Rid, Run, Look

In one paragraph

Brad opened the message by framing it around the good life, the kind our culture sells versus the kind God actually offers. Drawing from Hebrews 12:1-2, he walked the congregation through three words pulled straight from the text: rid, run, and look. Brad started by pushing back on the assumption baked into almost every message our culture sends, that this life is all we get, so we should seize...

Read together

1. Hebrews 12:1-2 the central text of the sermon, read twice in NASB and then in The Message paraphrase, forming the basis of the rid/run/look outline
2. Galatians 5:13 quoted to contrast selfism with the call to serve one another humbly in love
3. James 5:16 cited as the classic passage on confessing sins to one another so that you might be healed
4. 1 Corinthians 10:31 quoted to show that whatever you do, whether eating or drinking, should be done to the glory of God
5. Ephesians 2 referenced to make the point that salvation is received by grace, not achieved by works
6. Psalm 110 cited as the first reference to Christ being seated at the right hand until his enemies are made a footstool, with the distinction between Yahweh and Adonai noted
7. Revelation 19 quoted to present the image of Christ as the conquering king with eyes like blazing fire, a robe dipped in blood, and a sharp sword proceeding from his mouth

Talk about it

1. Brad described 'selfism' as the unspoken religion of modern culture, where you use people to get things and experiences as if this life is all you will ever get. Where do you see that pull toward selfism most clearly in your own daily rhythms?
2. Brad said that when he drifts away from God he can usually trace it back to either comfort or control, and that naming the fear underneath helps him move it from a gut reaction into a place where he can speak God's truth into it. What fear tends to sit underneath your own drift away from God?
3. Brad pointed out that the text says 'let us rid ourselves,' and warned against using the sermon as a reason to go nag a spouse, friend, or community group about what they need to strip away. Why do you think it is so much easier to identify the obstacles in someone else's race than in your own?
4. Brad used the image of Peter asking Jesus about John's path, and Jesus answering 'What is it to you? You follow me.' Is there someone else's race that you find yourself comparing your own to, and what would it mean in practice to hear Jesus say that to you?
5. Brad described Jesus as both the lamb that was slain and the lion of Judah, and said the church tends to take too light a view of Jesus. How does holding both of those pictures together change the way you think about running the race set before you?