Sermon Tone Analysis

Faith that Sustains

Good Morning and welcome to the end of family camp.

Before we begin I wanted to briefly introduce myself for those who do not know me.

*Introduction*

Now we will have a quick word of prayer and we will dive into our text today.

*Prayer*

I want to first begin by giving you a question to consider and then give you my main point I want to prove to you today.

Question: What is it that drives you in your daily life?

What is the thing that gets you up in the morning?

Is it coffee?

What is the thing that keeps you going through the day?

Again, is it coffee?

But on a more serious note:

What is the thing that is the motivation behind each of your decisions?

What is the guiding principle that gets you through hard times?

Because for many people, they look inward

They look towards themselves in order to find motivation, or energy or some magical gusto that will bring them through this moment or this life

Even if you’re Christian, this idea of Karma/prosperity gospel (on top of a lot of other pagan ideas) have inserted themselves into the lives of Christians

And the thing about doing that, is it always tends to get worse (in terms of motivation)

We have this idea that gets us through our days and through the hard times that if I just do enough good for other people, my life will get better, whether by unknown means (karma) or because I did enough good that God will give me good things (prosperity gospel)

Because looking inward, we will always tend to see our flaws

And no matter how hard we look inwardly, it can seem impossible to find some motivation or thing that you didn’t have before to get you through this life, or as we have been hearing, this race the LORD has placed you in

With that being said, here is what I want to prove to you today:

Main Point: In order to to run the race the LORD has for us, faith is essential.

A faith that sustains is one that is fixed on Christ, and takes Him at His word

With this as our main passage I want us to look deeply into really just a few words and then we will begin moving through scripture building the rest of our points

The author of Hebrews in Chapter 11 gives us a list of faithful believers throughout the narrative of scripture building us to these verses here.

The author gives us these “cloud of witnesses” to spur us on in our race

While these “witnesses” are vital, this will not be our focus.

Continuing on the author tells us to run with endurance the race that lies before us....

“...Keeping our eyes on Jesus...”

This right here is the point that I will prove out from here

In running our race, we are not called to look inward for something that sustains us but rather outward and upward.

Let us from here look at why and when we fix our eyes on Christ in our race.

1. Run the Called Race (Given by Jesus)

What do I mean by the “called race?”

This is what I mean:

And

This is the “called race.”

As a follower of Christ you were called, just as they were, to go and make disciples everywhere.

But what that means is, it is not a race that you initiated or planned out but rather that Christ initiated in His resurrection (and in your resurrection to new life as a Christian as He brought about faith in your life) and He has planned out.

Your race was initiated based on God’s authority (the Son’s in Matthew, the Father and the Holy Spirit’s in Acts)

If you’re a Christian that means you were given new life IN Christ, which also means that it is new life FOR Christ

This means what you do, where you go, and what you say is either working for the “called race” (i.e.

you’re living in the manner Christ and the Word have called you to OR you’re running a race contrary to the one the LORD has for you meaning you are running AWAY from the called run and therefore are in disobedience to what the LORD has called you to.

You were not given new life in Christ to return to pursuing things that will not last but rather things of Christ’s eternal kingdom

So in running our race we are to run the “called race” but also...

2. Run Looking Forward (At Jesus)

Notice here, Paul, in speaking about achieving the goal (the end of the race, perfection in Christ) he say that he hasn’t achieved it but he makes “every effort” to take hold of it why...

“..because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus...”

That is our almost an exact rephrase of our first point right?

Paul says he is striving to reach the goal in his race BECAUSE Christ has taken hold of him

Moving on in this point though, Paul is pressing ahead.

He is not dwelling on his old way of life which is dead

Paul is not saying he does not focus on the past referring to his coming to salvation (because Christ is still alive making us further like Him everyday, therefore it is a past, present and future event)

So we are to run the race we have been called to, looking ahead at Christ but in running...

3. Run in Humility (Like Jesus) because He is King

Notice Paul says in Philippians:

“adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus...”

Running your race in anything except humility, means you are running in direct opposition to the God of the universe

Period.

4. Run Your Race, No Matter the Cost...

Here we are going to look at numerous passages because I think it necessary to really sink this point down deep.

This is where we hit the important points.

Because often time we talk about faith like we talk about love:

Like it’s this mushy feel good thing in the Christian life

But we DON’T want to talk about this

Because somehow we think the LORD would never do that to us

Or that was just circumstances, that can’t be a part of the race the LORD would have for me…right?

What if it is?

What if the LORD would call you to a place and a people that would result in you’re own personal suffering for the sake of the Gospel?

We think this question inconceivable because of what our Christian experience has been here in America

We ignore the fact that our experience as Christians is a geographical and historical ANOMALY.

But brothers and sisters, this in fact is where “the rubber meets the road”

It is the testing of your faith that proves it genuine

It is the testing of the metal that proves it worthy, or fools gold

To use a parable Jesus Himself did, it is a testing of your faith that proves if the seed was rooted in good soil, deep and sustaining for the scorching sun, or whether it is only rooted on the surface, which we dry up in the heat of the sun

Let’s look here at a couple more specific examples:

You might say…well that, well that is just Paul right?

Well what about this where Paul speaks about the disciples as a whole as “God’s ministers” ...

Brothers and sisters I ask you, is your faith one that is set on Christ and so sustains you no matter the cost?

Why, might you ask?

5.

Because Christ is Sufficient for this Life and the Next

Here in 2 Timothy, Paul knows he is at the end of his life

Shortly after this, Paul will be executed as a Christian and Citizen of Rome.

Yet here at the end of his life he says this:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”

Why?

Why endure all that he endured?

How enduring all that Paul did, could he speak like that:

Let me ask you again, what is it that drives you in your daily life?

Is it Christ?

Is it His finished work on your behalf that you gave upon in the joys and trials of life?

Because trials will come, but we can find a rest when they coming knowing Christ endured the greatest trial, the punishment for our sin to bring us to life and secure our reward, Himself.