Jesus Gives Better Promises
Hebrews 8
Lifegroup Guide
Big Idea: Jesus gives us better promises—He offers a new covenant written on our hearts, not on tablets of stone.
Read: Hebrews 8:1–13
- Where’s your faith?
The sermon contrasted “I rely on me” versus “I rely on He.” In what ways do you tend to rely on yourself instead of Jesus? What does it look like practically to trust Him more deeply? - What’s better about the new covenant?
Review verses 8–12. What makes the covenant Jesus mediates “better” than the one given through Moses? Discuss the promises God makes here—how have you experienced any of them personally? - How does this passage encourage patience?
God made the promise of the new covenant more than 500 years before it was fulfilled in Jesus. What might that teach us about God’s timing and faithfulness? - What does it mean to be “all in” on Jesus?
How can your group help each other grow in obedience, trust, and joy in Christ this week? - Prayer Focus:
Pray for deeper trust in Jesus’ promises. Thank God that His mercy covers our sins completely, and ask Him to help you live all in on Jesus.
Full Sermon Transcript
Well, good morning and welcome to Lifepoint Church. So glad you’re here to celebrate Jesus with us this morning. Whether it’s your first time or you’ve been here more times than you can count, we’re genuinely thankful that you’re here. If we haven’t had a chance to meet yet, my name is Adam Pursel, and I get to serve as the lead pastor here.
We are continuing our study through the letter to the Hebrews. And throughout this series, we’ve been trying to elevate the importance of God’s Word—how it nourishes us, and how we need to not just know it, but also internalize and memorize it. So we’ve been handing out bookmarks with memory verses from Hebrews—seven of them. Take one, put it on your mirror, your steering wheel—wherever you’ll see it. Memorize at least one this fall, and see how it transforms your week.
Our passage today is Hebrews 8. And the big idea is this: Jesus gives us better promises. If you remember one thing, let it be that. And here’s our question: Where’s your faith? A big theme in Hebrews is the idea of “better”—that Jesus is better. Better than Moses, better than angels, better than any old system or sacrifice. Today, we’ll see that He gives us better promises.
To help us think about that, let’s fill in the blank: I rely on ______. Two choices: me or He. Not grammatically correct, but it rhymes. And if we’re honest, our default is me. We find ourselves remarkably trustworthy. But what God is inviting us to through Jesus is to rely on He—to depend fully on Him.
There are two ways we drift into self-reliance. I called them Ernie and Damon. Ernie thinks he can earn his way to God. Damon thinks it doesn’t matter what he does. But both of them rely on themselves, not on Jesus. The invitation of Hebrews 8 is to be like Bob—the one who believes. Bob trusts Jesus, loves Him, obeys Him, and rests in Him. That’s the move. That’s faith.
Let’s pray together before we read:
Father in heaven, we praise You for the privilege of being here this morning. As we turn our attention to Your Word, we confess that we need Your help. What we want is to trust, love, and obey Your Son, Jesus Christ. By Your Spirit, help us do that more than ever before. Amen.
[Reads Hebrews 8:1–13]
The author begins, “Now the point in what we are saying is this…” That’s always helpful. He says, “We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.” He’s pointing us to Jesus—our great high priest who ministers not in an earthly tabernacle, but in heaven itself.
If you were an Israelite in the first century, that would have been shocking. The temple was central to everything. But the writer says the tabernacle and the temple were only shadows—copies of the real thing. The true temple is in heaven, and that’s where Jesus serves right now. He offered not the blood of animals, but His own blood. Once for all. His atoning work is finished, but His interceding work continues. He always lives to make intercession for us.
One of the commentators I read said it this way: “The atoning work of Jesus is finished; His advocating work is ongoing.” That’s good news. When you fail, when you sin, Jesus intercedes. You have an “in” with God—your Savior Himself standing in your place, praying for you even now.
Then the author quotes Jeremiah 31. God says, “Behold, the days are coming when I will make a new covenant.” And He lists four “I will” statements:
- I will make a new covenant with My people.
- I will write My laws on their minds and hearts.
- I will be their God, and they will be My people.
- I will remember their sins no more.
That’s what God promised—and Jesus fulfills it. This covenant isn’t written on stone; it’s written on hearts. The Spirit does the work from the inside out. When you became a believer, that process began in you. And someday it will be complete—when everything you want perfectly aligns with everything God wants. Can you imagine that? A heart that always desires exactly what God desires. That’s the promise of the new covenant.
And God says, “I will remember their sins no more.” You might remember them. I might remember mine. But God—through Christ—forgets them. That’s grace.
So what do we do with this? I suggested two responses: patience and all in.
Patience—because Jeremiah spoke these words over 500 years before Jesus came. God’s promises are always true, even when they take centuries to fulfill. If He can be faithful across generations, He can be trusted with your life and your waiting right now.
And “all in”—because Jesus really is better. Better promises, better hope, better covenant. So where’s your faith? Are you all in on Him, or still holding back? Hebrews calls us to go all in on Jesus—trust Him, love Him, obey Him, make Him known.
Father in heaven, we praise You for the better promises we have in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to be all in—to live by faith, to trust Your timing, and to rest in Your mercy. Amen.
Jesus gives better promises. Where’s your faith?