Hebrews 12:1-11

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Running the Race Set Before Us

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. Committed believers do not get sidetracked.

  2. Committed believers do not despise discipline.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Consider Jesus for a second wind.

QUESTIONS

  1. Who were the great cloud of witnesses referred to in Hebrews 12:1?

  2. Recall the first century readers of the epistle to the Hebrews. What was the author’s particular message to them?

  3. List the factors in Hebrews 12:1-2 that are necessary to keep the believers from getting sidetracked.

  4. What did God use to train the believers listed in Hebrews 11?

  5. Does God use some of these same things today?

ANSWERS

  1. They were the Old Testament believers of Hebrews 11, listed as examples and models for us.

  2. Some of the readers were not walking and living by faith. In fact, some were tempted to turn back from Christianity to Judaism. Thus the writer warns that this would be sin (Hebrews 12:4). He encouraged them to endure, even to the point of bloodshed or martyrdom.

  3. a) lay aside every weight, b) keep your limbs free, and c) keep your eyes on Jesus

  4. God used persecution, suffering, hard times, and ridicule in their lives as a means of training them to grow and endure in their life of faith.

  5. Yes, and these might include job loss, financial loss, sickness, hard times, persecution and ridicule as a means of discipline that we might grow and endure in the faith.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. Review the analogy that the Christian life is like a marathon (26.2 miles). Do you know how to pace yourself, endure, and keep from getting sidetracked? There must be commitment over the long haul. Are there weights that are keeping you from living the Christian life? Do you have a sin in your life that entangles you? Are you keeping your eyes on Jesus?

  2. Discipline is not pleasant, but if God is taking you through hard times right now, there is a reason. He is teaching you to patiently endure and as a result, to grow stronger in your life of faith. Read Proverbs 3:11-12 and Hebrews 12:5-6. Do you despise God’s discipline in your life? Or do you see the greater picture with God’s promise that at the end discipline will yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness?

CHALLENGE

  1. When you become weary and discouraged in your soul, consider Jesus. Gethsemane and Calvary are reminders of what Jesus endured for us.

KEY VERSES

  • “ …let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. ” Hebrews 12:1

  • “ Consider Him who endured… lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. ” Hebrews 12:10

  • “ Whom the Lord loves, He chastens… ” Hebrews 12:6



Hebrews, New Testament, TalksDeb HarmsHebrews 12:1-11