FAITH FOR REAL LIFE

Good morning Mosaic family and friends.

Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen something truly wonderful in the Bible as we’ve looked at the New Testament book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 10 told us that faith is knowing and trusting that the door is open to us.

Access to God, salvation has been secured — not by our effort, not by how strongly we believe it, but by the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Last week Anniina served us so well as Hebrews 11 showed us what faith is.

Hebrews 11 showed us what faith is — confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not yet see. Some experienced victory. Others suffered. But all trusted God for a better city and a better promise still to come.

Anniina served us so well!

But now a very practical question confronts us:

“If the door is open, and if faith is real and has confidence and evidence based solely on what Jesus has done”:

What difference does faith make in our everyday lives? What difference does faith make in my relationships? In my home? In my body? In my finances? When under pressure? In a shifting culture?

Hebrews 12 and 13 answer that question.

1. Where Faith Gets Worked Out (Hebrews 13)

If faith is real, it must show up somewhere. We said in the first part of our faith series that “following Jesus is deeply personal, but it is never private”.

It cannot remain internal.
It cannot remain theoretical, just an idea to grow in understanding of.
It cannot remain a Sunday-only thing.

And this is exactly where the New Testament is beautifully consistent and challenging.

In the letter of Epistle of James, James famously writes (2:26):

26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.

When James writes, “Faith without works is dead.” He is not saying works creates faith. He is saying real faith creates works.

Hebrews 10 showed us how faith begins — by trusting what Christ has done.
Hebrews 11 showed us the inner substance of faith — confidence in the unseen promises of God.
James shows us how faith becomes visible — in how we live.

John Calvin: “It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone.”

Works do not open the door…But once we walk through the door by the faith gifted us by Jesus, our lives begin to change and the natural fruit of salvation and faith begins to grow in our lives.

In Hebrews 12 and 13 faith becomes real in everyday life.

Not just in what we confess, but in how we live.

READ:

13 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honour among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Faith Shows Up in Relationships.

“Let brotherly love continue.”

It is striking that 59 times in the New Testament followers of Jesus are commanded in different ways to care for fellow believers. Caring for those outside the household of faith is obviously important, but Jesus Himself has this to say about one anothering:

John 13:35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Dear friends. We know that living with the mission of Jesus to seek and save the least, lost and the hurting, is essential. Jesus’ point in John 13 is that if you want the least, lost and the hurting to know they can trust you and join your communities and come and explore and hear about the good news of Jesus for their salvation, ‘love one another well’.

By the way in which we love one another inside the church, people outside the community of faith can see that we truly believe what we say, and more importantly, what we believe has shaped what we do.

Faith becomes visible in patience…In forgiveness…In staying in community, and being discipled and shaped by the gospel and one another, when leaving would be easier…It is often hard to live with family isn’t it? It even harder to live like a ‘family’ with people from differing cultures, languages, and backgrounds. In many ways, the Bible would say that the family of faith is your TRUEST family…but it is super hard isn’t it?

It is much easier to sing about grace than to show it, particularly to people who believe what you believe but are very different in every other area of life. This is why it comes first on the list of faith in life…it’s essential but hard.

Real faith moves toward Gods people and asks: What can I do for you? How can I show and live out the love of Jesus to you?

Faith Shows Up in Hospitality and care

“2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”

Hospitality is often the Biblical word for loving and serving those who aren’t Christians. ‘Fellowship or brotherly love’ is always towards Christians, ‘Hospitality’ is most often towards those who wouldn’t call themselves Christians yet. However, most commentators agree that the context of verses 2 and 3 SHOULD be read BOTH ways.

Hospitality interrupts comfort. It costs time. It costs money. Whether this refers to traveling believers or those who don’t yet know Christ, the point is the same — faith opens our homes and our lives… Hebrews points to the fact that Before we did anything good, God welcomed us. Hospitality reflects grace and the gospel. And remembering those mistreated for their faith reminds us: we belong to one body. Their suffering matters to us.

So faith trusts that people, known and unknown to us, matter more than our privacy and our comfort.

Faith Shows Up in the Body

4 Let marriage be held in honour among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 

Faith shapes how we live sexually.

In a culture of expressive individualism, where everyone gets to decide for themselves, faith says: My body, like my Spirit, belongs to the Lord Jesus.

Faith trusts that holiness is not a restriction, but protection for our joy.

It is trust that God’s plan for sex and my sexuality is the best for me and my life and heart, AND for those in my community.

Sex is wonderful…within marriage. Outside of marriage between one man and one woman, sex damages.

We’ll cover this more fully in our series on ‘Sex and Sexuality’ coming up later in the year, but there is grace for you if you are single, to remain celibate, worshipping Jesus with your emotions and your body and your sexuality being directed at the true lover of your soul, Jesus.

If you are married, sex is essential. It is the gift of God to another in your marriage to keep reinforcing the covenant that you are now 1 flesh as we read in Genesis. 

Sex says: I belong to you. I delight in you. I am committed to your good. We belong to God, together.

Lorette and I have notices over many years of church ministry:

“The devil does everything he can to get you in bed before you are married, and does everything he can to keep you out of bed after you are married.”

And if sexual misuse, abuse or brokenness is part of your story, hear this clearly — there is grace, forgiveness, and restoration in Jesus.

Faith Shows Up in Money

“5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 

Contentment is faith in action.

As the apostle Paul says: By faith I have learned to be content in all things, whether I have much or whether I have little, because I have the greatest promise of all, the eternal love and presence of Jesus.

Money isn’t bad. The love of money as a saviour is bad and is a sin.

Money promises joy. Money promises the ability to buy health and prosperity and fun in the sun, and ultimately money promises to provide emotional and physical security.

Interestingly surveys consistently show that regardless of income, most people say they need about 10–20% more to feel financially secure.

In other words, whether people earn loads or earn little, people always want more. Money does not satisfy, it feeds us into the hamster-wheel of comparison and chasing more and more.

Money makes many empty promises. God promises joy and security. Jesus promises His presence now and eternally.

Faith chooses presence over possessions.

If you’re convicted or concerned about the state of your heart around money, Jesus says the best thing to do is live generously. Whether you have very little and are anxious, or have very much and are anxious, give it away so that money becomes a tool and not a master. 

Give to God through your local church, then give to other situations in need. Live generously and see the freedom and joy and security of the promises of God who says: “I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Faith Shows Up Under Social Pressure

“12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Faith stands with Christ…Even when it costs approval…Even when it costs comfort.

Dear Mosaic family, and especially young men and women, this is the final area of encouragement to allow our faith to shape our lives.

There are so many pressures in the world around us. Pressures to look a certain way, dress a certain way, talk a certain way, spend our money on certain things, abuse our bodies and sexuality in certain ways.

There are a million pressures to live like those in the camp who live for themselves and their own short-term joy and security.

But Jesus suffered and died outside the gates of the city, outside the camp of popular opinion and ways of doing things. Out side the camp He died on a Roman cross. He died outside the city so that by faith, we can leave the city with it’s systems that are crumbling and it’s promises that only bring heartache, and find the true city that is to come.

As our lives shaped by faith follow Jesus outside the gates and bear the struggles of reproach, the mocking, the disgrace and shame from the followers of this world and this earthly city, we can set our eyes and hearts on something better and eternal.

Dear friends, if we’re honest, some of us hear that list in Hebrews 13 and feel tired.

Love like family…Open your home…Stay sexually pure…Be content in all things…Stand firm under social pressure…

Some of you already feel stretched. Some of you already feel like you’re not doing well in these areas.

And the danger at this moment in our sermon is that faith starts to feel like a burden.

But Hebrews does not give us a list without giving us support.

It does not call us to endurance without showing us how endurance happens.

So listen to how chapter 12 begins:

“12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Notice what it does not say…It does NOT say:
“Try harder.”
“Be more disciplined.”
“Push yourself.”

It says:
Lay aside.
Run.
Look (or to fix our eyes NIV).

Run with endurance

I’ve run two marathons (pic)…No one sprints a marathon. It’s steady, faithful plodding.

And that should relieve some of us…

Because you don’t need to be impressive to finish the race. You need to be faithful.

Endurance is not dramatic. It is often slow and steady. It is staying when leaving would be easier. It is loving when withdrawing would feel safer. It is continuing when quitting would feel justified.

Maybe that’s part of our cultural problem. Social media and instant gratification would tell us that unless we’re THE brightest shining star or get what we want instantly, we’re doing something wrong. Hebrews says to us, this is wrong thinking.

I think I’ve gotten myself in trouble over the years because I wanted something ‘now’ but wasn’t ready for it, or it wasn’t in God’s best for me.

Lay Aside What Slows You

“Lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely.”

Not just sin — but weight.

Some things are not evil. But they are heavy.

Constant comparison…Digital distraction…Overcommitment…Secret resentments over others…busy but not fruitful…

You cannot run well while carrying everything. Have you seen the people running marathons in Gorilla Suites or a Minion costume? They’re not doing it to try win the race! They’re doing it for charity because it’s harder.

The life of faith requires intentional lightness.

But here is the key:

You do not lighten yourself by looking at yourself and your life in the mirror…You lighten yourself by taking your eyes off yourself and looking to Christ.

Fix Your Eyes on Jesus

This is the heart of it all…

“Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.”

He began your faith…He gives you faith…He sustains your faith…He will complete your faith.

Faith survives not by self-focus, but by Christ-focus.

When you feel weak — do not stare at your weakness…Look to Jesus.

When you feel ashamed — do not replay your failures…Look to Jesus.

When obedience feels costly — do not fix your eyes on the cost…Look to Jesus.

He endured the cross…He despised the shame…He is seated at the right hand of God.

Faith endures because Jesus endured first. You are not the pioneer of your faith…He is… The only sinless and shameless Son of God endured the shame and carried our sins with Him to the cross, where He was punished and died for us.

When we’re struggling to keep going because the challenges of life feel too much, remember Jesus and His endurance for us and in our place.

And What About Hardship? Because if we’re honest, living Hebrews 13 out will bring resistance.

So Hebrews says something surprising in verses 4-12. Do not interpret hardship as abandonment or doing something wrong in your life of faith.

Interpret it as discipline.

“For the Lord disciplines the one He loves.”

That word discipline frightens us…But this is not punishment…Punishment fell on Christ.

This is formation…This is a loving Father shaping His children.

It is uncomfortable…It is stretching…It is sometimes hard to understand…

But it produces “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

So when life is hard, when obedience costs, when standing with Christ brings pressure — Faith says:

“My Father is lovingly shaping me, not abandoning me.”

Why Can We Risk Living Like This?

Because we belong to something unshakeable.

We read in verses 18 to 28:

“You have not come to Mount Sinai (rules)… but to Mount Zion… to the city of the living God.”

And then this:

“We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.”

Everything else shakes…Careers shake…Markets shake…Cultures shift…Reputations fade…But Christ’s kingdom does not.

So…

• We can love courageously because we have been loved by Christ.

• We can give generously because the One who was rich became poor for us.

• We can live purely because the Holy One bore our shame.

• We can stand firmly because Jesus endured for us and now intercedes for us.

  
  

Because our security is not in this city….It is in the one to come.

Faith is stability in instability…Faith is calm because it belongs to something and someone eternal.

So when Hebrews 13 calls us to love, to hospitality, to sexual integrity, to contentment, to courage — it is not adding weight.

It is describing what life inside an unshakable kingdom looks like.

We are not earning that kingdom…We are receiving it.

And if you are here today exploring Jesus — You may feel like you’re still standing outside the door.

Hear this clearly:

You do not clean yourself up and then come in.
You come in because Jesus has already made the way.

Faith begins very simply by saying: “I cannot save myself. But I believe Jesus has done what I could not.”

That is the doorway. Not effort. Not performance, but thankfulness and trust.

Faith dear Mosaic family is not a force we wield…It is a response to a faithful Saviour.

He opened the door…He holds it open…He walks with us inside…And He will bring us safely home.

The Christian life is not sustained by how tightly you cling to Him,
but by how securely He holds you.

That is why we can run, endure and live differently by faith.

Because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

AMEN