Hebrews 11:8: Abraham

TVCC Students,

It was great to see you all last night and to worship with you. Last night Sonny taught on Hebrews 11:8, about Abraham's faith. Here is a recap...

***Hebrews 11:8

~Abraham went out, not knowing where he was going. He walked by faith, not sight... there are only 2 ways to live- by sight or by faith (not by sight)...

Q: How do you live? Are you someone that always has to "see" everything before you will trust in it, or do you have faith that though you sometimes do not know all of the answers- God is bigger than you and He is worthy of your complete trust?

~We are called to live as though the things of this world are temporal and fading but that heavenly things are eternal and lasting...

~The things of this world will disappoint but putting our hope in the Lord will NEVER be disappointing. After obeying God and leaving the land/home he once knew, Abraham got to see the great things God had in store for Him. He did not look back with longing for the old life and land. When you obey God, the things that you give up will seem so small compared to the wonderful things you will gain from your obedience.

~Faith in the Lord calls us not to be self-seeking as we have had the Lord "dry up" in us the source of self exaltation through the selfless sacrifice of Jesus

***Hebrews 11:6 says that faith pleases God and that we must believe that "HE IS." We must believe that Jesus is the I AM, the powerful one...

***John 18:4-6 shows that when Jesus spoke, acknowledging that He is the I AM, power went out from Him and knocked everyone down. This is OUR GOD!! The One we are called to have faith in and surrender our lives to.

Q: Are you living in a way that shows that Jesus governs your life or in a way that shows that you govern your life?

***Romans 4:3 says that Abraham believed God and his faith was credited to him as righteousness. Faith alone saves us. The evidence of that faith was his obedience. He obeyed the Lord and WENT where the Lord told him to go.

Q: Are you someone who has obedience with your faith? If Abraham would have stayed and not obeyed God, would that have really been faith? Faith in the Lord calls us to live differently. Are you living a life of faith? What has the Lord called you to that you have had to leave or give up?

*** 2 Corinthians 6:14 says that we are called to come out from the world and be separate... to be known as His sons and daughters... children of light!

We love you all so much and know that highschool can have so many challenges. We pray this week that you will pray about your life and see areas that you are lacking faith. We pray that you will sever yourself from anything that is darkness and is damaging to your pursuit of God. Remember that Abraham never regretted following God and obeying Him. In obedience is where we find intimacy with Him. Obey the Lord this week. Spend time meditating on His Word and getting to know Him. We are praying for you. Fight the fight of faith this week. Be in fellowship with others who are encouraging to your walk with God. Again, we love you!

Love,

Sonny and Casi

Hebrews 12:1-2

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith..."

Last night's worship list:

1. One Thing Remains (Antioch Norman and Julie Bennett)

2. Break Every Chain (Will Reagan & The United Pursuit)

3. Vision of You (Shane Bernard and Shane Everett)

4. Story of Grace (United Pursuit with Will Reagan)

5. Praise is Befitting (Will Reagan & The United Pursuit)

6. You're Beautiful (Phil Wickham)

7. This Blood (Rita Springer)

8. Arms Wide Open (Misty Edwards)

Hebrews 11:7: Noah

*Hebrews 11:7: Noah

~Hebrews 11 is all about people of faith. Faith was not just something that they acknowledged with their minds- it was something that directed the course of their lives. We see this very explicitly in the life of Noah.

*Hebrews 11:7: Noah believed in things not seen. This is faith. He was told that the flood was coming and that he needed to build an ark to save him and his family. He believed and ACTED on that belief. The ark took him 120 YEARS to build. Building it did not just change a small part of his life- it directed his life. He was found living life for something new- something different than everyone else in the world.

Q: Do we have faith like Noah? When you came to believe in Jesus as your Savior, did it change the whole course of your life? Did you go from pursuing worthless things to pursuing eternal things? Did the world around you notice a change in the course of your life like those around Noah?

lets back up...

*Genesis 6 is where we see Noah's life.

~The Nephilim are offspring of fallen angels and women; this shows us how dark the world had become that demons were sleeping with women and procreating; the Nephilim were powerful and large.

~The sin of the world grieved the Lord. Our sin grieves Him.

~Verse 8-9 say that Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord; He walked with God just like Enoch did.

* 2 Peter 3:10-15 says that the Day of the Lord is coming and as Christians we are called to be diligent to be found in Him in peace- doing what pleases the Lord.

Q: Are you being diligent in your pursuit of the Lord or are you only diligent to do things that please you? What are you being diligent in?

* 1 Corinthians 15:19 says that if the early believers had hoped in Christ for this life only- they were to be most pitied. They gave up their lives for eternal riches.

Q: Can we say that about our faith? Have we really given up anything for our faith?

*James 2 says that faith without works is dead. If Noah would not have acted on his faith- it would have been worthless and he would have perished in the flood. Genuine faith changes the way you live.

Q: Is your faith genuine? Do your works show that you are a believer in Christ who has given up earthly pleasures to pursue Him?

~The ark and Noah are a picture of how God wants us to respond to Christ. The faith of Noah led him to change his life. The ark was his escape from the flood. Genuine faith in Christ will change lives. He is our escape from the flood of God's wrath.

Q: Where is your faith?

As always, we love you all very much. We are honored to be a part of this ministry with you. We pray that you will meditate today on what we covered last night. Evaluate your life. We encourage you to see if your "faith" is really genuine as Noah's was. Spend time meditating on His word this week. Spend time in prayer and worship Him in song. We love you!

~Sonny & Casi

Last Night's Worship List:

1. The Lord is My Shepherd (Jeremy Riddle)

2. Shine (David Crowder Band)

3. Full Attention (Jeremy Riddle)

4. Your Faithfulness (Jon Thurlow)

5. Let if Fade (Jeremy Camp)

6. The Glory of it All (Passion)

7. Vision of You (Shane and Shane)

8. You're Everything (David Crowder Band)

Hebrews 11:5-6: Enoch

Hebrews 11:5-6: Enoch

***vs. 5- Enoch walked with God and God did not let him experience death. Enoch was pleasing to the Lord because of his faith. That faith led to a life of walking with the Lord- having a relationship with the Lord and doing things that pleased Him.

~Genesis 5:21-24: Enoch walked with the Lord. Walking with God is something that we can only do if we have the same nature as God.

~2 Corinthians 6:14-18: If we are in Christ, we are the temple of the Lord and have nothing in common with darkness (we have been made new and changed from our old nature to a new nature). We are called to be different than the world and please the Lord.

~2 Corinthians 5:17: If we are in Christ, we are a new creation. He has made us new so that we can have a relationship with Him.

~1 Corinthians 6:9-11: We need to remember the gospel. We were all at one time apart from Christ. Jesus made us clean through His blood. He washed us, sanctified us, and justified us SO THAT we could be near to Him and walk with Him as Enoch did.

~Romans 8: The righteous will live by faith- as Enoch did. Living by faith is not easy but you will NEVER sacrifice anything for the Lord and regret it in the end. Remember that in the Lord there are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16).

***vs. 6- Without faith we cannot please God. We have to believe that He is who He says He is according to His Word(we must read and trust the bible). We submit to Him and what He says- otherwise we are worshipping an idol- a god that we have created with our own imagination that cannot save or satisfy us.

~Ephesians 2:8-9: We are saved by His grace through faith. We must come to Him and ask for faith because it is a gift given by Him. We all have times where we relate to the man in Mark 9:24 who believed but needed help with his unbelief.

~The same words were used in the Bible when it says that Enoch "walked" with God and was "pleasing" to God. Those things go together and cannot be separated. To be like Enoch, we must find out what pleases God and do it. This is walking with Him and it cannot be accomplished without the grace of the Lord.

~Enoch was 65 years old when he started walking with God. As long as we are breathing, it is not too late. The Lord knew all of the horrible things that we would do in our lives and He still went to the cross so that we could have a relationship with Him. It is not too late. Come to Him today. Acknowledge your lack of faith and ask the Lord to help you live a life that pleases Him. He wants you to have a relationship with Him where you enjoy one another and have continual fellowship with one another as a bride and her husband.

We are praying for you all tonight. We pray that you will remember the convictions that the Lord gave you tonight and pray that you will hold nothing back. If there is anything hindering your relationship with Christ, let it go!! It isn't worth. Only Jesus will satisfy you fully. We love you! If you want a place to come and have fellowship and a place where you can confess sin and grow in your relationship with Christ, we would love to have you on Sunday nights in small groups. Again, we love you!

~Sonny and Casi

Tonights song list:

1. We Have Come: Will Reagan & United Pursuit

2. Savior King: Hillsong

3. Solid Rock: Page CXVI

4. Restless: Switchfoot

5. With Everything: Hillsong

6. For Who You Are: Hillsong

7. You're Beautiful: Phil Wickam

Hebrews 11:4: Cain and Abel

*Hebrews 11:4: Abel offered a sacrifice that was accepted to God and Cain's sacrifice was not accepted by the Lord

~Genesis 4:1-8: The story of Cain and Abel; God had set up a system to atone for sin that required that blood be shed to forgive sin. Abel came with a sacrifice that followed the requirements of the Lord but Cain did not.

~Cain came to God on his own terms. He brought a sacrifice but it was not what the Lord had required. It has and will never be okay with God for us to come to Him on OUR terms. We must find out what pleases Him and come to Him with that...

~What pleases God? Us coming to Him on the basis of Jesus and Him alone! We all have the "cancer" of sin and need to come to God through Jesus- who died on our behalf so that we could be accepted by God. We cannot earn God's approval by anything else. He wants us to come to Him by faith, giving our whole selves to Him knowing that we have been made pure through the blood of His Son.

*Romans 12:1-2: "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

* 1 Corinthians 6:20: "For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."

Q: How are you doing at living out Romans 12:1-2? What does this look like for you practically?

Q: Are you bringing to God "sacrifices" that YOU want to bring (like Cain) or are you coming to God in faith trying to find out what pleases Him (like Abel)?

~Cain ended up continuing in sin and things ended up much worse. He killed his brother and was banished from God's presence. Let's not be like Cain. Repent today. Come to the Lord with a humble and broken heart and give your whole self to Him.

*Luke 18:9-14: We see the same thing here. The Pharisee came to God on his terms not coming with humility with an honest heart (see Deut. 6:5). He gave God a bunch of "good words" but his life was full of pride and rejection of truth. We want to come with the humility and brokenness that we see in the tax collector. He knew God's holiness and his sinfulness and came to God with a proper heart.

Q: Do you understand your need for Jesus? Do you recognize your own depravity and that your ONLY cure is Jesus?

Q: When you come to Jesus, are you coming with the heart of a Pharisee (pride) or the tax- collector (humility and brokenness)?

Q: Look at your life. How do you spend your time? Your time reveals what you really care about. Are your relationships and desires all given to the Lord?

We encourage you to pray to Jesus and ask what changes HE wants to make in your life so that you can be fully pleasing to Him. Seek Him this week and obey Him when He tells you what changes need to be made. We love you and are praying for you!

~Sonny and Casi

Worship Songs that we played on Wednesday:

1. Open up the Sky (Deluge)

2. Came to my rescue (Hillsong)

3. Full attention (Jeremy Riddle)

4. Future version (Shane and Shane)

5. Beautiful mercy (Laura Hackett)

6. Nothing I hold to (Will Reagan & United Pursuit)

7. Running in circles (Will Reagan & United Pursuit)

8. The glory of it all (Passion)

Jon Thurlow - Your Faithfulness

Here is one of our new favorite songs and we played it last night. When things get tough, let us remember His faithfulness- to all of those in the Word, people that we have admired through the years, and to US! Great is His faithfulness!

Hebrews 10:32-39

Tonight was a very good reminder to evaluate our lives. When coming to Jesus we are called to give up our lives, not gaining anything but Christ. So many times, in our culture, we see people coming to Jesus with false motives. Maybe we "walk with God" because our parents want us to or maybe because it is the socially acceptable thing to do. Whatever the reason- if we are not doing "Christian" things simply because we are in love with Jesus who was crucified on our behalf, we are not going to be pleasing to the Lord.

Hebrews 10:32-39 recap:

~32: "enlightened"- the people are called to remember when they first came to know Christ. From Matthew 5:13-16, we see that 2 things will come with our salvation:

1. persecution

2. glory to the Father

Q: Are you being persecuted for your faith? (see 2 Timothy 3:12)

Q: Why do you "walk with God?"

Q: What are your motives for doing "Christian" things?

Q: Have you come to Christ to gain something other than Him or have you truly lost your life to have it found completely in Him?

~34: The believers in this passage had joyfully endured hardship as they knew that they had something much better awaiting them after this life is finished. Be encouraged that if you are in Christ and are suffering- it IS worth it! Something better- something eternal- HEAVEN with JESUS- awaits you. Endure. Keep going! Glorify the Lord in the midst of your suffering.

Q: How do you handle suffering for Christ?

Q: How to you handle times where you feel like you want to give up?

~38: There were many people during this time that were just "going through the motions" and they thought that was good enough (Pharisees). They thought that if they just had the appearance of godliness, they would be okay. God is concerned about our hearts (Isaiah 29:13, Psalm 51:17) and wants us to love Him from the inside having our external deeds being a reflection of our incredible love for Him. He wants us to have contrite (apologetic and repentent) hearts that are broken for Him. Check your life and motives...

Q: Are you someone who honors God with your lips but your heart is far from Him?

We received Christ by grace through faith and that is how we must continue to walk with Him. Do not try to walk with Him on your own strength but come to Him every day knowing that you need Him to help you do the things that honor him. We encourage you to start every day this week asking for His grace.

Colossians 2:6

"Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him."

We love you!

~Sonny & Casi