One of the most helpful ways of understanding the Christian life is by viewing it as a journey. From cover to cover, the Bible is filled with this sort of imagery: Abraham stepping out in faith by leaving the land of his fathers; his descendants wandering through the wilderness of Sinai; Israel experiencing captivity and exile. The New Testament builds off of these Old Testament themes and refers to Christians as pilgrims traveling through a foreign land. The Christian life as journey provides a tangible and relatable rubric for grasping the life of faith.
We are on our way somewhere, but we’re not there yet. Thus we find ourselves caught in between the overlapping of ages, when God has called us out of the world while still remaining in the world. Heaven has broken into history and taken residence in our hearts, but our feet still trod through a broken and hostile world. We’re almost home, but not yet home, and God cares as much about the process as he does the goal.
Almost Home is a sermon series from the book of Hebrews that examines our present journey with an eye toward our future destination. How do we walk today in light of what lies ahead? From where does our strength come, or our power, or encouragement, or correction? And who will we be as present-day sojourners whose destiny is to become one-day settlers?
Series Playlist
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Already, but Not Yet
Oct 10, 2021 • 37:26
How are the people of God to live in the overlapping of ages—where God’s work in saving us and ushering in his kingdom has begun but has not yet been consummated? The answer is by faith. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Almost Home Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-2a; 11:1
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Almost, but Not Quite
Oct 17, 2021 • 51:38
The warnings in the book of Hebrews are a call to wake-up and hold fast and never quit. They are a call to remember both where you came from and where you are heading. Above all, they are exhortations to keep the eyes of faith fixed upon Jesus. Speaker: Sean…
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The World is Behind, Our Home Ahead
Oct 24, 2021 • 39:31
The Christian life is a journey. But walking with Jesus means leaving the world behind—along with all of its values, promises, and pursuits—and looking ahead to the home we truly belong to. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Almost Home Scripture: Hebrews 11:13-16
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Following the Path
Oct 31, 2021 • 42:05
There is a great cloud of witnesses—faithful men and women of old—who testify concerning God’s promises and power and show us the path. They cheer us on and point us to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: Almost Home Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-3
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Returning to the Path
Nov 7, 2021 • 32:13
God’s discipline isn’t always punishment. Often times it is simply his loving, Fatherly work in our lives to cause us to desire the better things rather than the immediate things. Speaker: Aaron Meservey Series: Almost Home Scripture: Hebrews 12:5-12
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Keep on Keeping On
Nov 14, 2021 • 47:13
In Christ we have become recipients of great privileges of grace, but with privilege comes responsibility. The church of Jesus Christ, as an outpost of heaven on earth that is marked by the things pertaining to the age to come, is to pursue the peace and holiness of God himself.…
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It is (Not) Finished
Nov 21, 2021 • 42:08
Concerning the sacrifice of Jesus, it is finished. There is nothing left for him to do. We need nothing less or more than him. There is no Jesus + anything for the Christian life. He is our all in all. But concerning the sacrifice of worship for the Christian living…
“Worship” is a word that churchgoers know and use on a regular basis, yet it means and encompasses far more than how it is generally understood and expressed. We say things like, “we’ll pray after worship,” as if the sum total of worship is the collection of songs being sung to kick off a Sunday morning service.
You were not created for yourself. You were also not created to be by yourself. The purpose behind your existence, along with every other human being in history, is for you to know and be known by both God and others. Relationality forms the very essence of what it means to be created in the image of the Triune God. Indeed, to even truly be is to be in relationship.
In 2004, the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years. While the players on the field and management of the team were the central heroes, the narrative around the event was nearly always captured within a narrative about the city itself: its the woes and disappointments, the 86 year drought, and the breaking of the “curse”. Yes, the players were lauded as heroes, but their stories were folded into the ongoing saga of the city itself.
So you have decided to follow Jesus. Great! But what does that really mean for a Christian in 2021? Our world seems to be spinning out of control as 2020 has left us broken from our normal patterns and grasping for control. In order to move forward, we need to look back to when the church was first established.
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