Does being surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses help or hinder our spiritual walk with Jesus? While certainly the perseverance of Moses to free the children of Israel, Joseph to do what was right in God’s sight despite his dire circumstances, Josiah to purify the land and the temple of Israel, or Paul’s perseverance to run the race to win the crowns of righteousness can spur us on towards becoming more like Jesus; their witness can also be used as an excuse for whom amongst us could ever attain their “superior” attitudes or service? After all, when we examine our own lives only to find misery and pain, are we not right to conclude that their “greatness” and our “weakness” are signs that all we have fallen short of the glory of He who only does good to those who love Him? If we we’re granted a small measure of their “greatness” how would we ever keep such an honor from overwhelming and destroying us with pride? And if God told us the only way to successfully serve in His kingdom was with a debilitating thorn of daily misery and pain would we truly be willing to accept such an offer and if so how could us “weaklings” ever survive? The following sermon is going to answer these questions by redefining spiritual “success” not as a by-product of one’s strength and abilities but the demonstration of God’s might and power to work in and through the weak to accomplish more than they could ever ask or imagine!