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

Help From on High

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

— Philippians 4:12-13

Is it possible to find joy in even the most difficult circumstances?

“Don’t worry, folks, the Lord will not drop you.” (Watch the video all the way through the end.)

-Micah Darden
Pastor of Young Adults and High School

-Nick LeMonds
Pastor of Local and Global Impact, Visitor Assimilation, and Saturday Night

Powerful

This post first appeared in July of 2013 as a devotional in Barclay Press.

One of my favorite hikes is to a unique waterfall found in Southern Utah. Most waterfalls are found as a stream or river approaches a cliff, but Cascade Falls emerges from a cave. From an underground stream Cascade Falls bursts out of the side of a mountain to a valley floor where it becomes an amazing river: The Virgin River.

When driving on Highway 15 between Nevada and Arizona one is literally in the gorge carved by the Virgin River. Zion Canyon was formed through years of erosion through the carving force of the Virgin River. Another amazing hike in Zion Canyon is called “the Narrows” where you walk in the Virgin River as the walls of the canyon rise beside you hundreds of feet high and in sections less than 100 feet across.

It is amazing that a relatively small waterfall can be the source of a powerful river strong enough to carve and create canyons and gorges out of solid rock.

The Gospels are small books with the capacity to be very powerful. Like a river there is a destructive and dangerous nature of the Gospels, but there is a creative and beautiful aspect to the Gospels. The Virgin River, Zion Canyon, and Cascade Falls are beautiful to anyone willing to take the time to explore them.

Challenge: When was the last time you explored the Gospels, with the expectation that you would discover something beautiful and possibly new?

Bible Reading: Romans 15:18-21

-Pastor Rick Ellis
Pastor at Friends Community Church