WEBVTT 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:08.480 This podcast is presented to you by Pastor Jason and Liz Burns in Access Church in Lakeland and Bartow, Florida. 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:11.519 For more information, visit Access.tv. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:14.160 My boys are really special to me. 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:16.320 Bentley is 14, about to be 15. 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:18.559 Kingston just turned 11 yesterday. 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:19.839 His birthday was yesterday. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:20.879 We did all the fun stuff. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:22.239 He did an escape room. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:28.160 He got his first cell phone, and we have a lot of parameters on there, a lot of boundaries, no judgment from the parents today. 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:32.320 The kids are busy with sports, and we need to know they're not getting lost or shot or kidnapped. 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:35.759 And so we've got him a phone with all of the parameters, had a great day. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:41.280 But I was reminded of this game we used to play when they were growing up, and we played it all the time. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:46.000 If you've had kids, you've probably played this game, and it's a game called Would You Rather? 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:48.320 Anybody play with your kids, Would You Rather? 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:49.840 Come on, some of you still play it today. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:56.719 It's a fun game, and the precipice of this game is that you ask a question that has a tough answer to it. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:57.840 Like, like, what are you gonna do? 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:07.599 Like, would you rather go through your life with no AC or no internet or or or TV? 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:10.239 Come on, how many would rather have AC in Florida? 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:11.359 I think I'd rather have AC. 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:14.239 I can figure out some different forms of entertainment. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:20.640 Would you rather go through your life yelling all the time or whispering all the time? 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:24.400 I think whispering, I think yelling's a little a little loud. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:33.840 Would you rather have to start every conversation with, hey stupid, or end every conversation with, ha ha ha. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:35.439 Just kidding. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:37.280 That's a tough one. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:39.840 That really is a tough one. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.159 Would you rather walk through your life with no knees or no elbows? 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:46.159 Think about that for a second. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:49.760 Like you're just no hugs, nothing going on. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:55.760 Would you rather walk through your life always sweaty or always out of breath? 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:58.159 It's a tough one. 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:03.439 I have a spiritual would you rather question for you today. 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:14.960 And it's would you rather have a genuine, authentic faith that is not just for the good times, but it's for the tough times. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:23.680 Would you want to have a faith that not just saves you when you receive the grace of God, but sustains you through every season of your life? 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:32.639 I want to suggest today at all locations that that faith cannot be an outcome-based faith, but it has to be an outlook-based faith. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:45.439 This idea that we are in control, that we only serve God, we only trust God, we only glorify God when we get what we think we deserve or what we think that we want. 00:02:46.400 --> 00:03:01.599 And I know in seasons of my life, at the size of this room at these locations, there's times, even as Christians, we've settled for a faith that may not sustain us through the toughest days because it was based on the wrong thing. 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:06.080 Not on God, not on his faithfulness, not on our outlook, but on outcome. 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:07.680 Let's learn about faith today. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:17.120 I'm going to read several verses, most of Hebrews 11, and uh and I want to talk about this idea of a real faith. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:18.560 Starting in verse one. 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:24.319 This faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:28.960 It gives us assurance about the things that we cannot see. 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:34.960 Through their faith, the people in the days of old earned a good reputation. 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:39.840 By faith, we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.159 That what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:48.719 It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:51.759 Abel's offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:53.919 And God showed his approval of his gifts. 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:58.960 Although Abel was long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith. 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:02.159 It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:04.080 He disappeared because God took him. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:07.599 For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:09.039 Look at verse 6, church. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:13.520 And it is impossible to please God without faith. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:19.759 Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:23.279 Let's jump around through these verses talking about faith today. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:24.240 Everybody say faith. 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:25.279 Faith. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:30.399 It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:34.399 He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:36.480 God is going to do things in your life. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:38.079 He's going to do things in your family. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:45.199 He's going to ask you to do things that you've never seen, thought, or even imagined, things that Noah could never have perceived. 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:50.879 By his faith, Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:57.600 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as an inheritance. 00:04:57.759 --> 00:04:59.759 He went without knowing where he was going. 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:06.399 So many times God's going to call us into new things and new ideas and new seasons, and he's not going to give us all the details. 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:17.199 If God gave you all the details of every step of your life, if he told you where you were going to go and how you were going to get there and what was going to happen, it wouldn't require faith. 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:18.800 He's going to call us places. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:25.120 Verse 11, it was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:26.720 Let's drop down to verse 17. 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:30.560 It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:31.360 Verse 20. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:37.600 It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings to the future sons of Jacob and Esau. 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:45.199 It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and bowed and worshiped as he leaned on his staff. 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:51.199 It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:56.800 It was by faith that Moses' parents hid him for three months when he was born, verse 24. 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:01.759 It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:07.759 He chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:08.720 Verse 29. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:13.920 It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:16.399 But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they all drowned. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:22.480 It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days and the walls came crashing down. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:31.360 It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God, for she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:32.399 Verse 32. 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:34.639 How much more do I need to say? 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:37.759 And for some of you, that's the most scripture you've ever read in your whole life. 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:40.399 Welcome to Acts Church today. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:42.480 You're like, that's like 33 verses. 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:45.439 And it's impressive because I'm from Birmingham, Alabama, and we're not smart. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:46.319 That was good reading. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:47.439 I'm very proud of myself. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:49.759 The most nervous I am is reading in front of people. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:54.160 We are 48th on every education list, thank God, for Mississippi and Louisiana. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:06:58.639 If you're from there, you know it's true. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:02.639 You got great food, but not a lot of thinkers, you know. 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:04.399 How much more do I need to say? 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:05.920 Come back, come back, come back, come back. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:07.439 How much more do I need to say? 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:15.519 It would take too long to recount the stories of faith of Gideon, Barack, and Samson, and Japheth and David and Samuel and all the prophets by fate. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:16.160 Look at this. 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:21.439 These people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received all that God had promised them. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:26.079 They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, escaped death by the edge of the sword. 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:27.920 Their weakness was turned to strength. 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:31.279 They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:35.120 Women received their loved ones back again from death. 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:38.319 That is the type of faith that I grew up believing. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:44.720 That is the type of faith that I grew up knowing God could do whatever he wanted to do whenever he wanted to do it. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:50.959 I need you to know today, here in North Lakeland at Bartow Online, that your God is bigger than any of your problems. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:52.319 Your God can do whatever. 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:54.879 The big things to you are still small to God. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:57.439 That He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:04.480 There is breakthrough, there is freedom, there is healing, there is restoration in the name of Jesus. 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:14.959 And sometimes the process doesn't look like we think it should. 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:26.800 I would love to just preach the first 34 verses of Hebrews 11, but the chapter doesn't stop there, and I want to suggest to you today that too many of our faith journeys stop at verse 34. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:37.600 And that's why in a Western culture and a Western mindset we lose faith when tough things happen because we don't have a full view of what a genuine faith is. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:39.840 Let's keep reading together. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:46.240 Let's make that exchange today from an outcome-based faith to an outlook-based faith. 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:48.080 Look at this. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:58.639 They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:02.799 Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:04.960 Others were chained in prisons. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.080 Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:10.240 And others were killed with a sword. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:14.960 Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:17.120 They were too good for this world. 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:22.399 Wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:24.320 Look at verse 39. 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:27.360 And remember what we read in verse 2? 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:29.120 It's the exact same statement. 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:38.559 All of these people, talking about two totally different groups of people, earned a good reputation because of their faith. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:43.759 Yet none of them received all that God had promised, for God had something better in mind for us. 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:47.679 So we would not reach perfection without us. 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:54.080 They earned a good reputation, and I grew up thinking our reputation was based on performance. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:15.919 I grew up thinking my faith was in the results, that if I prayed long enough, and if I fasted long enough, and if I said the right words and I did the right things and I read my Bible and I stayed pure and I made all the right decisions, that A plus B would equal C, that if I do this, then I'm gonna have a great marriage, and I do this, then I'm gonna have great kids, and if I do this, I'm gonna be very successful. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:18.320 The problem is faith is not a formula. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:22.879 In the kingdom of God, A plus B doesn't always equal C. 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:23.120 Why? 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:24.559 Because you and I are not God. 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:30.799 So why would we settle for a faith that's based on the outcomes when we have no control over it? 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:38.240 God, God wants our outlook, and we've got to give God control of the outcome. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:45.279 That my faith is not based off if the sea parts, my faith is based that God can part it. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:52.879 That my faith is not based on the breakthrough, my faith is based on the God that will lead me and guide me. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:57.519 He will never leave me or forsake me, and he will never take me through anything that he's not gonna walk me through. 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:01.440 He may be walking you through a Red Sea or He may be walking you through what David wrote about. 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:04.240 He may be walking with you through the valley of the shadow of death. 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:07.440 I don't care where I'm walking as long as God is with me. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:11.279 We cannot settle for an outcome-based faith. 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:13.279 If you're taking notes, write this down. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:17.919 We want outcomes, but God is more concerned with our outlook. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:23.600 You control your outlook and allow God to control the outcome. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:28.639 An outcome-based faith is a counterfeit, it's a it's a less than, it produces some things. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:29.519 Write this down. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:30.639 Outcome faith. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:33.440 Outcome faith produces disappointment. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:35.279 Disappointment. 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:38.080 You ever prayed for something and it looked different? 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:41.039 If your faith was based on the outcome, you're disappointed. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:42.720 I thought God was gonna do this. 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:47.039 I thought he was gonna show up this way, I thought he was gonna answer quicker. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:48.639 It could be disappointing. 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:49.840 Look at this next one. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.240 Outcome faith produces arrogance. 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:56.639 I know y'all don't have any super spiritual people here at Access Church. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:59.679 They're all in Orlando with me at Action Church. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:02.240 But you ever had a spiritually gifted person? 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:04.399 Come on, you know this, you know, the super Christian. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:09.120 Come on, they're they're in everything, every small group, every prayer meeting, and they've got special gifts. 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:09.679 You know what I mean? 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:11.120 They're there, they're really, really special. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:13.279 If we're not careful, we'll fall into this. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:25.600 Because we think when we pray for somebody and we see a marriage restored, or we see somebody healed, or we see somebody set free from anxiety or depression, we begin, because the outcome is what we expected, we get puffed up and say, look at what I would look at what I did. 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:30.960 Because our faith is not in the faithfulness of God is in the outcome that we're believing for. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:33.120 Outcome faith produces disappointment, arrogance. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:34.720 Look at this last one, envy. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:42.960 This is what it looks like when somebody in your small group, in your life group, on your team gets what you've been praying for. 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:45.039 You're praying for a spouse and they get a spouse. 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:48.960 You're praying for a child and they get a child, you're praying for a new job and they get a new job. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:52.720 If our faith is based on the outcome, we say, God, why them and not us? 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:57.679 Our focus is on the wrong thing. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:08.960 Too many Christians have an iffy faith that we put this line in if God does this, then I will do that. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:13.440 Come on, if God blesses me with that relationship, then I'll be pure. 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.000 If God blesses me with that job, then I'll be generous. 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:20.799 If God blesses me with those kids, then I'll raise my family consistently in church. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:22.000 We have an iffy faith. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:24.240 If God does this, then I will. 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:26.320 We also settle for this. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.200 If I do this, then God has to. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:41.440 In church, that may be a more dangerous theology that you and I think that we can dictate God by our prayers, by our fasting, by anything that we say. 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:45.039 It's a counterfeit, it's a less than type of faith. 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:46.960 Too many of us got that iffy faith. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:48.159 We have a what-if faith. 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:49.919 Like, what if this happens? 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:51.919 We operate in fear or anxiety. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:55.519 That's the very area that we're not giving God control of. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:14:01.759 And I want to suggest this morning that we exchange a what-if faith for an even-if type faith. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:12.960 That a genuine faith is knowing that God can do anything he wants to do anytime he wants to do it, but he doesn't have to just because I said he did or I did the right thing. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:17.440 So it reminds me, if we're familiar with the Old Testament, Daniel chapter 3. 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:19.039 And isn't it funny as preachers? 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:29.360 I don't know how Paul comes through here, and Pastor Jason probably doesn't do this because he's way better than me, but all the time I say things like, you know, you know, we're reading in uh you all know like Proverbs 11, and you're like, no, I don't know Proverbs 11. 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:30.320 Anybody ever felt that before? 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:37.120 I have preachers come in, like, you know, Isaiah 52, like I know Isaiah 53, but can you catch me up in a refresher of Isaiah 52, Pastor? 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:38.960 Daniel 3, here's what's going on. 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:49.279 Uh, the the the some young men of God have been a new area, and King Nebuchadnezzar is in charge, and he has begun to build this monument, this statue that when the music plays, they have to bow down to. 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:53.039 And as young Hebrew boys, they had a problem because they knew the Ten Commandments, they knew the law. 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:55.840 You should have no other God before our one true God. 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:57.279 You cannot bow down to an idol. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:58.799 So when that happened, they refused to bow. 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:04.720 Well, somebody told on them, they got caught, they're before Nebuchadnezzar, and he says, if you don't bow to this, I'm going to kill you. 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:13.759 And the instrument of death would have been a fiery furnace, and they were killing people with this way, and he was so mad at their response, their refusal, that he says, turn it up seven times hotter. 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:19.440 If you know the story, even the guards that led them to the fiery furnace were burned on the way in. 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:39.360 We know the story is that they are saved, they are set free, that there's a fourth man in the fire, there's a the Lord is with them and saves them, but their response in Daniel 3, before they walk through the fire, is the response that I believe is the test if you're operating with a genuine, outlook-based faith, a faith that can sustain you. 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:42.559 Here's what they said: King Nebuchadnezzar. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:50.720 Put this in your own life today that whatever the enemy is attacking you with, whatever the struggle is, whatever's coming against you, you look at it, you say just what they did. 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:54.240 They said, King Nebuchadnezzar, our God is able. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:57.759 And you need to remind your soul of that every single day. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:15:59.840 You need to remind your situation of that every single day. 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:02.559 They say, our God is able to deliver us. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:08.080 And I need for somebody to hear today, our God is able to restore that broken relationship. 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:13.440 Our God is able to bring you through recovery from addiction or depression or anxiety. 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:19.759 Our God is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask, think, or even imagine. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:24.399 And our faith is not tied to a situation, our faith is tied to the faithfulness of God. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:31.039 You need to hear today that our God can, and he can deliver, and he can restore, and he can lead you through. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:39.440 But what they say in Daniel 3, and here's the exchange, here's the maturity that we need to walk through tragedy and trial and grief and sorrow, they say he can. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:44.240 But even if he doesn't, we will not bow. 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:46.080 We will not change. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:56.240 We will walk through this fire because we know that our God can, and if this is his will, I'm willing to walk through anywhere he is leading me. 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:02.320 I will not bow to fear, I will not bow to anxiety, I will not bow to sin and to temptation. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:05.839 It's a faith that sustains us. 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:10.960 Not an outcome-based faith, but an outlook-based faith. 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:16.160 I found in my own life that oftentimes it takes more faith to endure than to escape. 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:19.279 And that our faith is built in the fire. 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:26.400 James 1, dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider an opportunity for great joy. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:30.400 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:31.680 So let it grow. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:38.160 When your endurance is fully developed, you'll be perfect and complete, needing nothing. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:52.720 If you've ever walked through anything in here today or one of the campuses, you know that when you look back, if you actually trusted God through it, yeah, you doubted, yeah, you struggled, yeah, you made some mistakes. 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:58.079 But you look back and you think, look at all that God did in me and through me. 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:00.400 Look at how more developed and mature. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:07.680 And I'm thankful for the empathy that I have, the compassion I have, the perseverance that I have, the endurance I have. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:10.400 Man, has anybody ever walked through something tough? 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:15.359 You ever walk through something tough and then you look back at what you used to stress out about? 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:27.759 I I remember like 2018, 2019 in my life being stressed out about a lot of things, about some business things and some church things, about the technology, about if the power is gonna hit the building. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:29.359 It would have ruined my six weeks. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:35.680 You know what happened today if we were to action church and the power at the building now that I've walked through some stuff, like some real, real stuff. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:37.680 See you next week. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:42.720 You ever look at people, you're like, I wish I could I could stress out about that. 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:43.359 You know what that is? 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:47.279 That's called spiritual maturity, that's called perseverance, that's called endurance. 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:51.680 I look back and I don't ask, why, God, did you lead me through that? 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:57.680 I say, Thank God you gave me strength and peace and perspective because I'm better on the other side of it. 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:00.079 Maybe God is developing something in you. 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:01.039 Check this out. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:03.599 Outcome-based faith asks, how come? 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:05.279 Why is this happening? 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:08.240 Outlook-based faith asks, what now, God? 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:10.240 What are you trying to do? 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:11.839 Why do you have me here? 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:19.599 See, an outlook faith produces some things, it produces positivity, humility and contentment. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:25.759 Positivity, humility and contentment. 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:27.119 How do we do this real quick? 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:31.119 Let's get practical, get some notes down so we can read through these and apply them this week. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:33.920 I don't want to just inspire you, I want to give you some things to imply. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:37.759 How do we exchange an outcome-based faith for an outlook-based faith? 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:41.119 First one is hearing the word, not the world. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:42.559 Romans 10. 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:47.359 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.960 I want to ask you today, what are you listening to? 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:55.759 Come on, what's the first app you open in the morning? 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:03.680 Pastor Justin, I'm I'm stressed, I'm anxious, I'm nervous about our society and the state of our nation, the state of our world. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:08.960 We all could be at a certain level, but I want to ask you, what are you filtering life through? 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:11.920 Are you filtering it through the word of God first or through culture? 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:19.519 Come on, is the first bit of information we get the truth of the word of God or some version of truth from our favorite media outlet? 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:25.039 Hearing the word, hearing the word, not the world. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:26.720 Look at the second one, write this down. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:29.359 Speaking the word, not my words. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:32.960 Joshua 1.8, keep this book of the law always on your lips. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:36.960 Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:40.079 Then you'll be prosperous and successful. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:41.359 This is important to me. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:54.319 We live in a day and age, and I love this if you're into developing yourself and podcasts and blogs and books, and there's a lot of things about speaking the right things over your life, positive affirmations, and I'm all for that as an ancillary tool. 00:20:54.480 --> 00:21:02.880 But the first thing you need to do is not just speak your word, speak the word of God over your marriage, speak the word of God over your kids, speak the word of God over your situation. 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:09.440 There's powerful things in what we say, but the true power comes from the word of God. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:12.640 It says, do not let this book of law depart from your lips. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:14.000 Meditate on it day and night. 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:15.519 Then you'll be prosperous and successful. 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:16.400 How do we speak the word? 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:17.519 Come on, lean into this. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:18.799 We have to know the word. 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:21.920 When have you ever been in a tough situation? 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:25.200 You're scrambling through the Bible, like I gotta find, I gotta find something. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:27.039 What if we started today? 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:38.559 Diving into God's word, building our foundation, building our filter of how we see the world, our faith journey through not our words, not our perspectives, not our opinions, but through the word of God. 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:43.039 Number three, doing the word, not my ways. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:49.519 James 2 says, so you see, faith by itself isn't enough unless it produces good deeds. 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:52.720 It is dead and useless. 00:21:56.160 --> 00:22:02.720 I've come to realize that oftentimes the The proof of my faith. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:04.880 The example of my faith. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:06.000 The overflow of my faith. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:10.079 How do I live out my faith on the outside proves what God's done on the inside. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:11.920 What does that look like practically? 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:13.440 Obedience. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:16.480 Obedience. 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:23.599 What's a great test of where we put our trust and our faith is when God tells us to do something, do we obey? 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:26.079 Well, Pastor, that doesn't make sense. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:28.960 If God said it, it doesn't have to make sense. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:31.200 Well, Pastor, I don't want to do that. 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:36.160 If God said it, God's God, and you're not. 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:39.680 He's the type of father that's like, hey, do this. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:41.200 And you're like, Dad, I don't like it. 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:43.759 He's like, I don't care. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:46.960 You ever been on a trip and your kids try to tell you what to do? 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:49.680 I got I got little kids there at 14, 11 when they were younger. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:51.039 We'd go somewhere in Kingston. 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:53.119 I'm talking a lot about Kingston America's birthday weekend. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:54.799 He'd be like, Daddy, you went the wrong way. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:57.519 Son, you don't know how to drive. 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:01.119 You're not even tall enough to see out of the window. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:03.519 Yeah, we're going the wrong way. 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:05.920 That's what we look like telling God, I think you're wrong. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:07.200 I think I should do something different. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:10.000 He's like, son, daughter, you can't even see. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:10.960 You've never been here before. 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:11.680 You're an idiot. 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:12.640 Shut up. 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:19.279 Oftentimes our obedience is the example. 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:21.200 It's the production. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:24.880 It's it's what comes out of our life of faith. 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:27.519 Outlook over outcomes. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:29.599 How do we do that practically? 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:32.160 We've got to release control. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:40.079 I think the very thing that we hold on to the most is sometimes the very thing that's that's killing us. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:42.400 I gotta fix this, I gotta get this. 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:46.240 And that's where our stress, and that's where our anxiety, and that's where we get overwhelmed. 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:47.920 I gotta fix it, I gotta go, I gotta go. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:53.759 And we live our life just trying to hold on, straining, gotta push through, gotta push through, gotta survive. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:56.559 And God is saying, Why are you holding on to that? 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:01.200 There's an old analogy, and it's true. 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:13.759 It's the way they capture monkeys in the jungle, and they carve out a little thing out of a coconut just big enough for the monkey to slide his hand through, and they put nuts and berries, something that would be attractive for food. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:20.640 And when the monkey grabs a hold of it full-handed, it cannot get its hand out because what went in open-handed, closed-handed, cannot be out. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:30.400 And with no chains, with no ropes, with no nets, a hunter can go straight up to it and capture it because the monkey will not let go of what it thinks it needs to save itself. 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:38.720 And what I want to suggest to you this morning across all of our locations is this the very thing that you're holding on to control is the very thing that's killing you. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:40.640 I gotta fix my kids. 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:42.640 God loves your kids more than you do. 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:50.319 I gotta, I just gotta try hard to overcome this addiction or this temptation or this depression. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:57.599 I gotta I gotta Jesus says, my yoke is light. 00:24:58.079 --> 00:24:59.920 We're carrying this burden that he died for. 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:07.519 Why did he come and die on the cross to give us power and access to the Holy Spirit for you and I to hang on to control the outcome for the rest of our life? 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:08.799 Let me say it this way. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:14.640 I believe that Jesus' outcome on the cross can change the way you look at everything in your life. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:19.440 How do I release control? 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:21.119 It's real simple. 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.119 You gotta change your perspective. 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:27.519 You gotta change what you're looking at. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:31.279 You focus on what's wrong, you'll always see what's wrong. 00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:36.240 You focus on what you see, that will always be what your faith is attached to. 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:42.480 But my Bible just told me in Hebrews 11 that faith is the substance of things unseen, the things hoped for, things I cannot see. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:43.839 What am I saying to you today? 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:52.400 To change your faith, to exchange an outcome for an outlook-based faith, you have to break that word down, you have to outlook your current outcome. 00:25:52.960 --> 00:26:04.400 I can't focus on what I see in front of me because my outcome may be a cancer diagnosis, my outcome may be a verge of divorce, my outcome may be my kids are crazy and running from God. 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:15.920 My outcome may be addiction, my outcome may be lost, grief, betrayal, abuse, my outcome may be blurry, but my outlook as a Christian can be clear. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:21.039 That my help does not come from things of this world, my help does not come from what I fix or what I control. 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:23.920 My help comes only from the Lord. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:29.519 And Jesus Christ does not live and die and be resurrected for you to hold on to the outcome. 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:33.279 His outcome on the cross changes everything in your life. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:40.079 And when we get that, when we get this hope we read about here in Hebrews 11, that God had something better. 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:53.920 And as Christians, if we can fully in our spirits realize that eternity is better and we can outlook our current outcome, we will live differently through every situation. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:26:56.640 Am I saying it's gonna be fixed tomorrow? 00:26:56.799 --> 00:26:58.160 I don't know, I'm not God. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:00.720 Am I saying it's gonna be restored tomorrow? 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:01.599 I don't know, I'm not God. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:08.000 But what I'm saying is you can walk through it differently if you outlook your outcome and look to the only one that can help. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:11.200 Come on, church. 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:14.079 The truth is if you walk through anything, you know that you're not in control. 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:27.599 So let's give up the myth of it and let's walk through it with power and strength and passion and purpose and peace because we have the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings who's paved the way and the Holy Spirit guiding us through every situation. 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:42.319 Would you rather walk through it alone or walk with it through the only way in which we get through it through the power and the presence of the living God? 00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:44.319 I'll close with this. 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:47.920 Kingston again is my youngest son. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:49.440 He didn't get the game, would you rather? 00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:51.039 Um he wasn't very good at it. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:56.240 The whole point of the game, right, is to give a tough question. 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:00.079 Like it's a legitimate question, would you rather not have AC or TV? 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:01.440 Like that's tough. 00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:03.759 He didn't get it. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:11.440 So we'd had this whole game, and me and Bentley would be going through our examples, and we would be talking about it, dissecting it, the answer. 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:13.519 Well, Kingston's examples would be ridiculous. 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:16.240 He was about four or five and we were playing this game, and he was kind of weird. 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:18.720 He had like this Bostonian, stuttering British accent. 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:22.000 He'd be like, Whoa, what Dad let's play, what would you rather? 00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:23.359 It was that's what he talked like. 00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:24.880 And we're from Alabama and Florida. 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:26.160 Like, I don't know where he got that from. 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:30.000 He saw it somewhere on YouTube or Nickelodeon back in the day. 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:30.480 Would you rather? 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:31.759 Here was his example. 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:41.759 He said, Would you rather eat birthday cake every day with all your friends or walk on hot burning lava coals until you die? 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:51.279 I tried to explain to him, son, that's that's pretty easy, and I don't even like cake. 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:54.640 But death is imminent. 00:28:55.680 --> 00:29:00.400