Sermon Tone Analysis

So What

Any one here with their name on a hall of fame

There a so many.. Sports hall of fame, movies hall of fame, music hall of fame, school hall of fame, government hall of fame

TSA Posts all of it’s generals on walls at CFOT

My Mother won enough trophies in broom ball and in our old house she sported her own wall of fame lined with trophies

Many of us may never make a hall of fame that is okay.

Today we are going to take a look at and as we read down through in a moment you may begin to think that we are walking down a hallway and witnessing the faces and names of people through the ages that are a part of a hall of fame, they were known for something.

It wasn’t really that they were famous because most of them would not have made it on the wall but here they are listed in scripture, inspired by God as men and women who would find them selves on a wall of faith

Now I am not sure about you but I know you will never see my name in a hall of any kind of fame.

And many times I wonder If I would even make it to a hall of faith.

Do you ever doubt yourself?

Do you ever doubt yourself?

If yes, you are not alone because as we read through you will notice many names of those who would not consider them selves hall of faith worthy.

And yet they are called faithful.

What’s What

Wow - Give us fresh eyes and attentive hearts Lord

Hebrews was written to Hebrew Christians where many of them were considering turning back to Judaism and the law

They had been exposed to fierce persecution both socially and physically

looking back at

hebrews 10: 32-39

The author moves from that into the faithful ones

Go through the list - Sarah disappointment, Abraham as he walked the hill - laid our children, Noah Crazy - like building a summer resort in LW

Faith is confident action - Confident hope

“Now faith is the resolute confidence.…”

The examples that follow demonstrate a posture of firm confidence in the promises of God even though the believers had not yet received the fulfillment of those promises (11:39).

They did not all see what was promised and some of what God had promised they never seen yet

Faith was necessary for survival

There are our brothers and sisters around the world, in places like Saudi Arabia, China, and Cuba, who have long been thrust into lives of conflict in which faith is a necessary tool for survival.

They are forced to discover their own spiritual fortitude, many living faithfully in light of eternity, in light of the unseen God and his kingdom.

Those of us in the West often have lived, by contrast, in relative comfort with what is “seen.”

Why focus on the coming world when the present one seems so nice?

faith involves confident action

) True faith is action taken in response to the unseen God and his promises

Faith involves God’s working extraordinary miracles in the lives of ordinary people

faith is rewarded by God

Faith is confidence based on past experiences

Yeah But

I not a hero

He calls us—with all our habits and hang-ups, warts and worries—to action.

We are called to step out of step with the world, hop up on the stage of history, and take our place in God’s roll call of the faithful.

Of course we are inadequate; but so have been all others who have evidenced the grace of God.

It would not be grace otherwise.

Why do i seem to have so much trouble

james 1

Now What

Thank God for the stories of the faithful

I am thankful for the faithful in my own life that has helped my faith Journey

I am sure you are as well

I know many of your stories and I am confident there have been times when it would have been easier to fold the towel and walk away and yet you are still here.

How would you and I live today if we believed absolutely that God existed and loved us completely and had a destination for us that made all the world pale by just one square foot of its turf?

How would we live if we believed that God cared about our every action and every concern and wished to reward us magnanimously for our faith?

How would you and I live in the face of opposition if we believed in God, really believed as if our whole lives depended on him and his?

You say, “But I do; I do believe absolutely.

I believe with all I am and all I have.”

Then how would you live differently if you did not believe?

Would there be much difference?

This is a critical question.

If all I am and have and do differs little from my unbelieving neighbor, then I have embraced his world and his values and fool myself by saying I am living for another world and kingdom values.

My life must be radically different in what I embrace—the values of a heavenly kingdom.

When I live “by faith,” I then will be one to whom God can bear witness and one who bears witness to God in such a way that others will be stimulated to faith.

My life will portray that “faith works!”

Then I will be a “hero” in the best sense of the word, for I will live a life that helps others and honors Another.

Then I will be extraordinary, having chosen a narrow path.

Christians we are extraordinary because of what God has done in the midst of and in spite of our spiritual dullness

Faith is confident action - Confident hope

He is who he says he is, he will do what he says he will do

They did not all see what was promised and some of what God had promised they never seen yet

Faith helps us see beyond the grave

How is your faith?