In Jesus name we pray. Second, I believe we should move forward in our partnership with Prison Fellowship to distribute Christian literature free of charge to prisoners across America. Fix Your Eyes On Jesus with Kim Walker Smith - Duration: 7:40. It was the worst kind of torture, reserved for the very worst criminals. Keep your eyes on me, and where I put my feet, put yours there as well.” The man did as he was instructed and soon he passed from danger to safety. But you have to die before you can rise again. Soon shall close thy earthly mission, swift shall pass thy pilgrim days; Hope soon change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise. Optional Video of Team Hoyt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJMbk9dtpdY (learn more at http://www.teamhoyt.com ) What are the sins that are tangling you up and making you trip? In all these things there is pain involved, but it is pain endured for the sake of the joy that comes when the goal is finally reached. This is why high school athletes lift weights at 6:00 a.m. when their friends are still in bed. “And sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2c). And because of the imputation of his righteousness, we have a share in the victory he won through his death and resurrection. Fix Your Eyes on Jesus. 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Purpose: To inspire people to run the race of faith with fresh motivation and hope Am I making that reward look so appealing that others want it to? Can you imagine what faith it must have taken to take that first step? Fix your eyes upon Jesus, and thereby run with perseverance the race marked out for you. They are not so much witnesses of our race, but witnesses to how the race can be run in faith. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America. She doesn’t even realize that she is danger. And the chorus written by Becky Hedgepeth (winner of the Calvary songwriting contest last fall) is called “Run to the Cross.” How appropriate. Sermons; Fix Your Eyes on Jesus; 2020 Year in Review. Eyes on Jesus asks us to look at Jesus through various Biblical character's viewpoints, learning how they saw Jesus. Fix your eyes upon Jesus, and thereby run with perseverance the … First, he laid the foundation for our faith by his death and resurrection. And in yet another realm, this is why families leave their loved ones and travel to the ends of the earth. When he was in high school, Rick learned about a 5 mile run to raise money for another child with a disability. About the Theme "Fix your eyes on Jesus." Keep running. Jesus Culture Recommended for you. How could it be anything else? This motivates us in two ways. The ideal is to fix and keep your eyes on Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. But as long as Peter fixed his eyes on Jesus, he was able to walk on water. No one knows what lies ahead for any of us. Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee, God’s own hand shall guide thee there. Go back and read the whole book of Hebrews again and ask God to take all the glorious truth that is here--about the superiority of Christ--and the power of his death and resurrection, and the effectiveness of his intercession for you--and make this truth explosive with life-changing power. Remove all the sins and habits and distractions which are weighing us down. And then go and help others run their race. They are terrified. He has all the hope, all the love, all the grace, all the power, all the strength, all the wisdom, all the patience, all the guidance, all the encouragement, all the joy, all the endurance, all the gentleness, all the forgiveness, all the determination, all the submission, all the boldness, and all the meekness that we need. But do not worry if your faith does not seem strong. Amen” Paul gives us three motivations in this text: The first motivation to run is found in verse 1: "since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses." When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. That's right, he began to look around at the mess he was in and took his eyes off of Jesus. = Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives! Look to the promises of the gospel which are laid out before us in such abundance. leading people into an authentic, life changing relationship with jesus christ “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2a). Basis for the series: One of the more famous phrases in the New Testament involves “fixing our eyes upon Jesus.” The idea comes from a pair of passages in Hebrews. VIEW ALL SERIES. Preached on 12/30/2012. But Peter doesn’t get back in the boat. Fix your eyes on Jesus Guest Preachers Sunday - PM Knox Church Perth. Congregational Prayer Respond Subscribe Share . Get regular updates on events, announcements, articles, and more! When Rick Hoyt was a teenager he received a computer which enabled him to begin to communicate with his family through head movements. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that you are my sovereign spiritual compass. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick. Did they misunderstand Him? Finally, I am glad to note that the new banners in the front of the sanctuary feature the cross. Fix your eyes on the finish line! This week I ran across the words of T. E. Marsh on the fullness that is in Christ Jesus. Hymn of Response “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” (or PsH #557 “My Jesus, I Love Thee”), Benediction: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all. No, but he endured it for what would come later. And the very first thing we taught was for them to look us in the eyes. He sat down at God’s right hand, the place of supreme honor in the universe. Rick was born in 1962 to Dick and Judy Hoyt. And this is why aspiring pianists practice for hours when they might be watching TV or playing video games. Remember that God is the author and perfecter of your faith. This is a profoundly important principle. Don’t look around. Fix your eyes on Jesus. The race can be long. We think a great deal of ourselves, our efforts, and our strength. Share: The Christian life is a race. In the last two years God has helped us give away 8-10,000 copies of What a Christian Believes and Keep Believing. So how can we finish successfully? Therefore, to him belongs all praise and majesty. And so we ask ourselves some hard questions: By now it might be easy to hear the command, "Run the race!” and conclude that finishing the race depends on us. Rely on God’s ways. Hebrews 12:1 is a wake up call to see our life as a race and to run it with passion and zeal and energy and discipline. A few months ago Prison Fellowship and other ministries launched an outreach called “Operation Starting Line” to share the gospel with every prisoner by 2004. Written for an audience of Jewish believers in a time of persecution, the book of Hebrews proclaims an eternal truth: Jesus is both the Son of God and our Great High Priest. Am I motivating the students to run by constantly pointing to and personally valuing the promises of the gospel above all else. That phrase, the theme of our Covenant Sunday, has been used a lot in the last few days. Did Jesus enjoy the shame? Soon she is safe by her mother’s side. He made our salvation possible. In Christ there is life, therefore abide in him. The life they had planned was suddenly changed forever. 9191 Orange Drive Davie, FL 33328 Get directions on the map . He’s got you. And he is the giver and sustainer of our faith from start to finish. We must learn to do the same. When our children were babies, starting at 10 months old, we began to teach them obedience. But most of all, place Jesus before us. And one day you will openly share in his triumph. Amen.” The writer has something else in mind. Even though the score may seem stacked against you, if you know Jesus, his victory is yours. Written for an audience of Jewish believers in a time of persecution, the book of Hebrews proclaims an eternal truth: Jesus is both the Son of God and our Great High Priest. My prayer is that it will bless you. If you don't keep your eye on the ball, you will spend all of your time chasing it, or worse, you might wind up with a black eye! Even when he was sorely tempted in the wilderness, he did not give in. First, we have a wonderful opportunity to minister to thousands of international students who come to Chicago from every corner of the globe. This is fixing your eyes on Jesus! They want to enter marriage someday with joy and with no regrets. Call to Worship: 1 Chronicles 16:8-10 Peter was bold enough to step out in faith in order to walk on the water, even in the midst of the storm raging around him. Are you willing to endure pain and difficulty in order to know the joy of fulfilling God’s will for your life? Her eyes flit this way and that. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. I also believe that God has important things for us to do in the days ahead. Since this is the first Sunday of the new year, I’d like to mention a book that I hope every family in our church will read. Even in the greatest trials and sufferings, God can help us fix our eyes on Jesus. In our text, Hebrews 12:1-2, the writer speaks to us of the importance of keeping our eyes on Jesus. Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow thee. The problem was the storm. In home repair, you need to keep the eye on the nail, lest you hit your thumb with the hammer. As our ministry expands, we must enlarge the prayer foundation of the church. That doesn’t mean you will understand all that happens to you but it does mean that your starting point is all-important. Second reason to fix your eyes on Jesus—number two, Because He is the Creator, the God Who Sustains. We have a six-foot tall stack of letters from prisoners asking for books. Start with Jesus. 3:1) In Hebrews 3:1, the phrase used is the same used… 3) When you feel like giving up, remember that in God’s eyes you are already a winner. . Fix your eyes upon Jesus; Jesus who on the cross did die, Jesus who lives and reigns on high, He alone can justify; Fix your eyes upon Jesus. And you can just imagine the disciples’ reaction, those consummate naysayer’s, “Peter, get back in the boat! Let no one drop out because of discouragement, fear, doubt, despair, anger, or bitterness. You want to make what change? We are far too easily pleased.”. Let’s stand back for a moment and ask how this great text can help us in the coming year. As long as he remained in faith by keeping his eyes on Jesus, he was successful. Fix Your Eyes on Jesus. WE ARE CALLED TO FOLLOW JESUS, NOT SEEK A POSITION. There is sacrifice involved but both sides of the equation involve genuine human pleasure. Fix Your Eyes on Jesus. Numbers 13:1-3, 17-21, 25-33, 14:1-9 (NKJV) Coming into 2020 there were so many prophets and prophetic voices speaking into not just the year 2020 but also the next ten years; as we were coming into a brand new decade. As you continue in your race, refuse to focus on what you are not, what you cannot do, and what you do not know. Look at my eyes. "Fix your eyes on Jesus." 1 Peter 3:12 says, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer”. You’ll sink for sure. He says, "Look to Jesus - Consider him.” He is the foundation of our faith from start to finish. There is much work to be done in this area but it will not come without a cost. Sins can be laid aside. As I was preparing this sermon, the words of an old hymn came to my mind. Sermon Recap In addition to reading God’s Word and participating in corporate worship, prayer will provide the greatest opportunity to fix our eyes on Jesus. And I have the ugliest, most comfy, most loved pair of old Nikes. When the people in the Passion narrative looked at Jesus, what did they see? service times. Fix Your Eyes on Jesus. It was written by Henry Francis Lyte in1824. To help us to learn more about Christ, next Sunday we will begin a new sermon series called Conversations with Jesus: Christ speaks to Modern Problems. He looked at the cross with all its pain and torment and shame and He said, “Ha! ENGLISH. And so we are encouraged, commanded, implored to fix our eyes upon Jesus, lest we grow weary and lose heart. Now, running can be hard work. Each week we broadcast our 11:30 a.m. worship service live on the Internet. To the man’s dismay, he saw that that path had almost been washed out. When our children were babies, starting at 10 months old, we began to teach them obedience. Suddenly through the din she hears her mother’s voice. Haste then on from grace to glory, armed by faith, and winged by prayer. We all have our plans and dreams but the times and seasons of life are in God’s hands. In Christ there is power, therefore wait on him. Focus on his power and his majesty and his glory and his holiness. Mark two words in this phrase: “joy” and “cross.” Those two words don’t seem to go together. In addition to the key verse of Hebrews 12:2, I also think of Philippians 3: 13, 14. Fix Your Eyes On Jesus. As C. S. Lewis put it in his sermon, “The Weight of Glory,” “…if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. Is your heart right now bowed in acknowledgment? 954.667.0862. church location. And why should we only look to (focus on) Jesus Christ? Fix your eyes on Jesus because he is God’s final word of revelation. Yet how rich is my condition! In Christ there is unlimited wealth, therefore depend on him. At that moment we can panic and fall into terrible trouble. A great biblical illustration of the need for keeping your eyes on Jesus in the midst of life’s difficulties is found in Matthew 14:22-31. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — a combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. It means to look away from other things so that you can focus all your attention on one object. 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