The EDGE Men's Ministry

Blood on His Hands Verse: Hebrews 10:19-39 Recommended Reading: Leviticus 16 ; Matthew 6:19-21; Romans 8:28-39; 1 John 1:1-4... The sacrifice of atonement involved lots of bloodthat should be a clue for us as to its importance to God. Once a year the high priest entered the most sacred place on Earth to offer up to God the blood of an animal. As a result, according to the law, the people of Israel temporarily stood in right relationship before their Creator Father. Those of us who grew up attending Sunday school sometimes have a misperception that the temple was a place like the church in which we grew uptypically clean, orderly and with a planned program for worship. Most people, dressed in their Sunday best, sat quietly during the service and then enjoyed refreshments afterward. But that’s not what the Israelites experienced. The temple was for them a place of slaughter, bloodletting and sacrifice. To be sure, the sacrifice was a messy businesshearing the cries of the resistant animal; watching the priest execute the slaughter and spread the sacrificed animal’s blood on the altar; and then watching the carcasses being sliced, cut and burned in sacrifice to God. Yes, this was a visceral experience quite opposite of what we experience in worship today. Yet this brutal ritual represented God’s provision for Israel to become once again right with him. Learn more about RevenueStripe... We shouldn’t be surprised that God’s new, permanent arrangement for people to come to him also required blood on someone’s hands. Jesus’ blood stained many hands: those of Judas, the Jewish Pharisees, the Roman governmenteven Pilate, who tried in advance to wash the symbolic stains from his hands. But Jesus’ blood fell mostly on the hands of his own Father, the God who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all (Romans 8:32). Our sin separates us from God, makes us wrong before him. In turn, God’s sacrifice of his own son cancels our separation from God. The blood of his Son sets us right before the Father. That’s the far-reaching extent of our Father’s love for us. He reaches out to us today with those same bloodstained hands. The permanent, atoning sacrifice of the unblemished Lamb, Jesus, permits us to draw near to God (Hebrews 10:22), to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess (verse 23), to spur one another on (verse 24), to not [give] up and to [encourage] one another (verse 25). To Take Away Take a few minutes to read Leviticus 16. Why do you think God required such elaborate ritual and detail for the sacrifice of atonement? According to Old Testament law, Israel needed to offer sacrifices to become right before God. In the New Testament Jesus becomes the final sacrifice for all. Why did God require a sacrifice at all? How does the thought that the Father gave [Jesus] up for us all (Romans 8:32) make you feel about God? Why? What effect does this have on your life?

We’ve been through this once and will get through it again. Online services will continue as they have been. Romans 13:1-2 says: "Obey the government, for God is the One who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. So those who refuse to obey the law of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow." More information will follow as we learn more.

No excuse to not watch New Heights Church Sunday morning service when you have one of these...

Spiritual fitness is vital to our overall health. Rear Admiral Gregory Todd, Chaplain of the Marine Corps, explains how you can exercise it by connecting with faith or others.

Guest Pastor Ben Dosti brings the message'\, 'Blessed are the Meek' from Matthew 5:5.

’ - : :- :-; :-; :- To kids on a playground, the concept of a do-over is well known. When they’re playing kickball and the ball gets stuck in a tree, or when they’re playing basketball and the ball sticks between the backboard and the rim, a chorus of do over spontaneously erupts. It’s an unspoken rule that every kid knows.... Sometimes as adults, we wish we could resurrect the rule in our own lives. When we miss a bill payment, we long to be able to appeal to the utility company for a do-over. When we speak a thoughtless word that hurts another person, we wish for the same. Through the prophet, Joel God tells the Israelites they can have a do-over. If they’ll repent God will return what he has taken away in punishment. Apparently, a plague of locusts has destroyed the nation’s crops, and God promises to give the people abundant harvests once again. So how can we make the reality of the do-over active in our life once again? Truth be told, this concept usually doesn’t work in our adult lives and relationships without a good deal of work and humility on our part. We bear the consequences of our mistakes until regret grows and we ask for forgiveness. That’s when grace can intervene, and the person we’ve harmed can forgive. The same is true in our relationship with God. If we understand that sin has kept us from realizing our potential, we need to do the same as the Israelites: repent. In this case, we don’t really achieve the do-over ourselves; instead, we receive it from God. We simply turn to God with our confession. Many men find confession especially difficult because it cuts at our dignity and self-worth. When we confess we admit our mistakes and failures. We assume that these admissions don’t make us look very good. However, God loves to see us confess and repent of our sin, because in doing so we show that we desire to turn to him. When we’re man enough to confess our wrongs, God can choose to pour out his blessings for the next phase of our lives. ? ? ’ ? ? ? ? See more

Join us Easter Sunday at 10:30AM for worship of our risen Savior! Pastor Don Hargis brings the message, ‘God’s Ultimate Will’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgiW5jaYPPw

Join us for worship 10:30AM Sunday at New Heights Church where guest pastor Rod Wiltrout brings the message, ‘Living in Uncertain Times’. You can worship with us here: https://youtu.be/u2HrNRQt6zI