About this series:

Become anchored in purpose and discover how to live with intention in a world that pulls you off course.

The characters in Hebrews 11 stayed the course against all the odds. Against the tide of their cultures, against a tide of personal questions, even doubts, they remained focused on the purpose God had given them. This series will help us all assess whether we are drifting from our God-given purpose and, where we have, will challenge us to realign.

About this talk:

“By faith the people passed through the Red Sea...By faith the walls of Jericho fell.” I suspect that if you’d asked people individually to pass through the Red Sea or to march around Jericho, there would have been very few takers and, of those who did set out, even fewer who completed the task. The reason being that ventures in faith are best done together.

What we have here, of course, are the final statements, the end of the stories: “the people passed through the Red Sea...the walls of Jericho fell.” But in both those events we can imagine the conversations as people journeyed from Egypt to the Red Sea and through it; and conversations as they walked repeatedly around Jericho. No doubt there were many questioning what was happening, especially as time went by and difficulties were encountered. But surely there were many encouraging conversations too, with people being spurred on by their friends and family to keep going and to stay the course.

The Christian faith is personal, but it’s not private. ‘Perseverance in faith is a community project’ (Michael Plant). God has designed us as relational creatures; he’s called us into a family; he knows we need one another to run the race and stay the course. The whole culture and tone of the New Testament is a collective one, as demonstrated by the many one-another commands, the call to love others as the outworking of our love for God and specifically to encourage one another (eg. Hebrews 10:19-25). In fact, this entire chapter (Hebrews 11) serves as a collective encouragement to keep running (Hebrews 12:1-3).

So the question for each of us might be: Who is with us on the journey? Who are my running-mates? Who is helping me fulfil God’s call on my life and who am I helping? Life Groups, one-anothering, Sunday mornings and other settings are all parts of the puzzle. For those who are non-Christians, the call to follow Jesus is a call to follow Jesus in community, with all the joys that encompasses (plus a few challenges).