SPEAKER_02 0:00

So many people lose faith or fall out when, well, I I did the right steps. I sure I followed the formula. Right. I prayed in Jesus' name. I believed. And you truly did. And you were believing. He didn't do what I thought he should do when I thought he should do it, the way I thought it should be done. That does not mean that he is not faithful. Welcome to Beyond Sunday. Let's dig a little bit deeper into the theology and scriptures from the weekend so you can become a more fully devoted follower of Jesus. Well, we had a guest speaker this weekend, Cody Adams, but he's not new to Calvary. You remember Cody?

SPEAKER_01 0:38

I do. Cody and my kids went to school together. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, they went to Plainfield North together. So yeah, I got to watch Cody grow up. We were friends with his parents as well, too.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

So yeah, he mentioned what a full circle moment this was for coming back to preach here. He's great. Staff at several great churches. And he uh advanced this series we're doing right now on faith. And we began to talk a little bit more, and he brought attention to the the centurion, the non-Jewish person that came and really astonished Jesus. His he said that he was amazed at this faith. Um just a couple of times Jesus was amazed. Uh the uh the woman who touched the hem of his garment and this centurion. Uh people who had a faith that just expressed itself in complete confidence in who Jesus was and what he could do. Right. And it showed in how they acted and how they interacted with Jesus. Yeah. I thought that was really interesting. What are what are some thoughts, Amber, uh, on how faith uh transforms our actions and our interactions, especially with with God.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Yeah, you know what? I was thinking on those two examples of the woman uh with the issue of blood. And that was the only time that Jesus said daughter because he was restoring her. I always thought that that's beautiful, being a woman and hearing Jesus say daughter. Um, but I think if you look at both of those circumstances, they were at their lowest of lows. They were desperate for, and we think um all of us have been in those desperate times of needing to see a move of God. Um, you know, I think we, you know, about the dark night of the soul. I talk about those times when um at St. John of the Cross talks about that dark night of the soul when um you're you need a healing touch, you need that. Um, but that dark night that we try so hard to get away from is where God's light shines the brightest. Yeah. So um I think of them being in that dark night and but knowing and believing that God is going to come through. Um, if you look at the hem of her garment, that was just a little piece of thread. Yeah, she just wanted to touch that. Yeah, but an electric bolt went through Jesus. Jesus felt that in the crowd. I just think that's so amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Yeah. To think that anything, you know, amazed Jesus is is amazing in itself.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 3:18

But you know, those uh circumstances and Pastor Cody this weekend brought out uh, you know, the desperation of this man that a centurion would come to a Jewish rabbi, right, you know, in the first place. Everything that he put on the line to do that showed his value of uh, you know, of the one that he he was asking to be healed. But then Jesus responding to his faith, and basically his faith was just say the word. Don't come to my house. Don't, you know, I don't, I don't need any big uh experience. Yeah, I don't need I don't need to see, you know, some you know lightning. You say the word, I understand authority. Yeah, when you speak, it's done. So would you speak it? Yeah, because if you will, I have total confidence that it'll be done.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

But don't you think it's interesting that um someone that wasn't Jewish believed that Jesus was who he said he was even more than his followers? Yeah, and uh, that's what I think amazed Jesus about that.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

Yeah, and we see even his own dearest and closest disciples occasionally wondering, yeah, John the Baptist said word, you know, are you really the one? Like if I'm about to, you know, die here.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Are you who I believe you are? And you know, Peter has those moments, they they all have those moments. Uh you know, we we don't see all of the centurions' moments, of course. So it's a snippet of his life presented, you know, intentionally to help us understand something about faith, something about who Jesus is, and something about what the miracles that he performed meant uh for humanity, uh, the Jewish people as well as the Gentiles. Right. So a very a very intentional story that's included here in in Matthew chapter eight. But when we talked about faith, we he kind of re-entered this conversation that over the last couple of years I've seen from Pastor Willie George, Pastor Marty. Uh, we've been getting this idea that faith isn't it isn't leaps of faith. It's not blind faith. It's not, it's not the Harrison Ford, right, you know, jump into the chasm and just trust that there's something there. Um, it's it's not, you know, taking these huge risks for God, hoping He'll bless it. And but it's more taking steps in alignment with His Word and His direction.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Steps of obedience. Yeah, steps of obedience. Just like Abraham did by um by taking the step of of leaving everything he knew. It was that one step. But we were we talk about that in in following Jesus. We um that's the best way to know that you've heard the word that you heard God, the Holy Spirit speak inside of you is when you do it and it was the right thing to do. Then you know, like, okay, then you can do the next step, and then the next step.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

And that's for those that don't know what following Jesus is before watching. Yeah, what's what that is?

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Okay, following Jesus is part of our discipleship pathway. Um, when you get saved and you do the following Jesus class, it's four weeks, and that's the pathway to baptism.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Okay. Pathway to baptism, a grounding in some of the basic, you know, Christian beliefs, because frankly, what it means to be Christian means different things to a lot of different people.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Oh, sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

So we want to help establish that from a biblical doctrinal perspective of what it means to truly follow Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Just like getting baptized, that means some things different to some people.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Absolutely. So following Jesus, if you haven't been part of that, that's a that's a great next step for you. If you haven't been baptized, that's a great next step, yeah. First of all, accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. We start there.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

But then once you're in this life and this journey with him, continue to follow. Yeah. Continue to take those steps. When he has spoken, we go. Right. You know, and we don't question. Uh, it's interesting because in our liturgical service, the the reading for this week was in Genesis on Abraham's servant who uh, you know, went to get a wife for Isaac. And Abraham is confident. Abraham is now, you know, 140 years old. Isaac, Isaac is, you know, 40 years old. And he uh he still doesn't have a wife, which means, you know, Abraham who trusted God to lead him, right? When he said, get out to the land, I will show you, and then God did. He went and God did. When God said, you know, the sacrifice, well, first of all, I will give you a son, and he did, even though he and Sarah were old. Then he says, Sacrifice your son, and he says, I will, because I believe you can raise him from the dead, and God instead provides uh a mountain sheep, right, you know, in in the thicket there for the sacrifice. Uh, and all of these things, God showed himself faithful. He spoke, Abraham acted, God showed himself faithful and provided. Uh, you could say the same too when he led Lot out of Sodom at Abraham's request. Right. If I can only find 50, if I can only find 10. And so, you know, we're reading the story now that that Abraham is he's 140 years old, but he still has no grandkids. I will make you a father of many nations. Yeah. And he's got one kid, you know. Well, he's got two, he's got Ishmael as well. But the the idea being, uh, Abraham still trusts it. We don't see any anxiety in him in the waiting.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

No.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

He is fully confident God's gonna do what he says he will do.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

And so when his servant comes and his servant asks, What if? What if she doesn't come with me? He says, God is going to send his angel.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:57

And then he says, kind of like the three Hebrew children who said, Well, you know, uh, our God can deliver us, he will deliver us. And if he doesn't, we're still gonna do right, right? We're still gonna honor him. Uh, and Abraham says to his servant this a similar thing that God is going to do this, and here's how he's going to do it. But if he doesn't, you're released. If God doesn't come through, there's nothing on you. I believe God's gonna do what he said he will do.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Yeah, to have that kind of faith, right? To know that you know that's gonna right. And that's the whole part about faith. You know, it's not, it's believing that God's character is who he said he is.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

So it's not blind faith because it's built on the demonstration of God's faithfulness, it's built on who, on the word of God, it's built on the person of Christ, it's it's built on great evidence that God is who he said he is.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

And we can trust this God.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

Well, I um one more example about that is David and um Goliath. Yeah. When he it it he grabbed the five stones, and there is thought that he was gonna use the four other, it wasn't random. The four other stones were for Goliath's brothers if need be. But I thought that kind of faith, I just need one. I need give me one shot because he knew God was with him there.

SPEAKER_02 10:23

Yeah. My my God will deliver you into my hands. Yeah, you know, he's he goes out there totally confident when the entire army is, you know, concerned. He knows who God is, he knows what knows what God will do, and he's willing to take steps and put himself on the line. So it's not, it wasn't a blind faith of his. No, he says the the the same God who did, you know, delivered me from the lion and the bear.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Right.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

It wasn't blind faith, right? It was faith on evidence. But then it enabled him to take what we would consider a very courageous, you know, some would say risky step. But is there really risk when you're putting your hands or yourself in the hands of the God who's proven himself faithful?

SPEAKER_01 11:05

That's beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Is that an actual risk? Yeah. Or is the real risk to say, I'm not sure. I think I better put this in my hands.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Right. That's a dangerous risk.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

Between the two of us, who's more reliable?

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Me or God? I'm gonna go with God.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

Yeah, let's let's go with that one. So the centurion just says, say the word, and Jesus says, go. Yeah, it's done. You know, what you've asked is done. Yeah, and so there is always a going, there's no faith, absent faithfulness. We talk about this all the time on this podcast that faith acts, faith works, you don't separate the two. There's there's no believing that doesn't affect our behaving.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Right.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

And we demonstrate our faith through our action. In fact, I think one of the verses I really enjoy is the one that says, always be ready to give an answer to the one who asks the reason for your hope. Well, why would anyone ask the reason for my hope? They have to see me hopeful in a hopeless situation. They've got to know the situation doesn't have hope and still see me acting as if God is who he says he is, as if God will do what he says he will do. And that living out confidence, no without anxiety, we we don't worry, we don't fear, we cast all our cares on him because he cares for us. He's not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of controlled thoughts. Sorry, yeah, dip into anxiety and worry and you know, and all the crazy what-ifs out there. Uh, but instead we are confident that the God who's leading our lives is faithful.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

And uh, that confidence of um believing that the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of us. So that that's the um thing that that I've been going through this year is okay, why are we not healing when we're laying hands on? Do are we really believing that that same spirit lives inside of us and raises that raised Jesus from the dead?

SPEAKER_02 13:19

So this brings us to a really important conversation.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 13:23

We pray in faith, but the outcomes are not up to us.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

So I think sometimes that's a real difficulty for believers because this is where you know some people would call it blind faith. Uh, and and where we say, Yeah, but I'm not seeing it. And Cody mentioned this too, that can we really trust our own senses? I mean, I love uh I love illusion, I love uh magic. Yeah, right. Some of the some of the greats out there have been fun to watch through the years. And one of the things you find out is your eyes are one of the easiest things to trick. Just because you think you saw something doesn't mean that's what you saw. That's right. And there may have been something you didn't see. And so to totally trust it, well, if I can see it, I'll believe it. Man, that's trusting one of the most unreliable sources there is on the planet, uh, is to trust yourself in your own perception. But here we have the ability to trust God, trust his word, trust his track record, and do what he says and continue doing it. Abraham is 140 years old with no grandkid. He's still confident. Uh to do and to continue doing, even when we're not seeing God do what we think he should do when we think he should do it.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Right. To have that trust in him that no matter what the outcome does not change who he is.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

Yeah. And some some healing is not going to be realized this side of eternity.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

That's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:59

But there is healing.

unknown 15:00

Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

And um, our daughter has a muscular dystrophy. That's what she is healed. Whether I see it manifested today on earth or in heaven, she's healed. Yes. But it just might not be with my eyes to see it here on earth. But it doesn't change the fact that God's healed her.

SPEAKER_02 15:19

So many people lose faith or fall out when, well, I I did the right steps. I sure I followed the formula. Right. I prayed in Jesus' name. I believed, and you truly did. And you were believing. He didn't do what I thought he should do when I thought he should do it, the way I thought it should be done. That does not mean that he is not faithful. He has proven himself. All it means is we had an expectation that didn't align with his omniscient under plan, his all-knowing plan, his all-powerful ability to guide and lead and direct our lives, and to do so in the way that's the best, that he really is good, because we think we're good. Scripture teaches us there's none good but God. And so that you know, all of sin falls short. Uh you know, there is none righteous. God alone is good. And so when I really grasp that he is, and that he is good, and he will reward those that seek him, then I can take steps of faith and keep stepping no matter what's going on around me.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

Right. Yeah. And I think about that with um, we have to trust and believe that he's doing what's best for all parties involved. We can only see our own perception of what's good for us. But God sees what's good for all of his children. You know, just like I when raising a family, and you know that having more than one child, you're gonna do what's best for all your kids.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

And but you're the one child says, but that doesn't work for me. Well, that works for our family. And that's I think that's the way God does it too. This is what works for for everyone because I love you all.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

He has not only a family of God perspective, he has an all-creation perspective. He has a plan and a purpose, and his will is working for our good.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

Right. Whether we see it or not.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Whether we see it or not. Amber, thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Oh, thank you, Pastor Sean.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

I enjoyed it guys for being with us. We pray it's a blessing as you take the message beyond Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

Hey, thanks so much for joining us today. We do this to help you grow in your faith journey. And if you ever have any questions, see the link below, fill out the QR code, and we'll get back to you soon. And if you like this content and want to see more, feel free to follow, like, and share. But most of all, we want to encourage you to take the word of God and apply it to your week beyond Sunday. We can't wait to see you back soon.