Nov 17, 2017- Suggested Reading 2nd Service Hebrews 13

“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.”

Hebrews 13:17 (NIV)

This last chapter of this amazing book clearly places this as a letter written by an apostle to a local church. Notice they are to show hospitality to strangers (Elisabeth does a great job at Parkdale helping us do this). This local church was under pressure – some in jail, and some being mistreated. The apostle covers sex, money, lifestyle, true religion, and then he moves to the leaders in their local church. These appear to be different leaders than the leaders who spoke the Word of God to them – the ones thru whom they were saved.

These two words- CONFIDENCE and SUBMISSION- are not normal behaviours of Canadians toward any leaders, it seems that these Christians in this ancient culture struggled with them also. These two words are in the right order (an important order) but let's leave these words and concentrate our attention on the fact that leadership in a local church is WORK. Many of us think leaders don’t work, that workers work and leaders talk. Yet Scripture teaches that local church leaders WORK. If we are leaders in a Parkdale we need to remember this, and we all need to remember that the people in the local church have the ability to make this work a BURDEN or a JOY.