Giving Life
Hebrews - For Those Who Doubt • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsParent’s most important job is to give life to their children
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Parents most important job is to give life to their children
Parents most important job is to give life to their children
I want to ask you to do something for me today.
I want you to go home and take your shoes off and look at your feet.
And I mean look at them, really look at them.
I’ve lived about 25,215 days.
If I have averaged 7,500 steps a day over the course of my life, I’ve walked 189,112,500 steps.
That’s about 94,556 miles
Or 3.79 times around the earth at the equator.
No wonder I’m tired.
My feet don’t look like they did when I was 20, or 10 or certainly when I was born.
Aren’t we fascinated by baby’s feet.
So tiny and soft and smooth.
Compare those feet to yours.
Stark comparison, huh?
One day your feet will give out on you.
Then your body and then you’re gone.
What footprints will you leave behind?
Where will your footprints lead the next generation and the next generation and the next generation?
You might be the most grizzled curmudgeon on the face of this earth
“I’m not leading anyone, anywhere,” you growl.
But you are.
Whether you admit it or not, you are.
And there are only two paths you can walk on.
One leads to life
And one leads to death
And those are our only two options.
Look at your feet.
Where are they going?
Our text today is about three men on their death beds and what their footsteps left behind for their kids.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews 11:20-22.
And while you are turning, children, I want you to look at your feet too.
Those feet are going to take you to places you can’t even imagine yet.
Some of those places will be so much fun
And some will be so very miserable.
Fun is easy - miserable is hard.
That’s why your feet must always be walking towards Jesus.
As you hear the message this morning, count the number of times I mention Jesus.
Jesus is the most important person you can ever follow.
Everyone with your Bibles open in front of you, hear now the Word of the Lord from Hebrews 11:20-22
By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.
By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
Let us pray:
Dear Holy Spirit,
Minister Jesus into our hearts and minds today.
Enflame our hearts with a passion to make sure our children follow in your footsteps.
Embolden us to speak Jesus to our children
Knowing you, our great counselor, will open their hearts to the truth.
Speak to us today, In Jesus’ name. Amen
I have a little saying that I’m sure no one appreciates as much as I do.
“Some days are diamonds and some days are stones. Today was a rock.”
To me stones are small - you get one in your shoe and it’s annoying.
A rock is large,
You trip over a rock and fall and bust your lip and skins your knees.
The people the book of Hebrews was written to would agree with my saying.
They were experiencing one rock after another after another
Mostly because they were following Jesus.
These people were in physical and emotional pain.
They wanted it to stop.
And they were tempted to make it stop by giving up on Jesus.
I can hear them, “It just looks like Jesus isn’t doing much for us.
“The more I follow Him, the harder it all seems to get.”
Sometimes that is very true.
So what keeps us going?
By Faith
By Faith
Right? I mean 19 times he says by faith in this chapter.
We’ve got that.
And we’ve read verses 13-16 which says, Hebrews 11:13–16 “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar…
We’ve talked about how all of the great names of the faith didn’t actually see the promise God made to them come true.
In fact, each of them saw just a teeny-tiny bit of the promise fulfilled.
But something happened in them
A change happened in their hearts that knew that they knew that they knew that God was faithful.
And one day, someone - listen
Someone they gave birth to WOULD see the promise.
I need you to hear that
Listen to me - look up here - These giants of the faith
That we are supposed to emulate
That we are supposed to learn from
These giants of the faith knew that one day - not them - BUT SOMEBODY THEY GAVE BIRTH TO - would see the promise fulfilled.
So they passed down the promise.
They made sure their kids knew the promise
And BELIEVED the promise was coming - without a doubt.
The Pastor wants us to see how it happened so we will do it too.
Look at verse 20 Hebrews 11:20 “By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.”
Dad passed down his faith to his son
Dad passed down his faith to his son
The story of Jacob and Esau is sibling rivalry at it’s best.
They were twins.
Esau was born first.
He was the rugged outdoorsman and dad’s favorite.
Jacob was born second.
He was the quiet, studious one - he didn’t particularly like the woods.
And he was mom’s favorite.
Long story that you’ll find in Genesis 27, but in a nutshell, in those days when dad was getting close to kicking the bucket
He would bless the oldest child
Basically anointing the oldest child to lead the family.
But in this case, mom and Jacob conspired and tricked the blind old man Isaac into giving his blessing to Jacob.
Now, there’s a lot there we’re not going to deal with, but what the Pastor wants us to hear is in the blessing.
Listen, Genesis 27:26-29
Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.”
So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed!
May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.
Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
Did you hear it?
In Issacs blessing he echos God’s word to HIS daddy Abraham
Genesis 12:2–3 “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.””
Abraham didn’t see it - he only saw his miracle child Isaac.
Isaac didn’t see it - so he passed his faith down to his son Jacob.
Listen, Isaac didn’t say - we’ll what did God do for me? Life’s been hard - what’s God done for me but let things be hard.
He didn’t do that - when he looked, Isaac saw the future that God promised.
Brothers and sisters, do you see it?
Do you see the future God has promised His children?
Do you see a future that Jesus paved the way for through His death and resurrection?
Do you see a future - where Jesus comes again?
FOR YOU - right now
And for all of those who are yearning to see Him again?
Do you realize, one of your children will see Jesus return?
Listen, listen, Do you see that future for your children?
“Well, Pastor Randy, I hope my children will see it one day.”
Is that a Christian hope - an unrealized certainty because you’ve done everything in your power to make your child know the truth
Or is that a wish - a wish no better than wishing you’d win the lottery.
Dads and moms, your job is to have faith.
A deep seated, heavily rooted certain faith that knows that it knows that it knows that one day Jesus will return and, if you don’t get to see it, someone you gave birth to down the line will see it.
our job is to pass that faith on to your child.
Your job
No one else's
Yours.
A lot of folks are in place to help, but it’s going to be very hard for your kids to catch something you don’t have.
Example one, dad passed down his faith to his son.
Example two
Granddad passed down his faith to his grandchildren
Granddad passed down his faith to his grandchildren
Look at verse 21 Hebrews 11:21 “By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.”
So dad Isaac passed his faith down to Jacob.
Now Jacob, who had 12 sons, passed his faith down to his grandchildren.
If you don’t remember the story of Joseph, go look it up in Genesis.
It’s a lot.
Isaac thought Joseph was dead
Joseph was an arrogant twit and he pestered his brothers so much that they literally wanted to kill him.
So they sold him into slavery and convinced Dad he was dead.
Years past and I mean years.
Talk about someone whose life didn’t go as planned - that’s our boy Joseph.
But one day the Lord reunited the family.
Remember the words, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good?”
Those came from the lips of Joseph to his brothers who sold him out.
So some time passes, and Jacob is dying - his feet give out on him, right?
And he blesses, not only his son Joseph, but his grandsons.
Listen to his blessing: Genesis 48:15-16
And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,
the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
So you hear what Granddaddy said?
“The God who has been my shepherd…”
Who is the Good Shepherd?
Well, that would be Jesus.
“The angel who had redeemed me from all evil…”
Who is THE angel in the Old Testament?
That would be Jesus again.
And what does Jesus blood do for us?
It redeems us from all evil and gives us everlasting life.
“…in them let my name be carried on…”
Little tidbit I left out - God changed Jacobs name in Genesis 39.
Any guess what He changed it to?
That would be… Israel.
“…let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth…”
Has that happened?
In mine and your eyesight it has - so much so that Satan rages today to try to exterminate the people of Israel.
Brothers and sisters, open your eyes to the Lord who does what He promises.
Father passed the faith to his children.
Grandfather passed his faith to his grandchildren.
Brother passes his faith on to his family
Brother passes his faith on to his family
Hebrews 11:22 “By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.”
Over 400 years before it happens
Long before the Hebrew children were enslaved in Egypt, Joseph said this:
And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
Did you hear that?
Joseph made the sons of Israel
That’s his brothers and their children and their children’s children
He made them swear two things
“God will surely visit you.”
God will come to you JUST LIKE HE DID FROM ABRAHAM UNTIL NOW.
I can hear him saying, “Swear to me that you believe it.
“Swear to me that you know it and will tell your families about Him.
And then he made them swear, “You shall carry up my bones from here.”
When the Exodus happened, in all of the hub-bub and confusion and plagues and Red Sea crossing and everything
Moses made sure they carried Joseph’s 400 plus year old bones
And in Joshua 24:32 we hear the promise fulfilled.
As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
Father to son.
Grandfather to grandchildren.
Brother to his family.
Not a one of them saw the promise fulfilled
Yet each one of them trusted that the Lord is faithful
That He would do what He promised to do
Because they realized, in their children and their children’s children would they see God revealed.
The promise does not belong to us only.
It is our highest duty, our most sacred honor, to pass the promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus down to our children and our children’s children.
Now, I’d like to say this about that in this church.
Our vision
Our vision
Where there is no vision, the people perish: But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
I want to take a moment to talk about vision.
People often say to me, “But so and so church is doing…”
This has really intensified since that church was planted a couple of years ago - right across the street from us now.
I understand that .
It’s hard to be different.
And sometimes the things other churches do so look very attractive and we think we want to do them too.
But we are different.
We are among a growing number of Southern Baptist Churches who are returning to the roots of being Baptist, we are returning to the roots of the faith.
We are Elder led and Deacon served.
No other Southern Baptist Church in Jones County is like us as far as I know.
I do know that all of my brother pastors are watching us closely to see if we implode.
Pastors know better than most folks, change is hard especially when the church is 120 years old.
When we are successful, it will give them courage to do what they need to do.
I suspect at least some of you are here because we are different from other churches.
We believe in expositional preaching.
We are in week 31 of the book of Hebrews and I feel like I’ve rushed it.
We are centered on the Word of God.
My personal knowledge is I have nothing to stand on other than the Word of God.
I have had a few folks say they are here because of my preaching, but I know better.
They are here because we choose to be immersed in the Word of God and God’s word thrills them and that’s what comes out of this pulpit.
We are different in our view of the family.
I want to ask you to consider this - we, and I mean all Baptist churches that I know of, say we are all about family.
So we ask folks to come early each Sunday to groups.
We split up by age groups and send the kids in one direction and parents in another.
We come to worship.
Any child under kindergarten age stays downstairs while mom and dad are in worship.
At the end of the music service, years ago we would send every child from age 5 to age 11 downstairs.
Like every other church.
But do you realize, that means for the first 11 years of that child’s life, they rarely, if ever got a full picture of their parents, grandparents or anyone else worshipping in a true church setting.
How is that a good thing?
We are different.
We believe that children learn Jesus best from Mom and Dad - just like Hebrews just taught us.
We believe that there is no way under the sun that the church can replace mom and dad in that role.
Moms and dads are the most important people in the world to their kids.
We designed our Kids Worship with that in mind.
We take kindergarteners and first graders and we teach them the Bible
But we also, and just as importantly, we teach them to worship.
We spend two years preparing them to be in this sanctuary and participate in worship.
Not just music, but the totality of worship.
When they get up here in the second grade, will they be wiggly?
Of course.
Will they doodle and draw and fidget with things?
Of course.
Their hands may be busy but their minds are engaged.
Of course the question is asked, ‘Wouldn’t the children better off in a class with age appropriate teaching?”
Until the 1960’s, there was no such thing as children’s church.
It boomed in the 90’ and into the 2010’s
But an interesting thing has happened.
Some churches have started to realize the importance of raising children in worship to worship.
We are there.
See, we can’t discount the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul says in Romans 10:14
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
And Jesus said this: John 15:26
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
The Holy Spirit will speak to our children just as He does to adults in the way we all can understand - otherwise, how is a child saved?
The Holy Spirit resurrects our dead souls so we can hear we need to be saved.
He does the same thing for children.
They may be fidgeting and scribbling and drawing, but they are hearing - just like you did at their age.
And they see you worshipping.
And every now and again they will see a tear in your eye.
They watch you listening intently to a message.
They get to touch the offering plate as it goes by.
They get to hear Elders and Deacons read the scripture and pray.
They get to not take the Lord’s Supper and ask you why they are different.
They get to see you correct them when they misbehave
They get to understand how important this place is to all of us.
We are different because we believe the family is the most important creation of God for His children and that there is no good substitute for a loving mom and dad.
And on a sentimental note, I appeal to you as a dad of a 34, 33 and 29 year old.
When they come out of Kids Worship, they will be 7.
In 4 years they will be in Middle School - in the student group and pretty soon they will not want to hang with you like they do now.
You will lose your cool factor.
I’d give my eye teeth to have one week of Anna, Ben and Luke as children.
I love them so much now but oh my word, how they blessed me and changed my life as kids.
This phase of their life will be just as the Bible says in James 4:14 “…For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
Look at your child.
In very short order, they will vanish from your home.
Then you’ll have hours and days and weeks and years to focus on yourself
But until then, pour everything you’ve got into them.
They’ve got to know the promise of Jesus.
Do what the Lord says:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
When your feet are moving, because one day your feet will stop.
Give your kids Jesus.
If you don’t feel adequate to the task, talk to Hannah, talk to Melissa, talk to Austin, talk to me, talk to an Elder.
We’ll get you the resources you need.
You’ve given your child physical life.
Now, give them eternal life.
Give your children Jesus
Pass the promise on to your children.
Let us pray.
