Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Your Story
Talk about something you did that required a leap of faith. Perhaps it was moving to a new place or quitting your job. Talk to your family about how you knew that was what God wanted you to do.
My Story and the Bible Story
As Christians, we believe in what we cannot see. We cannot see God, but we know He is there. But believing in God and becoming a Christian makes a take a leap of faith; because we cannot see God but we believe anyway. We have faith in a lot of things. We have faith that our cars will work when we turn them on and that the lights will come on when we flip the switch.. We believe these things and although we can’t see how our cars work and how our lights work, we know that they are true. It’s the same with God. Someone asked me why I believed in God and I told them it’s because when I look at the leaves changing in the Fall, I know that someone had to create that. There’s no way that’s an accident. So I have faith in my Creator. And I know that faith doesn’t mean that i will always get my way and that everything will go exactly right. But faith does mean that we can trust God. We can trust that God is there and His promises are true. We know that the promises God makes are true because we find that in the Bible.
Read Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16. From the NIV: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible…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. 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. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barred—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 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. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 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.
Hebrews 11 is often called the Faith Hall of Fame. And it’s because the writer of Hebrews talks about many important people in the Old Testament who had faith in God. And even though they didn’t always see God’s promises come true while they were alive, they knew that God could be trusted. They could put their faith in God because God’s promises were true. God promised Abraham that he would have as many descendants as there were stars in the sky. And when God made that promise, Abraham and Sarah didn’t even have a child! But they trusted God to keep God’s promise, and God did. Even when they couldn’t see what God was doing, they trusted God to keep God’s promises.
God makes promises to us too. There are times when we have to walk by faith, because we can’t see what God is doing. Sometimes that means that God wants you to move to a new town where you don’t know anyone. And you have to trust that God will be there with you and will help you. Sometimes that means that God tells you to do something that seems to hard. Then you have to trust that God will be there with you and will help you do what God wants you to do. We can put our faith in God because God always keeps God’s promises. Trust in God and follow God. Live by faith, and see what God can do!
Discussion and Prayer
- Talk about times when you and your family have trusted in God’s promises. What were they and how did it work out?
- Ask your children if there have been times when they have had to trust God. How did they trust God to help them?
- Talk about things we put our faith in and how earthly things will always let us down (sometimes the power doesn’t work, the car runs out of gas, etc.), but how we can always put our faith in God because He’ll never let us down.
Pray, thanking God that we can trust God and asking for help in taking a leap of faith.
Jessica Asbell is currently serving as the Minister to Children at First Baptist Church of Roswell, GA. She has worked with children in various capacities at several churches, including Winter Park Baptist in Wilmington, NC, First Baptist of Decatur, GA, and Highland Hills Baptist in Macon, GA. She has a Master of Divinity from McAfee School of Theology and a BBA from Mercer University. In her spare time she loves to read, watch movies, and of course spend time with her sweet kitty, Lucy.
