Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday,
today,
and forever.
So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas.
Your strength comes from God’s grace…

You have not come to a physical mountain,
to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind,
as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai.
No, you have come to Mount Zion,
to the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering.
You have come to Jesus…

Therefore, since we are surrounded
by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith,
let us strip off every weight that slows us down,
especially the sin that so easily trips us up.
And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus…
Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people,
then you won’t become weary and give up.

…people died still believing what God had promised them.
they did not receive what was promised,
but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it.
They agreed that they were
foreigners and nomads here on earth.
Obviously people who say such things are looking forward
to a country they can call their own.
If they had longed for the country they came from,
they could have gone back.
But they were looking for a better place,
a heavenly homeland…

By faith we understand
that the entire universe was formed at God’s command,
that what we now see did not come
from anything that can be seen.
And it is impossible to please God without faith.
Anyone who wants to come to him
must believe that God exists
and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
