Jesus Made a Way
Hebrews 7 · Lifegroup Guide & Transcript
🎯 Big Idea
It’s possible to get close to God. Jesus — our Great High Priest — made the way for us to draw near to Him again.
📖 Scripture
Hebrews 7:1–28
💬 Discussion Guide
1️⃣ Getting Started
- When you hear the phrase “draw near to God,” what comes to mind? How do you usually picture that?
- Why do you think so many people (including Christians) feel distant from God?
2️⃣ Understanding the Text
- Hebrews 7 reaches back to Melchizedek — a mysterious priest-king from Genesis 14. What makes him such a powerful picture of Jesus?
- In the Old Testament, priests worked daily offering sacrifices for sin. How does that contrast with what Jesus accomplished?
- What does it mean that Jesus is a priest “by the power of an indestructible life” (v.16)?
- Hebrews says Jesus is “able to save to the uttermost.” How do you hear that phrase? What does it tell you about the scope of His grace?
3️⃣ Living It Out
- Adam challenged us to pursue holiness and share hope. What’s one step you could take this week in each area?
- Who’s your “one”? Someone you could begin praying for or inviting into conversation about faith?
- When life feels chaotic or heavy, what would it mean to remember Jesus as the “anchor of your soul”?
🙏 Prayer Focus
Thank God that through Jesus, we can draw near to Him. Pray for courage to pursue holiness and to share the hope of the gospel with others this week.
🗒️ Transcript
(The following transcript is adapted directly from Adam Pursel’s October 26, 2025 message at Lifepoint Mount Vernon.)
Adam Pursel: Well, good morning and welcome to Lifepoint Church. So glad you’re here to worship Jesus with us this morning. Whether it’s your first time or you’ve been here more times than you can count, we’re truly glad that you’re here. If we haven’t met yet, my name is Adam Pursel, and I get to serve as the lead pastor here.
We’re continuing our study in Hebrews, looking at the greatness of Jesus. Today we’re in chapter 7, and there’s one big idea that everything centers on: It’s possible to get close to God.
No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done—it’s possible to get close to God. Hebrews uses the phrase “draw near,” and that’s what this chapter is all about. All of us long for that—to be close to God again.
The author of Hebrews knows the Old Testament really well. He reminds us that the story of the Bible is the story of how God makes a way for people to get close to Him again. In Genesis 1 and 2, everything was perfect—love, joy, and life in fellowship with God. Then Genesis 3 happened: sin, sorrow, and death entered the story. Humanity was cut off from the source of life.
So the question is: How could people like us ever get close to God again?
Hebrews 7 gives the answer: Jesus made a way.
Melchizedek and the Priesthood
The author points us back to Genesis 14—Abraham meets a priest named Melchizedek, whose name means “king of righteousness” and “king of peace.” Melchizedek blesses Abraham, and Abraham gives him a tenth of everything. The author says that shows Melchizedek’s greatness. He came before Levi, before Aaron, before the law.
Then Psalm 110 prophesied that the coming Messiah would be “a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” Jesus fulfills that promise. He’s not from the tribe of Levi—He’s from Judah. But He’s still our Great High Priest, because God Himself appointed Him by oath: “You are a priest forever.”
Better and Forever
Old Testament priests had to clock in every day. They killed animals, burned sacrifices, sprinkled blood. Day after day, 365 days a year. They were sinners themselves, and they kept dying, so there had to be more priests to take their place.
But Jesus is different. He’s our forever priest—He can’t die again. His priesthood is grounded in the power of an indestructible life. He’s also a better priest—He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices for His own sin, and He doesn’t need to do it over and over again. He offered Himself once for all.
That’s why Hebrews says, “He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
Holy and Hope
So what do we do with that? We pursue holiness—follow Jesus, turn from sin, and live like people who belong to Him. And we share hope—tell others that it’s possible to be close to God, because Jesus made a way.
Jesus is our anchor and our intercessor. He’s the one who brings us into fellowship with God, and He never stops praying for His people.
It’s possible to get close to God. Do you know how?
Through Jesus—our Great High Priest forever.
