Photo by Chris Briggs on Unsplash

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Faith,

One of the things I like about baseball, is how it uses statistics to determine who’s the best. The very best make it into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY. Those enshrined are called “baseball immortals” …Clemente, Jackie, Frank, and Brooks Robinson, The Babe and Hammerin’ Hank, the Splendid Splinter and Joltin’ Joe, and Satchel Paige. But, in the end, the “immortality” exists in lifeless bronze busts with some words celebrating the person’s achievements. True immortality … eternal life … doesn’t exist in any earthly Hall of Fame.

However, there’s one Hall of Fame where true immortality does exist. In Hebrews 11 God’s Word immortalizes those who lived lives of exemplary faith in the one true God … the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob … the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The writer of Hebrews lists out some of those who, by faith, “received their commendation” (Hebrews 11:2) from God, who rewarded them with admission into the “Hall of Faith.”

“Faith” is defined here as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) This means that one must believe based on a promise alone … there is no proof, no concrete evidence, no scientific explanation behind the promise. The only thing supporting the promise is … the Word of the one, true God. Noah didn’t build the Ark because God showed him a 40-day forecast of any kind … he did it because he took God at His Word. He trusted God and did what God told him to do … as crazy as it seemed. Abraham didn’t pack up the family fortune in livestock and move thousands of miles to Canaan in his 70s because God showed him pictures of this beautiful land … he did it because he took God at His Word. He trusted God. And the “Hall of Faith” goes on … from Abel to David, Samuel and the prophets. These people of faith are enshrined in the “Hall of Faith.” But their enshrinement isn’t based on what they did … it’s based on what God did. They simply believed Him.

God sent Jesus … fully God, fully man … into the world to live like everyone noted above, except for sin. Jesus the perfectly sinless God-Man was God’s answer to the promise He made to all dating back to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15). Because Jesus lived perfectly, died on the cross, and then rose from the dead three days later, the effects of sin, death, and the devil have been destroyed. And all who live by faith, will be enshrined in the “Hall of Faith” … the eternal kingdom of heaven. You and I, baptized children of our Father believe … our faith in the work of His only Son is our ticket into the “Hall of Faith.” There, we won’t see lifeless bronze statues commemorating the faithful … we’ll actually join with and see men and women from across the ages living exactly as our Father, the creator of all things, intended. Rejoice in God’s promises to you … men and women of faith … you’re in the ultimate “Hall of Fame” the “Hall of Faith” … the kingdom of heaven.

                                                                        In Faith,

                                                                        Pastor Jim