of salvation for you. He has already done all the heavy lifting. You simply have to recognize your need to be saved…that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. And believe that Jesus came to do just that…He lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death in your place and was raised the third day, conquering both sin and death. When you do that, the Bible says that your sins are forgiven, that you have eternal life, a living hope, an eternal inheritance, and that you are now a part of God’s family…a son or daughter of the King.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from Easter. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

March 18, 2024

A Greater Covenant

Hebrews 8.1-13

As the Mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted on better promises, Jesus has a more excellent ministry. And we are the beneficiaries of that ministry.

No longer do we have to rely on the copies and shadows because we have the Substance. Jesus fulfills all that the OT foreshadowed, pictured, prophesied and promised.

I said it last week, but let me reiterate…we may not fully appreciate all that Paul is saying here, but it doesn’t make it any less spectacular. Jesus is always interceding for us before the Father. His death on our behalf was the perfect Sacrifice that both atoned for and took away our sins. His Torah is written on our heart. Because of Him we can draw near to God. And if all that wasn’t enough…He also saves us forever…completely and for all time.

If you haven’t trusted in Jesus yet, please make today the day. It’s as simple as recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. Believing that Jesus is the Savior that God promised. He lived a perfect life. He died a sacrificial death on your behalf and was raised the third day conquering both sin and death, so that by faith in Jesus you can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life, and you can draw near to God.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Hebrews series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

March 11, 2024

A Greater Priesthood

Hebrews 7.11-28

Jesus is greater. In every way, Jesus is greater. He serves in a greater priesthood and is Himself both the perfect Sacrifice and the perfect High Priest. He saves forever those who have trusted in Him, always making intercession for them before the Father, having provided the way for them to draw near to God through Him.

I think as Gentile Christians it’s a bit harder for us to grasp the profound significance of what Paul is saying. We didn’t grow up under the levitical system. We didn’t have priests that offered sacrifices annually for us on the Day of Atonement. We take for granted our own experience.

And yet what Paul is saying is profoundly significant, not only for these Hebrew believers, but for us as well. Jesus is always interceding for us before the Father. His death on our behalf was the perfect Sacrifice that both atoned for and took away our sins. Because of Him we can draw near to God. And if all that wasn’t enough…He also saves us forever…both completely and for all time. O what a Savior!

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Hebrews series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

March 4, 2024

A Priest in the Order of Melchizedek

Hebrews 7.1-10

Melchizedek was greater than Abraham. How do we know? The honor that Abraham showed towards him by giving him a tenth of the spoils, but also by the blessing that Melchizedek pronounced over Abraham. And since Abraham in turn is greater than his descendants, including Levi and Aaron, Melchizedek is also greater. And as a priest then, his priesthood is greater than that of Aaron’s.

Why is that important? Because Jesus is a Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Jesus, then, has a greater priesthood than that based on the Law, and His priesthood is based on a better Sacrifice.

Abraham’s encounter with Melchizedek is a stop on his journey down Torah Road. In the Genesis account of his life, we can see Abraham move from being a man of faith to being a faithful man. He wasn’t always perfect. He blew it pretty big sometimes…just like us. But he never took his feet off Torah Road. He continued to go farther up and farther in. Through faith and patience he inherited the promises (Stay tuned for Hebrews 11). An example that we are to follow…not being sluggish, but diligent…finishing strong as we too wait on the LORD.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Hebrews series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

February 26, 2024

A Sure Hope

Hebrews 6.9-20

Having started well, the challenge is to finish well. Not to be sluggish, but to be diligent. To imitate the example of those who demonstrated faith and patience as they waited on God…like a guy named Abraham.

Suffering can be very confusing. Especially suffering for the faith. Persecution has a way of making a person question his or her life choices. Am I doing the right thing? If so, why am I suffering for it? And yet, there is no maturity in the Christian life apart from suffering. Suffering doesn’t guarantee maturity (bitter vs. better), but maturity doesn’t happen without suffering. It’s been true for every believer who’s taken their faith seriously. It’s been that way since the garden. And it will be that way until Jesus comes back.

Why? Because we live in a fallen world. A world that is in rebellion against its Creator. And a world that is at war with everyone who chooses to follow Him. That’s why Jesus tells His disciples not to be surprised when the world hates them…neither should we. Sounds like bad news.

But that’s why it’s so important to be reminded that Jesus is greater. So, when we are suffering…when we are being persecuted…we know that the One who is the radiance of the Father’s glory, the exact representation of His nature, through whom all things were made, and by whose word all things are upheld, the One who is worshiped by the angels, is also the One who is the Heir of all things, both the perfect High Priest and Sacrifice, who defeated death and the devil, our resurrected King…we know that that Guy is interceding for us and saving us and perfecting us and will be with us no matter what. And that promise is as sure as God Himself.

So, let’s endure suffering, hold fast our faith and finish well.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Hebrews series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

February 19, 2024

The Danger of Falling Away

Hebrews 6.1-8

Press on to maturity. Keep trekking down Torah Road. Live the life that you were saved for. Invest your mina well.

Because if not…the picture is pretty grim. For the exodus generation, it was a lifetime of wandering in the wilderness. For these Hebrew believers, the LORD’s discipline might look somewhat different, but their lives would likewise fall short of what the LORD intended for them. They would be worthless for the kingdom.

The same is true for us. I’ve said it before, but we were not saved simply to go to heaven. If so, we would already be there. We were saved on purpose for a purpose. That we might bear fruit for the kingdom. That we might endure suffering for the faith and hold fast our confession firm until the end. That we wouldn’t shrink back, but boldly move forward, storming the gates of hell and rescuing the captives. Going in for just one more.

So, let us not be those who fall back, but those who press on in our pursuit of Jesus. Let’s continue down Torah Road. And let’s do it together.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Hebrews series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.