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Let’s Journey on Toward God’s House
Mari Ikeda
A. The place where we need to return (Matthew 11:28-30)
28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
B. Let’s journey on (Hebrews 11)
1. Believing and hoping in what we cannot see (1)
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
2. God calls us on a journey without revealing the destination (8)
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
3. Living as sojourners (9-10)
9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
C. God’s house here and now (Hebrews 11:13-16)
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country―a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Summary
In order to find true rest, we need to return to Jesus’ arms. At the same time, our goal is to see the love of Jesus revealed in this world. In this world, we are limited in our ability to reveal the love of Jesus and to love one another well. Sometimes we can feel like this is an impossible task. Despite our limitations, God has called us into this world to reveal his love. Let us trust God’s call on our lives, journeying on to proclaim his love and relying on him to use us even in our weakness.
For Discussion
1) What does it mean that God calls us to a journey without revealing the destination?
2) Looking back on this past year, describe an experience of being in God’s house (kingdom).