Untitled Sermon (2)

INTRO

BODY

Hebrews 13:7 (ESV) — 7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

Remember

call to mind; think of; keep in mind

Present tense: Keep on remembering

Leaders

“those who spoke to you the word of God”

Pastors, parents, small group leaders

What these “leaders” do for you in communicating to you the word of God is significant and worthy of a place in your hearts.

Brent Eldredge

Mike Forrest

Jason Mayhall

Steve Severance

John Kiningham

Ryan McCreery

These are men you don’t know, men you’ve never heard of, but these are men I carry with me because they were my leaders, those who spoke the word of God to me.

P1: Give Thanks to the Lord for Godly Leaders in Your Life (v. 7a)

Illustrate:

There are many different types of leaders you have in your life:

Teachers

Coaches

Tutors

Politicians

Supervisors

But their significance pales in comparison to that of the godly men and women the Lord has put into your life who lead you into the word.

A teacher may be praiseworthy for teaching a future accountant the math that she uses daily in her career. That student may look back with fondness on that teacher and remember what an impact they had on her life. How much more should we consider our spiritual leaders and give thanks to the Lord for an eternal impact that they have had on our lives through bringing the word to bear on us.

Students, if you have a leader who uncompromisingly calls you to love Jesus more and won’t let you off the hook with generalities or cliches or superficial statements about life, rejoice in that and give thanks to the Lord for that person. They love you and if you will let them, they will have a huge impact on your life.

1 Corinthians 12:18 (ESV) — 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

Another reason we honor these leaders and give thanks for them is that God has placed them there. Your small group leader is your small group leader because God “arranged the members” in this body that way. We all have divine appointments with the leaders that God has for us, and in remembering these leaders we would do well to remember that their presence in our lives was not an accident.

1 Thessalonians 2:8 (ESV) — 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

A final reason we want to give thanks for the leaders in our lives is because of the sacrifice involved in leading well. I want to read you a passage that is written about elders or pastors, but is just as applicable for the small group leaders and other leaders in your life who have taken a vested interest in your spiritual well-being.

1 Peter 5:1–3 (ESV) — 1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

Y’all, this isn’t easy. This can only come from a heart of love for you that derives from a heart of love for Jesus.

A good leader loves Jesus so much that they can’t help but want you to love Him as much as they do, and they are willing to sacrifice time and energy and sleep and money and sometimes mental well-being, to see Jesus formed in you.

Who is on your list? Which leaders do you call to mind regularly in a spirit of giving thanks to the Lord for their role in your life?

END P1

Consider

look carefully at; observe with care; examine carefully

Not only should we remember them but in calling them to mind we should also call to mind the “outcome of their way of life.”

outcome = end; landing place

Look at the circumstances of their lives

How the Lord has blessed them

How He has honored them

The type of man or woman they are

Where has their lifestyle, their conduct, their devotion to Jesus gotten them?

This requires that we have the right perspective when evaluating these things.

None of your leaders are millionaires

None of your leaders are famous

None of your leaders are on their way to either of those things

None of them have been without pain or trial

None of them have been free from sorrow

But...

They love Jesus and are storing up eternal reward for themselves

They are living lives that will result in their hearing from Jesus: “Well done good and faithful servant”

P2: Give Thought to What God has Wrought in the Lives of Your Leaders (v. 7b)

They’ve got some faithful stuff going on! They’re bearing fruit that should cause you to stop and take notice. They’ve walked through some stuff, they’ve cried some tears, they’ve prayed fervently for the Lord to move, they’ve entered into the trenches to do battle with sin, and they’re still doing all of that. Why? Because they’ve found that God is faithful and He is worth trusting and you students need to pay attention to that. That’s what the writer of Hebrews is saying fright here. You need to consider the outcome of their way of life.

I can tell you students that your leaders, every one of them, are worthy of your attention in this regard. None of them have been coasting through life without getting real with it. In fact, I can tell you that even right now none of them are on easy street spiritually. But they’re here, for you, because they love you, and God wants you to take a big ole magnifying glass and hold it up to see what He’s done in their lives.

Consider the outcome of their way of life. To do this, you have to spend time getting to know them. And they want that. Don’t settle for arms-length discipleship. Ask the questions. Spend time with them. They’re human.

Don’t waste this opportunity to know your leaders. Don’t waste this chance to look at the lives of those who have gone before you to learn from them. Don’t think you’ve got it. Don’t imagine you’ll do better. Don’t believe the lie that their struggles won’t become your struggles.

Ultimately, what is that outcome? Eternity with Jesus.

END P2

Imitate

mimic; copy; emulate; follow

This is the point the author has been aiming at the whole time. It hasn’t really been about the leaders but about us imitating our leaders. This is a common theme in the NT.

1 Corinthians 4:16 (ESV) — 16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV) — 1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Philippians 3:17 (ESV) — 17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

2 Thessalonians 3:7 (ESV) — 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you,

Hebrews 6:12 (ESV) — 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Note what it is we are to imitate about our leaders: “imitate their faith.”

3 John 11 (ESV) — 11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

James 1:2–4 (ESV) — 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

1 Peter 1:6–7 (ESV) — 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

These points all build upon one another: If you will remember your leaders and get to know them you should then want to imitate their faith.

God places people in your life who speak the word to you and live it out, and those are the people you want to follow.

This same principle has been applied to our pursuit of Jesus by the author earlier in the book:

Hebrews 12:1–4 (ESV) — 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

1 Peter 2:21–23 (ESV) — 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

In this way, I trust that each of your leaders could say to you as Paul did, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

P3: Pattern Your Faith after the Faith of Your Leaders (v. 7c)

One of the reasons we like to read biographies is to be inspired by the faith of these great Christians who went before us (Jim Elliot, Adoniram Judson, George Whitefield). Have you considered that you can “read the biographies” of your leaders’ lives and draw the same inspiration from their faith?

This is what Hebrews 11 is all about. “By faith…by faith…by faith…by faith...”

Christianity has its difficult seasons for sure, and that’s one of the main reasons God places us into this community called the Church. We need to grow in humility to more readily admit that we need the example of others to follow as we navigate our walks with Jesus.

The sins you are battling, your leaders have battled.

The sorrow/depression you are struggling with, your leaders have struggled with.

The dryness/distance from the Lord you are feeling, your leaders have felt.

The questions/doubts that you have, your leaders have had.

The trials/suffering you are experiencing, your leaders have experienced.

The fears/anxieties that plague you, have plagued your leaders as well.

But this requires humility to be willing to seek them out.

“Hey, I know that I’ve been telling everyone that I’m fine in our small group time, but I’m really battling lust.”

“Hey, can I talk to you about the depression I’ve been struggling with recently. I can’t pinpoint why, but I just feel a constant cloud over my life.”

“Hey, what have you done in the past when you’ve felt distant from the Lord because I’ve been feeling pretty dry in my relationship with Him?”

“Hey, I know the Bible tells us that God is good, but I’ve been wrestling with doubts about that. Can we talk?”

“Hey, my dad was just diagnosed with cancer, and I just need someone to help me process my thoughts about it.”

“Hey, I’m under a lot of pressure recently with school and my parents’ expectations, and it’s causing a lot of anxiety. How have you dealt with that?”

Y’all, I promise you your leaders are looking for conversations like that. That’s what we’re after because that’s where life-change begins to happen. I’m not interested in you knowing more about Jesus if it doesn’t get in your kitchen.

CONCLUSION

Isn’t it so good that God has saved us and saved others to be our leaders? People to speak the truth of God’s word to us, to live lives we can watch and praise God for, and to go before us as examples of faith for us to follow? So much better than if He had saved us and left us to figure it out on our own!