Title: After The Story Pastor Chad Billington. November 27, 2016 PM Service Smythe Street Cathedral

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1 Title: After The Story Pastor Chad Billington November 27, 2016 PM Service Smythe Street Cathedral 2016

2 After the Story As you know we have been doing, The Story this past year, and now that it is done, I have something I need to share. I love the journey, I love walking through the Bible. The only thing I felt bad about was what hit the cutting room floor. Now I fully understand that to tell the big story of the Bible, we couldn t go into every detail, every book, there is just too much and every bit of it deserves attention. But I felt bad that we didn t get to cover Job Jonah 1 & 2 Peter Philemon Hebrews Tonight a passage from the cutting room floor : Hebrews A great book, full of passages that we like to quote: Hebrews 10:23-25 (NIV) 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Encouraging scriptures about helping one another but the context is not about being chummy, it is in light of persecution. After The Story Page 2 Pastor Chad E. Billington

3 Hebrews 10: Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. He writes to this group about Faith Hebrews 11:1-2 (NIV) Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. He talks about those we read about over the past months. Faith in Action: The examples of those who went before Noah 1 got a message from God. He had seen the wickedness of those around him. Things were not the way he might have hoped they would be in the world, and he gets a message from God. 1 See Genesis 6 for more details. After The Story Page 3 Pastor Chad E. Billington

4 BUILD A BIG BOAT Noah, in faith built, even though there was not indication with his eyes that a flood was coming. His faith caused him to outlast the faithless. Hebrews 11:7 (NIV) By faith, Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. His trust in God s rewarding those who seek him paid off, even when everything around him would have seemed to indicate otherwise. Abraham & Moses Abraham was old enough to be half dead (Heb 11:12 says it not me), he gets a promise that he will be the father of nations, and he is to leave his homeland for a land of promise. He receives the promise in Isaac, but dies never seeing a grandchild. In the lives of the heroes of the Old Testament, we find that faith is not just what is confessed with a mouth, James 2:17-18 (NIV) but true faith is what is lived in a life. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, You have faith; I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. After The Story Page 4 Pastor Chad E. Billington

5 Their lives, even with imperfections, and sins and struggles, had an arc that bent towards a living trust in God. Some saw amazing things (SEE HEBREWS 11:32-38 skimming) Hebrews 11:39 (NIV) These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. Everyone of these heroes of the faith, some that saw miracles, and others who did not, yet all of them saw only a portion of what was promised. And in a similar way, we see a portion in our lives. In the end, though, we see that their faith was not in vain. We look at their lives, and God has honoured them. They are the characters of faith that endure through the ages, they are the agents of change that have revealed God to the world. You see, we may not see in our lifetime the results of our works and lives lived for God, but history reveals that it is true: Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. What We Must Do When adversity comes, there are things we must do as we pursue a life of faith (living a faith, not just saying things). After The Story Page 5 Pastor Chad E. Billington

6 Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 1) Look back we can look back at the track record of the faithful who have gone before us to see how God in the end honours those who earnestly seek him. This is really important. We just completed reading the Story, we need to look back at those who have gone before, because the stories we hear shape our lives. Illustration: o Million Dollar Baby o Superman Who are we looking at? 2) Look up We are to set our eyes upon Jesus. In the midst of adversity this is the advice we are given. Being honest with you, I know that to set our eyes upon someone is to give them attention, but I find the expression set our eyes upon Jesus so familiar, I struggled to think of what it might mean if I were to explain it. After The Story Page 6 Pastor Chad E. Billington

7 So then I started thinking of what the whole book of Hebrews tells us about Jesus and what he s done for us. A List of truths to help us set our eyes upon Jesus Jesus is the exact representation of God s being and sustains all things by his word (Hebrews 1:3) Jesus frees those who are held in slavery be the fear of death (Heb 2:15) Jesus is able to help those who are tempted, as he suffered when tempted (Heb 2:18) Jesus having been tempted invites us to approach God s throne with confidence so we can receive help in our time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16) Jesus died to take away our sins, and when he comes again, it will be to bring salvation to those waiting on him (Hebrews 9:28) Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) To keep our eyes on Jesus is to remember who he is, what he s done, and what he promises to do for all who follow him. Conclusion This past year, we have looked at The Story and seen how God uses everyday normal lower story situations to accomplish his big story will. Our lives are not so different. We like those who gone ahead will face things like they did. The defining moments of our lives are when we face and handle times of crisis or overwhelming success. The quality of a life of faith in God is revealed in those times. After The Story Page 7 Pastor Chad E. Billington

THE BIG READ (18) Jesus in Hebrews

THE BIG READ (18) Jesus in Hebrews A. Introduction 1. Every book of the Bible has one dominating theme Jesus is the Christ. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them,