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We Only Have One Race | Pastor Kami Palmer | Faith Church · Faith Church Podcast

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So we've been walking through Hebrews, and two
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weeks ago I preached a message, we are not of
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those who shrink back, right? Let's just say
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that again, we are not of those who shrink back,
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right? So we began that in Hebrews 10. We walked
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through Hebrews 11, the ancients, right? The
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great men and women of faith. And we landed in
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Hebrews chapter 10. Oh, I pulled up the wrong
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sermon here. Sorry. I pulled up that sermon.
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We're in chapter 12, yes. Now I have to find
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the sermon. See, this is why printing your sermons
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is better. I might have to have Nick run me up
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the sermon from back there. Oh, there it is.
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I got it. I got it. Okay. Hebrews 12 is where
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we landed in that sermon. So if you were not
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here for that, I want to encourage you to get
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online and listen to it because it's setting
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us up for Hebrews 12. Now, my goal had been to...
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take us further into Hebrews 12 and talking about
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the correction of the Lord. I know this is so
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exciting, the correction of the Lord. We will
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be there in two weeks. But I wanted us to come
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back to where we finished two weeks ago to set
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us up for that, because it's actually a very
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exciting and empowering thing in our lives. And
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so in Hebrews 12, verse 3, We sang it this morning.
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For consider him who endured such hostility from
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sinners against himself, lest you become weary
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and discouraged in your souls. How many of you
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have ever been weary and discouraged in your
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soul? Right? There's that deep weariness that
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can come on us. And it's interesting that it
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is in the context of faith, being great men and
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women of faith that don't shrink back, that he
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talks about the weariness and the discouragement
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of the soul. But we are not of those that shrink
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back, right? We have a great cloud of witnesses
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that have gone before us. And so let's read from
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the beginning of Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 1,
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the context. Therefore, we also, we love this
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passage, since we are surrounded by so great
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a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
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weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
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and let us run with endurance the race that is
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set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author
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and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that
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was set before him endured the cross, despising
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the shame, and has sat down at the right hand
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of the throne of God. Every one of you has a
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race that belongs to you. Some of you are just
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starting on your race. You've just put on your
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tennis shoes when you received Jesus and set
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out onto the course. Some of you have been running
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this race for 50 years. Every part of this journey
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is wonderful. The beginning, the middle, the
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end. We're all on a race. We are all on this
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journey, and how we run it is important. Now,
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we've talked about this, that I'm not a runner,
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right? We know Darren was a runner. They don't
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just decide to sign up for cross -country, throw
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them on the team, and that's it. They're very
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intentional. Any team, you're intentional in
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your training. You're intentional in learning
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how to do it the best way that you can. You're
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intentional even about the clothing that you
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wear. Sometimes you watch them and you're like,
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maybe they need a little more clothes. What are
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they doing? They're putting off anything that's
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hindering them in their racing, right? Yes, I
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saw Darren in little shorty shorts. Yes, you
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did. Yes, you did. You'll never see that again,
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but when he's running, we're going for it, right?
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I know. Darren is just my primary fodder for
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sermons. So let's talk for a moment about your
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race. Because in this passage, he's down here
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groaning still. Oh, and by the way, if anybody
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thinks you can do the announcements better than
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Darren, you can see me after church and I will
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get you up here. All right? I'm not kidding.
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Sign up today with me. Okay. I'm getting distracted
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in my race with this sermon. Okay. Let's see
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what this writer is saying. Let us lay aside
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every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares.
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Key one in running your race. Lay it aside. Get
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rid of anything that is in the way of the running.
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We get sin. We know, how many of you know there
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are things you shouldn't be doing? Right? We
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know we shouldn't do that. So the sin that so
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easily entangles, we get that. I think the first
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part of this, though, for many of us is interesting.
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Laying aside every weight. Anything that you
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are carrying that is hindering. Every weight.
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This can be good things. It doesn't have to be
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some sin that has you captive, although that
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might be it. But anything that is a weight that
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is pulling you back in your race. There are many
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things I would love to do in life or be in life
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that I laid aside when I answered the call of
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God. Because they would be weights to me in the
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race he has set for me. And for some of us in
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this place, there are things that aren't necessarily
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bad that can be good. When I was reading this,
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I was thinking of the Netflix show, Tidying Up,
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Marie Kondo. Anybody know Marie Kondo? Yes, my
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kids are raising their hands because I forced
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them to Marie Kondo their laundry. Marie comes
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in, she's from Japan, and she teaches you how
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to tidy up your house. It is great. I re -watch
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it every January for inspiration as I struggle
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to do that. But she has this thing, and when
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you're tidying up your home and organizing it,
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she makes you touch every piece of it. And she
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wants to know, does it spark joy for you? I'm
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about to make Darren go through his closet. Does
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this flannel spark joy? What about this flannel?
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We've got 10 flannels in here. Are they all sparking
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joy? Do we need all of them? There's some I haven't
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seen you wear. I bought him a Christmas one.
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I don't think it's sparking joy it's been sitting
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there. Every couple years, Linda makes Dennis.
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Oh, he finally, it's not sparking joy. It's taking
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up closet space that could be used for other
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things, right? So why is this important? Because
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there are things in your life That are not joy
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sparkers. And when I say this, I'm applying this
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to the things that God wants in your life. Because
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the truly joyful things that spark in our life
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are things that God wants in our life. Not the
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things we necessarily want. Our flesh might like
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them. They might spark joy for our flesh. But
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they're not sparking joy for our spirit man.
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And we cannot run our races weighted down with
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things that are only sparking joy for our flesh
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man and not our spirit man. This is why I'm so
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excited. If you saw at the beginning our Lent
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graphic that Nick just put out, this Wednesday
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we begin our celebration of Lent, my favorite
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season of the year. The season Lent, which means
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springtime, which means that we are setting aside
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the 40 days representing the temptation of Christ,
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of getting rid of all the winter clutter. I was
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just looking in my yard thinking there's so much
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winter clutter that needs to be gone. Lent for
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us is the season of laying aside the weights,
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the things that ensnare us, of saying, Holy Spirit,
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come and walk through the garden of my soul,
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of my life. And so as you leave today, our Lent
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resource table, I want to encourage you to stop
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there and take advantage of it, that you would
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lean into Lent, lean in to the season of fasting,
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of giving up. I've been drinking coffee like
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nobody's business this week because I know Wednesday
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is coming and I won't be drinking coffee for
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40 days. Whatever, you don't even drink it. Let's
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give up Thorntons for 40 days. They all know
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the things you should be giving up, don't they,
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Darren? That's right. You shouldn't be eating
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them anyway. We have one time on this race. It
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is a one race. We're not getting another chance
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at our race. This is a one and done. We start
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the race and we finish the race. And so anything
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that gets in the way of the race, we must become
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ruthless in elimination. Sometimes tolerance,
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we tolerate. Well, it's not really an entangling
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sin. And so we will tolerate some of these weights.
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It can be something good. It could be an unforgiveness,
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an offense with somebody. That is a weight that
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will hinder you in your race. It can be unforgiveness
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toward God. You're offended with God because
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something didn't go right for you. It's a weight.
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We've only got one race. There's got to be this
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sense of ruthlessness in us that says my eyes
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are on the prize. And when we see the prize,
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because listen, the second key in running our
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race, according to this passage, is to run with
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endurance. The race that is set before us. It's
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interesting, isn't it, that he says to run this
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race will require, what? The one thing he says
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is required, endurance. Endurance. I was just
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watching last night, Alexandra showed me the
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opening of the Olympics. With Mr. Bean. Did anybody
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see that with Mr. Bean? Oh my goodness. They
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have the full orchestra playing Chariots of Fire,
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and he's just sitting there doing the one note
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on the keyboard, being Mr. Bean. So he finally
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gets bored playing his one note while the whole
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orchestra is playing, and he falls asleep and
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begins to dream of the scene from the movie when
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they're running on the beach, right? So he's
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got the Olympic team, and he's trying to beat
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the Olympic runners on the beach, and he realizes
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he can't, and so he cheats. He gets into a car
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that drives him around to the front to get out
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and win the race. Listen, there is no cheating
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on our race. There is no, like, shortcut to the
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end. We need endurance to run in this life the
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race of which he's called us, what is set before
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us. Endurance, which is what? Patience. There's
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not one person I've ever met that says I have
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the gift of patience. Never. And as a homeschooling
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mom, I would get so irritated when they would
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say, oh, well, I don't just have the patience
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to do that. I'm like, like, I do? I don't either.
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There were days I wanted to bang my head on the
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table, right? Patience is not usually something
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that is just naturally given to people. And yet
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here it is required for the race, the descent.
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Not having patience is not an excuse. Because
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we have the Holy Spirit. And what is the fruit
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of the Holy Spirit? I like Linda's word, long
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-suffering. You got to be able to suffer long
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on this race. That is what endurance is. And
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it's interesting that in the definition of endurance,
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it says cheerfully. Oh, yeah. Cheerfully suffer
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long. Do you know why it says cheerfully? Because
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it says hopefully. You can suffer long when you
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have hope. You can suffer long cheerfully. When
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you have hope. How many of you have ever seen
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Fiddler on the Roof? Yeah? If you haven't, you
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should watch it. It is a wonderful musical. And
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Tevye says this. He's a poor milkman. Jewish
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man. And he says, I know, I know. If you want
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to see Darren really dance, you just put on Fiddler
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on the Roof. If I were a rich man and he'll really
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start dancing. Tevye says, I know, I know. We
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are your chosen people. But once in a while,
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can't you choose someone else? Has anybody ever
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felt that way? Come on, God. If we're really
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honest, can't you choose someone else? Would
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it be so bad if I were a little richer? How often,
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though, do we despise our race? We despise the
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race that we're on. And it's in that moment that
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we choose, we have the choice of running our
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race. Of enduring in our race. And there's not
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one of us that can run this race in our own strength
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and ability. There's only one way that we have
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the power to run this race. And it's in verse
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2. Looking unto Jesus, who is the author of your
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race. And the finisher of your race. Who set
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the example for us on his own race. Who for the
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joy set before him. That's you and I. You were
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the joy set before Jesus. That enabled him to
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run his own race of enduring the cross. And so
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we look to Jesus as we're running our race, who
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is our author, who is our finisher. And here's
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where we get into trouble when we think we are
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the ones that are the authors of our race. We
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get into trouble when we think we're the finishers.
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We get in trouble when we think we're the ones
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that get to set the course. No, Jesus. Jesus
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is in charge of our race. And so we look to him
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as the author and the finisher. He endured the
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cross. He despised the shame of it and has sat
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down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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He finished well. He crossed his finish line
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well. And you know that this word here, as the
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author of our faith, really means the captain.
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That's what that word means, captain. Any of
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you ever a team captain on your sports teams?
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Every team usually has a captain. We are not
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our own captains. Your best friend is not your
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captain. Social media is not your captain. You
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have one captain, Jesus. And so how do we run
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a race? By looking to our captain. Looking to
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our captain. Who died as a man. When Jesus endured
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the cross, he did it as a man. He did it as...
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you and I would have done it. And so how did
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Jesus, in his humanness, how did he endure and
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run the race for the joy set before him? And
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so when I think about our races, I think about
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the joy that is set before us. That we are running
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after our prize. who is Jesus. There will come
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the day when we are face to face with him, when
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we have completed our race. And in that moment,
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everything will fade. The struggles we had here
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on earth will be some distant memory in light
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of knowing him in fullness. There is no better
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prize. And when we have that prize before us,
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it's like, I was never a ballerina, but I know
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enough to know that when they are spinning around,
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what do they do? They fix their eyes on an object,
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and it keeps them centered, right? And so...
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Here's where I think we start spinning out of
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control. We start all of the things in life,
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our family, our jobs, our finances, all of the
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chaos of life has us spinning. And we begin to
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spin out of control when we've lost our fixed
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gaze. When we've lost the object that keeps us
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centered and spinning is when things spin out
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of control. We've got to lock ourselves. We've
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got to lock our eyes on Jesus, our prize, the
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one that we are running the race towards. When
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we cross the finish line, he's waiting. He's
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just waiting. He's at the end saying, come on.
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Come on, don't give up. Come on, you're almost
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there. Come on, I'm waiting for you. Come on,
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let's do this. Come on, keep going. Come on,
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I'm worth it. Come on, I'm worth it. My joy being
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with me is worth it. Come on. We've lost it.
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We've lost, we've taken our eyes off of the prize.
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We read it back in Hebrews 10 a couple of weeks
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ago. Verse 35, do not cast away your confidence
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which has great reward for you have need of endurance
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so that after you have done the will of God you
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may receive the promise. Listen, he's not going
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to snatch the promise away. He's going to give
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you his promise. For yet a little while, and
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he who is coming will come and will not tarry.
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We got to keep our eyes on the prize, my friends.
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We talked about the great cloud of witnesses
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that are cheering us, right? They've gone before.
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However, there is one who is above every other
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who has gone before. There is one who is above
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every other, and he's already gone before. Consider
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him who endured. He's not calling you to do anything
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that he has not done himself. Consider him who
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endured such hostility. from sinners against
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himself, lest you become weary and discouraged.
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I would say this, running a race is tiring. Running
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a race is exhausting. And there are seasons of
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weariness and discouragement that probably if
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you just got back to taking Sabbath rest, That
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that would cure. However, there is a weariness
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and a discouragement that arises out of something
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much deeper than can be solved by just taking
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rest. And that is we've gotten our eyes off of
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Jesus. The moment we cease to look upon him,
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the moment we cease to consider him, is the moment
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we open ourselves to weariness and discouragement.
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It's the fruit of losing sight of Jesus. And
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so today I want to call us back. I want to call
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us to come back. to the place of being centered
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in Christ, to keeping our eyes fixed upon him.
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I love the passage in 1 Kings 19. Elijah had
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done all of this amazing stuff, right? He had
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called down fire against the prophets of Baal,
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done amazing things. We've talked about him quite
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a bit, because to me, he's kind of a hero. So
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after all of his great encounters in verse 4
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of chapter 1 Kings 19, he says, but he himself
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went a day's journey into the wilderness. And
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what it is, is he came and sat under a tree.
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And he prayed that he would die. Can you imagine?
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All the great spiritual victories. And now we
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find him, after being chased by Jezebel, Wanting
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his life to be ended. God, it's enough. Take
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my life. This is the level of weariness and discouragement
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in which we find him. I just want to die. He
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wanted his race to end. He was saying, it's time,
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Lord. I want the finish line now. I'm tired of
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running this race. I'm done. And he fell asleep
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and an angel came along and touched him. And
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said to him, what? Go and pray some more? Go
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and fast some more? No, he said, arise and eat.
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And he looked and there provided by heaven was
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a cake. Baked on coals and a jar of water. And
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it says, so he ate and drank and lay down again.
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And the angel of the Lord came back a second
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time and touched him. And said, arise and eat.
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For the journey is too great for you. So he arose
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and he ate and drank and went in the strength
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of that food. He was traveling for 40 days and
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40 nights to the mountain of God. Listen. He
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was partaking and eating of food that could not
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be provided by any man. It came from heaven.
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And it was this. food that sustained him to continue
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his race. Listen, he went on to anoint a couple
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of more kings. He went on to raise up the prophet
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Elisha that would replace him. What if he had
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died? What if he had taken matters in his own
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hands and said, I'm done. I'm done on this race.
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Two kings. And a prophet. Because of his life.
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Two kings and a prophet. Because he finished
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his race. He partook of the food. Listen. There's
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one source of strength. And in a few moments
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here, we're going to finish with communion. Because
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it's not enough to run this race in our own strength.
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We have to partake. of the bread of life. We
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have to partake of the living water. And if you're
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finding yourself discouraged, if you're finding
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yourself weary, I would just offer this solution.
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Consider him who endured. Look to Jesus. Partake
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of the bread of life that he has offered in his
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body. Partake of the living waters that he gives
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to us of salvation. Maybe, just maybe, need a
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a fresh drink and a fresh substance of him. And
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so this morning I'm going to ask if the worship
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team will come and our ushers prepare for communion.
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This is simple, but this is so important. Because
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you have an enemy that would seek to discourage
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you. You have an enemy that would seek to wear
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you down and take you out of your race. And you
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just don't know what the future holds. Like Elijah,
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he had a couple of kings and a prophet to take
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care of business with. You just don't know. what
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God has on your race ahead of you. You don't
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know. We can't see it always. You can't see beyond
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that hill, that mountain you've got to climb.
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That's faith, right? That's the place of faith.
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But you have an enemy that wants to get you off
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of your race. He's trying to take you out. He
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does not want you finishing your race. And he
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will do everything he can to go against you,
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to say, I'm done. I quit. This is too hard. If
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you want to just be a Sunday Christian, show
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up and you did your business and now you're going
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to go live however you want, that's fine. He'll
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leave you alone. But if you want to fulfill the
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race that he has set for you, You've got an enemy
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that's going to come against you, to take you
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out. Don't worry about him. Don't get your eyes
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on him. You just say, my eyes are fixed. My eyes
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are fixed on Jesus. I'm considering him who endured.
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I'm looking to the author and the finisher. Can't
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let our eyes wander. We can get so easily distracted.
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I get so annoyed at restaurants by televisions
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that are up. I'm like, why do you have to have
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televisions up? I always try to seat myself so
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Darren can't see the television because I want
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sole attention on me, right? It's so easy for
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our eyes to wander. to be distracted. And we
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begin to look at other things and we begin to
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look at other people. We begin to think that
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other people have a better race than what we
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have. We begin to think, well, how come they're
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running so well? Why is their race seems so easy?
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They don't have all the obstacles. They don't
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have all the stuff in their path that I have.
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Our eyes have wandered. We got to get our eyes
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fixed back on Jesus. We're not the authors, Jesus
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is. And so in this moment of communion, as you
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take the communion, I want you to do an exchange.
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I want you, first of all, if you have sin that
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has been easily entangling you, listen, this
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is the table of the Lord. This is the place of
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victory. As you take... the blood, the cup, and
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the bread. I want you in exchange to let go of
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the sin. I want you to let go of the weights
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that you've been giving yourself to. As you take
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up the elements, I want you to look at it, and
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I want you to get your wandering gaze back on
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Jesus today, fixing your eyes on him. And so
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in a moment, the team is going to lead us. But
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I just want us, the ushers can begin to distribute
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the elements. And I want us just for a moment,
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I don't want us to worship yet. As you receive
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the elements from them, I want you to do an exchange
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in your heart. And I want you to refix your gaze.