Faith and a Far away Finish Line 10 04 2020

One day you'll understand, and I'll say it one

more time Thank you. You are my God, Jesus. I

will shout your name before the earth. I will

lift your name on high. I will show the world

your goodness. As I live my life, I shout your

name. As I live my life, Good morning. Good morning.

Good morning. Thank you all for coming this morning.

So a couple announcements. Football players and

watchers. Spectators. The game will be going

on as planned regardless of weather. So bundle

up. Bring your rain poncho. It'll be a lot of

fun. So the game starts at 530. Coaches arrive

at 5. Players at 515. um if you've seen on what

is it the hall what is it called hall of a lot

of fun so on october 31st um opposite trick -or

-treat time we will have uh our what is normally

like our fall festival is going to be in the

hallway it's called hull of a lot of fun um so

it'll be candy and prizes and more candy all

right and if i don't think there's any more announcements

am i missing anything All right. Mr. Michael

Brister, will you open us up in prayer, please?

Father God, I want to thank you for this time

we've come together to worship you and learn

more about you, God. As you bring us to our services,

as we continue to worship you and teach you as

a young kid, as this dedication has been taking

place, God, I ask that you bless that and bless

the family. All right, if you'd like to stand

and sing with us, we have an oldie but a goodie,

and then the next one after this is a new one,

but I'm sure you've all heard it. in our day

understands the concept of baby dedication not

everybody who worships God in the church understands

the concept of baby dedication baby dedication

is not about making a baby into something that

a baby wasn't yesterday it's not about making

a baby holy it's not about making a baby clean

or anything like that babies are innocent and

clean and perfect in God's eyes already that's

already been done I know that people are born

into original sin, but there is an age of innocence

in which these babies that we dedicate to God

exist. Parenting is the problem, really. For

those of you who are parents who have had experience

with small children, you realize that parenting

is the difficult part. Parenting is the part

you've got to kind of figure out as you go along,

especially when it's your first child. You've

got to say, How on earth am I supposed to do

this? In the middle of the night, when you're

tired, when the baby's crying, it won't stop,

you can't figure out why, you've been down your

checklist, you've passed your limit. Parenting

is the trouble, the difficulty, if you will.

And that's really what baby dedication is about.

Scripture doesn't define this as just like, is

the baby dedicated or is the baby not dedicated?

There are sort of like parameters. When I was

younger, we used to play night ball tag in our

yard, and the first thing we'd be doing when

we'd get together to play night ball tag, someone

would say, okay, what's the boundaries? What

are the limits? How far can we go? Which neighbor's

got a shotgun and comes out whenever someone's

in their yard after dark when they're playing

in their yard? How far can we go into the woods

or past the woods, or can we go in the woods

at all? Things like that. Scripture talks about

parenting in the light of boundaries, parameters

that are set up. I want to highlight just a few

of those very briefly and very quickly. You can

go and read the stories later and pick the principles

out if you want to, but I'm going to just highlight

a few of them. And they may surprise you a little

bit. Scripture teaches us that when a baby is

born into a family, that the story remains the

parent's story. In fact, even as the baby grows,

becomes a teenager and a young adult, it's still

the parent's story. From the story of Jacob and

Joseph, when Joseph is in Egypt and serving in

front of Pharaoh, it is actually Jacob's story

that's being told. All of Joseph's story is contained

inside of Jacob's story. And then when Jacob

arrives in Egypt, and as he grows to old age

and he is trusting God and so on, eventually

he sort of moves back out of the light and it

becomes Joseph's story to a degree. So this story

that's being told today, It's not really the

child's story. It's part of the parent's story.

However, these children can very much so pay

the price for the actions of their parents inside

their own story. 2 Samuel 12, David has sinned

against God. And a child is born out of that

sin. And the prophet Nathan comes to confront

David. and David is told that the baby will die.

That baby never did anything. That baby was innocent.

That baby didn't sin against God. That baby was

innocent. And yet, because of David's sin, the

baby would die. So while the babies are inside

the story of their parents, those babies, those

children can very much, and we see this very

real in the world today, those children can suffer

because of the choices of their parents. And

I submit to you that that extends to the immediate

family, it extends to those who are influences

in the lives of the child, which means it extends

to the church. Preparing the child then becomes

a huge and important step. Failure to prepare

the child can actually bring about the end of

the story of the adults in the life of the child.

In the story of Moses, we know Moses, right?

You may remember his story from Exodus 4. It

doesn't begin there by any means, but God calls

him out of the burning bush and says, I want

you to go into Egypt and call my people out of

Egypt. But the part of the story that you may

not remember is they pick up, he and his wife

pick up, and their baby, and they get ready to

go into Egypt as commanded. And along the way,

Moses meets God. depending on your translation

of the Bible, whether it's God in person, and

the original text simply says God, but we know

that angels represent God, or whether it was

an angel. But anyway, he meets the opposition

of God. After God calls him out and says, go

and do this, go into Egypt and save my people

and call them out of Egypt, he meets God, and

God is going to kill him. God commissions him

and says, go and do it. And mind you, he did

make some excuses and so on. But God says, okay,

now you're going to go and do it. And then he

meets God and God is going to kill him. And his

wife quickly rushes, Zipporah, she quickly rushes

to circumcise their child. And she throws the

bloody foreskin of her child at the feet of Moses

and Moses is spared. Failure to prepare your

child to have a relationship with God. could

bring an end to your story. Moses, the whole

story, right? The ten plagues, the parting of

the Red Sea, all of that is an amazing story.

I mean, like some amazing actors have played

Moses in amazing movies over the years. Amazing

story. And all of it could have come to an end

right there in the beginning if Moses and Zipporah

had not prepared their baby for his relationship

with God. One of the greatest steps that we're

called to in the Bible is for our children to

see us. Your child must see you. They probably

see you in the midst of struggles eventually.

As a parent, I have tried really hard not to

let my children see me struggle. I don't talk

to them about some of the things that people

say to me or do in my presence or the difficulties

of certain things that I face. I do, unfortunately

for her, share that with my wife most of the

time, but I don't share that with my children.

And we have tried really hard not to let our

children see us struggle. But the fact is, for

all your efforts, they will eventually see you

struggle. In Genesis 32, in the story of Jacob,

Jacob wrestles with the angel all night long,

and finally he sent his entire family across

the river, sitting over there, and the sun comes

up, and they see him still wrestling, and he

has not won. He is still in the midst of his

struggles. And he knows they're about to see

him in the midst of his struggles. He knows that

they're going to see him having wrestled all

night long and not having won. And the angel

entreats him and says, just let me go. It's fine.

It's over. Just let me go. And Jacob says to

the angel, no, I have not lost. Why shouldn't

I win? And he continues to struggle. And he wins,

in a sense. And God blesses him. But at the same

time, the angel pinches his hip and he limps

for the rest of his life. our children will eventually

see us struggling. The young people in our lives

will see you going through difficulties. And

whether or not you are able to say that even

though I am in the midst of the greatest trial

of my life, why shouldn't I win? Why shouldn't

I continue? Why shouldn't I persevere? Why shouldn't

I get up again this time? It is crucially important

that a child see that you are able to get up

when you fall down. Otherwise, we may breed children

Who think our lives are their story. We may end

our story prematurely. Our children may pay the

price for the things that we have done. And they

may not learn to get up themselves when they

face struggles. And they will. The creations,

groanings, the struggles of men, the sins of

this world, they are a reality. until Jesus comes

again. This is the purpose for baby dedication.

It is for us to remind ourselves, for us to entreat

God and appeal to God and say, God, please, here

you have blessed us for children are a heritage

from the Lord, Psalm 127. Here you have given,

despite what some people think, it is not man's

choice whether children are born or not. It is

God's choice. I know this very well. I have seen

people who have tried and tried and tried and

tried to have children and could not. And I've

seen people who have tried and tried and tried

not to have children and couldn't stop. It is

God's choice. But we say, God, here is a child.

We recognize she is our heritage from you. You

have given her to us as a blessing. And we appeal

to God to allow us. To work within these parameters

that he has set forth. To be a light to this

child. To be a light to each other. To be his

representative. And to prepare her, in this case,

for a relationship with him. That's what baby

dedication is all about. That's why we gather

today. To worship and honor God always. That's

why we gather on Sunday. but truly to worship

and honor God and praise Him and to appeal to

Him, to have His will on earth as it is in heaven,

that His kingdom may come. And so we proceed

then to dedicate Rayleigh Jo Gribble, her life

and her times, which we fully understand are

a part of Chris and Carrie's story and a part

of our story, unto God. At this time then, we're

going to have the family, the extended family,

and the godparents come forward. And so if those

of you who are on the front row, you may want

to move off the front row because you're going

to be right in your face and the governor might

get upset. And then we're going to kind of gather

from here over. There's a number of folks. You'll

need your script if you don't have it. Leave

it at your seat and grab it. Okay, if you don't

have a script, there are scripts out there. The

goal is to make it through the script as readily

as possible without having too many stops and

miscues. Wherever you stand is fine. You're fine.

They don't need me other than I'm going to read.

That's all they need from me. All right. But

we can see, and we are blessed to see already,

because it's not just those who are standing

in the front, but it's everyone in this room

that God has put together a pretty amazing team

for Rayleigh Joe. And aren't we blessed? Okay?

So I will begin to read. I'm going to read the

part that says Pastor Dan. The parents will read

the part that says parents. If you're a member

of the extended family, you will read the part

that says extended family. If you're a member

of the congregation, that is those who are gathered

here today, then you would read that part. So

that's everybody that's still in the chair right

now, whoever you may be. If you are the godparents,

you will read together the part that says godparents.

And then we'll kind of start again with me. Right

after I read, like a second later, we're going

to start the next part. It's especially hard

if you happen to be the godparents, for example,

because you kind of need to be together. So right

after the congregation reads, as soon as they're

done, there's a silence of like one second, and

then you read. And just in case anybody is nervous

about public speaking, this is being recorded.

So going out over the internet and all that good

jazz. All right, here we go. Are we ready? Here

we go. God has entrusted you with a magnificent

responsibility. We lovingly accept this responsibility.

We will help you. God has given you the gift

of life. We will also protect and nurture this

gift. We will help you. God expects you to teach

a child through the example of a godly life.

We will strive to live lives consistent with

God's word before our child. We will also strive

to live lives consistent with God's word before

her. We will provide godly examples before the

child as well. We will also strive to live lives

consistent with God's word before her. Very good.

A child is like a clean slate. A child must learn

right from wrong and how to hear the direction

of God. We dedicate ourselves to the teaching

of the ways of Christ and the love of His church

to our child. We will assist you. We will assist

you as well. We will assist you as well. Okay,

and then we're going to pray. I'm going to reach

in here. Here we go. Pray with me. Father God,

you have blessed us. In a day where someone might

look around and see darkness, we see light. We

see love and mercy and kindness and grace. We

see your patience with men. We see beauty. We

see that all bundled up in Rayleigh Joe. We see

your investment in our stories, your gift, and

we praise you for it. We adore you, Heavenly

Father, because you have loved us, because you

have given, because it is what we are created

for. Thank you, God. At the same time, we confess

a life is a long time. We realize that this dedication,

this effort, these steps that we're taking today

and the promises that we've made, the commitments,

that they are very, very important. It's not

like buying a house or even committing to ministry.

It's more like committing to you. It's more like

accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. It's right

up there with the most important things we've

ever done. And the truth is we stop and think

about how we might have to make difficult choices

to protect Rayleigh from seeing something that

we don't want her to see or that we don't understand

or that she won't understand. That we might have

to preserve her innocence through great effort.

That we might have to protect her from the wiles

of this world. Lord, we know we need your help.

We are entreating you today to bless this child

and the people that would come on her behalf.

Help us, God, to divorce ourselves, to just let

go of those things that would hold us back from

honoring these commitments. And we know we need

your help. We thank you again for this beautiful

gift and for the army of folks that you have

put in this world who love this child and are

willing to stand up for her. And we ask you,

Lord, We ask You for our nation, for our people,

for people who are hurting, for people who are

struggling. We ask You for ourselves and not

in a selfish way. We ask You, Lord, to let us

represent You well in our lives which You've

now made Rayleigh Jo a part of. We ask You to

bless her from the top of her head to the bottom

of her toes and that's a distance that will be

growing for a long time. And with every breath

and with every bit of growth, we pray that You'll

You'll fill her up, show her love, and give her

strength. We pray for Carrie. We pray for Chris.

We pray, Lord, for a Holy Spirit power to be

the parents that they truly desire to be. And

then we pray for the true desire to be the parents

that Your Holy Spirit can make them. Help us,

God. We know that it's just what You want to

do. And we're claiming your promises today. We

pray all this in Jesus' name. And all God's people

said? Amen. Thank you very much. You can be seated.

I feel like the sermon's already been preached

today. He's been so good. So we're going to do

something a little bit differently. Something

different I don't do very often. I don't know

if I've ever done it before. In just a moment,

I'm going to give you all three points of the

sermon in advance. And so if somebody had to

sneak out, they'd have the most important parts

already taken care of. But we're going to do

that in just a moment. First, I want to tell

you a story that the Lord laid on my heart as

I was looking at this passage of Scripture today.

And I had totally forgotten about it. This is

a true life experience. So when I was about 11,

12 years old, my parents and I, my mother and

my father, drove to Fort Wayne, Indiana. There

used to be a mall in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I don't

know if it's still there or not. I know last

time I was there, which was a good 15, 20 years

ago, it had pretty well emptied out, so it may

not still be there. But in this day, it was still

there, and it was a double -story mall. It was

two stories. The mall had a lower story, which

was partly underground, you know five six feet

above ground and then a higher story that was

on top of that and so it even looked like two

stories from the street and in the middle of

the mall and the one part was a skating rink

they had a huge skating rink in the middle of

this mall and around it was the food court tons

of different kinds of food and stuff and then

around the mall not in the mall or in the parking

lot but near the mall was a couple flea markets

and so we would drive to fort wayne indiana and

we would go visit the flea markets and then we'd

go to the mall and we'd walk around the mall

it was cool it's a really big mall We never skated

in the skating rink, but we ate in the food court

an awful lot. On this particular time, my parents

and I went. I didn't take a friend along, which

turned out to be a good thing. We were driving

a little, it was called a Horizon. It was a little

hatchback car called a Horizon. Interesting thing

about those Horizon hatchbacks is that in the

middle of the transmission, as best as my understanding,

I'm not a big automotive person, but in the middle

of the transmission was a plastic gear. and at

a certain number of miles, it was relatively

common for that gear to go bad. And that's what

happened to us. As we were arriving in Fort Wayne,

Indiana that day at about noon, 1 o 'clock, something

like that, on a Sunday afternoon, my parents

did not do church. I didn't get saved until I

was 25 years old, so this is a long time before

that. And we arrived about noon on a Sunday,

and already the car was acting up. And so we

went all over town looking for a mechanic who

could look at the car and figure out why it was

acting up. We stopped at a bunch of different

places, and lo and behold, as probably doesn't

come as a real surprise to anybody, there were

no mechanics open on Sunday at noon or 1 or 2

o 'clock. And so we ate, and we skipped all the

flea marketing and so on. And then about 3 o

'clock in the afternoon, my dad said, well, it

could take us forever to get home at this rate

because the car would only go so fast. and every

time it would try to shift up out of second gear.

Sometimes it would, sometimes it wouldn't, and

then it would try to go out of third gear. It

would never go out of third gear, so best to

get into third gear, and every time you stopped

at a stoplight, you had that whole process repeating

over again. So we're driving home, limping home

from Fort Wayne, Indiana, which is a couple -hour

drive anyway, and we started at 3 o 'clock. Come

9 .30 at night, it's dark, and we're on the back

road still about 45 minutes from home. We're

driving down the back roads at about 15, 20 miles

per hour. I was a little bit of a mathematician

even then. I had figured out that the roughly

45 miles away that we still were, at 15 miles

an hour, we were going to get home about 1 o

'clock in the morning, except that it was only

getting worse, constantly getting worse. And

so by about 10 o 'clock, the fastest the car

would go is about 10 to 11 mile per hour. And

it was basically second gear wasn't really working

at that point. So in first gear, and every time

it would wind up, the RPMs would wind up, the

car would slow down. And that's the way it would

go. So about 10, 30, 11 o 'clock at night, we're

still driving, still a good 30, 40 miles from

home still. Let me get my directions right. Way

west in Ohio. I think we'd made it into Ohio,

but we were driving on the back road. Couldn't

get on the expressway. Couldn't get on the turnpike.

It was just limping along at about 10 miles an

hour. We're driving along, and finally, stop

at a stop sign, get ready to go again. My dad

stepped on the gas, and the car just would not

go at all. It's going, whoo! You can make a humming

noise, real kind of high -pitched, whoo! inside

the transmission or whatever. And it was going

like two, three miles an hour. Right away, I

calculated that. I said, Dad, at this rate, we're

going to get home tomorrow. We're not going to

make it. I think it's only getting worse. My

dad's like, I know that. I know that. You think

I know that? They were stressed, and they were

arguing with each other. I'm not going to sit

back. I'm just going to be quiet. We're creeping

along the road about two miles an hour at about

1230 in the morning. We're driving, and we see

some lights on the side of the road. There's

a big open door and a bunch of cars sitting around

the lights. I'm thinking, we can stop there.

Something. See if they got a phone. Make a phone

call. Something. This is before cell phones.

I'm really dating myself. But anyway, lo and

behold, we pull up alongside next to this and

we're doing probably like one, two mile an hour

in this car and I'm sitting in the back fuming

because I can't say a word. I'm hungry. I haven't

had anything to eat in like seven hours and I'm

mad. My dad's mad, my mom's mad, and she's burying

her face on the side. She's not going to say

nothing, and we're creeping along a couple of

miles. Here we go along the road, and we pull

up, and I'm reading the sign on the building,

and it says, Mechanic. Creeping along, creeping

along. My dad's just driving. He's just driving

along, and the sign says, Mechanic, and the lights

are on. There's people in there working on cars.

I'm going like, and I'm afraid to say anything.

You know what I'm saying? He's driving along

about two miles an hour. He was going to drive

right by the mechanic. I mean, like, he was not

going to pull into the park. And we're like,

we're passing the driveway. And as we're passing

the driveway at like two mile an hour, a tow

truck comes up to the front. And I'm thinking

like, if we don't talk to the guy now, then,

you know, he's just going to be towing us from

a few miles down the road anyway. And he pulls

up and he stops. And there goes my dad. He's

going to drive right past the tow truck. And

so the tow truck pulls out on the side of the

road. We're basically driving on the brim, not

even on the actual road because we're going so

slow. And he pulls over, and the passenger rolls

down the window. There's two guys in the tow

truck. And the tow truck driver says to my dad,

he says, do you need help? And my dad says, no.

And my mom hit my dad. It was the only time I

ever seen my mom hit my dad. Actually, he physically

hit him in the side of the head, and he went,

ah, and he looked at her with anger, and then

he realized what he had just done. And my dad

said that the tow truck driver said, I think

it's the transmission that's going out. And the

tow truck driver kind of laughed. He goes, yep,

I think you're right. And he said, we're right

here, and we're about 25 feet past the driveway

to the mechanics. We're right here. He said,

we'll help you get turned around. and you just

need to get in there. And so we pulled in there,

and they kept the car, and they drove us home

in another vehicle. They drove us home, dropped

us off at home, and they kept the car, and they

were going to fix the car. And oh, wow, I don't

know, Thursday or Friday of that week, they actually,

actually, it was like Tuesday of that week, they

said, we can't actually fix it. It's going to

have to go to the dealer, so we are going to

tow it to the dealer for you, and then the dealer

will fix it. And then like Thursday or Friday

of that week, it was actually fixed, and we got

the car back for the next weekend, and we did

not go to Fort Wayne that weekend. In fact, we

didn't go to Fort Wayne for months, maybe years

after that. I can't remember how it was. A long

time anyway, because that trip to Fort Wayne

became almost like a nightmare for us. I want

you to bear that in mind then as we look at the

text of Scripture today. I do want to tell you

that you're jumping into a sermon series, and

I had prayed about it. I thought about it. Some

folks are not going to be here who haven't been

with us today. And so I want to explain to you

that the author of Hebrews, as we read the chapter

11, the author of Hebrews today, He's not just

writing about the faith that you're familiar

with from Sunday school class when you were a

little kid or the first time you ever heard about

it. This is faith after you've been saved. This

is faith after you have accepted the fundamentals

of Christianity. Okay? So that's really all you

need to know, and then you've not missed anything.

If you want to listen to the sermon series, they

are online. You can listen to them. But I'm going

to give you all the points of the sermon now.

I promised you I would do that. I'm going to

do that. And then we're going to go into the

text. And the reason I'm going to do that is

because as we go through the text, you're going

to see the points constantly throughout the text.

And I may or may not be able to remind you every

time they come up. I probably won't. So I want

you to just be able to do that yourself and see

them, okay? So the first thing is that not yet

seen things are motivators. So people who think

something good is coming up. They get motivated

about that good thing, right? So kids who are

six, teenagers who are six months away from graduation,

they're like, yay, I'm going to graduate. People

are saving up money for a car and they're getting

close. Yay, I'm going to get a car, right? So

not yet seen things are motivators, okay? I think

that's a fairly obvious truth, but it really

speaks a lot when we talk about faith. The second

thing is the passage says faith or else. But

it's not quite simple, not quite that simple.

It says faith. or else, and because it's faith

or else, we just have to deal with what comes,

right? So faith or else. And then the last one

is the then building block. As we make our decisions,

as we fundamentally build our lives, there is

a building block called then, okay? And I want

you to see it. All right, so usually we hoot,

we holler, we say amen. If you can just kind

of shake off some of your... restrictions a little

bit for a second. This is God's Word, and when

we go to it and read it, we will be changed if

we allow it to be so. So maybe give me some kind

of noise as we go to Hebrews chapter 11. Thank

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

you. I wasn't kidding. We actually do do that

here. People are like, I don't think they do

that. But yeah, we actually do. So this is God's

Word. Here we go. Hebrews 11, beginning in verse

1. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped

for, the conviction of things not seen. I want

you to understand, if somebody ever asks you

to define faith, don't define it that way. That

is not a definition of faith. Those are characteristics

of faith. Faith is basically believing. That's

what faith is, very simply put. But this faith

that takes place after a person is already saved

is the assurance of things hoped for and conviction

of things not yet seen. We know what we know.

We know where we're going because of this faith.

Verse 2. For by it the men of old gained approval.

God said, you did a good job because they had

faith. By faith we understand that the worlds

were prepared by the word of God so that what

is seen was not made out of things which are

visible. See, this is an equation that mostly

the world doesn't understand. Most of what you

see was actually made out of something that you

could never have seen. You follow that logic?

In the beginning, God created everything and

he made it out of nothing. X in the helio. There

was nothing. He created everything. And then,

by the way, after, or before, I should say, one

of the first things he created, I should say,

was light. So before there was light, you couldn't

see anything even if there had been anything,

but there wasn't anything. Right? You understand,

we see by light. So there wasn't anything to

see. So literally everything that we're seeing

today was made out of nothing. So if everything

that we're seeing today was made out of nothing,

then it's reasonable to expect that there are

other things that could be made out of nothing.

Right? That's what... The writer of Hebrews is

saying, By faith we understand that the worlds

were prepared by the word of God, so that what

is seen was not made out of things which are

visible. By faith Abel offered to God a better

sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained

the testimony that was righteous, God testifying

about his gifts, and through faith, though he

is dead, he still speaks. Talking about Abel,

right? Continuing on. By faith Enoch... That's

an old guy in the Old Testament who never died.

Enoch was taken up so that he should not see

death. And he was not found because God took

him up. For he obtained the witness that before

his being taken up, he was pleasing to God. So

it is possible to please God, you follow? That

is a possible thing. And without faith, it is

impossible to please God or to please him. For

he who comes to God must believe that he is and

that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.

So in other words, you have to believe that God

exists and you have to believe that God is a

rewarder of those who seek him. And if you can't

believe that God exists and you can't believe

that God rewards those who seek him, then that

means you don't have faith. Right? And if you

don't have faith, then you can't please God.

It's a circle. You can't actually do it if you

don't even believe that he exists. It's very

simple. By faith, Noah, being warned by God about

things not yet seen, here we are with the not

yet seen things, in reverence prepared an ark

for the salvation of his household, by which

he condemned the world, and he became an heir

of the righteousness which is according to faith.

By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed

by going out to a place which he was to receive

for an inheritance. And he went out not knowing

where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien

in the land of promise, as in a foreign land,

dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow

heirs of the same promise. For he was looking

for the city which has foundations, whose architect

and builder is God. So not the city that he was

living in. Not another city somewhere else on

the earth. But he was looking for something then,

something that he couldn't see on this earth.

He was believing in a city which has foundations,

whose architect and builder is God. Verse 11.

By faith, even Sarah herself received ability

to conceive even beyond the proper time of life,

since she considered him faithful who had promised.

Therefore also there was born of one man. And

him as good as dead, I think it's funny how they

call Abraham as good as dead. That verse always

kind of makes me chuckle because he was old enough

that he really couldn't have children anymore.

But he was as good as dead, but God gave him

another son. That cracks me up. And him as good

as dead at that. As many descendants as the stars

of heaven in number and innumerable as the sand

which is by the seashore. The seashore, that

which is given to Abraham, was described as that.

Descendants innumerable as the sand which is

by the seashore. Verse 13. All these, all these

people that we're so far discussing, died in

faith without receiving the promises. Say, we're

looking for something then. We're looking for

something not yet seen. But having seen them,

the promises, and having welcomed them from a

distance, so they saw, they believed it was coming,

and they welcomed their coming, even though they

never received them. And having confessed that

they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

For those who say such things make it clear that

they are seeking a country of their own. And

indeed, if they had been thinking of that country

from which they went out, they would have had

opportunity to return. They could have gone back

where they were. But as it is, they desire a

better country that is a heavenly one. Therefore

God is not ashamed to be called their God, for

he has prepared a city for them. You see, if

you are looking for something here on earth,

if you're waiting for God to do something here

on earth, your target is off. That's what the

writer of Hebrews is saying. A lot of times we're

waiting for God to do something here on earth.

Talk about people would pray for healing and

believe for healing. Believe and receive and

you'll get the healing. If you're waiting for

something here on earth, that's not the target

that was Abraham's target. That's not what he

was looking for. He wasn't looking for something

here on earth. Now God blessed him here on earth,

but why did he bless him here on earth? Because

he was not looking for something here on earth.

He was looking for the city whose architect is

God. Verse 7. By faith Abraham, when he was tested,

offered up Isaac. and he who had received the

promises was offering up his only begotten son.

It was he to whom it was said, In Isaac your

descendants shall be called. So Isaac was the

one that God had told Abraham would be, he would

be the one that all the people would arise out

of, right? He was the heir of promise, and yet

Abraham was willing to sacrifice him. He considered

that God is able to raise men even from the dead,

from which he also received him back as a type.

So in a way, he's saying, in a way, he received

him back from the dead, but he really didn't

because he didn't have to die in order and be

resurrected. Verse 20. By faith, Isaac blessed

Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.

By faith, Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each

of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning

on the top of his staff. By faith, Joseph, when

he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the

sons of Israel. See, he said, in time, it's going

to come. You're all going to go out and go. back

to the land that God has promised. So he told

them, don't you bury my bones here in Egypt,

is what he's saying. And he gave orders concerning

his bones. By faith, Moses, when he was born,

was hidden for three months by his parents. Because

they saw he was a beautiful child and they were

not afraid of the king's edict. The Pharaoh was

having all the male children killed and they

hid Moses. Verse 24. By faith, Moses, when he

had grown up, refused to be called the son of

Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to endure

ill treatment with the people of God than to

enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. There it

is for sure. Very clearly said in verse 25. 26,

considering the reproach of Christ greater riches

than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking

to the reward. Verse 27, by faith he left Egypt,

not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured

as seeing him who is unseen. By faith he kept

the Passover and the sprinkling of blood so that

he who destroyed the firstborn might not touch

them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea

as though they were passing through the dry lands

and the Egyptians. When they attempted it, were

drowned. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell

down after they had been encircled seven days.

By faith, Rahab the harlot did not perish along

with those who were disobedient after she had

welcomed the spies in peace. Okay, so now we're

going to kind of get a little bit of a summation

here and we're going to start to talk about the

darker side of the same thing. Okay, we're almost

done. And what more shall I say? For time will

fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,

or David and Samuel and the prophets who by faith

conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness,

obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,

quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge

of the sword, from weakness were made strong,

became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Women received back their dead by resurrection

and others were tortured, here we go, not accepting

their release in order that they might obtain

a better resurrection. And others experienced

mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and

imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn

in two. They were tempted. They were put to death

with the sword. They went about in sheepskins

and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill

-treated. men of whom the world was not worthy,

wandering in deserts and mountains and caves

and holes in the ground, and all those having

gained approval through their faith did not receive

what was promised. Do you hear that? Everything

they did. We like to do things for the result,

don't we? Everything they did, they did for a

future city that they could not yet see, and

they did not receive the promise in their lifetime.

All that suffering, the sawing, the lack of proper

clothing. So we would say they probably were

pretty much okay with goat skin and sheep skin.

But the bottom line is they didn't have during

this lifetime and they waited on God. And all

these having gained approval through their faith

did not receive what was promised. And here's

why. Because God had provided something better

for us. So that apart from us, they should not

be made perfect. See, it's not that we'll be

made perfect, that that's what's better. That's

not what's better, right? It's better that we'll

be made perfect than that we won't be made perfect.

It's not better for them that we would be made

perfect. It's better for us that we would be

made perfect. They would be made perfect, and

now this is what's even better, that we also

can be made perfect with them through this faith

that God is calling us to. Just three verses

left. The author of Hebrews says this, Therefore,

since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding

us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and

the sin which so easily entangles us, and let

us run with endurance the race that is set before

us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and

perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before

him endured the cross, despising the shame, and

has sat down at the right hand of the throne

of God. by sinners against himself so that you

may not grow weary and lose heart. You hear it

now? The not yet seen things, they are motivators.

We are motivated by what we want the results

to be. We plan for it, plot for it, work for

it. Pile into it and try to get there because

that's what motivates us, the unseen things,

that we have an inkling of where we may be going.

Paul said, press toward the goal. We have a job

to do in this lifetime. It is not to build ourselves

a kingdom to get people to look to us. It is

not to be better off, to do better, to have better

health, to have better money. That is not our

job. Our job is to prepare for a future kingdom

coming, the architect of which is not us, but

Jesus. God. You cannot imagine the house that

you might get to live in in heaven. You could

live in the best house you would ever live in.

You could work your butt off to make sure you

got three quarter inch copper plumbing in every

bathroom. I had that once by the way and the

water would run hot in all three bathrooms. I

didn't put it there. It was there well before

me. But the bottom line is you can do that. You

can get bay windows. You can get skylights. You

can get towers and castles and walls and servants.

I was watching a show last night. They said,

here's the Duke and the Duke's cousin and the

Duke's mother. And all their servants went, and

there were 250 servants all around taking care

of their house in 100 years ago England. You

can get all of that. And it will by no means,

in no way, compare with that which God is trying

to prepare for you. I go to prepare a place for

you. And if I go to prepare a place for you,

I will come again and I will take you there to

be with me. Our job is not to build a better

kingdom on earth. It is not to live better. It

is not to fix the problems that we perceive.

You don't get to go out and push people to be

what you want them to be. You can entreat people

to come to God. You can share the gospel and

the truth and the hope and the faith and the

mercy and the love and the forgiveness that is

available through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

And nothing, nothing at all is really going to

change a person permanently except for an experience

with the living Savior. Our job is not to seek

out the things that, hang on, I said we're motivated

by the things we... Don't yet see, right? And

I mentioned graduation. I mentioned a bigger

house. I mentioned a car, right? Those are all

things that we don't yet see, except guess what?

When we're motivated by them, we actually do

see them, right? I mentioned six months before

graduation, a high school senior going, yeah,

I'm going to graduate. It's because they actually

do see that, isn't it? That they're motivated

by it. Now, God is asking us not to be motivated

by earthly goals or steps that we can take, but

rather to be motivated by that which we cannot

see. Why do you think we're not supposed to make

a picture of heaven? Because there's no picture

of heaven that would ever represent what God

is truly doing. It's beyond our imagination.

We can imagine what it will be like two years

from now, five years from now when we get promoted

on our job, our wages are better, we're prepared

for retirement. We can imagine what it will be

like when we don't have to get up and go to work

anymore. We can serve the Lord every day of the

week. Or we can just sit in our garden and sip

our tea. wonderful things that we can imagine,

but you can't imagine what God is doing for you.

You can't. You say, well, I know God is helping

me. God is giving me strength. God is making

me a better person each day. I do things now

I could never do before. Yes, but if you look

back at your Christian life, how often have you

gone and you said, well, I'm not going to tell

this lie now so that in a few weeks from now,

I'll avoid telling that lie then. That's hard

to do because you don't even know what the circumstances

are going to be in a few weeks, right? You don't

know how you're going to avoid doing something

that you shouldn't do in a few weeks. You just

have to make the decision now. There is just

exactly one ingredient left. Just exactly one

ingredient left in God's recipe of your eternity.

And it is your today. God is asking you to live

in light of that which you cannot see then, that

he is building everything and taking care of

it. And he's asking you to chip in the one thing

that you have that he wants for that recipe.

And that is your today. He wants you to make

your today about the things that you cannot yet

see. And that's what they did. And they were

found pleasing. They were applauded by God. And

yes, some of them were sawn in two. And yes,

some of them were poor. And yes, some of them

were sick. And yes, some of them received their

dead back to life. God is asking us to make our

today about the things that we cannot yet see.

And when we do that, our today is added in the

recipe of the eternal project, if you will, that

He has for us. But it's faith more else. You

see, they received back their debt, the healings

that took place, all the things that they did,

and all the being found pleasing by God, it was

all based on their faith. Because they believed

God. They took God at his word. God said, I'm

going to do this. And they said, okay, I believe

you. And I am going to live as if you are going

to do that. So, for example, if I say God is

going to prepare an amazing place for you, then

you shouldn't have to fuss or worry so much about

the color of carpet or exactly the way things

look or exactly the neighborhood that God wants

you to live in or your certain circumstances,

right? Because God is going to prepare the right

place for you. And the truth is, no matter what

you do and how hard you work at it, the things

that you make right here and right now, they're

always going to be flawed because they're made

out of things that you can see. They're made

out of creation, which is struggling, waiting

for redemption, waiting for Jesus. To come again.

Believe or else. Believe or else, lose out. Believe

or have your story not equal someone that joins

the witnesses. What would the witnesses say?

And remember there was such a cloud of witnesses.

What have they said to us? Well, they have said,

I believed and God took care of it. I believe

the promises and the promises... were held in

reservation, yes, so that you too could believe,

so you too could come into it, but they were

ultimately fulfilled. The witnesses would say

to you, be motivated by the not yet seen things,

the things that you can't even really imagine.

Be motivated by faith. Believe in God and trust

in God. The then building block is a little bit

more tricky. It's a little bit harder to use.

You've got to think about who you were before

you met Jesus Christ. You've got to think about

the hole that was in your heart that nothing

could fill. You've got to think about the things

that you did that were wrong. Now, God doesn't

use regret. I'm not talking about regret and

I'm not talking about guilt. But if you can...

Imagine that you made a transition from who you

were before you met Jesus to who you are now

that you have met Jesus, assuming you have met

Jesus. That's an inkling. That gives you an idea

of the awesome nature of the transition that

is next coming when Jesus comes again or when

we go to heaven. Say, I was lost. When I was

24 years old, my wife and I were, young couple

and I wasn't very good to her. I wasn't a very

good man in general. I was a manipulator and

a liar. I would have been a thief, but I was

too afraid to steal anything. I was afraid of

a lot of people. I was afraid of talking to strangers.

I would go to a restaurant and I would order

a sandwich and I'd be afraid to order it without

mayo, which I just absolutely hated. So then

I just wouldn't go to a restaurant and order

a sandwich. The reason I was afraid to order

is because I was afraid of what that person working,

making minimum wage behind the counter would

think of me if I ordered my sandwich without

mayo. I've been changed. Am I complete? No. Has

everything been fixed about me? Do I still make

mistakes? Yes. But I know that a transformation

has taken place. I've begun a journey on a road

that's going somewhere. And if you have done

so as well, then how can you not today trust

that the transition that God is going to do,

the promised coming of Christ, the moment that

the trump shall sound, and the church shall go

to be with Jesus, that heaven is revealed in

its final construction, that the new heavens

and the new earth are the final thing. How can

you not expect that to be? albeit outside our

understanding, absolutely incredible. And if

it is, then that thought, the nature of what

it just might be like, has to figure in your

decision -making process today. It's called the

then building block. Then it will never be like

that anymore, or then it will always be like

that. The next time you're in true sorrow, you're

broken over having lost a loved one or you're

broken over having lost a situation or somebody

really cut you to the quick that you thought

you could trust, we say, oh, now what am I going

to do? And we go into mourning and we're recovering

and we're working through it and hopefully you're

entreating God to help you to work through it

and you're step by step working through the process

until you can be whole enough again to begin

to function in your life again. But don't do

that without the then building block. That's

when you remember that when we get there, it

will never be like that again. No more sorrow.

Even if there should be a reason to cry, God

himself will wipe away your tears. When you're

struggling and you're working and you're in pain

and your body's failing you or you're not strong

enough to lift it or you're not strong enough

to stay up and do it or whatever it is, realize

that there's coming a moment in time in heaven

where all of that is gone. What we're facing

today, when we don't like it, it is to remind

us that when we get there, it's not going to

be like here. We're not going to face it. God

forbid. I hate that hundreds of thousands of

people have died in the pandemic. I hate it.

It sucks. But so does God. God hates it too.

God let it happen, right? Now God can't hate

it because He let it happen. No. It's the groanings

of creation awaiting Jesus coming again and it's

only been allowed to happen because God is patient

that all men might come to repentance. We are

suffering. They were suffering then. Jacob, one

of the fathers of the faith who's named here,

lived during the worst drought in the Middle

East history so that he sent... His sons to Joseph

to buy food because everybody, literally everyone

was starving, but they had money because God

had taken care of us. They sent silver to buy

food in one of the worst droughts to ever hit

the Middle East. And it says for five more years,

there would be no rain and no one would eat.

And obviously they had things that they could

eat, but they couldn't eat anything that they

could grow. And that was the sustenance. That

was their livelihood. But Jacob was the... God

named him Israel. He was the child of God. He

was to found the nation of Israel. He shouldn't

have had any suffering, right? No. Everyone is

going to suffer because we live in a failing

creation. The question is not whether or not

we're going to suffer. The question is, what

are we going to do with the suffering? Are we

going to build a then component into working

through what we're going through today? And we

come to the conclusion. And the conclusion is

simply that question. What do the witnesses say?

In the court of appeals over whether or not you

can have faith in the worst hours of your life,

the witnesses say this, I had faith in the worst

hours of my life and it worked. It paid off.

God brought me home. God gave me a child when

I believed there was no way, and He said I would.

I just trusted Him and He gave it to me. God

raised my so -and -so from the dead. I died in

the pit. I died sawn in two. I died hung on a

cross. I died burned alive. But in a moment,

I was transported from that instant, that horrible

experience, into a bliss that was well worth

it. I preached a sermon about a couple months

ago called Almost Done. This is the paradigm

that Jesus has set up. He put the church and

all those who trust in Him, all of God's people,

if you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and

Savior and live for Him going forward, then He

puts you at the moment in time, forever at the

crux, on the edge, at the precipice, almost done.

But done comes after almost done and we all want

done. We dream about it. The fact is we lust

after it. We want it. We want it to be nice.

We want it to come together. We want it to stop

being a problem. We want the person that we love

to say exactly what we want them to say. We want

the doctor to give the right rendering, etc.

That's what we want. We're living in almost done.

Not done. And we'll be in heaven if we've accepted

Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If we've believed

that He was God's Son. That He died on the cross

to pay for our sins and that God raised Him from

the dead. He has right to be Savior. It means

He paid the price. He has right to be Lord. It

means He tells us what to do. If we believe that,

then we will be done. And that knowledge, that

forehand knowledge, that gift to you, that gift

to me of knowing that we will be done, that's

the then component. Maybe you're here today and

you're in a really rough spot. You've been through

some stuff. Maybe someone put you in the spot.

Maybe you put yourself in the spot. Maybe you're

looking at the world going, holy cow, what is

even going on? So many people, so much violence,

so much sickness, so much chasing after money.

And a lot of it gets swept under the rug and

then thrown up in our faces all of a sudden and

it comes like a surprise. Oh, holy cow, what

is that? Did you know that in 2019, before the

pandemic ever came, that in our nation, tens

of thousands, almost 100 ,000 people died of

opiate overdoses? While we're all pretty freaked

out by the number of people that have died to

COVID -19, I was a little freaked out by the

number of people that died. to opiate overdoses.

We had a young man, 15 years old, walking home

from Madhouse one night, walking down Main Street,

because they walk in from all over the neighborhood

to come to a youth group, and he was walking

down Main Street, and a car stopped in the middle

of an intersection, and him and his friends went

out to see what was going on. And there's a guy

sitting in the front seat in the middle of the

Star and Main intersection, Star and East Broadway

intersection, overdosed on opiates. He was driving

his car. And that's when it hit him. And he's

sitting there overdosed on opioids. And they

called the police. And the police came. And the

ambulance came. And they gave the guy the shot.

And his life was saved. But listen, it's not

somewhere else. Evil is not somewhere else. Suffering

is not somewhere else. Difficulty is not somewhere

else. It's right here. And if you are looking

at what you can see, imagining things getting

better, imagine things being okay, imagine things

being alright, then you're actually kind of kidding

yourself is what you're actually doing. What

you really need to look at are the things that

you can't see. The world will tell you you need

to look at the things that you can't see. Deal

with what's right in front of you. But God says

just the opposite. Look at what you can't see.

I know where you want to be. I know what you

want to do for the rest of eternity. I know where

you don't want to be for the rest of eternity

and I can get you there, says God. I have paid

the price. I've taken care of it. Build into

your life the then component. What that's going

to be like then. Realize when you're suffering,

when you're struggling, when you're saying something

that's not nice, when you're hurting someone

else, you're just a product of the struggling

of creation. You're giving in to be the kind

of person that you should never be because in

that moment, instead of thinking about the then

component, you're thinking about getting what

you want right now. God is asking us to trust

Him. Not just with our salvation. If you've never

accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior,

you need to do that. But then after that, because

we're still going to live here until it's over,

until it's actually done, He's asking you to

trust Him with your every day. And think about...

How the not seen things, how the things you can't

see, the things that you can't understand, the

things that you can't get there by using Google

Maps or whatever the iCloud version is. Jesus

will take you there. He got there. Oh, and just

on a side note, how did he get there? He died

on a cross. But somehow we think we're better

than him. Like we're going to avoid that. and

get there anyway. Gratefully, we probably will

not die on a cross. But if Jesus doesn't come

again first, we will die. And if you're going

to get mad on the day that your car breaks down,

if you're going to get upset on the day that

you don't have the money that you want, if you're

going to get upset on the day that your relationship

doesn't quite go the way you want it to, how's

the day you're going to die going to go? The

day when you're literally on the doorstep to

the mansion that Jesus has prepared for you?

Will you be fussing and throwing a fit? I hope

not. Because then, the then will be really close.

Maybe it's closer than we think. I ask you today,

if you've never accepted Jesus Christ as Lord

and Savior, listen to these witnesses. Listen

to God and His Holy Spirit and the love that

He has for you. And that He did everything to

bring you into relationship with Him. It's all

done. That part's done. Accept that and say,

okay God, I accept the salvation that You paid

for for me. I accept You as Lord of my life.

And I know I'll probably screw up, but I'll trust

You to teach me when I do. And then every day,

add the then component. He's taking me there.

He's taking me then. And if you're already a

follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm asking

you to live not for the house that you would

build or that the rich man could build, or that

the church could build, but only for the house

that God can build. I'm going to pray with you

briefly and then we'll have the praise team come

and lead us in a song of invitation and final

hymn of our service. Father God, how easy it

is to fall under the flood these days. Pressed

to either, A, think, This creation is so messed

up. How can God be in charge? How can God let

that happen? Or what am I going to do? To feel

hopeless and despair because of so much pressed

on us in this day. Or to say we're going to take

it in our own hands and we're going to fix it.

We're going to make it right. We're going to

raise our voices. Or if necessary, get violent.

Or withdraw. Pull back. Push people away. Or

say just the right thing or do just the right

thing to make everyone around us know that we

are right. And when I listen to the witnesses

of Scripture, those who have the favor of God,

those who are called pleasing to God, I hear

that neither one of those methods are the method

that you would have us to live by. But rather,

that we would today submit this day and our choices

into your hands. That we would live always, even

with your Holy Spirit in us, showing us more

than we ever knew before. We could live knowing

that there are things that we don't know yet.

And that the things that we truly desire will

be made out of that which we do not see. Lord,

we want to believe. Help us with our unbelief.

If there is someone here today who has not accepted

Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they know. They've

heard the story. They know that Jesus died on

the cross, rose again on the third day. They

know that He claimed to be God in the flesh and

that He backed that up with miracles and teachings

of such authority that no one would deny it except

for those who truly wanted to stand against Him.

They know that story. But maybe they haven't

said, okay God, I surrender. I submit. I turn

away from who I was and I turn only to you so

you can take care of it. I pray Lord that they'll

do that. Or that they already have. And that

they'll make it public. That they'll boldly say

that I'm living for my God. And the future that

he has prepared for me, not myself. I'm making

today better. Father, if there's somebody here

who would say, I already am a follower of the

Lord Jesus Christ. I believed, and so I got saved,

and so everything is settled. I pray, Lord, that

they would let you show them. wherever it is

in their life, wherever it is in my life, that

we need to trust you and proceed with diligence

as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ to be found

faithful even through suffering and trials, to

add the then component to our thinking every

now. Help us, Jesus. It's in your name we pray.

Amen. I ask the praise team to come forward at

this time. We're going to have a closing hymn.

This is the closing hymn of our service, but

it's also an opportunity for you to respond.

If you feel like the Lord has spoken to your

heart and you need to say something, you can

just get my attention by raising your hand right

where you're at. You don't actually have to walk

forward to the room, in front of the room, or

if you want to, you can. Right here, there really

is no front of the room. You just kind of all

face one direction because it's more convenient

that way. So wherever you are, that's where God's

working. If He speaks to you, then you let us

know that and we'll let you speak in a moment.

after we sing, okay? Would you, if you're comfortable

and able to do so, would you stand and sing this

song with us and let the Lord work in your heart

as you sing. housekeeping things there is a football

game for the five to ten year olds play football

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