Monday, January 26, 2009

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter 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" (Hebrews 12:1-3, NIV).

IDEA:  We are to "run with endurance" the race that is set before us.

PURPOSE: To help listeners appreciate what is involved in thinking of the Christian life as a long-distance race in contrast to other pictures of life.

Walter Lippmann said, "People think with pictures in their heads."

What do you think he meant by that?

Do you agree with him?

I. What difference can an image make?

Think of different pictures people use to talk about life. What are they getting at?

Life is like a bowl of cherries.

Forrest Gump was taught that life is like a box of chocolates.

Life is like a mountain railroad from the cradle to the grave.

Life is a tale told by an idiot, scrawled on the walls of an insane asylum.

Life is a walk in a park.

Life is a fight of faith.

Life is a pilgrimage.

Do you have pictures in your head by which you describe life?

II. What is the image that the writer of the letter to the Hebrews uses when talking about the Christian life?

How does the picture of a long-distance race compare with living a life that we're called to live as Christians?