An Introduction
Faithfulness is an essential part of the life of a Christian. Faith is what brings salvation (Eph. 2:8). Christians today have to act through faith, because God has not appeared in an earthly human body in 2,000 years. Though there are many pointers to God’s presence, being Christian ultimately comes down to believing that they are not anomalies but are actually revealing God.
Read Hebrews 11
Notes
If you are unfamiliar with the people mentioned in this chapter, you can look at these passages:
- Abel and Cain – Genesis 4:1-9
- Enoch – Genesis 5:18-24 (note the difference between “died” and “taken away”)
- Noah – Genesis 6:13-16, 22
- Abraham – Genesis 12:1-4
- Isaac – Genesis 22:9-12; Gen. 27:27-29, 39-40
- Jacob – Genesis 48:20
- Sarah – Genesis 18:10-12; Gen. 21:2
- Joseph – Genesis 50:24-25
- Moses – Exodus 2:1-3 (read Moses’ early history in Exodus 1-14)
- Rahab – Joshua 2:4-6
- Gideon – Judges 6
- Barak – Judges 4
- Samson – Judges 13-16
- Jephthah – Judges 11
- David – 1 Samuel 17
- Samuel – 1 Samuel 3
Exploring the Passage
1) What is faith, according to this passage? How is it shown?
2) Reread verse 13. How does it make you feel to know these people were all considered strong in faith, but never saw what they were promised? Does it seem counter to what should happen?
3) What were the results of faith? Were they always good?
4) How does being faithful mean you have the Spirit of God?
Charting the Course
1) Looking at this passage, do you relate to any of the people mentioned? Why or why not?
2) What do you put your faith in? What does that look like? What results do you see from it?
