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Faith & Hope:
Running With Perseverance

The Book of Hebrews tells us to 'run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith'. Jesus is the first cause of our faith. He blazed the trail of faith, showing us what it means to trust our heavenly Father with our whole lives. Faith is precisely what sets us apart from the world. Faith lifts our eyes heavenward and onto the Kingdom of God. It sees what's possible, not what's impossible. It's the source of hope and the fuel for advancement.

Faith & Hope — Joe McSharry
Hebrews 11:1-6
What do you place your confidence in? Who are you allowing to shape your hope for the future? When did you truly put your faith in something or someone? Jesus is the first cause of our faith. He blazed the trail of faith, showing us what it means to trust our heavenly Father with our whole lives. Faith is precisely what sets us apart from the world. Faith lifts our eyes heavenward and onto the Kingdom of God, it sees what’s possible, not what’s impossible, it's the source of Hope and the fuel for advancement.

Hope as Expectation — Luc Sadler
Romans 4:18-25
What is hope? How is it different from expectation? In John Piper's sermon called 'What Is Hope?', he explains that biblical hope does not mean, ‘cross your fingers’, but rather ‘expect great things from God'. Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future; it expects it to happen. It not only expects it to happen; it is confident that it will happen.


Hope Deferred — Hope Nyabienda, Brandon Vethakkan and Becca Higham
Proverbs 13:12
When was the last time your hope let you down? How did that feel in the moment? Did it stop you from trusting again the next time hope was raised? We don’t understand why some of our prayers go the way we expect and others don’t, or why sometimes it seems like the kingdom breaks out on earth and sometimes it doesn’t. 

Faith as Defiance — Anita Williams
Daniel 3
What was the last thing you were conflicted over, whether right or wrong? Who did you go to for advice? Do you feel like they helped? Although we don't have physical statues of gold, idolatry isn't absent from our culture. Idolatry can be defined as the things we look to for hope, meaning, fulfilment, confidence, safety, and the security that only God can provide. Faith in God is counter-cultural. We’re saying 'no' to putting our trust, hope, and security in anything other than God.


Faith Beyond Circumstance — Tilly Robinson
2 Corinthians 4:7-18
Faith invites us to look beyond what we can see and experience. It keeps us from limiting God to our understanding. How do we maintain a healthy closeness to God alongside a healthy embracing of mystery?


Faith as Confidence — Jack Weeks
Hebrews 11:1
Hebrews says, ‘now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see’. We will not obey God because of willpower or because doctrine tells us. We do it by faith and in the confidence of who He is. And when we are filled with faith, it will spread beyond us into the lives of those around us.


Faith as a Lifestyle — Nathaniel Alsop, Hope Restell, Nathan Bright and Ruth Lead
2 Corinthians 5:1-7
How does faith shape your thinking and feeling? Where have you stepped out in faith recently? The Christian life compels us to live by faith and not by sight—faith for today, faith for miracles, provision, growth, discipleship, and Christlikeness. Faith for friends and family, colleagues, and coursemates to come to know Jesus.

© Open Heaven Church 2023 — Open Heaven Church is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales no. 7244128 and a registered charity no. 1138763.