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Relaxing Sleep Meditation For A Faith Filled Life 🙌 Don't Miss Your Purpose 💞 - Abide Meditation App · Abide Meditation App

• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Good evening. I'm James. Tonight's meditation A faith Filled Life
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: is written to usher you into deep, RESTful sleep as
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: you dwell on the life of faith into which you
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: have been called by God. The Book of Hebrews, chapter
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: eleven is filled with stories of people who have lived
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: lives of faith. It tells of the things they trusted
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: God for even when they could not see a way
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: through themselves. That same faith, in, that same faithful, good
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: God is available to you. All you need to do
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: grasp it and then rest in it. So as we begin,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: settle into your bed and take a slow, deep breath,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: feel your heart rate begin to slow, relax your neck
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: muscles and your shoulders clench and unclench your fists. Keep
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: breathing slowly and deeply. Then, as you exhale, release the
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: worries and burdens that you have carried with you today.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Now is the time to let God renew your strength.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Let me pray for you, Dear faithful Father. I thank
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: you for your care for each one of us. As
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: your precious child sinks into deep sleep, tonight, cover them
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: in the assurance of your love and your presence. If
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: they wake during the night, let your whispers of love
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: cause them to drift quickly back to sleep. Remind them
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: that you are always with them and that you will
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: never leave them. Let them be confident in their faith,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: no matter how small, because you are big. Even a
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: mustard seed of faith can do great things because that
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: faith is in you. Hold them closely in your arms tonight, Lord,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: for they are your precious child. It's in your holy
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: name that I pray.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: Imagine walking into a room where there are hundreds of people,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: all sitting on chairs. They're laughing and talking, some are
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: even singing a song of praise to God. There are
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: lots of chairs still left. They are humble looking chairs,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: but obviously comfortable, as they are very much like the
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: ones everyone else is sitting in. There are slight differences,
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: maybe in the shade of the wood or the height
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: of the life, but they are all fundamentally the same.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: They are sound, they are reliable. They can be trusted
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: to hold up the one sitting in them. As you
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: look around wondering what chair you should choose, you notice
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: some really elaborate looking chairs. Some look like thrones. They
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: are softly cushioned and decorated all over with glittering gold
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: and gemstones. Your eyes are glued to them. That's the
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: kind of chair you want. It's very flashy, it must
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: be very comfortable. In fact, you're pretty sure you've heard
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: about others who have sat in this kind of chair.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: You're sure it's the kind of chair that will hold
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: you firmly for years to come, something you can really trust,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: and so you head to one. It's actually up on
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: a high dais, so you have to climb some steps
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: to get to it. Once you climb the steps, and boy,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: there were more than you initially noticed, you have to
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: input a code into a keypad on a gate that
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: surrounds the chair. You hadn't really noticed that gate before.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: It takes you a while to figure out what the
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: code is. Nobody has told you the secret, but man,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: you really want to sit in that chair. Finally you
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: figure it out and the gate opens. Then you notice
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: that you have to carefully walk over some stepping stones
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: crossing a turbulent river to actually reach the dace. It
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: didn't look this hard from down below, but you're determined
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: to get there, so you carefully tread across the stones.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Finally you reach the chair. You sit, anticipating the comfort
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: of the seat, but to your utter dismay, it completely collapses,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: dumping you on the ground chagrin. You look up to
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: see Jesus standing before you and reaching for your hand
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: with a smile on his face. When you reach out
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: to take his hand, you understand the grandeur of what
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: you put your faith in didn't matter. The fancier's chair
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: won't hold you if it's not strong. It's not the
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: amount of faith you have that matters. It's what you
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: put your faith in that does. And so you let
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Jesus lead you to one of the humble, rough hewn chairs.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: You join the throngs of people who came in the
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: room before you. They appear confident and happy, fitting comfortably
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: into the chairs they have been in for many, many years.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: They never wear out, they never let them down. They
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: hold them firmly through all that they do. No analogy
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: is perfect. Of course, our God is bigger than a chair,
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: but the truth is still applicable. You can have the
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: largest amount of belief ever that something unreliable will hold
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: you up, or the smallest amount of faith in the
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: God of the universe, and that grain of faith in
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: the Almighty God will make all the difference. As you
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: continue breathing deeply and slowly, listen to the words of
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: Hebrews eleven from the New Living Translation. Faith shows the
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: reality of.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: What we hope for.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: It is the evidence of things we cannot see through
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: their faith. The people in days of old earned a
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: good reputation by faith. We understand that the entire universe
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: was formed at God's command, that what we now see
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: did not come from anything that can be seen. It
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: was by faith that Able brought a more acceptable offering
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: to God than Cain did. Abel's offering gave evidence that
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: speaks to us by his example of faith. It was
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: by faith that Enoch was taken up to Heaven without dying.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: He disappeared because God took him, for before he was
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: and it is impossible to please God without faith. Any
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: One who wants to come to him must believe that
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek him.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Noah built a large boat
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God,
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: who warned him about things that had never happened before.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: By his faith, Noah condemned the rest of the world,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: and he received the righteousness that comes by faith. It
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: to leave home and go to another land that God
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: would give him as his inheritance. And even when he
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: for he was like a foreigner living in tents, and
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: a city designed and built by God. It was by
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: faith that even Sarah was able to have a child.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Though she was buried and was too old. She believed
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: that God would keep his promise, and so a whole
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: nation came from this one man, who was as good
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: as dead, a nation with so many people that the
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: there is no way to count them.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: All.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: These people died still believing what God had promised them.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: They did not receive what was promised, but they saw
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: that they were foreigners and nomad's here on earth. Obviously,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: people who say such things are looking forward to a
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: country they can call their own. If they had longed
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: for the country they came from, they could have gone back,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: That is why God is not ashamed to be called
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: their god, for he has prepared a city for them.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac a sacrifice
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God's promises,
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, though God
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: had told him Isaac is the son through whom your
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: descendants will be counted. Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died,
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: God was able to bring him back to life again,
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: and in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: from the dead. It was by faith that Isaac promised
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and bowed in
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: worship as he leaned on his staff. It was by
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: even commanded them to take his bones with them when
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: they left. It was by faith that moses parents hid
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: him for three months when he was born. They saw
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: that God had given them an unusual child, and they
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: were not afraid to disobey the king's command. It was
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: great reward. It was by faith that Moses left the
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: land of Egypt. Not fearing the king's anger. He kept
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: right on going because he kept his eyes on the
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: one who is invisible. It was by faith that Moses
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: commanded the people of Israel to keep the passover and
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: to sprinkle blood on the doorsteps so that the Angel
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: of Death would not kill their first born sons. It
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: was by faith that the people of Israel went through
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel marched
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: around Jericho for seven days and the walls came crashing down.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Rahab, the prostitute, was not
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: destroyed with the people in her city who refused to
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: obey God, for she had given a friendly welcome to
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: the spies. How much more do I need to say?
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: It would take too long to recount the stories of
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, David, Samuel, and
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: all the prophets. By faith, these people overthrow kingdoms, ruled
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: with justice, and received what God had promised them. They
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: and put the whole armies to fight. Women received their
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: loved ones back again from death, but others were tortured,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: refusing to turn from God in order to be set free.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: Some were sought in half, and others were killed with
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: and holes in the ground. All of these people earned
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: a good reputation because of their faith. Yet none of
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: them received all that God had promised, for God had
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: something better in mind.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: For us, so that.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: They would not reach perfection without us, ordinary people serving
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: an extraordinary God. It's not the size of your faith
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: that matters. It's the one you put your faith there,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: the one who created the world and holds it all together,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: the one who loves you unconditionally. Let His Holy Spirit
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: fill you with all the faith that you need to
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: live a life pleasing to God. Because Heaven awaits us,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: we know there is something better coming, and trusting God
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: with today is just a foretaste of the faith that
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: will be rewarded when we receive eternal life. Let me
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: pray over you, Lord Jesus, Shine the light of your
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: love over your beloved child tonight. Let them bask in
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: the glow of your glory as they sleep peacefully, trusting
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: in your watch care over them. May their dreams be
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: about you and the people who have embodied faith from
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: the Bible. May they wake refreshed, ready to trust you
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: in the big and the small, because you care about them. Both.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: We love you and we worship you. It's all because
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: of Jesus Amen. Tonight's meditation of faith filled Life is
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: written to usher you into deep, RESTful sleep as you
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: dwell on the life of faith into which you have
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: been called by God. The Book of Hebrews, chapter eleven
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: is filled with stories of people who have lived lives
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: of faith. It tells of the things they trusted God
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: for even when they could not see a way through themselves.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: That same faith, in, that same faithful, good God is
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: available to you. All you need to do it and
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: then rest in it. So as we begin, settle into
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: your bed and take a slow, deep breath, feel your
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: heart rate begin to slow, relax, your neck muscles and
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: your shoulders clench and unclench your fists. Keep breathing slowly
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: and deeply. Then, as you exhale, release the worries and
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: burdens that you have carried with you today. Now is
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: the time to let God renew your strength. Let me
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: pray for you, Dear faithful Father. I thank you for
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: your care for each one of us. As your precious
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: child sinks into deep sleep, tonight, cover them in the
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: assurance of your love and your presence. If they wake
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: during the night, let your whispers of love cause them
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: to drift quickly back to sleep. Mind them that you
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: are always with them, and that you will never leave them.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: Let them be confident in their faith, no matter how small,
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: because you are big. Even a mustard seed of faith
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: can do great things because that faith is in you.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Hold them closely in your arms tonight, Lord, for they
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: are your precious child. It's in your holy name that
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: I pray. Amen. Imagine walking into a room where there
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: are hundreds of people, all sitting on chairs. They're laughing
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: and talking, some are even singing a song of praise
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: to God. There are lots of chairs still left. They
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: are humble looking chairs, but obviously comfortable, as they are
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: very much like the ones everyone else is sitting in.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: There are slight differences, maybe in the shade of the
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: wood or the height of the leg, but they are
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: all fundamentally the same. They are sound, they are reliable.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: They can be trusted to hold up the one sitting
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: in them. As you look around wondering what chair you
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: should choose, you notice some really elaborate looking chairs. Some
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: look like thrones. They are softly cushioned and decorated all
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: over with glittering gold and gemstones. Your eyes are glued
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: to them. That's the kind of chair you want. It's
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: very flashy. It must be very comfortable. In fact, you're
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: pretty sure you've heard about others who have sat in
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: this kind of chair. You're sure it's the kind of
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: chair that will hold you firmly for years to come,
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: something you can really trust, And so you head to one.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: It's actually up on a high dais, so you have
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: to climb some steps to get to it. Once you
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: climb the steps, and boy, there were more than you
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: initially noticed, you have to input a code into a
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: keypad on a gate that surrounds the chair. You hadn't
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: really noticed that gate before. It takes you a while
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: to figure out what the code is. Nobody has told
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: you the secret, but man, you really want to sit
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: in that chair. Finally you figure it out and the
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: gate opens. Then you notice that you have to carefully
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: walk over some stepping stones, crossing a turbulent river to
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: actually reach the dais. It didn't look this hard from
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: down below, but you're determined to get there, so you
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: carefully tread across the stones. Finally you reach the chair.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: You sit, anticipating the comfort of the seat, but to
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: your utter dismay, it completely collapses, dumping you on the ground. Chagrined,
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: look up to see Jesus standing before you and reaching
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: for your hand, with a smile on his face. When
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: you reach out to take his hand, you understand the
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: grandeur of what you put your faith in didn't matter.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: The fanciest chair won't hold you if it's not strong.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: It's not the amount of faith you have that matters.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: It's what you put your faith in that does. And
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: so you let Jesus lead you to one of the humble,
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: rough hewn chairs. You join the throngs of people who
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: came in the room before you. They appear confident and happy,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: fitting comfortably into the chairs they have been in for many,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: many years. They never wear out, they never let them down,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: They hold them firmly through all that they do. No
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: analogy is perfect, of course, our God is bigger than
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: a chair, but the truth is still applicable. You can
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: have the largest amount of belief ever that something unreliable
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: will hold you up, or the smallest amount of faith
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: in the God of the universe, and that grain of
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: faith in the Almighty God will make all the difference.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: As you continue breathing deeply and slowly, listen to the
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: words of Hebrews eleven from the New Living Translation. Faith
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: shows the reality of what we hope for. It is
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: the evidence of things we cannot see through their faith.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: The people in days of old earned a good reputation
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: by faith. We understand that the entire universe was formed
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: at God's command, that what we now see did not
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: come from anything that can be seen. It was by
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: faith that Able brought a more acceptable offering to God
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: than Cain did. Abel's offering gave evidence that he was
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: by his example of faith. It was by faith that
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Enoch was taken up to Heaven without dying. He disappeared
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: because God took him for Before he was taken up,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: he was known as a person who pleased God, and
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: wants to come to him must believe that God exists
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. It
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: was by faith that Noah built a large boat to
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: warned him about things that had never happened before. By
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: his faith, Noah condemned the rest of the world. He
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: received the righteousness that comes by faith. It was by
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: home and go to another land that God would give
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: him as his inheritance. And even when he reached the
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: land God promised her, he lived there by faith, for
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: he was like a foreigner living in tents, and so
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations,
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: a city designed and built by God. It was by
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: faith that even Sarah was able to have a child,
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: though she was burin and was too old. She believed
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: that God would keep his promise, and so a whole
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: nation came from this one man, who was as good
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: as dead, a nation with so many people that like
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: There is no way to count them all. These people
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: died still believing what God had promised them. They did
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: not receive what was promised, but they saw it all
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: were foreigners and nomad's here on earth. Obviously, people who
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: say such things are looking forward to a country they
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: can call their own. If they had longed for the
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: country they came from, they could have gone back, But
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: That is why God is not ashamed to be called
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: their god, for he has prepared a city for them.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac a sacrifice
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God's promises,
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: God had told him, Isaac is the son through whom
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: your descendants will be counted. Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died,
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: God was able to bring him back to life again,
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: and in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: from the dead. It was by faith that Isaac promised
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and bowed in
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: worship as he leaned on his staff. It was by
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: even commanded them to take his bones with them when
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: they left. It was by faith that moses parents hid
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: him for three months when he was born. They saw
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: that God had given them an unusual child, and they
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: were not afraid to disobey the king's command. It was
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: great reward. It was by faith that Moses left the
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: land of Egypt. Not fearing the king's anger. He kept
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: right on going because he kept his eyes on the
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: one who is invisible. It was by faith that Moses
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: commanded the people of Israel to keep the passover and
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: to sprinkle blood on the doorsteps so that the Angel
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: of Death would not kill their first born sons. It
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: was by faith that the people of Israel went through
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: When the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel marched
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: around Jericho for seven days and the walls came crashing down.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Rahab, the prostitute, was not
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: destroyed with the people in her city who refused to
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: obey God, for she had given a friendly welcome to
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: the spies. How much more do I need to say?
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: It would take too long to recount the stories of
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, David, Samuel, and
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: all the prophets. By faith, these people overthrow kingdoms, ruled
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: with justice, and received what God had promised them. They
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: and put the whole armies to fight. Women received their
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: loved ones back again from death, but others were tortured,
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: refusing to turn from God in order to be set free,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: they placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning,
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: some were sought in half, and others were killed with
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: destituted and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: and holes in the ground. All of these people earned
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: a good reputation because of their faith. Yet none of
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: them received all that God had promised. For God had
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: something better in mind for us, so that if they
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: would not reach perfection without us ordinary people serving an
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: extraordinary God. It's not the size of your faith that matters.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: It's the one you put your faith there, the one
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: who created the world and holds it all together, the
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: one who loves you unconditionally. Let His Holy Spirit fill
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: you with all the faith that you need to live
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: a life pleasing to God. Because Heaven awaits us, we
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: know there is something better coming and trusting God with
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: today is just a foretaste of the faith that will
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: be rewarded when we receive eternal life. Let me pray
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: over you, Lord, Jesus, shine the light of your love
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: over your beloved child tonight. Let them bask in the
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: glow of your glory as they sleep peacefully, trusting in
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: your watch care over them. May their dreams be about
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: You and the people who have embodied faith from the Bible.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: May they wake refreshed, ready to trust you in the
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: big and the small, because you care about them. Both.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: We love you and we worship you. It's all because
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: of Jesus. Amen, Dear faithful Father, I thank you for
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: your care for each one of us. As your precious
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: child sinks into deep sleep tonight, cover them in the
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: assurance of your love and your presence. If they wake
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: during the night, let your whispers of love cause them
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: to drift quickly back to sleep. Remind them that you
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: are all always with them, and that you will never
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: leave them. Let them be confident in their faith, no
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: matter how small, because you are big. Even a mustard
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: seed of faith can do great things because that faith
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: is in you. Hold them closely in your arms, tonight, Lord,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: for they are your precious child. It's in your holy
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: name that I pray. Amen. Imagine walking into a room
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: where there are hundreds of people, all sitting on chairs.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: They're laughing and talking, some are even singing a song
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: of praise to God. There are lots of chairs still left.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: They are humble looking chairs, but obviously comfortable, as they
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: are very much like the ones everyone else is sitting in.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: There are slight differences, maybe in the shade of the
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: wood or the height of the legs. They are all
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: fundamentally the same. They are sound, they are reliable. They
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: can be trusted to hold up the one sitting in them.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: As you look around wondering what chair you should choose,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: you notice some really elaborate looking chairs. Some look like thrones.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: They are softly cushioned and decorated all over with glittering
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: gold and gemstones. Your eyes are glued to them. That's
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: the kind of chair you want. It's very flashy, it
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: must be very comfortable. In fact, you're pretty sure you've
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: heard about others who have sat in this kind of chair.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: You're sure it's the kind of chair that will hold
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: you firmly for years to come. Something you can really trust,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: and so you head to one. It's actually up on
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: a high dais, so you have to climb some steps
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: to get to it. Once you climb the steps, and boy,
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: there were more than you initially noticed, you have to
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: input a code into a keypad on a gate that
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: surrounds the chair. You hadn't really noticed that gate before.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: It takes you a while to figure out what the
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: code is. Nobody has told you the secret, but man,
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: you really want to sit in that chair. Finally you
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: figure it out and the gate opens. Then you notice
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: that you have to carefully walk over some stepping stones
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: crossing a turbulent river to actually reach the dace. It
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: didn't look this hard from down below, but you're determined
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: to get there, so you carefully tread across the stones.
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Finally you reach the chair. You sit, anticipating the comfort
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: of the seat, but to your utter dismay, it completely collapses,
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: dumping you on the ground. Chagrined, you look up to
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: see Jesus standing before you and reaching for your hand
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: with a smile on his face. When you reach out
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: to take his hand, you understand the grandeur of what
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: you put your faith in. Didn't matter. The fanciest chair
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: won't hold you if it's not strong. It's not the
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: amount of faith you have that matters. It's what you
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: put your faith in that does. And so you let
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: Jesus lead you to one of the humble, rough hewn chairs.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: You join the throngs of people who came in the
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: room before you. They appear confident and happy, fitting comfortably
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: into the chairs they have been in for many, many years.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: They never wear out, they never let them down, They
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: hold them firmly through all that they do. No analogy
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: is perfect. Of course, our God is bigger than a chair.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: But the truth is still applicable. You can have the
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: largest amount of belief ever that something unreliable will hold
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: you up, or the smallest amount of faith in the
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: God of the universe, and that grain of faith in
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: the Almighty God will make all the difference. As you
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: continue breathing deeply and slowly, listen to the words of
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: Hebrews eleven from the New Living Translation. Faith shows the
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: reality of what we hope for. It is the evidence
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: of things we cannot see through their faith. The people
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: in days of old earned a good reputation by faith.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: We understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command,
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: that what we now see did not come from anything
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: that can be seen. It was by faith that Abel
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: Abel's offering evidence that he was a righteous man, and
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Able is
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: long dead, he still speaks to us by his example
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: of faith. It was by faith that Enoch was taken
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: up to Heaven without dying. He disappeared because God took him,
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: for before he was taken up, he was known as
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: a person who pleased God, and it is impossible to
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: him must believe that God exists and that he rewards
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: those who sincerely seek him. It was by faith that
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: Noah built a large boat to save his family from
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: that had never happened before. By his faith, Noah condemned
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: the rest of the world, and he received the righteous
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: busness that comes by faith. It was by faith that
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: go to another land, that God would give him as
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: his inheritance, and even when he reached the land God
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: promised him, he lived there by faith, for he was
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: like a foreigner living in tents, and so did Isaac
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: designed and built by God. It was by faith that
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: even Sarah was able to have a child. Though she
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: was barren and was too old, she believed that God
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: would keep his promise. And so a whole nation came
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: from this one man, who was as good as dead,
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: a nation with so many people that, like the stars
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: is no way to count them. All. These people died
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: still believing what God had promised them. They did not
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: receive what was promised, but they saw it all from
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously, people who say
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: such things are looking forward to a country they can
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: call their own. If they had longed for the country
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: they came from, they could have gone back. But they
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: is why God is not ashamed to be called their God,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: for he has prepared a city for them. It was
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: by faith that Abraham offered Isaac a sacrifice when God
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: was testing him. Abraham, who had received God's promises, was
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: had told him, Isaac is the son through whom your
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: descendants will be counted. Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died,
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: God was able to bring him back to life again,
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: and in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: from the dead. It was by faith that Isaac promised
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and bowed in
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: worship as he leaned on his staff. It was by
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: even commanded them to take his bones with them when
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: they left. It was by faith that moses parents hid
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: him for three months when he was born. They saw
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: that God had given them an unusual child, and they
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: were not afraid to disobey the king's command. It was
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: great reward. It was by faith that Moses left the
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: land of Egypt, not fearing the king's anger. He kept
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: right on going because he kept his eyes on the
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: one who is invisible. It was by faith that Moses
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: commanded the people of Israel to keep the passover and
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: to sprinkle blood on the doorsteps so that the Angel
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: of Death would not kill their firstborn sons. It was
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: by faith that the people of Israel went through the
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: Red Sea as though they were on dry ground, but
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel marched
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: around Jericho for seven days and the walls came crashing down.
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Rahab, the prostitute, was not
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: destroyed with the people in her city who refused to
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: obey God, for she had given a friendly welcome to
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: the spies. How much more do I need to say?
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: It would take too long to recount the stories of
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: all the prophets. By faith, these people overthrow kingdoms, ruled
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: with justice, and received what God had promised them.
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: They shut the.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: Mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: the whole arm enmies to fight. Women received their loved
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: ones back again from death, but others were tortured, refusing
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: to turn from God in order to be set free.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning,
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: some were sought in half, and others were killed with
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats,
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: destituted and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: and holes in the ground. All of these people earned
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: a good reputation because of their faith, Yet none of
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: them received all that God had promised for God had
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: something better in mind for us, so that they would
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: not reach profect without us, ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: It's not the size of your faith that matters. It's
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: the one you put your faith there, the one who
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: created the world and holds it all together, the one
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: who loves you unconditionally. Let His Holy Spirit fill you
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: with all the faith that you need to live a
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: life pleasing to God. Because Heaven awaits us, we know
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: there is something better coming, and trusting God with today
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: is just a foretaste of the faith that will be
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: rewarded when we receive eternal life.
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: Let me pray.
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: Over you, Lord Jesus, Shine the light of your love
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: over your beloved child tonight. Let them bask in the
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: glow of your glory as they sleep peacefully, trusting in
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: your watch care over them. May their dreams be about
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: you and the people who have embodied faith from the Bible.
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: May they wake refreshed, ready to trust you in the
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: big and the small, because you care about them.
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: Both.
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: We love you and we worship you. It's all because
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: of Jesus Amen. Tonight's meditation a faith filled Life is
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: written to usher you into deep, RESTful sleep as you
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: dwell on the life of faith into which you have
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: been called by God. The Book of Hebrews, chapter eleven
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: is filled with stories of people who have lived lives
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: of faith. It tells of the things they trusted God
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: for even when they could not see a way through themselves.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: That same faith, in, that same faithful good God is
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: available to you. All you need to do is grasp
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: it and then rest in it. So as we begin,
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: settle into your bed and take a slow, deep breath,
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: feel your heart rate begin to slow, relax your neck muscles,
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: and your shoulders clench and unclench your fists. Keep breathing
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: slowly and deeply. Then, as you exhale, release the worries
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: and burdens that you have carried with you today. Now
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: is the time to let God renew your strength. Let
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: me pray for you, Dear faithful Father. I thank you
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: for your care for each one of us. As your
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: precious child sinks into deep sleep tonight, cover them in
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: the assurance of your love and your presence. If they
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: wake during the night, let your whispers of love cause
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: them to drift quickly back to sleep. Remind them that
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: you are always with them and that you will never
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: leave them. Let them be confident in their faith, no
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: matter how small, because you are big. Even a mustard
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: seed of faith can do great things because that faith
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: is in you. Hold them closely in your arms tonight, Lord,
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: for they are your precious child. It's in your holy
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: name that I pray. Amen. Imagine walking into a room
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: where there are hundreds of people, all sitting on chairs.
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: They're laughing and talking, some are even singing a song
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: of praise to God. There are lots of chairs still left.
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: They are humble looking chairs, but obviously comfortable, as they
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: are very much like the ones everyone else is sitting in.
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: There are slight differences, maybe in the shade of the
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: wood or the height of the legs, but they are
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: all fundamentally the same. They are south, they are reliable.
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: They can be trusted to hold up the one sitting
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: in them. As you look around wondering what chair you
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: should choose, you notice some really elaborate looking chairs. Some
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: look like thrones. They are softly cushioned and decorated all
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: over with glittering gold, and gemstones. Your eyes are glued
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: to them. That's the kind of chair you want. It's
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: very flashy, it must be very comfortable. In fact, you're
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: pretty sure you've heard about others who have sat in
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: this kind of chair. You're sure it's the kind of
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: chair that will hold you firmly for years to come,
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: something you can really trust, and so you head to one.
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: It's actually up on a high dais, so you have
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: to climb some steps to get to it. You climb
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: the steps, and boy, there were more than you initially noticed.
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: You have to input a code into a keypad on
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: a gate that surrounds the chair. You hadn't really noticed
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: that gate before. It takes you a while to figure
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: out what the code is. Nobody has told you the secret,
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: but man, you really want to sit in that chair.
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: Finally you figure it out and the gate opens. Then
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: you notice that you have to carefully walk over some
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: stepping stones crossing a turbulent river to actually reach the dais.
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: It didn't look this hard from down below, but you're
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: determined to get there, so you carefully tread across the stones.
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: Finally you reach the chair. You sit, anticipating the comfort
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: of the seat, but to your utter dismay, it completely collapses,
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: dumping you on the ground chagrin. You look up to
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: see Jesus stand before you and reaching for your hand
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: with a smile on his face. When you reach out
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: to take his hand, you understand the grandeur of what
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: you put your faith in didn't matter. The fanciest chair
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: won't hold you if it's not strong. It's not the
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: amount of faith you have that matters. It's what you
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: put your faith in that does. And so you let
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: Jesus lead you to one of the humble, rough hewn chairs.
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: You join the throngs of people who came in the
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: room before you. They appear confident and happy, fitting comfortably
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: into the chairs they have been in for many, many years.
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: They never wear out, they never let them down, They
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: hold them firmly through all that they do. No analogy
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: is perfect. Of course, our God is bigger than a chair,
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: but the truth is still applica. You can have the
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: largest amount of belief ever that something unreliable will hold
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: you up, or the smallest amount of faith in the
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: God of the universe, and that grain of faith in
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: the Almighty God will make all the difference. As you
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: continue breathing deeply and slowly.
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: Listen to the.
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: Words of Hebrews eleven from the New Living Translation. Faith
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: shows the reality of what we hope for. It is
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: the evidence of things we cannot see through their faith.
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: The people in days of old earned a good reputation
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: by faith. We understand that the entire universe was formed
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: at God's command, that what we now see did not
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: come from anything that can be seen. It was by
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: than Cain did. Abel's offering gave every evidence that he
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: his gifts. Although Able is long dead, he still speaks
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: to us by his example of faith. It was by
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: faith that Enoch was taken up to Heaven without dying.
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: He disappeared because God took him, for before he was
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God,
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: and it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: who wants to come to him must believe that God
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek him.
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Noah built a large boat
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: who warned him about things that had never happened before.
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: By his faith, Noah condemned the rest of the world,
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: and he received the righteousness that comes by faith. It
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: to leave home and go to another land that God
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: would give him as his inheritance. And even when he
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: reached the land God promised her, he lived there by faith,
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: for he was like a foreigner living in tents, and
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations,
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: a city designed and built by God. It was by
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: faith that even Sarah was able to have a child.
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: Though she was barren and was too old, she believed
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: that God would keep his promise. And so a whole
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: nation came from this one man, who was as good
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: as dead, a nation with so many people that, like
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: the stars in the sky and the sad sand on
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: the seashore, there is no way to count them. All.
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: These people died still believing what God had promised them.
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: They did not receive what was promised, but they saw
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously,
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: people who say such things are looking forward to a
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: country they can.
• 53:25
  Speaker 2: Call their own.
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: If they had longed for the country they came from,
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: they could have gone back, But they were looking for
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: is not ashamed to be called their god, for he
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: has prepared a city for them. It was by faith
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: that Abraham offered Isaac a sacrifice when God was testing him.
• 53:50
  Speaker 2: Abraham, who had.
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: Received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac,
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: even though God had told him, Isaac is the son
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: through whom your descendants will be counted. Abraham reasoned that
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: to life again, and in a sense, Abraham did receive
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: his son back from the dead. It was by faith
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons,
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: Jacob and Esau. It was by faith that Jacob, when
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: with them when they left. It was by faith that
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: moses parents hid him for three months when he was born.
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: They saw that God had given them an unusual child,
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: and they were not afraid to disobey the king's command.
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up,
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: to his great reward. It was by faith that Moses
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: left the land of Egypt. Not fearing the king's anger.
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: He kept right on going because he kept his eyes
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: on the one who is invisible. It was by faith
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorsteps so that
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: the Angel of Death would not kill their first born sons.
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel went
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground.
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: But when the Egyptians tried Toah, they were all drowned.
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel marched
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: around Jericho for seven days and the walls came crashing down.
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Rahab, the prostitute, was not
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: destroyed with the people in her city who refused to
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: obey God, for she had given a friendly welcome to
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: the spies. How much more do I need to say?
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: It would take too long to recount the stories of
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, David, Samuel, and
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: all the prophets. By faith, these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: with justice, and received what God had promised them. They
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire,
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: and put the whole armies to fight. Women received their
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: loved ones back again from death, but others were tortured,
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: refusing to turn from God in order to be set free.
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stouting.
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: Some were sought in half, and others were killed with
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats,
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: destituted and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: and holes in the ground. All of these people earned
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: a good reputation because of their faith. Yet none of
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: them received all that God had promised, for God had
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: something better in mind for us, so that they would
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: not reach perfection and without us ordinary people serving an
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: extraordinary God. It's not the size of your faith that matters.
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: It's the one you put your faith there, the one
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: who created the world and holds it all together, the
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: one who loves you unconditionally.
• 58:19
  Speaker 2: Let His Holy.
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: Spirit fill you with all the faith that you need
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: to live a life pleasing to God. Because Heaven awaits us,
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: we know there is something better coming, and trusting God
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: with today is just a foretaste of the faith that
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: will be rewarded when we receive eternal life. Let me
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: pray over you, Lord Jesus, Shine the light of your
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: love over your beloved child tonight. Let them bask in
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: the glow of your glory. As they sleep peacefully, trusting
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: in your watch care over them. May their dreams be
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: about you and the people who have embodied faith from
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: the Bible. May they wake refreshed, ready to trust you
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: in the big and the small, because you care about them. Both,
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: we love you and we worship you. It's all because
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: of Jesus. Amen, Dear faithful Father, I thank you for
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: your care for each one of us. As your precious
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: child sinks into deep sleep, tonight, cover them in the
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: assurance of your love and your presence. If they wake
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: during the night, let your whispers of love cause them
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: to drift quickly back to sleep. Remind them that you
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: are always with them and that you will never leave them.
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: Let them be confident in their faith, no matter how small,
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: because you are big. Even a mustard seed of faith
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: can do great things because that faith is in you.
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: Hold them closely in your arms, tonight, Lord, for they
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: are your precious child. It's in your holy name that
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: I pray.
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: Imagine walking into a room where there are hundreds of people,
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: all sitting on chairs. They're laughing and talking, Some are
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: even singing a song of praise to God. There are
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: lots of chairs still left. They are humble looking chairs,
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: but obviously comfortable, as they are very much like the
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: ones everyone else is sitting in. There are slight differences,
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: maybe in the shade of the wood or the height
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: of the legs, but they are all fundamentally the same.
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: They are sound, they are reliable. They can be trusted
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: to hold up the one sitting in them. As you
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: look around wondering what chair you should choose, you notice
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: some really elaborate looking chairs. Some look like thrones. They
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: are softly cushioned and decorated all over with glittering gold
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: and gemstones. Your eyes are glued to them. That's the
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: kind of chair you want. It's very flashy. It must
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: be very comfortable. In fact, you're pretty sure you've heard
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: about others who have sat in this kind of chair.
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: You're sure it's the kind of chair that will hold
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: you firmly for years to come, something you can really trust,
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: And so you head to one. It's actually up on
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: a high dais, so you have to climb some steps
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: to get to it. Once you climb the steps, and boy,
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: there were more than you initially noticed, you have to
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: input a code into a keypad on a gate that
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: surrounds the chair. You hadn't really noticed that gate before.
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: It takes you a while to figure out what the
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: code is. Nobody has told you the secret, but man,
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: you really want to sit in that chair. Finally you
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: figure it out and the gate opens. Then you notice
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: that you have to carefully walk over some stepping stones,
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: crossing a turbulent river to actually reach the dais. It
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: didn't look this hard from down below, but you're determined
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: to get there, so you carefully tread across the stones.
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: Finally you reach the chair. You sit, anticipating the comfort
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: of the seat, but to your utter dismay, it completely collapses,
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: dumping you on the ground. Chagrin, You look up to
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: see Jesus standing before you and reaching for your hand,
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: with a smile on his face. When you reach out
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: to take his hand, you understand the grandeur of what
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: you put your faith in didn't matter. The fanciest chair
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: won't hold you if it's not strong. It's not the
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: amount of faith you have that matters. It's what you
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: put your faith in that does. And so you let
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: Jesus lead you to one of the humble, rough hewn chairs.
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: You join the throngs of people who came in the
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: room before you. They appear confident and happy, fitting comfortably
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: into the chairs they have been in for many, many years.
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: They never wear out, they never let them down. They
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: hold them firmly through all that they do. No analogy
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: is perfect. Of course, our God is bigger than a chair.
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: But the truth is still applicable. You can have the
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: largest amount of belief ever that something unreliable will hold
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: you up, or the smallest amount of faith in the
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: God of the universe, and that grain of faith and
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: the Almighty God will make all the difference. As you
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: continue breathing deeply and slowly, listen to the words of
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: Hebrews eleven from the New Living Translation. Faith shows the
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: reality of what we hope for. It is the evidence
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: of things we cannot see through their faith. The people
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: in days of old earned a good reputation by faith.
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: We understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command,
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: that what we now see did not come from anything
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: that can be seen. It was by faith that Abel
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did.
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: Abel's offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man,
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: is long dead, he still speaks to us by his
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: example of faith. It was by faith that Enoch was
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: taken up to Heaven without dying. He disappeared because God
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: took him, for before he was taken up, he was
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: known as a person who pleased God, and it is
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 1: come to him must believe that God exists and that
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 1: he rewards those who sincerely seek him. It was by
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: faith that Noah built a large boat to save his
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: about things that had never happened before. By his faith,
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 1: Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: the righteousness that.
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 2: Comes by faith.
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: him to leave home and go to another land that
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 1: God would give him as his inherit arridance. And even
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: when he reached the land God promised her, he lived
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 1: there by faith, for he was like a foreigner living
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: in tents, and so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that even Sarah was able to
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 1: have a child. Though she was barren and was too old,
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: she believed that God would keep his promise, and so
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: a whole nation came from this one man, who was
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 1: as good as dead, a nation with so many people that,
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 1: like the stars in the sky and the sand on
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: the seashore, there was no way to count them.
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 2: All.
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: These people died still believing what God had promised them.
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: They did not receive what was promised, but they saw
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously,
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: people who say such things are looking forward to a
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: country they can call their own. If they had longed
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: for the country they came from, they could have gone back.
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: home land. That is why God is not ashamed to
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 1: be called their god, for he has prepared a city
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: for them. It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 1: a sacrifice when God was testing him.
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 2: Abraham, who had.
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: Received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac,
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 1: even though God had told him Isaac is the son
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: through whom your descendants will be counted. Abraham reasoned that
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: to life again, and in a sense, Abraham did receive
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: his son back from the dead. It was by faith
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons,
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: Jacob and Esau. It was by faith that Jacob, when
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: with them when they left. It was by faith that
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: Moses' parents hid him for three months when he was born.
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: They saw that God had given them an unusual child,
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: and they were not afraid to disobey the king's command.
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up,
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 1: chose to share the oppression of Godad's people. Instead of
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 1: better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: to his great reward. It was by faith that Moses
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 1: left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king's anger.
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: He kept right on going because he kept his eyes
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: on the one who is invisible. It was by faith
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 1: that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 1: Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorsteps so that
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: the Angel of Death would not kill their first born sons.
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel went
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground,
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel marched
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: around Jericho for seven days and the walls came crashing down.
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Rahab, the prostitute, was not
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: destroyed with the people in her city who refused to
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: obey God, for she had given a friendly welcome to
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: the spies. How much more do I need to say?
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: It would take too long to recount the stories of
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: all the prophets. By faith, these people overthrow kingdoms ruled
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: with justice and received what God had promised them. They
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire,
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 1: weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 1: and put the whole armies to fight. Women received their
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 1: loved ones back again from death, but others were tortured,
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: refusing to turn from God in order to be set free.
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning,
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 1: some were sought in half, and others were killed with
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats,
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 1: this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: and holes in the ground. All of these people earned
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 1: a good reputation because of their faith. Yet none of
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: them received all that God had promised for God had
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: something better in mind for us, so that they would
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: not reach perfection without us ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 1: It's not the size of your faith that matters. It's
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 1: the one you put your faith in, the one who
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: created the world and holds it all together, the one
• 1:12:04
  Speaker 1: who loves you unconditionally. Let His Holy Spirit fill you
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: with all the faith that you need to live a
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: life pleasing to God. Because Heaven awaits us, we know
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: there is something better coming, and trusting God with today
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 1: is just a foretaste of the faith that will be
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: rewarded when we receive eternal life. Let me pray over you, Lord, Jesus,
• 1:12:31
  Speaker 1: shine the light of your love over your beloved child tonight.
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: Let them bask in the glow of your glory as
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: they sleep peacefully, trusting in your watch care over them.
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 1: May their dreams be about you and the people who
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: have embodied faith from the Bible. May they wake refreshed,
• 1:12:52
  Speaker 1: ready to trust you in the big and the small
• 1:12:56
  Speaker 1: because you care about them. Both. We love you and
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: were worship you. It's all because of Jesus. Amen. Tonight's meditation,
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: A faith filled Life is written to usher you into deep,
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: RESTful sleep as you dwell on the life of faith
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: into which you have been called by God. The Book
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: of Hebrews, chapter eleven is filled with stories of people
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 1: who have lived lives of faith. It tells of the
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 1: things they trusted God for even when they could not
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 1: see a way through themselves. That same faith, in that
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 1: same faithful, good God is available to you. All you
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: need to do is grasp it and then rest in it. So,
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: as we begin, settle into your bed and take a slow,
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 1: deep breath, feel your heart rate begin to slow. Relax
• 1:13:59
  Speaker 1: your next mone uscles and your shoulders clinch and unclench
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 1: your fists. Keep breathing slowly and deeply. Then as you exhale,
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 1: release the worries and burdens that you have carried with
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 1: you today. Now is the time to let God renew
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: your strength. Let me pray for you, dear faithful Father.
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: I thank you for your care for each one of us.
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: As your precious child sinks into deep sleep tonight, cover
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: them in the assurance of your love and your presence.
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: If they wake during the night, let your whispers of
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 1: love cause them to drift quickly back to sleep. Remind
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: them that you are always with them and that you
• 1:14:48
  Speaker 1: will never leave them. Let them be confident in their faith,
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: no matter how small, because you are big. Even a
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 1: mustard seed faith can do great things because that faith
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: is in You hold them closely in your arms tonight, Lord,
• 1:15:09
  Speaker 1: for they are your precious child. It's in your holy
• 1:15:12
  Speaker 1: name that I pray. Amen. Imagine walking into a room
• 1:15:18
  Speaker 1: where there are hundreds of people, all sitting on chairs.
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: They're laughing and talking, some are even singing a song
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 1: of praise to God. There are lots of chairs still left.
• 1:15:32
  Speaker 1: They are humble looking chairs, but obviously comfortable, as they
• 1:15:36
  Speaker 1: are very much like the ones everyone else is sitting in.
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 1: There are slight differences, maybe in the shade of the
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: wood or the height of the legs, but they are
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: all fundamentally the same. They are sound, they are reliable.
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 1: They can be trusted to hold up the one sitting
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 1: in them. As you look around wondering what chair you
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 1: should choose, you notice some really elaborate looking chairs. Some
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: look like thrones. They are softly cushioned and decorated all
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 1: over with glittering gold and gemstones. Your eyes are glued
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: to them. That's the kind of chair you want. It's
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 1: very flashy, it must be very comfortable. In fact, you're
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 1: pretty sure you've heard about others who have sat in
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: this kind of chair. You're sure it's the kind of
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 1: chair that will hold you firmly for years to come.
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: Something you can really trust, and so you head to one.
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: It's actually up on a high dais, so you have
• 1:16:44
  Speaker 1: to climb some steps to get to it. Once you
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 1: climb the steps, and boy, there were more than you
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: initially noticed, you have to input a code into a
• 1:16:54
  Speaker 1: keypad on a gate that surrounds the chair. You hadn't
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 1: really noticed that gate before. It takes you a while
• 1:17:01
  Speaker 1: to figure out what the code is. Nobody has told
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: you the secret, but man, you really want to sit
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 1: in that chair. Finally you figure it out and the
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 1: gate opens. Then you notice that you have to carefully
• 1:17:16
  Speaker 1: walk over some stepping stones crossing a turbulent river to
• 1:17:20
  Speaker 1: actually reach the dais. It didn't look this hard from
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 1: down below, but you're determined to get there, so you
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: carefully tread across the stones. Finally you reach the chair.
• 1:17:33
  Speaker 1: You sit, anticipating the comfort of the seat, but to
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 1: your utter dismay, it completely collapses, dumping you on the ground. Chagrined,
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: you look up to see Jesus standing before you and
• 1:17:49
  Speaker 1: reaching for your hand with a smile on his face.
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 1: When you reach out to take his hand, you understand
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: the grandeur of what you put your faith in matter.
• 1:18:01
  Speaker 1: The fanciest chair won't hold you if it's not strong.
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: It's not the amount of faith you have that matters.
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: It's what you put your faith in that does. And
• 1:18:14
  Speaker 1: so you let Jesus lead you to one of the humble,
• 1:18:17
  Speaker 1: rough hewn chairs. You join the throngs of people who
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 1: came in the room before you. They appear confident and happy,
• 1:18:26
  Speaker 1: fitting comfortably into the chairs they have been in for many,
• 1:18:30
  Speaker 1: many years. They never wear out, they never let them down.
• 1:18:36
  Speaker 1: They hold them firmly through all that they do. No
• 1:18:40
  Speaker 1: analogy is perfect, of course, Our God is bigger than
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 1: a chair. But the truth is still applicable. You can
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: have the largest amount of belief ever that something unreliable
• 1:18:52
  Speaker 1: will hold you up, or the smallest amount of faith
• 1:18:56
  Speaker 1: in the God of the universe, and that grain of
• 1:18:59
  Speaker 1: faith in the old Almighty God will make all the difference.
• 1:19:06
  Speaker 1: As you continue breathing deeply and slowly, listen to the
• 1:19:10
  Speaker 1: words of Hebrews eleven from the New Living Translation. Faith
• 1:19:15
  Speaker 1: shows the reality of what we hope for. It is
• 1:19:18
  Speaker 1: the evidence of things we cannot see through their faith.
• 1:19:23
  Speaker 1: The people in days of old earned a good reputation.
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 1: By faith, we understand that the entire universe was formed
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 1: at God's command, that what we now see did not
• 1:19:35
  Speaker 1: come from anything that can be seen. It was by
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 1: than Cain did. Abel's offering gave evidence that he was
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 1: a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts.
• 1:19:54
  Speaker 1: Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 1: by his example of faith. It was by faith that
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 1: Enoch was taken up to Heaven without dying. He disappeared
• 1:20:08
  Speaker 1: because God took him for before he was taken up,
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: he was known as a person who pleased God, and
• 1:20:16
  Speaker 1: it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 1: wants to come to him must believe that God exists
• 1:20:24
  Speaker 1: and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. It
• 1:20:30
  Speaker 1: was by faith that Noah built a large boat to
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 1: warned him about things that had never happened before. By
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 1: his faith, Noah condemned the rest of the world, and
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: he received the righteousness that comes by faith. It was
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: leave home and go to another land. That God would
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 1: give him as his inheritance. And even when he reached
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 1: the land God promised her, he lived there by faith,
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: for he was like a foreigner living in tents, and
• 1:21:12
  Speaker 1: so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 1: Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations,
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 1: a city designed and built by God. It was by
• 1:21:27
  Speaker 1: faith that even Sarah was able to have a child.
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: Though she was barren and was too old, she believed
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 1: that God would keep his promise, and so a whole
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 1: nation came from this one man, who was as good
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: as dead, a nation with so many people that, like
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: the stars in the sky and the sand on the
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: sea shore, there is no way to count them all.
• 1:21:53
  Speaker 1: These people died still believing what God had promised them.
• 1:21:57
  Speaker 1: They did not receive what was promised, but they saw
• 1:22:01
  Speaker 1: it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 1: that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously,
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 1: people who say such things are looking forward to a
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 1: country they can call their own. If they had longed
• 1:22:14
  Speaker 1: for the country they came from, they could have gone back.
• 1:22:18
  Speaker 1: But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 1: home land, that is why God is not ashamed to
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: be called their god, for he has prepared a city
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 1: for them. It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 1: a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 1: received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac,
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 1: even though God had told him, Isaac is the son
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 1: through whom your descendants will be counted. Abraham reasoned that
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 1: if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back
• 1:22:56
  Speaker 1: to life again, and in a sense, Abraham did receive
• 1:23:01
  Speaker 1: his son back from the dead. It was by faith
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 1: that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons,
• 1:23:09
  Speaker 1: Jacob and Esau. It was by faith that Jacob, when
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 1: he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 1: and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about
• 1:23:26
  Speaker 1: to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would
• 1:23:30
  Speaker 1: leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 1: with them when they left. It was by faith that
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 1: Moses' parents hid him for three months when he was born.
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 1: They saw that God had given them an unusual child,
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: and they were not afraid to disobey the king's command.
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up,
• 1:23:54
  Speaker 1: refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 1: enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was
• 1:24:05
  Speaker 1: better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to
• 1:24:08
  Speaker 1: own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead
• 1:24:12
  Speaker 1: to his great reward. It was by faith that Moses
• 1:24:16
  Speaker 1: left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king's anger.
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 1: He kept right on going because he kept his eyes
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 1: on the one who is invisible. It was by faith
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the
• 1:24:29
  Speaker 1: Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorsteps so that
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 1: the Angel of Death would not kill their first born sons.
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel went
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground,
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel marched
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: around Jericho for seven days and the walls came crashing down.
• 1:25:01
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute, was not
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 1: destroyed with the people in her city who refused to
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: obey God, for she had given a friendly welcome to
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 1: the spies. How much more do I need to say?
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 1: It would take too long to recount the stories of
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and
• 1:25:24
  Speaker 1: all the prophets. By faith, these people overthrow kingdoms, ruled
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: with justice, and received what God had promised them. They
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 1: shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire,
• 1:25:38
  Speaker 1: and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 1: weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle
• 1:25:46
  Speaker 1: and put the whole armies to fight. Women received their
• 1:25:50
  Speaker 1: loved ones back again from death, but others were tortured,
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 1: refusing to turn from God in order to be set free,
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 1: They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 1: Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 1: with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning,
• 1:26:13
  Speaker 1: some were sought in half, and others were killed with
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 1: the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats,
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 1: destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for
• 1:26:25
  Speaker 1: this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves,
• 1:26:30
  Speaker 1: and holes in the ground. All of these people earned
• 1:26:35
  Speaker 1: a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of
• 1:26:38
  Speaker 1: them received all that God had promised for God had
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 1: something better in mind for us, so that they would
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 1: not reach perfection without us, ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.
• 1:26:54
  Speaker 1: It's not the size of your faith that matters. It's
• 1:26:57
  Speaker 1: the one you put your faith there, the one who
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 1: created the world and holds it all together, the one
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: who loves you unconditionally.
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 2: Let His Holy.
• 1:27:08
  Speaker 1: Spirit fill you with all the faith that you need
• 1:27:11
  Speaker 1: to live a life pleasing to God. Because Heaven awaits us,
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 1: we know there is something better coming, and trusting God
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: with today is just a foretaste of the faith that
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: will be rewarded when we receive eternal life. Let me
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: pray over you, Lord, Jesus, shine the light of your
• 1:27:32
  Speaker 1: love over your beloved child tonight. Let them bask in
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 1: the glow of your glory as they sleep peacefully, trusting
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 1: in your watch care over them. May their dreams be
• 1:27:45
  Speaker 1: about you and the people who have embodied faith from
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 1: the Bible. May they wake refreshed, ready to trust You
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 1: in the big and the small, because you care about them.
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 2: Both.
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 1: We love you, and we worship you. It's all because
• 1:28:02
  Speaker 1: of Jesus. Amen, Dear faithful Father, I thank you for
• 1:28:25
  Speaker 1: your care for each one of us. As your precious
• 1:28:29
  Speaker 1: child sinks into deep sleep, tonight, cover them in the
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 1: assurance of your love and your presence. If they wake
• 1:28:38
  Speaker 1: during the night, let your whispers of love cause them
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: to drift quickly back to sleep. Remind them that you
• 1:28:45
  Speaker 1: are always with them and that you will never leave them.
• 1:28:50
  Speaker 1: Let them be confident in their faith, no matter how small,
• 1:28:54
  Speaker 1: because you are big. Even a mustard seed of faith
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 1: can do great things because that faith is in you.
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 1: Hold them closely in your arms tonight, Lord, for they
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 1: are your precious child. It's in your holy name that
• 1:29:12
  Speaker 1: I pray. Amen. Imagine walking into a room where there
• 1:29:18
  Speaker 1: are hundreds of people, all sitting on chairs. They're laughing
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 1: and talking, some are even singing a song of praise
• 1:29:26
  Speaker 1: to God. There are lots of chairs still left. They
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 1: are humble looking chairs, but obviously comfortable, as they are
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 1: very much like the ones everyone else is sitting in.
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 1: There are slight differences, maybe in the shade of the
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 1: wood or the height of the legs, but they are
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: all fundamentally the same. They are so they are reliable.
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 1: They can be trusted to hold up the one sitting
• 1:29:54
  Speaker 1: in them. As you look around wondering what chair you
• 1:30:02
  Speaker 1: should choose, you notice some really elaborate looking chairs. Some
• 1:30:07
  Speaker 1: look like thrones. They are softly cushioned and decorated all
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 1: over with glittering gold and gemstones. Your eyes are glued
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 1: to them. That's the kind of chair you want. It's
• 1:30:21
  Speaker 1: very flashy, it must be very comfortable. In fact, you're
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 1: pretty sure you've heard about others who have sat in
• 1:30:29
  Speaker 1: this kind of chair. You're sure it's the kind of
• 1:30:32
  Speaker 1: chair that will hold you firmly for years to come,
• 1:30:35
  Speaker 1: something you can really trust, And so you head to one.
• 1:30:40
  Speaker 1: It's actually up on a high dais, so you have
• 1:30:43
  Speaker 1: to climb some steps to get to it. Once you
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: climb the steps, and boy, there were more than you
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 1: initially noticed, you have to input a code into a
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 1: keypad on a gate that surrounds the chair. You hadn't
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: really noticed that gate before, and take you a while
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 1: to figure out what the code is. Nobody has told
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 1: you the secret, but man, you really want to sit
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 1: in that chair. Finally you figure it out and the
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 1: gate opens. Then you notice that you have to carefully
• 1:31:15
  Speaker 1: walk over some stepping stones, crossing a turbulent river to
• 1:31:19
  Speaker 1: actually reach the dais. It didn't look this hard from
• 1:31:23
  Speaker 1: down below, but you're determined to get there, so you
• 1:31:27
  Speaker 1: carefully tread across the stones. Finally you reach the chair.
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: You sit, anticipating the comfort of the seat, but to
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 1: your utter dismay, it completely collapses, dumping you on the ground. Chagrined,
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 1: you look up to see Jesus standing before you and
• 1:31:48
  Speaker 1: reaching for your hand, with a smile on his face.
• 1:31:52
  Speaker 1: When you reach out to take his hand, you understand
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: the grandeur of what you put your faith in didn't matter.
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: The fanciest chair won't hold you if it's not strong.
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 1: It's not the amount of faith you have that matters.
• 1:32:07
  Speaker 1: It's what you put your faith in that does. And
• 1:32:12
  Speaker 1: so you let Jesus lead you to one of the humble,
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: rough hewn chairs. You join the throngs of people who
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 1: came in the room before you. They appear confident and happy,
• 1:32:25
  Speaker 1: fitting comfortably into the chairs they have been in for many,
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 1: many years.
• 1:32:30
  Speaker 2: They never wear out.
• 1:32:32
  Speaker 1: They never let them down, They hold them firmly through
• 1:32:36
  Speaker 1: all that they do. No analogy is perfect, of course,
• 1:32:41
  Speaker 1: our God is bigger than a chair, but the truth
• 1:32:45
  Speaker 1: is still applicable. You can have the largest amount of
• 1:32:49
  Speaker 1: belief ever that something unreliable will hold you up, or
• 1:32:53
  Speaker 1: the smallest amount of faith in the God of the universe,
• 1:32:57
  Speaker 1: and that grain of faith in the Almighty God will
• 1:33:00
  Speaker 1: make all the difference. As you continue breathing deeply and slowly,
• 1:33:08
  Speaker 1: listen to the words of Hebrews eleven from the New
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 1: Living Translation. Faith shows the reality of what we hope for.
• 1:33:17
  Speaker 1: It is the evidence of things we cannot see through
• 1:33:21
  Speaker 1: their faith. The people in days of old earned a
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 1: good reputation by faith. We understand that the entire universe
• 1:33:29
  Speaker 1: was formed at God's command, that what we now see
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: did not come from anything that can be seen. It
• 1:33:39
  Speaker 1: was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 1: to God than Cain did. Abel's offering gave evidence that
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 1: he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 1: of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still
• 1:33:56
  Speaker 1: speaks to us by his example of faith. It was
• 1:34:01
  Speaker 1: by faith that Enoch was taken up to Heaven without dying.
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 1: He disappeared because God took him for Before he was
• 1:34:09
  Speaker 1: taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God,
• 1:34:15
  Speaker 1: and it is impossible to please God without faith. Any
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 1: One who wants to come to him must believe that
• 1:34:22
  Speaker 1: God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
• 1:34:28
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Noah built a large boat
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 1: to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God,
• 1:34:36
  Speaker 1: who warned him about things that had never happened before.
• 1:34:40
  Speaker 1: By his faith, Noah condemned the rest of the world,
• 1:34:44
  Speaker 1: and he received the righteousness that comes by faith. It
• 1:34:49
  Speaker 1: was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him
• 1:34:53
  Speaker 1: to leave home and go to another land that God
• 1:34:57
  Speaker 1: would give him as his inheritance. And even when he
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 1: reached the land God promised her, he lived there by faith,
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 1: for he was like a foreigner living in tents, and
• 1:35:10
  Speaker 1: so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 1: Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations,
• 1:35:20
  Speaker 1: a city designed and built by God. It was by
• 1:35:25
  Speaker 1: faith that even Sarah was able to have a child,
• 1:35:29
  Speaker 1: though she was barren and was too old. She believed
• 1:35:33
  Speaker 1: that God would keep his promise, and so a whole
• 1:35:36
  Speaker 1: nation came from this one man, who was as good
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 1: as dead, a nation with so many people that like
• 1:35:44
  Speaker 1: the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.
• 1:35:48
  Speaker 1: There is no way to count them.
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 2: All.
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 1: These people died still believing what God had promised them.
• 1:35:56
  Speaker 1: They did not receive what was promised, but they saw
• 1:35:59
  Speaker 1: it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed
• 1:36:03
  Speaker 1: that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously,
• 1:36:07
  Speaker 1: people who say such things are looking forward to a
• 1:36:10
  Speaker 1: country they can call their own. If they had longed
• 1:36:13
  Speaker 1: for the country they came from, they could have gone back,
• 1:36:17
  Speaker 1: But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland.
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 1: That is why God is not ashamed to be called
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 1: their god, for he has prepared a city for them.
• 1:36:31
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac a sacrifice
• 1:36:34
  Speaker 1: when God was testing him.
• 1:36:36
  Speaker 2: Abraham, who had.
• 1:36:38
  Speaker 1: Received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac,
• 1:36:44
  Speaker 1: even though God had told him, Isaac is the son
• 1:36:48
  Speaker 1: through whom your descendants will be counted. Abraham reasoned that
• 1:36:52
  Speaker 1: if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back
• 1:36:55
  Speaker 1: to life again, and in a sense, Abraham did receive
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 1: his son back from the dead. It was by faith
• 1:37:04
  Speaker 1: that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons,
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 1: Jacob and Esau. It was by faith that Jacob, when
• 1:37:13
  Speaker 1: he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons
• 1:37:17
  Speaker 1: and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.
• 1:37:22
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about
• 1:37:25
  Speaker 1: to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 1: leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 1: with them when they left. It was by faith that
• 1:37:37
  Speaker 1: Moses' parents hid him for three months when he was born.
• 1:37:41
  Speaker 1: They saw that God had given them an unusual child,
• 1:37:44
  Speaker 1: and they were not afraid to disobey the king's command.
• 1:37:50
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up,
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 1: refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He
• 1:37:56
  Speaker 1: chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of
• 1:38:00
  Speaker 1: enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was
• 1:38:04
  Speaker 1: better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to
• 1:38:07
  Speaker 1: own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead
• 1:38:11
  Speaker 1: to his great reward. It was by faith that Moses
• 1:38:15
  Speaker 1: left the land of Egypt. Not fearing the king's anger.
• 1:38:19
  Speaker 1: He kept right on going because he kept his eyes
• 1:38:22
  Speaker 1: on the one who is invisible. It was by faith
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 1: that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the
• 1:38:28
  Speaker 1: passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorsteps so that
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 1: the Angel of Death would not kill their firstborn sons.
• 1:38:38
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel went
• 1:38:41
  Speaker 1: through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground,
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 1: but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.
• 1:38:50
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel marched
• 1:38:53
  Speaker 1: around Jericho for seven days and the walls came crashing down.
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Rahab, the prostitute, was not
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 1: destroyed with the people in her city who refused to
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 1: obey God, for she had given a friendly welcome to
• 1:39:09
  Speaker 1: the spies. How much more do I need to say?
• 1:39:15
  Speaker 1: It would take too long to recount the stories of
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 1: the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and
• 1:39:23
  Speaker 1: all the prophets. By faith, these people overthrow kingdoms, ruled
• 1:39:28
  Speaker 1: with justice, and received what God had promised them. They
• 1:39:33
  Speaker 1: shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire,
• 1:39:37
  Speaker 1: and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their
• 1:39:40
  Speaker 1: weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 1: and put the whole armies to fight. Women received their
• 1:39:48
  Speaker 1: loved ones back again from death, but others were tortured,
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 1: refusing to turn from God in order to be set free,
• 1:39:58
  Speaker 1: They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.
• 1:40:03
  Speaker 1: Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open
• 1:40:06
  Speaker 1: with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning,
• 1:40:12
  Speaker 1: some were sought in half, and others were killed with
• 1:40:15
  Speaker 1: the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats,
• 1:40:20
  Speaker 1: destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for
• 1:40:24
  Speaker 1: this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 1: and holes in the ground. All of these people earned
• 1:40:33
  Speaker 1: a good reputation because of their faith. Yet none of
• 1:40:37
  Speaker 1: them received all that God had promised for God had
• 1:40:41
  Speaker 1: something better in mind for us, so that they would
• 1:40:45
  Speaker 1: not reach perfection without us, ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.
• 1:40:53
  Speaker 1: It's not the size of your faith that matters. It's
• 1:40:56
  Speaker 1: the one you put your faith in, the one who
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 1: created the world and holds it all together, the one
• 1:41:03
  Speaker 1: who loves you unconditionally. Let His Holy Spirit fill you
• 1:41:08
  Speaker 1: with all the faith that you need to live a
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 1: life pleasing to God. Because Heaven awaits us, we know
• 1:41:15
  Speaker 1: there is something better coming and trusting God with today
• 1:41:20
  Speaker 1: is just a foretaste of the faith that will be
• 1:41:22
  Speaker 1: rewarded when we receive eternal life. Let me pray over you, Lord, Jesus,
• 1:41:30
  Speaker 1: shine the light of your love over your beloved child tonight.
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 1: Let them bask in the glow of your glory as
• 1:41:37
  Speaker 1: they sleep peacefully, trusting in your watch care over them.
• 1:41:43
  Speaker 1: May their dreams be about you and the people who
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 1: have embodied faith from the Bible. May they wake refreshed,
• 1:41:51
  Speaker 1: ready to trust You in the big and the small,
• 1:41:54
  Speaker 1: because you care about them.
• 1:41:56
  Speaker 2: Both.
• 1:41:57
  Speaker 1: We love you and we worship you. It's all because
• 1:42:00
  Speaker 1: of Jesus.
• 1:42:02
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 1:42:06
  Speaker 1: Tonight's meditation, A faith filled Life is written to usher
• 1:42:11
  Speaker 1: you into deep, RESTful sleep as you dwell on the
• 1:42:15
  Speaker 1: life of faith into which you have been called by God.
• 1:42:19
  Speaker 1: The Book of Hebrews, chapter eleven is filled with stories
• 1:42:24
  Speaker 1: of people who have lived lives of faith. It tells
• 1:42:28
  Speaker 1: of the things they trusted God for even when they
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 1: could not see a way through themselves. That same faith
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 1: and that same faithful good God is available to you.
• 1:42:43
  Speaker 1: All you need to do is grasp it and then
• 1:42:46
  Speaker 1: rest in it. So as we begin, settle into your
• 1:42:50
  Speaker 1: bed and take a slow, deep breath. Feel your heart
• 1:42:55
  Speaker 1: rate begin to slow, Relax your neck muscles, clinch and
• 1:43:02
  Speaker 1: unclench your fists. Keep breathing slowly and deeply. Then as
• 1:43:09
  Speaker 1: you exhale, release the worries and burdens that you have
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 1: carried with you today. Now is the time to let
• 1:43:17
  Speaker 1: God renew your strength. Let me pray for you, Dear
• 1:43:22
  Speaker 1: faithful Father. I thank you for your care for each
• 1:43:26
  Speaker 1: one of us. As your precious child sinks into deep sleep, tonight,
• 1:43:32
  Speaker 1: cover them in the assurance of your love and your presence.
• 1:43:37
  Speaker 1: If they wake during the night, let your whispers of
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 1: love cause them to drift quickly back to sleep. Remind
• 1:43:44
  Speaker 1: them that you are always with them and that you
• 1:43:47
  Speaker 1: will never leave them. Let them be confident in their faith,
• 1:43:52
  Speaker 1: no matter how small, because you are big. Even a
• 1:43:57
  Speaker 1: mustard seed of faith can do great things because that
• 1:44:01
  Speaker 1: faith is in you. Hold them closely in your arms, tonight, Lord,
• 1:44:07
  Speaker 1: for they are your precious child. It's in your holy
• 1:44:11
  Speaker 1: name that I pray. Amen. Imagine walking into a room
• 1:44:17
  Speaker 1: where there are hundreds of people, all sitting on chairs.
• 1:44:21
  Speaker 1: They're laughing and talking, some are even singing a song
• 1:44:26
  Speaker 1: of praise to God. There are lots of chairs still left.
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 1: They are humble looking chairs, but obviously comfortable, as they
• 1:44:35
  Speaker 1: are very much like the ones everyone else is sitting in.
• 1:44:39
  Speaker 1: There are slight differences, maybe in the shade of the
• 1:44:42
  Speaker 1: wood or the height of the legs, but they are
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 1: all fundamentally the same. They are sound, they are reliable.
• 1:44:51
  Speaker 1: They can be trusted to hold up the one sitting
• 1:44:54
  Speaker 1: in them. Around wondering what chair you should choose, you
• 1:45:03
  Speaker 1: notice some really elaborate looking chairs. Some look like thrones.
• 1:45:09
  Speaker 1: They are softly cushioned and decorated all over with glittering
• 1:45:13
  Speaker 1: gold and gemstones. Your eyes are glued to them. That's
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 1: the kind of chair you want. It's very flashy. It
• 1:45:23
  Speaker 1: must be very comfortable. In fact, you're pretty sure you've
• 1:45:26
  Speaker 1: heard about others who have sat in this kind of chair.
• 1:45:30
  Speaker 1: You're sure it's the kind of chair that will hold
• 1:45:32
  Speaker 1: you firmly for years to come, something you can really trust.
• 1:45:37
  Speaker 1: And so you head to one. It's actually up on
• 1:45:41
  Speaker 1: a high dais, so you have to climb some steps
• 1:45:43
  Speaker 1: to get to it. Once you climb the steps, and boy,
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 1: there were more than you initially noticed, you have to
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 1: input a code into a keypad on a gate that
• 1:45:54
  Speaker 1: surrounds the chair. You hadn't really noticed that gate before.
• 1:45:59
  Speaker 1: It takes you a way while to figure out what the
• 1:46:01
  Speaker 1: code is. Nobody has told you the secret, but man,
• 1:46:06
  Speaker 1: you really want to sit in that chair. Finally you
• 1:46:10
  Speaker 1: figure it out and the gate opens. Then you notice
• 1:46:14
  Speaker 1: that you have to carefully walk over some stepping stones,
• 1:46:17
  Speaker 1: crossing a turbulent river to actually reach the dace. It
• 1:46:22
  Speaker 1: didn't look this hard from down below, but you're determined
• 1:46:25
  Speaker 1: to get there, so you carefully tread across the stones.
• 1:46:29
  Speaker 1: Finally you reach the chair. You sit, anticipating the comfort
• 1:46:34
  Speaker 1: of the seat, but to your utter dismay, it completely collapses,
• 1:46:40
  Speaker 1: dumping you on the ground. Chagrined, you look up to
• 1:46:44
  Speaker 1: see Jesus standing before you and reaching for your hand,
• 1:46:49
  Speaker 1: with a smile on his face. When you reach out
• 1:46:52
  Speaker 1: to take his hand, you understand the grandeur of what
• 1:46:57
  Speaker 1: you put your faith in didn't matter. The fanciest chair
• 1:47:01
  Speaker 1: won't hold you if it's not strong. It's not the
• 1:47:04
  Speaker 1: amount of faith you have that matters. It's what you
• 1:47:08
  Speaker 1: put your faith in that does. And so you let
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 1: Jesus lead you to one of the humble, rough hewn chairs.
• 1:47:18
  Speaker 1: You join the throngs of people who came in the
• 1:47:21
  Speaker 1: room before you. They appear confident and happy, fitting comfortably
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 1: into the chairs they have been in for many, many years.
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 1: They never wear out, they never let them down. They
• 1:47:34
  Speaker 1: hold them firmly through all that they do. No analogy
• 1:47:39
  Speaker 1: is perfect. Of course, our God is bigger than a chair.
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 1: But the truth is still applicable. You can have the
• 1:47:47
  Speaker 1: largest amount of belief ever that something unreliable will hold
• 1:47:51
  Speaker 1: you up, or the smallest amount of faith in the
• 1:47:54
  Speaker 1: God of the universe, and that grain of faith in
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 1: the Almighty God will make all the difference. As you
• 1:48:05
  Speaker 1: continue breathing deeply and slowly, listen to the words of
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 1: Hebrews eleven from the New Living Translation. Faith shows the
• 1:48:14
  Speaker 1: reality of what we hope for. It is the evidence
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 1: of things we cannot see through their faith. The people
• 1:48:22
  Speaker 1: in days of old earned a good reputation by faith.
• 1:48:27
  Speaker 1: We understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command,
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 1: that what we now see did not come from anything
• 1:48:35
  Speaker 1: that can be seen. It was by faith that Abel
• 1:48:40
  Speaker 1: brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did.
• 1:48:44
  Speaker 1: Abel's offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man
• 1:48:48
  Speaker 1: and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel
• 1:48:53
  Speaker 1: is long dead, he still speaks to us by his
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 1: example of faith. It was by faith that Enoch was
• 1:49:02
  Speaker 1: taken up to Heaven without dying. He disappeared because God
• 1:49:07
  Speaker 1: took him, for before he was taken up, he was
• 1:49:11
  Speaker 1: known as a person who pleased God, and it is
• 1:49:15
  Speaker 1: impossible to please God without faith. Any One who wants
• 1:49:19
  Speaker 1: to come to him must believe that God exists and
• 1:49:23
  Speaker 1: that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. It was
• 1:49:28
  Speaker 1: by faith that Noah built a large boat to save
• 1:49:31
  Speaker 1: his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned
• 1:49:36
  Speaker 1: him about things that had never happened before. By his faith,
• 1:49:41
  Speaker 1: Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received
• 1:49:45
  Speaker 1: the righteousness that comes by faith. It was by faith
• 1:49:49
  Speaker 1: that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home
• 1:49:54
  Speaker 1: and go to another land that God would give him
• 1:49:57
  Speaker 1: as his inheritance. And even when he reached the land
• 1:50:01
  Speaker 1: God promised her, he lived there by faith, for he
• 1:50:06
  Speaker 1: was like a foreigner living in tents, and so did
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 1: Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was
• 1:50:16
  Speaker 1: confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a
• 1:50:20
  Speaker 1: city designed and built by God. It was by faith
• 1:50:25
  Speaker 1: that even Sarah was able to have a child. Though
• 1:50:29
  Speaker 1: she was barren and was too old, she believed that
• 1:50:33
  Speaker 1: God would keep his promise, and so a whole nation
• 1:50:37
  Speaker 1: came from this one man, who was as good as dead,
• 1:50:41
  Speaker 1: a nation with so many people that, like the stars
• 1:50:44
  Speaker 1: in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there
• 1:50:48
  Speaker 1: is no way to count them.
• 1:50:51
  Speaker 2: All.
• 1:50:51
  Speaker 1: These people died still believing what God had promised them.
• 1:50:56
  Speaker 1: They did not receive what was promised, but they saw
• 1:50:59
  Speaker 1: it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed
• 1:51:03
  Speaker 1: that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously,
• 1:51:07
  Speaker 1: people who say such things are looking forward to a
• 1:51:10
  Speaker 1: country they can.
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 2: Call their own.
• 1:51:12
  Speaker 1: If they had longed for the country they came from,
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 1: they could have gone back. But they were looking for
• 1:51:18
  Speaker 1: a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God
• 1:51:23
  Speaker 1: is not ashamed to be called their god, for he
• 1:51:27
  Speaker 1: has prepared a city for them. It was by faith
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 1: that Abraham offered Isaac a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham,
• 1:51:37
  Speaker 1: who had received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his
• 1:51:41
  Speaker 1: only son, Isaac, even though God had told him Isaac
• 1:51:47
  Speaker 1: is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.
• 1:51:50
  Speaker 1: Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to
• 1:51:54
  Speaker 1: bring him back to life again, and in a sense,
• 1:51:58
  Speaker 1: Abraham did receive his son back from the dead. It
• 1:52:03
  Speaker 1: was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future
• 1:52:06
  Speaker 1: to his sons, Jacob and Esau. It was by faith
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 1: that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each
• 1:52:16
  Speaker 1: of Joseph's sons and bowed in worship as he leaned
• 1:52:19
  Speaker 1: on his staff. It was by faith that Joseph, when
• 1:52:24
  Speaker 1: he was about to die, said confidently that the people
• 1:52:28
  Speaker 1: of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 1: take his bones with them when they left. It was
• 1:52:36
  Speaker 1: by faith that Moses' parents hid him for three months
• 1:52:39
  Speaker 1: when he was born. They saw that God had given
• 1:52:42
  Speaker 1: them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to
• 1:52:45
  Speaker 1: disobey the king's command. It was by faith that Moses,
• 1:52:51
  Speaker 1: when he grew up, refused to be called the son
• 1:52:54
  Speaker 1: of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to share the oppression of
• 1:52:58
  Speaker 1: God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 1: He thought it was better to suffer for the sake
• 1:53:05
  Speaker 1: of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for
• 1:53:09
  Speaker 1: he was looking ahead to his great reward. It was
• 1:53:13
  Speaker 1: by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not
• 1:53:16
  Speaker 1: fearing the king's anger. He kept right on going because
• 1:53:21
  Speaker 1: he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.
• 1:53:24
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of
• 1:53:27
  Speaker 1: Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on
• 1:53:31
  Speaker 1: the doorsteps so that the Angel of Death would not
• 1:53:34
  Speaker 1: kill their firstborn sons. It was by faith that the
• 1:53:39
  Speaker 1: people of Israel went through the Red Sea as though
• 1:53:42
  Speaker 1: they were on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried
• 1:53:45
  Speaker 1: to follow, they were all drowned. It was by faith
• 1:53:51
  Speaker 1: that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven
• 1:53:54
  Speaker 1: days and the walls came crashing down. By faith that Rahab,
• 1:54:01
  Speaker 1: the prostitute, was not destroyed with the people in her
• 1:54:04
  Speaker 1: city who refused to obey God, for she had given
• 1:54:08
  Speaker 1: a friendly welcome to the spies. How much more do
• 1:54:13
  Speaker 1: I need to say? It would take too long to
• 1:54:16
  Speaker 1: recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel,
• 1:54:23
  Speaker 1: and all the prophets. By faith, these people overthrow kingdoms,
• 1:54:28
  Speaker 1: ruled with justice and received what God had promised them.
• 1:54:32
  Speaker 1: They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire,
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 1: and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their
• 1:54:40
  Speaker 1: weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle
• 1:54:44
  Speaker 1: and put the whole armies to fight. Women received their
• 1:54:48
  Speaker 1: loved ones back again from death, but others were tortured.
• 1:54:55
  Speaker 1: Refusing to turn from God in order to be set free,
• 1:54:58
  Speaker 1: they placed their hope in a life after the resurrection.
• 1:55:02
  Speaker 1: Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open
• 1:55:05
  Speaker 1: with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning,
• 1:55:11
  Speaker 1: some were sought in half, and others were killed with
• 1:55:14
  Speaker 1: the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats,
• 1:55:19
  Speaker 1: destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for
• 1:55:23
  Speaker 1: this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves
• 1:55:28
  Speaker 1: and holes in the ground. All of these people earned
• 1:55:33
  Speaker 1: a good reputation because of their faith. Yet none of
• 1:55:37
  Speaker 1: them received all that God had promised for God had
• 1:55:41
  Speaker 1: something better in mind for us, so that they would
• 1:55:44
  Speaker 1: not reach perfection without us ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.
• 1:55:52
  Speaker 1: It's not the size of your faith that matters, it's
• 1:55:56
  Speaker 1: the one you put your faith in the one who
• 1:55:59
  Speaker 1: created the world and holds it all together, the one
• 1:56:02
  Speaker 1: who loves you unconditionally. Let His Holy Spirit fill you
• 1:56:08
  Speaker 1: with all the faith that you need to live a
• 1:56:10
  Speaker 1: life pleasing to God. Because Heaven awaits us, we know
• 1:56:15
  Speaker 1: there is something better coming, and trusting God with today
• 1:56:19
  Speaker 1: is just a foretaste of the faith that will be
• 1:56:22
  Speaker 1: rewarded when we receive eternal life. Let me pray over you, Lord, Jesus,
• 1:56:30
  Speaker 1: Shine the light of your love over your beloved child tonight.
• 1:56:34
  Speaker 1: Let them bask in the glow of your glory as
• 1:56:37
  Speaker 1: they sleep peacefully, trusting in your watch care over them.
• 1:56:43
  Speaker 1: May their dreams be about you and the people who
• 1:56:46
  Speaker 1: have embodied faith from the Bible. May they wake refreshed,
• 1:56:51
  Speaker 1: ready to trust you in the big and the small,
• 1:56:54
  Speaker 1: because you care about them. Both. We love you and
• 1:56:58
  Speaker 1: we worship you because of Jesus. Amen, Dear faithful Father,
• 1:57:17
  Speaker 1: I thank you for your care for each one of us.
• 1:57:21
  Speaker 1: As your precious child sinks into deep sleep, tonight, cover
• 1:57:25
  Speaker 1: them in the assurance of your love and your presence.
• 1:57:29
  Speaker 1: If they wake during the night, let your whispers of
• 1:57:32
  Speaker 1: love cause them to drift quickly back to sleep. Remind
• 1:57:37
  Speaker 1: them that you are always with them and that you
• 1:57:40
  Speaker 1: will never leave them. Let them be confident in their faith,
• 1:57:45
  Speaker 1: no matter how small, because you are big. Even a
• 1:57:50
  Speaker 1: mustard seed of faith can do great things because that
• 1:57:54
  Speaker 1: faith is in you. Hold them closely in your arms tonight, Lord,
• 1:58:00
  Speaker 1: for they are your precious child. It's in your holy
• 1:58:03
  Speaker 1: name that I pray. Amen. Imagine walking into a room
• 1:58:10
  Speaker 1: where there are hundreds of people, all sitting on chairs.
• 1:58:14
  Speaker 1: They're laughing and talking, some are even singing a song
• 1:58:18
  Speaker 1: of praise to God. There are lots of chairs still left.
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 1: They are humble looking chairs, but obviously comfortable, as they
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 1: are very much like the ones everyone else is sitting in.
• 1:58:31
  Speaker 1: There are slight differences, maybe in the shade of the
• 1:58:35
  Speaker 1: wood or the height of the legs, but they are
• 1:58:38
  Speaker 1: all fundamentally the same. They are sound, they are reliable.
• 1:58:44
  Speaker 1: They can be trusted to hold up the one sitting
• 1:58:46
  Speaker 1: in them. As you look around wondering what chair you
• 1:58:55
  Speaker 1: should choose, you notice some really elaborate looking chairs look
• 1:59:00
  Speaker 1: like thrones. They are softly cushioned and decorated all over
• 1:59:05
  Speaker 1: with glittering gold and gemstones. Your eyes are glued to them.
• 1:59:11
  Speaker 1: That's the kind of chair you want. It's very flashy,
• 1:59:15
  Speaker 1: it must be very comfortable. In fact, you're pretty sure
• 1:59:19
  Speaker 1: you've heard about others who have sat in this kind
• 1:59:21
  Speaker 1: of chair. You're sure it's the kind of chair that
• 1:59:24
  Speaker 1: will hold you firmly for years to come, something you
• 1:59:28
  Speaker 1: can really trust, and so you head to one. It's
• 1:59:32
  Speaker 1: actually up on a high dais, so you have to
• 1:59:35
  Speaker 1: climb some steps to get to it. Once you climb
• 1:59:39
  Speaker 1: the steps, and boy, there were more than you initially noticed,
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 1: you have to input a code into a keypad on
• 1:59:46
  Speaker 1: a gate that surrounds the chair. You hadn't really noticed
• 1:59:50
  Speaker 1: that gate before. It takes you a while to figure
• 1:59:53
  Speaker 1: out what the code is. Nobody has told you the secret,
• 1:59:57
  Speaker 1: but man, you really want to sit in there chair.
• 2:00:02
  Speaker 1: Finally you figure it out and the gate opens. Then
• 2:00:06
  Speaker 1: you notice that you have to carefully walk over some
• 2:00:08
  Speaker 1: stepping stones crossing a turbulent river to actually reach the dais.
• 2:00:14
  Speaker 1: It didn't look this hard from down below, but you're
• 2:00:17
  Speaker 1: determined to get there, so you carefully tread across the stones.
• 2:00:22
  Speaker 1: Finally you reach the chair. You sit, anticipating the comfort
• 2:00:27
  Speaker 1: of the seat, but to your utter dismay, it completely collapses.
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 1: Dumping you on the ground. Chagrined, you look up to
• 2:00:37
  Speaker 1: see Jesus standing before you and reaching for your hand
• 2:00:41
  Speaker 1: with a smile on his face. When you reach out
• 2:00:45
  Speaker 1: to take his hand, you understand the grandeur of what
• 2:00:49
  Speaker 1: you put your faith in didn't matter. The fanciest chair
• 2:00:54
  Speaker 1: won't hold you if it's not strong. It's not the
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 1: amount of faith you have that matters. It's what you
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 1: put your faith in that does. And so you let
• 2:01:05
  Speaker 1: Jesus lead you to one of the humble, rough hewn chairs.
• 2:01:11
  Speaker 1: You join the throngs of people who came in the
• 2:01:13
  Speaker 1: room before you. They appear confident and happy, fitting comfortably
• 2:01:19
  Speaker 1: into the chairs they have been in for many, many years.
• 2:01:23
  Speaker 1: They never wear out, they never let them down. They
• 2:01:27
  Speaker 1: hold them firmly through all that they do. No analogy
• 2:01:31
  Speaker 1: is perfect. Of course, our God is bigger than a chair,
• 2:01:36
  Speaker 1: but the truth is still applicable. You can have the
• 2:01:40
  Speaker 1: largest amount of belief ever, that something unreliable will hold
• 2:01:44
  Speaker 1: you up, or the smallest amount of faith in the
• 2:01:47
  Speaker 1: God of the universe, and that grain of faith in
• 2:01:50
  Speaker 1: the Almighty God will make all the difference. As you
• 2:01:57
  Speaker 1: continue breathing deeply and slowly, listen to the words of
• 2:02:01
  Speaker 1: Hebrews eleven from the New Living Translation. Faith shows the
• 2:02:07
  Speaker 1: reality of what we hope for. It is the evidence
• 2:02:10
  Speaker 1: of things we cannot see.
• 2:02:13
  Speaker 2: Through their faith.
• 2:02:14
  Speaker 1: The people in days of old earned a good reputation
• 2:02:19
  Speaker 1: by faith. We understand that the entire universe was formed
• 2:02:22
  Speaker 1: at God's command, that what we now see did not
• 2:02:26
  Speaker 1: come from anything that can be seen. It was by
• 2:02:32
  Speaker 1: faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God
• 2:02:35
  Speaker 1: than Cain did. Abel's offering gave evidence that he was
• 2:02:39
  Speaker 1: a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts.
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 1: Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us
• 2:02:49
  Speaker 1: by his example of faith. It was by faith that
• 2:02:54
  Speaker 1: Enoch was taken up to Heaven without dying.
• 2:02:58
  Speaker 2: He disappeared because.
• 2:02:59
  Speaker 1: God took him, for before he was taken up, he
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 1: was known as a person who pleased God, and it
• 2:03:07
  Speaker 1: is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants
• 2:03:12
  Speaker 1: to come to him must believe that God exists and
• 2:03:16
  Speaker 1: that He rewards those who sincerely seek him. It was
• 2:03:21
  Speaker 1: by faith that Noah built a large boat to save
• 2:03:24
  Speaker 1: his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned
• 2:03:28
  Speaker 1: him about things that had never happened before by his faith,
• 2:03:34
  Speaker 1: Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received
• 2:03:37
  Speaker 1: the righteousness that comes by faith. It was by faith
• 2:03:42
  Speaker 1: that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home
• 2:03:47
  Speaker 1: and go to another land that God would give him
• 2:03:50
  Speaker 1: as his inheritance. And even when he reached the land
• 2:03:54
  Speaker 1: God promised him, he lived there by faith, for he
• 2:03:59
  Speaker 1: was like a foreigner living in tents, and so did
• 2:04:03
  Speaker 1: Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was
• 2:04:08
  Speaker 1: confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a
• 2:04:13
  Speaker 1: city designed and built by God. It was by faith
• 2:04:18
  Speaker 1: that even Sarah was able to have a child. Though
• 2:04:22
  Speaker 1: she was barren and was too old, she believed that
• 2:04:25
  Speaker 1: God would keep his promise, and so a whole nation
• 2:04:29
  Speaker 1: came from this one man, who was as good as dead,
• 2:04:33
  Speaker 1: a nation with so many people that, like the stars
• 2:04:37
  Speaker 1: in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there
• 2:04:40
  Speaker 1: is no way to count them.
• 2:04:44
  Speaker 2: All.
• 2:04:44
  Speaker 1: These people died still believing what God had promised them.
• 2:04:48
  Speaker 1: They did not receive what was promised, but they saw
• 2:04:52
  Speaker 1: it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed
• 2:04:56
  Speaker 1: that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously,
• 2:05:00
  Speaker 1: so the people who say such things are looking forward
• 2:05:02
  Speaker 1: to a country they can call their own. If they
• 2:05:05
  Speaker 1: had longed for the country they came from, they could
• 2:05:08
  Speaker 1: have gone back, But they were looking for a better place,
• 2:05:12
  Speaker 1: a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed
• 2:05:16
  Speaker 1: to be called their god, for he has prepared a
• 2:05:20
  Speaker 1: city for them. It was by faith that Abraham offered
• 2:05:25
  Speaker 1: Isaac a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who
• 2:05:30
  Speaker 1: had received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac,
• 2:05:36
  Speaker 1: even though God had told him, Isaac is the son
• 2:05:40
  Speaker 1: through whom your descendants will be counted. Abraham reasoned that
• 2:05:44
  Speaker 1: if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back
• 2:05:47
  Speaker 1: to life again, and in a sense, Abraham did receive
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 1: his son back from the dead. It was by faith
• 2:05:57
  Speaker 1: that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his son
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 1: Jacob and Esau. It was by faith that Jacob, when
• 2:06:06
  Speaker 1: he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons
• 2:06:09
  Speaker 1: and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.
• 2:06:14
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about
• 2:06:17
  Speaker 1: to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would
• 2:06:21
  Speaker 1: leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones
• 2:06:25
  Speaker 1: with them when they left. It was by faith that
• 2:06:29
  Speaker 1: Moses' parents hid him for three months when he was born.
• 2:06:33
  Speaker 1: They saw that God had given them an unusual child,
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 1: and they were not afraid to disobey.
• 2:06:39
  Speaker 2: The king's command.
• 2:06:42
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up,
• 2:06:45
  Speaker 1: refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He
• 2:06:49
  Speaker 1: chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of
• 2:06:52
  Speaker 1: enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was
• 2:06:56
  Speaker 1: better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to
• 2:06:59
  Speaker 1: own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead
• 2:07:03
  Speaker 1: to his great reward. It was by faith that Moses
• 2:07:07
  Speaker 1: left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king's anger.
• 2:07:11
  Speaker 1: He kept right on going because he kept his eyes
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 1: on the one who is invisible. It was by faith
• 2:07:18
  Speaker 1: that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the
• 2:07:21
  Speaker 1: passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorsteps so that
• 2:07:25
  Speaker 1: the Angel of Death would not kill their first born sons.
• 2:07:30
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel went
• 2:07:33
  Speaker 1: through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground,
• 2:07:36
  Speaker 1: but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.
• 2:07:43
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel marched
• 2:07:45
  Speaker 1: around Jericho for seven days and the walls came crashing down.
• 2:07:52
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Rahab, the prostitute, was not
• 2:07:55
  Speaker 1: destroyed with the people in her city who refused to
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 1: obey God, for she had given a friendly welcome to
• 2:08:02
  Speaker 1: the spies.
• 2:08:05
  Speaker 2: How much more do I need to say?
• 2:08:07
  Speaker 1: It would take too long to recount the stories of
• 2:08:10
  Speaker 1: the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, David, Samuel, and
• 2:08:16
  Speaker 1: all the prophets. By faith, these people overthrow kingdoms, ruled
• 2:08:21
  Speaker 1: with justice, and received what God had promised them. They
• 2:08:25
  Speaker 1: shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire,
• 2:08:29
  Speaker 1: and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their
• 2:08:32
  Speaker 1: weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle
• 2:08:37
  Speaker 1: and put the whole armies to fight. Women received their
• 2:08:41
  Speaker 1: loved ones back again from death, but others were tortured,
• 2:08:47
  Speaker 1: refusing to turn from God in order to be set free.
• 2:08:51
  Speaker 1: They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.
• 2:08:55
  Speaker 1: Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open
• 2:08:58
  Speaker 1: with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stuting,
• 2:09:04
  Speaker 1: some were sought in half, and others were killed with
• 2:09:07
  Speaker 1: the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats,
• 2:09:12
  Speaker 1: destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for
• 2:09:16
  Speaker 1: this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves
• 2:09:21
  Speaker 1: and holes in the ground. All of these people earned
• 2:09:26
  Speaker 1: a good reputation because of their faith. Yet none of
• 2:09:29
  Speaker 1: them received all that God had promised for God had
• 2:09:34
  Speaker 1: something better in mind for us, so that they would
• 2:09:37
  Speaker 1: not reach perfection without us, ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.
• 2:09:45
  Speaker 1: It's not the size of your faith that matters. It's
• 2:09:48
  Speaker 1: the one you put your faith there, the one who
• 2:09:51
  Speaker 1: created the world and holds it all together, the one
• 2:09:55
  Speaker 1: who loves you unconditionally. Let His Holy Spirit fill you
• 2:10:00
  Speaker 1: with all the faith that you need to live a
• 2:10:02
  Speaker 1: life pleasing to God. Because Heaven awaits us, we know
• 2:10:07
  Speaker 1: there is something better coming, and trusting God with to
• 2:10:12
  Speaker 1: day is just a foretaste of the faith that will
• 2:10:14
  Speaker 1: be rewarded when we receive eternal life. Let me pray
• 2:10:19
  Speaker 1: over you, Lord, Jesus, Shine the light of your love
• 2:10:24
  Speaker 1: over your beloved child to night. Let them bask in
• 2:10:27
  Speaker 1: the glow of your glory as they sleep peacefully, trusting
• 2:10:32
  Speaker 1: in your watch care over them. May their dreams be
• 2:10:36
  Speaker 1: about you and the people who have embodied faith from
• 2:10:40
  Speaker 1: the Bible. May they wake refreshed, ready to trust you
• 2:10:44
  Speaker 1: in the big and the small, because you care about them.
• 2:10:48
  Speaker 2: Both.
• 2:10:49
  Speaker 1: We love you and we worship you. It's all because
• 2:10:53
  Speaker 1: of Jesus. Amen Tonight's meditation, A faith filled Life is
• 2:11:02
  Speaker 1: written to usher you into deep, RESTful sleep as you
• 2:11:07
  Speaker 1: dwell on the life of faith into which you have
• 2:11:09
  Speaker 1: been called by God. The Book of Hebrews, chapter eleven
• 2:11:15
  Speaker 1: is filled with stories of people who have lived lives
• 2:11:18
  Speaker 1: of faith. It tells of the things they trusted God
• 2:11:22
  Speaker 1: for even when they could not see away through themselves.
• 2:11:27
  Speaker 1: That same faith, in that same faithful good God is
• 2:11:33
  Speaker 1: available to you. All you need to do is grasp
• 2:11:37
  Speaker 1: it and then rest in it. So, as we begin,
• 2:11:42
  Speaker 1: settle into your bed and take a slow, deep breath,
• 2:11:46
  Speaker 1: feel your heart rate begin to slow, relax your neck
• 2:11:50
  Speaker 1: muscles and your shoulders clinch and unclench your fists. Keep
• 2:11:57
  Speaker 1: breathing slowly and deeply. Then, as you exhale, release the
• 2:12:04
  Speaker 1: worries and burdens that you have carried with you today.
• 2:12:08
  Speaker 1: Now is the time to let God renew your strength.
• 2:12:12
  Speaker 1: Let me pray for you, dear faithful Father. I thank
• 2:12:17
  Speaker 1: you for your care for each one of us. As
• 2:12:20
  Speaker 1: your precious child sinks into deep sleep, tonight, cover them
• 2:12:25
  Speaker 1: in the assurance of your love and your presence. If
• 2:12:29
  Speaker 1: they wake during the night, let your whispers of love
• 2:12:33
  Speaker 1: cause them to drift quickly back to sleep. Remind them
• 2:12:37
  Speaker 1: that you are always with them and that you will
• 2:12:40
  Speaker 1: never leave them. Let them be confident in their faith,
• 2:12:44
  Speaker 1: no matter how small, because you are big. Even a
• 2:12:50
  Speaker 1: mustard seed of faith can do great things because that
• 2:12:53
  Speaker 1: faith is in you. Hold them closely in your arms tonight, Lord,
• 2:13:00
  Speaker 1: but they are your precious child. It's in your holy
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 1: name that I pray. Amen. Imagine walking into a room
• 2:13:09
  Speaker 1: where there are hundreds of people, all sitting on chairs.
• 2:13:13
  Speaker 1: They're laughing and talking, some are even singing a song
• 2:13:18
  Speaker 1: of praise to God. There are lots of chairs still left.
• 2:13:23
  Speaker 1: They are humble looking chairs, but obviously comfortable, as they
• 2:13:27
  Speaker 1: are very much like the ones everyone else is sitting in.
• 2:13:31
  Speaker 1: There are slight differences, maybe in the shade of the
• 2:13:35
  Speaker 1: wood or the height of the legs, but they are
• 2:13:38
  Speaker 1: all fundamentally the same. They are south, they are reliable,
• 2:13:44
  Speaker 1: They can be trusted to hold up the one sitting
• 2:13:46
  Speaker 1: in them. As you look around wondering what chair you
• 2:13:54
  Speaker 1: should choose, you notice some really elaborate looking chairs, some
• 2:14:00
  Speaker 1: like thrones. They are softly cushioned and decorated all over
• 2:14:04
  Speaker 1: with glittering gold and gemstones. Your eyes are glued to them.
• 2:14:10
  Speaker 1: That's the kind of chair you want. It's very flashy.
• 2:14:15
  Speaker 1: It must be very comfortable. In fact, you're pretty sure
• 2:14:18
  Speaker 1: you've heard about others who have sat in this kind
• 2:14:21
  Speaker 1: of chair. You're sure it's the kind of chair that
• 2:14:24
  Speaker 1: will hold you firmly for years to come, something you
• 2:14:28
  Speaker 1: can really trust, and so you head to one.
• 2:14:32
  Speaker 2: It's actually up on.
• 2:14:33
  Speaker 1: A high dais, so you have to climb some steps
• 2:14:36
  Speaker 1: to get to it. Once you climb the steps, and boy,
• 2:14:40
  Speaker 1: there were more than you initially noticed, you have to
• 2:14:43
  Speaker 1: input a code into a keypad on a gate that
• 2:14:46
  Speaker 1: surrounds the chair. You hadn't really noticed that gate before.
• 2:14:51
  Speaker 1: It takes you a while to figure out what the
• 2:14:53
  Speaker 1: code is. Nobody has told you the secret, but man,
• 2:14:58
  Speaker 1: you really want to sit in there chair. Finally you
• 2:15:03
  Speaker 1: figure it out and the gate opens. Then you notice
• 2:15:06
  Speaker 1: that you have to carefully walk over some stepping stones,
• 2:15:09
  Speaker 1: crossing a turbulent river to actually reach the dais. It
• 2:15:14
  Speaker 1: didn't look this hard from down below, but you're determined
• 2:15:17
  Speaker 1: to get there, so you carefully tread across the stones.
• 2:15:21
  Speaker 1: Finally you reach the chair. You sit, anticipating the comfort
• 2:15:26
  Speaker 1: of the seat, but to your utter dismay, it completely collapses,
• 2:15:33
  Speaker 1: dumping you on the ground. Chagrin, You look up to
• 2:15:37
  Speaker 1: see Jesus standing before you and reaching for your hand,
• 2:15:41
  Speaker 1: with a smile on his face. When you reach out
• 2:15:45
  Speaker 1: to take his hand, you understand the grandeur of what
• 2:15:49
  Speaker 1: you put your faith in didn't matter. The fanciest chair
• 2:15:53
  Speaker 1: won't hold you if it's not strong. It's not the
• 2:15:56
  Speaker 1: amount of faith you have that matters. That's what you
• 2:16:00
  Speaker 1: put your faith in that does. And so you let
• 2:16:05
  Speaker 1: Jesus lead you to one of the humble, rough hewn chairs.
• 2:16:11
  Speaker 1: You join the throngs of people who came in the
• 2:16:13
  Speaker 1: room before you. They appear confident and happy, fitting comfortably
• 2:16:18
  Speaker 1: into the chairs they have been in for many, many years.
• 2:16:22
  Speaker 1: They never wear out, they never let them down. They
• 2:16:27
  Speaker 1: hold them firmly through all that they do. No analogy
• 2:16:31
  Speaker 1: is perfect, of course, our God is bigger than a chair.
• 2:16:36
  Speaker 1: But the truth is still applicable. You can have the
• 2:16:40
  Speaker 1: largest amount of belief ever that something unreliable will hold
• 2:16:43
  Speaker 1: you up, or the smallest amount of faith in the
• 2:16:47
  Speaker 1: God of the universe, and that grain of faith in
• 2:16:50
  Speaker 1: the Almighty God will make all the difference. As you
• 2:16:57
  Speaker 1: continue breathing deeply and slowly, listen to the words of
• 2:17:01
  Speaker 1: Hebrews eleven from the New Living Translation. Faith shows the
• 2:17:06
  Speaker 1: reality of what we hope for. It is the evidence
• 2:17:10
  Speaker 1: of things we cannot see through their faith. The people
• 2:17:15
  Speaker 1: in days of old earned a good reputation by faith.
• 2:17:19
  Speaker 1: We understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command,
• 2:17:24
  Speaker 1: that what we now see did not come from anything
• 2:17:27
  Speaker 1: that can be seen. It was by faith that Abel
• 2:17:32
  Speaker 1: brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did.
• 2:17:36
  Speaker 1: Abel's offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man,
• 2:17:41
  Speaker 1: and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel
• 2:17:46
  Speaker 1: is long dead, he still speaks to us by his
• 2:17:49
  Speaker 1: example of faith. It was by faith that Enoch was
• 2:17:55
  Speaker 1: taken up to Heaven without dying. He disappeared because God
• 2:17:59
  Speaker 1: took him for before he was taken up, he was
• 2:18:03
  Speaker 1: known as a person who pleased God, and it is
• 2:18:07
  Speaker 1: impossible to please God without faith. Any One who wants
• 2:18:12
  Speaker 1: to come to him must believe that God exists and
• 2:18:15
  Speaker 1: that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. It was
• 2:18:21
  Speaker 1: by faith that Noah built a large boat to save
• 2:18:23
  Speaker 1: his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned
• 2:18:28
  Speaker 1: him about things that had never happened before. By his faith,
• 2:18:33
  Speaker 1: Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 1: the righteousness that.
• 2:18:38
  Speaker 2: Comes by faith.
• 2:18:40
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called
• 2:18:45
  Speaker 1: him to leave home and go to another land that
• 2:18:48
  Speaker 1: God would give him as his inheritance. And even when
• 2:18:52
  Speaker 1: he reached the land God promised her, he lived there
• 2:18:56
  Speaker 1: by faith, for he was like a foreigner living in tents,
• 2:19:02
  Speaker 1: and so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.
• 2:19:07
  Speaker 1: Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations,
• 2:19:12
  Speaker 1: a city designed and built by God. It was by
• 2:19:17
  Speaker 1: faith that even Sarah was able to have a child,
• 2:19:21
  Speaker 1: though she was barren and was too old. She believed
• 2:19:25
  Speaker 1: that God would keep his promise, and so a whole
• 2:19:28
  Speaker 1: nation came from this one man, who was as good
• 2:19:32
  Speaker 1: as dead, a nation with so many people that, like
• 2:19:36
  Speaker 1: the stars in the sky and the sand on the
• 2:19:38
  Speaker 1: sea shore. There is no way to count them.
• 2:19:43
  Speaker 2: All.
• 2:19:44
  Speaker 1: These people died still believing what God had promised them.
• 2:19:48
  Speaker 1: They did not receive what was promised, but they saw
• 2:19:51
  Speaker 1: it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed
• 2:19:55
  Speaker 1: that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously,
• 2:20:00
  Speaker 1: people who say such things are looking forward to a
• 2:20:02
  Speaker 1: country they can call their own. If they had longed
• 2:20:05
  Speaker 1: for the country they came from, they could have gone back,
• 2:20:09
  Speaker 1: But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland.
• 2:20:14
  Speaker 1: That is why God is not ashamed to be called
• 2:20:17
  Speaker 1: their god, for he has prepared a city for them.
• 2:20:23
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac a sacrifice
• 2:20:26
  Speaker 1: when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God's promises,
• 2:20:32
  Speaker 1: was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though
• 2:20:36
  Speaker 1: God had told him, Isaac is the son through whom
• 2:20:40
  Speaker 1: your descendants will be counted. Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died,
• 2:20:46
  Speaker 1: God was able to bring him back to life again,
• 2:20:49
  Speaker 1: and in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back
• 2:20:52
  Speaker 1: from the dead. It was by faith that Isaac promised
• 2:20:58
  Speaker 1: blessings for the future to his sons Jacob and Esau.
• 2:21:03
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old
• 2:21:06
  Speaker 1: and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and bowed in
• 2:21:10
  Speaker 1: worship as he leaned on his staff. It was by
• 2:21:15
  Speaker 1: faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said
• 2:21:18
  Speaker 1: confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He
• 2:21:22
  Speaker 1: even commanded them to take his bones with them when
• 2:21:25
  Speaker 1: they left. It was by faith that Moses' parents hid
• 2:21:30
  Speaker 1: him for three months when he was born.
• 2:21:33
  Speaker 2: They saw that.
• 2:21:34
  Speaker 1: God had given them an unusual child, and they were
• 2:21:37
  Speaker 1: not afraid to disobey the king's command. It was by
• 2:21:42
  Speaker 1: faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be
• 2:21:46
  Speaker 1: called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to share
• 2:21:49
  Speaker 1: the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting
• 2:21:53
  Speaker 1: pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer
• 2:21:57
  Speaker 1: for the sake of Christ than to own the treasure
• 2:22:00
  Speaker 1: of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.
• 2:22:05
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt.
• 2:22:08
  Speaker 1: Not fearing the king's anger. He kept right on going
• 2:22:13
  Speaker 1: because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.
• 2:22:17
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of
• 2:22:19
  Speaker 1: Israel to keep the Passover, and to sprinkle blood on
• 2:22:23
  Speaker 1: the doorsteps so that the Angel of Death would not
• 2:22:26
  Speaker 1: kill their firstborn sons. It was by faith that the
• 2:22:31
  Speaker 1: people of Israel went through the Red Sea as though
• 2:22:34
  Speaker 1: they were on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried
• 2:22:38
  Speaker 1: to follow, they were all drowned. It was by faith
• 2:22:43
  Speaker 1: that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven
• 2:22:47
  Speaker 1: days and the walls came crashing down. It was by
• 2:22:52
  Speaker 1: faith that Rahab, the prostitute, was not destroyed. With the
• 2:22:56
  Speaker 1: people in her city who refused to obey God. She
• 2:23:00
  Speaker 1: had given a friendly welcome to the spies. How much
• 2:23:05
  Speaker 1: more do I need to say? It would take too
• 2:23:08
  Speaker 1: long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, David, Samuel,
• 2:23:15
  Speaker 1: and all the prophets. By faith, these people overthrew kingdoms,
• 2:23:20
  Speaker 1: ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them.
• 2:23:25
  Speaker 1: They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire,
• 2:23:29
  Speaker 1: and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their
• 2:23:32
  Speaker 1: weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle
• 2:23:36
  Speaker 1: and put the whole armies to fight. Women received their
• 2:23:40
  Speaker 1: loved ones back again from death, but others were tortured,
• 2:23:47
  Speaker 1: refusing to turn from God in order to be set free,
• 2:23:50
  Speaker 1: they placed their hope in a better life after the Resurrection.
• 2:23:55
  Speaker 1: Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open
• 2:23:58
  Speaker 1: with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning,
• 2:24:04
  Speaker 1: some were sought in half, and others were killed with
• 2:24:07
  Speaker 1: the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats,
• 2:24:12
  Speaker 1: destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for
• 2:24:16
  Speaker 1: this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves
• 2:24:21
  Speaker 1: and holes in the ground. All of these people earned
• 2:24:25
  Speaker 1: a good reputation because of their faith, Yet none of
• 2:24:29
  Speaker 1: them received all that God had promised for God had
• 2:24:33
  Speaker 1: something better in mind for us, so that they would
• 2:24:37
  Speaker 1: not reach perfection without us, ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.
• 2:24:45
  Speaker 1: It's not the size of your faith that matters. It's
• 2:24:48
  Speaker 1: the one you put your faith there, the one who
• 2:24:51
  Speaker 1: created the world and holds it all together, the one
• 2:24:55
  Speaker 1: who loves you unconditionally.
• 2:24:58
  Speaker 2: Let His Holy.
• 2:24:58
  Speaker 1: Spirit fill you with all the faith that you need
• 2:25:02
  Speaker 1: to live a life pleasing to God. Because Heaven awaits us,
• 2:25:07
  Speaker 1: we know there is something better coming, and trusting God
• 2:25:11
  Speaker 1: with to day is just a foretaste of the faith
• 2:25:14
  Speaker 1: that will be rewarded when we receive eternal life. Let
• 2:25:18
  Speaker 1: me pray over you, Lord, Jesus, shine the light of
• 2:25:23
  Speaker 1: your love over your beloved child to night. Let them
• 2:25:27
  Speaker 1: bask in the glow of your glory as they sleep peacefully,
• 2:25:31
  Speaker 1: trusting in your watch care over them. May their dreams
• 2:25:36
  Speaker 1: be about you and the people who have embodied faith
• 2:25:39
  Speaker 1: from the Bible. May they wake refreshed, ready to trust
• 2:25:44
  Speaker 1: you in the big and the small, because you care
• 2:25:47
  Speaker 1: about them. Both, we love you and we worship you.
• 2:25:51
  Speaker 1: It's all because of Jesus. Amen, dear faithful Father, I
• 2:26:15
  Speaker 1: thank you for your care for each one of us.
• 2:26:19
  Speaker 1: As your precious child sinks into deep sleep, tonight, cover
• 2:26:24
  Speaker 1: them in the assurance of your love and your presence.
• 2:26:28
  Speaker 1: If they wake during the night, let your whispers of
• 2:26:31
  Speaker 1: love cause them to drift quickly back to sleep. Remind
• 2:26:35
  Speaker 1: them that you are always with them and that you
• 2:26:38
  Speaker 1: will never leave them. Let them be confident in their faith,
• 2:26:43
  Speaker 1: no matter how small, because you are big. Even a
• 2:26:48
  Speaker 1: mustard seed of faith can do great things because that
• 2:26:52
  Speaker 1: faith is in you. Hold them closely in your arms tonight, Lord,
• 2:26:58
  Speaker 1: for they are your precious it's in your holy name
• 2:27:02
  Speaker 1: that I pray.
• 2:27:04
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 2:27:06
  Speaker 1: Imagine walking into a room where there are hundreds of people,
• 2:27:10
  Speaker 1: all sitting on chairs. They're laughing and talking, some are
• 2:27:15
  Speaker 1: even singing a song of praise to God. There are
• 2:27:19
  Speaker 1: lots of chairs still left. They are humble looking chairs,
• 2:27:24
  Speaker 1: but obviously comfortable, as they are very much like the
• 2:27:27
  Speaker 1: ones everyone else is sitting in. There are slight differences,
• 2:27:32
  Speaker 1: maybe in the shade of the wood or the height
• 2:27:35
  Speaker 1: of the legs, but they are all fundamentally the same.
• 2:27:39
  Speaker 1: They are south, they are reliable. They can be trusted
• 2:27:43
  Speaker 1: to hold up the one sitting in them. As you
• 2:27:51
  Speaker 1: look around wondering what chair you should choose, you notice
• 2:27:55
  Speaker 1: some really elaborate looking chairs. Some look like thrones. They
• 2:28:00
  Speaker 1: are softly cushioned and decorated all over with glittering gold
• 2:28:05
  Speaker 1: and gemstones. Your eyes are glued to them. That's the
• 2:28:10
  Speaker 1: kind of chair you want. It's very flashy, it must
• 2:28:14
  Speaker 1: be very comfortable. In fact, you're pretty sure you've heard
• 2:28:18
  Speaker 1: about others who have sat in this kind of chair.
• 2:28:21
  Speaker 1: You're sure it's the kind of chair that will hold
• 2:28:23
  Speaker 1: you firmly for years to come, something you can really trust,
• 2:28:28
  Speaker 1: And so you head to one. It's actually up on
• 2:28:32
  Speaker 1: a high dais, so you have to climb some steps
• 2:28:35
  Speaker 1: to get to it. Once you climb the steps, and boy,
• 2:28:39
  Speaker 1: there were more than you initially noticed, you have to
• 2:28:42
  Speaker 1: input a coat into a keypad on a gate that
• 2:28:45
  Speaker 1: surrounds the chair. You hadn't really noticed that gate before.
• 2:28:50
  Speaker 1: It takes you a while to figure out what the
• 2:28:52
  Speaker 1: code is. Nobody has told you the secret, but man,
• 2:28:57
  Speaker 1: you really want to sit in that chair. Finally you
• 2:29:02
  Speaker 1: figure it out and the gate opens. Then you notice
• 2:29:05
  Speaker 1: that you have to carefully walk over some stepping stones
• 2:29:08
  Speaker 1: crossing a turbulent river to actually reach the dais. It
• 2:29:13
  Speaker 1: didn't look this hard from down below, but you're determined
• 2:29:16
  Speaker 1: to get there, so you carefully tread across the stones.
• 2:29:20
  Speaker 1: Finally you reach the chair. You sit, anticipating the comfort
• 2:29:25
  Speaker 1: of the seat, but to your utter dismay, it completely collapses,
• 2:29:31
  Speaker 1: dumping you on the ground. Chagrin. You look up to
• 2:29:35
  Speaker 1: see Jesus standing before you and reaching for your hand
• 2:29:40
  Speaker 1: with a smile on his face. When you reach out
• 2:29:44
  Speaker 1: to take his hand, you understand the grandeur of what
• 2:29:48
  Speaker 1: you put your faith in didn't matter. The fanciest chair
• 2:29:52
  Speaker 1: won't hold you if it's not strong. It's not the
• 2:29:55
  Speaker 1: amount of faith you have that matters. It's what you
• 2:29:59
  Speaker 1: put your faith in that does. And so you let
• 2:30:04
  Speaker 1: Jesus lead you to one of the humble, rough hewn chairs.
• 2:30:09
  Speaker 1: You join the throngs of people who came in the
• 2:30:12
  Speaker 1: room before you. They appear confident and happy, fitting comfortably
• 2:30:17
  Speaker 1: into the chairs they have been in for many, many years.
• 2:30:21
  Speaker 1: They never wear out, they never let them down. They
• 2:30:25
  Speaker 1: hold them firmly through all that they do. No analogy
• 2:30:30
  Speaker 1: is perfect, of course, Our God is bigger than a chair,
• 2:30:35
  Speaker 1: but the truth is still applicable. You can have the
• 2:30:38
  Speaker 1: largest amount of belief ever that something unreliable will hold
• 2:30:42
  Speaker 1: you up, or the smallest amount of faith in the
• 2:30:46
  Speaker 1: God of the universe, and that grain of faith in
• 2:30:49
  Speaker 1: the Almighty God will make all the difference. As you
• 2:30:56
  Speaker 1: continue breathing deeply and slowly, listen to the words words
• 2:31:00
  Speaker 1: of Hebrews eleven from the New Living Translation. Faith shows
• 2:31:05
  Speaker 1: the reality of what we hope for. It is the
• 2:31:08
  Speaker 1: evidence of things we cannot see through their faith. The
• 2:31:13
  Speaker 1: people in days of old earned a good reputation by faith.
• 2:31:18
  Speaker 1: We understand that the entire universe was formed at God's
• 2:31:21
  Speaker 1: command that what we now see did not come from
• 2:31:25
  Speaker 1: anything that can be seen. It was by faith that
• 2:31:31
  Speaker 1: Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did.
• 2:31:35
  Speaker 1: Abel's offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man,
• 2:31:39
  Speaker 1: and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel
• 2:31:44
  Speaker 1: is long dead, he still speaks to us by his
• 2:31:48
  Speaker 1: example of faith. It was by faith that Enoch was
• 2:31:53
  Speaker 1: taken up to Heaven without dying. He disappeared because God
• 2:31:58
  Speaker 1: took him for Before before he was taken up, he
• 2:32:02
  Speaker 1: was known as a person who pleased God, and it
• 2:32:06
  Speaker 1: is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants
• 2:32:10
  Speaker 1: to come to him must believe that God exists and
• 2:32:14
  Speaker 1: that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. It was
• 2:32:19
  Speaker 1: by faith that Noah built a large boat to save
• 2:32:22
  Speaker 1: his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned
• 2:32:27
  Speaker 1: him about things that had never happened before. By his faith,
• 2:32:32
  Speaker 1: Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received
• 2:32:36
  Speaker 1: the righteousness that comes by faith. It was by faith
• 2:32:40
  Speaker 1: that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home
• 2:32:45
  Speaker 1: and go to another land that God would give him
• 2:32:48
  Speaker 1: as his inheritance, And even when he reached the land,
• 2:32:52
  Speaker 1: God promised him. He lived there by faith, for he
• 2:32:57
  Speaker 1: was like a foreigner living in tents, and so did
• 2:33:02
  Speaker 1: Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was
• 2:33:07
  Speaker 1: confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a
• 2:33:11
  Speaker 1: city designed and built by God. It was by faith
• 2:33:17
  Speaker 1: that even Sarah was able to have a child. Though
• 2:33:20
  Speaker 1: she was barren and was too old, she believed that
• 2:33:24
  Speaker 1: God would keep his promise. And so a whole nation
• 2:33:28
  Speaker 1: came from this one man, who was as good as dead,
• 2:33:32
  Speaker 1: a nation with so many people that, like the stars
• 2:33:36
  Speaker 1: in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there
• 2:33:39
  Speaker 1: is no way to count them.
• 2:33:42
  Speaker 2: All.
• 2:33:42
  Speaker 1: These people died still believing what God had promised them.
• 2:33:47
  Speaker 1: They did not receive what was promised, but they saw
• 2:33:50
  Speaker 1: it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed
• 2:33:54
  Speaker 1: that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously,
• 2:33:58
  Speaker 1: people who say such things are looking forward to a
• 2:34:01
  Speaker 1: country they can.
• 2:34:02
  Speaker 2: Call their own.
• 2:34:03
  Speaker 1: If they had longed for the country they came from,
• 2:34:06
  Speaker 1: they could have gone back. But they were looking for
• 2:34:09
  Speaker 1: a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God
• 2:34:14
  Speaker 1: is not ashamed to be called their god, for he
• 2:34:18
  Speaker 1: has prepared a city for them. It was by faith
• 2:34:22
  Speaker 1: that Abraham offered Isaac a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham,
• 2:34:28
  Speaker 1: who had received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his
• 2:34:32
  Speaker 1: only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, Isaac
• 2:34:38
  Speaker 1: is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.
• 2:34:41
  Speaker 1: Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to
• 2:34:45
  Speaker 1: bring him back to life again, and in a sense,
• 2:34:49
  Speaker 1: Abraham did receive his son back from the dead. It
• 2:34:54
  Speaker 1: was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future
• 2:34:58
  Speaker 1: to his sons, Jacob and Esau. It was by faith
• 2:35:03
  Speaker 1: that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each
• 2:35:07
  Speaker 1: of Joseph's sons and bowed in worship as he leaned
• 2:35:10
  Speaker 1: on his staff. It was by faith that Joseph, when
• 2:35:15
  Speaker 1: he was about to die, said confidently that the people
• 2:35:19
  Speaker 1: of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to
• 2:35:22
  Speaker 1: take his bones with them when they left. It was
• 2:35:27
  Speaker 1: by faith that Moses' parents hid him for three months
• 2:35:30
  Speaker 1: when he was born. They saw that God had given
• 2:35:33
  Speaker 1: them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to
• 2:35:37
  Speaker 1: disobey the king's command. It was by faith that Moses,
• 2:35:42
  Speaker 1: when he grew up refused to be called the son
• 2:35:45
  Speaker 1: of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to share the oppression of
• 2:35:49
  Speaker 1: God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.
• 2:35:54
  Speaker 1: He thought it was better to suffer for the sake
• 2:35:56
  Speaker 1: of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for
• 2:36:00
  Speaker 1: he was looking ahead to his great reward. It was
• 2:36:04
  Speaker 1: by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not
• 2:36:08
  Speaker 1: fearing the king's anger. He kept right on going because
• 2:36:12
  Speaker 1: he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.
• 2:36:15
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of
• 2:36:18
  Speaker 1: Israel to keep the passover and to sprinkle blood on
• 2:36:22
  Speaker 1: the doorsteps so that the Angel of Death would not
• 2:36:25
  Speaker 1: kill their first born sons. It was by faith that
• 2:36:30
  Speaker 1: the people of Israel went through the Red Sea as
• 2:36:33
  Speaker 1: though they were on dry ground, but when the Egyptians
• 2:36:36
  Speaker 1: tried to follow, they were all drowned. It was by
• 2:36:42
  Speaker 1: faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for
• 2:36:45
  Speaker 1: seven days and the walls came crashing down. It was
• 2:36:51
  Speaker 1: by faith that Rahab, the prostitute, was not destroyed with
• 2:36:55
  Speaker 1: the people in her city who refused to obey God,
• 2:36:58
  Speaker 1: for she had given a friendly welcomed to the spies.
• 2:37:03
  Speaker 1: How much more do I need to say? It would
• 2:37:06
  Speaker 1: take too long to recount the stories of the faith
• 2:37:09
  Speaker 1: of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.
• 2:37:16
  Speaker 1: By faith, these people overthrow kingdoms, ruled with justice, and
• 2:37:21
  Speaker 1: received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths
• 2:37:24
  Speaker 1: of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death
• 2:37:28
  Speaker 1: by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned
• 2:37:32
  Speaker 1: to strength. They became strong in battle and put the
• 2:37:36
  Speaker 1: whole armies to fight. Women received their loved ones back
• 2:37:40
  Speaker 1: again from death, but others were tortured, refusing to turn
• 2:37:47
  Speaker 1: from God in order to be set free. They placed
• 2:37:50
  Speaker 1: their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some
• 2:37:54
  Speaker 1: were jeered at and their backs were cut open with whips.
• 2:37:58
  Speaker 1: Others were chained in present some died by stouting, some
• 2:38:03
  Speaker 1: were sought in half, and others were killed with the sword.
• 2:38:07
  Speaker 1: Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute
• 2:38:11
  Speaker 1: and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world,
• 2:38:16
  Speaker 1: wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes
• 2:38:20
  Speaker 1: in the ground. All of these people earned a good
• 2:38:25
  Speaker 1: reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received
• 2:38:29
  Speaker 1: all that God had promised for God had something better
• 2:38:33
  Speaker 1: in mind for us, so that they would not reach
• 2:38:36
  Speaker 1: perfection without us, ordinary people serving an extraordinary God. It's
• 2:38:44
  Speaker 1: not the size of your faith that matters. It's the
• 2:38:47
  Speaker 1: one you put your faith there, the one who created
• 2:38:50
  Speaker 1: the world and holds it all together, the one who
• 2:38:54
  Speaker 1: loves you unconditionally. Let His Holy Spirit fill you with
• 2:38:59
  Speaker 1: all the faith that you need to live a life
• 2:39:01
  Speaker 1: pleasing to God. Because Heaven awaits us, we know there
• 2:39:06
  Speaker 1: is something better coming, and trusting God with today is
• 2:39:11
  Speaker 1: just a foretaste of the faith that will be rewarded
• 2:39:14
  Speaker 1: when we receive eternal life.
• 2:39:17
  Speaker 2: Let me pray over.
• 2:39:18
  Speaker 1: You, Lord, Jesus, shine the light of your love over
• 2:39:23
  Speaker 1: your beloved child tonight. Let them bask in the glow
• 2:39:26
  Speaker 1: of your glory as they sleep peacefully, trusting in your
• 2:39:31
  Speaker 1: watch care over them. May their dreams be about you
• 2:39:36
  Speaker 1: and the people who have embodied faith from the Bible.
• 2:39:40
  Speaker 1: May they wake refreshed, ready to trust you in the
• 2:39:43
  Speaker 1: big and the small, because you care about them.
• 2:39:46
  Speaker 2: Both.
• 2:39:48
  Speaker 1: We love you and we worship you. It's all because
• 2:39:51
  Speaker 1: of Jesus. Amen Tonight's meditation of faith filled life. Life
• 2:40:00
  Speaker 1: is written to usher you into deep, RESTful sleep as
• 2:40:05
  Speaker 1: you dwell on the life of faith into which you
• 2:40:08
  Speaker 1: have been called by God. The Book of Hebrews, chapter
• 2:40:12
  Speaker 1: eleven is filled with stories of people who have lived
• 2:40:16
  Speaker 1: lives of faith. It tells of the things they trusted
• 2:40:20
  Speaker 1: God for even when they could not see away through themselves.
• 2:40:26
  Speaker 1: That same faith and that same faithful good God is
• 2:40:31
  Speaker 1: available to you. All you need to do is grasp
• 2:40:35
  Speaker 1: it and then rest in it. So as we begin,
• 2:40:40
  Speaker 1: settle into your bed and take a slow, deep breath,
• 2:40:45
  Speaker 1: feel your heart rate begin to slow. Relax your neck
• 2:40:49
  Speaker 1: muscles and your shoulders. Clinch and unclench your fists. Keep
• 2:40:55
  Speaker 1: breathing slowly and deeply. Then, as you exhale, release the
• 2:41:02
  Speaker 1: worries and burdens that you have carried with you today.
• 2:41:06
  Speaker 1: Now is the time to let God renew your strength.
• 2:41:11
  Speaker 1: Let me pray for you, Dear faithful Father. I thank
• 2:41:15
  Speaker 1: you for your care for each one of us. As
• 2:41:19
  Speaker 1: your precious child sinks into deep sleep tonight, cover them
• 2:41:24
  Speaker 1: in the assurance of your love and your presence. If
• 2:41:28
  Speaker 1: they wake during the night, let your whispers of love
• 2:41:31
  Speaker 1: cause them to drift quickly back to sleep. Remind them
• 2:41:35
  Speaker 1: that you are always with them and that you will
• 2:41:38
  Speaker 1: never leave them. Let them be confident in their faith,
• 2:41:43
  Speaker 1: no matter how small, because you are big. Even a
• 2:41:48
  Speaker 1: mustard seed of faith can do great things because that
• 2:41:52
  Speaker 1: faith is in you. Hold them closely in your arms tonight, Lord,
• 2:41:58
  Speaker 1: for they are your precious child. It's in your holy
• 2:42:02
  Speaker 1: name that I pray. Amen. Imagine walking into a room
• 2:42:08
  Speaker 1: where there are hundreds of people, all sitting on chairs.
• 2:42:12
  Speaker 1: They're laughing and talking, some are even singing a song
• 2:42:16
  Speaker 1: of praise to God. There are lots of chairs still left.
• 2:42:22
  Speaker 1: They are humble looking chairs, but obviously comfortable, as they
• 2:42:26
  Speaker 1: are very much like the ones everyone else is sitting in.
• 2:42:29
  Speaker 1: There are slight differences, maybe in the shade of the
• 2:42:33
  Speaker 1: wood or the height of the legs, but they are
• 2:42:36
  Speaker 1: all fundamentally the same. They are sound, they are reliable.
• 2:42:42
  Speaker 1: They can be trusted to hold up the one sitting
• 2:42:45
  Speaker 1: in them. As you look around wondering what chair you
• 2:42:53
  Speaker 1: should choose, you notice some really elaborate looking chairs. Some
• 2:42:58
  Speaker 1: look like thrones. They are softly cushioned and decorated all
• 2:43:02
  Speaker 1: over with glittering gold and gemstones. Your eyes are glued
• 2:43:08
  Speaker 1: to them. That's the kind of chair you want. It's
• 2:43:12
  Speaker 1: very flashy, it must be very comfortable. In fact, you're
• 2:43:16
  Speaker 1: pretty sure you've heard about others who have sat in
• 2:43:19
  Speaker 1: this kind of chair. You're sure it's the kind of
• 2:43:22
  Speaker 1: chair that will hold you firmly for years to come,
• 2:43:26
  Speaker 1: something you can really trust, and so you head to one.
• 2:43:30
  Speaker 1: It's actually up on a high dais, so you have
• 2:43:33
  Speaker 1: to climb some steps to get to it. Once you
• 2:43:37
  Speaker 1: climb the steps, and boy, there were more than you
• 2:43:40
  Speaker 1: initially noticed, you have to input a code into a
• 2:43:43
  Speaker 1: keypad on a gate that surrounds the chair. You hadn't
• 2:43:47
  Speaker 1: really noticed that gate before. It takes you a while
• 2:43:51
  Speaker 1: to figure out what the code is. Nobody has told
• 2:43:54
  Speaker 1: you the secret, but man, you really want to sit
• 2:43:58
  Speaker 1: in that chair. Finally you figure it out and the
• 2:44:02
  Speaker 1: gate opens. Then you notice that you have to carefully
• 2:44:06
  Speaker 1: walk over some stepping stones crossing a turbulent river to
• 2:44:10
  Speaker 1: actually reach the dais. It didn't look this hard from
• 2:44:14
  Speaker 1: down below, but you're determined to get there, so you
• 2:44:17
  Speaker 1: carefully tread across the stones. Finally you reach the chair.
• 2:44:22
  Speaker 1: You sit, anticipating the comfort of the seat, but to
• 2:44:27
  Speaker 1: your utter dismay, it completely collapses, dumping you on the
• 2:44:32
  Speaker 1: ground chagrin. You look up to see Jesus standing before
• 2:44:37
  Speaker 1: you and reaching for your hand with a smile on
• 2:44:40
  Speaker 1: his face. When you reach out to take his hand,
• 2:44:44
  Speaker 1: you understand the grandeur of what you put your faith
• 2:44:48
  Speaker 1: in didn't matter. The fanciest chair won't hold you if
• 2:44:53
  Speaker 1: it's not strong. It's not the amount of faith you
• 2:44:56
  Speaker 1: have that matters. It's what you put your faith in
• 2:45:00
  Speaker 1: that does. And so you let Jesus lead you to
• 2:45:05
  Speaker 1: one of the humble, rough hewn chairs. You join the
• 2:45:10
  Speaker 1: throngs of people who came in the room before you.
• 2:45:13
  Speaker 1: They appear confident and happy, fitting comfortably into the chairs
• 2:45:18
  Speaker 1: they have been in for many, many years. They never
• 2:45:21
  Speaker 1: wear out, they never let them down. They hold them
• 2:45:26
  Speaker 1: firmly through all that they do. No analogy is perfect.
• 2:45:30
  Speaker 1: Of course, our God is bigger than a chair, but
• 2:45:35
  Speaker 1: the truth is still applicable. You can have the largest
• 2:45:39
  Speaker 1: amount of belief ever, that something unreliable will hold you up,
• 2:45:43
  Speaker 1: or the smallest amount of faith in the God of
• 2:45:46
  Speaker 1: the universe, and that grain of faith in the Almighty
• 2:45:49
  Speaker 1: God will make all the difference. As you continue breathing
• 2:45:57
  Speaker 1: deeply and slowly, listen to the words of Hebrews eleven
• 2:46:01
  Speaker 1: from the New Living Translation. Faith shows the reality of
• 2:46:05
  Speaker 1: what we hope for. It is the evidence of things
• 2:46:09
  Speaker 1: we cannot see. Through their faith. The people in days
• 2:46:14
  Speaker 1: of old earned a good reputation by faith. We understand
• 2:46:18
  Speaker 1: that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that
• 2:46:23
  Speaker 1: what we now see did not come from anything that
• 2:46:26
  Speaker 1: can be seen. It was by faith that Abel brought
• 2:46:31
  Speaker 1: a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel's
• 2:46:35
  Speaker 1: offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and
• 2:46:39
  Speaker 1: God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is
• 2:46:44
  Speaker 1: long dead, he still speaks to us by his example
• 2:46:48
  Speaker 1: of faith. It was by faith that Enoch was taken
• 2:46:53
  Speaker 1: up to Heaven without dying. He disappeared because God took him,
• 2:46:59
  Speaker 1: for before he was taken up, he was known as
• 2:47:02
  Speaker 1: a person who pleased God, and it is impossible to
• 2:47:06
  Speaker 1: please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to
• 2:47:11
  Speaker 1: him must believe that God exists and that he rewards
• 2:47:15
  Speaker 1: those who sincerely seek him. It was by faith that
• 2:47:20
  Speaker 1: Noah built a large boat to save his family from
• 2:47:23
  Speaker 1: the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things
• 2:47:28
  Speaker 1: that had never happened before. By his faith, Noah condemned
• 2:47:33
  Speaker 1: the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness
• 2:47:37
  Speaker 1: that comes by faith. It was by faith that Abraham
• 2:47:41
  Speaker 1: obeyed when God called him to leave home and go
• 2:47:45
  Speaker 1: to another land that God would give him as his inheritance.
• 2:47:50
  Speaker 1: And even when he reached the land God promised him,
• 2:47:54
  Speaker 1: he lived there by faith, for he was like a
• 2:47:57
  Speaker 1: foreigner living intent, and so did Isaac and Jacob, who
• 2:48:03
  Speaker 1: inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to
• 2:48:08
  Speaker 1: a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built
• 2:48:13
  Speaker 1: by God. It was by faith that even Sarah was
• 2:48:17
  Speaker 1: able to have a child. Though she was barren and
• 2:48:21
  Speaker 1: was too old, she believed that God would keep his promise.
• 2:48:26
  Speaker 1: And so a whole nation came from this one man,
• 2:48:29
  Speaker 1: who was as good as dead, a nation with so
• 2:48:33
  Speaker 1: many people that, like the stars in the sky and
• 2:48:36
  Speaker 1: the sand on the seashore, there is no way to
• 2:48:39
  Speaker 1: count them.
• 2:48:42
  Speaker 2: All.
• 2:48:42
  Speaker 1: These people died still believing what God had promised them.
• 2:48:47
  Speaker 1: They did not receive what was promised, but they saw
• 2:48:50
  Speaker 1: it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed
• 2:48:54
  Speaker 1: that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously,
• 2:48:58
  Speaker 1: people who say such things are looking forward to a
• 2:49:01
  Speaker 1: country they can call their own. If they had longed
• 2:49:04
  Speaker 1: for the country they came from, they could have gone back,
• 2:49:08
  Speaker 1: But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland.
• 2:49:13
  Speaker 1: That is why God is not ashamed to be called
• 2:49:15
  Speaker 1: their god, for he has prepared a city for them.
• 2:49:21
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac a sacrifice
• 2:49:25
  Speaker 1: when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God's promises,
• 2:49:31
  Speaker 1: was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though
• 2:49:35
  Speaker 1: God had told him Isaac is the son through whom
• 2:49:39
  Speaker 1: your descendants will be counted. Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died,
• 2:49:44
  Speaker 1: God was able to bring him back to life again,
• 2:49:47
  Speaker 1: and in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back
• 2:49:51
  Speaker 1: from the dead. It was by faith that Isaac promised
• 2:49:56
  Speaker 1: blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esa.
• 2:50:02
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old
• 2:50:05
  Speaker 1: and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and bowed in
• 2:50:08
  Speaker 1: worship as he leaned on his staff. It was by
• 2:50:13
  Speaker 1: faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said
• 2:50:17
  Speaker 1: confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He
• 2:50:21
  Speaker 1: even commanded them to take his bones with them when
• 2:50:24
  Speaker 1: they left. It was by faith that Moses' parents hid
• 2:50:29
  Speaker 1: him for three months when he was born. They saw
• 2:50:32
  Speaker 1: that God had given them an unusual child, and they
• 2:50:35
  Speaker 1: were not afraid to disobey the king's command. It was
• 2:50:40
  Speaker 1: by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to
• 2:50:44
  Speaker 1: be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to
• 2:50:47
  Speaker 1: share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the
• 2:50:51
  Speaker 1: fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to
• 2:50:55
  Speaker 1: suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the
• 2:50:58
  Speaker 1: treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his
• 2:51:02
  Speaker 1: great reward. It was by faith that Moses left the
• 2:51:06
  Speaker 1: land of Egypt, not fearing the king's anger. He kept
• 2:51:10
  Speaker 1: right on going because he kept his eyes on the
• 2:51:13
  Speaker 1: one who is invisible. It was by faith that Moses
• 2:51:17
  Speaker 1: commanded the people of Israel to keep the passover and
• 2:51:20
  Speaker 1: to sprinkle blood on the doorsteps so that the Angel
• 2:51:24
  Speaker 1: of Death would not kill their first born sons. It
• 2:51:29
  Speaker 1: was by faith that the people of Israel went through
• 2:51:31
  Speaker 1: the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground,
• 2:51:35
  Speaker 1: but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.
• 2:51:41
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that the people of Israel marched
• 2:51:44
  Speaker 1: around Jericho for seven days and the walls came crashing down.
• 2:51:50
  Speaker 1: It was by faith that Rahab, the prostitute, was not
• 2:51:54
  Speaker 1: destroyed with the people in her city who refused to
• 2:51:56
  Speaker 1: obey God, for she had given a friendly wallflcome to
• 2:52:00
  Speaker 1: the spies. How much more do I need to say?
• 2:52:06
  Speaker 1: It would take too long to recount the stories of
• 2:52:08
  Speaker 1: the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, David, Samuel, and
• 2:52:14
  Speaker 1: all the prophets. By faith, these people overthrow kingdoms, ruled
• 2:52:19
  Speaker 1: with justice, and received what God had promised them. They
• 2:52:23
  Speaker 1: shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire,
• 2:52:27
  Speaker 1: and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their
• 2:52:30
  Speaker 1: weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle
• 2:52:35
  Speaker 1: and put the whole armies to fight. Women received their
• 2:52:39
  Speaker 1: loved ones back again from death, but others were tortured,
• 2:52:45
  Speaker 1: refusing to turn from God in order to be set free.
• 2:52:49
  Speaker 1: They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.
• 2:52:53
  Speaker 1: Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open
• 2:52:56
  Speaker 1: with whips. Others were chained in prisons, some died by stoning,
• 2:53:02
  Speaker 1: some were sought in half, and others were killed with
• 2:53:05
  Speaker 1: the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats,
• 2:53:10
  Speaker 1: destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for
• 2:53:14
  Speaker 1: this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves
• 2:53:19
  Speaker 1: and holes in the ground. All of these people earned
• 2:53:24
  Speaker 1: a good reputation because of their faith. Yet none of
• 2:53:28
  Speaker 1: them received all that God had promised for God had
• 2:53:32
  Speaker 1: something better in mind for us, so that they would
• 2:53:35
  Speaker 1: not reach perfection without us, ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.
• 2:53:43
  Speaker 1: It's not the size of your faith that matters. It's
• 2:53:46
  Speaker 1: the one you put your faith there, the one who
• 2:53:49
  Speaker 1: created the world and holds it all together, the one
• 2:53:53
  Speaker 1: who loves you unconditionally.
• 2:53:56
  Speaker 2: Let His Holy.
• 2:53:57
  Speaker 1: Spirit fill you with all the faith that you need
• 2:54:00
  Speaker 1: to live a life pleasing to God. Because Heaven awaits us,
• 2:54:05
  Speaker 1: we know there is something better coming, and trusting God
• 2:54:09
  Speaker 1: with today is just a foretaste of the faith that
• 2:54:12
  Speaker 1: will be rewarded when we receive eternal life.
• 2:54:17
  Speaker 2: Let me pray over.
• 2:54:17
  Speaker 1: You, Lord, Jesus, Shine the light of your love over
• 2:54:22
  Speaker 1: your beloved child tonight. Let them bask in the glow
• 2:54:26
  Speaker 1: of your glory as they sleep peacefully, trusting in your
• 2:54:31
  Speaker 1: watch care over them. May their dreams be about You
• 2:54:36
  Speaker 1: and the people who have embodied faith from the Bible.
• 2:54:39
  Speaker 1: May they wake refreshed, ready to trust you in the
• 2:54:43
  Speaker 1: big and the small, because you care about them both.
• 2:54:47
  Speaker 1: We love you and we worship you. It's all because
• 2:54:51
  Speaker 1: of Jesus Amen.
• 2:55:01
  Speaker 2: Many railway more radias were mona