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