Tuesday, November 18, 2008, Part 3

Hebrews 11

IDEA: Faith always has its challenges.

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that believers throughout the centuries have been persecuted because of their faith.

Is there such a thing as "easy believism"? What do people mean by that?

I. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews gives us a long lineup of men and women who were related to God by faith.

Do you think it was "easy" for them to believe the promises that God had made to them? Did "faith" come more naturally to men and women in a "pre-scientific" age?

Some of them had a direct word from God. Did that make it easier for them than for us to believe the promises of God?

All we have is the Bible. Does that make it easier for us to believe or harder?

Many of the people singled out by the author of the letter to the Hebrews had to stand alone against an antagonistic society, and many of them were persecuted because of their faith (Hebrews 11:35-38). Why do we often persecute people who "march to the beat of a different drum"?

They had a "hard believism."

II. Do you think that persecution happens today?

Has it ever happened to you or to someone you know?

Is it possible that people may face a form of "persecution" that isn't the result of physical abuse but social and economic threats?

Does the threat of persecution raise questions about the strength of your own faith?