Redemption Church Tempe · Redemption Church

Advent 2025: Sent - Hebrews 4:14-16

December 8, 2025·35 min·3 clips

The pastor explains why barbecue makes him emotional — he only saw his father once or twice a year, and the smell of the grill was the declaration that he had a father and a place to belong.

The sermon begins with a confession. The preacher says priests used to feel less compelling than kings or prophets, almost like workers stuck with the Leviticus dish duty. Then Hebrews changes the room. Hebrews 4 presents Jesus as the great high priest who has passed through the heavens and opens the way to God. That is the jolt. The holy place that made people step carefully becomes, through Christ, a throne of grace for believers. The preacher keeps the reversal plain. Judgment is not waved away because people suddenly have better credentials. Grace comes because Jesus gives his own right of entry. The bouncer image lands: someone takes off a lanyard and hands over backstage access. You are not slipping past the door. The welcome rests on Christ's priestly work, the one who moves between heaven and earth, holiness and humanity. Leviticus still matters here. The preacher points to its gory early chapters because priestly work was never only about guarding a doorway. Access cost more than a bouncer could offer. Jesus is not simply an usher into God's presence; his body and blood make the welcome possible. The ending turns to response. Worship, generosity, prayer, and communion become the congregation's answer to the word they have heard. Prayer is not lonely work. A high priest stands on the other side of those prayers, moving toward his people and listening.

As heard by us

A direct sermon that turns priesthood into access, confidence, and a clearer view of Jesus.

This sermon starts with a plain admission that priests can feel distant, then settles on one point and keeps returning to it: Jesus is sympathetic, and he opens the way in. Leviticus and Hebrews are used without much ornament, but the argument is clear enough.

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Why you'd press play

If Hebrews feels remote, this sermon brings Jesus close as your great high priest.

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