Champions of the Faith in the Bible Hebrews 1-40

1.   Introduction

1966 - At the September conference, in a small room in a pub in Bolton Lancashire that we had converted into a Christian bookshop, the idea first came to us about getting an ocean-going ship. I shared it with only a small group of leaders and we knew we had to wait on the Lord and do lots of research, which went on for the next couple of years.

1970 - More and more, some of us felt that now was the hour for the ship and I circulated a memo to that effect with a photo of a ship. Captain Graham Scott joined us by faith and was helping present the vision in different churches. Money was coming in and other crew members were signing up. In October of that year we purchased the Umanac from the Danish Government and it became Logos I. I would urge you to read the book about this ship and her ministry until we lost her in 1988.

1971 - Drena and I with our family moved to the ship in Rotterdam where she was repaired and refurbished and we were soon on our way around the whole of Africa to India. This was to be one of the most stretching and exciting years of our lives. As we sailed into Cochin Harbour, and as OMers came out to meet us in small boats, I began to weep with praise and thanksgiving. A new and effective ministry had been born which was to grow beyond our expectations.

1997 – The Doulos was added to the ministry and is the worlds oldest ocean going passenger liner.

1988 – The Logos ran aground.

1990 – Logos II was purchased

What and an amazing story as the result of one mans Faith and his willingness to share his dream with others

This morning we want to look at some men and women in the bible who are regarded as champions of the faith. We are not going to focus so much on faith as we all accept that these were men and woman who trusted God and we see that through Scriptures and the accounts of there lives.

The world is a different place today because they chose to trust God. They excelled in being sure of what they hoped for and certain of what they did not see.

Lets read  selected verses in Hebrews 11:4-8 and 31

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

We will deal with four of the characters that we find in this passage a little closer looking at the decisions that they had to make and the actions that they had to take to be included in this awesome passage of Scripture.

The four characters that we will deal with are:

·         Enoch – He walked with God and was no more

·         Noah – Did the impossible and saved his family and we are here because of him.

·         Abraham – Was blessed to be a blessing.  He left his home for a place that God would show him

·         Rahab  - She risked her life on the promise of men that she did not know.

2.   Each of these individauls Identified a Problem or Crisis

·         Enoch – at the age of 65 must have been confronted by the reality of the living God and would have had to make a choice to follow this God and leave all that was familiar to him.

·         Noah – Noah was asked to the impossible or the ridicules or perishes. He had to build a boat which would have been thought as foolish because he would have built it on dry-land with no way of moving a construction of that size to the nearest body of water.

·         Abraham – Abram must have known God and was walking with him when God asked him to pack up and leave his home and go to the place that God would show him.  (Personal leaving the Doulos)

·         Rahab – Had to trust complete strangers with her safety. If she had been found helping these men she would have been put to death

As simply and as clearly as you can, state the problem.  This may sound simplistic but you will never be able to resolve a problem that you cannot first identify.  Be sure you distinguish between the problem and the symptoms of the problem.  This may require you to study, research, and/or scrutinize the cultural history and climate of your organization to be able to get to the problem itself.

Example – Company Lifts

3.   I am sure they looked at their options List Your Options

Enoch had two options.  He could follow the true God as he had revealed himself or he could choose to continue to walk in the way that he was used to.

Noah would have had a number of options I am sure and these could been as different as asking God to delay the flood or on the type and or size of boat.

Abraham – Could have stayed where it was comfortable or he could have left and gone of in a direction that seemed more convenient to himself

Rahab – Could have turned the men in. Or chosen not to give them shelter.

Realize that every problem has a solution.  Brainstorm and list any course of action that may exist.  At this stage don't worry about the validity of the solutions; simply list any alternative you have which may help you analyse the problem.

4.   They needed to choose the Best Course

Enoch – Chose to walk with God.  We are not told why but for him this must have been the best of his options at the time.  When you read the Bible and the practices that were happening it seems that this would be the best option.

Noah – The best course of action was to obey Gods instructions and for Noah the timing was everything. If he had hung around and waited to see what happened he would have also perished in the flood.

Abraham – Must have based his decision on his knowledge of God and trusted that when God made a promise he would keep it.  His best option again was to follow God’s instructions.

Rahab – Chose life which definitely the best option.  Not only physical life but also spiritual life she is listed in the as we see as one of the men and woman of faith in the Bible.

Based upon the options available to you, choose your best course of action after full consideration of resources, personnel and timing.  Remember, every decision, however well intentioned, eliminates other options that may be available to you.  Also keep in mind that the success or failure of your decision may be a product of timing, so choose well.

5.   Just Do It!

Once we have chosen the best option then we have to act James 2:18-24 says the following:

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.  You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?  Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?  You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.  And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.  You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

Each one mentioned above acted that is what is credited to them as righteousness. If they had gone through the steps above and not acted they would not have been included in this passage that we have looked at today.

The hardest part of all this is acting making the dream or option public because once you make it public you are committed to it.

After you've identified your problem, listed you options and chosen your solution, you must execute it.  Take the courageous (and sometimes lonely) step of implementing your decision.  This step is never easy, especially when pertaining to personnel issues, but not acting is tantamount to not deciding.  And that in itself is an unspoken action.

6.   Personal Examples

Walking to the front of the church when I was five

Joining the Logos Hope to the Doulos

7.   Conclusion

OM Ships welcome over one million visitors every year!  Our vision is that every one of those visitors will have the opportunity to know God's love for them.  For the many local believers who visit us in each port, we also long to encourage and nurture them in their spiritual lives.

To achieve our dream of impacting the lives of our visitors, we also need to review our present ministry structure and determine how best to be effective well into the future.

In 2001, OM Ships CEO, Bernd Gülker, wrote an article in the OM publication Relay explaining why a new ship is needed.In 2001, OM Ships CEO, Bernd Gülker, wrote an article in the OM publication explaining why a new ship is needed.

"We want to serve our visitors adequately, but we are constantly faced with our limitations," explained Bernd. "At present we cannot provide sufficient living space for the co-workers needed to cater for our current level of visitors.  We are concerned that we cannot provide all of our visitors with space and opportunities for spiritual input on board."

Frequently, pressure from large crowds means that fewer than 20% of guests can attend programmes on board or spend time in conversation with the ship's international crew.

Our vision is for the new ship to have sufficient space for a larger, more customer friendly indoor bookshop, several rooms for smaller programmes or viewing the Jesus film and a much larger café facility for visitors to interact with ship people and local Christians.