Unnamed Heroes
The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is known as the
“Who’s Who List” of the Bible.
It is said about these Heroes…
That these all died in
faith:
·
· They did not need to seek faith on their deathbed. They died in
faith.
·
· Though they did have faith, they did also die. We do not have
faith to escape death, but to die in faith.
·
· They never went beyond faith and “grew beyond” simple dependence
on God.
·
· They never went below faith or lost faith.
The Chapter ends with this …
Hebrews 11:39-40 These were all commended for
their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better
for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
There are 16 Heroes listed by name but many more
are assumed.. There are hundreds of un-named heroes in God’s Word.
I want us to recognize some unnamed heroes.
I.
Boy Who Gave
His All
John 6:1-13 Some time after this, Jesus
crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias),
2 and a great crowd of people
followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick.
3 Then Jesus went up on a
mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4
The Jewish Passover Festival was near. 5
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to
Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these
people to eat?" 6 He
asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to
do. 7 Philip answered him,
"It would take more than half a year's wages to buy enough bread for each
one to have a bite!" 8
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9 "Here is a boy with five small barley
loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" 10 Jesus said, "Have
the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and
they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the
same with the fish. 12 When they
had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather
the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve
baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had
eaten.
a. Feeding of the 5000
b. God is concerned about your physical
needs…
c. I wonder about this unnamed boy who came to
hear Jesus.
d. I can imagine his mom getting him
ready for his day… here I have made your lunch…
e. I can imagine this boy coming home…
f. What happened to this “Unnamed Hero”
II.
Woman at the
Well
John 4:6 – 39 6
… It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water,
Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a
drink?" 8 (His
disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9
The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan
woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with
Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered
her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it
is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given
you living water." 11
"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the
well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob,
who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his
livestock?" 13 Jesus
answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will
be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never
thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water
welling up to eternal life." 15
The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get
thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." 16 He told her, "Go,
call your husband and come back." 17
"I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband.
18 The
fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your
husband. What you have just said is quite true." 19 "Sir," the woman said, "I
can see that you are a prophet. 20
Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place
where we must worship is in Jerusalem." 21
"Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship
the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You
Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for
salvation is from the Jews. 23
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the
kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in
the Spirit and in truth." 25
The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is
coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." 26 Then Jesus declared, "I, the one speaking to you—I am he." 27
Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a
woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you
talking with her?" 28 Then,
leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,
29 "Come, see a man who
told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?"
a. God’s complete Knowledge
b. God knows You … intimately
c. God’s Forgives you completely.
d. I wonder what happened to this
unnamed Hero?
III.
Woman with
the Issue of Blood
Matthew
9:18-23 While he was
saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, "My
daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will
live." 19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his
disciples. 20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding
for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.
21 She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be
healed." 22 Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart,
daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman
was healed at that moment.
a. Jesus’ concern about people
b. Jesus healing Power
c. I imagine she became a useful part of her
community.
d. I wonder how the rest of her life
played out?
IV.
The Prodigal
Son
Luke
15:11-24 Jesus continued:
"There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to
his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his
property between them. 13 "Not long after that, the younger
son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered
his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there
was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country,
who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his
stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my
father's hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!
18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father,
I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer
worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.'
20 So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was
still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for
him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven
and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22
"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put
it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23
Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate.
24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
a. The Father’s Love
b. The Father’s Forgiveness
V.
Present Day
Heroes
Jeremiah 9:23-24 This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise boast of their
wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches,
24 but let the one who boasts
boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the
LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these
I delight," declares the LORD.
a. Ms. Fay
b. 68 years a member of Bethany Baptist
Church
c. Nursery worker.
d. Her DNA is replicated as children in her care
… grow up and have children under her care… who have raised children under her
care.
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