Following to the Finish Line

Tim Michalek

Leadership • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

Hebrews 11:23–12:2

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Apostle's Creed

Sing to the King

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Offering:

Isaiah 60:1–6 ESV

1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.

Isaiah

Communion: Read

Isaiah 59:21 ESV

21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

Isaiah 59:21

Be Thou My Vision

It Is Well

Offering: Days of Elijah

Communion:

Message

Days of Elijah

Read:

How Great Is Our God

Following to the Finish Line

We’re following Christ, but what we’ll see from , is that we’re really following others who have gone before us and made it!

Follow others to the finish line

In the process: Lead others to the finish line.

Passage is divided up into three sections, an introduction to what faith is, illustrations of men and women of faith, and an exhortation to us to follow in their footsteps and live like they lived.

Leaders know where they are going

Leaders know why they must get there

Leaders are willing to do whatever it takes to arrive at the finish line.

What is the urgency to be a leader?

The strength of the spiritual leader flows from his faith in God

Leaders are willing to do what it takes to arrive at the finish line.

God will lead his people to the finish line.

Hebrews 11:1–3 ESV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Heb 11:1-

summarize :4-12

Abel, Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham

Read :12-16

Summarize :17-22

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses

Read :23-26

Summarize :27-31

Passover, the promised land, and Rahab

Read :32-12:2

We all take things by faith: No one knows where the universe came from.

We believe by faith that God created it with his word.

But we take all sorts of things by faith...

We’re happy to know that we can turn on the TV and watch some people in a studio give us the news as it is happening. We have confidence that they are just going to work.

have you ever been scammed? taken someone’s word for something and it turned out to bite you in the end?

You probably have had people call you asking for personal information, or knocked on your door hoping to see your gas bill, or sent you an email saying your bank account has been hacked.

Hopefully you’re not giving out that personal information, but if you’ve ever have been scammed, its the most humiliating and helpless feeling in the world. You feel so stupid because you shouldn’t have trusted that person. You should have known better. You put your faith in someone who abused you and took advantage of you.

The writer of Hebrews is asking you to put your faith in someone who is, as we just sang, FAITHFUL. And this God accepts us based solely on our faith. Thankfully not by our works.

God does not accept us based on our good deeds, but because we believe Jesus did all the good deeds in our place and died instead of us, so that we can live with God forever.

So faith is believing in something in a way that makes you vulnerable. That if the source of your faith is misplaced, it will burn you.

faith is driving your car out on a frozen lake because you believe the ice will hold your vehicle up.

Faith is investing in a company that you believe will do well.

did anyone have faith in McDonalds in 2003 and buy at $10 a share? It’s now $173?

Faith isn’t real faith if it doesn’t cost you something if the promise doesn’t come through.

The writer of Hebrews talks about how none of these people saw the promise, but

:39 they all recieved something better

So looking at the lives of these saints, let’s look at three elements of a spiritual leader.

Leaders know where they are going

Leaders are willing to do whatever it takes to arrive at the finish line.

The strength of the spiritual leader flows from his faith in God.

Leaders know where they are going.

These men and women had a singular goal in mind.

It was not to be happy, or wealthy. It was not to be popular, or successful. It was not to be influential or talented.

:13 These men and women lived their lives as strangers and exiles on the earth because they weren’t living for the here and now, they were living for a ‘homeland’ :16 they desired a heavenly country, not earthly success.

Most clearly 12:2 Look to Jesus, who endured incredible torture and death because of the joy set before him. Something he died to achieve. So now he is exalted above all others.

Spiritual leaders’ primary goal in life, in the little moments of where to spend your time and money, the primary goal is to treasure life with God forever.

That’s what we need to be driven toward. Let’s be careful as we fill up our days with so many distractions that keep us from remembering and talking about the coming of Jesus.

A simple way to do this, is to be consciously adding it to your prayers. Hopefully you’re praying throughout your day, as you wake up, as you drive to work, before you eat your meals.

I encourage you, that every time you pray, try to ask Jesus to come quickly, or affirm your faith that he is coming quickly. It may help in little moments put things into perspective that are just temporary.

This life is just a short puff of smoke. Gone so quickly.

Let’s live our lives for what really matters.

Leaders are willing to do whatever it takes to arrive at the finish line.

When I was a senior in high school, our soccer team was really good. We had some really skilled players, we worked hard all year, conditioning, drills, suicide sprints, and we made it to the state finals.

we had a music and speech competition that week before, and I was involved in events every day that week.

Game time, and the next thing I know, the coach is pulling me out.

Because he knew what his goal was, to win that game, and I was in the way.

A spiritual leader makes necessary sacrifices for the ultimate good of those involved.

A good leader is going to have to make difficult choices sometimes, that may even hurt people’s feelings or make them upset in order to accomplish that goal.

This is why it is so important for us all to be motivated by the right things, and driven toward the right things.

almost all of us are in one way or another in positions of influence, or even of leadership

we either live as exiles and strangers on this earth, demonstrating a life that is purposeful for the ultimate goal of living with God forever,

OR we live for ourselves and the stuff we accumulate, and communicate that what really matters is just the here and now.

Parents: to your children, to your peers

Children: to your siblings, to your peers, to your parents even

sophie reminding us we have to pray

Sometimes spiritual leadership happens in big choices.

When Moses’ parents chose to hide their baby at the risk of their whole family, refusing to follow the edict of the king, that was a big moment of faith

when moses chose to abandon the piles of wealth, comfort, prestige in Egypt to be treated like a slave and identify with his people

It takes great faith to

to find a new job so that you can spend more time with your family

the choice of where to put your kids into school can be a major spiritual decision

BUT MOST of our choices of spiritual leadership happen in the little moments

in what kind of tv we watch

in how faithful we are to church or whether we get connected to a small group

in how much money we spend on stuff and how much we give away

If we asked those closest to you, WHAT DO THEY LOVE??

spiritual leadership is a matter of life and death: when we lead others to self indulgence and sinful pleasures, we are leading them on a path to be far away from God

If you’re not living for another world, you’re not living at all…you’re dying. Youre on the path to death. And we fill ourselves up with the stuff of this life desperate to find satisfaction and hope only to watch it vanish in an instant after an accident, or a divorce, or a death.

Life is hard, and it is so easy to loose focus, to feel depressed and down and empty. Leaders who are focused on the finish line help give perspective and hope to others.

You can make it through those things because of your focus on the finish line. It puts all your problems in perspective.

So where is the source of strength for a spiritual leader.

The strength of the spiritual leader flows from his faith in the promise of God.

:32-38

Let the testimony of these men and women lead you to the source of their strength. Let their story sink into your mind as you believe that if they can endure, then you can endure too.

12:1

I hope you’re thinking of ways that your life needs to be cinched up to demonstrate to those around you that your true longing is for something out of this world.

But don’t leave this room without feeling encouraged. What is extraordinary about all these people in , is that they were all very ordinary people. They were all sinners like you and me, and God used them to do amazing things. God inspired them to overcome impossible odds. God sustained them through overwhelming circumstances.

Extraordinary is that they were all very ordinary people

And that same God will do the same with you if you’re willing to follow him to the finish line.

Get to grace

Even with my weak faith?

Think about your week, and the biggest stresses and trials. Think about the illnesses that the doctors offer little hope for. Think about the project at work that is just pressing down on you. Think about the tension in your marriage that is driving you to the limits of yourself.

That is the place God’s faithfulness shines. When you trust him, with faith that looks for a heavenly kingdom, he does amazing things through you.

The suffering you feel and those around you feel, he will bring you through.

He brought them through.

Their faith in God’s promise sustained them through death.

And in their lifetime they never saw the promise they were waiting for.

That’s what may seem crazy about Christianity. We know that what we are living for will NEVER be realized in this lifetime. We will never be fully happy and satisfied until we are complete in Christ and living with him.

So, spiritual leader, do you know where you’re going? do you see the urgency of your task? are you making sacrifices to help those under your influence get to the heavenly city? are you drawing strength from the promise of eternal peace with God?

Let’s encourage each other with these words.