08 Aug Hebrews 19: The race of faith

Hebrews 11:30-12:2

³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. ³¹ By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. ³² And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵ Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. ³⁶ Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. ³⁹ And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

One of the greatest speeches in the history of the world is one by Winston Churchill. One day, Winston Churchill, the great Prime Minister of England, was invited to his previous school that he graduated from to deliver a speech. At the time, England was facing its greatest hour of turmoil. They experienced tremendous pressure of World War 2 against Nazi Germany. As Winston Churchill was being introduced, the students waited with great anticipation at what Sir Churchill would have to say. What would be the genius of this mastermind? The students were ready with their notebooks opened to receive the great words of the man who led England to its finest hour against Nazi Germany. So, Churchill stood up, all the students with pen in hand. You could hear a hush over the crowd. He came up to the podium and he delivered his speech. Contrary to popular myth, it was not a 30-second speech. It was longer than that. But in the middle of his speech, he said a powerful line that became legendary. He said, “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” That was the meat of his speech. England was facing its greatest crisis, and its Prime Minister said, “Never give in.”

The book of Hebrews was written to a group of Jewish Christians who wanted to give in. They experienced persecutions and tremendous pressures to walk away from their Christian faith. And many of them were tired. They were not sure if following Jesus was worth it. And some people gave in to the pressure and walked away from Jesus. And the author of Hebrews reminded his audience to never give in to the lies of the enemy. He told them, “Do not quit. Jesus is worth it. Jesus is better. I know these are hard times. Some of you had lost your property, some had been imprisoned, and some were tortured. But true faith perseveres to the end. Never give in.” And to prove his case, he listed out the names of different Jewish heroes that lived by faith. And that’s our passage for today. The purpose of Hebrews 11 is to encourage Christians to persevere in their Christian walk. Just like all the Old Testament heroes lived by faith and persevered in faith, we are also called to live by faith and persevere in faith. Hebrews 11 is written to deepen our confidence in God’s promises that enable us to persevere.

Why is this important? Because today, many Christians and unbelievers have distorted views of faith. In fact, some of the largest churches in the world today are the churches that are parts of the word of faith movement. The word of faith movement teaches the prosperity gospel. They say that if we believe and claim it, it is ours. A few weeks ago, I saw someone posted Mark Wahlberg’s quote on his Instagram story. Mark wrote, “God never gives you a dream that matches your budget. He’s not checking your bank account, he’s checking your faith.” To which this man wrote, “That’s it, bro.” Before you are wondering who it was, let me tell you that he is not a member of our church. According to this understanding, faith is the currency by which we can accomplish our dream. If things did not work out the way we expect, it is because we do not have enough faith in our account. So, what we need to do is to store up more faith by good deeds and positive thinking and when God sees that our faith has reached a level that is required, he will then give us what we want. But that is not how the Bible defines faith.

We need to understand faith correctly or else it will destroy our relationship with God. Here is why. Many of us have dreams or promises of God that we hold on to. It might be healing from sickness, restoration of family, vision for the future, successful career, God-loving spouses, etc. What happened was we asked God for direction. We received confirmation. We walked in obedience. We saw God opened doors. And then the road split into two. Some experienced blessings of God in what they do; while others are confused and frustrated at what seems to be never-ending struggles. Then a question arises in the hearts of those who experienced struggles, “Why?” The modern church’s response to this question is that we need to have more faith. “Believe more, have more faith, and you will have it.” But is this faith? What happens when the breakthrough we expected never come to pass? We have three options. First, God is able but he does not love us enough to do it. Second, God loves us but he is not able to do it. Third, our faith is defective, and God is not pleased with us. Can you see the problem? All three options destroy our relationship with God. And in this passage, the author of Hebrews puts a nail in the coffin of the prosperity gospel. And if we get what the author is telling us, we can handle anything. Whatever life throws at us, we will be okay.

I separated this sermon into three parts. The power of faith; The value of faith; The focus of faith.

The power of faith

Hebrews 11:30-35a – ³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. ³¹ By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. ³² And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵ Women received back their dead by resurrection.

For the type-A people, you are frustrated with me right now. Because I just skipped verse 8 to verse 29. I know because I am frustrated at myself for skipping those verses. But those verses give us more examples of faith that can be summarized in the verses that we just read. Maybe one day we will do a mini-series on all these heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. No promise. But this is the part of faith that we love. These people experienced tension in their faith. They experienced the tension between what they believed and what they experienced. They looked like they were about to be defeated, faced overwhelming odd, impossible circumstances, but they chose to take God at his word, and they triumphed. Breakthrough happened. Miracles occurred. God came through. They experienced the power of faith. Let’s zoom in on two stories.

First, the story of Joshua and the wall of Jericho. Jericho was the most fortified city in the land of Canaan. And we know that at the time, Israel was not a nation of war. They left their life of slavery in Egypt and wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They did not have the equipment and weapons needed to destroy the wall of Jericho. Joshua had no idea how they should conquer Jericho. He was faced with an impossible situation. Then God showed up and told Joshua the battle plan. God told him, “Joshua, here is what I want you to do. For this battle, the praise and worship team will take the lead. So put Kimberly Antonio and Sarah Hansen at the frontline and tell your army to march around the city once a day. Do the same thing for six days. And they are not allowed to talk while they march around the city. And on the seventh day, they have to march around the city seven times and at the end of it, Victor will strum his electric guitar. And when they hear the sound of the guitar, they have to shout as loud as they can, and the walls of Jericho will crumble.”

Can we agree that this is the weirdest battle plan ever? But it worked. And the author of Hebrews tells us that Jericho fell not by military might but by faith. The battle of Jericho was not about Joshua or his military strength at all. It was not Joshua who fought the battle of Jericho, but it was God who fought the battle of Jericho. Joshua’s role was to put his faith in God’s word, despite the overwhelming odd against him. Joshua believed that God exists, and God rewards those who seek him. So, Joshua took God at his word and God proved himself faithful to Joshua.

Let’s look at another one. Second, the story of Rahab. This is one of my favourite stories in the Bible. If Joshua was a man of God, chosen by God to accomplish great things, Rahab was the opposite. The only thing in common between them is that both were approved by God because of faith. Rahab was not an Israelite. She was a citizen of Jericho, and she owned a brothel. Literally. That’s how she made a living. If you do not know what a brothel is, it is a bro-hotel, where bro spends time and money to have sex with prostitutes. Rahab prostituted herself for money and she had few girls in her house to please her customers. I do not know a lot about prostitution but one thing that I know is that no girl ever dreams of becoming a prostitute when they grow up. “Baby, what do you want to be when you grow up?” “I want to be a prostitute mommy.” I never heard that. What I hear is that every girl dreams of becoming a princess. Not a prostitute. So, for whatever reason, life was not working out for Rahab.

But then she heard of Israel and how the God of Israel was extremely powerful. She heard of all the things that God did to Egypt and how God split the Dead Sea into two for the Israelites to cross. She heard of how all the nations that opposed Israel were destroyed. And this is what’s amazing. She not only heard of this God, but she also believed in this God. So, when two Israelites spies came to spies Jericho, Rahab helped them. Rather than turning them to authority, she hid them. This was an act of treason. She helped a nation that was about to invade and destroy her country. If she’s found out, she would be killed immediately. There was tension. On one hand, she was a prostitute of Jericho. On the other, she believed that the God of Israel could save her. So, when a moment came for her to choose between her life and the God of Israel, she chose God. And again, she was not a woman of godly character. She was simply a prostitute who chose to trust God. And by faith, she was spared from death when Joshua conquered Jericho. Rahab believed that God exists, and he rewards those who seek him.

The same can be said about every hero of faith in this list. Every single one of them was approved by God because of their faith. There was tension and they believed that God exists, and God rewards those who seek him. That’s what differentiates them from other people. Not their status, not their nationality, but their faith. And these stories are written for our sake. It helps us to have a bigger view of who God is and what he can do. God can do the impossible. It is part of God’s job description to make the impossible possible. “Impossible is nothing” does not originate from Adidas. It is the very description of God. So, believe him for the impossible. Sing along with me if you know the song. “God will make a way where there seems to be no way. He works in ways we cannot see, he will make a way for me.” Let me just say, if you did sing along with me, you are old.

So here are some questions for us. Do we believe that God exists, and he rewards those who seek him? Are we trusting him and his word? Because God does works in extraordinary ways for people who take him at his word. God wants to use us to accomplish his will on earth. And some of you might argue, “But Yos, you don’t know who I am. You do not know my background. You do not know what I have done. Surely I am not qualified for God to use me.” Hear the good news of the gospel. It doesn’t matter who we are, where we came from, or what we have done. God can accomplish great things in and through us if we put our faith in him. In fact, God delights in choosing those who seem to be the most unlikely candidate. All these heroes of faith were not superheroes with no flaws. They had fatal flaws just like us. They were guilty of great failures as well. But they were approved by God because of their faith. They took God at his word even when it did not make sense. And God did not see them in their flaws but in their faith. Who knows what God might accomplish through us if we take him at his word? This is the first part. The happy part. But there is another side of faith that we rarely talked about.

The value of faith

Hebrews 11:35b-38 – Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. ³⁶ Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Wait. What happened to these people? What they experienced was the total opposite of what the first group experienced. If the first group experienced a breakthrough in their situations, this group did not. Why? Was it because of their lack of faith? That cannot be the reason. The author of Hebrews tells us that this group was also commended by God because of their faith. So, this group also trusted that God exists, and he rewards those who seek him. They walked in obedience to God and yet they got a different result from the first group. God could have intervened in their situations. God was not limited by anyone’s free will nor circumstances. But God did not always do it. Here is what we must understand. Sometimes God delivered his people through faith and at other times God sustained his people through faith.

Let me give you one example: David and Jonathan. King David was a shepherd boy. He was a nobody. Even his family did not think much of him. But God chose him to be a king. And every time he experienced struggles, God came through. He defeated Goliath. When people tried to kill him, David escaped death. Not once. Not twice. But again and again. To the point that David became the greatest king of Israel. He defeated enemies and conquered kingdoms. And he did all that by faith in God. But then there was Jonathan. Jonathan was David’s best friend. He was a prince. Jonathan had the right over the throne of Israel. And he was a good man. Like David, Jonathan trusted God. He was faithful to God, and he was faithful to David. To the point that he was willing to let David took his rightful place as the next king of Israel. But at the end, he lost everything. He died in a war, fighting a battle for his wicked father. Was it because of a lack of faith? Of course not. Jonathan lived by faith in God, and he trusted God that David would be the next king of Israel and not him. Do you see what happened? David trusted God and everything worked out for him while Jonathan trusted God and he was killed.

I am sure all of us would prefer to be David than Jonathan. We would rather be those people who achieved success and glory and attribute all of it to God. We want to be like the Olympic badminton winner who reached the heights of fame and said, “It is not me. It is all God.” That is a wonderful story. But according to the author of Hebrews, there is another group of people that God commended for their faith. One that did not get to experience success and fame and breakthrough. And one group is not better than the other. God has a purpose for both. Both are part of his plan. In the first group, God showed us the power of faith. In the other group, God showed us the value of faith. The second group testified to the world that having God is better than life.

Look at verse 35b. Hebrews 11:35b – Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. By faith, they knew that there was something better than this life. Think about it. Let’s say that they died, and God raised them back to life. That’s amazing, right? But as amazing as it was, it was only a resuscitation. Because even though they came back to life, they were still subject to suffering, and they would eventually die again. In other words, it was just a temporary escape from death. But by faith, they rose again to a better life where they will never taste death again and be with God for eternity. That is a better life. Do you see what happened? Their faith was not on what God could do for them. Their faith was not in their agenda for God. Their faith was in God. My friend, this is what faith is. Faith does not say, “If God loved me, he would.” Faith says, “Even if God does not, he is still God.” This is why the prosperity gospel is not the true gospel. The prosperity gospel teaches that it is never God’s will for his people to be poor or sick or troubled in any way. They see the evidence of God’s blessing as material and physical well-being. Don’t get me wrong. God does love to give good gifts to his children, and he delights in our successes. But what we must understand is that God’s greatest gift is not for us to drive a Lamborghini and live in a mansion. The greatest gift of the gospel is God himself. Therefore, to know him and living a life that glorifies him is our greatest joy in life. Teaching that focuses on the gifts of God rather than the person of God will lead people to idolatry rather than faith. It leads people to use God and not love him. God is glorified when sick people get well, but he is also glorified when sick people die well.

Look at verses 37 and 38. It is beautiful. Hebrews 11:37-38 – ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. The world was not worthy of these people who died by faith. These people were God’s gift to the world and the world did not deserve them. They showed the world the value of faith, that faith in God is far better than life. In the eyes of the world, they were stupid to lose their life for their faith. But in the eyes of God, God gave them high distinction. So, if you look at your life right now and you think that your life is terrible, but you love Jesus and you trust God’s word, let me tell you what God says about you. “The world is not worthy of you.” Your suffering is not a sign of God’s disapproval of you. You are not where you are because of your lack of faith. You are where you are because God is testifying to the world through you that he is infinitely more precious than life. And look at what the author says next.

Hebrews 11:39-40 – ³⁹ And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Here is what he is saying. The old covenant, as good as it was, was not as good as the new covenant. All these heroes of faith in the old covenant, none of them received what was promised to them. They only saw the promise from afar. Their faith was future-looking. But we are different. We are in the new covenant. If they looked forward to something better, we have what they looked forward to. And if they could achieve so much when they had something less, how much more for us? Today, we have something better than them. We have Jesus as the fulfilment of all of God’s promises. Which lead me to the third point.

The focus of faith

Hebrews 12:1-2 – Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

These two verses are gold. They summarize what Christian life is all about. The author of Hebrews describes the Christian life as a race. We can’t see it in English but in Greek, there is only one command in these two verses. And everything else is built on this one command. And that command is “run.” This is the main point of the book of Hebrews. The author wants his audience to run their race with endurance. It means that there is no such thing as passive Christianity. Christianity is a race. And it is not a sprint. It is a marathon that requires endurance. It is a lifelong commitment. It involves effort, struggle, and determination. Christianity is a race of faith. But listen to what the author says. The author says that our race is already set before us. God has set our race from eternity past. We do not get to choose our race. All of us have our own race to run.

Let me tell you why this is important. One of the fastest ways to demotivate us in running our race is comparison. The enemy loves to distract us by making us focus on other people’s race. He says things like, “Yos, look at that pastor. He is about the same age as you. But he has over a million followers on his Instagram. And he has over 10,000 people attending his church. And how many people attend your church again? There must be something wrong with you. You are not a good pastor. Are you sure the gospel is worth it? Who wants to hear a message about suffering anyway? Give in to what people want to hear. And you can also have over a million followers and a really big church.” That’s how the enemy distracts us from our race. But the author tells us that we should not compare our race with others. God in his sovereignty has set our race before us. We must stay in our race. We cannot choose our race and we cannot run other people’s race, but we can run our race of faith and finish well. In Olympics, only one person can win a race. In the Christian race, all who persevere to the end win. Because we do not compete against each other. Our role is to remain faithful in our race by faith.

So how do we run our race of faith? The author tells us three things that we must do in our race of faith. First, remember that we are surrounded by many witnesses. We often think of these witnesses as spectators. So, the picture is we are running our race, and these witnesses are cheering us from heaven, saying, “Oh Yosi, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind, hey Yosi, hey Yosi.” I think there might be some truth to it, but I don’t think that’s what the author is primarily saying. These witnesses are not so much cheerleaders in a stadium but rather witnesses in a courtroom. They are not watching our race but rather they are testifying the truth to us in our race. These witnesses are testifying to us with their lives that by faith they were able to finish their race. So, Joshua is testifying to us, “Faith in God is worth it. By faith, I conquered Jericho and finished my race. If I can finish my race, you can too.” Rahab is testifying to us, “Faith in God is precious. By faith, I saved the two spies and finished my race. If I can finish my race, you can too.” And not only them, but Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, Samson, David, they all testify to us that by faith we can finish our race. And whenever we doubt, whenever we feel like giving in, remember that we are surrounded by many witnesses who testify that God will not fail to sustain us to the end.

Second, remove every weight and sin. Weight and sin are different. Let’s talk about weight first. Weight is whatever slow us down from running our race. Weight is not sin but if we are not careful, weight can lead to sin. Let me give you an example. We are currently in the Olympic season. And the one event I love the most at the Olympics is the 100m race. If you watch the 100m race, then you will see that they lay aside everything that slows them down. They are wearing very light and tight shirts and shorts. In fact, in ancient times, they ran their race virtually naked. Why? Because it helped them ran their race better. Can they run a 100m race with a suit and tie? It is not against the rule to do so but it won’t help them win the race. It’s dumb to run the race with a suit and tie because it will slow them down. Except, if you are James Bond. So, weight is anything that slows us down in our race. It is whatever dulls our affection for Jesus. And this is important. A lot of times, we use sin as the standard of things we must avoid. And that is good. But that is not enough. The question we must ask is not only, “Is it a sin?” but “Does it help me run my race of faith?” Because weight is not a sin. Weight could be a good thing that slows us down. And weight looks different for different people. For some people, it might be Netflix. For others, it might be ambition, habit, friendship or social media. And if we want to run our race well, we must be very intentional about removing any weight in our life.

We also must be very intentional about removing sin which clings so closely. Pay attention. All of us have a sin which clings so closely. This is not a generic sin. This is a specific sin that we are more prone toward. It is a sin that is waiting for us just outside our front door. Another name for is besetting sin. And once again, this sin is different for different people. For some of us, it might be a sexual sin. For others, it might be pride, anger, drunkenness, covetousness etc. And the author tells us to remove it from our life. Don’t just know that we should not do it but act in such a way so that we would not do it. Because sin lies to us. It tells us, “There is nothing wrong with a can of beer. There is nothing wrong with going to the pub after work. Many Christians drink alcohol.” And yes, there is nothing wrong with drinking alcohol. But if drunkenness is your besetting sin, then maybe you have to take a drastic measure to kill it. Don’t believe the lies of sin. Every sin always starts small. But it won’t take long before it consumes us.

Third, look to Jesus. This is the most important part. We can only run our race with endurance if we focus our eyes on Jesus. Jesus is the focus of our faith. Back in the day, I was a sprinter. I ran 100 metres race for my school. And I remember my very first race against other schools. I was very nervous. But I had a very good coach. He trained me for the race, and he was very kind. He realized I was super nervous before the race. So, he came to me and said, “I know you must be very nervous. But I want you to clear your mind. Don’t think about other runners. Just concentrate on running the race. And when you get to the starting block, don’t look to the right or the left, just look straight. I’ll stand at the finish line. Just focus your eyes on me and run as fast you can. You are fast.” So, that’s what I did. I got on the block, focused my eyes on my coach and ran as fast as I could. And that is what the author of Hebrews is telling us to do. “Don’t look to the right or the left. Focus your eyes on Jesus. And run as fast as you can. Because Jesus is the founder and perfecter of your faith.”

The phrase “founder and perfecter of our faith” is very interesting. It has two main meanings. First, the word founder and perfecter mean that Jesus is the one who made faith possible by his finished work at the cross. Jesus is our perfect high priest and our perfect sacrifice. Jesus is the object of our faith. Without Jesus, our faith is useless. But because of Jesus’ perfect work, our faith is not futile. That’s the first meaning. But there is another meaning to this phrase. The phrase “founder and perfecter of our faith” not only tells us that Jesus is the object of our faith, but Jesus is also the author of our faith. So, when Jesus ascended to heaven and sat at the right hand of God, it was not like Jesus got promoted and simply became the king of this world. The throne of God is not a place up in the sky. Heaven is another realm different from this world. Jesus did not get promoted to the level above us. He did not simply become our king whose throne is up in the sky. A king has some sort of control over people’s life. But no king has absolute control. A king cannot control every little detail of life. But for Jesus to sit at the right hand of God means that he has entered a different realm. It is like the Korean drama W, where the character in the story is sucked out of the realm of the story and entered the realm of the author. When Jesus ascended to heaven, it is like Jesus was sucked out of the story and moved from the realm of a story to the realm of authorship. It means that right now Jesus is not only sitting on the king’s throne chair. He is sitting on the author’s chair. And if Jesus is sitting on the author’s chair, he is in full control of everything that happens in the story. There is nothing that happens in the story that surprises Jesus. He is the author of our faith. And because he is the author, he can guarantee the completion of our faith. This is why we can run with endurance. Jesus has finished his work and he is right now sustaining our faith to the end. Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith.

But that’s not enough. The question is, how can we be sure that the author of our faith is good to us? What is our guarantee that the author will not change his mind about us? Here is how we know. “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” What do we see when we look to Jesus? We see that he suffered. Jesus was not alien to pain. He entered the world of pain and endured the cross. But why did Jesus do that? The author said that what sustained Jesus through the cross was the joy beyond the cross. But what joy? What joy was it that Jesus did not have before he endured the cross? Was it the joy of the Father? Was it the joy of God’s glory? No. He already had all that from eternity. What was the joy that he did not have until the cross? You. Me. The joy of having us. Jesus endured the cross for us. Can you imagine that? Jesus loves us to the cross. We are his joy. Jesus is committed to our joy to the end. He will not give up halfway. This is what we see when we look to Jesus. This is where we find the strength and endurance to run our race. It is not our endurance that guarantees we will finish the race; It is the fact that Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith. Jesus is the focus of our faith. So, how do we run our race of faith? Look to Jesus. Let’s pray.

Discussion questions:

1. Can you see the tendency in you to limit the power of faith? If yes, why?
2. Think back to the story of David and Jonathan. How would you feel if you were in Jonathan’s shoes? And what does the Bible say about “Jonathan”?
3. Comparison is one of the fastest ways to demotivate us in running our race. Is this true about your experiences? Share it with others.
4. Explain the difference between weight and sin. What are some personal examples of weight in your life and what can you do to remove it?
5. Why is it absolutely crucial for us to constantly look to Jesus in our race of faith?
6. Explain why prosperity gospel is very damaging to the Christian faith.