| Adult
• 3 Sessions of Learner’s Materials
• 3 Sessions of Teaching Materials
• 2 Handouts
1. Hebrews 11:1-7
2. Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-22
3. Hebrews 11:1-3, 23-28
The book of Hebrews was written to a community of new Christians who were suffering through a great deal of persecution and hatred. The goal of the Hebrews author was to encourage this oppressed people to remain faithful regardless, even in a society that was hostile to what they believed in.
Chapter 11 of our text is a sort of “roll call,” if you will, of the great heroes of the Israelite faith: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and of course, all the prophets. Readers are even told specific details about how all the heroes mentioned carried out their lives “by faith.” Indeed, the word “faith”—in Greek, pistos—appears 25 times in this chapter.
In the three sessions for this unit, we will take a closer look into the lives of three great heroes discussed in Hebrews—those of Abel, Enoch, and Noah—taking into account how each learned to live harmoniously with God. At the same time, we also will walk the paths that Abraham walked, so that we may get a better idea of how he maintained obedient faithfulness throughout his spiritual journey. And finally, we will go with Moses into the wilderness, watching him live in strong faithfulness day in and day out for 40 long years.
The stories of these individuals—these heroes—teach us that living by faith is a process of discovery, a process of finding our own way to live in harmony with God. In addition, we must also recognize that obedient faithfulness comes about as the result of a lifetime of questioning, dialogue, trial and error, and trusting in God. But of course, nurturing a strong faithfulness on an everyday basis is perhaps the greatest contribution we as Christians can make to rest of the world.
by Nancy deClaisse-Walford
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