Sunday Service from Holywell Church, Loughborough
Well here we are at the end of another year and the beginning of a new year and uh I somehow often end up preaching on this Sunday whether it’s the last one or the year of the year uh or the first one of the new year and uh I enjoy that
Opportunity um because it is a good opportunity to uh look ahead to what’s coming uh probably a good opportunity to look back as well uh but but I tend to be a forward-looking person and uh yes I do think a little bit about the past but
I like to look forward uh I try not to dwell on the past cuz I can’t change it and I’m very aware that I’ve failed and uh I’ve made mistakes and I’ve messed up but I Rejoice that I’m saved that I’m forgiven and I’m totally accepted by
Christ and the fact that the best is yet to come and uh there’s a number of passages that we could go to and uh when I was asked if I would speak on this Sunday uh the number of passages came into my mind thinking what what do I
Speak on and uh often at the beginning of the year one of the first ones that comes to mind is a verse in Daniel 527 and I think it was on the front of the times it was one of the daily newspapers at the beginning of the 20th
Century um and it’s that verse from Daniel chapter 5 uh where it says you have been weighed on the scales or weighed in the balances and found wanting and we could preach on that verse this morning and look at the state of our nation and our world around us
And see that we’ve been weighed on the scales and found wanting uh we could have gone to Hebrews chapter 11 and uh well picked out any one of those people but but Abraham um when he was called he obeyed and went out and as we stand on the threshold of
A new year uh we’re called to follow Jesus uh and to go ahead not knowing what is before us um another passage that came to mind was Exodus 33 if your presence does not go with us do not send us up from here and actually a
Few weeks ago that was the passage I was going to preach on but then I changed my mind and then I’ve discovered that that’s what Ben’s preaching on tonight so come back if you want to hear Exodus 33 if your presence does not go with us
Do not send us from here I preached in the a past from that passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and I love that passage we do not lose heart outwardly we’re wasting away fading away but inwardly being renewed uh day by day and I preached on that before at the end of
True cin for I love it uh and we could go there again but we’re not going to and uh I HED it on on this these verses in Hebrews chapter 12 uh verses 1 to3 uh and and the reason I think for me uh today was because it’s all about
Jesus it’s all about Jesus we’re here in the the New Testament and uh we’re told to fix our eyes on Jesus and to consider him and there’s no better thing that we can do at the beginning of a new year because he is the center of everything he’s the center of
Time we Mark the New Year 2024 because Jesus is the center of time he is divided time in two he’s the center of the church he’s the reason why uh there is a church across the world because of Christ he’s the center of the universe he’s created all things
He sustains all things he is far above all things and he rules over all things and he is the center of Eternity there’s a day coming when every knee will bow before him and it’s good to start with him him at the beginning of a new year and then uh talking to Ben
I discovered actually he preached on this passage uh last year on this day uh but it’s good to come back to Jesus there’s many pictures of the Christian in the New Testament um and the different writers write about him in different ways Des we described as pilgrims on a journey in
One Peter we described as soldiers in a war on the battlefield Philippians 2 and 2 Timothy 2 and it’s good to remember that that we are in a a war and we’re in a battle the Christian is described as a farm worker or Farm laborer out in the field sewing and
Reaping uh 1 Corinthians 3 and there in 1 Corinthians 3 uh described as a laborer or a builder uh constructing a building so many different pictures uh used uh of the Christian and here we see him as the athlete the athlete in the race and it’s a
Common theme um uh in the New Testament it’s one that Paul uses quite a bit in the book of Acts Acts chapter 20 Paul speaks of finishing the race and completing the task given to him in one Corinthians 9 he speaks he speaks of being uh that in a race all the runners
Run but only one gets the prize run in such a way to get the prize do your best try and win it’s a good challenge for us and in 2 Timothy 2 um he says you can’t win unless you keep the rules there was uh uh as I was just
Preparing this and thinking about this I remember reading of I think it was last month I think it was an ultramarathon Runner who was banned for 12 months for using a car in a 50m race they meant to be running 50 miles but they got to live
For a few miles and finish still finished third but then they were banned for 12 months you’ve got to keep the rules and here in this passage we’re told to run with perseverance with perseverance how are we going to keep going in 2024 how are we going to keep going in
This year ahead well we need to follow the examples of these athletes all the ones that we’ve mentioned we need to finish the race we need to do our best I think sometimes we say that being a Christian isn’t about doing our best it is about doing our best with God’s help
And following Jesus we need to keep to the rules and we need to keep persevering and here we have these few verses at the beginning of chapter 12 and it’s good just for a moment to think about the context of them before we have a look at them this book of Hebrew
Hebrews is a book that is full of Jesus let me read to you how the book begins in chapter one we read this in the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways but in these last days
He’s spoken to us by his son whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the universe the son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being sustaining All Things by his powerful word after he had provided purification for sins he
Sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven it’s all about Jesus it’s full of him but it is a book that’s full of warnings and it is a book that’s full of exhortations as well there are warnings about drifting and doubting and even unbelief these people that the writer
Was writing to were in danger of going back to their old ways their their old religion of going back and drifting away and doubting Jesus and stopping believing in him and I’m not sure that’s quite the danger that we face of going back to our old religion whatever that might be but
We can still go back to our old lives living for ourselves living for pleasure um there can be much that might hinder us as we consider the race that is ahead so there’s warnings but there are exaltations and I think actually there’s more exaltations than warnings the
Exaltation is to keep looking to Jesus keep looking to him he is so much better it’s a phrase that comes throughout the book 13 times altogether so much better than everything else it speaks of a better rest as we trust in Christ it speaks of better things as we enjoy
Christ it speaks of a better hope that we have because of Christ it speaks of a better country as we think about our destiny and heaven so the context is a book it’s a book full of Jesus a book full of warnings and exhortations and the context of this
Chapter as we get to chapter 12 is this great cloud of witnesses chapter 12 follows chapter 11 now that’s very obvious you might say but it does and it begins with the word therefore in light of what we’ve just read and how far back you want to go
Before that is up to you but but chapter 11 is a great cloud of witnesses and this little passage begins therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses and as you read that chapter 11 which we read a moment ago they lived by faith the heroes of the
Faith and the unsung heroes of the faith people who we no idea who they were but those last few verses speaking of what they did facing jeers and flogging Chained and put in prison stoned and sorn in two put to Death By The Sword we don’t know who they are but they’re
Commended for thy faith they lived by faith and in verse 30 says these were all commended for their faith this great cloud of witnesses why are they here I used to think and I heard people say that um this this great cloud of witnesses to to to to urge us on and I’d
Heard the illustration of of uh maybe at the Olympic Games and at the Finish Line they’re all the previous medal winners looking on looking over the Finishing Line encouraging encourag you on to the end this cloud of witnesses watching us in the race but I’m not sure that’s right now
I’ve changed my mind a bit on it um on a Tuesday Morning uh as a I don’t work full-time but on a Tuesday morning at 11 o’ I like to go to the pool I’m a swimmer I always used to swim and I still swim and I still train and I meet
Up with uh one other and sometimes more than that at Tuesday Tuesday 11:00 in the morning we go to the pool I normally get there early and the university swimming Squad is just finishing it’s their their top class Squad there’s a number of Olympians in there there’s a
Number of world record holders there one just broke a world record a few years ago so sit there on the side for a little bit and then they get out and we all get in now they don’t get out on the pool side and sit down and watch me much
As I’d like to think they might they don’t but I like to get there early to sit and watch them and be inspired by them so I think this cloud of witnesses is not there egging us on but there is an encouragement and a reminder of what it is to live by faith
And to trust God and to persevere and to keep going they’re there as examples and if they can do it so can we because it was by God’s help and that’s encouragement for us this morning they’re there to help us run well as we go into
2024 and I want us to think about four things to help us run well in this coming year ah head and there on the sheet I’ve just put one word rather than the whole point so you need to listen one word the stuff the sin the race and
The focus and maybe you’ve got some idea of where we’re going with these but there they are the stuff the sin the race and the focus and the first thing we need to do is to do with the stuff we need to remove the stuff that slows us
Down we need to remove the stuff that slows us down that’s what it said since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witness Witnesses let us throw off everything that hinders when the athlete gets to the start of the race he takes his track suit
Off just has his running gear on underneath when the swimmer gets to the block he doesn’t climb up there and his big baggy parachute shorts for the race we throw off the things that slow us down they don’t have to take those things off the could keep his tracksuit
On and the swimmer could turn up in some big baggy shorts but but they’re there to win not just to compete and this speaks of throwing off the things which hinder us hindrances and they include allowable things they include things which are not wrong it’s good to remember that life is
Is not a party not just here to enjoy ourselves but it is a race and we are uh uh in that race which God has which Jesus has called us to this time of year a lot of people uh think about decluttering I get the the free cycle
List I don’t if you get that the lra free cycle do you get that and I noticed this morning there was a lot of things on it in the email haven’t looked at what they are but but people like to declutter I don’t need that anymore I’ll get rid of it and some
People like at this time of year to have a bit of a declutter and put things out I don’t know if you follow the 12 12 12 rule throw away 12 things donate 12 things to someone else and return 12 things to the proper home or maybe
Project 333 that’s another one I read about use only 33 items of clothing for the next three months and get rid of the rest decluttering people like to do that and and I think it’s good to do that and good to think about those things but we need to declutter Our Lives before
God we need to remove the stuff that slows us down from living for Christ it’s possible to be impeded in the race and in the Christian Life by legitimate things allowable things innocent things even praiseworthy things can actually get in the way of following Christ I don’t know what it is for you
Or what it might be for you it might be your stuff it might be the possessions that you have the gadgets that you like the homes that you enjoy now they’re not wrong things I’m not saying don’t have a home don’t have possessions don’t have
Gadgets but they can get in the way of following Christ it might be your career and your job and your aspirations in that now it’s right to be diligent in business and in our work and I’m not saying we shouldn’t but those things can slow us
Down in our race in the life that Christ wants us to live it could even be your retirement thinking well no I’m not doing doing those things now and I can sit back a bit enjoy myself and live live something of a life of ease now it’s not necessarily wrong to slow down
Slightly but it can get in the way of following Christ it might even be our dare I say our love of theology we can have such a love for Doctrine and truth and what’s right and what’s wrong and get it all right we can love those things more than Jesus don’t
Get me wrong I enjoy theology I like to study I like to understand things but it can get in the way of knowing Jesus and living for him we need to remove the stuff that slows us down is there something that you need to remove do that with God’s help so
Secondly what about the sin you you probably worked it out because it says let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles we need to throw off sin that entangles us home I have some Mickey Mouse Christmas lights um and they’re my pride
And joy of my Christmas decorations they’re from the 1940s uh my father remembers my grandfather bringing them home when my father was a teenager in the 1940s and um uh every year um they”re been rewired these days but uh they’re they’re in the hall up the stairs every
Year and um uh every year I put them away very carefully in the box and then next Christmas comes and you open the box and they’re all tangled up are your Christmas lights like that they somehow seem to do that and they getting tangled and tied up and so on you’re trying to
Undo them all that’s what sin does it entangles us it’s the word it uses here whether it be big sins whatever they might be or whether it be the smaller sins whether it be the obvious sins which need dealing with or whether it be the subtle sins that we’re good at
Hiding they need throwing off I remember as a child I was getting thought of this of having this little bike and I had a skipping rod as well and I hung the skipping rope over the handlebars was riding my bike around and you can see what’s coming the ends of
The skipping rope little wooden handles straight into the wheels locked up the wheel and I went flying off and you might say how stupid were you and yes I was um and that’s pretty obvious but they got entangled up and they caused me to come off and fall
Off but it might just be a shoelace undone when the the runner is at the start of the track he makes sure his shoelaces are done up because even that little shoelace can cause you to stumble we need to deal with it we need to ask ourselves is there some sin entangling me
Today it might be our actions the things we’re doing the things we’re watching the places we’re going the way be we’re behaving I suspect it’s more likely to be our attitudes the pursuit of pleasure the desire for power or control Envy bitterness pride is a sin that’s in entangling us
Today I think one of the things that’s helpful to pray is that God would show us our sin put his finger on it and then with God’s help we can deal with it we need to throw it off we need to acknowledge it we need to confess it
We need to thank Jesus that he bore it upon himself on the cross that it’s been taken from us and placed on him we need to repent and believe we need to throw off the sin that entangles us and then third the race the race we need to run the
Race that is before us we need to run the race that is before us the verse goes on uh throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us I wonder what you think the race is is it a
Sprint is it a marathon 26 miles I think it’s probably more like the steeple chase you know the steeple chase 3,000 M uh 3 kilomet uh 28 barriers to go over seven water jumps bit of everything thrown in there but you know the race isn’t the same for
Everyone one of the things that particularly struck me as I Was preparing this we need to run with perseverance the race marked out for us my race is probably different than yours some races are long and some are short some are easier some are harder they’re all different we need to
Run the race before us and we need to watch out for distractions along the way we mustn’t spend our life looking at someone else’s hurdles imagine doing the hurdles and you’re charging down the track and you you start looking at other people’s hurdles their hurdles are further apart
Than my hurdles you know mine are closer together but their hurdles aren’t as high as mine and we can end up looking at other people’s race rather than the race that is before us and the race that is marked out for us he does Mark out a race for
Us he wants us to follow that he wants us to compete in that he wants us to run in that but don’t be distracted by by looking at someone else’s hurdles Beware of the it’s not fair syndrome it’s not fair as we look at someone else and think it’s all right
For them it’s not fair we need to beware of that God gives us the grace that we need his grace is sufficient for every need that we have and he doesn’t give me the grace for you he doesn’t give you the grace for me he gives us the grace that we
Need so so don’t spend yourself looking at someone else’s hurdles and don’t spend your life looking at your own hurdles either yes they’ve got to you’ve got to overcome them but you can be so focused on the hurdles that you get distracted and things start to go wrong think of Peter
Do you remember Peter uh steps out of the boat um walks towards Jesus walking on the water the waves and the wind blowing round about him he takes his eyes of Jesus he gets distracted he looks at the waves and he starts to think looking at the
Hurdles beware of Beware of looking at other people’s hurdles beware of just focusing on the hurdles before you in this coming year we need to run the race that is before us and that leads us into our fourth fourth Point very nicely because we need to keep our eyes on Jesus that’s
Our Focus keeping our eyes on Jesus you might think that the race is too difficult you might think that 2024 has just got too many challenges you might be apprehensive about what lies before worried about what might happen look at what verses two and three
Say let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfector 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 consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not
Grow weary and lose heart we fix our eyes on Jesus the Jesus of the Bible not the Jesus that we make up in our minds the Jesus presented here to us in the book of Hebrews the Jesus who is so much better than everything else else
The Jesus who can help us keep going in 2024 and as we draw to a close uh notice four things about Jesus from these verses um they help us to keep our eyes on him and firstly there in verse two he’s the author and the finisher of our faith the
Author of our finisher of our faith let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author author and perfector or finisher of our faith the one who saves us is the one who changes us and the one who will bring us safely home or safely across the finishing line and it’s accomplished by his
Authorship not by our achievements he’s the author and finisher of our faith it doesn’t mean he’s the author so we just sit back and do do nothing cuz he just writes it all what we’ve already thought about this morning is is we’re to throw off the
Things that hinder us we’re to do that we need to throw off the sin that entangles us we need to do that we need to act we need to take action but it’s all accomplished by Jesus the one who is the author and finisher of our faith so that’s the
First thing about him second thing about him he shows us that suffering are and rejoicing are friends it’s a phrase I often use let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and per perfector of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame
Suffering and rejoicing are friends and that’s a common theme throughout the New Testament and the greatest example of it is seen in Jesus chapter 4 of Hebrews speaks about Jesus being our great high priest the one who sympathized es with our sympathizes with our weaknesses or sympathizes with our
Sufferings the Bible doesn’t promise US exemption from suffering we don’t know what 2024 has in store for us there will be challenges along the way there will be difficulties there will be trials we can be very sure of that the Bible doesn’t promise US exemption from these
Things but does promise but the Bible does promise that we can know the joy of the Lord and that that can be our strength Paul writes in Romans 14 he speaks about the kingdom of God it’s not eating and drinking but it’s righteousness and peace righteousness peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit the work of God in us making us more like Jesus and suffering and rejoicing are friends and as as we Face the trials and the challenges May the joy of the Lord be our strength day by day so firstly he’s the author and finisher of our faith
Secondly he shows that the suffering rejoicing are friends thirdly it goes on uh it says 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 where is Jesus today seated at the
Right hand of God a favored position a place of blessing a place of strength a place of authority and he hasn’t sat down because he’s exhausted not sitting from exhaustion but sitting from completion and he not just having a rest but is Seated on the throne continuing
His work of ruling over all things and interceding for his people and representing Us in heaven Hebrews 9: 24 says that he is appearing in God’s presence for us isn’t that a wonderful thought that is there for us for me for you seated at the right hand of God the enthroned Lord
Jesus keep looking to him and then finally uh it goes on consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart Jesus is the one who will keep us from growing weary and losing heart isn’t that wonderful as I said I’ve preached before
On 2 Corinthians 4 I’ve preached um the sermon on we do not lose heart twice it comes in that passage um outwardly yes we’re wasting away but inwardly we’re being renewed day by day what a wonderful thought how do we do that as we look to
Jesus as we read about him in his word as we meditate upon him as we spend time with him listening to what he has to say to us and praying to him that’s how we keep going that’s how we keep going and keep our eyes on
Jesus and just as we finish let me just remind you that the end of the race is often the hardest part of it and it sometimes seemed to be the further you go the harder it gets so if you’re a young person here this morning don’t just think it’s all right
For you older people it gets easier it doesn’t I can see one or two people agreeing it doesn’t it gets harder and all the more reason why we need to keep Our Eyes Upon Jesus one of the things I’m involved in is uh United Beach missions uh each
Summer on the beaches around our land and Professor verer Wright was the founder along with Lance pworth of beach missions many years ago um he was a professor of Rheumatology a a great man but a godly man and he diagnosed with cancer in his mid-50s and he lived just a few years
Beyond that and I remember at the beach Mission reunion one year uh not long before he died he was there and he was interviewed about his life and somebody said to me said well most people when they retire and get to your age and in your condition with the cancery head
Most people will slow down what would you say to that he said this he said and he only had a few months to live he said when you see the finishing tape you run all the more harder and that’s what we need to to do we need to be looking to that finishing
Tape looking to Jesus the one who has gone before us and seeking to throw aside the things that hinder us get rid of the sin that entangles us concentrate on that race which God has given to us for us not on everyone else’s and we
Need to keep our eyes on Jesus may God help us to be those who do that in these coming days ahead