The Life of Faith

Hebrews 12:1–3 NLT

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. 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. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

Introduction:

It was a culture shock for Inez and I coming to Parkway. We were so used to being active and having a calendar full of church events and large crowds gathered for Sunday worship and other events alike.

Parkway while having a big building is small and quiet. I know that is not what most of us want, but I do believe that it is exactly what some others desire.

There is a word that comes to mind and it is “ISOLATED.” ( i keep hearing it in my spirit)

I am here to reassure you today that God has not forgotten about you and He has not forgotten why He saved you and put this church building here.

He has given us, Parkway Church of God, a mission:

We are to provide healing and hope to the people of Wayne County by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and meeting the community’s physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

We must be intentional about caring out that mission and remember that by doing so, we will be counted as faithful by our merciful Savior.

Days like yesterday with the Summer Bash are amazing! We also have a group going out to minister this afternoon at a nursing home and then others who will be serving at the pool/park on Monday. Praise the Lord for the ministry that is being done here.

There are several things I want to share with you this morning about the charge our Lord has given us:

In the Life of Faith, There is a Cloud of Witnesses

Look at this picture

This is “Paradise” painted about 1378 by Giusto de’ Menabuoi

It is located in the dome of Padua Baptistery in Italy

This painting done 647 years ago reminds me that there have been so many people come to know and love Jesus before me

That is something that is totally amazing to me.

It reminds me that we are not “isolated.”

There are others who have journeyed before us.

There are others on the journey with us.

The Kingdom is much bigger than just “little ol us.”

We came from another church but have not totally separated from them, we extended them.

You may be the same in that regard.

Also Unity, Crossroads, Jesup COG, Victory Tabernacle, Blanton Grove, Piney Grove, Manningtown or even Calvary Baptist are not competitors but WITNESSES along with us.

We are joined together with all those who claim Jesus Christ as Lord! THAT IS A POWERFUL KINGDOM FORCE!

If you are isolated, it is an emotion or your own making, not God’s will for you!

It also means

we are not alone in our pain

we are not alone in anything we face today

there have been people who have gone before us

there have been people who have given up their lives in service to the king of kings

I am so thankful that I don’t serve the Lord all by myself

I am joined by a cloud of witnesses, both here and in heaven

This also means that I must be concerned about other people making it into the kingdom. It is not a resource that I must guard and make sure no one else gets.

That may not be the goal but it certainly may be an underlying attitude that must be addressed.

In The Life of Faith, There is Race

I am not much of a runner today, but I used to run quite a bit - Marine Corps (manditory)

Training in Okinawa - running up hills and getting close to the barracks - the CO would trick us

Life is a lot like that

We have to have endurance

It is not a short distance race - it is a long race

The Hebrews writer used this imagery because it is easily relatable

It still is

Some people don’t believe we are in a race - some are just holding on like they are drowning on the Titanic

Realize that God has given you what you need to run this race - don’t give up

Keep on running - keep on moving toward the finish line

In The Life of Faith, You Must Strip off Weights

There are definite obstacles to running the race of faith

There are things that make running difficult

I watched a man running down the road in Ludowici with a backpack on - he was training

It reminded me of time during the Gulf War - i began to share with Inez about the gear we wore - Flack jacket, H-harness, etc

When we got to take that gear off we felt like we could float away

While adding weight can be good for training, it is not good for our race of faith

We add stresses to our lives that God does not intend us to carry

we walk in sin and think that everyone else is doing it

we convince ourselves that it is not only acceptable behavior but is good for us

Romans 6:1–2 “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?”

One will have a hard time winning the race much less surviving the race if they are actively living in sin

You might be here asking well how do I do that?

Conclusion: There is only one way to run this race

Each and every one of us are in this race and it is one that comes with obstacles

Some obstacles we put there ourselves

Some obstacles people put there

Other obstacles Satan puts there

The way to run the race is by keeping our eyes on Jesus

He initiates our faith

He perfects our faith

The Good News is we can win the race - take comfort is these words

1 John 5:4 “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.”

Altar

Do you need to surrender today?

Do you need to get back in the race?

Do you need God to give you a faith injection?

Do you need to talk anything else over?