July 20, 2025 • 34 mins
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Jonathan Golightly talks about What's In Your Backpack- Endurance
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SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Hello and welcome to the West Side Church's special
podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (00:13):
Good morning.
I'd like you to turn with me inyour New Testaments to the book
of Hebrews chapter 12.
Hebrews chapter 12.
We'll begin our study there injust a moment.
To do that, let me add my wordof thanks as others have done.
Thank you to all of our members,to this whole church family for
the way that you contribute tothis extraordinary weekend.
We were talking just yesterday.
I always forget how good thisweekend is.
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And then it comes around again.
You go, wow, that was amazing.
And it will be amazing nextyear.
Thank you to our members, to ourdeacons.
If you turned on an AC unit, ifyou wrote a prayer email, if you
unlocked or locked up thebuilding, thank you.
Thank you to everyone who hascontributed.
And thank you, of course,especially to our shepherds for
how they watch over our soulsand how they lead and feed us in
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God's word and the role thatthis weekend plays in that.
Certainly thank our speakers.
Look forward to our messages therest of the day.
And thank you to you guys, ouryoung people, wherever you're
sitting in the auditorium.
Thank you.
You guys make this weekend sospecial and extraordinary.
When the theme for this weekendcame up nine months-ish ago, the
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very first thought that wentthrough my mind is the journey
to heaven, that's a long trip.
You can tell I'm a deep,profound thinker from that.
I've done some long road tripsin my days, and so I started
chewing on that.
And I can't preach on coffeethis morning, though filling a
backpack with coffee would bewonderful.
But I wanted us to think aboutwhat...
It takes to go all the way tothe end of a long journey.
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And so as probably most of youare aware, we're going to talk
this morning about endurance.
Hebrews chapter 12, the writersays this in Hebrews 12, 1,
Therefore, since we aresurrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us also layaside every weight and sin which
clings so closely, and let usrun with endurance the race that
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is set before us, looking toJesus, the the founder and
perfecter of our faith, who, forthe joy that was set before Him,
endured the cross.
That's going to be home base forus this morning.
Hebrews 12 says a ton aboutendurance.
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And so we're going to think fromthat passage about what it is,
how we can do it, what makes itpossible, and what that will
look like in our lives.
And I'm going to suggest as webegin this morning, this
definition for endurance.
I want to talk for a minute,yes, about Endurance 101.
The basics, the essentials.
What is it?
And I'm going to suggest we usethis.
Go Going to the goal with grit.
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Think about Jesus in Hebrewschapter 12.
He knows what the goal is.
It's going home by way of thecross.
He knows that's where he'sgoing.
It is clearly fixed in his mind.
And every decision that Jesusmakes is moving him
incrementally.
Gradually, relentlessly,persistently towards that goal.
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Day after day, teaching afterteaching, miracle after miracle,
everything Jesus does is movinghim one step closer to that
goal.
And he does that with grit.
I think it was Tim yesterdaythat used that phrase.
I want to just fix that in ourminds this morning.
I love the idea of grit.
When the going gets hard, wedon't quit.
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We practice grit.
We keep going because we knowwhere we're going and we've
committed to going forward.
And I came across this graphicas I was working with that.
I love the idea behind this toillustrate endurance.
Sometimes life looks like thetop line.
It is the ideal plan.
I'm going to go from point A topoint B and nothing will stand
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in the way.
It's just going to be smoothsailing the whole way there.
And sometimes life looks likethat.
And that's what you're going tosee on Instagram or whatever
social media thing you subscribeto.
It looks pretty.
It looks easy.
It's Instagram worthy.
And that still counts becauseyou're going from point A to
point B.
That counts as endurance.
But most of the time, life lookslike the real plan, doesn't it?
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If you read through Hebrewschapter 11, you'll know that the
life of Abraham or Jacob...
or Moses, it looks a whole lotmore like that second picture
than it does like the first.
There are bumps and bruises.
There are U-turns.
There are breaks.
There are stops.
There are interruptions.
There are failures.
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But they don't stop going.
They keep going to the goal andthey practice grit.
And that's Endurance.
You're not going to see that onInstagram.
Those are ugly moments that arenot social media worthy, but
they are endurance, and they arevital and essential to us.
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The last picture is notendurance.
Because they don't go to thegoal.
It's messy, just like the secondone, right?
But they don't finish thejourney.
And so endurance for ourpurposes this morning is going
to the goal with grit.
Now, I acknowledge that thosecomments are rather conceptual
in nature.
So I want to try and make that alittle more tangible with some
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Bible characters, many of whichwe've already noted this
weekend.
And young people, I'm going totalk especially to you guys
because this is youth lectures.
If you are like Daniel in aculture that is opposed to faith
and serving God, and you aresticking with daily spiritual
disciplines, like prayer andBible reading and assembling
with the saints every time youhave an opportunity, that's
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endurance, especially whenyou're away from home in a hard
place.
If you were like Joseph inPotiphar's house, who is being
tempted with something he'spretty sure he can get away
with, that he could rationalizeand say, yeah, this isn't really
going to hurt anybody, andyou're resisting that
temptation, and you're servingGod and you're going to the
goal, that's endurance.
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Endurance.
If you were like Noah's sons,for who a long period of time
helped their dad build a giantboat when no one thought you
needed a boat, and you honoredGod and you honored your
parents, that's endurance.
If you were like Ruth, whostands with Naomi when she
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doesn't know what the end ofthat journey is going to look
like or what it's going to costher, but nothing will shake her
from staying with Naomi, that'sEndurance.
If you were like Job and youwere dealing with a disaster in
your life, physically,emotionally, maybe both, that's
endurance.
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Or if like Paul, you are servingGod faithfully until the end of
your life, if you have some grayhairs like I do, and you are
still enduring because you knowit's worth it, that's endurance.
It looks like so many wonderful,famous Bible characters.
And it's doable.
And part of why that's soimportant is, of course, because
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endurance is essential.
You don't get to the goal andyou don't receive the reward if
you quit along the way.
Hold your finger in Hebrews 12and turn over to Hebrews chapter
10 for just a moment.
In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse36...
Hebrews 10, 36, the writer saysthis, for you have need of
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endurance so that when you havedone the will of God, you may
receive what is promised.
You don't receive the promisewithout endurance.
You don't receive it if youquit.
Jesus says to the disciples inMatthew chapter 10, it is the
one who endures to the end whowill be saved.
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And Paul in Romans chapter 2, ashe discusses the common
salvation of Jews and Gentiles,he says that to those who by
patience in doing good seekglory and honor and immortality,
God grants them eternal life.
That word patience, that'sendurance.
If you stick with it, even whenit's hard, all the way to the
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end.
And you receive the reward.
Now I acknowledge, particularlybecause it's youth lectures,
that at this point I've saidendurance is hard and you have
to do it.
And that doesn't sound realpositive, does it?
Telling your kids that kind ofinstruction, which you guys are
not kids, but you're youngpeople, that doesn't come across
necessarily in the mostfavorable light.
And so I want to talk for just amoment about the good news of
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endurance because I think thatis so essential for our purposes
this morning.
As we look in Hebrews chapter12, again hold your finger
there, you'll see that part ofwhat the writer expresses is
that Jesus endured by looking tothe joy.
In our terminology this morning,what that means is Jesus endured
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the cross because he said, whatis after the cross?
The reward and the goal is soworth it.
It is so magnificently wonderfulthat the cross doesn't even
count.
There's that little phrase inverse 1, or verse 2 rather,
excuse me, that Jesus despisedthe shame.
And I used to think that meantJesus went, ick, shame, I hate
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that.
That's not what it means, right?
The new living transgression.
Jesus disregarded the shame.
That's the idea.
If you've ever made a pro andcons list, that would be me.
You've probably done somethinglike that at some point in your
life.
Imagine Jesus making a pro andcons list.
And there's all the pros of, I'mgoing home and I'm saving souls
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and I'm fulfilling the will ofGod.
And then he thinks about thecross and the shame of the
cross.
And I think what Hebrews 12 saysfor us is it's almost as though
Jesus won't even write it downbecause it doesn't even count.
It doesn't make it on the listbecause enduring, the goal, the
reward is so wonderfully worthit that the hardship doesn't
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count.
Paul says that in Romans chapter8, rather famously.
You don't have to turn there,but verse 18, he says, I am
convinced that the sufferings ofthis present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glorythat is to be revealed to us.
Yes, it's hard.
Yes, it stinks.
But it's worth it.
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It's absolutely worth it.
And notice again in Hebrewschapter 12 that part of what the
writer says is that this isn'tjust some future thing that's
worth it.
It's worth it now.
Hebrews 12 and 10.
They disciplined us, speaking ofearthly parents, for a short
time as it seemed best to them,but he disciplined us for our
good.
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That's not 80 years in thefuture.
That's today that we may sharehis holiness.
That's today.
Verse 11, for the moment, alldiscipline seems painful rather
than pleasant, but later ityields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness.
If we endure, we get to berighteous today by the grace and
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goodness of God.
And in verse 15, see to it thatno one fails to obtain the grace
of God.
That is not just a futurereality.
That is a present reality andtruth.
So yes, endurance is hard.
And it's essential, but it'salso absolutely worth it.
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And another message of Scripturethat is so vitally important is
that God will help us.
God promises to do that.
I'm in Isaiah chapter 40.
I'd love for you to turn therewith me.
Isaiah chapter 40, as the bookof Isaiah turns to peace and
comfort and good news frommainly judgment, he says this at
the end of chapter 40.
Isaiah 40 and verse 28.
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"'Have you not known?'"'Have younot heard?' The Lord is the
everlasting God, the creator ofthe ends of the earth.
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They shall run and not be weary.
They shall walk and not befaint.
God has infinite endurance.
And He's not hoarding it.
He is able and willing andinterested in sharing it with us
so that we can endure as well.
And so it is in the NewTestament that Paul prays for
the Colossians, that they wouldbe strengthened with all power
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according to God's gloriousmight, for all endurance and
patience with joy.
Paul prays that because he knowsthat God can and that God will
give us endurance.
Turn to Romans 15 for just amoment.
Paul gives us some insight, Ithink, into how this can
function and operate.
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Romans 15 and in verse 4, ashe's concluding this
consideration of pursuing unityover matters that are matters of
conscience rather than matterswe might say of doctrine, so to
speak, things about which folkscan disagree and still be united
in Christ, he says this aftertalking about the strong bearing
the weakness of the weak.
Romans 15 and verse 4, whateverwas written in former days was
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written for our instruction thatthrough endurance, there's our
word, and through the encouragedNow notice in verse 5, Endurance
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comes from the God of endurance.
That makes sense, doesn't it?
And encouragement through thescriptures comes from the God of
encouragement.
And all of that helps us toendure.
So it's feasible because Godmakes it feasible.
He promises to help us.
And significantly, even in thatpassage, we have this indication
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that we are not alone.
We've noted this idea alreadythis weekend, but I just want to
pound that home again.
In Hebrews 12 and verse 1 beginswith that phrase, we are
surrounded by a great cloud ofwitnesses.
Those are people past.
What on earth do they do for us?
Well, I think one of the mainthings in that context that they
do is they show you are not thefirst and you are not the only.
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You know it's possible to endurebecause a whole host of people
have already done it by God'shelp and by God's grace.
If they did it, you can do ittoo.
And of course, that's not theonly message of Scripture in
this regard.
Peter says in 1 Peter 5 andverse 9, Stand firm, resisting
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the devil, because the samekinds of suffering are being
experienced by your brethren allover the world.
And when Paul writes to theThessalonians, a very new,
young, Gentile church...
He says you are imitators of thechurches of Christ in God in
Judea.
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He says to a bunch of brand newGentile Christians, you're like
Jewish Christians because youguys are suffering the same
suffering and you areexperiencing the same salvation.
That would have been thrillingto their hearts and to their
souls.
You are not alone.
And young people, let meparticularly say, look around
you this morning as you probablyhave already done this weekend.
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We love you.
We absolutely love you.
You are not on your own.
We may not be with you in themoment of hardship, but we stand
behind you and we pray for youand we are here for you.
You are not alone.
And finally, my favorite bit ofgood news in some ways this
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morning is the simpleobservation that you are already
enduring suffering.
This isn't some new futureendeavor.
You're already doing it.
Turn to Hebrews chapter 6 forjust a moment.
Hebrews chapter 6, and we'regoing to read just for a moment
in verse 9.
Hebrews 6 and verse 9.
The book of Hebrews obviouslyhas an edge to it at times
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because the readers need to becalled back to Christ.
And that's going to take somefirm exhortation.
But there are some littlesprinkles of good news and
confidence in this wonderfulletter.
And the writer says this inHebrews 6 and verse 9.
Though we speak in this way,strong, harsh exhortation,
rebuke at times, though we speakin this way, yet in your case,
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beloved, we feel sure of betterthings.
Things that See that littlephrase at the end of verse 10?
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As you still do.
The writer of Hebrews says, I'mnot telling you to endure.
I'm telling you to keep enduringbecause you're already doing it.
You know you can do it becauseyou already are.
And that message is sprinkledall over the New Testament.
In the letters to the churchesin Revelation 2 and 3, it says,
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In my judgment, what you seeJesus say in part is, I see it's
hard, and I see you haven'tquit.
And I think while it's not inthe text, I think between the
lines what you see Jesus sayingis, I am so proud of you.
You haven't given up, eventhough it's hard.
And Paul says that explicitly tothe Thessalonians.
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We've already made reference tothis letter.
I'd like to turn to it for justa minute.
1 Thessalonians chapter 3 says,We talk sometimes about
Philippians or the church atPhilippi being Paul's favorite
church.
I think Thessalonia might givethem a run for their money.
Paul says this in 1Thessalonians 3, by way of
context, because they are new inChrist and the persecution is
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hard and strong, and he wasn'twith them all that long, he's
afraid they might have given upand fallen away from Christ.
So he sends Timothy to check onthem, and Timothy comes back and
he says, Paul, you've gotnothing to worry about.
These guys are rocking it.
They are sticking with thefaith.
They are enduring.
And so Paul says this in 1Thessalonians 3, in verse 8, Now
we live if you are standingfast.
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The world's going to tell you alot of things are real life and
what life is all about.
By inspiration, Paul says, youknow what life is about?
It's about enduring together.
And young people, let me sayespecially, we don't have the
relationship with you guys,every one of us and every one of
you that Paul did with theThessalonians.
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But when you stand firm, wereally live and God is
glorified.
And in 1 Thessalonians chapter2, look at the phrasing that
Paul uses to talk about thesebrethren.
What is our hope?
This is 1 Thessalonians 2 andverse 19.
What is our hope or joy or crownof boasting before our Lord
Jesus at his coming?
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Is it not you?
For you are our glory and joy.
Young people...
We feel that way about you.
When you endure, we have joy andhope and it thrills our hearts.
And that's true for allbelievers, young and old,
because the Bible is full ofpeople who went part of the way
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and then quit.
And when you keep going all theway to the goal with grit, when
you endure, it glorifies God andit thrills our hearts.
Now, we've talked a lot aboutsome concepts that relate to
endurance, but now we need totalk some about what do we do
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about this?
How do we actually stuffsomething into our backpacks
that we're talking about thisweekend?
And we'll go back to Hebrews 12for a moment to give that some
consideration.
As I was prepping for that, Icame across the story, which I'd
heard before, of a young mannamed Alex Honnold.
You may know his name.
He did what's called a free soloclimb of this massive cliff face
in Yosemite National Park.
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It's something like 7,500 feetfrom the bottom of the cliff to
the very top of the cliff.
And he climbed that with noropes and nobody with him in
under four hours.
That blows my mind.
He's given TED Talks, he'swritten books, he's done all
kinds of stuff.
He is a world-class climber, asis probably self-explanatory.
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But one of the things that'ssurprising about that is that
story made a lot of news.
But what he also describes topeople is he spent eight years
of his life preparing for thatclimb.
He did it with ropes, time aftertime after time.
He thought about the map.
he prepared his mind so thatwhen he's a mile up in the air
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and nothing's holding him to themountain, he doesn't panic and
fall off.
That's kind of important.
And so that he knows the routefrom start to finish.
He knows every grip, every hold,every maneuver.
And of course, his body wastrained in that as well.
And Peter says something likethat in 1 Peter 1 in verse 13.
He says, prepare your minds foraction.
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And that's what I'd like for usto do for a few moments at this
point.
Notice again in Hebrews chapter12, We've already talked about
Jesus going to the cross, and Ithink part of what that reflects
for us is that Jesus made acommitment.
Luke tells us that in Luke 9 andverse 51, that Jesus set his
face to go to Jerusalem.
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He said, I know where I'm going,nothing is going to stop me, no
matter what, full stop.
He made a commitment.
And even when it got hard, andit got very hard, Jesus held to
that commitment.
We've noted this weekend alreadythat Daniel, in Daniel chapter 1
and verse 8, he resolves, hecommits firmly in his mind that
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he will not eat the king's foodand nothing will shake that
resolve.
They made a commitment.
And particularly for our youngpeople, but certainly not only
for y'all, I want to suggestthat making a commitment is
really important for us.
And I would particularly suggestthat you write that down
somewhere.
I can't tell you why writingsomething down makes a
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difference, but it does.
I'm not asking you to journal athousand things, but you know
what's going to be hard for youas it relates to endurance.
You know what's going to takegrit, the temptation, the
hardship, the fear.
You know what that is for you.
So make a commitment that it'snot going to stop you.
Write it down.
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And I, because we live in thisage, if you've got one of these,
which everybody does, put it inthere.
Somewhere that you will seeregularly.
Because a commitment once isgood.
But being reminded of thatcommitment day after day after
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day is better.
Probably it's not going to beyour lock screen.
That's okay.
but put it somewhere that youwill see it regularly so that
you renew that commitment dayafter day.
And that brings us then back toHebrews chapter 12 because of
course we are told that Jesusendured in part by looking to
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the joy.
And I would suggest particularlyhere, but I think part of why
that is so important is thatlooking to the joy feeds our
commitment because there will bedays where your commitment
wavers and it's hard and you'rethinking about slowing down or
quitting or veering off thecourse.
And when we remember why we'redoing it, what is at the end of
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the road, it helps us to endure.
So So Jesus looked to the joy.
And look in Hebrews chapter 11for just a moment, if you're
still in that general text.
Hebrews chapter 11 says thatabout others.
In Hebrews 11 and verse 10, ittells us that Abraham, who is
wandering all over the place andliving in tents when he came out
of a city where there werebuildings, he was looking,
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Hebrews 11, 10, he was lookingforward to the city of that has
foundations, whose designer andbuilder is God.
He was looking to the joy.
And in verse 26, it says thesame thing about Moses.
Hebrews 11, 26.
Moses considered the reproach ofChrist greater wealth than the
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treasures of Egypt, for he waslooking to the reward.
As we think about preparing ourminds for endurance, we have got
to keep that joy before us.
On the one further passage inthat regard, turn to Romans
chapter 5 with me.
Romans chapter 5.
It's a wonderful passage as Paulhas concluded his consideration
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of justification by faith, justlike Abraham, that was true for
all of the Christians in Rome,of course.
And in Romans 5 and verse 1, hesays this,"...therefore, since
we have been justified by faith,we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ." Throughhim we have also obtained access
by faith into this grace inwhich we stand and we rejoice,
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there's joy, in hope of theglory of God.
Not only that, but we rejoice inour sufferings knowing that
suffering produces endurance andendurance produces character and
character produces hope and hopedoes not put us to shame because
God's love has been poured intoour hearts through the Holy
Spirit who has been given to us.
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Do you notice that that beginsand ends with hope.
We start with hope of salvationbecause we have been saved.
And when hardship helps usproduce character through
endurance, it leads us andpoints us right back to hope.
That's part of how they can andshould function if we will
engage God's will in thosemoments.
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So look to the joy.
And then let's go back toHebrews 12.
There's one other preparing ourminds idea I'd like for us to
think about, and that is thisidea of seeing God In Hebrews 12
and verse 5, the writer saysthis, It is for discipline that
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you have to endure.
God is treating you as sons.
For what son is there whom hisfather does not love?
This is a little different thanlooking to the joy, though I
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acknowledge there's somesimilarity there.
Let's see if I can put it inthese terms.
Hardship is hard.
Newsflash.
However, what the writer ofHebrews says is sometimes in
hardship we focus on all thethings we don't enjoy.
No, I don't know how it's goingto end or when it's going to
end.
And if we're anything like Job,sometimes we don't know what God
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is doing or when or why or howin the moment of hardship.
And the writer of Hebrews says,get it, put that aside for a
moment.
Think about a couple of absoluteguaranteed knowns in hardship.
God loves you, full stop.
That is always true.
God wants what is best for you.
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Full stop.
Always true.
And so in hardship, regardlessof what I don't know about what
God is doing, I know that I canengage God in that hardship and
He will help me to endure and Hewill help that trial and
hardship to produce in mesomething positive and
productive so that after I amstronger and better...
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And I am able to serve in newways.
I am able to bear differentfruit, maybe more fruit.
And I may be able to helpsomeone who is going through
that hardship in the future.
Those are blessings.
The hardship is hard, but evenin hardship, the writer says,
there is blessing.
Blessing.
Remember those.
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Fix those firmly in your minds.
C.S.
Lewis said that in this way.
Hardships often prepare ordinarypeople for an extraordinary
destiny.
I think that's what the writerof Hebrews is saying by
inspiration.
And so we can prepare our mindsin part by letting hardship,
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letting those gritty momentsaccomplish their desired
purpose.
But then we need to talk aboutnot only how do we prepare our
minds, what do we actually do?
What do we do next?
There we go.
How do we get prepared foraction?
And the first of those you haveprobably heard many, many times
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from the Hebrews 12 text.
And that is what I'm going tocall lighten the load.
The writer says lay aside everyweight and sin.
And that's really importantbecause not everything that is
not wrong is helpful to us.
You follow me on that?
And that's really important.
It doesn't have to be wrong tobe something we should steer
clear of.
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Jesus says, if you would be mydisciple, you may have to hate
your father and mother orbrother or sister or even your
own life.
Now that we understand that is arelative statement of priority.
But there may be somerelationships in your life that
you just need to ditch.
We talked about that yesterday.
Samson needed to quit hangingout with Delilah.
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I would think after the secondtime that he woke up, locked up
somewhere, that he would havegone, oh yeah, she's probably
not the right person for me tohang out with, but he never got
it.
You guys may have some folks whoyou need to separate from.
You don't have to be a jerkabout that, but if they are
holding you back from endurance,from going to the goal with
grit, get rid of it.
It's not worth it.
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Lot needed to get out of Sodom,but he never did until the last
possible moment.
And of course, in the Sermon onthe Mount, Jesus talks about
plucking out your eye or cuttingoff your hand.
Again, we understand those aremetaphorical.
They are exaggerations.
But they illustrate to us thatthere may be some things that we
just need to cut out of ourlives that are things or
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possessions.
Maybe that's money.
Maybe that's technology.
Whatever it is, if it's keepingyou from going to the goal with
grit in even the slightestmeasure, get rid of it.
It's not worth it.
And then that brings us to talkfor a moment about regrouping
and recharging.
I'm going to move quicklythrough these last two points
(31:04):
because I've run a little bitlong thus far, so bear with me.
We talked yesterday, PhilRobertson spoke with us
yesterday afternoon about ourboard of directors.
And we've already noted that acouple of times this morning.
God wants to help you endure.
And we want to help you endure.
So let's get together and do it.
(31:25):
Folks who run really long races,ultra marathons, who do really
long hikes, they get friends andfamily set up at some stations
along the way with a van thatthey can sleep in and food and
water because otherwise theywon't make it.
We are those stations.
God is that station.
So plug in.
(31:46):
Let's get together with thosewho want to help us endure and
let that fill back up ourbackpacks, to charge us back up
so we can go all the way to theend.
And the last point I'll makethis morning is to endure small.
When I was in high school, I wasterrified of picking the wrong
major in college and the rest ofmy life being doomed to failure.
(32:09):
I know that sounds ridiculous,but that's a reality.
And maybe some of you guys areexperiencing something like
that.
And the problem there is I wastrying to solve 40 years in a
day, and you can't solve 40years in a day.
It doesn't work that way.
Endure small.
You can't make a thousanddecisions today for the next 40
(32:30):
years, but you can make the nextright decision.
Just one.
Find what it is.
Make that decision.
Do it.
And follow through.
And the Bible says in theparable of the talents that the
one who's been faithful over alittle, a little, will be set
over much and that we reap whatwe sow.
Put that principle to work inyour life.
(32:52):
Endure small, one step at atime, all the way to the goal
with grit.
Thank you for thinking with methis morning about endurance.
Can we pray briefly together andthen we'll be concluded.
Our Father in heaven, we thankyou For Jesus who endured the
cross.
For all that that means to us.
(33:14):
We thank you for being the Godof endurance and encouragement.
Help us this day.
Help us every day.
That we would go all the wayhome.
That you would bless us as weendure hardship.
And sometimes even as we endureblessings.
That we would not waver.
That we would not stop.
(33:34):
But that we would go all the wayto you.
Even when it's hard.
and especially when it's hard,by relying on you and your
infinite endurance.
Thank you for your grace, foryour love, and for your
goodness.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
SPEAKER_00 (33:58):
Thanks for listening to the Westside Church of Christ
podcast.
For more information aboutWestside, you can connect with
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(34:20):
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seeing you again.
Hello and welcome to the West Side Church's special
podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (00:13):
Good morning.
I'd like you to turn with me inyour New Testaments to the book
of Hebrews chapter 12.
Hebrews chapter 12.
We'll begin our study there injust a moment.
To do that, let me add my wordof thanks as others have done.
Thank you to all of our members,to this whole church family for
the way that you contribute tothis extraordinary weekend.
We were talking just yesterday.
I always forget how good thisweekend is.
(00:34):
And then it comes around again.
You go, wow, that was amazing.
And it will be amazing nextyear.
Thank you to our members, to ourdeacons.
If you turned on an AC unit, ifyou wrote a prayer email, if you
unlocked or locked up thebuilding, thank you.
Thank you to everyone who hascontributed.
And thank you, of course,especially to our shepherds for
how they watch over our soulsand how they lead and feed us in
(00:57):
God's word and the role thatthis weekend plays in that.
Certainly thank our speakers.
Look forward to our messages therest of the day.
And thank you to you guys, ouryoung people, wherever you're
sitting in the auditorium.
Thank you.
You guys make this weekend sospecial and extraordinary.
When the theme for this weekendcame up nine months-ish ago, the
(01:18):
very first thought that wentthrough my mind is the journey
to heaven, that's a long trip.
You can tell I'm a deep,profound thinker from that.
I've done some long road tripsin my days, and so I started
chewing on that.
And I can't preach on coffeethis morning, though filling a
backpack with coffee would bewonderful.
But I wanted us to think aboutwhat...
It takes to go all the way tothe end of a long journey.
(01:40):
And so as probably most of youare aware, we're going to talk
this morning about endurance.
Hebrews chapter 12, the writersays this in Hebrews 12, 1,
Therefore, since we aresurrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us also layaside every weight and sin which
clings so closely, and let usrun with endurance the race that
(02:03):
is set before us, looking toJesus, the the founder and
perfecter of our faith, who, forthe joy that was set before Him,
endured the cross.
That's going to be home base forus this morning.
Hebrews 12 says a ton aboutendurance.
(02:23):
And so we're going to think fromthat passage about what it is,
how we can do it, what makes itpossible, and what that will
look like in our lives.
And I'm going to suggest as webegin this morning, this
definition for endurance.
I want to talk for a minute,yes, about Endurance 101.
The basics, the essentials.
What is it?
And I'm going to suggest we usethis.
Go Going to the goal with grit.
(02:45):
Think about Jesus in Hebrewschapter 12.
He knows what the goal is.
It's going home by way of thecross.
He knows that's where he'sgoing.
It is clearly fixed in his mind.
And every decision that Jesusmakes is moving him
incrementally.
Gradually, relentlessly,persistently towards that goal.
(03:07):
Day after day, teaching afterteaching, miracle after miracle,
everything Jesus does is movinghim one step closer to that
goal.
And he does that with grit.
I think it was Tim yesterdaythat used that phrase.
I want to just fix that in ourminds this morning.
I love the idea of grit.
When the going gets hard, wedon't quit.
(03:28):
We practice grit.
We keep going because we knowwhere we're going and we've
committed to going forward.
And I came across this graphicas I was working with that.
I love the idea behind this toillustrate endurance.
Sometimes life looks like thetop line.
It is the ideal plan.
I'm going to go from point A topoint B and nothing will stand
(03:50):
in the way.
It's just going to be smoothsailing the whole way there.
And sometimes life looks likethat.
And that's what you're going tosee on Instagram or whatever
social media thing you subscribeto.
It looks pretty.
It looks easy.
It's Instagram worthy.
And that still counts becauseyou're going from point A to
point B.
That counts as endurance.
But most of the time, life lookslike the real plan, doesn't it?
(04:14):
If you read through Hebrewschapter 11, you'll know that the
life of Abraham or Jacob...
or Moses, it looks a whole lotmore like that second picture
than it does like the first.
There are bumps and bruises.
There are U-turns.
There are breaks.
There are stops.
There are interruptions.
There are failures.
(04:35):
But they don't stop going.
They keep going to the goal andthey practice grit.
And that's Endurance.
You're not going to see that onInstagram.
Those are ugly moments that arenot social media worthy, but
they are endurance, and they arevital and essential to us.
(04:55):
The last picture is notendurance.
Because they don't go to thegoal.
It's messy, just like the secondone, right?
But they don't finish thejourney.
And so endurance for ourpurposes this morning is going
to the goal with grit.
Now, I acknowledge that thosecomments are rather conceptual
in nature.
So I want to try and make that alittle more tangible with some
(05:16):
Bible characters, many of whichwe've already noted this
weekend.
And young people, I'm going totalk especially to you guys
because this is youth lectures.
If you are like Daniel in aculture that is opposed to faith
and serving God, and you aresticking with daily spiritual
disciplines, like prayer andBible reading and assembling
with the saints every time youhave an opportunity, that's
(05:37):
endurance, especially whenyou're away from home in a hard
place.
If you were like Joseph inPotiphar's house, who is being
tempted with something he'spretty sure he can get away
with, that he could rationalizeand say, yeah, this isn't really
going to hurt anybody, andyou're resisting that
temptation, and you're servingGod and you're going to the
goal, that's endurance.
(05:58):
Endurance.
If you were like Noah's sons,for who a long period of time
helped their dad build a giantboat when no one thought you
needed a boat, and you honoredGod and you honored your
parents, that's endurance.
If you were like Ruth, whostands with Naomi when she
(06:18):
doesn't know what the end ofthat journey is going to look
like or what it's going to costher, but nothing will shake her
from staying with Naomi, that'sEndurance.
If you were like Job and youwere dealing with a disaster in
your life, physically,emotionally, maybe both, that's
endurance.
(06:38):
Or if like Paul, you are servingGod faithfully until the end of
your life, if you have some grayhairs like I do, and you are
still enduring because you knowit's worth it, that's endurance.
It looks like so many wonderful,famous Bible characters.
And it's doable.
And part of why that's soimportant is, of course, because
(07:00):
endurance is essential.
You don't get to the goal andyou don't receive the reward if
you quit along the way.
Hold your finger in Hebrews 12and turn over to Hebrews chapter
10 for just a moment.
In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse36...
Hebrews 10, 36, the writer saysthis, for you have need of
(07:23):
endurance so that when you havedone the will of God, you may
receive what is promised.
You don't receive the promisewithout endurance.
You don't receive it if youquit.
Jesus says to the disciples inMatthew chapter 10, it is the
one who endures to the end whowill be saved.
(07:44):
And Paul in Romans chapter 2, ashe discusses the common
salvation of Jews and Gentiles,he says that to those who by
patience in doing good seekglory and honor and immortality,
God grants them eternal life.
That word patience, that'sendurance.
If you stick with it, even whenit's hard, all the way to the
(08:07):
end.
And you receive the reward.
Now I acknowledge, particularlybecause it's youth lectures,
that at this point I've saidendurance is hard and you have
to do it.
And that doesn't sound realpositive, does it?
Telling your kids that kind ofinstruction, which you guys are
not kids, but you're youngpeople, that doesn't come across
necessarily in the mostfavorable light.
And so I want to talk for just amoment about the good news of
(08:30):
endurance because I think thatis so essential for our purposes
this morning.
As we look in Hebrews chapter12, again hold your finger
there, you'll see that part ofwhat the writer expresses is
that Jesus endured by looking tothe joy.
In our terminology this morning,what that means is Jesus endured
(08:51):
the cross because he said, whatis after the cross?
The reward and the goal is soworth it.
It is so magnificently wonderfulthat the cross doesn't even
count.
There's that little phrase inverse 1, or verse 2 rather,
excuse me, that Jesus despisedthe shame.
And I used to think that meantJesus went, ick, shame, I hate
(09:12):
that.
That's not what it means, right?
The new living transgression.
Jesus disregarded the shame.
That's the idea.
If you've ever made a pro andcons list, that would be me.
You've probably done somethinglike that at some point in your
life.
Imagine Jesus making a pro andcons list.
And there's all the pros of, I'mgoing home and I'm saving souls
(09:36):
and I'm fulfilling the will ofGod.
And then he thinks about thecross and the shame of the
cross.
And I think what Hebrews 12 saysfor us is it's almost as though
Jesus won't even write it downbecause it doesn't even count.
It doesn't make it on the listbecause enduring, the goal, the
reward is so wonderfully worthit that the hardship doesn't
(09:57):
count.
Paul says that in Romans chapter8, rather famously.
You don't have to turn there,but verse 18, he says, I am
convinced that the sufferings ofthis present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glorythat is to be revealed to us.
Yes, it's hard.
Yes, it stinks.
But it's worth it.
(10:17):
It's absolutely worth it.
And notice again in Hebrewschapter 12 that part of what the
writer says is that this isn'tjust some future thing that's
worth it.
It's worth it now.
Hebrews 12 and 10.
They disciplined us, speaking ofearthly parents, for a short
time as it seemed best to them,but he disciplined us for our
good.
(10:37):
That's not 80 years in thefuture.
That's today that we may sharehis holiness.
That's today.
Verse 11, for the moment, alldiscipline seems painful rather
than pleasant, but later ityields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness.
If we endure, we get to berighteous today by the grace and
(10:58):
goodness of God.
And in verse 15, see to it thatno one fails to obtain the grace
of God.
That is not just a futurereality.
That is a present reality andtruth.
So yes, endurance is hard.
And it's essential, but it'salso absolutely worth it.
(11:19):
And another message of Scripturethat is so vitally important is
that God will help us.
God promises to do that.
I'm in Isaiah chapter 40.
I'd love for you to turn therewith me.
Isaiah chapter 40, as the bookof Isaiah turns to peace and
comfort and good news frommainly judgment, he says this at
the end of chapter 40.
Isaiah 40 and verse 28.
(11:40):
"'Have you not known?'"'Have younot heard?' The Lord is the
everlasting God, the creator ofthe ends of the earth.
(12:14):
They shall run and not be weary.
They shall walk and not befaint.
God has infinite endurance.
And He's not hoarding it.
He is able and willing andinterested in sharing it with us
so that we can endure as well.
And so it is in the NewTestament that Paul prays for
the Colossians, that they wouldbe strengthened with all power
(12:38):
according to God's gloriousmight, for all endurance and
patience with joy.
Paul prays that because he knowsthat God can and that God will
give us endurance.
Turn to Romans 15 for just amoment.
Paul gives us some insight, Ithink, into how this can
function and operate.
(12:59):
Romans 15 and in verse 4, ashe's concluding this
consideration of pursuing unityover matters that are matters of
conscience rather than matterswe might say of doctrine, so to
speak, things about which folkscan disagree and still be united
in Christ, he says this aftertalking about the strong bearing
the weakness of the weak.
Romans 15 and verse 4, whateverwas written in former days was
(13:23):
written for our instruction thatthrough endurance, there's our
word, and through the encouragedNow notice in verse 5, Endurance
(13:51):
comes from the God of endurance.
That makes sense, doesn't it?
And encouragement through thescriptures comes from the God of
encouragement.
And all of that helps us toendure.
So it's feasible because Godmakes it feasible.
He promises to help us.
And significantly, even in thatpassage, we have this indication
(14:11):
that we are not alone.
We've noted this idea alreadythis weekend, but I just want to
pound that home again.
In Hebrews 12 and verse 1 beginswith that phrase, we are
surrounded by a great cloud ofwitnesses.
Those are people past.
What on earth do they do for us?
Well, I think one of the mainthings in that context that they
do is they show you are not thefirst and you are not the only.
(14:35):
You know it's possible to endurebecause a whole host of people
have already done it by God'shelp and by God's grace.
If they did it, you can do ittoo.
And of course, that's not theonly message of Scripture in
this regard.
Peter says in 1 Peter 5 andverse 9, Stand firm, resisting
(14:57):
the devil, because the samekinds of suffering are being
experienced by your brethren allover the world.
And when Paul writes to theThessalonians, a very new,
young, Gentile church...
He says you are imitators of thechurches of Christ in God in
Judea.
(15:17):
He says to a bunch of brand newGentile Christians, you're like
Jewish Christians because youguys are suffering the same
suffering and you areexperiencing the same salvation.
That would have been thrillingto their hearts and to their
souls.
You are not alone.
And young people, let meparticularly say, look around
you this morning as you probablyhave already done this weekend.
(15:40):
We love you.
We absolutely love you.
You are not on your own.
We may not be with you in themoment of hardship, but we stand
behind you and we pray for youand we are here for you.
You are not alone.
And finally, my favorite bit ofgood news in some ways this
(16:00):
morning is the simpleobservation that you are already
enduring suffering.
This isn't some new futureendeavor.
You're already doing it.
Turn to Hebrews chapter 6 forjust a moment.
Hebrews chapter 6, and we'regoing to read just for a moment
in verse 9.
Hebrews 6 and verse 9.
The book of Hebrews obviouslyhas an edge to it at times
(16:22):
because the readers need to becalled back to Christ.
And that's going to take somefirm exhortation.
But there are some littlesprinkles of good news and
confidence in this wonderfulletter.
And the writer says this inHebrews 6 and verse 9.
Though we speak in this way,strong, harsh exhortation,
rebuke at times, though we speakin this way, yet in your case,
(16:43):
beloved, we feel sure of betterthings.
Things that See that littlephrase at the end of verse 10?
(17:17):
As you still do.
The writer of Hebrews says, I'mnot telling you to endure.
I'm telling you to keep enduringbecause you're already doing it.
You know you can do it becauseyou already are.
And that message is sprinkledall over the New Testament.
In the letters to the churchesin Revelation 2 and 3, it says,
(17:41):
In my judgment, what you seeJesus say in part is, I see it's
hard, and I see you haven'tquit.
And I think while it's not inthe text, I think between the
lines what you see Jesus sayingis, I am so proud of you.
You haven't given up, eventhough it's hard.
And Paul says that explicitly tothe Thessalonians.
(18:01):
We've already made reference tothis letter.
I'd like to turn to it for justa minute.
1 Thessalonians chapter 3 says,We talk sometimes about
Philippians or the church atPhilippi being Paul's favorite
church.
I think Thessalonia might givethem a run for their money.
Paul says this in 1Thessalonians 3, by way of
context, because they are new inChrist and the persecution is
(18:24):
hard and strong, and he wasn'twith them all that long, he's
afraid they might have given upand fallen away from Christ.
So he sends Timothy to check onthem, and Timothy comes back and
he says, Paul, you've gotnothing to worry about.
These guys are rocking it.
They are sticking with thefaith.
They are enduring.
And so Paul says this in 1Thessalonians 3, in verse 8, Now
we live if you are standingfast.
(18:47):
The world's going to tell you alot of things are real life and
what life is all about.
By inspiration, Paul says, youknow what life is about?
It's about enduring together.
And young people, let me sayespecially, we don't have the
relationship with you guys,every one of us and every one of
you that Paul did with theThessalonians.
(19:10):
But when you stand firm, wereally live and God is
glorified.
And in 1 Thessalonians chapter2, look at the phrasing that
Paul uses to talk about thesebrethren.
What is our hope?
This is 1 Thessalonians 2 andverse 19.
What is our hope or joy or crownof boasting before our Lord
Jesus at his coming?
(19:30):
Is it not you?
For you are our glory and joy.
Young people...
We feel that way about you.
When you endure, we have joy andhope and it thrills our hearts.
And that's true for allbelievers, young and old,
because the Bible is full ofpeople who went part of the way
(19:53):
and then quit.
And when you keep going all theway to the goal with grit, when
you endure, it glorifies God andit thrills our hearts.
Now, we've talked a lot aboutsome concepts that relate to
endurance, but now we need totalk some about what do we do
(20:14):
about this?
How do we actually stuffsomething into our backpacks
that we're talking about thisweekend?
And we'll go back to Hebrews 12for a moment to give that some
consideration.
As I was prepping for that, Icame across the story, which I'd
heard before, of a young mannamed Alex Honnold.
You may know his name.
He did what's called a free soloclimb of this massive cliff face
in Yosemite National Park.
(20:36):
It's something like 7,500 feetfrom the bottom of the cliff to
the very top of the cliff.
And he climbed that with noropes and nobody with him in
under four hours.
That blows my mind.
He's given TED Talks, he'swritten books, he's done all
kinds of stuff.
He is a world-class climber, asis probably self-explanatory.
(20:57):
But one of the things that'ssurprising about that is that
story made a lot of news.
But what he also describes topeople is he spent eight years
of his life preparing for thatclimb.
He did it with ropes, time aftertime after time.
He thought about the map.
he prepared his mind so thatwhen he's a mile up in the air
(21:19):
and nothing's holding him to themountain, he doesn't panic and
fall off.
That's kind of important.
And so that he knows the routefrom start to finish.
He knows every grip, every hold,every maneuver.
And of course, his body wastrained in that as well.
And Peter says something likethat in 1 Peter 1 in verse 13.
He says, prepare your minds foraction.
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And that's what I'd like for usto do for a few moments at this
point.
Notice again in Hebrews chapter12, We've already talked about
Jesus going to the cross, and Ithink part of what that reflects
for us is that Jesus made acommitment.
Luke tells us that in Luke 9 andverse 51, that Jesus set his
face to go to Jerusalem.
(22:00):
He said, I know where I'm going,nothing is going to stop me, no
matter what, full stop.
He made a commitment.
And even when it got hard, andit got very hard, Jesus held to
that commitment.
We've noted this weekend alreadythat Daniel, in Daniel chapter 1
and verse 8, he resolves, hecommits firmly in his mind that
(22:24):
he will not eat the king's foodand nothing will shake that
resolve.
They made a commitment.
And particularly for our youngpeople, but certainly not only
for y'all, I want to suggestthat making a commitment is
really important for us.
And I would particularly suggestthat you write that down
somewhere.
I can't tell you why writingsomething down makes a
(22:46):
difference, but it does.
I'm not asking you to journal athousand things, but you know
what's going to be hard for youas it relates to endurance.
You know what's going to takegrit, the temptation, the
hardship, the fear.
You know what that is for you.
So make a commitment that it'snot going to stop you.
Write it down.
(23:07):
And I, because we live in thisage, if you've got one of these,
which everybody does, put it inthere.
Somewhere that you will seeregularly.
Because a commitment once isgood.
But being reminded of thatcommitment day after day after
(23:28):
day is better.
Probably it's not going to beyour lock screen.
That's okay.
but put it somewhere that youwill see it regularly so that
you renew that commitment dayafter day.
And that brings us then back toHebrews chapter 12 because of
course we are told that Jesusendured in part by looking to
(23:50):
the joy.
And I would suggest particularlyhere, but I think part of why
that is so important is thatlooking to the joy feeds our
commitment because there will bedays where your commitment
wavers and it's hard and you'rethinking about slowing down or
quitting or veering off thecourse.
And when we remember why we'redoing it, what is at the end of
(24:10):
the road, it helps us to endure.
So So Jesus looked to the joy.
And look in Hebrews chapter 11for just a moment, if you're
still in that general text.
Hebrews chapter 11 says thatabout others.
In Hebrews 11 and verse 10, ittells us that Abraham, who is
wandering all over the place andliving in tents when he came out
of a city where there werebuildings, he was looking,
(24:33):
Hebrews 11, 10, he was lookingforward to the city of that has
foundations, whose designer andbuilder is God.
He was looking to the joy.
And in verse 26, it says thesame thing about Moses.
Hebrews 11, 26.
Moses considered the reproach ofChrist greater wealth than the
(24:54):
treasures of Egypt, for he waslooking to the reward.
As we think about preparing ourminds for endurance, we have got
to keep that joy before us.
On the one further passage inthat regard, turn to Romans
chapter 5 with me.
Romans chapter 5.
It's a wonderful passage as Paulhas concluded his consideration
(25:17):
of justification by faith, justlike Abraham, that was true for
all of the Christians in Rome,of course.
And in Romans 5 and verse 1, hesays this,"...therefore, since
we have been justified by faith,we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ." Throughhim we have also obtained access
by faith into this grace inwhich we stand and we rejoice,
(25:40):
there's joy, in hope of theglory of God.
Not only that, but we rejoice inour sufferings knowing that
suffering produces endurance andendurance produces character and
character produces hope and hopedoes not put us to shame because
God's love has been poured intoour hearts through the Holy
Spirit who has been given to us.
(26:02):
Do you notice that that beginsand ends with hope.
We start with hope of salvationbecause we have been saved.
And when hardship helps usproduce character through
endurance, it leads us andpoints us right back to hope.
That's part of how they can andshould function if we will
engage God's will in thosemoments.
(26:25):
So look to the joy.
And then let's go back toHebrews 12.
There's one other preparing ourminds idea I'd like for us to
think about, and that is thisidea of seeing God In Hebrews 12
and verse 5, the writer saysthis, It is for discipline that
(26:46):
you have to endure.
God is treating you as sons.
For what son is there whom hisfather does not love?
This is a little different thanlooking to the joy, though I
(27:07):
acknowledge there's somesimilarity there.
Let's see if I can put it inthese terms.
Hardship is hard.
Newsflash.
However, what the writer ofHebrews says is sometimes in
hardship we focus on all thethings we don't enjoy.
No, I don't know how it's goingto end or when it's going to
end.
And if we're anything like Job,sometimes we don't know what God
(27:29):
is doing or when or why or howin the moment of hardship.
And the writer of Hebrews says,get it, put that aside for a
moment.
Think about a couple of absoluteguaranteed knowns in hardship.
God loves you, full stop.
That is always true.
God wants what is best for you.
(27:50):
Full stop.
Always true.
And so in hardship, regardlessof what I don't know about what
God is doing, I know that I canengage God in that hardship and
He will help me to endure and Hewill help that trial and
hardship to produce in mesomething positive and
productive so that after I amstronger and better...
(28:15):
And I am able to serve in newways.
I am able to bear differentfruit, maybe more fruit.
And I may be able to helpsomeone who is going through
that hardship in the future.
Those are blessings.
The hardship is hard, but evenin hardship, the writer says,
there is blessing.
Blessing.
Remember those.
(28:37):
Fix those firmly in your minds.
C.S.
Lewis said that in this way.
Hardships often prepare ordinarypeople for an extraordinary
destiny.
I think that's what the writerof Hebrews is saying by
inspiration.
And so we can prepare our mindsin part by letting hardship,
(28:57):
letting those gritty momentsaccomplish their desired
purpose.
But then we need to talk aboutnot only how do we prepare our
minds, what do we actually do?
What do we do next?
There we go.
How do we get prepared foraction?
And the first of those you haveprobably heard many, many times
(29:17):
from the Hebrews 12 text.
And that is what I'm going tocall lighten the load.
The writer says lay aside everyweight and sin.
And that's really importantbecause not everything that is
not wrong is helpful to us.
You follow me on that?
And that's really important.
It doesn't have to be wrong tobe something we should steer
clear of.
(29:37):
Jesus says, if you would be mydisciple, you may have to hate
your father and mother orbrother or sister or even your
own life.
Now that we understand that is arelative statement of priority.
But there may be somerelationships in your life that
you just need to ditch.
We talked about that yesterday.
Samson needed to quit hangingout with Delilah.
(30:00):
I would think after the secondtime that he woke up, locked up
somewhere, that he would havegone, oh yeah, she's probably
not the right person for me tohang out with, but he never got
it.
You guys may have some folks whoyou need to separate from.
You don't have to be a jerkabout that, but if they are
holding you back from endurance,from going to the goal with
grit, get rid of it.
It's not worth it.
(30:22):
Lot needed to get out of Sodom,but he never did until the last
possible moment.
And of course, in the Sermon onthe Mount, Jesus talks about
plucking out your eye or cuttingoff your hand.
Again, we understand those aremetaphorical.
They are exaggerations.
But they illustrate to us thatthere may be some things that we
just need to cut out of ourlives that are things or
(30:43):
possessions.
Maybe that's money.
Maybe that's technology.
Whatever it is, if it's keepingyou from going to the goal with
grit in even the slightestmeasure, get rid of it.
It's not worth it.
And then that brings us to talkfor a moment about regrouping
and recharging.
I'm going to move quicklythrough these last two points
(31:04):
because I've run a little bitlong thus far, so bear with me.
We talked yesterday, PhilRobertson spoke with us
yesterday afternoon about ourboard of directors.
And we've already noted that acouple of times this morning.
God wants to help you endure.
And we want to help you endure.
So let's get together and do it.
(31:25):
Folks who run really long races,ultra marathons, who do really
long hikes, they get friends andfamily set up at some stations
along the way with a van thatthey can sleep in and food and
water because otherwise theywon't make it.
We are those stations.
God is that station.
So plug in.
(31:46):
Let's get together with thosewho want to help us endure and
let that fill back up ourbackpacks, to charge us back up
so we can go all the way to theend.
And the last point I'll makethis morning is to endure small.
When I was in high school, I wasterrified of picking the wrong
major in college and the rest ofmy life being doomed to failure.
(32:09):
I know that sounds ridiculous,but that's a reality.
And maybe some of you guys areexperiencing something like
that.
And the problem there is I wastrying to solve 40 years in a
day, and you can't solve 40years in a day.
It doesn't work that way.
Endure small.
You can't make a thousanddecisions today for the next 40
(32:30):
years, but you can make the nextright decision.
Just one.
Find what it is.
Make that decision.
Do it.
And follow through.
And the Bible says in theparable of the talents that the
one who's been faithful over alittle, a little, will be set
over much and that we reap whatwe sow.
Put that principle to work inyour life.
(32:52):
Endure small, one step at atime, all the way to the goal
with grit.
Thank you for thinking with methis morning about endurance.
Can we pray briefly together andthen we'll be concluded.
Our Father in heaven, we thankyou For Jesus who endured the
cross.
For all that that means to us.
(33:14):
We thank you for being the Godof endurance and encouragement.
Help us this day.
Help us every day.
That we would go all the wayhome.
That you would bless us as weendure hardship.
And sometimes even as we endureblessings.
That we would not waver.
That we would not stop.
(33:34):
But that we would go all the wayto you.
Even when it's hard.
and especially when it's hard,by relying on you and your
infinite endurance.
Thank you for your grace, foryour love, and for your
goodness.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
SPEAKER_00 (33:58):
Thanks for listening to the Westside Church of Christ
podcast.
For more information aboutWestside, you can connect with
us through our website,justchristians.com and our
Facebook page.
Our music is from upbeat.io.
That's upbeat with two P's,U-P-P-E-A-T, where creators can
(34:20):
get free music.
Please share our podcast withothers, and we look forward to
seeing you again.
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