WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.000 What a great God we serve. 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:03.279 Amen. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:11.679 We are done with 1 Peter, and for the next four weeks, we're going to be talking about our vision and mission statement. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:24.480 And our vision and mission statement is connecting people to a loving God as we make the name of Jesus famous by our faith, our community, our maturity, and our mission. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:28.640 And that's what we're going to cover for the next four weeks. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:41.359 And what's beautiful about a body of Christ, the family of God, is that as his body, we can operate and activate and energize his spirit together as one body. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:42.079 Amen? 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.039 And that's why life groups are so great. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:53.039 As each life group gets together, they form relationships, they form a new sense of authenticity. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:55.359 There's a new sense of transparency. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:57.920 There's friendships that are being built. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:03.840 There's a sense of accountability with life groups, and it's a wonderful, wonderful thing. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:07.920 So I want to stress to you if you're not in a life group, get in a life group. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:14.480 You'll be amazed by the stories of grace that each of us has. 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:28.480 And it is amazing to see and to hear, fellow believers, fellow church family members, what they've been through and what God has taken them through because of his faithfulness. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:31.840 And we just sung it right now as we worship the Lord. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:34.159 Aren't you glad for the faithfulness of God? 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:34.799 Amen? 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:38.560 That he's never given up on you, he's never left you alone. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:41.040 He's always been with you, leading you. 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:49.200 Even when we don't want him to lead, when we want to go astray, he's there for us and he's there with us to bring us back and to hold us. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:51.760 So these life groups are fantastic. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:02:04.640 What happens is as each life group is built and strengthens, we are able to strengthen others as they come into our body and the church grows, not just in numbers, but in health. 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:05.439 Amen. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:09.599 And aren't you glad that you're healthy today? 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:11.599 There's breath in our lungs. 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:12.960 Amen, Mario? 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:15.199 There's breath in your lungs, amen. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:18.800 Breath in my lungs, and we give praise to God for all that He has. 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:20.479 So I want to stress to you. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:26.000 And we want to thank all the leaders and the host homes that are hosting our life groups. 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:30.639 We want to give you a big thanks and a big shout out because it is wonderful. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:32.159 We thank you for it. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:34.960 So today we're going to talk about faith. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:48.240 Faith is commonly misunderstood because uh most of the time we look at the word faith as it as it relates to a worldly perspective. 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:49.199 Right? 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:57.120 There was that song that uh that artist wrote, You gotta have faith. 00:02:57.919 --> 00:02:59.199 George Michael, right. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:00.879 You gotta have faith. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:04.879 We are not talking about George Michael's faith today, amen. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:13.280 We're talking about the faith that God gives each of us as he stirs us by his Holy Spirit and the truth of God's word to come to him. 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:18.560 And there's a faith that God gives and he plants it in your heart through grace. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:22.719 And the Bible says that the Father draws us, amen? 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:26.319 The Spirit woos us, and Jesus saves us. 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:32.879 And what a what an awesome privilege to be saved and rescued by the word of God and the truth of God's word. 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:41.599 Faith is commonly understood, commonly misunderstood in everyday conversation. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:49.360 If you look at uh dictionary.com, it shows about seven or eight different definitions for faith. 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:58.080 And one way, one common way people use the word faith is to refer to belief in something, uh, even though there's lack of evidence, right? 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:00.319 Oh, you just gotta have faith. 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:01.840 You gotta have faith. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:02.960 You gotta have faith. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:04.800 But what what is that? 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:08.960 What what what is that which the Bible calls faith? 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:11.840 Faith is not optimism. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:15.840 You ever met somebody with a positive attitude all the time? 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:18.399 They're optimistic. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:21.360 They have a sense of being positive. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:24.800 That is not faith, biblical faith. 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:28.879 Faith in faith is not faith. 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:29.839 Amen? 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:32.000 Faith in a good feeling. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:39.600 Maybe you're having a great day and your faith, your faith, you think, is really, really high and really, really strong because everything's going well for you. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:41.759 That is not biblical faith. 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:52.000 Most times that you exercise your faith and you're walking in faith is when you're in a crisis or a circumstance that you don't understand, and God is telling you to trust me. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:52.879 Amen? 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:54.959 Trust me and walk in faith. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:57.279 That's when faith is energized. 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:01.120 Faith in God can move a mountain. 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:03.759 So Bible faith is not optimism. 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:10.480 Just because you're feeling pretty good about the future and you've got positive vibes going on. 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:12.959 That's not what biblical faith is. 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:15.199 So, what does faith mean? 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:18.720 What is faith in the Bible? 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:28.560 How faith is defined shapes how scripture is interpreted, how doctrine is taught, and how ministry is lived out in our local church. 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:29.040 Amen. 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:42.639 Here's the thing: we are saved by faith, we are kept by faith, we are we walk by faith, we pray by faith, we overcome trials and tribulations by faith, and we energize our spiritual gifts by faith. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:43.360 Amen? 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:45.199 Faith in God. 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:51.920 Everything that we receive through the Spirit of God is received by faith. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:06:03.519 Faith is confident trust in God, his word, and his promises, even when we cannot see him, or the outcome of what he has spoken. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:06.720 It is not wishful thinking or blind belief. 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:11.600 It rests on God's character and his faithfulness, and that's the object of our faith. 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:12.319 Amen. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:17.439 Our faith is rock solid because our faith is in the rock who is Jesus Christ. 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:27.199 Let's turn over to Hebrews chapter 11, and we're going to read this awesome passage of scripture, which is known as the hall of faith. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:31.199 Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 1. 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:38.639 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:42.240 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:50.879 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:07:02.240 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:05.759 And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:12.079 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found because God had taken him. 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:19.279 Now before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God, and without faith it is impossible to please him. 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:30.319 Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:41.199 By faith Noah being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:47.040 By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:56.480 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going. 00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:59.680 Have you ever been in that situation in life, friends? 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:06.240 Where you wake up one morning and you just say, Where in the world am I, and what am I doing, and where am I going? 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:09.839 Abraham ventured out. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:16.000 And when he ventured out, friends, it's not like taking your two kids and your wife in a suitcase. 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:29.600 They had huge caravans that they had to walk in, they had to bring their cattle and their oxen and their goats and their cows and their sheep and their servants and everything. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:33.840 It was a big ordeal, and God said, Go, and Abraham said, Yes, sir. 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:41.840 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:49.600 For here it is, for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:09:00.960 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive even when she was past age, since she considered him faithful, who had promised. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:14.879 Therefore, from one man and him as good as dead were born descendants, as many as the stars of heaven, and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:30.080 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on earth. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:34.399 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:42.559 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return, but as it is, they desire a better country. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:43.919 That is a heavenly one. 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:50.639 Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:56.799 Lord, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for this chapter that we're diving into, this chapter of faith. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:22.000 We pray, Lord, that today we'll and through this week, as we meet in life groups and discuss these passages of Scripture, that we'd have a greater understanding of what faith is all about, and how we can trust you, Lord, how we can put our confidence and our boldness in you, for who you are, for what you say, and how you work in our hearts and in our lives. 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:24.639 And we give you praise in Jesus' name. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:25.519 Amen. 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:26.480 Amen. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:29.200 Hebrews 11 defines faith. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:34.559 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:46.159 This word assurance means a reality, a concrete sense of being on a found, firm, firm foundation. 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:51.440 Faith gives us confidence in what we hope for because God has promised it. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:11:03.519 And this for the church of Jesus Christ in this day and age, as the enemy is coming against us to deter us, to distract us, to delete the things of God in our heart and in our mind. 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:07.759 The Bible says that men's heart will fail them because of fear. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.320 They'll be always learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:15.200 Men's faith will depart. 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:20.159 The Bible says that there'll be an apostasy, a moving away from faith in God. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:33.600 And we see over and over again, pastors, worship leaders, deconstructing their faith because they're relying on man's wisdom and man's argument and man's speculation to determine their fate. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:34.960 But here it is, friends. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:44.399 We know that our uh insight, our wisdom, our knowledge is falls short of the glory and the wisdom of God. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:45.200 Amen. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:58.480 His wisdom is unsearchable, his wisdom is awesome, his wisdom is eternal, his wisdom is just, and his wisdom is right. 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:00.960 So we trust in the living God. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:03.600 And that's why we have the word of God, friends. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:08.240 Do you still believe that this is the inerrant, infallible, authoritative word of God? 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:08.799 Amen. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:25.360 66 books written by over 40 authors over 1,500 years gives us a common thread of God's grace, of God's story, of reaching down to mankind to save and redeem and to bring sons and daughters back to God. 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:26.080 Amen. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:27.600 Reconciliation. 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:44.240 And this is the beautiful story of God reaching out to us and literally giving us his grace and implanting in us the seed of faith to trust him in all things and through all circumstances. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:53.039 Faith says, I do not see it yet, but I trust God because He has spoken. 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:54.000 Amen. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:56.799 Abraham demonstrated this kind of faith. 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:57.919 We read about it. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:01.120 Abraham and Sarah. 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:04.720 Abraham was about a hundred years old. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:10.480 Sarah was 90 years old, and it's interesting how the Bible puts it in a comedic, humorous way. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:12.639 He was as good as dead, the Bible says. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:13.440 Amen. 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:32.240 But yet this beautiful promise of God that Abraham and Sarah would have a child and would be heirs, would be descendants, coming through Abraham and Sarah, where the Redeemer, the Savior, would come to redeem the world. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:36.159 Abraham believed God's promise that he would become the father of many nations. 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:43.679 Scripture says he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:45.200 Isn't that something? 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:53.519 He believed the word of God, and righteousness was credited to him, counted to him. 00:13:53.679 --> 00:14:01.600 Paul adds in Romans chapter 4 that Abraham was fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:04.159 And here's the question for us today, friends. 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:15.360 Are we fully convinced that God is able to do what he promises in his word for us, for our family, for this generation, for Lackawanna. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:15.759 Amen? 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:19.360 That every man, woman, and child would come to know Jesus Christ. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:26.080 Fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:28.799 Then there's the story of Noah. 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.279 What a crazy dude Noah was. 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:35.279 There were not floods in that day. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:48.480 When we were sitting here this morning, we were talking about maybe having a little dinghy in the parking lot to bring the people to the pavilion because of the massive flood that was here. 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:52.399 Adam and Adam, uh Noah did not experience floods. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:56.080 This would be the first flood that came upon mankind. 00:14:56.240 --> 00:15:11.840 But for 120 years he believed in the promise of God, day in and day out, worked on that ark, knowing that he doesn't know what God has in store, but he trusts in the promise of God's word. 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:12.720 Amen? 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:14.639 What a beautiful thing. 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:19.679 Faith is not blind, it's not a blind leap. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:23.360 Trusting in and having wishful thinking. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.480 Helen Keller's most famous quote on vision and seeing is this. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:32.159 And you know that Helen Keller was blind and she was deaf. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:34.159 But yet she got a college degree. 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:36.080 She learned how to play the piano. 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:42.159 And she said this the only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:54.159 And I wonder today, how many believers in Jesus Christ have sight, but they don't have the vision in their heart about what God is dealing with them and about the promises of God in God's word. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:55.120 Amen? 00:15:55.519 --> 00:16:06.240 See, when we trust in the promises of God, all of a sudden we have this new sense of destiny, this new purpose and passion in our heart and in our life because the promises of God are driving us. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:07.039 Amen? 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:16.639 It's not our charm, it's not our giftings, it's not our talents, it's not our abilities, it's our availability to believe and trust in the promises of God. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:22.000 That God gives us vision for the future and we walk in it. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:25.279 Now, when I met Stephanie, I told you this story. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:31.919 The Lord put in me this sense of faith that she will be mine. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:33.279 Amen. 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:45.039 And she, you know, during our time of uh seeing each other, courting, she uh talked to me on the phone and said, I don't think this is right, Dan. 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:47.919 I'm gonna have to let you go. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:50.480 And I said, Oh, that's fine. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:51.679 That's fine. 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:59.519 Because I knew that God had put in my heart this sense of faith that I would build this web of love and I would draw her in. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:00.240 Amen. 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:02.879 Sense of faith that God gives you. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:10.079 And God works in this way that He puts a vision and a passion in your heart and in your life. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:14.400 And you know it does not come from your own intellect or your own wishes. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:22.160 It comes from the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit working in your heart and in your life that drives you and that moves you. 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:22.799 Amen? 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:31.680 Every ministry that takes place in the church takes place because of our faith and trust in the God that has called us and the God that equips us. 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:32.480 Amen? 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:42.799 By faith, Hebrews 11:3 says, We understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:43.759 Amen. 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:48.400 God spoke, and things were created. 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:59.119 God spoke into your heart, and he created in you the life of God that now dwells in you through the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:17:59.200 --> 00:17:59.680 Amen? 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:02.480 Aren't you glad for being born again today? 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:06.799 The life of God that is resonant within your heart and in your life. 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:12.480 You don't have to be bound by religious duty or self-righteous good works. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:29.440 You're empowered and you're equipped and you're enabled and you're activated and you're energized by the very God of creation who is your redeemer, but now is the power of the Holy Spirit that moves us, generates his love for us. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:31.200 It is awesome. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:34.799 So we know that Abraham left his homeland. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:41.519 Moses endured because he valued God over Egypt's treasures. 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:42.319 Amen. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:48.640 The Bible says he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:54.079 These examples show that genuine faith produces obedience, doesn't it? 00:18:54.319 --> 00:19:01.599 When you have faith in God and the promises of God's word, you can obey God in the rough times. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:20.960 Obey God when you know that it's going to uh goes against every every sense in your heart and in your life that what you choose outside of God's will might be the best thing for you, but you know it's not because it's because of uh God's word. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:24.559 The foundation of faith is God's character. 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:25.440 Amen? 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:26.880 God's character. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:28.720 Do you trust him today? 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:31.119 Do you trust him today? 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:34.960 That's a question that I ask the Lord every day. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:36.559 Lord, do I trust you? 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:38.720 Because here's the thing, friends. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:42.880 Sometimes we don't know what's going on in our heart. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:47.680 We don't know the thoughts, the mindset that is set up in our hearts. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:51.039 We don't understand the work of the enemy against us. 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.920 We have to ask the Lord, Lord, do I trust you? 00:19:54.319 --> 00:20:00.559 David cried out, Lord, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:07.119 Do not take your Holy Spirit from me, but restore the joy of my salvation. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:08.000 Amen. 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:19.680 Hebrews 10, 23 urges us, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:28.880 We may not understand how God will fulfill his promises, but we can trust that he is faithful to do what is right and what is good. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:33.839 Faith is especially important when circumstances create fear. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:34.720 Amen. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:44.480 And like I said before, the Bible says that in the last days there are going to be people whose hearts literally fail them because of fear. 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:54.079 And we live in a culture of emotional breakdowns, mental breakdowns, spiritual breakdowns because of anxiety and because of fear. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:58.480 And the Lord says, listen, hang on, amen. 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:06.720 Hang on, hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:11.279 Faith is especially important when circumstances create fear. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:17.039 The disciples were in a boat in a storm. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:21.759 And here's the beauty of Jesus Christ our God. 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:26.640 Do you have the sense that Jesus doesn't worry about anything? 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:28.400 Do you have that sense? 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:37.920 He's in the boat down under, asleep in the storm, and the disciples are railing in fear and anxiety. 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:45.440 And they wake Jesus up and tell Jesus, Lord, don't you know we're gonna perish? 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:46.480 Don't you care? 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:50.799 And Jesus said, Oh, you guys, you of little faith. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:51.599 Amen. 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:54.079 You of little faith. 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:57.759 He calmed the storm, he calmed the seas. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:03.680 And the men responded by Looking at Jesus and saying, What manner of man is this? 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:04.559 Amen? 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:08.000 That he would calm the very seas and the storms. 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:16.720 So the storms of life that we go through, guys and gals, we know that Jesus is being very peaceful. 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:20.079 He understands what is what we're going through. 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:22.559 And he moves on our behalf. 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:29.119 And the beauty thing is, when Jesus Christ left, he said, My peace I give to you. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:30.000 Amen? 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:35.519 The peace that enabled Jesus to sleep in a storm. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:45.920 The peace of Christ, knowing that he's sustaining the entire cosmos with just the very thought of his grace and love for us. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:55.599 The peace of Christ is what we rest in today because we know that he has our best interest and our good in mind. 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:08.880 The people in Hebrews chapter 11, they died without receiving the complete fulfillment of God's promises, yet they continued to trust God. 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:12.640 Their faith didn't depend on immediate results. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:24.160 How many believers do you know that were praying for a certain thing, but they never got it, and they blame God and walked away from God. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:27.680 That's a trick of the enemy, and that's the trick of Satan. 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:35.200 To cause us to walk away from the grace and the goodness and the glory, the greatness of our God without trusting him. 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:39.519 Faith is believing God when we cannot see. 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:45.680 It is assurance concerning that we hope for and conviction concerning what is unseen. 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:53.279 It trusts God's character, obeys his word, looks beyond our present circumstances to his eternal purposes. 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:53.839 Amen. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:56.559 Aren't you glad that you don't know everything, people? 00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:03.759 You know that the older I get, I'm learning to love this phrase when people ask me questions. 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:05.279 I don't know. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:06.720 What do you think? 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:07.920 I love that. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:08.960 I don't know. 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:10.160 What do you think? 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:12.640 We don't know everything. 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:16.640 We don't know what God is working in each of your lives today. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:29.440 But God is engineering eternal purposes in our hearts and in our lives, driving us more towards Him to receive a greater revelation of who Jesus Christ is. 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:37.359 Because when we have a greater revelation of who Jesus Christ is, we're able to receive his promises and trust in him. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:47.119 Because aren't you glad today that we don't have to have a memorization class of just wrote doctrine and teaching? 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:48.240 Amen. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:54.799 I wouldn't show up for that because I have ADD, adult deficit disorder. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:59.920 What I need is a personal relationship with Christ. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:07.440 Friends, when I was a kid and I it seems like my mother spewed me forth on the first pew of the church. 00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:10.240 I was in church every time it was open. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:12.720 Being a good boy. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:20.079 And I laid my head down on the pillow and I said, God, if this is if this is it, I'm out of here, man. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:23.599 I need a relationship. 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:24.480 Amen. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:28.240 I need a transformation in my heart and in my life. 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:34.799 And this is what the author of Hebrews is saying in verse 6. 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:36.319 Let's turn to it. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:39.440 Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6. 00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:46.000 It says this without faith it is impossible to please him. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:55.440 For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he is, and that he rewards those who seek him. 00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:58.880 It is about a personal God, friends. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:15.519 And maybe you're here today and you've never really given your heart to Christ, intimately, personally, relationally, where you've said these words, Lord, I am a sinner and I need a savior, and you are the only way, the truth, and the life. 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:18.240 I understand that nobody gets to the Father. 00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:45.599 Nobody comes back to the Father God and be reconciled to Him as sons and daughters of God, but through Jesus Christ, accepting Him as Lord, accepting Him as Savior, letting the blood of Christ forgive you of all of your sins, and feeling the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit cleanse you and forgive you, and feeling the outstretched hand of the Heavenly Father that says, If you're with Christ, you're with me. 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:46.400 Amen. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:50.880 And the Bible says that our lives are hidden with Christ in God. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:54.480 Faith is believing what we cannot see. 00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:57.599 Faith is believing in the Word of God. 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:00.079 Faith is believing. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:02.079 Faith is trusting. 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:10.079 Faith is confidently saying, Lord, I do not live this life with my eyesight. 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:19.680 I live this life through the eyes of my heart, understanding who you are, because I have a personal relationship with you. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:22.480 I've talked with you, I've prayed with you. 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:25.359 You've been with me, you've showed me your heart. 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:30.319 I understand who you are, and your character and your nature is trustworthy. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:39.680 And I lay my life down right now in full and complete surrender to you as my God, my Lord, and my King and my Savior. 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:40.480 Amen. 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:42.079 He is God. 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:48.880 Proverbs 3, 5 to 6 says this: Trust in the Lord with all your heart. 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:51.839 Do not lean on your own understanding. 00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:57.920 In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. 00:27:58.160 --> 00:27:58.799 Amen. 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:04.000 Oh, so many zigzags in life we take, isn't it true? 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:06.960 Like Mike says, rabbit trails. 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:09.279 Rabbit trails. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:20.880 We go off on our own with our own intellect, with our own uh intellectual acuity that we think is so right, and we think that God doesn't know what we need. 00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:22.480 God doesn't see my heart. 00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:24.640 God doesn't understand me. 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:30.160 I need this, I need this, I need this, and God is saying, No, you don't, no, you don't, no, you don't. 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:31.759 Trust me, amen. 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:34.160 That's what he says, trust me. 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:38.799 We may not see the way ahead, but we can trust the one who leads us. 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:39.759 Amen. 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:52.559 We may not see the promise fulfilled, but we can trust the one who made the promise, because the Bible says that every promise is yes and amen. 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:58.319 Because it comes from the character and nature of God, who is just, righteous, and true. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:01.759 My question to you today is do you trust him? 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:16.160 And will you walk in faith and not by sight, receiving the wonder and the wisdom and the insight of God for your life in Jesus' name. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:18.079 Let's bow for a word of prayer. 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:19.759 Lord, we thank you today. 00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:35.279 We thank you, Lord, that the Bible says that if we just have a mustard seed of faith, one of the smallest seeds, but yet one of the most purest seeds. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:44.400 And Lord, we thank you that we can put our faith and trust in you even when we don't feel like it. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:30:00.400 Because our faith is not based on feelings, our faith is not based on our optimism, our faith is not based on our past experiences, our faith is based on the character and nature of God through the word of God. 00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:02.720 And we trust you today, Lord. 00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:11.759 We thank you, Lord, that people in the Bible responded to you by faith. 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:14.480 Their faith made them whole. 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:16.640 Their faith delivered them. 00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:22.880 Their trust in you for what you say healed them and made them whole. 00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:36.640 And we pray today, Lord, we'll have a new sense of putting our trust and faith in you in the dark times, in the hard times, in the circumstances that we do not understand, but we understand the God of the circumstance. 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:39.200 And we give you praise and adoration. 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:41.440 As we worship you now in Jesus' name. 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:42.319 Amen.