WEBVTT 00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:07.400 Howdy! You know, we're getting ready for another 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:10.859 academic year. And we're about to start up our 00:00:10.859 --> 00:00:14.140 next confirmation class. You know, we've got 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:18.719 next Sunday, Rally Day, during the 930 Rally 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:21.280 Day event. We're going to have the youth and 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:23.339 confirmation families start up in the youth room 00:00:23.339 --> 00:00:26.309 at 930. then we'll come down to the gym to join 00:00:26.309 --> 00:00:28.750 the rest of you as we learn about the different 00:00:28.750 --> 00:00:30.910 ministries that are happening here at Christ's 00:00:30.910 --> 00:00:34.530 Memorial Lutheran. But after we talk about some 00:00:34.530 --> 00:00:37.109 of the expectations and look over the schedule 00:00:37.109 --> 00:00:38.869 and some of the fun events that we have going 00:00:38.869 --> 00:00:42.009 on, and then get a chance to see how we're part 00:00:42.009 --> 00:00:46.090 of the larger church. Now, I think it's great 00:00:46.090 --> 00:00:49.270 to think about bringing up young people to learn 00:00:49.270 --> 00:00:52.490 more clearly about their faith and to encourage 00:00:52.490 --> 00:00:56.109 them. to confirm their desire to follow Jesus. 00:00:56.850 --> 00:01:00.049 Every time when our confirmation students stand 00:01:00.049 --> 00:01:02.909 up here and confess their faith before God in 00:01:02.909 --> 00:01:05.930 the congregation though, I admit that I'm filled 00:01:05.930 --> 00:01:10.349 with both joy and a little bit of nervousness. 00:01:10.709 --> 00:01:13.010 And not just because I'm always worried if they 00:01:13.010 --> 00:01:15.549 might decide to make a random joke I'm not expecting. 00:01:16.890 --> 00:01:21.909 You see, joy I feel because I see young people 00:01:21.909 --> 00:01:25.719 stepping into the race of faith, making promises 00:01:25.719 --> 00:01:29.200 to run with Christ no matter where the road leads. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:33.180 But nervousness, because I know that the part 00:01:33.180 --> 00:01:37.560 of the race they've run so far has been in many 00:01:37.560 --> 00:01:42.060 ways familiar ground, surrounded by family, supported 00:01:42.060 --> 00:01:45.480 by church, encouraged by their friends. See, 00:01:45.620 --> 00:01:47.920 anyone who has followed Christ for more than 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:51.939 a little while knows that the course is not flat. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:56.219 See, there are going to be hills ahead. Hills 00:01:56.219 --> 00:02:01.019 that test their endurance, their loyalty, their 00:02:01.019 --> 00:02:04.260 courage. See, following Christ as a young person, 00:02:04.819 --> 00:02:08.900 it's not always easy. They're expected to navigate 00:02:08.900 --> 00:02:11.180 when their friends start drinking too early, 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:14.800 when they navigate working with others in a cutthroat 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:19.129 world while acting like Christ. and actually 00:02:19.129 --> 00:02:21.830 talking to people on the phone instead of just 00:02:21.830 --> 00:02:26.949 texting them. Scary, I know. It's called telephobia, 00:02:27.090 --> 00:02:31.889 and apparently, it's a thing. But we see glimpses 00:02:31.889 --> 00:02:35.530 of the hills that we face when a teenager has 00:02:35.530 --> 00:02:38.289 to stand for their faith in a classroom, or when 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:41.150 they wrestle with doubts in a culture that often 00:02:41.150 --> 00:02:44.009 doesn't share what they believe. But we also 00:02:44.009 --> 00:02:46.389 know that there are more challenges ahead as 00:02:46.389 --> 00:02:49.699 they step into high school. adulthood, jobs, 00:02:49.819 --> 00:02:52.599 and families of their own, the race will take 00:02:52.599 --> 00:02:56.000 them places they cannot yet see. And yet, how 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:58.120 often are we struggling, even when they're in 00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:01.539 high school and beyond, to even have them here 00:03:01.539 --> 00:03:05.000 with us in this place? And here's the truth, 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:08.520 they're not the first to run this kind of race. 00:03:09.460 --> 00:03:12.340 Hebrews 11 and 12 tell us about those who have 00:03:12.340 --> 00:03:16.300 gone before. Men and women who faced all kinds, 00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:20.840 of hills, each one shaped by different conflicts 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:24.599 in their life. Maybe a conflict with other people 00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:28.580 who are opposed to their path. Maybe conflict 00:03:28.580 --> 00:03:31.500 with the sin that they feel and sense within 00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:35.659 themselves. Or maybe conflict because of shame 00:03:35.659 --> 00:03:38.879 that the world may try to inflict upon them. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:42.860 See, these runners in the faith who have gone 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:46.770 before us, they're not just runners though. There 00:03:46.770 --> 00:03:50.210 are also witnesses cheering us from the stands, 00:03:50.210 --> 00:03:53.729 encouraging us to look at their faith and to 00:03:53.729 --> 00:03:56.830 take courage. If we look closely, we can see 00:03:56.830 --> 00:04:00.229 the course they ran, and we can see those like 00:04:00.229 --> 00:04:04.710 Abraham, Moses, and Christ Himself, along with 00:04:04.710 --> 00:04:06.830 the whole cloud of witnesses who have pushed 00:04:06.830 --> 00:04:09.889 forward to conquer the world and to seek out 00:04:09.889 --> 00:04:13.729 what God has in store for them. Because running 00:04:13.729 --> 00:04:17.519 the race of faith It's very different from the 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:20.800 type of running that we may do with our bodies. 00:04:21.459 --> 00:04:23.759 You see, we may be able to split people up in 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:27.139 the world into two different categories. Those 00:04:27.139 --> 00:04:30.300 who get up every morning with the joy of feeling 00:04:30.300 --> 00:04:33.540 the road beneath their feet as they make each 00:04:33.540 --> 00:04:36.660 stride along the road. And those of us who are 00:04:36.660 --> 00:04:41.639 actually normal. But when it comes to the life 00:04:41.639 --> 00:04:45.220 of faith, That is a race that we are all called 00:04:45.220 --> 00:04:50.740 to tackle ourselves and endure. See, some of 00:04:50.740 --> 00:04:54.079 the stories like Abraham and Isaac, they strike 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:57.939 us strangely when we hear that Abraham was called 00:04:57.939 --> 00:05:02.160 to sacrifice his son Isaac. And we think about 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:05.620 this idea of killing his firstborn, and we might 00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:09.139 imagine people saying, Abraham, that's terrible. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:14.439 You can't do that. But then, we realize that 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:18.660 they were still standing back and watching him 00:05:18.660 --> 00:05:21.980 while he did. And even realizing that Isaac, 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:25.800 the firstborn, is still walking alongside him 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:30.439 the whole way. Because in Abraham's world, human 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:34.459 sacrifice, even of children, it was tragically 00:05:34.459 --> 00:05:37.620 common to convince the gods to give you prosperity 00:05:37.620 --> 00:05:40.660 and abundance. In order to make it through the 00:05:40.660 --> 00:05:43.800 world, many of them would have seen it as normal 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:50.579 or even noble, even with Isaac being older, it 00:05:50.579 --> 00:05:53.899 would not have been any less tragic. But the 00:05:53.899 --> 00:05:58.540 real conflict came, though, because Abraham didn't 00:05:58.540 --> 00:06:03.540 actually do it. See, Abraham believed God's promises. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:06.680 He believed that they were so certain that even 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:09.680 if Isaac had died, that God could have raised 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:13.699 him again. He was willing to obey. He was willing 00:06:13.699 --> 00:06:17.480 to sacrifice, even without knowing how God would 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:22.680 provide. But when God provided, the ram Abraham 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:26.439 stopped. See, the normal thing would have been 00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:30.439 to keep forcing his way forward to prove his 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:34.160 devotion to the gods, but instead, he saw what 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:37.439 the true God provided, and he embraced God's 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.930 mercy and accepted the substitute. But could 00:06:40.930 --> 00:06:43.089 you imagine what it would have been like to come 00:06:43.089 --> 00:06:46.610 back down to all the people who were expecting 00:06:46.610 --> 00:06:51.370 that his sacrifice of his firstborn would somehow 00:06:51.370 --> 00:06:55.009 provide for everyone? Could you imagine some 00:06:55.009 --> 00:06:57.009 of the things that might have been brought up? 00:06:57.329 --> 00:07:00.810 You didn't follow through with it, Abraham. Wow, 00:07:00.889 --> 00:07:04.519 Abraham, you must have gone soft. You didn't 00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:07.959 give the Elohim your best, and now there is no 00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:10.160 way to guarantee that we will not suffer for 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:16.560 it. You see, to many people, blessings always 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:20.300 require destroying other people to provide for 00:07:20.300 --> 00:07:24.120 your community. There are many people who believe 00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:27.439 that blessing requires destruction of others 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:32.019 to provide for yourselves. See, to Abraham though, 00:07:32.949 --> 00:07:36.449 Obedience was trust, trusting in God's grace, 00:07:37.029 --> 00:07:39.850 trusting in God's mercy, trusting that God's 00:07:39.850 --> 00:07:43.430 way is better than the way that everyone else 00:07:43.430 --> 00:07:47.250 may approve of or understand. That's the hill 00:07:47.250 --> 00:07:51.170 that we sometimes have to climb. Sometimes people 00:07:51.170 --> 00:07:54.670 oppose us because we refuse to follow what might 00:07:54.670 --> 00:07:57.870 be normal in the eyes of the world. Sometimes 00:07:57.870 --> 00:08:01.600 we're being urged to do things that may look 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:04.519 faithful or strong but actually go against the 00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:09.939 heart of God. Sometimes we lose those who are 00:08:09.939 --> 00:08:13.439 closest to us or even those that we wish were 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:17.339 closest to us. But that's also where it might 00:08:17.339 --> 00:08:21.019 become uncomfortable because sometimes we're 00:08:21.019 --> 00:08:26.620 the ones who are on the wrong side of it. Sometimes 00:08:26.620 --> 00:08:29.930 we're the ones who are encouraging someone else 00:08:29.930 --> 00:08:33.230 toward a path that God wants to pull them off 00:08:33.230 --> 00:08:37.870 of. Following Christ means being willing to stop, 00:08:38.169 --> 00:08:41.809 to turn, to choose mercy over the momentum of 00:08:41.809 --> 00:08:44.370 the crowd. Sometimes the three are following 00:08:44.370 --> 00:08:47.309 Christ, while the two are not, but sometimes 00:08:47.309 --> 00:08:51.330 it's the majority that betray the heart of God. 00:08:52.250 --> 00:08:57.899 And sometimes it's all of us. When we first begin 00:08:57.899 --> 00:09:00.820 to run, it can be hard to push through to that 00:09:00.820 --> 00:09:04.220 runner's high. Even getting over the first hill 00:09:04.220 --> 00:09:07.500 in the first place. Abraham shows us that the 00:09:07.500 --> 00:09:10.159 first hill in the race of faith though, it's 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:13.960 learning to trust God's direction even when everyone 00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:17.279 else thinks you should keep going your own way 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:24.779 or maybe start going theirs. But others have 00:09:24.779 --> 00:09:27.940 often been able to get over that hill as well. 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:31.500 Moses knew what it was like to climb that first 00:09:31.500 --> 00:09:34.539 hill. In Egypt he could have lived in luxury. 00:09:35.259 --> 00:09:37.980 He could have been surrounded by power with all 00:09:37.980 --> 00:09:41.759 the approval the world could offer. But Hebrews 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:45.039 11 says he chose to be mistreated with God's 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:47.500 people rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures 00:09:47.500 --> 00:09:51.960 of sin. In other words, he conquered the hill 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:55.629 that Abraham faced. The hill of walking away 00:09:55.629 --> 00:09:58.509 from the crowd's approval to follow God's call. 00:09:59.009 --> 00:10:00.690 He and the children of Israel went up to the 00:10:00.690 --> 00:10:03.950 Red Sea. They drowned. They trusted that God 00:10:03.950 --> 00:10:07.909 would provide even as He parted the sea and then 00:10:07.909 --> 00:10:10.149 drowned the Egyptians who attempted to drag them 00:10:10.149 --> 00:10:12.789 back to the world that they had left behind. 00:10:13.649 --> 00:10:16.190 Walking away from the expectations of others 00:10:16.190 --> 00:10:19.429 was not the struggle for Moses as he led Israel, 00:10:20.210 --> 00:10:24.490 but when Moses crested that first hill. He discovered 00:10:24.490 --> 00:10:27.450 another one rising up in front of him. But this 00:10:27.450 --> 00:10:31.269 time, the battle wasn't out there. The battle 00:10:31.269 --> 00:10:35.889 wasn't here. See, Moses wrestled with fear, insecurity, 00:10:36.309 --> 00:10:40.190 anger. At the burning bush, his fear told him 00:10:40.190 --> 00:10:43.789 things. You're not good enough. You don't speak 00:10:43.789 --> 00:10:47.250 well enough. God should send somebody else, maybe 00:10:47.250 --> 00:10:49.909 even your brother. Your parents loved him and 00:10:49.909 --> 00:10:52.169 your sister more. They kept them. They threw 00:10:52.169 --> 00:10:57.009 you down the river in a basket. You're just not 00:10:57.009 --> 00:11:01.769 good enough for this. And later, when the people 00:11:01.769 --> 00:11:05.070 complained, those doubts must have come back 00:11:05.070 --> 00:11:07.769 again as his anger boiled over. And instead of 00:11:07.769 --> 00:11:09.970 just talking to the rock, because talking to 00:11:09.970 --> 00:11:12.169 a rock, that's not really going to assert your 00:11:12.169 --> 00:11:15.330 authority now, is it? He went over and struck 00:11:15.330 --> 00:11:19.409 it instead of obeying God. He knew what God wanted. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:22.899 But in the heat of the moment another voice inside 00:11:22.899 --> 00:11:26.840 says do it your way you saw it work before Do 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:31.039 it again See this is the hill of the inner war 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:35.639 inside of us When voices battle for control and 00:11:35.639 --> 00:11:40.059 we have to decide which side to listen to the 00:11:40.059 --> 00:11:44.019 angels the demons Sometimes we hear three voices 00:11:44.019 --> 00:11:47.100 speaking encouragement while to drag us down 00:11:47.870 --> 00:11:51.950 And then sometimes the deciding voice says we're 00:11:51.950 --> 00:11:55.509 not good enough instead. Paul describes it in 00:11:55.509 --> 00:11:58.590 Romans 7, for I do not do the good I want, but 00:11:58.590 --> 00:12:01.169 the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 00:12:01.690 --> 00:12:05.789 And it's a hill that we all know. We may have 00:12:05.789 --> 00:12:08.409 walked away from the crowd's expectations, like 00:12:08.409 --> 00:12:12.450 Moses did with Egypt, but we still find the harder 00:12:12.450 --> 00:12:15.029 fight to be what's happening inside of ourselves. 00:12:15.629 --> 00:12:19.600 The pride. The fear. the bitterness, the impatience, 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:25.759 the self -reliance, or the self -doubt. It's 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:27.960 the battle between the Spirit calling us forward 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:32.419 and the flesh pulling us back. We feel strong 00:12:32.419 --> 00:12:34.240 and bold and we're willing to let go of the world, 00:12:34.259 --> 00:12:39.000 but as we do, we see our own flaws. We see our 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:42.269 own faults. and we stop believing that we're 00:12:42.269 --> 00:12:44.789 the ones called to serve or that God could possibly 00:12:44.789 --> 00:12:49.509 use someone as broken as us. Even when the majority 00:12:49.509 --> 00:12:52.909 of the voices inside cry out that God is in control, 00:12:53.370 --> 00:12:57.230 we oftentimes feed the other voices until they 00:12:57.230 --> 00:13:00.309 become dominant, until their hunger threatens 00:13:00.309 --> 00:13:04.450 to consume us. We know our own impatience, the 00:13:04.450 --> 00:13:07.289 risk of a temper flaring up within, and we believe 00:13:07.289 --> 00:13:09.929 that everyone must see it as well and expect 00:13:10.250 --> 00:13:14.269 the worst of us. There are times when we feel 00:13:14.269 --> 00:13:16.970 the aches and pains as we run down that path 00:13:16.970 --> 00:13:19.529 and we stop believing that we can make it to 00:13:19.529 --> 00:13:22.889 the end. But this hill teaches us that while 00:13:22.889 --> 00:13:26.250 the hardest opponent may be the one within, we 00:13:26.250 --> 00:13:28.549 need to listen to the witnesses cheering us on 00:13:28.549 --> 00:13:31.909 from the sides, reminding us that it's not about 00:13:31.909 --> 00:13:37.210 our power, but by God's Spirit. But maybe we've 00:13:37.210 --> 00:13:39.389 learned to stand against those who oppose our 00:13:39.389 --> 00:13:42.750 path like Abraham Maybe we've learned to face 00:13:42.750 --> 00:13:45.750 our inner demons the battle with sin and to discover 00:13:45.750 --> 00:13:49.230 that our weakness is where Christ's strength 00:13:49.230 --> 00:13:52.450 is Revealed the weakness doesn't have to win 00:13:52.450 --> 00:13:56.110 because his strength is made perfect and yet 00:13:56.110 --> 00:14:00.309 even conquering those hills Sometimes the third 00:14:00.309 --> 00:14:03.090 one is just the fact that the road is too long 00:14:03.090 --> 00:14:08.360 and hopefully not like this sermon See, Hebrews 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:14.340 11 doesn't sugarcoat it. Some were mocked, flogged, 00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:18.360 imprisoned, stoned, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:22.539 of whom the world was not worthy. And when we 00:14:22.539 --> 00:14:25.379 read Acts in church history, we meet names that 00:14:25.379 --> 00:14:28.399 bring that reality into focus. Stephen, the first 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:30.679 martyr, stoned while praying for his attackers, 00:14:31.179 --> 00:14:35.950 mocked even to the point of death. Peter. Imprisoned 00:14:35.950 --> 00:14:38.470 multiple times, eventually crucified upside down, 00:14:38.590 --> 00:14:42.330 a death meant to humiliate and terrify. Paul 00:14:42.330 --> 00:14:45.210 beaten, flogged, shipwrecked, ridiculed, thrown 00:14:45.210 --> 00:14:47.929 into chains, enduring hardship again and again 00:14:47.929 --> 00:14:51.070 for the sake of the gospel. Who really wants 00:14:51.070 --> 00:14:54.730 to look at the path of faith and say, yes, I 00:14:54.730 --> 00:14:59.169 can tackle that? But even these witnesses, even 00:14:59.169 --> 00:15:01.970 these heroes, they remind us that the final hill 00:15:01.970 --> 00:15:06.340 isn't just about the external enemies, or the 00:15:06.340 --> 00:15:09.299 internal battles. Sometimes the race of faith, 00:15:09.340 --> 00:15:12.000 it feels like running through a cheering section, 00:15:12.539 --> 00:15:14.559 but other times it feels like running through 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:17.460 a gauntlet. Sometimes instead of the witnesses 00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:20.419 urging us forward, we feel them pushing us back, 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:23.080 sneering at us, trying to convince us that finishing 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:27.000 isn't worth it. Instead of a cloud that welcomes 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:29.799 us, it's the strong wind of rejection time and 00:15:29.799 --> 00:15:34.240 time again. And that's where Jesus comes in. 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:39.240 Hebrews 12 reminds us that He endured the cross, 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:42.759 scorning its shame. He didn't just survive the 00:15:42.759 --> 00:15:46.240 suffering, He conquered it. He ran the course 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:48.960 before us, breaking through the wind, cutting 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:52.279 through every obstacle, and making a way where 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:57.120 the path seemed impossible. He didn't just survive 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:01.009 it, but He stripped it of its power. by going 00:16:01.009 --> 00:16:04.970 through it. He took the ugliest, most humiliating 00:16:04.970 --> 00:16:07.809 death the world could throw at him, and through 00:16:07.809 --> 00:16:11.830 it, turned it into the doorway of life. And here's 00:16:11.830 --> 00:16:15.490 the good news. Jesus didn't just give us a pep 00:16:15.490 --> 00:16:19.149 talk from the sidelines. He ran the course Himself. 00:16:19.750 --> 00:16:23.929 He took every hill. He climbed the steepest ones, 00:16:24.210 --> 00:16:27.090 even the Hill of Shame, and at the top, He broke 00:16:27.090 --> 00:16:30.379 through those headwinds. He tore open the barriers, 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:33.279 He cut through the hostility, and He cleared 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:36.799 a path. Picture it, the steepest hill ahead, 00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:39.740 the air thick with opposition, the wind trying 00:16:39.740 --> 00:16:42.860 to push you backward, and Jesus is already there, 00:16:43.220 --> 00:16:46.440 pushing through those headwinds for you. Through 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:48.779 the hardships, clearing the way, calling us forward, 00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:52.679 and on the sides of the hill, the cloud of witnesses 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:55.779 with water for us, not to jeer, but to cheer. 00:16:56.679 --> 00:17:00.240 They can't make it easier, but they can remind 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:03.279 us that this path has been run before. They've 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:04.940 seen what's on the other side and they've made 00:17:04.940 --> 00:17:09.579 it. And at the summit, Jesus is holding out a 00:17:09.579 --> 00:17:14.140 baton. Because He's not just encouraging us from 00:17:14.140 --> 00:17:18.039 the sidelines. He ran the race and He conquered 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:22.279 the hills and now it's us who are to run the 00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:25.880 next leg. This is the moment when the endurance 00:17:26.170 --> 00:17:30.250 of those who went before becomes a bridge, a 00:17:30.250 --> 00:17:35.710 path ahead becomes ours to run now, because we're 00:17:35.710 --> 00:17:40.730 not meant to be spectators. Because part of the 00:17:40.730 --> 00:17:44.630 fear for every group of young people that we 00:17:44.630 --> 00:17:49.470 confirm and teach is to ask, who are they following 00:17:49.470 --> 00:17:55.269 if we don't follow the path that Christ has walked? 00:17:56.030 --> 00:18:00.170 How will they have anyone to follow themselves? 00:18:01.529 --> 00:18:04.029 Hebrews 12 reminds us that it's our turn to run. 00:18:04.690 --> 00:18:06.910 The baton is in our hand. The hills are ahead. 00:18:07.170 --> 00:18:09.670 The cloud of witnesses are surrounding us and 00:18:09.670 --> 00:18:12.670 cheering us. And even when we see Jesus going 00:18:12.670 --> 00:18:16.690 down a path that we don't think anyone else has 00:18:16.690 --> 00:18:21.809 run, we still see Him blazing the trail of death 00:18:21.809 --> 00:18:27.289 and despair to bring us into life. So which hill 00:18:27.289 --> 00:18:31.269 are you facing today? Is it a hill of opposition 00:18:31.269 --> 00:18:34.730 from others like Abraham? Maybe it's a difficult 00:18:34.730 --> 00:18:37.970 conversation with a co -worker, a friend, a family 00:18:37.970 --> 00:18:41.349 member who doesn't understand why you're making 00:18:41.349 --> 00:18:44.309 certain choices to follow the path that God has 00:18:44.309 --> 00:18:48.309 given you. Or maybe it's the hill of inner conflict 00:18:48.309 --> 00:18:51.769 like Moses. Maybe it's a daily struggle to be 00:18:51.769 --> 00:18:54.630 patient instead of letting anger or fear dictate 00:18:54.630 --> 00:18:57.990 decisions or sometimes choosing humility when 00:18:57.990 --> 00:19:03.130 pride wants to take over. Or maybe it's the hill 00:19:03.130 --> 00:19:07.190 of shame and scorn like Stephen, Peter, Paul, 00:19:08.069 --> 00:19:11.529 and ultimately Jesus. Maybe it's the embarrassment 00:19:11.529 --> 00:19:14.769 or ridicule you feel for living out your faith 00:19:14.769 --> 00:19:16.750 in a culture that doesn't share your values. 00:19:19.339 --> 00:19:22.900 A place where the sideways glance, the snide 00:19:22.900 --> 00:19:26.059 comments, or even the internal shame that whispers 00:19:26.059 --> 00:19:31.880 you're failing. But no matter what, this is your 00:19:31.880 --> 00:19:37.319 section of the race for you to run. This is the 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:39.819 time to lean on God's strength when you don't 00:19:39.819 --> 00:19:43.759 feel it. Because that hill may be steep, that 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:47.500 road may be long, but only this step is what 00:19:47.500 --> 00:19:53.079 matters. and others are counting on us. Our kids, 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:57.279 the people around us, they need to see us grab 00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:03.640 the baton and keep running. Fix your eyes on 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:08.019 Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:12.559 So when the hills rise up, remember, you're not 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:16.359 the first to climb them, but you also won't be 00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:21.650 the last. So take heart, take courage, take the 00:20:21.650 --> 00:20:26.109 baton because the race is on and you're not running 00:20:26.109 --> 00:20:33.349 it alone. Thank you. Amen to that.