Richvale Community Church
Sunday, July 26, 2026
  • Good morning!
    We are in our Anchored series we are going through the book of Hebrews.—
    And this morning sermon is entitle “Don”t settle for less..”
    Jim Collins, in his bestselling book- Good to Great, asks a fascinating question:
    Why do some companies make the leap …from good to great ..while others never do?
    In his research, he compares companies that made a significant transformation …with companies that remained stuck.
    His conclusion is that many organizations become comfortable with "good enough."
    They reach a certain level of success,
    they become satisfied with where they are at..
    , and they stop pursuing areas where they could be better…
    The problem with settling for Good—
    is that we have a tendency to…
    stop growing,
    stop seeking, and
    stop moving because what we have isn't that bad—
    And that is exactly the issue the preacher/writer of Hebrews addresses.
    The question in Hebrews is not good versus great.
    “The question is good versus better.
    The Old Covenant was good.”
    It was given by God. The priesthood was good.
    The sacrifices were good.
    The tabernacle was good.
    But they were never the final destination.
    They pointed God's people toward something better.
    And when Jesus came, He did not simply give us an improved version of the old system. He came and fulfilled it. —
    Hebrews chapter 8 challenges us to let go of the good and pursue the better…
    First —because

    I. We Have a Better Priest .

    Most of us have have tried to fix something …using the wrong tools! This guy has his work cut out for him!
    We have all looked around the house and thought, "What can I use instead?" Of a certain tool.
    A butter knife becomes a flat heard screwdriver.
    A credit card becomes a scraper.
    A wrench becomes a hammer.
    and then there is Duct tape that can fix about anything… (at least for a while)
    but the problem with these kind of quick fixes is that..
    it may get the job started, but it will never finish the job the right way.
    And that is the point the writer of Hebrews is making.
    The Old Covenant was not bad—it was given by God. But it was never designed to be permanent fix…
    lets read our text..
    Hebrews 8:1–6 ESV
    1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.
    The book of Hebrews is written as a sermon…
    and chapter 8 is continuation of the theme of priesthood of Jesus.
    And in chapter 7, the writer of Hebrews spends an entire chapter reflecting on a rather mysterious figure named Melchizedek, who appears in Genesis 14.
    Melchizedek is one of the most fascinating characters in Scripture.
    He simply steps onto the page.
    After Abraham's defeats the kings who captured his nephew Lot.
    Abraham returns from battle with all spoils of war, and Melchizedek—the king of Salem and priest of the Most High God—comes out to meet him….
    Melchizedek blesses Abraham.
    And Abraham responds by giving him a tenth of everything.
    From this brief encounter, the preacher sees something profound….
    That both Melchizedek and Jesus have something in common. They both occupied the office of Priest and King… (something never seen before) .. That never happened in the Old Covenant..
    At the end of Chapter 7 - He concludes that Jesus belongs to a greater priesthood an eternal priesthood—not the order of Levi, but the order of Melchizedek.
    Now, in chapter 8 he unpacks what this means..
    BY THE NATURE OF JESUS MINISTRY..
    FIRSt
    a. Jesus position.
    Under the Old Covenant, the priest stood between God and the people of Israel..in worship .
    He was the appointed mediator—the one who represented the people before God and offered sacrifices on their behalf.
    But there was one problem:
    The priest's work was never finished.
    The Old Testament sacrificial system required continual sacrifices.
    Day after day,
    year after year,
    offerings were brought because the sacrifices could never permanently remove sin.
    They covered sin temporarily, but they could not finally conquer it.
    And because the work was never complete, the priest never sat down…
    In fact ..
    There was no chair in the Holy Place
    Every sacrifice was a reminder that something more was needed.
    But then Jesus came.
    Hebrews tells us:
    Hebrews 1:3 ESV
    3 ..After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
    THE difference.IS
    When Jesus gave His life up on the cross,
    He accomplished what thousands of sacrifices could never do..
    That is To fully satisfy the demands of a Holy God… The issue of righteousness . we could stand Cor a holy God on our own..
    But Jesus work was sufficient and complete. His offering was not temporary. His victory was not partial.
    It was Once and for all,
    This is why Jesus has a better position.
    He is not standing outside the Holy Place … of the tabernacle..waiting for permission to enter.
    He is the indestructible…life who… through the Resurection… went into heavens…and is how seated on the right hand of God..
    At this moment He is not pleading for God's attention.
    He is not hoping His sacrifice will be enough.
    it is enough.
    ..
    And this gives us
    confidence.
    Because our salvation does not rest on you and I…
    It rests on Jesus alone.,. .
    He .. now sits in a place of authority.
    He is in a better position—because He is seated , we can stand secure.
    Second ...

    2. A Better Place

    Jesus is not only IN a better position; He also ministers in a better place.
    Hebrews tells VERS 2:
    HE IS IN
    the true tent that the Lord set up, not man." (Hebrews 8:2)
    The writer is making a startling claim..
    The earthly tabernacle—the place where Israel worshiped, where sacrifices were offered, and where God's presence was symbolized—
    BUT was never the ultimate reality.
    It was a copy.
    It was a shadow.
    It pointed to something greater.
    There is a big difference between SOMETHING THAT IS Real and a Copy..
    When I was younger, my dad owned an KIOSK…AN outdoor café, and we had a couple of foosball tables.
    After school my friends and I played for hours.
    We got pretty good. We knew the bank shots, the angles, and all the little tricks.
    But imagine believing that because you had mastered foosball, you understood soccer.
    You'd be missing the whole point.
    Foosball represents soccer, but it isn't soccer.
    It's only a miniature picture of the real game.
    That's exactly what Hebrews says about the tabernacle.
    God gave Moses detailed instructions because it was patterned after a heavenly reality (Hebrews 8:5).
    N.T. Wright tells us that Moses on mt Sinai actually saw the heavenly reality ..so that he could build the earthly tabernacle according to its pattern.
    The tabernacle was beautifully designed.
    Every curtain, every piece of furniture, every sacrifice had meaning.
    But even with all its beauty and detail, it was still only a copy of the greater reality.
    The tabernacle wasn't the destination.
    It was a signpost pointing to Jesus.

    Application

    The point the preacher is making and
    The same danger exists today.
    We can still settle for substitutes.
    We substitute religion for a relationship with Jesus.
    We substitute activity for intimacy.
    We substitute performance for grace.
    We substitute good works for the finished work of Christ.
    Hebrews calls us to stop living in the shadows and step into the reality found in Jesus Christ.
    Transition: The reason we shouldn't settle for less… because
    I. We Have a Better Priest

    II. We Have a Better Covenant

    The other day I was driving behind a car with a bumper sticker that read:
    "Student Driver—Please Be Patient."
    IT BROUGHT BACK A MEMORY....
    … I learned TO DRIVE IN A MINI COOPER.. WHICH had BREAKS NEVER WORKED.. YOU HAD TO PUMP THEM.. and ..it took a minute..To stop.
    I”LL NEVER FORGET the look on my dads face.. when I stopped in the middle of an intersection.,
    I like the idea of a learning sticker.. because it gives Grace to others.
    We all have to learn..
    A learner's permit has a purpose.
    It teaches the rules of the road.
    It develops the skills needed to drive.
    It prepares you for the test
    but …
    But no one expects a student driver to stay a student forever.
    Now imagine someone says,
    "I've had my learner's permit for twenty years, and I have no intention of ever getting my license."
    You'd probably think,
    "You've completely missed the point!"
    The learner's permit was never the destination.It was preparing you for something better.
    The Old Covenant was.
    Never a mistake.
    It wasn't God's "Plan A" that somehow failed.
    It was God's plan all along.
    The Old Covenant revealed God's holiness.
    It exposed humanity's sin.
    It taught the need for sacrifice.
    And it pointed God's people to the coming Messiah.
    But it was never meant to be permanent.
    It was preparing them for something—and Someone—greater.
    Let's read what Hebrews says about that better covenant.
    Hebrews 8:6–9 ESV
    6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8 For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
    Now the preacher lays down the Old Covenant next to the New covenant.
    Makes contrasts..
    show the difference…
    He makes us looks at the two priesthoods —
    And He says Jesus has obtained a ministry that is more. ”excellent."—
    Excellent means it distinguished—
    Excellent describes something
    greater in quality,
    superior in value, something
    that surpasses what came before.
    Here is the thing..Jesus
    doesn't offer a slightly improved version of what came before.
    Jesus Ministry is superior on every level….
    When it longevity..
    Effectiveness
    The corruption in 5e priesthood..
    This entire argument of Hebrews
    Then in Vrs.. 7 Makes a logical argument…
    If the Covenant had been faultless — there wouldn’t be a need for another… covenant..
    Just the fact that God provided the
    New Covenant…
    means the old wasn’t enough..
    The issue is not legitimacy…sufficiency
    —that a critical distinction.
    The problem wasn’t the covenant itself …
    but Israel’s failure to live according to it’s laws…
    So what makes this covenant better?
    The writer of Hebrews takes us back to Jeremiah 31 He is qouting here..in our text..
    In context.. - God raised up Jeremiah to speak to God's people who were desperately in need spiritual renewal…
    In the days of King Josiah, the Book of the Law was rediscovered in the temple. The law had been missing for 75 years..
    When Josiah heard God's Word, he tore his clothes in repentance and led the nation in renewing their commitment to the covenant.
    It was a powerful moment.
    The people gathered together. They heard God's Word. They promised to follow the Lord.
    There was a genuine desire to return to God.
    But Jeremiah understood something important:
    A renewed covenant was not enough. They needed a new covenant.
    Why?
    Because the problem was not simply that God's people had forgotten the law.
    The deeper problem was that their hearts were still prone to wander.
    They could make promises, but not be a able to keep them..
    That is why Jeremiah looks ahead and says:
    Jeremiah 31:33 ESV
    33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
    God was promising a day when He would not simply give His people commands written on tablets of stone;
    He would do a work within them. He would transform them from the inside out.

    HE WOLD GIVE THE : A New Heart

    Here is what sets the New from the Old…
    Jesus does not simply give us better instructions.
    He gives us a new heart.
    You may have heard of Dr. Christian Barnard, the South African surgeon who performed the world's first successful human heart transplant.
    One of his patients, Dr. Philip Blaiberg, was later given the opportunity to see the heart that had been removed from his body.
    Inside a glass container was the diseased heart that had carried him through life but could no longer sustain him.
    For a few minutes, he examined it and asked Dr. Barnard several questions.
    Then he looked at it one last time and quietly said,
    "So this is my old heart that caused me so much trouble."
    He handed it back, turned away, and left it behind forever.
    And that is a powerful picture of what God does for us through Christ.
    Our greatest problem was never simply that we needed better instructions, more discipline, or stronger religious effort.
    Our problem was deeper.
    We had a heart problem.
    The Old Covenant could reveal the disease, but it could not cure it.
    It could show us God's standard, but it could not give us the power to live according to it.
    The promise of the New Covenant…
    It is that God gives us a new heat.
    T/s Why settle for good when God has given us something infinitely better?
    —
    I. We Have a Better Priest
    II. We Have a Better Covenant.

    III. We Have Better Promises

    MOST OF US LIKE TO BE IN CONTROL…
    How many of make good really good back seat drivers?…
    One of the hardest things to do in life is to simply sit back..
    We want control.
    We want to fix things ourselves.
    We want to manage outcomes and make sure everything turns out the way we think it should.
    But there are some things only God can do.
    That is where promises come into play!
    Promises are what keep us grounded ..
    FF Bruce says..
    Our hope, based upon his promises, is our spiritual anchor.
    Frederick Fyvie Bruce (Professor)
    Why is that?
    it is because..
    The New Covenant is not ultimately about what we do for God.
    It is about what God has done for us..
    Hebrews 8:10–12 ESV
    10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
    Again The writer of Hebrews is quoting from Jeremiah, who was looking forward to the day when God would establish a New Covenant ..
    And notice how God introduces this covenant:
    "I will make a new covenant..."
    Those two words are incredibly significant:
    I will.
    The New Covenant begins with God—not with us..
    When God established the Old Covenant at Mount Sinai, the emphasis was on the people's response.
    God said:
    "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant..." (Exodus 19:5)
    The key words were:
    "If you..."
    And the people responded:
    "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." (Exodus 19:8)
    But Israel's history revealed the problem.
    The problem was not that God's law was wrong.
    The problem was
    The people could make promises, but they could not keep them.
    They needed more than a command.
    They needed more than an external law.
    They needed an internal work of God.
    But when God announces the New Covenant, the emphasis changes.
    It is no longer:
    "If you do this, then I will respond."
    It becomes:
    "I will."
    "I will put my laws into their minds."
    "I will write them on their hearts."
    "I will be their God."
    "I will forgive their sins."
    The New Covenant begins not with what we accomplish for God, but with what God accomplishes for us.
    Salvation rests on God's initiative. Where Grace moves toward us..
    They are promises that God makes to us.’

    Three better promises

    1. A New Heart

    No longer merely external commands.
    The Holy Spirit changes desires from the inside out.
    Instead of obeying because we have to...we obey because God is changes the thing that
    we love.

    2. A New Relationship

    In the Old Covenant only the priests came before God.
    But.
    Everyone under the New Covenant can knowsGod personally.
    Not merely information about God.
    Relationship with God.
    We don't simply learn about Him.
    We know Him.

    3. Complete Forgivenes

    "I will remember their sins no more."
    This may be the greatest promise in the chapter.
    God doesn't develop amnesia.
    He chooses never again to hold our sins against us l.lbecause Christ has already borne their judgment.
    Romans 8:1-2 says:
    Romans 8:1–2 ESV
    1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
    There is no condemnation
    Because Christ has already paid the debt.
    This is the anchor of Hope in the New Covenant..
    We are still the same person, but we are radically new. ..
    God has given us a new heart and a new relationship with Him.
    Marin Luther who had the revelation that we are justified by Faith not by works.
    said..
    I felt born again like a new man: I entered through the open doors into the very Paradise of God!
    Martin Luther
    William Bray said..when he came to a hrist..
    I remember this, that everything looked new to me … the fields, the cattle, the trees, I was like a new man in a new world.
    William Bray (Evangelist of the Bible Christians)
    salvation is both a work and an Experience…
    is that radical… It is because of what we partake in…
    Peter tells us that are
    2 Peter 1.3
    2 Peter 1:3–4 ESV
    3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
    2 Peter 1:3–4 ESV
    4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
    We talk about calling.. our chief calling
    is to be like Christ…
    who has a more Excellent ministry..
    We partake if his Divine nature..
    Partaking of His nature dosnn’t mean perfection..
    We still battle the remnants of our sinful nature, but sin is no longer is our master.
    The greatest blessing of the New Covenant is not simply that God gave us a better set of rules.
    The blessing is that God gave us a new heart—a heart that can know Him, love Him, and follow Him.
    "

    Conclusion

    Lastly,
    The chapter ends with a remarkable statement:
    Hebrews 8:13 ESV
    13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
    Now that word obsolete does not mean the Old Covenant was of no value..
    … but is simply means it had fulfilled its purpose.
    …but here is the picture..
    Imagine someone refusing to move into a beautiful new home because they are emotionally attached to the scaffolding.
    The scaffolding was important.
    It supported the builders.
    It helped create something beautiful.
    But no one wants to live in the scaffolding.
    Once the house is complete, the scaffolding comes down because it has accomplished what it was designed to do.
    That is exactly what the Old Covenant was designed to do.
    It prepared the way for Christ.
    It pointed to Christ.
    It anticipated Christ.
    But it was never meant to replace Christ.
    To day..
    Jesus priesthood brings us into God's presence.
    Application.
    It is so easy to settle good rather than God’s best.. Hebrews tells us..
    We can stop striving to earn what has already been given by grace.
    Stop looking to shadows when the substance has come.
    Stop holding on to what God has fulfilled.
    Because whar God has given us something infinitely better.
    We can Rest in Christ.
    Trust His finished work.
    Amen

      • Hebrews 8:1–6ESV

      • Hebrews 1:3ESV

      • Hebrews 8:6–9ESV

      • Jeremiah 31:33ESV

      • Hebrews 8:10–12ESV

      • Romans 8:1–2ESV

      • 2 Peter 1:3–4ESV

      • Hebrews 8:13ESV

Richvale Community Church
brendenbridges@gmail.com
5308453694
http://richvalechurch.com
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