“KEEP RUNNING!” Hebrews 12:1-2
FBCF 8/24/25
Jon Daniels
INTRO – https://sermoncentral.com/church-media-preaching-sermons/sermon-video-illustrations/run-6437-detail
This coming Friday – 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina – Massive Cat 4 hurricane that hit the MS & Louisiana coast in 2005 killing over 1300 people & causing $200 billion in damages – one of the deadliest & most costly natural disasters to ever hit the US.
We all have our Katrina stories – Finished our FLC @ MBC in April 2005 – Katrina hit in Aug. In bldg design, put showers in bathrooms “just in case we needed to be a hurricane shelter” – Hwy 27 one of main evacuation routes out of LA.
- PK Conference in Mobile that Fri & Sat. I had not been paying attention to weather. AM – “Louisiana brothers… After lunch – “MS brothers…” – FD mtg that night.
- Ron Mumbower began a revival w/ us on Sun, Aug. 28. Preached AM service, then we canceled remainder of services. Vicki, Rachel, & Russ headed to Cleveland – took them about 6 hours
- People began showing up, mostly people from the 9th Ward in NO.
- Stretch limo showed up packed w/ food
After the storm passed, so many things had changed.
- Lives were changed.
- Landscapes were changed.
- Livelihoods were changed.
- People would never be the same.
- Families would never be the same.
- Communities, neighborhoods, & cities would never be the same.
- And we’re still talking about it 20 yrs later.
What brought about the change? Power! – the unstoppable power of the wind & the power of the waves. And while the vast majority of the changes that Katrina brought were negative, I want you to consider this w/ me:
We had an “event” here this past week. And we witnessed the power of God in our midst.
- The wind of the Spirit of God blew through us.
- The waves of the presence of God swept over us.
My phone dinged & rang all week during the revival & after the revival.
- People wanting the revival services to continue
- “Got me so fired up”
- “In all my years, this was the most powerful revival I’ve attended.”
- Church member wanting to find their place of service as a result of the revival – “just going through the motions is not enough”
- “Sunday morning revival still seemed to be an abstract concept. By Monday night, it’s as real as you & me!”
- “Can’t believe how blessed we are! Thank you so much for praying for us, following the Lord’s lead & bringing Dr. Leblanc to share the Word w/ us this week! It was incredible!”
- Larry himself said, “That was the best revival I’ve been a part of & I love your people.”
Today, I want us to consider what we should do now. What’s next? How do we continue to build on what the Lord has done & is presently doing in our lives? Was this a “one & done” experience & we’re back to “business as usual”? Was this just us going through the motions? Or was this for real? Will we see ongoing evidence that real, Spirit-led revival has come to our lives & to His Church?
As your Pastor, I firmly believe that God has begun a new work in the hearts of many of us & in the collective heart of this Church. The old hymn says, “Revive us again, fill each heart w/ thy love, may each soul be rekindled w/ fire from above.” That’s what HE has done! He has revived us – He has refilled us – He has rekindled us! So, LET’S GO! We cannot stop! We must not stop! We must press on & keep on running the race of the Christian life! The Gospel demands it! The lost world needs it! Jesus is worth it! This is true for those of you who came every night of the revival as well as those who couldn’t come to any of the services. Don’t want you to feel left out b/c the message is the same – the call of God is the same – the opportunity for revival is still the same & is still just as available today as it was each night this past week.
EXPLANATION – Hebrews 12:1-2
The main theme of book of Hebrews is JESUS. You might say, “Isn’t that the theme of the whole Bible?” & you’d be right. But the book of Hebrews makes it abundantly clear that Jesus is greater than any angel, any priest, or anything that mere religious performance has to offer. Larry challenged us to make sure that we weren’t just going through the motions or relying on our past experiences. And the writer of Hebrews does the same thing. Jesus is superior to anything & anyone, so keep living for Him & keep running toward Him!
APPLICATION – Revival will continue as we keep running the race of the Christian life.
Let US… - We are doing this together! When YOU get revived, the Church gets revived! Each of Larry’s message centered on Jesus’ message to the Church – Ephesus, Pergamum, Sardis, & Laodicea.
- We are a FAMILY – related to one other
o Ephesians 3:15 – “When I think of the wisdom and scope of his plan, I fall down on my knees and pray to the Father of all the great family of God” (TLB)
o 1 John 3:1 – “What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God!” (MSG)
- We are a BODY – connected to one another
o 1 Corinthians 12:27 – “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
- We are a FIELD – planted & growing w/ one another
o 1 Cor. 3:9 – “You are God’s field”
- We are a BUILDING – constructed beside one another !
o 1 Cor. 3:9 – “You are God’s building”
- We are a NATION – living among one another
o 1 Peter 2:9 – “But you are a chosen people…a holy nation…”
CONSIDER THE OTHER RUNNERS – v. 1a – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…”
What’s the “therefore” there for? Back up & look @ chapter 11 – “The Hall of Faith” – heroes of the faith – Consider those who’ve gone before us – Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, & a bunch of unnamed heroes.
- They showed us how to persevere
- They showed us how to get back up after we’ve been knocked down
- They showed us that God’s not finished w/ us even when we blow it & mess things up in our lives
- They showed us how to live by faith
- They showed us how to suffer & even die in faith
- They showed us that living a life of faith in Jesus & commitment to Jesus is worth it, even if it means being tortured, imprisoned, beaten, even killed (v. 35b-38).
We also have those around us today who are still alive who are setting an example for us to follow & emulate – people whose lives of faith inspire us to follow Jesus closer, love Jesus deeper, obey Jesus quicker. Some in this very church – this very room – someone that you’re watching as they live out a life that honors & glorifies the Lord. May be thinking, “I wish I could live like that!” You CAN! In fact, you SHOULD! If you are a Christ-follower, your life SHOULD be lived in such a way that, if someone observes & imitates you, then they’ll be living a life that glorifies the Lord Jesus.
So, consider the other runners, but understand this: THEY CAN’T DO IT FOR YOU! You can study them, learn from them, imitate & emulate them, but you & I are called to run OUR race. Which means we must…
CONDITION OURSELVES TO RUN – v. 1b – “…lay aside every weight & sin which clings so closely, & let us run w/ endurance the race that is set before us…” Like NIV better – “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles…”
“Yep! That’s what I did last week!” That’s GREAT, but that’s not a one-time decision. It’s a daily decision! We have an enemy who is constantly looking for ways to weigh us down & hinder us & entangle us in sin.
2006 - Got myself in condition to run a marathon. But once it was done, I was done! Stopped training at the level that was necessary to run a marathon (came in 1397th place!)
Here’s the difference: Our entire lives are a marathon. So, we can’t stop conditioning ourselves to stay in the race! We must:
- Keep on throwing off the sin that weighs us down!
- Keep on disentangling ourselves from the sin that trips us up!
And remember – WE ARE IN THIS RACE TOGETHER! One thing I learned in the marathon I ran is that most runners are constantly encouraging other runners at the same time they’re running their own race – at different levels of fitness – running different paces – wearing different brands of running shoes, come from different backgrounds, nationalities, ages, but all in the same race running toward the same finish line. Beautiful picture of the Church!
CONCENTRATE ON JESUS – v. 2 – “…looking to Jesus…” – NIV – “fixing our eyes on Jesus” – We need to have spiritual “tunnel vision”!
Why? B/c He is the ultimate example of perseverance. He’s the only one who has run the race perfectly, never distracted, never deviating off course (like I did one time!), never doubting whether or not He was going to finish the race. He’s the founder of our faith, the pioneer who blazed the trail for us into the very presence of God so we could follow Him there. He did this by enduring the torture & shame of the cross, & victoriously defeating death & hell for us, & is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God, interceding for us! There is no one else who has done that for us or could do that for us.
He’s more than just a good example to follow – He is our destination b/c, one day, we will run into His very presence & fall into His arms & at His feet!
CONCLUSION – On average, takes 50k-55k steps to complete a marathon – one step after another for 26.2 miles.
So, what’s YOUR next step? What step do YOU need to take today?
- For some, you need to take the FIRST step? Come to Jesus to be saved!
- For others, next step may be to throw us some sin that’s weighing you down. Or get untangled from some sin you’ve gotten wrapped up in.
- For others, next step may be step of obedience – baptism, serve in the church, call to ministry/missions, join this church.
