Date: 23 July 2005

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-13

Subject: Christian Living
Theme: Faithfulness
Title: Staying on Track
Audience: Young Adult (R-AGE)

Scripture:
1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so
easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out
for us.
2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him
who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not
grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin, you have not
yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
5
And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses
you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do
not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines
those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” 7
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what
son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and
everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and
not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who
disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should
we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers
disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines
us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline
seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces
a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained
by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13
“Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled,
but rather healed.

Introduction:
“If you are going to live for God in the twentieth century, you’re in for a
fight.”

True participation in the Christian faith always carries a price.

It takes courage to die for Jesus . . . It takes greater courage to live for
Jesus.

Keep going . . . Keep growing

Background:
The audience is tired not because of their sins or their Christian walk.
They are tired of is the struggle between the two, the constant warfare
that trying to be faithful entails. The Christians were paying some kind
of price for their faith that was increasingly taking its toll on their hope
and endurance.

Some costs Christians will have to pay:

Financial. There are jobs Christians will not do, deals they will not
make, promotions they will not get, conspiracies they will not join.

Social. Families have been known to disown converts, people of one

religion often avoid adherents of another.

Intellectual and emotional. It is far more demanding, mentally and

affectively, to figure out hoe to love one’s enemies than the relatively
easier task of devising ways to get even. True prayer can be
exhausting and has often been described as an almost muscular
struggle, with images drawn from the world of wrestling or even
warfare. The cross is the heaviest piece of furniture to move, and
Christians are charged with considerable task of picking it up and
carrying it every single day

Political. There are appointments for which Christians will not appear
on the shortlist. There are powers they will not exercise, lords they will
not serve, even for a moment.

Christians commitment carries a price tag, but of course, Christians are

not always willing to pay the cost. The price can seem too high or, like
a commuter on a toll road, one can finally grow weary of paying it
every day.

What erodes confidence is the loss of hope. It begins to seem futile to

pay the cost when nothing changes, when the problems seem
unfixable and the powers-that-be are too strong.; it feels like pouring
hard-earned assets down a bottomless pit.

Christians grow weary and lose heart. They do not become Satanist, or
cultic. They will not go away mad. They are just going to go away.
The writer is concern about those who pour their lives into the offering
plate but never receive the blessing, those who have all the scars but
none of the hope.

The challenge is to Keep going . . . Keep growing. We have to stay on

track.

How to stay on track with new energy and fervor everyday in our
Christian life in the world that we live in?
Body:

A. Find Strength from Traveling Light, Hebrews 12:1

1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that
so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race
marked out for us.
Exposition:
The writer of Hebrews gave an illustration of us running the race of
faith. To run effectively, one must not run with weights. Weights will
not feel heavy if the runner is standing, but it will weigh the runner
down when he starts running. The idea is stay light, run light and reach
the destination light.

The author mentioned that there are things that hinder us from being
effective. There are things that weigh us down, make running
cumbersome and energy draining.

There are specific sins in our life if we do not deal with it now it has a
stronger grip in the future.

Examples of hindrances and sin:

a. Pride
b. Unforgiveness
c. Greed
d. Impatience
e. Hot / Quick Temper
f. Jealousy
g. Private Sins
h. Lust
i. Procrastination

Illustration:
Running a 2,5km race. Watch and shirt seems heavy. Wants to remove
them to feel lighter and run faster.
Application:
Anything that will hinder us from running effectively and completing
the Christian race we need to remove them. If we carry them, they will
become a hindrance and eventually stop us from running and staying
on track.

B. Find Strength from Reflecting on Jesus, Hebrews 12:2-4

2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its
shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that
you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against
sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Exposition:
The author reminded the audiences of Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate
example of one who has finished the race. He was victorious. He was
faithful till the end. He remained faithful to God in a world even though
he faced disappointment, rejection, persecution. He gave himself to
the hands of evil men but never said no to God.

The writer reminded of the audience in chapter 11 all the man of faith
who stayed on track to the end. But at this point the writer encourage
the audience to reflect on Jesus and not the men of faith, if they feel
like giving up or going away. There is a good reason why the writer
want us to reflect on Jesus and not men of faith. The reason is that
Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus walked in the world,
fully God and fully man but did not sin.
If we were to reflect on those men of faith, we would have noticed that
they failed at one point or another in their walk with God. They did not
stay on track at one point or another. However this is not the case for
Jesus. He stayed on track even though the people rejected him. He
stayed on track even though the people accuse him. He stayed on
track even though they crucified him. He stayed on track, He is the
author and finisher of our faith.

Illustration:
Samuel Shoemaker was once asked why he poured his life and ministry
into the wretched of New York City. Shoemaker’s health was failing and
his sense of the city’s needs overwhelming and discouraging. “Why
don’t you just run away from it all before you are broken by this
inhuman burden you have placed on yourself?” a friend wondered. “I
would like to run away from it all,” Shoemaker is said to have replied,
“but a strange man on the cross won’t let me”.
Application:
Today if you feel discouraged because there is no result even you have
given you all to the ministry, find strength by reflecting on Jesus. If you
feel like taking revenge on someone who has hurt you or did injustice
to you, find strength to forgive and love by reflecting on Jesus.

C. Find Strength from Embracing God’s Disciplines, Hebrews

12:5-13
5
And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that
addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s
discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because
the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he
accepts as a son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating
you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you
are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you
are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all
had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it.
How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and
live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought
best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his
holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.
Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and
peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore,
strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths
for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather
healed.

Exposition:
The author is challenging the audience to treat hardship as training
ground (v. 7) for righteousness and peace (v.11) Training in
righteousness and peace is not just through the reading about and
finding biblical principles. Training is not complete without practical
training. Strength is build up through strict discipline.

Discipline is for now and strength is for then. If you want strength to
run the Christian race when you get to the working world, you need to
start working under the discipline of God now. We need to be sensitive
to every opportunity that God uses to discipline, shape and train us.
We need to grow from strength to strength.

Every situation in life especially the negatives ones is an opportunity

for us to exercise biblical principles so that we will bear fruit of
righteousness and to share in his holiness. If we are to represent him,
be an ambassador for Christ in the working world in the future, we
need to embrace God’s discipline today.

.Illustration:
Training of Carissa and Annabel
Training children up is not only in the classroom or in the bed room.
Everywhere is a training ground for a child. I don’t wait till they go to
school then they are being trained. When I bring Carissa and Annabel
out I start training them. The minute they walk up the steps I
encouraged them to start counting. When we reach the lift I teach
them shapes. In the lift, I teach them numbers. In the market I teach
them science. In the play ground I teach them moral education. What
they will become in the future depends on how they are discipline
today.

Application:
Becky always says that she was called by God to shape the people
around her.
Let the people around you shape you as you apply God’s principles in
living your young adult live
To stay on track we cannot have week knees and feeble arms. Embrace
God’s discipline today so we can be strong to face the world tomorrow.

Conclusion:
Story of meeting YFC friend who has sidetracked.
I met a friend of mine in NTUC one evening. We both serve in YFC
when we were in our teenage years. He was well dressed and well
groomed. We talked for a while and I found out that he is doing well
with his job and family is doing fine. However, I did not hear him talked
about his spiritual life. So here came the most dreadful question for
anyone, or at least of some people. “How are you getting on in your
spiritual life?” I asked. He looked embarrassed to answer me. He told
me that he is not attending any church, but is looking for one and will
eventually attend church.

That made me think of all the Sunday school friends that I knew long
ago. Where are they now? Are they still fervent for the Lord. Are they
still serving God. Or are they warming the pews? I wonder if you will
stay on track many years from now?