So we've been walking through Hebrews, and two
weeks ago I preached a message, we are not of
those who shrink back, right? Let's just say
that again, we are not of those who shrink back,
right? So we began that in Hebrews 10. We walked
through Hebrews 11, the ancients, right? The
great men and women of faith. And we landed in
Hebrews chapter 10. Oh, I pulled up the wrong
sermon here. Sorry. I pulled up that sermon.
We're in chapter 12, yes. Now I have to find
the sermon. See, this is why printing your sermons
is better. I might have to have Nick run me up
the sermon from back there. Oh, there it is.
I got it. I got it. Okay. Hebrews 12 is where
we landed in that sermon. So if you were not
here for that, I want to encourage you to get
online and listen to it because it's setting
us up for Hebrews 12. Now, my goal had been to...
take us further into Hebrews 12 and talking about
the correction of the Lord. I know this is so
exciting, the correction of the Lord. We will
be there in two weeks. But I wanted us to come
back to where we finished two weeks ago to set
us up for that, because it's actually a very
exciting and empowering thing in our lives. And
so in Hebrews 12, verse 3, We sang it this morning.
For consider him who endured such hostility from
sinners against himself, lest you become weary
and discouraged in your souls. How many of you
have ever been weary and discouraged in your
soul? Right? There's that deep weariness that
can come on us. And it's interesting that it
is in the context of faith, being great men and
women of faith that don't shrink back, that he
talks about the weariness and the discouragement
of the soul. But we are not of those that shrink
back, right? We have a great cloud of witnesses
that have gone before us. And so let's read from
the beginning of Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 1,
the context. Therefore, we also, we love this
passage, since we are surrounded by so great
a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is
set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and has sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God. Every one of you has a
race that belongs to you. Some of you are just
starting on your race. You've just put on your
tennis shoes when you received Jesus and set
out onto the course. Some of you have been running
this race for 50 years. Every part of this journey
is wonderful. The beginning, the middle, the
end. We're all on a race. We are all on this
journey, and how we run it is important. Now,
we've talked about this, that I'm not a runner,
right? We know Darren was a runner. They don't
just decide to sign up for cross -country, throw
them on the team, and that's it. They're very
intentional. Any team, you're intentional in
your training. You're intentional in learning
how to do it the best way that you can. You're
intentional even about the clothing that you
wear. Sometimes you watch them and you're like,
maybe they need a little more clothes. What are
they doing? They're putting off anything that's
hindering them in their racing, right? Yes, I
saw Darren in little shorty shorts. Yes, you
did. Yes, you did. You'll never see that again,
but when he's running, we're going for it, right?
I know. Darren is just my primary fodder for
sermons. So let's talk for a moment about your
race. Because in this passage, he's down here
groaning still. Oh, and by the way, if anybody
thinks you can do the announcements better than
Darren, you can see me after church and I will
get you up here. All right? I'm not kidding.
Sign up today with me. Okay. I'm getting distracted
in my race with this sermon. Okay. Let's see
what this writer is saying. Let us lay aside
every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares.
Key one in running your race. Lay it aside. Get
rid of anything that is in the way of the running.
We get sin. We know, how many of you know there
are things you shouldn't be doing? Right? We
know we shouldn't do that. So the sin that so
easily entangles, we get that. I think the first
part of this, though, for many of us is interesting.
Laying aside every weight. Anything that you
are carrying that is hindering. Every weight.
This can be good things. It doesn't have to be
some sin that has you captive, although that
might be it. But anything that is a weight that
is pulling you back in your race. There are many
things I would love to do in life or be in life
that I laid aside when I answered the call of
God. Because they would be weights to me in the
race he has set for me. And for some of us in
this place, there are things that aren't necessarily
bad that can be good. When I was reading this,
I was thinking of the Netflix show, Tidying Up,
Marie Kondo. Anybody know Marie Kondo? Yes, my
kids are raising their hands because I forced
them to Marie Kondo their laundry. Marie comes
in, she's from Japan, and she teaches you how
to tidy up your house. It is great. I re -watch
it every January for inspiration as I struggle
to do that. But she has this thing, and when
you're tidying up your home and organizing it,
she makes you touch every piece of it. And she
wants to know, does it spark joy for you? I'm
about to make Darren go through his closet. Does
this flannel spark joy? What about this flannel?
We've got 10 flannels in here. Are they all sparking
joy? Do we need all of them? There's some I haven't
seen you wear. I bought him a Christmas one.
I don't think it's sparking joy it's been sitting
there. Every couple years, Linda makes Dennis.
Oh, he finally, it's not sparking joy. It's taking
up closet space that could be used for other
things, right? So why is this important? Because
there are things in your life That are not joy
sparkers. And when I say this, I'm applying this
to the things that God wants in your life. Because
the truly joyful things that spark in our life
are things that God wants in our life. Not the
things we necessarily want. Our flesh might like
them. They might spark joy for our flesh. But
they're not sparking joy for our spirit man.
And we cannot run our races weighted down with
things that are only sparking joy for our flesh
man and not our spirit man. This is why I'm so
excited. If you saw at the beginning our Lent
graphic that Nick just put out, this Wednesday
we begin our celebration of Lent, my favorite
season of the year. The season Lent, which means
springtime, which means that we are setting aside
the 40 days representing the temptation of Christ,
of getting rid of all the winter clutter. I was
just looking in my yard thinking there's so much
winter clutter that needs to be gone. Lent for
us is the season of laying aside the weights,
the things that ensnare us, of saying, Holy Spirit,
come and walk through the garden of my soul,
of my life. And so as you leave today, our Lent
resource table, I want to encourage you to stop
there and take advantage of it, that you would
lean into Lent, lean in to the season of fasting,
of giving up. I've been drinking coffee like
nobody's business this week because I know Wednesday
is coming and I won't be drinking coffee for
40 days. Whatever, you don't even drink it. Let's
give up Thorntons for 40 days. They all know
the things you should be giving up, don't they,
Darren? That's right. You shouldn't be eating
them anyway. We have one time on this race. It
is a one race. We're not getting another chance
at our race. This is a one and done. We start
the race and we finish the race. And so anything
that gets in the way of the race, we must become
ruthless in elimination. Sometimes tolerance,
we tolerate. Well, it's not really an entangling
sin. And so we will tolerate some of these weights.
It can be something good. It could be an unforgiveness,
an offense with somebody. That is a weight that
will hinder you in your race. It can be unforgiveness
toward God. You're offended with God because
something didn't go right for you. It's a weight.
We've only got one race. There's got to be this
sense of ruthlessness in us that says my eyes
are on the prize. And when we see the prize,
because listen, the second key in running our
race, according to this passage, is to run with
endurance. The race that is set before us. It's
interesting, isn't it, that he says to run this
race will require, what? The one thing he says
is required, endurance. Endurance. I was just
watching last night, Alexandra showed me the
opening of the Olympics. With Mr. Bean. Did anybody
see that with Mr. Bean? Oh my goodness. They
have the full orchestra playing Chariots of Fire,
and he's just sitting there doing the one note
on the keyboard, being Mr. Bean. So he finally
gets bored playing his one note while the whole
orchestra is playing, and he falls asleep and
begins to dream of the scene from the movie when
they're running on the beach, right? So he's
got the Olympic team, and he's trying to beat
the Olympic runners on the beach, and he realizes
he can't, and so he cheats. He gets into a car
that drives him around to the front to get out
and win the race. Listen, there is no cheating
on our race. There is no, like, shortcut to the
end. We need endurance to run in this life the
race of which he's called us, what is set before
us. Endurance, which is what? Patience. There's
not one person I've ever met that says I have
the gift of patience. Never. And as a homeschooling
mom, I would get so irritated when they would
say, oh, well, I don't just have the patience
to do that. I'm like, like, I do? I don't either.
There were days I wanted to bang my head on the
table, right? Patience is not usually something
that is just naturally given to people. And yet
here it is required for the race, the descent.
Not having patience is not an excuse. Because
we have the Holy Spirit. And what is the fruit
of the Holy Spirit? I like Linda's word, long
-suffering. You got to be able to suffer long
on this race. That is what endurance is. And
it's interesting that in the definition of endurance,
it says cheerfully. Oh, yeah. Cheerfully suffer
long. Do you know why it says cheerfully? Because
it says hopefully. You can suffer long when you
have hope. You can suffer long cheerfully. When
you have hope. How many of you have ever seen
Fiddler on the Roof? Yeah? If you haven't, you
should watch it. It is a wonderful musical. And
Tevye says this. He's a poor milkman. Jewish
man. And he says, I know, I know. If you want
to see Darren really dance, you just put on Fiddler
on the Roof. If I were a rich man and he'll really
start dancing. Tevye says, I know, I know. We
are your chosen people. But once in a while,
can't you choose someone else? Has anybody ever
felt that way? Come on, God. If we're really
honest, can't you choose someone else? Would
it be so bad if I were a little richer? How often,
though, do we despise our race? We despise the
race that we're on. And it's in that moment that
we choose, we have the choice of running our
race. Of enduring in our race. And there's not
one of us that can run this race in our own strength
and ability. There's only one way that we have
the power to run this race. And it's in verse
2. Looking unto Jesus, who is the author of your
race. And the finisher of your race. Who set
the example for us on his own race. Who for the
joy set before him. That's you and I. You were
the joy set before Jesus. That enabled him to
run his own race of enduring the cross. And so
we look to Jesus as we're running our race, who
is our author, who is our finisher. And here's
where we get into trouble when we think we are
the ones that are the authors of our race. We
get into trouble when we think we're the finishers.
We get in trouble when we think we're the ones
that get to set the course. No, Jesus. Jesus
is in charge of our race. And so we look to him
as the author and the finisher. He endured the
cross. He despised the shame of it and has sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God.
He finished well. He crossed his finish line
well. And you know that this word here, as the
author of our faith, really means the captain.
That's what that word means, captain. Any of
you ever a team captain on your sports teams?
Every team usually has a captain. We are not
our own captains. Your best friend is not your
captain. Social media is not your captain. You
have one captain, Jesus. And so how do we run
a race? By looking to our captain. Looking to
our captain. Who died as a man. When Jesus endured
the cross, he did it as a man. He did it as...
you and I would have done it. And so how did
Jesus, in his humanness, how did he endure and
run the race for the joy set before him? And
so when I think about our races, I think about
the joy that is set before us. That we are running
after our prize. who is Jesus. There will come
the day when we are face to face with him, when
we have completed our race. And in that moment,
everything will fade. The struggles we had here
on earth will be some distant memory in light
of knowing him in fullness. There is no better
prize. And when we have that prize before us,
it's like, I was never a ballerina, but I know
enough to know that when they are spinning around,
what do they do? They fix their eyes on an object,
and it keeps them centered, right? And so...
Here's where I think we start spinning out of
control. We start all of the things in life,
our family, our jobs, our finances, all of the
chaos of life has us spinning. And we begin to
spin out of control when we've lost our fixed
gaze. When we've lost the object that keeps us
centered and spinning is when things spin out
of control. We've got to lock ourselves. We've
got to lock our eyes on Jesus, our prize, the
one that we are running the race towards. When
we cross the finish line, he's waiting. He's
just waiting. He's at the end saying, come on.
Come on, don't give up. Come on, you're almost
there. Come on, I'm waiting for you. Come on,
let's do this. Come on, keep going. Come on,
I'm worth it. Come on, I'm worth it. My joy being
with me is worth it. Come on. We've lost it.
We've lost, we've taken our eyes off of the prize.
We read it back in Hebrews 10 a couple of weeks
ago. Verse 35, do not cast away your confidence
which has great reward for you have need of endurance
so that after you have done the will of God you
may receive the promise. Listen, he's not going
to snatch the promise away. He's going to give
you his promise. For yet a little while, and
he who is coming will come and will not tarry.
We got to keep our eyes on the prize, my friends.
We talked about the great cloud of witnesses
that are cheering us, right? They've gone before.
However, there is one who is above every other
who has gone before. There is one who is above
every other, and he's already gone before. Consider
him who endured. He's not calling you to do anything
that he has not done himself. Consider him who
endured such hostility. from sinners against
himself, lest you become weary and discouraged.
I would say this, running a race is tiring. Running
a race is exhausting. And there are seasons of
weariness and discouragement that probably if
you just got back to taking Sabbath rest, That
that would cure. However, there is a weariness
and a discouragement that arises out of something
much deeper than can be solved by just taking
rest. And that is we've gotten our eyes off of
Jesus. The moment we cease to look upon him,
the moment we cease to consider him, is the moment
we open ourselves to weariness and discouragement.
It's the fruit of losing sight of Jesus. And
so today I want to call us back. I want to call
us to come back. to the place of being centered
in Christ, to keeping our eyes fixed upon him.
I love the passage in 1 Kings 19. Elijah had
done all of this amazing stuff, right? He had
called down fire against the prophets of Baal,
done amazing things. We've talked about him quite
a bit, because to me, he's kind of a hero. So
after all of his great encounters in verse 4
of chapter 1 Kings 19, he says, but he himself
went a day's journey into the wilderness. And
what it is, is he came and sat under a tree.
And he prayed that he would die. Can you imagine?
All the great spiritual victories. And now we
find him, after being chased by Jezebel, Wanting
his life to be ended. God, it's enough. Take
my life. This is the level of weariness and discouragement
in which we find him. I just want to die. He
wanted his race to end. He was saying, it's time,
Lord. I want the finish line now. I'm tired of
running this race. I'm done. And he fell asleep
and an angel came along and touched him. And
said to him, what? Go and pray some more? Go
and fast some more? No, he said, arise and eat.
And he looked and there provided by heaven was
a cake. Baked on coals and a jar of water. And
it says, so he ate and drank and lay down again.
And the angel of the Lord came back a second
time and touched him. And said, arise and eat.
For the journey is too great for you. So he arose
and he ate and drank and went in the strength
of that food. He was traveling for 40 days and
40 nights to the mountain of God. Listen. He
was partaking and eating of food that could not
be provided by any man. It came from heaven.
And it was this. food that sustained him to continue
his race. Listen, he went on to anoint a couple
of more kings. He went on to raise up the prophet
Elisha that would replace him. What if he had
died? What if he had taken matters in his own
hands and said, I'm done. I'm done on this race.
Two kings. And a prophet. Because of his life.
Two kings and a prophet. Because he finished
his race. He partook of the food. Listen. There's
one source of strength. And in a few moments
here, we're going to finish with communion. Because
it's not enough to run this race in our own strength.
We have to partake. of the bread of life. We
have to partake of the living water. And if you're
finding yourself discouraged, if you're finding
yourself weary, I would just offer this solution.
Consider him who endured. Look to Jesus. Partake
of the bread of life that he has offered in his
body. Partake of the living waters that he gives
to us of salvation. Maybe, just maybe, need a
a fresh drink and a fresh substance of him. And
so this morning I'm going to ask if the worship
team will come and our ushers prepare for communion.
This is simple, but this is so important. Because
you have an enemy that would seek to discourage
you. You have an enemy that would seek to wear
you down and take you out of your race. And you
just don't know what the future holds. Like Elijah,
he had a couple of kings and a prophet to take
care of business with. You just don't know. what
God has on your race ahead of you. You don't
know. We can't see it always. You can't see beyond
that hill, that mountain you've got to climb.
That's faith, right? That's the place of faith.
But you have an enemy that wants to get you off
of your race. He's trying to take you out. He
does not want you finishing your race. And he
will do everything he can to go against you,
to say, I'm done. I quit. This is too hard. If
you want to just be a Sunday Christian, show
up and you did your business and now you're going
to go live however you want, that's fine. He'll
leave you alone. But if you want to fulfill the
race that he has set for you, You've got an enemy
that's going to come against you, to take you
out. Don't worry about him. Don't get your eyes
on him. You just say, my eyes are fixed. My eyes
are fixed on Jesus. I'm considering him who endured.
I'm looking to the author and the finisher. Can't
let our eyes wander. We can get so easily distracted.
I get so annoyed at restaurants by televisions
that are up. I'm like, why do you have to have
televisions up? I always try to seat myself so
Darren can't see the television because I want
sole attention on me, right? It's so easy for
our eyes to wander. to be distracted. And we
begin to look at other things and we begin to
look at other people. We begin to think that
other people have a better race than what we
have. We begin to think, well, how come they're
running so well? Why is their race seems so easy?
They don't have all the obstacles. They don't
have all the stuff in their path that I have.
Our eyes have wandered. We got to get our eyes
fixed back on Jesus. We're not the authors, Jesus
is. And so in this moment of communion, as you
take the communion, I want you to do an exchange.
I want you, first of all, if you have sin that
has been easily entangling you, listen, this
is the table of the Lord. This is the place of
victory. As you take... the blood, the cup, and
the bread. I want you in exchange to let go of
the sin. I want you to let go of the weights
that you've been giving yourself to. As you take
up the elements, I want you to look at it, and
I want you to get your wandering gaze back on
Jesus today, fixing your eyes on him. And so
in a moment, the team is going to lead us. But
I just want us, the ushers can begin to distribute
the elements. And I want us just for a moment,
I don't want us to worship yet. As you receive
the elements from them, I want you to do an exchange
in your heart. And I want you to refix your gaze.