Hebrews 11: Moses

Dear TVCC Students,
We hope that you all are having a great fall and getting ready for spending time with your families over the holidays. We are continually thankful to walk alongside of you as we all seek to pursue the Lord and learn from the book of Hebrews. Last night Sonny walked us through an overview of the life of Moses from Hebrews 11 and highlighted how Moses was able to forsake the pleasures offered by this world because he was focused on eternal things, namely Christ. Here is a recap...

Hebrews 11: Moses

~11:23: By faith Moses was hidden by his parents. Moses’ parents knew that their son was special in the eyes of God and by faith they disobeyed pharaoh in order to obey the Lord. There are times when God will call people to disobey the government in order for them to obey the Lord. 

~Acts 5 is an example of a time when the disciples had to chose between obeying the Lord or the government.  Peter and the other apostles obeyed the Lord rather than man. When the government interferes with obedience to the Lord, our obedience should be to the Lord. There will be times when it will be difficult for us to obey the Lord because there is a spiritual war going on (Ephesians 6:12)! We must remember that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12)!

Q: Read through Ephesians 6. How does this relate to Moses and what does it teach us about how we are to go about fighting the spiritual battle that is around us?

~11:24-26:  Moses was raised in the house of pharaoh and was eventually offered one of the most prestigious positions in the world. Moses knew the Lord and all of the eternal satisfaction offered by walking with Him and chose to obey God rather than obtain the passing pleasures of sin. Sin does offer us pleasure BUT sin is evil and fleeting and destructive! Moses knew that he could have temporal fulfillment by taking the pleasures offered by Egypt OR he could exercise self control and by faith follow the Lord. The pleasures that sin offers can never satisfy and they always have consequences! In His right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16). The Lord offers eternal and lasting satisfaction and when we see Him for who He really is, all other temporal pleasures pale in comparison to what He has to offer (Philippians 3).

Q: Read Philippians 3. What temporal satisfaction has the world been offering you lately to tempt you to forsake intimacy with the Lord? How are you fighting that temptation? Remember that we must be walking in the Spirit to overcome sin. He is our source of strength against the temptations of this world...

~Again, Moses was offered the most prestigious position on the planet but he forsook that pleasure and position because he knew that what the Lord had to offer was better! When we look at the life of Moses, we see that his life reflected his faith. Our lives reflect our faith. Moses saw the Lord and His worth and realized that nothing would compare to the joy that was his when he enjoyed the presence of the Lord. Moses could forsake what the world offered because he was looking ahead to the eternal reward in Christ. If we want to continue to walk with the Lord and walk in victory against sin, we must follow the example of Moses by keeping our eyes focused on the eternal reward that is ours in Christ. This world and its pleasures are passing away but intimacy with the Lord Jesus is offered to us on a daily basis and that will never be taken from us. In Matthew 6:19-20, Jesus reminds us about this exact issue. Let us store up treasures that will endure to eternity, not fade away with this world.

Q: Read Matthew 6:19-20. In order for us to store up treasures that are eternal, we must be spending time in the presence of the Lord and growing in our understanding of His greatness. How often are you meditating on the Lord? By meditating on His Word and enjoying His presence, we will have more clear vision to forsake what the world is offering. We need time with Him! We will fail if we try to defeat sin by just sheer willpower. Like Moses, we must defeat sin by looking towards the Lord and what He is offering! We must fix our eyes on what is greater. What has lately been preventing you from enjoying time with the Lord and what changes do you feel Him calling you to make so that you can spend time with Him on a daily basis?

Dear students,

We are so thankful for each one of you. We pray that you will continue to grow in your relationships with the Lord. If we look ahead in the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 13:12), we see that as Jesus suffered for us, we will be called to suffer in this life for His namesake. This suffering though, is short lived and is nothing compared with the eternal joys that we will partake of as children of the Lord through Christ. We pray that you will experience real joy in the presence of Christ this week as you meditate on His Word. We love you all and are so thankful for you!

With hope,

~Sonny and Casi

Hebrews 11: Abraham with Isaac

Dear TVCC Students,

It is always so refreshing to worship with each of you and see the Lord working in your lives. Last night we walked through a different aspect of Abraham's life as it pertained to his love for his son, Isaac. Here is a recap...

Hebrews 11

~“You alone can rescue... You alone can save... You alone can lift us from the grave...” What a great and powerful song. This is how Abraham lived. This is how we are to live. We can see by looking into the life of Abraham that he trusted in the Lord for provision in this life and he hoped in the Lord for eternal fulfillment. When the Lord asked of Abraham the most costly thing, the life of his son, Abraham believed that the Lord's way would ultimately turn out for the best. It is crucial for us to learn from the life of Abraham. God's redemption of us is not for this life only. If we have hope in Christ in this life only, we are to be most pitied (1 Corinthians 15:19). We are hoping in Christ for an eternal kingdom. This eternal hope in Christ should help make the trials of this life seem much more manageable since we know that this is not our eternal home. This is a temporary place with trials and hardship. The real home of believers is the eternal home the Lord is preparing for those that are His children through faith in Jesus.

Q: Have you been experiencing trials lately that have seemed to consume your thoughts? In what ways are you turning those trials over to the Lord knowing that this life is not what we are supposed to be living for? 

~Hebrews 11:13- “all these died in faith...” Their lives made it clear that they are seeking the heavenly country that the Lord is preparing for those that love Him. As much as an earthly father delights in giving gifts to his children, our eternal Father delights so much more in preparing an everlasting city for His children through faith in Christ. 

Q: Have you meditated lately on the fact that the Lord is going ahead of His children to prepare an everlasting city for you if you are His through faith in Christ? How does this truth change the weight of the trials that you go through?

~Hebrews 11: 17-19: Abraham & Isaac

~Genesis 15- God promised (15:5) to make from him many descendants. God promised to give Him children and continued to give Abraham more promises as Abraham continued to walk in obedient faith. Abraham was faithful with little and was given even more. God wants great things for His children and always has more to bless His children with (these may be spiritual blessings or physical blessings). He is the Creator of heaven and earth! What a great Father we serve!

Q: Have you been taking the time to see what the Lord is wanting to do with your life? Have you been in the habit of daily surrendering yourself to the Lord? When He has asked hard things of you, have you been walking in obedience or like Jonah, have you run the opposite way?

~Genesis 22- God tested Abraham by asking Abraham to give up his only son. God wanted all of Abrahams love and to make sure nothing rivaled that love. God often does this with us as well. Sometimes the Lord will take things from us or prevent us from getting certain things because He wants to make sure that our love for Him is not being given to something lesser that will never satisfy us fully. Only the Lord can fully satisfy us!

Q: Is there anything in your life that you might love more than the Lord? What does it look like for you to have Christ as your first love? Are there any changes that you feel the Lord calling you to so that you are not walking in idolatry?

~Genesis 22:3: Abraham rose early in the morning to obey the Lord in giving up his son Isaac. Obeying the Lord was more important than anything else, even Isaac. Nothing is as important as loving the Lord. God always replaces things that He calls us away from with something better (whether it be something we can see or even just a more intimate relationship with Him). We might not always understand in the moment what the Lord is doing when He calls us away from certain things but we can be sure that His ways are best for our good and His glory. Following the Lord is often difficult and uncomfortable but it is so worth it. 

Q: There are times when the Lord will call us to do ‘crazy’ things, but ultimately walking in obedience will be the most satisfying. Is the Lord calling you to give up anything? How often are you dedicating your days to the Lord FIRST thing in the morning?

Dear students,

We are so thankful to see you all week after week coming to enjoy fellowship with the Lord and with other believers. As we said earlier, it is so encouraging to see the Lord working in your lives. We pray that this week you will meditate on the life of Abraham and how he didn't even withhold his most precious son from the Lord. His whole life was surrendered to the Lord and that turned out to be the absolute best thing for Abraham. Absolute surrender is the BEST thing for us as well. Let us this week fully surrender our lives to the Lord and take any steps necessary to make sure that our love for Him is not in competition with anything else in this world. We love you all and are praying for you!

~With hope,

Sonny and Casi

Hebrews 11: Sarah

TVCC Students,
We hope you are having a wonderful week enjoying this rainy weather! We love getting to worship with you all. Last night we continued diving into Hebrews 11 and looked at the life of Sarah. Her life is such an encouragement because when we look at her life, it is easy to see that the Lord lavishes His love on imperfect people who often struggle with a lack of faith. How great to know that God cares for those that sometimes fail. What choice does He have? Though Hebrews 11 hails Sarah as a woman who had faith and believed in the Lord, the account of her life in Genesis shows a much fuller account of her life and how she battled with unbelief and even laughed at the Lord! Here is a recap...

Hebrews 11:  Sarah

~Hebrews 11:11-16: This section teaches us that God is not ashamed to be called the God of these women and men because they are His through faith! It was not their perfect works or sacrifices that made Him proud to be their God, it was because they were His through faith. Once we are His children there is NO condemnation for us (Romans 8:1). We are HIS and He is proud of us.

Q: Romans 8:17 teaches us that we are heirs of God through Christ. Christ takes us from the spiritual state of a helpless orphan and brings us into the most unfathomable inheritance of His through His death and resurrection on our behalf. Do you realize what you have been taken from and what you have been taken TO through Christ? What does it look like to live in light of the wonderful inheritance that is yours through Christ?

~11:11-13: Even Sarah is mentioned in the "Hall of Faith." When we look at Genesis 16 we see that Sarah was far from perfect. Sarah encouraged her husband to disobey the Lord out of fear and impatience. Sarah got tired of waiting on the Lord and decided to make her own plan. She was a regular woman who had genuine fears and doubts. Eventually she came to see that the Lord was trustworthy and would fulfill His promises. Her overall faith in the Lord made her pleasing in His sight. 

~The life of Sarah is seen in Genesis 17: 1-8; 15-18; 18:1-15. Sarah definitely struggled with trusting in the Lord and in His plans for her and Abraham. Sarah laughed at the Lord and she was still put in the book of faith. God has a heart for those who sometimes struggle. He delights in taking those that are weak and showing them His glorious power. Even though she struggled, she had faith! She knew that the Lord had been faithful to her husband and she decided to follow Abraham in trusting the Lord and following Him. She didn’t argue (that we know of) with her husband following the Lord when God called Him to be uprooted from their comforts. 

It's encouraging also to see that her husband played such a significant part in her faith. We must remember that the best testimony we have is to those around us. Our families are our first ministry. Abraham and Sarah encouraged each other with their faith. Know that people will look at your life and see a representation of the Lord. We bare testimony to the goodness of the Lord even though we mess up!

Q: Who are you around on a daily basis? In what ways are you representing the Lord well? What areas do you feel the Lord calling you to improve in how you represent Him? (by His Spirit's power)

~ In order for Abraham and Sarah to trust the Lord, they needed to trust in His Words and cling to those truths. The same is true for us. They knew His promises from His mouth and we must follow in their footsteps to lead lives of faith. Psalm 19: 7 is a great psalm reminding us of the power of the Word of God.  The way that we can know the Lord and know how to represent Him well is by knowing and meditating on His Word. His word tells us who He is! The law of the Lord (His Word) is what makes us wise and gives us counsel to pass on to others. His Word is sweeter than honey and in keeping them is great reward. The Word of God transforms us. God’s WORD created everything and can change us- even the smallest things in our lives that we think are insignificant. 

Q: Have you been meditating on the Word lately?

~Hebrews 11:13-16: We have a mission to do here but this is NOT our home. It is so easy for us to put all of our "eggs" in baskets here, making names for ourselves here but treasures in this life will NOT last! Why would we spend our energy making a name for ourselves here? This does not make sense! Let us live as these people did in Hebrews 11, not for this life but for the everlasting city!

Q: What does it look like for us to be “investing” in eternal things, in the everlasting kingdom? What does it look like for us to be “investing” in this life which is going to be destroyed? Which kingdom have you been investing in lately? How?

Dear students,

We hope that this look into the life of Sarah was encouraging to you all. We all have seasons of doubt where it's difficult to believe in the Words of the Lord. Let us remember that His Word is true and let us spend time meditating on it that we might be transformed continually by it. We are praying for you this week. We pray that you will have sweet times with Jesus and that your faith in Him would be strengthened. We pray that you will invest in heavenly things and not seek treasures that will one day fade away. We love you all!

With hope,

~Sonny and Casi