WEBVTT 00:00:03.769 --> 00:00:07.389 Howdy You know, we're getting ready for another 00:00:07.389 --> 00:00:10.169 school year and we're about to start another 00:00:10.169 --> 00:00:13.949 confirmation class You know, I get really excited. 00:00:13.949 --> 00:00:17.050 You know, we're about to have some of the families 00:00:17.050 --> 00:00:19.289 the parents we're gonna go up and talk about 00:00:19.289 --> 00:00:21.670 the schedule for the year and some of the fun 00:00:21.670 --> 00:00:23.969 events and different things going on and we've 00:00:23.969 --> 00:00:26.789 got meat and treat and we've got pancake breakfast 00:00:26.789 --> 00:00:29.739 and all sorts of things but You know, as I think 00:00:29.739 --> 00:00:33.039 about what we're doing with confirmation class 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:35.219 and all the different things that we're learning, 00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:38.920 I think about how we're bringing young people 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:43.140 up to know more clearly about their faith and 00:00:43.140 --> 00:00:47.240 to encourage them to confirm their desire to 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:50.200 follow Jesus. And that's a great thing. Each 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:53.700 time when they come up and they speak and they 00:00:53.700 --> 00:00:57.420 talk about their faith before God in this congregation, 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:02.939 You know, I admit I'm filled with joy, but I'm 00:01:02.939 --> 00:01:06.659 also filled a little bit with nervousness. See, 00:01:06.659 --> 00:01:09.760 I'm filled with joy because I see young people 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:13.280 who are stepping into the race of faith. You 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:16.700 know, they make promises to run with Christ no 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:20.400 matter where the road may lead, but I'm also 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:24.739 nervous because I know that the part of the race 00:01:24.739 --> 00:01:28.709 that they've run up to that point, It's been 00:01:28.709 --> 00:01:32.430 familiar, surrounded by family, supported by 00:01:32.430 --> 00:01:35.829 church, encouraged by friends. It hasn't been 00:01:35.829 --> 00:01:40.189 nearly as difficult as it's going to be. See, 00:01:40.609 --> 00:01:42.950 anyone who has followed Christ for more than 00:01:42.950 --> 00:01:47.730 a little while knows that the course isn't flat. 00:01:48.269 --> 00:01:51.450 There are hills that are up ahead. Hills that 00:01:51.450 --> 00:01:54.349 will test their endurance, their loyalty, their 00:01:54.349 --> 00:01:57.459 courage. Because following Christ as a young 00:01:57.459 --> 00:02:00.900 person, it's not always easy. They're expected 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:03.400 to navigate when their friends start drinking 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:07.599 too early. To navigate how to work with others 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:10.979 in a cutthroat world while acting like Christ. 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.759 And even to actually talk to people on the phone 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:18.060 instead of just texting them. Which is scary, 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:21.580 apparently. They call it telephobia, I believe. 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:27.229 It's a thing. We see glimpses of the hills when 00:02:27.229 --> 00:02:30.389 teenagers have to stand for their faith in a 00:02:30.389 --> 00:02:33.050 classroom or when they wrestle with doubts in 00:02:33.050 --> 00:02:36.370 a culture that often doesn't share what they 00:02:36.370 --> 00:02:39.629 believe and then We don't even know for sure 00:02:39.629 --> 00:02:42.789 that we'll even see them past ninth and tenth 00:02:42.789 --> 00:02:47.069 grade We also know that there are even more challenges 00:02:47.069 --> 00:02:49.729 ahead as they step not only into high school, 00:02:49.770 --> 00:02:53.090 but also into adulthood into jobs and families 00:02:53.090 --> 00:02:56.090 of their own. The race will be taking them to 00:02:56.090 --> 00:03:00.409 places that they cannot yet see. And I see them 00:03:00.409 --> 00:03:03.129 standing up here and speaking of their faith. 00:03:04.569 --> 00:03:08.210 But those hills have yet to truly test them. 00:03:08.729 --> 00:03:11.330 And here's the truth. They're not the first ones 00:03:11.330 --> 00:03:15.409 to run this kind of race. Hebrews 11 and 12 tell 00:03:15.409 --> 00:03:18.389 us about those who have gone before. Men and 00:03:18.389 --> 00:03:21.840 women who have faced all kinds of hills. Each 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:26.900 one shaped by conflict. Conflict with other people 00:03:26.900 --> 00:03:32.639 who oppose their paths. Conflict with sin within 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:36.280 themselves. And even conflict with the shame 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:41.520 that the world tries to inflict upon them. These 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:44.080 runners in the faith who have gone before us, 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:48.259 they're not just runners. They're witnesses cheering 00:03:48.259 --> 00:03:51.650 us on from the stands. encouraging us to look 00:03:51.650 --> 00:03:55.610 at their faith and to take courage. If we look 00:03:55.610 --> 00:03:59.129 closely, we can see the course that they ran, 00:03:59.830 --> 00:04:04.449 and we can see those like Abraham, Moses, and 00:04:04.449 --> 00:04:07.810 Christ himself, along with the whole cloud of 00:04:07.810 --> 00:04:11.710 witnesses who have pushed forward to conquer 00:04:11.710 --> 00:04:16.370 the world and to seek out what God has in store 00:04:16.370 --> 00:04:20.620 for them. See, because running the race of faith. 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:24.339 It's different from running with our bodies. 00:04:25.180 --> 00:04:28.399 See, running, normally, we may be able to split 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:32.699 people up in the world into two categories. When 00:04:32.699 --> 00:04:35.139 we think about running, we think about those 00:04:35.139 --> 00:04:38.199 who get up every morning with the joy of feeling 00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:41.680 the road beneath their feet as they make each 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:45.160 stride. And then we think of those of us who 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:49.620 are normal. But when it comes to the life of 00:04:49.620 --> 00:04:52.680 faith, that is a race that we are all called 00:04:52.680 --> 00:04:59.480 to tackle and endure together. There's a hill 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:02.279 that we think of when we think of the conflict 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:05.379 that we have with other people. See, there's 00:05:05.379 --> 00:05:08.920 a story of Abraham and Isaac, and it's a strange 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:12.740 one when we hear about how Abraham was expected 00:05:12.740 --> 00:05:16.860 to kill his firstborn son. It's kind of strange, 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:20.139 isn't it? We oftentimes think about people saying, 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:24.360 Abraham, that's terrible. You can't do that. 00:05:24.740 --> 00:05:29.420 And yet, they allowed this man over a hundred 00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:34.019 years old to walk up this mountain with his son, 00:05:34.540 --> 00:05:37.100 who is old enough to know what's probably going 00:05:37.100 --> 00:05:42.100 on, and to get ready to do so. Doesn't that seem 00:05:42.100 --> 00:05:46.149 a bit strange? that that almost becomes normal. 00:05:46.649 --> 00:05:50.069 Because in Abraham's world, human sacrifice, 00:05:50.170 --> 00:05:55.110 even child sacrifice, was tragically common to 00:05:55.110 --> 00:05:58.290 convince the gods to give you prosperity and 00:05:58.290 --> 00:06:00.490 abundance. See, many people would have actually 00:06:00.490 --> 00:06:06.550 seen it as normal or even noble to do it. And 00:06:06.550 --> 00:06:09.870 even with Isaac likely being older, it wouldn't 00:06:09.870 --> 00:06:13.199 have been any less tragic. You see, the real 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:18.939 conflict actually came because Abraham didn't 00:06:18.939 --> 00:06:24.399 go through with it. Abraham's story was different 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:28.439 than what others might have expected. See, Abraham 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:31.839 believed that God's promises of having a future 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:34.660 and a family for generations to come, he believed 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:37.939 it was so certain that even if Isaac had died, 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:42.839 he knew God could raise him again. He was willing 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:45.420 to obey. He was willing to sacrifice. He was 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:49.040 willing, even without knowing how God would provide. 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:54.740 But when God provided the ram, Abraham stopped. 00:06:55.779 --> 00:06:59.180 He didn't force his way forward to prove his 00:06:59.180 --> 00:07:02.480 devotion. He didn't force the way forward like 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:07.360 others in his own family may have done. He embraced 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:12.220 God's mercy and accepted the substitute. Could 00:07:12.220 --> 00:07:14.399 you now imagine what it would have been like 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:18.959 to come back and his son was still with him? 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:23.279 All of those who were expecting that the way 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:27.920 to please the gods would have been to go through 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:30.420 with it. Abraham, you didn't follow through. 00:07:30.699 --> 00:07:33.319 Abraham, you've gone soft. You didn't give the 00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:36.519 Elohim your best. And now, how are we going to 00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:39.720 guarantee that we will not suffer for it? To 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:43.939 many people, blessings always require destroying 00:07:43.939 --> 00:07:48.319 human life to provide for your community. To 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:53.779 Abraham, though, obedience was about trust. Trusting 00:07:53.779 --> 00:07:56.480 in God's grace, trusting in God's mercy, and 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:59.439 trusting that God's way is better than the way 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:03.220 that everyone else approves of or may understand. 00:08:03.790 --> 00:08:06.529 And that's a hill that we still have to climb. 00:08:07.029 --> 00:08:09.889 Sometimes people oppose us because we refuse 00:08:09.889 --> 00:08:13.550 to follow what's normal in the world's eyes. 00:08:13.810 --> 00:08:16.850 Sometimes we're urged to do things that may look 00:08:16.850 --> 00:08:19.709 faithful or strong, but actually go against the 00:08:19.709 --> 00:08:24.269 heart of God. Sometimes we lose those who are 00:08:24.269 --> 00:08:28.430 closest to us, or even those that we wish were 00:08:28.430 --> 00:08:32.690 closest to us. And that's where it gets uncomfortable. 00:08:34.009 --> 00:08:36.850 Sometimes we're the ones on the other side of 00:08:36.850 --> 00:08:40.929 that. On the other side from family, on the other 00:08:40.929 --> 00:08:44.429 side from friends. But sometimes we're the ones 00:08:44.429 --> 00:08:48.029 who are actually encouraging someone else toward 00:08:48.029 --> 00:08:51.250 a path that God is trying to pull them off of. 00:08:52.289 --> 00:08:54.370 Sometimes we're the ones leading them astray. 00:08:55.390 --> 00:08:58.470 Following Christ means being willing to stop, 00:08:58.690 --> 00:09:01.990 turn, and choose mercy over the momentum of the 00:09:01.990 --> 00:09:05.230 crowd. Sometimes the three are following Christ 00:09:05.230 --> 00:09:09.809 and the two are not, but sometimes it's the majority 00:09:09.809 --> 00:09:15.870 that betray the heart of God. And sometimes it's 00:09:15.870 --> 00:09:20.250 all of us. When we first begin to run, it can 00:09:20.250 --> 00:09:22.809 be hard to push through to that runner's high. 00:09:23.680 --> 00:09:27.740 even getting over the first hill. But Abraham 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:31.019 shows us that the first hill in the race of life 00:09:31.019 --> 00:09:35.299 is learning to trust God's direction, even when 00:09:35.299 --> 00:09:37.899 everyone else thinks you should keep going your 00:09:37.899 --> 00:09:42.659 own way, or even theirs. But you know, there's 00:09:42.659 --> 00:09:45.860 a second hill that we're looking at. Sometimes 00:09:45.860 --> 00:09:49.500 we're looking at the conflict that may be happening 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:54.149 within ourselves. You see, Moses knew what it 00:09:54.149 --> 00:09:57.590 was like to climb that first hill. In Egypt, 00:09:58.049 --> 00:10:00.710 he could have lived in luxury, surrounded by 00:10:00.710 --> 00:10:03.289 power with all the approval that the world could 00:10:03.289 --> 00:10:06.009 offer because he had been adopted into Pharaoh's 00:10:06.009 --> 00:10:11.070 court. But Hebrews 11 says he chose to leave 00:10:11.070 --> 00:10:14.730 the luxury and to be mistreated with God's people 00:10:14.730 --> 00:10:18.169 rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 00:10:18.250 --> 00:10:22.379 In other words, He conquered the hill Abraham 00:10:22.379 --> 00:10:26.059 faced, the hill of walking away from the crowd's 00:10:26.059 --> 00:10:29.639 approval to follow God's call. He and the children 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:32.899 of Israel went up to the Red Sea, trusting that 00:10:32.899 --> 00:10:35.600 God would provide even as he parted the sea, 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:38.740 and then drowned the Egyptians who attempted 00:10:38.740 --> 00:10:41.460 to drag them back to the world that they'd left 00:10:41.460 --> 00:10:45.080 behind. Walking away from the expectations of 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:49.139 others was not the struggle for Moses as he led 00:10:49.139 --> 00:10:53.159 Israel. But when Moses crested that first hill, 00:10:54.220 --> 00:10:56.279 he discovered another one rising in front of 00:10:56.279 --> 00:10:59.259 him. And this time, the battle wasn't out there, 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:03.799 it was in here. See, Moses wrestled with fear, 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:10.159 insecurity, anger. At the burning bush, his fear 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:14.000 told him, you're not good enough. You can't speak 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:17.399 well. God should send someone else, maybe even 00:11:17.399 --> 00:11:20.600 your brother. Your parents didn't really love 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:22.940 you. They kept your other siblings. They sent 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:26.899 you down a river in a basket. Clearly, you're 00:11:26.899 --> 00:11:31.519 not good enough. Later, when the people complained 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:36.000 and he felt so disrespected, his anger boiled 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:39.120 over and he struck the rock instead of just talking 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:42.379 to it the way God had commanded. He knew what 00:11:42.379 --> 00:11:45.840 God wanted, but in the heat of that moment, another 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:49.779 voice inside said, do it your way. You know this 00:11:49.779 --> 00:11:54.320 worked before, so do it again. See, this is the 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:57.840 hill of the inner war. When the voices inside 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:00.360 of us battle for control, and we have to decide 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:04.399 which ones to listen to, sometimes we hear three 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:07.419 voices giving encouragement, and two are trying 00:12:07.419 --> 00:12:11.590 to drag us down. And hopefully, We are positive 00:12:11.590 --> 00:12:16.330 that day, but sometimes the deciding voice is 00:12:16.330 --> 00:12:18.490 the one who says we're not good enough instead. 00:12:19.269 --> 00:12:21.889 Paul describes it in Romans 7, for I do not do 00:12:21.889 --> 00:12:24.909 the good I want, but the evil I do not want is 00:12:24.909 --> 00:12:28.389 what I keep on doing. And it's a hill that we 00:12:28.389 --> 00:12:31.809 all know. We may have walked away from the crowd's 00:12:31.809 --> 00:12:34.269 expectations, like Moses did with Egypt, but 00:12:34.269 --> 00:12:37.710 we still find the harder fight within ourselves. 00:12:38.870 --> 00:12:42.409 Pride, fear, bitterness, impatience, self -reliance, 00:12:42.690 --> 00:12:45.429 the battle between the Spirit calling us forward 00:12:45.429 --> 00:12:49.690 and the flesh pulling us back. We feel strong 00:12:49.690 --> 00:12:52.090 and bold and we're willing to let go of the world, 00:12:52.110 --> 00:12:55.870 but as we do so we see our own flaws, our own 00:12:55.870 --> 00:12:58.110 faults. We stop believing that we're the ones 00:12:58.110 --> 00:13:01.610 called to serve or that God could possibly use 00:13:01.610 --> 00:13:06.450 someone as fallen as us. Even when the majority 00:13:06.450 --> 00:13:09.429 of the voices inside us cry out that God is in 00:13:09.429 --> 00:13:13.929 control, we may feed those other voices, the 00:13:13.929 --> 00:13:17.210 ones that tear us down until they become dominant, 00:13:17.970 --> 00:13:21.870 until their hunger threatens to consume us. We 00:13:21.870 --> 00:13:24.409 know our own impatience, the risk of a temper 00:13:24.409 --> 00:13:27.090 flaring up within, and we believe that everyone 00:13:27.090 --> 00:13:31.769 must see it as well and expect the worst. There 00:13:31.769 --> 00:13:34.409 are times when we feel the aches and pains as 00:13:34.409 --> 00:13:37.730 we run and we stop believing that we can make 00:13:37.730 --> 00:13:41.889 it to the end. But this hill teaches us that 00:13:41.889 --> 00:13:45.210 while the hardest opponent may be the one within, 00:13:45.289 --> 00:13:48.889 we need to listen to the witnesses cheering us 00:13:48.889 --> 00:13:52.090 on from the sides and reminding us that we can 00:13:52.090 --> 00:13:56.990 do this. Because that may be the third hill. 00:13:57.850 --> 00:14:01.779 That sometimes the conflict of shame Comes from 00:14:01.779 --> 00:14:05.799 a world that will not make it easy for us and 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:10.460 that seems to never end See maybe we've learned 00:14:10.460 --> 00:14:13.899 to stand against those who oppose our path like 00:14:13.899 --> 00:14:18.039 Abraham or maybe we face the inner battle With 00:14:18.039 --> 00:14:20.799 sin and discovered that weakness weakness doesn't 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:24.779 have to win Because Christ's strength is made 00:14:24.779 --> 00:14:29.779 perfect in our weakness like Moses learned But 00:14:29.779 --> 00:14:33.220 even conquering those hills, sometimes the road 00:14:33.220 --> 00:14:39.759 is just too long. See, Hebrews 11 doesn't sugarcoat 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:44.720 it. Some were mocked, flogged, imprisoned, stoned, 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:48.100 destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:52.960 world was not worthy. And when we read Acts and 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:56.220 church history, we meet names that bring that 00:14:56.220 --> 00:14:59.120 reality into focus. Stephen, the first martyr, 00:14:59.259 --> 00:15:02.340 was stoned while praying for his attackers. He 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:06.960 was mocked even in the act of death. Peter, imprisoned 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:10.279 multiple times, eventually was crucified upside 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:14.240 down, a death meant to be humiliating and terrifying. 00:15:15.100 --> 00:15:18.779 Paul, beaten, flogged, shipwrecked, ridiculed, 00:15:18.940 --> 00:15:22.779 thrown into chains, enduring hardship again and 00:15:22.779 --> 00:15:27.129 again for the sake of the gospel. Even these 00:15:27.129 --> 00:15:29.769 witnesses, even these heroes, they remind us 00:15:29.769 --> 00:15:33.710 that the final hill is not just about the external 00:15:33.710 --> 00:15:38.389 enemies or the inner battles. Sometimes the race 00:15:38.389 --> 00:15:41.429 of faith feels less like running through a cheering 00:15:41.429 --> 00:15:44.330 section and more like running through a gauntlet. 00:15:44.950 --> 00:15:47.649 Instead of witnesses urging us forward, we feel 00:15:47.649 --> 00:15:51.230 people pushing us back, sneering at us, trying 00:15:51.230 --> 00:15:53.870 to convince us that finishing isn't worth it. 00:15:54.090 --> 00:15:57.289 Instead of a cloud that welcomes us, it's the 00:15:57.289 --> 00:16:01.789 strong wind of rejection, time and time again. 00:16:03.029 --> 00:16:06.210 And that's where Jesus comes in. See, Hebrews 00:16:06.210 --> 00:16:11.049 12 reminds us that He endured the cross, scorning 00:16:11.049 --> 00:16:14.070 its shame. He didn't just survive the suffering, 00:16:14.129 --> 00:16:17.850 He conquered it. He ran the course before us. 00:16:18.070 --> 00:16:21.610 He broke through the wind. He cut through every 00:16:21.610 --> 00:16:25.230 obstacle. He made a way where the path seemed 00:16:25.230 --> 00:16:30.110 impossible. He didn't just survive it. He stripped 00:16:30.110 --> 00:16:34.070 it of its power. He took the ugliest, most humiliating 00:16:34.070 --> 00:16:35.970 death the world could throw at him and turned 00:16:35.970 --> 00:16:40.690 it into the doorway of life. But here's the good 00:16:40.690 --> 00:16:45.179 news. is that Jesus didn't just give us a pep 00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:50.360 talk from the sidelines. You can do it. Go for 00:16:50.360 --> 00:16:54.320 it. I'll stand over here and watch. He ran the 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:58.320 course himself. He took every hill. He climbed 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:02.679 the steepest one, the Hill of Shame. And at the 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:05.259 top, he broke through the headwinds. He tore 00:17:05.259 --> 00:17:07.240 open the barriers. He cut through the hostility 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:09.980 and he cleared a path. Could you picture it? 00:17:11.390 --> 00:17:15.809 The steep hill up ahead, the air thick with opposition, 00:17:15.990 --> 00:17:19.650 the wind trying to push you backward. Jesus is 00:17:19.650 --> 00:17:21.849 already there pushing through every hardship. 00:17:23.049 --> 00:17:25.309 Clearing the way, calling us forward, and on 00:17:25.309 --> 00:17:28.210 the sides of the hill, the cloud of witnesses, 00:17:29.049 --> 00:17:33.890 all of those who ran before us, run not just 00:17:33.890 --> 00:17:37.170 to be jeering, they are cheering. Not making 00:17:37.170 --> 00:17:41.160 it easier. but reminding us that this path has 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:45.019 been run before. They've seen what's on the other 00:17:45.019 --> 00:17:48.859 side and they've made it. Because at the summit, 00:17:50.180 --> 00:17:54.579 Jesus is holding out the baton to us. He's not 00:17:54.579 --> 00:17:57.400 just encouraging us from the sidelines. He ran 00:17:57.400 --> 00:18:00.940 the race. He conquered the hills. And now He's 00:18:00.940 --> 00:18:06.450 calling us to take the next leg. This is the 00:18:06.450 --> 00:18:09.109 moment when the endurance of those who went before 00:18:09.109 --> 00:18:13.829 becomes a bridge for us The path ahead becomes 00:18:13.829 --> 00:18:17.309 ours to run and we see them as our encouragement 00:18:17.309 --> 00:18:24.269 now But that's the thing is your own leg of the 00:18:24.269 --> 00:18:29.049 race It's not alone. See we're not spectators 00:18:29.049 --> 00:18:32.569 We're reminded that we're the ones to run it 00:18:32.569 --> 00:18:36.670 now We may be sitting here in our seats, listening 00:18:36.670 --> 00:18:39.589 and thinking how wonderful it is what all those 00:18:39.589 --> 00:18:43.269 other people did, and then ready to go back into 00:18:43.269 --> 00:18:47.109 our lives and watch the race from the side. But 00:18:47.109 --> 00:18:51.609 the baton is in your hand. The hills are ahead. 00:18:51.750 --> 00:18:54.329 The cloud of witnesses is surrounding you, cheering 00:18:54.329 --> 00:18:58.009 you on. And even when you see Jesus leading you 00:18:58.009 --> 00:19:02.140 along a new path, blazing a trail that... Maybe 00:19:02.140 --> 00:19:04.859 you're wondering if anyone's ever done it before. 00:19:05.700 --> 00:19:09.839 We remember that Jesus is with us and that others 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:14.519 still believe in you. So which hill are you facing 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:18.380 today? Are you facing the hill of opposition 00:19:18.380 --> 00:19:22.119 from other people like Abraham? Maybe it's a 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:25.279 difficult conversation with a co -worker, a friend, 00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:28.259 a family member who does not understand why you're 00:19:28.259 --> 00:19:30.700 making certain choices in your life that you 00:19:30.700 --> 00:19:35.660 know are right. Or maybe it's the hill of inner 00:19:35.660 --> 00:19:39.460 conflict like Moses. Maybe a daily struggle to 00:19:39.460 --> 00:19:42.720 be patient instead of letting anger or fear dictate 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:46.380 your decisions. Or maybe choosing humility when 00:19:46.380 --> 00:19:50.259 pride wants to take over. Or maybe you're facing 00:19:50.259 --> 00:19:54.220 a hill of shame and scorn like Stephen, Peter, 00:19:54.380 --> 00:19:58.940 Paul, and even Jesus himself. Maybe it's the 00:19:58.940 --> 00:20:01.480 embarrassment or ridicule you feel for living 00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:04.059 out your faith in a culture that doesn't share 00:20:04.059 --> 00:20:07.460 your values. The sideways glances, the snide 00:20:07.460 --> 00:20:11.099 comments, or even the internal shame that whispers 00:20:11.099 --> 00:20:16.880 to you, you're failing. But no matter what, we're 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:21.200 called to run it faithfully. To lean on God's 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:23.910 strength because the hill may feel steep, The 00:20:23.910 --> 00:20:26.990 road may be long, but every step matters. And 00:20:26.990 --> 00:20:30.490 remember, there are others who are counting on 00:20:30.490 --> 00:20:37.049 you. That next confirmation class needs to grow 00:20:37.049 --> 00:20:40.390 into the faith that we are setting before them. 00:20:41.250 --> 00:20:45.410 What do they see when they see us? Because as 00:20:45.410 --> 00:20:48.730 we run as the body of Christ, we're helping others 00:20:48.730 --> 00:20:53.549 to run it as well. So when you endure, your perseverance 00:20:53.549 --> 00:20:57.329 becomes part of that cloud. And your faith encourages 00:20:57.329 --> 00:21:00.390 the next runner, just as those who ran before 00:21:00.390 --> 00:21:05.430 you encouraged you. So take heart. Take courage. 00:21:05.829 --> 00:21:10.210 Take the baton. Because the race is already on. 00:21:11.049 --> 00:21:15.349 And we are not running alone. So let's run it 00:21:15.349 --> 00:21:19.369 with joy together. Thanks be to God.