Calvary Church Service | 9:00am

I am sure

I won't [music] be ashamed. Whatever I

face, it won't be in vain. I will trust

in Christ every step I take.

For all of my days I [music] will live

for your glory

and faith.

The prize of my journey

of

my king face to face.

Heat. Heat.

Heat.

Heat. Heat.

Oh yeah.

>> [music]

>> Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat.

[music]

Heat. Heat.

Well, good morning, Calvary Church. How

are you this morning?

>> Hi. It's so good to see you. In case we

haven't gotten to meet, my name is Jess

Greaser and I am the executive director

over at Bucksmont Counseling. If you

don't know what that is, I'm excited to

tell you. We're a counseling center, a

ministry of Calvary right across the

parking lot. And me and my fellow

counselors, we have the opportunity to

minister into our community with people

from here, from different churches, and

people from the community every day. So,

we are just so grateful to be an

extension of what happens here on a

Sunday. But we are excited that you are

here. If you're new, if this is your

first time here, welcome. Um, and we

would love to actually get to know you

in real life for real. Shake your hand,

smile at you. So, if you wouldn't mind

stopping by the hub after church to just

say hello, let us get to know you, and

we have a small gift for you. Um, that

would be fantastic.

Uh, so for everybody else, for all of us

actually, you know, Easter's coming.

Don't know if you forgot that. I'm so

excited for winter to be over. I thought

it was going to snow this weekend and it

did not. Just a little foggy. But winter

is over. Spring is coming and Easter is

on April 5th. And here at Calvary, we're

going to have services at 9 and 10:30.

And you know, Easter is a huge part of

our gospel story, right, of our faith.

But for many people, including my

husband and I, Easter and the Easter

season is huge in their coming to faith,

right? We know that a lot of folks may

have never been to church before and are

going to come on on that Sunday and we

don't know if they're ever going to come

again, but we want to be a part of God

transforming their life. And so we want

to invite you to be a part of that. We

have plenty of opportunities for you to

volunteer with kids on our hospitality

team, parking, ushering, and we just

want to invite you to be a part of that

story in somebody's life where they're

going to come and feel welcome and cared

for and be more open to hearing the

truth of the gospel. So, if you are able

to sign up to help, there's QR codes on

the seat in front of you if you have a

seat in front of you, or you can go out

to the table after service and kind of

ask where the opportunities are to

serve, and we would love to have you

serve with us.

Also, at the end of the service, you're

going to receive an invite for Easter.

Um, you can have as many as you want.

Um, but I would encourage you even now

in this moment to be praying through who

is God asking you to invite? Neighbors,

friends, family, co-workers. Who in your

life needs to hear the hope of the

gospel? So, you can take invites, give

them out, pass them out to your

neighbors, put them on their doors. We

also at the hub, if you're interested,

have gift or not gift cards. Uh, that

would be nice. No gift cards. We're not

giving away gift cards. Uh, we have

business card size invites that are

super convenient to put in your wallet

if you still carry one of those in the

back of your phone that you can give out

to folks. So, no gift cards. Uh, real

quick before we get started, stand up,

greet some folks, and I want you to

share your favorite and your least

favorite Easter candy.

Oh my god.

Well, good morning everybody. Let's sing

together today.

Your word

is [music] a lamp unto my feet.

Your way

is the only [music and singing] way for

me.

It's a narrow road that leads to life,

but I want to be on it.

It's a narrow road, but the mercy's

wide, cuz you're good on your prom.

I'll take you at your [music] word.

If you said it, I'll believe it. I've

seen how good it works. [music]

If you start it, you're completed.

[music]

I'll take you at your word.

You spoke

and the chaos fell in line.

Oh, I know [music]

cuz I've seen it in my life.

It's a narrow road that leads to life.

[music]

But I want to be honest.

It's a narrow road [music] and the tide

is high. Put your part in the water.

I'll take you at your word.

If you said it, I'll be leaving it. I'll

see how good it was.

If you start [music] it, you're

completed.

I'll take you as your [music]

if you said it.

I'll see [music] how good it was.

If it's not in your [music] complete,

I'll take you as your word.

You said your love will

[singing and music] never give up. You

said your grace is always enough. You

said your heart will never forget or

forsake me.

You said I'm saved. You call me yours.

You said my future's full of your love.

You never fail. So I know that you'll

never fail me.

You said your love will never give up.

You said your grace is always enough.

[music]

You said your heart will never forget or

forsake me. [music] I'll take you as

your

[music]

I'll take you [music] at your word.

If you said it, I'll believe [music]

it. [singing]

I've seen how good it was.

If you started, you'll complete [music]

it. I'll take you as your word.

If you said it, I believe it. I'll see

how good [music] you were.

If you started, you're completing.

I'll take [music] you as your

[music] proise.

You got a new proise. [music]

You got a new proise.

[music] I'll take it away.

[music]

>> [music]

[music]

>> Now this morning we teach you a new song

that we're [music] going to be singing

throughout the Easter season called Yes

He Lives. We celebrate that he lives.

He's worthy of praise. Will you join us

when you're comfortable?

We first sing about uh line one on a

hill for sinners.

[music]

On a hill for sinners,

his body broken. [singing]

A king [music]

forsen.

As he hung on that cross,

the veil in pieces,

the temple shaking, [music]

they mourn the Savior,

but it wasn't for long.

Oh, he lives. He's risen [singing] from

the grave. Victorious, [music]

our savior [singing]

reigns. Oh yes, he reigns. He rose. The

stone was rolled [music] away

forever. Our redeemer

lives. [music]

Oh yes, he lives

[music]

the silence. [music]

It wasn't over.

Our redeemer

is getting ready to rise

all that [music] morning.

We came to find you. The truth was

empty. [music]

He is

the true. The true [music] was empty.

He is alive.

Oh, he lives. He risen [music] from the

grave. Victori.

[music]

We sing Jesus Christ crucified. Through

[music] his death there is life, there

is life.

Jesus [music]

Christ crucified.

Through his death [singing] there is

life. By the blood of the lamb we have

[music and singing] been forgi.

Our debt has been paid. There is grace

upon [music]

grace. Only one name that saints and his

name is Jesus

Christ.

[music] His death is light [singing] by

the blood of the [music]

we

[music]

only one and save his [music] name is

Jesus

is he's risen from [music] the grave

victorious. Glory is our savior reign.

Oh yes he reigns. He [music] rose. The

storms roll away

forever. [music]

Our redee

[music]

is

risen from the grave.

Victori.

Oh yes he is. He was the [music] star is

roll away

forever. The redeemer

is only

Jesus Christ [music]

by the blood of

we [music]

[music]

only

saves.

and his name [music] is Jesus.

[music]

Thank you for the life that we have in

you, Jesus. Your [music] sacrifice

allows us

to be in contact and connection with

you, Father. And we thank you for that.

[music] We praise your name this

morning.

I'm thankful that uh though we come from

different mindsets this morning. There's

probably anxiousness, doubt here in this

room, but I'm thankful spirit that you

move among us and give us what we need.

So would you move here this morning?

Have your way.

For those of us that don't know you,

would you draw near? For those of us

that have saving faith in you, would you

encourage us [music] this morning? Would

you grow us closer and more into the

likeness of your son?

Help us to limit distractions and be

focused on you.

The one that gives grace,

the one who defeated sin and death and

brings life.

We honor you this morning.

In your name we pray. Amen.

Church, you can have a seat.

Well, as the ushers come forward now to

receive the offering, just want to take

a moment and say thank you. Uh thank you

for how your giving is making an impact.

not only an impact in our church and our

community, but if you were here last

week, you got to see what God is doing

with some of our local ministry

partners, but also globally what God is

doing in and through missions here at

Calvary. So, I want to just say first

and foremost, thank you for how you're

partnering with us as we seek to take

the gospel to every man, every woman,

and every child so that they may hear

the good news of Jesus. Uh, I want to I

want to transition. And so, again, thank

you. But I want to transition this week.

Our staff spent time praying for you. Uh

as a church, I think our our hearts were

heavy this week just as our we we know

in our congregation there's there's a

lot of people a lot of you walking

through difficult seasons. And so as a

staff, we we prayed for you, but also

what's going on in our world. uh we we

spent time praying for our missionaries

that are in a certain part of the world

now that prayed prayed just that God

would provide them protection

but also as we know as we walk through

the book of Hebrews that that Jesus is

better that in the midst of persecution

uh our prayer was that the gospel would

shine bright that people would come to

know Jesus because ultimately that's

that's what matters and so what I want

to do this morning is I want to just

take a moment I want to share with you a

a a passage of scripture and before

Carlos comes to walk us through Hebrews

11, I want us just to take some time as

a congregation and pray together. So,

this is what the psalmist says in Psalm

145. And I'm going to share a real quick

uh verse out of Psalm 147.

He says, "The Lord is righteous in all

his ways and faithful in all he does.

The Lord is near to all who call on him.

To all who call on him in truth.

And then in Psalm 147,

I love this this verse here. He says,

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up

their wounds." So, not knowing where

you're at today, what you walked in

with, what your week has been like, what

your week is going to be like, but we

have a God that is faithful, a God that

wants us to call upon him

even in the midst of a difficult season.

It says that God will come alongside of

us, that he will heal the brokenhearted

and he binds up their wounds. So, let's

let's spend some time praying. So, if

you will bow your heads, close your

eyes. I'm going to walk you through some

prayer prompts and and then we'll close

in prayer. So, as we've been reminded uh

this morning, take a moment

and as we think about God being faithful

in all he does, I'm reminded of the song

we just sung as a as a congregation a

moment ago. It says, "I'll take you at

your word. You've never failed, so I'll

know that you'll never fail me." Take

some time and just thank God for his

faithfulness.

And then again, Psalm 147, he heals the

brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

And he reminds us that the Lord is near

to those who call on him. spend some

time just whether it's something for

you, what's going on in our world, or uh

for somebody that you know that's

walking through a difficult season, take

some time and pray for them.

Father, you are good. You are faithful.

We are reminded again this morning just

as we've we've sung about the cross of

what Christ has done for us. God, I pray

that for people here today that are just

walking through a difficult season, may

they see your faithfulness and your

goodness. May they call upon you. May

you draw close to them. God also prays

just that in the midst of persecution

and and and things going on in the

world, may your gospel shine bright. And

as we have the opportunity now to hear

from your word, may we see what you have

done in the past. And so as we walk

today, we can see your faithfulness. And

we thank you and we love you. In your

name we pray. Amen.

Oh.

[music]

Oh.

Oh. [music]

[music]

La.

[music]

Well, as our Quakertown campus joins us

via Simocast, I want to say a big good

morning to all of you in Quakertown.

Hope you're having a great day. Miss you

guys. Can't wait to see you in a couple

weeks. Also, to all of you joining us

online, uh if those of you who are

joining us online are not able to get

here normally for whatever reason. Miss

you guys as well. I would love to hear

from you. And for all of you joining us

online because you forgot

about daylight savings time.

Oh boy,

they're here. No, we love you, too. All

right, so here's what we're going to be

doing today. We're going to be looking

at a chapter in the book of Hebrews. And

we've been studying the book of Hebrews

for the last few weeks. And in the book

of Hebrews,

uh what we're studying is how this

author is continuing to write about how

Jesus is better. He's superior than any

of the substitutes we can come up with

in our own lives. And today we get to a

chapter that if you've never read much

of Hebrews, you might have read this

chapter if you grew up in the church.

It's actually a chapter that's referred

to often in the church. It's Hebrews

chap 11. So what I want you to do is I

want you uh to turn to Hebrews 11. If

you don't have a Bible, uh if you're

here in Saton, they're in the seat racks

in front of you. In Quaker Town, they're

in the back of the room. If you use the

Bible uh here at Calvary, it's on page

822.

And if you don't own a Bible, take that

one home. It's our gift to you. Uh we

believe that the Bible is filled with

life-changing truth. So, we want you to

have access to that truth. Now, Hebrews

11 uh is sometimes referred to as the

faith chapter or the hall of faith

chapter and has all of these different

examples and stories in it. And at

times, if you're not careful, what I've

seen at times is that people who've

never really read Hebrews, they will go

right into Hebrews 11 because it is such

a rich chapter and they'll read that.

They'll read it on its own. But there's

something we need to understand about

Hebrews 11 for today. Okay, here's what

we need to understand.

It comes after chapter 10.

Okay, chapter 10 comes first, then comes

chapter 11. Why do I want you to know

that? [snorts]

Well, we're going to read from chapter

10 in a second, but we need to remember

about who the author is writing this

letter to. He's writing this letter to a

group of people who because of their

faith have been facing difficulties,

have been facing trials,

and they begin to kind of have this

tendency to want to to drift. They just

want to drift back to their old way of

things.

drift back to these comfortable way of

things. And the author of Hebrews is

constantly coming back and reminding

them that Jesus is better than anything

they could drift towards. He's

constantly reminding them that Jesus is

better than any of their substitutes. So

let's read in Hebrews

10 starting at verse 32.

Remember those earlier days after you

had received the light when you endured

in a great conflict full of suffering.

Sometimes you were publicly exposed to

insult and persecution and other times

you stood side by side with those who

were so treated. You suffered along with

those in prison and joyfully accepted

the confiscation of your property

because you knew that you yourselves had

better and lasting possessions.

things were going bad like when they

first came to faith there were some

difficult moments and he's reminding

them he goes you joyfully endured that

because of your understanding that Jesus

was greater than anything that you could

lose and then he says so do not throw

away your confidence

he'll be richly rewarded you need to

persevere so that when you have done the

will of God you will receive what he has

promised for just a little while he who

is coming will come and will not delay

and by my righteous one will live by

faith and I take no pleasure in the one

who shrinks back but we do not belong to

those who shrink back and are destroyed

but to those who have faith and are

saved

what we need to understand

when it comes to Hebrews 11 is that the

author's intention was not to give us

heroes to imitate

What he was trying to do was

help discourage believers hold fast to

Jesus.

Again, these Christians were facing real

pressure. Following Jesus had become

costly

and some were tempted to drift back

towards something safer, something more

visible, more socially acceptable.

They were tempted to shrink back and

drift back.

And the author gives an answer to that

to that tendency to drift. And the

answer is faith.

But what we need to understand is that

he's not saying to have faith in our

faith.

He's not trying to say, "Hey, you need

to have this superhuman faith." In fact,

in Hebrews, faith is never the main

focus. Jesus is the focus.

The message of Hebrews 11 is not to try

to live

like faithful people. The message is

because Jesus is better. We can endure

by trusting him.

So here's the big idea for today's

sermon. Okay, the big idea for today's

sermon wrapped up. Faith

lives now

according to God's promised future

secured through the finished work of

Jesus.

Faith lives now

according to God's promised future

secured through the finished work of

Jesus.

So what does that living by faith look

like?

What does that look like in our lives?

Well, first we need to understand that

faith causes us to see differently.

Faith causes us to see differently. What

we need to remember in regards to

Hebrews 11 is this. Faith sees through

Jesus. Faith sees through Jesus. Let's

go into Hebrews 11 starting at verse 1.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope

for and assurance about what we do not

see. This is what the ancients were

commended for. By faith, we understand

that the universe was formed at God's

command so that what is seen was not

made out of what was visible.

Hebrews begins not with examples

but with perspective.

Hebrews 11 begins not with examples but

with perspective. What does verse one

says? It says faith is the assurance of

things hoped for

and assurance about what we do not see.

It's confidence what we hope for and

insurance of what we do not see.

The verse is not defining faith

abstractly. It's describing what faith

does.

And and it does that by showing two kind

of things that it kind of causes us to

focus on this aspect of seeing things.

Things that have hoped for but not yet

seen means things that God has promised

but we have not seen the fulfillment of

that promise yet. We have not seen those

promises come to fruition.

And things that are not seen are things

that God is doing in the present that we

might not be able to see at this present

or things that he has done in the past

which we weren't present to see.

There's this this kind of focus on just

what it is that we are seeing and how

that relates to faith.

Faith treats future promises as present

realities. Faith treats future promises

of God as present realities and unseen

realities as authoritative realities.

Faith is not optimism.

Uh it's not a feeling that you conjure

up.

It's it's not trying to believe harder.

There there's a lot of different kids

books out there, whether it's Polar

Express or whether it's um uh Rise of

the Guardians where that kind of focus

on like just say I believe. I believe.

That's not what faith is. It's not

chanting to yourself, I believe, and

trying to believe harder.

Faith is trusting that God's word

describes reality more accurately than

what we can currently see.

Faith is trust.

It allows us to see things through our

trust in Jesus

rather than our through our filters for

reality.

And and here's what we need to

understand.

What you have faith in

will influence how you view the world.

What you have faith in will influence

how you see. What you have faith in will

influence your worldview.

Let me give you an illustration of what

that might look like. I wear glasses

not for fashion.

I wear glasses because I have an

aigmatism

uh in my left eye. And so what I view in

real life without my glasses is a little

off.

It's it's not as clear. Uh it's not as

crisp. It's not as true to what reality

is because of something inside of me. I

see incorrectly.

Okay. So I wear glasses.

I went to the dollar store yesterday.

I bought different kinds of glasses.

So, the first pair of glasses I bought

were these.

[laughter]

Now, here's the deal.

Not only

am I trying to view through my messed up

vision because of what internally is

wrong in me, I now have covered that

vision with a new filter that frankly I

can't see any of you. These are darker

than I thought they would be. But what I

see is darker than what is reality,

right? Because of what I am wearing. How

about these? Okay, we'll try these.

These are going to cause me to see you

guys a little golder.

All right. So, they're they're they're

going to see depending on what lens I'm

wearing causes me to see differently.

So, now I see things that are golder.

Now, the lady at the cash register

was excited about these.

She says, "You need to come back wearing

them."

So these

these are your typical rosecoled

glasses. I see all of you very rosy.

What's the point of all of this?

Depending on the lenses that I have on

my eyes will determine how I actually

see reality.

dependent on the lenses that you have in

life.

What you put your faith in will cause

you to see reality a certain way. If

you're putting your faith in your

finances, you're going to be wearing uh

lenses that filter it through that faith

in your finances or if it's in your

status or whatever it is. When you put

those lenses on, you are distorting

reality and you're not seeing reality

the way it is. And because we are just

mortal temporal beings, we cannot see

reality accurately because of internally

what is inside of us. And we're not God.

So what do we need to do? We need to put

on the lens of Jesus in regards to how

we see life and how we see reality.

Faith allows us

to see things through our trust in

Jesus. Faith uh faith is trusting is

choosing to see God's truth of reality.

Even if my it is invisible to my human

eyes,

it sees by trusting what God has said in

his word.

A and the author continues in his

writing in verse three, he gives us an

example of what that looks like. And

it's an example that you might actually

take for granted. Here's the example he

gives. He gives the example of creation.

Now, uh, just in case, show of hands,

how many of you are old enough that you

were actually there when it happened?

You were there when God created the

universe. And

if any of you raise your hands, we're

calling security.

Uh,

none of us were there. We don't know

anyone who was there, right? There were

no eyewitnesses.

There's there's no footage that we can

go back and look at.

When we believe that God created the

world that he created everything and we

trust in the reality that it was formed

by God speaking,

what we are doing is having faith and

trusting God's word for reality that we

were not present for.

Faith begins by accepting God's

declaration of reality. We know that God

created the world. Why? Because he

revealed it to us and told us so.

It begins by accepting God's declaration

of reality. And why is that important?

Because before faith can change

behavior,

it has to change our vision. Before

faith can change behavior, it has to

change our vision. For us, for us as

Christians, our vision needs to be

centered on Jesus.

The Old Testament believers trusted

promises

that were still coming.

But we now look back and see that those

promises were fulfilled in Jesus.

Jesus has already accomplished

redemption. He has defeated sin and

death and has already secured his future

kingdom.

So faith today means living now

according to God's future that has

already been guaranteed through Jesus.

So what does living now look like? If we

see correctly, what does living now look

like?

It looks like a life

of an obedient response to God. It looks

like a life of obedient response to God.

The next thing that we learn from

Hebrews 11 is that faith responds

because of Jesus.

Let's go back and start at [snorts]

verse four.

By faith, Abel brought God a better

offering than Cain did. By faith, he was

commended as righteous when God spoke

well of his offerings. And by faith,

Abel still speaks even though he is

dead.

By faith, Enoch was taken from this life

so that he did not experience death. He

could not be found because God had taken

him away. For before he was taken, he

was commended as one who pleased God.

And without faith, it is impossible to

please God. Because anyone who comes to

him, must believe that he exists and

that he rewards those who earnestly seek

him. By faith, Noah, when warned about

things not yet seen in holy fear, built

an ark to save his family. By his faith

he condemned the world the world and

became heir of the righteousness that is

in keeping with faith. By faith Abraham

when called to go to a place he would

later receive as his inheritance obeyed

and went even though he did not know

where he was going. By faith he made his

home in the promised land like a

stranger in a foreign country. He lived

in tents as did Isaac and Jacob who were

heirs with him of the same promise. for

he was looking forward to the city with

foundations whose architect and builder

is God.

And by faith even Sarah who was past

childbearing age was unable to bear

children because she considered him

faithful who had made the promise. And

so from this one man as and he as good

as dead came descendants as numerous as

the stars in the sky and as countless as

the sand on the seashore. All these

people were still living by faith when

they died. They did not receive the

things promised. They only saw them and

welcomed them from a distance, admitting

that they were foreigners and strangers

on earth.

People who say such things show that

they are looking for a country of their

own. If they had been thinking of the

country they had left, they would have

had the opportunity to return. Instead,

they were longing for a better country,

a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not

ashamed to be called their God, for he

was prepared a city for them. By faith,

Abraham, when God tested him, offered

Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had

embraced the promises was about to

sacrifice his one and only son. Even

though God had said to him, "It is

through Isaac that your offspring will

be reckoned."

Abraham reasoned that God could even

raise the dead. And so, in a manner of

speaking, he did not receive Isaac back

from death. He did receive Isaac back

from death. By faith, Isaac blessed

Jacob and Esau in regard to their

future. By faith, Jacob when he was

dying blessed each of Joseph's sons and

worshiped as he leaned on the top of his

staff. By faith, Joseph, when his end

was near, spoke about the exodus of the

Israelites from Egypt and gave

instructions concerning the burial of

his bones.

It's a rich, rich chapter. It's going

through all these characters in the Old

Testament. And what the author is doing

now is he's shifting from definition to

examples. And and I hope you heard that

phrase over and over again. It's

repeated. It's a it's a beautiful word.

By faith. By faith. by faith.

And we get these rich stories, these

rich stories. And there's a common

thread that reveals a pattern with these

things. Faith consistently produces

action before outcomes appear.

Noah built an ark, a huge boat, because

it was going to rain.

It had not rained before.

He builds an ark because he trusts the

word of God.

Abraham goes and moves

and leaves everything he knew to go to a

place that he did not know, not knowing

what it would look like, not knowing

everything, he went because he trust. He

trusted the word of God. Sarah, even

though she was past childbearing age, by

the way,

I was talking to Jamie Matter and she

works here at the church for Three

Relationships Disciplehip. And um she

said, "I I find the Bible funny." She

said, "It's pretty obvious that uh we

might not know who wrote the uh who was

author of Hebrews, but it probably was a

man." And I'm like, "Why?" She says,

"Well, he knew better." and he says,

"Um, a uh Sarah who was past her

childbearing age." He's like very

polite.

Then she goes, "But then with Abraham,

he's like who is as good as dead."

But Sarah by faith lived out this

promise even though

even though she was past that

childbearing age.

Why? Because they all trusted what God

had spoken.

They acted not because circumstances

made sense, but because God's promise

was trustworthy.

And here's the thing that we need to

understand as we look at that whole

chapter and we read of all those just

miraculous lives of faith. Here's what I

want you to understand. In that chapter

of that group of people, that hall of

faith, those hall of hall of faith

people, there are liars.

There are murderers.

There are adulterers.

There are really messy stories

in there.

We are not meant to imitate them. We're

meant to cling to the one they were

trusting.

You know what I love about the fact that

they have such messed up stories?

None of that's mentioned in the chapter.

All that's mentioned is their faith.

Another example of the power of

redemption of our stories because of

Jesus is on display.

And the reality is is that we stand on

something much greater than they did.

They were trusting in a promise and and

they only as we looked at uh last week

they could only see shadows

shadows of that promise. But we trust in

the fulfilled promise of Jesus.

Faithfilled obedience today flows from

Jesus's finished work.

It flows from Jesus's present reign. It

flows from Jesus's guaranteed return.

We do not obey to secure God's favor.

We obey because in Jesus we already have

his favor.

Faith chooses obedience over comfort. It

chooses obedience over security. It

chose chooses obedience over control.

Not because we're strong. Not because

we're somehow superhuman faith people,

but because Jesus is faithful.

Because Jesus is faithful.

And when we live out these lives of

faithful obedience, it exposes in us a

truth about our value system.

and exposes in us what we find of utmost

worth. You see, faith chooses Jesus

above everything else. Faith chooses

Jesus above everything else. Let's go

back and look at this. We get a great

example of this example of faith. By

faith, Moses' parents hid him for three

months after he was born because they

saw that he was no ordinary child and

they were not afraid of the king's

edict. By faith, Moses, when he had

grown up, refused to be known as the son

of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be

mistreated along with the people of God

rather than to enjoy the fleeting

pleasures of sin. He regarded his grace

for the sake of Christ as of greater

value than the treasures of Egypt

because he was looking ahead to his

reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not

fearing the king's anger. He persevered

because he saw him who is invisible. By

faith he kept the Passover and the

application of blood so that the

destroyer of the firstborn would not

touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith

the people passed through the Red Sea as

on dry land. But were when the Egyptians

tried to do so, they were drowned. By

faith the walls of Jericho fell after

the armies had marched around them for

seven days. By faith the prostitute

Rahab because she welcomed the spies was

not killed with those who were

disobedient.

We get this powerful example of Moses.

Moses

is rescued out of the river in the

basket and he is raised by the Pharaoh's

daughter. He has wealth. He has power.

He has the ability to live a life of

comfort in the home of Pharaoh.

And he rejects all of that. He chooses

reproach over privilege, suffering over

status, future reward over present

comfort. Why? Because he considered the

reproach of Jesus

greater wealth in Egypt.

You see, faith re-evaluates reality.

When Jesus is our treasure, status loses

its grip. Security loses its illusion.

Comfort loses its control.

Faith asks what is truly valuable in

light of Jesus. If Jesus is greater, and

Hebrews has been arguing this throughout

the whole book, that he's greater than

angels, that he's greater than Moses,

that he's greater than priests, that

he's greater than sacrifices, that

nothing compares to Jesus.

If Jesus is greater, that needs to have

an impact and is reflected in our faith.

Faith consistently chooses Jesus over

everything. It chooses Jesus over

comfort. It chooses promise over

appearance. It chooses eternal reward

over temporary reward.

Not because we're naturally brave.

Not because we're naturally brave, but

because Jesus is supremely worthy.

When we understand, faith causes us to

understand the value of Jesus. And that

impacts everything that we do.

And as we look at Hebrews 11, as we look

at all these people who realize the the

value of Jesus

and how it impacted their lives and how

it impacted their decisions, one of the

most striking things about Hebrews 11 is

how it ends.

The he the the people who were listed in

Hebrews 11 never saw the full promise

fulfilled in their lifetime. Hebrews

Hebrews 11:39

11:39 says, "These were all commended

for their faith. Yet none of them

received had been promised." What had

been promised?

What does that mean? What are we talking

about here? Well, let's go on to verse

40. Since God had planned something

better for us so that only together with

us would they be made perfect.

The Old Testament story was

intentionally incomplete.

They trusted forward towards the

fulfillment and the fulfillment is

Jesus.

They live looking ahead to him. We live

looking back to what he has finished and

forward to his return.

That means faith ultimately rests not in

our circumstances, not in our outcomes,

but in the completed work of Jesus. Did

you get that? Faith does not rest in the

outcomes of our life. Faith rests in the

completed work of Jesus.

Hebrews 11 is not meant to leave us

impressed with ancient believers of the

Old Testament and and and asking us to

follow their example.

Hebrews 11 follows Hebrews 10 and leads

us into Hebrews 12. And the command of

Hebrews 12 is this. Fix your eyes on

Jesus.

Jesus is the founder of our faith, the

perfector of our faith, the one whose

faith endured perfectly.

We should not read this chapter and

leave inspired to try harder.

We should leave this chapter trusting

the better savior who secures our

future.

And because he is faithful, we do not

shrink back.

So my question is, when you look in the

mirror,

what glasses are you wearing?

Are you living out lives of faith

that see through

the lens of Jesus?

that because of wearing those lens of

Jesus and seeing reality through the

lens of Jesus, do you respond with

obedient

lives

because of the work of Jesus?

And is that obedience fueled

by this passionate desire to value Jesus

above everything else?

Because what glasses you wear determines

how you see, determines how you view the

world, determines how you

live, and determines what you're putting

your faith in.

Don't wear the wrong glasses.

Don't put your faith

in finances.

Don't put your faith in status.

Don't put your faith in your

performance,

in your political desires,

in whatever in your education

because you're going to be seeing things

incorrectly and you're going to be

responding incorrectly. Take whatever

glasses that you need to take off off

and put on

the lens of Jesus and live out lives of

faith.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your

goodness. We [snorts] thank you for your

love. We thank you for the ability

to live out

lives of faith.

Not because we somehow can drum that up

inside of us and and and manufacture

that ability, but because of your

finished work. I ask you that you would

allow us to rest

in the knowledge and peace that comes

from knowing that you have completed

your work and the eagerness and hope

that comes from knowing that you will

return one day.

We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

today. Uh, you should have gotten a

cup with communion elements in it.

And I can't think of a better way to end

our time studying a passage

that is fueled

by the encouragement to not shrink back

and turn from Jesus, but to live out

lives of faith and fueled what we will

be studying next week of keeping our

eyes focused on Jesus.

See, communion is something that Jesus

gave us to remember him and remember

what he has done.

And so, if you are a follower of Jesus,

if you are a Christian,

we encourage you to take communion

today.

So, what we're going to do is uh you're

going to peel the top that has the

bread, the cracker in it. Peel the lid

off there.

And I'm going to read

from Hebrews,

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10.

And after I read, I ask that you just

spend a moment in prayer, just a couple

of seconds or so, and then eat the

bread.

[snorts] After that, I'm going to read

again from Hebrews chapter 10, and then

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

we'll drink the cup together.

Hebrews chapter 10 says this.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Therefore,

when Christ came into the world, he

said, "Sacrifice and offering you did

not desire,

but a body you prepared for me. With

burnt offerings and sin offerings, you

were not pleased." Then I said, "Here I

am.

It is written about me in the scroll. I

have come to do your will, my God.

First he said, sacrifices and offerings,

burnt offerings and sin offerings, you

did not desire, nor were you pleased

with them, though they were offered in

accordance with the law.

Then he said, "Here I am. I have come to

do your will." He sets aside the first

to establish the second.

And by that will we have been made holy

through the sacrifice of the body of

Jesus Christ once for all.

Day after day every priest stands and

performs his religious duties again and

again he offers the same sacrifices

which can never take away sins.

But when this priest

had offered for all time one sacrifice

for sins, he sat down at the right hand

of God.

And since that time he waits for his

enemies to be made his foottool. For by

one sacrifice he has made perfect

forever those who are being made holy.

Take a moment to reflect, to pray, and

to thank God for that sacrifice. And

then when you're ready, eat the bread.

If you're ready, you can peel the top of

the other side for the cup.

Verse 19 of Hebrews chapter 10 says

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

this.

Therefore, brothers and sisters,

since we have confidence to enter the

most holy place by the blood of Jesus,

by a new and living way opened for us

through the curtain that is his body.

And since we have a great priest over

the house of God, let us draw near to

God with a sincere heart and with the

full assurance that faith brings, having

our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from

a guilty conscience [music] and have our

bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we

profess. For he who promised is

faithful. Let us drink the cup together.

Lord, you are faithful.

You are faithful. Even when we are not,

you are faithful.

We praise you.

We thank you. And we worship you,

God. I ask you that you would remind us

of that faithfulness today. That you

would remind us of that love. You would

remind us of the power of the sacrifice

that [music] you gave of yourself.

bless this people. We pray this in Jesus

name. Amen.

Would

you stand and sing with us one more song

this morning?

[music]

>> [music]

>> I love you, Lord.

Oh, your mercy never fails me.

All [music and singing] my days,

I've been held in your hand.

From [music] the moment that I [singing]

wake up

until I lay my head.

Oh, I will sing

of the goodness

of [music] God.

All my life you have been faithful.

[music] All my [singing] life you have

been so so good.

[music] With every breath that I am

[singing] made,

[music] I will sing of the goodness

of God. [music]

I love your voice.

You have led me through the fire.

>> [music]

>> In darkest night,

you are [singing] close like no other.

I know you as the father. [music]

I've known you as the friend.

And [music] I have lived in the goodness

of God. [music]

All my life [music]

you have been save.

[music]

All my life you have been so so

with every breath that I am

[music]

sing

of the goodness

of God.

Yeah.

Your [music] goodness is running after.

It's running after me.

Your goodness [music]

is running after. It's running after me.

With my life laid down, I

[music and singing] surrender now. I

give you everything.

Your [music] goodness is running after.

Is running after me.

>> [music]

>> Your goodness is running after. It's

running after [music]

me.

Your goodness is running after. [music]

It's running after me.

With my life laid down, [music] I

surrender now. I give you everything.

Your goodness is running out. It's

running out.

>> [music]

[music]

>> All my life you have been [music]

faithful.

[music] And all my life [singing] you

have been so so good [singing]

[music]

with every breath that I am able.

[music]

I will [singing] sing of the goodness

of God.

[music] Yeah.

All my life you have been.

[music]

All my life you have been so [music] so

good.

with every breath that [music] I ever.

Oh, I will sing of the goodness

of God.

[music] Oh, I will sing

of the goodness

of God. [music]

>> [music]

>> He has been [music] faithful.

[clears throat]

He has been faithful and he has been

good.

I just feel that for some of you in this

room,

it might have been harder to sing those

words this week than maybe for some of

us, for some of the rest of us.

For some of you, singing those words

that actually cost a little bit.

Here's what I [music] ask of you today.

Come up.

Let's talk.

Let's pray with you.

We're here for you and we love you. And

the God you just sang to loves you so

much and he is [music] faithful.

So, as we leave today,

I ask you that you would go out with

hearts [music]

filled with the truth of God's goodness

and his faithfulness, [music]

and that you would go and proclaim that

to everyone and anyone with your words

and your deeds. For those of you need to

come up to say hi or pray, please come

on up and do that. We want to do that.

[music] Otherwise, the rest of you, go

and have a great week.

The prize of my journey, the joy of

salvation

will

come my way. God, you're faithful to

I will. I willj.

I know that God is with me always.

I will. I willj.

Whatever comes my way. God, you're

faithful to save.

I will. I willj.

I know that God is with me always.

I will I willj

whatever comes [music] my way. God

you're faithful to save.

I will I will rejoice.

I know that God is with me always.

For all of my days, I will live for your

glory. Running [music] with courage and

faith.

The prize of my journey. The joy of

salvation. To me, my king face to face.

To meet my king face to face.

to meet my king face to face.

>> [music]

[applause]

>> Why [music] my soul? calling you down.

Why are you trled within?

For I will hope in myior [singing]

my God and will [music] praise him yet

praise him again.

Why my soul you down.

Why are [music] you trled within?

For I will hope in myior my God and will

praise him yet praise [music] him again.

Hallelujah.

I will praise him yet. Praise him again.

Hallelujah.

[music] Hallelujah.

I will praise him. Yeah. Praise him

again.

Morning [music] by morning.

Mercies are streaming.

>> [music]

>> I trust in your goodness where I cannot

see.

You have been faithful whenever [music]

I wonder. Lord give me the hope that I

need

your [music] mercies.

I trust in your goodness [music]

where I cannot see.

You have been faithful whenever [music]

I wonder. Lord, give me the hope that I

need.

Hallelujah.

[music]

Hallelujah.

I will praise him yet. Praise him again.

Why [music]

are you down?

Why are you Trible.