Fix Your Eyes on Jesus

I pray these words of encouragement over you this morning:

“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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

— Hebrews 12:1-2a

As we’ve been taught, whenever we see the word therefore, we need to go back, review, and ask, “What is it there for?” Hebrews chapter 11, also known as the “Hall of Faith,” is a detailed description of many biblical figures who demonstrated faith in action. These men and women of the Old Testament served God faithfully, despite their circumstances, and despite never seeing the Messiah face to face. Listen to verses 39-40, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” That “something better” is Jesus, the Son of God, who came to this earth as a living sacrifice. It is because of his shed blood that we may be reconciled to the Father and receive his free gift of grace. 

In Hebrews 12:1, we are called to “THROW OFF” the sin that hinders us: our fear, our resentment, our selfishness, our pride, our self-sufficiency, so that we may run with perseverance and fix our eyes on Jesus alone.

During this Holy Week, fix your eyes on Jesus alone. He is our Redeemer, our Joy, our Savior, our Emmanuel, our Healer, our Provider, our Everything. One way that I am “fixing my eyes on Jesus” this week, is reading through the Holy Week scriptures. There are many plans available. I am using the resources found on Anne Graham-Lotz’s website. I invite you to join me as we meditate on what God did for our world through his son, Jesus Christ. Join me in “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”

“The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.”

— Leviticus 6:13

-Lindsay Blume
Women’s Ministry Leader at Friends Community Church

Discipline's Harvest

“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. ”

— Hebrews 12:11

Anyone who plays an instrument or a sport knows the temptation: no one ever wants to spend any time learning the fundamentals, we just want to go straight into learning all the cool tricks that the pros use (even if we aren’t ready). We want to learn how to shred on the guitar like Eddie Van Halen before learning any scales, or how to dunk like Shaq before knowing our team’s playbook. It’s simply a natural tendency to want the flashy stuff before we are ready for it.

I started playing the acoustic guitar right before my freshman year of high school, a time in everyone’s lives notoriously known for a lack of self-discipline. The infamous video game, Guitar Hero 3, had just come out, and I wanted nothing more than to play guitar like Slash, the guitarist of Guns n’ Roses, and all the other greats as quickly as possible.

Something that some budding guitarists like to forget is that all of the guitar greats like Jimi Hendrix (from The Jimi Hendrix Experience), Eddie Van Halen (from Van Halen), and Jimmy Page (from Led Zeppelin) rigorously learned their fundamentals and gained experience before they got famous. Even Slash was known to practice 12 hours a day when he first started playing. On average, I practiced 0.1 hours a day and learned just enough from my lessons to get by before I could move on to playing the fun stuff.

Long story short: I still can’t play guitar like Slash.

In Hebrews 11, the author lists off all of the great heroes of the Jewish and Christian faith and states the reasons why they are great. Folks like Abraham, Moses, Rahab, and King David are all included in this list to inspire the reader to strive to be like them! However, in Hebrews 12, the author takes a slightly different tone. To paraphrase Hebrews 12:1-3: “Do you want to be like these heroes? Then you’ve got to train and persevere like a marathon runner toward your goal of being like Christ.” It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon.

I still can’t play guitar like Slash, but now that I have a little bit more time and space, I am getting back into learning fundamentals and am actually improving at guitar. It’s funny what a little bit of discipline and intentionality can do when applied to our goals.

We cannot do anything well without a good bit of practice and learning, whether we strive toward being like a great guitarist or like the heroes of the faith. God disciplines us because he loves us, because he knows we will benefit from it, and because he knows that a “harvest of righteousness and peace” comes from the discipline.

-Travis Morrill
Communications and Facilities Administrator at Friends Community Church

Encouragement in Romans

“Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled. May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

— Romans 15:4-6

Last week, my sister-in-law posted a verse to encourage her friends. As I read Romans 15:4, sitting in my living room, I found myself feeling a soft simple nudge: “See? I have you, turn to me and my Word!” I have a feeling many of us are looking for encouragement wherever we can find it; a phone call, a Zoom meeting, email, blog, Netflix show, magazine article, or social media. But Romans reminds us that God-breathed Scripture gives us the hope and encouragement we desire.

As I continued reading, the word “patiently” stood out… “wait patiently.” Do you feel like you need an extra dose of patience lately? We are all trying to wait patiently for life to get back to normal and for the crazy to pass. But are we waiting patiently for God to fulfill his promises? Are we reading Scripture to learn more about who God is and what his promises are? Are you clinging to these promises that he WILL fulfill?

As I opened my Bible to turn to the verse that was posted, I continued reading verse 5. God, the God who created the universe and the same God who calls me his child, gives patience and encouragement. I need both greatly… more than ever! I just needed reminding to ask and know who my source of patience and encouragement is.

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Chalk art by Darcy Webster. Photo by Lindley Webster.

As verse 5 continues, the words explain why God gives this patience and encouragement, to help us live in complete harmony with one another! I don’t know about you, but as my patience grows thin it is much harder to live in peace. As our “normal” as been turned a little on its side and our quarantine grows longer, the six of us living under one roof are finding it harder to find harmony. But this mother is praying that her family, followers of Christ, are able to give praise and glory to God now and even more when we return to some kind of normal.

You see, I am clinging to God’s Word and his promise that he will give hope and encouragement as we wait for his promises to be fulfilled. And as he gives patience and encouragement to allow us to live in harmony we will be singing his praises now and forevermore. So if you walk into my kitchen you will find these verses on my chalkboard as a soft simple reminder to me and my family where our hope comes from.

What is more encouraging than that?

-Pastor Darcy Webster
Associate Pastor of Operations and Pastoral Care

Happy in Your Hope?

“Be happy in your hope. Do not give up when trouble comes. Do not let anything stop you from praying”

— Romans 12:12 (NLT)

It is now the penultimate week of Lent. Our time of fasting and remembering Christ’s suffering is almost complete, and soon we will celebrate his defeat over death.

That said, no matter what day of the Church Calendar it is, it can often feel like the suffering is never ending. The 24-hour news cycles, social media, and surrounding circumstances all tend to remind us how awful things can be. And for whatever reason, it always feels like the bad stuff in these outlets is 10 times louder than the good stuff.

Apparently, there is a name for the exhaustion with constant bad news: ”Global Compassion Fatigue.“ And apparently, we’re all feeling it right now.

So if we are all prone to this exhaustion, how are we supposed to “be happy in our hope”? How are we, mere humans, supposed to “not give up when trouble comes”? We can start by taking tips from a few pages of Jesus’ playbook.

Sometimes we forget that Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, meaning that he experienced suffering and trauma in a very real way when he was on Earth. So what did he do when he experienced suffering? According to John 11:35, “Jesus wept.”

That’s it. That’s the whole verse.

When his good friend, Lazarus, died, Jesus did exactly what any of us would do in similar situations: he felt and expressed grief. He did not internalize or intellectualize his pain. He did not brush off the grief as an avoidable waste of time. He acknowledged the truth of the situation, and it was only after doing so that he was able to perform the miracle of raising his friend from the dead.

So if you are just bone-tired of the news, if you are feeling a lot of emotions because of the suffering surrounding you, know that you are in good and holy company. But also, let’s take comfort in knowing that Jesus overcame the suffering! So let’s try doing what Jesus did in times of suffering: allow ourselves to grieve (John 11:35), step away to be in God’s presence (Mark 1:35), and rest (Mark 14:13). In doing so, we can experience that hope that Jesus had; that hope in the God who caused Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead!

For more about the Christian response to Global Compassion Fatigue, click here.

-Travis Morrill
Communications and Facilities Administrator at Friends Community Church

The Importance of Prayer

One of the first things I do after getting out of bed is pour a cup of coffee and sit in the living room in silence. I find this silence to be one of my favorite parts of my day. I spend this time communicating with my Lord. I give him my day and all that it is going to entail. I give him my family. I share blessings, hardships, desires, and love for others with him. But if I am completely honest, much of that time is truly just sitting in silence, where I am able to rest and listen to him. This is my prayer time.

What is Prayer? The Bible Dictionary defines prayer as the act or practice of making spoken or unspoken communication with God. It is an act, a conscious effort, to communicate with God. Prayer is vital to our relationship with Christ. It draws us closer to him.

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Image by Lindley Webster

In chapter 6 of Matthew, Jesus taught us how to pray by using the Lord’s prayer as an example. Praise, thanksgiving, requests, forgiveness, and releasing our control is all communicated with God through this prayer. In Mark 14, we read Jesus’ agonizing prayer in the garden as he prepares himself for the cross. Prayer allows us not only to communicate with the Creator of the universe but provides space for vulnerability and honesty with our Heavenly Father.

We are called to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). Prayer is a beautiful tool designed by God which allows our whole selves to connect with him. We must pray; whether early in the morning in your front room with a cup of coffee or during your commute to work, or as you garden or in the quiet of the evening. We must set time aside to fix our lives with our Savior. What better way to love our Lord by communicating with him?

-Pastor Darcy Webster
Associate Pastor of Operations and Pastoral Care