Gining Grit Series

Gaining Grit

Jeffery Anselmi / General Adult

Core 52 / Perseverance / Hebrews 12:1–2

To gain grit, the grit to persevere, we need to do some things

INTRODUCTION

- How does a person persevere when it is not easy to do so?

- How does an athlete push hard as their body is hurting and it does not look like they can win?

- In our walk with Jesus, how do we not quit when the road gets difficult?

- Life is easy when things are easy, and the opponent takes little effort to defeat.

- What happens when life is tough, and the opponent seems insurmountable?

- That is where gaining grit comes into the picture.

- Another word we can use instead of grit is perseverance.

- Perseverance is defined as DETERMINED CONTINUATION WITH SOMETHING, steady and continued action or belief, usually over a long period and especially despite difficulties or setbacks.

- Grit separates the good from the great; grit is the difference between success and failure.

- How do you develop grit in your life?

- It almost seems like some are born with it, but grit can be nurtured in our lives.

- There are some things we can do so that we can develop grit.

- One thing is we can not always take the easy route in life; we can look for challenges.

- When I coached ASA Girls Softball, we played our 14 and under team played in a 16-18 year league so we would get better.

- The writer of Hebrews knows that we will need grit to face the challenges we face in our Christian walk.

- It can be so easy to walk away when things do not go as we want them to, when things get difficult, or when we just do not have the answers to why things happening around us do not understand us.

- As we look at Hebrews 12:1-2 we need to understand that this passage is connected to chapter 11 of Hebrews, called the Hebrews Hall of Faith chapter.

- After extolling the virtues of some of the great men and women of the faith, the Hebrew writer follows it up with the words found in today's text.

- No matter what I am dealing with in life, the real question is, will I stay faithful to Jesus no matter what I face?

- Am I going to be faithful to His will for my life?

- Am I willing to trust Him when trusting Him in a particular area of struggle makes no human sense?

- I am going to do the right thing; I am going to stay faithful.

- Do I have the grit to sometimes gut it out despite what is happening?

- Today, as we dig into our passage, I hope we see ways to develop the grit we need to keep our faith on track.

Hebrews 12:1 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,

SERMON

Gaining grit requires one to:

I. Look around you.

- The passage sets up a backdrop of a race that is being run.

- This race has the contestants and the crowd surrounding the track watching the race.

- Who are these witnesses, and what does it mean that they surround us?

- When you look at the 11th chapter of Hebrews, you see the greats of the faith like Abel, Noah, Enoch, Rahab, Abraham, and Moses, to name a few.

- These men and women were the personification of grit and determination as they ran their race of faith.

- Their lives stand as a testimony to what pleases God.

- The word WITNESS can mean “people who have demonstrated their faith.”

- The point is that these Old Testament heroes in chapter 11 were approved for their faith by the testimony of God, and their experience now stands as a testimony to us as to what pleases God.

- So, they may or may not be “watching”.

- The other plausible explanation, which I currently subscribe to personally, is this:

- At the minimum, the cloud of witnesses includes those in Chapter 11, and these “witnesses” have lived their lives; they have run their race, and their lives stand as witnesses to us to encourage us to run in like manner.

- The word for “WITNESS” also does not mean a passive spectator (although in 1 Timothy 6:12 and Hebrews 10:28 it seems to lean that way), but rather to be an active witness to something.

- The word denotes someone who sees an event and reports what happens.