Preaching Hebrews: The End of Religion and Faithfulness to the End

Hebrews is a powerful meditation on the gospel. It is a sixty-minute sermon delivered to a worshiping congregation. The spiraling impact of theological exposition and pastoral exhortation is impressive. Hebrews weans us away from our preoccupation with the start of the Christian life and focuses our attention on the perseverance of faith. Life is not a sprint; its a marathon. Faithfulness to the end affirms faith from the beginning. If we let the word of God have its way with us Hebrews will deepen our faith in Christ and strengthen our faithfulness. Like Jesus in the Gospels Hebrews sees the fundamental difference between apostasy and faithfulness as the difference between a religion about God and a Christ-centered relationship with God. Any form of Christianity that competes like other religions for the attention of its adherents through its rituals practices pastors traditions and sacred spaces has fallen back into an obsolete and worldly strategy. The pastor calls for a decisive end to religion even the best religion ever conceived. The flow of reasoned argument for Christ and against religion along with the pulsating emotional intensity of ultimate issues laid bare and heart-felt warnings against complacency and unbelief deliver a powerful and timely message. Most scholars believe that Hebrews began life as an exhortation preached to a congregation. So who better to engage with it than a very fine preacher and astute theological thinker? In this work Doug Webster provides the reader with a multitude of insights into the text and meaningful relevant applications to todays culture and church life. --Graham A. Cole Dean Vice President of Education Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Douglas Websters treatment of Hebrews is fresh focused and foundational. While wide reading of other writers is evident his own deep understanding of this central New Testament writing is vividly present and his pastoral application of its message is steadily before the reader. --James Earl Massey Dean Emeritus Professor-at-Large Anderson University School of Theology This book shows us how a twenty-first-century preacher can apply the great biblical sermon that we know as the Epistle to the Hebrews. In a series of lively and hard-hitting chapters Dr. Webster takes us into the heart of the gospel message and demonstrates that it is as relevant today as it was when it was first proclaimed. --Gerald Bray Research Professor of Divinity Beeson Divinity School Have you ever wished that a pastor or teacher would sit down with you and some friends for a fireside chat to explain clearly the entire Letter of Hebrews? Then you should read this book by Doug Webster an enthusiastic pastor-teacher who will help you catch the fire the warnings the encouragements and the grand vision of Hebrews for life today. --James W. Skillen President (retired) Center for Public Justice Douglas D. Webster is professor of pastoral theology and preaching at Beeson Divinity School and a teaching pastor at The Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham Alabama.