
Thanks for joining us!
Fill out a Connect Card to request prayers, get connected, or ask for more information.
Hebrews: Summer Sermon Series - The Great Race
8/25/24
Pastor Dwayne - Week 8
Hebrews 12
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. 5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?”
Christianity: The Great Race
2 Timothy 4:7,* “I have finished the race”*
1 Corinthians 9:24-25, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever “
Hebrews 12:2, *”looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” *
Spiritual Endurance
Endurance: The
- “Contrary to what many assume, Jesus did not invite people to convert to Christianity…he invited people to apprentice under him into a whole new way of living. To be transformed.” - John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way
Step 1: Hebrews 12:1, “Lay aside every weight and sin that slings so closely”
Matthew 6:24,”No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”
Ephesians 4:22-24, “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Paul said, 1 Corinthians 9:27, “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified”
Step 2: Fix your eyes on Jesus
- Hebrews 12:2, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
LOOK: Fix your eyes upon, turn your eyes away from other things
Christianity: Like Christ2 Chronicles 16:9, “…the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”
Step 3: Remember “I am a child of God”
- Hebrews 12:5, “And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?”
How we run the race:
- Strip aside every hindrance and weight - Sin
- Fix your eyes on
Don’t forget - “
- Hebrews 12:12-17, “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.”
- DON’T SELL YOUR BIRTHRIGHT!
- *“I never understood why going to church made you a hypocrite either, because nobody goes to church because they’re perfect. If you’ve got it all together, you don’t need to go. You can go jogging with all the other perfect people on Sunday morning. Every time you go to church, you’re confessing again to yourself, to your family, to the people you pass on the way there, to the people who will greet you there, that you don’t have it all together. And that you need their support. You need their direction. You need some accountability, you need some help.” *- Rich Mullins
Action Steps:
- What step is God calling you to take?
- Where do i need help?
Benediction
Numbers 6:24-26,
“The LORD bless you and keep you;
*The LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;*
The LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”