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This morning, we are celebrating 30 years as a church. As I considered what to share on today to mark this occasion, I believe the Lord wanted me to share with you some encouragement from Hebrews 12:1-3. We do not know who wrote Hebrews, but we know that it is a letter written to the church made up of Jewish Christians in Rome, encouraging them to remain faithful to Jesus in the midst of suffering. In the first three verses of chapter 12, we read this exhortation:

  NIV Hebrews 12:1Therefore, 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.  2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 

Therefore – what is it there for? Follows Hebrews 11, the hall of faith, a long list of people found in the Old Testament who followed God by faith. Hebrews 11 begins with this explanation of what faith is:

NIV Hebrews 11:1-3 - Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  2 This is what the ancients were commended for.  3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Look at the words he uses to describe faith: sure, certain. NOT blind, guessing, believing in something contrary to the evidence. The first example he gives is of God creating the universe – that out of what was unseen, God brought something tangible. This is what faith is like, according to the author. It is being sure of something that you do not yet have, believing it is true even if the fulfillment is not going to happen until some unknown future time.