1/25/26
Rev. Clint Smith
Sermon Direct Link
Almost every team that enters a competition believes it has a champion. While team sports may celebrate an individual champion, true victory is never achieved alone, it requires the full commitment and effort of the entire team. In Hebrews 11:39–40 and 12:1–2, we are reminded that those who endured suffering and persecution, and were approved by God, now stand as faithful veterans of the faith. Their testimony surrounds us as a great cloud of witnesses, cheering on the next generation as we run our race, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
The faithful were chosen and given grace to exercise their faith so that they might finish the race with a powerful spiritual testimony. God approved them as they stood firm through miraculous victories and seasons of intense persecution. They did not abandon God, and God did not abandon them.
God did not delay His promise by accident. He delayed it because He had us, the Church, in mind. He had something better, so that the heroes of faith would not be made complete without us.
Today, as born-again believers, we have responsibilities. We must persevere through life’s successes and the distractions of pain, casting off the sin of unbelief that causes us to falter in the race set before us.
We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses whose stories have been preserved for us. By God’s grace and their relentless faith, they testify to us today of His absolute faithfulness.
Clothed in righteousness, we have a race to run. A race set by God. Run at His pace. Run with endurance. Run with active persistence.
As we run this race, we must look constantly to Jesus, our Author, our Perfecter, the One who completes our faith. He is the Coach.
Jesus, for the joy of fulfilling the goal God set before Him, endured the cross. He disregarded the shame. He sat down in the place of authority at the right hand of the throne of God, revealing His deity, His power, and the completion of His work.