Part 16 “Race Markers for 2016”
Hebrews 12:12-17Intro – welcome to 2016 dear friends…I have the privilege of bringing you the first message of the year from God’s word which I hope God will use to guide us, encourage us and line us up with His will and purposes for the year ahead…I’ve often told you stories from the marathons I have run…lots of good sermon illustrations come from running…that’s because running a race is one of the pictures the Bible uses for living the Christian life…
That passage tells us that God has designed a Christian life for us…He has marked out a route which we are called to run…with perseverance…with a faith that does not give up even when we “hit the wall” and feel like dropping out…
When you run a marathon, the course is marked very thoroughly…there are signs all along the way, arrows pointing which way to go when you get to a key intersection…there are also volunteers standing at important crossroads pointing the right way to go…there are also mileage markers all along the route telling you how many more miles of torture you still have to endure!
-the course is well marked so that the runners will stay on track and keep going forward…not to mention the many people who stand along the way cheering you on and offering words of encouragement…
So for this new year, I want to give you 5 markers that God has placed along the course of our walk with Him…5 things that God wants you to see and respond to in this new year…
…5 things for you to be on the lookout for…
Please turn to Heb. 12:12-17…Prayer…Read…
Five Race Markers for 2016
I Marker One – seek healing vv.12-13
-the writer of Hebrews is wanting these first century believers to find strength, stamina and healing for the difficult journey they were facing…And God wants that for us today…I believe the Lord is saying to our church in this new year, that it is time to seek healing…and not to settle for being lame, feeble and weak…This is certainly speaking of physical healing…which God wants to increase in our church in the days ahead…but this has to come from people who are open to it, willing to ask for it, willing to take the step of faith to put yourself in the hands of God for Him to do a healing work in your life…
But it’s more than just physical healing…God also wants to do emotional and spiritual healing in many of us…to heal those places of emotional brokenness in our life that keep us defeated and vulnerable to the enemies attacks…
…God wants to deliver many of us from emotional and spiritual strongholds that try to keep us bound up in fear, worry, doubt, insecurity, in being unable to receive and give love in a healthy way…that keep us from relating in a healthy way to other people…
James 5:14-16 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
You will come across this marker in the days ahead…”seek healing”…and you will be invited by the Lord to do that… Please don’t disregard it…think it’s for those other people…please reach out for prayer for healing…if you don’t know who to ask, then simply speak to one of the pastors…or call the church office…or speak to a LC member…or come out on Tuesday nights at the church…or contact the prayer chain…
This is the year that God wants to strengthen those feeble arms and weak knees…
II Marker Two – seek peace v.14
I believe that the Lord is saying to our church in this new year that it is time to seek peace with one another…to not settle for broken relationships, conflicted relationships, unresolved issues between people…
Notice that the verse says, “make every effort to live in peace with everyone…” There’s no guarantee that there will be peace; if there isn’t a willingness on the part of both parties, peace can never be achieved.
But the point is that we do everything in our power to make peace possible…
In other words, we offer kindness instead of revenge…we offer blessing instead of cursing…we offer love instead of hatred…we offer forgiveness instead of holding on to hurt and anger…
Romans 12:18-19 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
You will come across this marker in the new year: “seek peace”…please don’t disregard it…it’s part of running the race that God has planned for you…it’s time to find peace again in your relationships…
III Marker Three – seek holiness vv.14, 16a
I believe that the Lord is saying to our church in this new year that the time has come to seek holiness at a level we have never known before…to not settle for holding on to little, what we consider harmless sins…acceptable sins, innocent sins, things everyone does these days…to not see how close to the edge we can get without crossing the line…
But instead to choose a fierce commitment to holiness because our God that we love is so worth it…so worthy of it…and we want to honor Him with lives that reflect His holy character…
In the days ahead, what will set God’s people apart as distinct from this world will be our very practical choices to not participate in what the Bible calls “deeds of darkness”.
Romans 13: 12-14 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
Look at the great promise that is attached to seeking holiness:
v.14…with holiness we will see the Lord…”
When we choose holiness we are rewarded by God with a very clear vision of Him…we see things that we are otherwise blinded to by disobedience…hear things from Him…experience His love, peace, joy, power, boldness…
You will come across this marker in the new year…we’ve been coming across it for years now!…please don’t disregard it any more…it’s time to live in holiness…
IV Marker Four – seek grace v.15
I believe the Lord is saying to our church in this new year that it is time to seek grace instead of let a bitter root grow up and defile many…
So much can be said about a bitter root within a church body…it happens when someone allows some unresolved conflict to grow and fester and instead of dealing with it biblically they hang on to it and talk to other people and spread the bitterness so that more and more lives get poisoned…the result can be devastating to a church family…
The antidote to this is the grace of God…the grace of God that teaches us that we are loved, accepted and forgiven by God despite our horrible selfishness and sin…that because of His mercy and compassion God has chosen to love us and give us the undeserved gift of eternal life even though we do not deserve one bit of it…
When we truly understand the grace of God at a gut level, then we are able to offer it to others and keep ourselves free from a bitter root…
Then there is also the ministry in a church family where a group of “grace-seekers” come around a person with a bitter root and minister God’s grace to them, to help that person get set free from their poison…
Heb. 3:12-13 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
You will come across this marker along the race in the new year…please don’t disregard it…it’s time to let grace triumph over bitterness…
One final marker to watch for:
V Marker Five – seek long-term, godly values vv.16-17
-the writer of Hebrews uses the story of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother, to make a powerful point. He shows us that Esau chose short-term, earthly impulses over long-term, godly values…and lost out big time…
The story comes from Gen. 25. Esau comes home from hunting all day, starved to death. Jacob has made a delicious stew, so he asks Jacob to give him some. But Jacob, rightly or wrongly, asks him to sell him his birthright in exchange for the stew. And Esau in his desperation for food, agrees.
Now you have to understand that the birthright in those days meant not only receiving the father’s inheritance, which Esau would have gotten since he was the first-born by a matter of minutes…but it also meant the position of leadership in the family once the father had passed on.
What Esau is doing is giving up that great first-born privilege for a bowl of stew! In other words, he is prioritizing his short-term, earthly impulses over long-term lasting, godly values…
Gen 25:34 So Esau despised his birthright.
So that’s why the writer of Hebrews refers to Esau as godless…in that he didn’t place enough value on lasting, eternal matters as he did on this life and his immediate impulses…
As strong as it sounds, when we choose temporary impulses over godliness, we are in effect despising our God-given birthright…(God-given, long-term rewards)…
…let God give you a long-term perspective so you can see the consequences of your choices before the decision is made…
I believe the Lord is saying to our church in this new year that it is time to invest in a godly future and not only immediate rewards.
Beware of Those Other Markers
Let me warn you dear friends, there are many other kinds of markers and signs along the marathon route known as the Christian life…markers and signs that try to distract us…to call us to step off the course and indulge ourselves in whatever we think we need at the moment…we will be tempted to give up faithful perseverance for comfort and self-indulgence…
…after we’ve made good progress for a while we’ll be tempted to think we can take a little break from the race and pamper ourselves…after all we deserve it for all the work we’ve done for the Lord…now there’s nothing wrong with a well-deserved rest…as long as it leads to renewal of strength and energy…
…there are signs designed to fill us with fear and to intimidate us…all part of the Enemy’s plan to trip us up and get us off our stride…
You will come across both kinds of markers along the race in the new year…please disregard the ones that are designed to distract you and pull you off track…please don’t disregard the ones that keep you focused on long-term, godly values that may not offer the kind of immediate rewards we’re conditioned to expect…but that offer a faithful, persevering life with God…
Conclusion
-a marathon route often used in Edmonton both starts and finishes at the Leg grounds…
-but before you get to the finish line, there is one large hill you have to climb out of the river valley…
A couple of things keep you going:
1) cheering crowd (cloud of witnesses…)
2) a loved one that awaits you at the end…
Jesus Christ is both running with us and waiting for us…
Heb.12:2-3… And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Prayer…Worship…Communion…