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Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, Hebrews 10:19

I wonder have any of you have had the privilege of someone buying you one of those Red-Letter Experience days driving an expensive sports car around Donnington racetrack? Any of you who have done this, I’m sure will have a story to tell of the immense joy, the sense of fear and exhilaration of that experience and many more thoughts of what that felt like. I have to be honest I haven’t done it myself, but have read about it, and heard the stories of others, I have even ridden downhill on my bike at 35 miles per hour. But the truth is for all my reading, listening to the stories of others or even riding my bike downhill is no substitute for the experiencing of driving at 120mph in a Maserati Sports car!

The default  setting for the Christian life is that we should be living in a deep awareness and experience of the presence of God in our everyday life, and there should be regular renewal moments when we pray, worship and read God’s word that fill us with Joy, awe, and assurance that we are loved and belong to Jesus that transform us.

The author of the bible passage we are teaching today describes what has happened when someone is a Christian, He says that we can have confidence to enter the presence of God because of Jesus’ death  and work on the cross, and He has opened a new and living way for us to connect, relate and experience God. It’s a privilege we have open to us always, not a one-off experience. There are times when we go through dry times, but these are often to help our faith and spiritual growth to walk by faith not by sight, but the default is to know the presence of God and our bible reading today calls us to l draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Let’s seek to experience that renewal day by day, by making the time to draw near and encourage one another to stay the course, and to love and do good works. So, we don’t just hear and live of the experiences of others but can have testimonies of our own of God’s love, presence and power.