Sermon for April 10, 2016

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Myron Greene
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1 Sermon for April 10, 2016 BMZ Church Series: Myth Busted Text: Hebrews 11:1, 6, 8, 39-40; Luke 21:3-4; James 1:3-4; Philippians 1:6 Title: Faith Can Fix Anything Introduction: Good Morning BMZ! I m so glad you are with us today as we CONTINUE our WORSHIP SERIES called MYTH BUSTED! Today We are going to go after the MYTH that FAITH CAN FIX ANYTHING! Which sounds kind of WEIRD that we would say that in CHURCH, right?! BUT, if we BELIEVE that it will take us into some DANGEROUS TERRITORY. Now, here is one of the BIGGEST PROBLEMS with the BELIEF that Faith Can Fix Anything at some point or another, we ve ALL BELIEVED THAT! Because, it just SOUNDS RIGHT, doesn t it? Actually, if I say the OPPOSITE, it almost sounds SACRELIGIOUS Faith DOES NOT Fix Everything! Maybe I should step down from MINISTRY if I DON T BELIEVE that FAITH can FIX ANYTHING Right?! We ve all SAID or THOUGHT this stuff Well, maybe if I prayed a little more or Maybe if I tried a little harder or You know, IF they just had MORE FAITH and that would FIX ANYTHING! We all have used FAITH as a BRIDGE to get us from ONE SIDE to the OTHER as a way of SHOWING GOD that we TRUST GOD. So, we BELIEVE that IF I can just get BETTER at this ONE THING, everything will be BETTER! It fits our CULTURE! We love believing that ONE PRODUCT can FIX EVERYTHING, right? We love our MULTI-PURPOSE TOOLS (around Xmas) and our ONE STOP SHOPPING we love believing that ONE PRODUCT or ONE THING can FIX everything! Some of you are NOT BUYING this, so I thought I would use some PICTURES to help. Here s the 1 st ONE (Swiss Army Knife Picture) The SWISS ARMY KNIFE! Anyone else want one of these as a kid?? I thought if I had a Swiss Army Knife, I could do ANYTHING BUT, if I go to the DENTIST and they pull out a Swiss Army Knife, I m going to REMIND THEM that a Swiss Army Knife cannot do EVERYTHING! How about this one DUCT TAPE (Picture of Duct Tape)! People use this stuff for EVERYTHING! People make CLOTHES and WALLETS out of Duct Tape! BUT, there are some things that DUCT TAPE should NOT be USED for! Examples: Hoover Dam (PICTURE), Car (PICTURE), Bridges (PICTURE), Airplanes (PICTURE), Tires (PICTURE)?? Finally, how about THIS GUY (Picture of MacGyver) If he had a PAPER CLIP, Scotch Tape and a STICK of GUM, he could fix ANYTHING! BUT, not his SHOW (6 seasons)! If you have your Bible with you, turn with me to HEBREWS 11 if you don t; no worries. All of our Scriptures for today will be up on the screen and much of what we are doing is in your program. If you don t own a Bible and would like one, please stop by Java Jct/Blessed Bean and someone will get you set up with your own Bible. Speaking of which If you haven t already, I invite you to take out your message notes and Connection card... On one side you will see our Scripture for today and on the other you will find a brief outline walking us through our Scripture. You will see that there are blanks to fill in Please take the time to do so. Grab a pen and write down whatever else you think is important to you and your faith journey. After worship, drop off your CONNECTION CARD and take your notes home and refrigerate them. Please Re-read the Scripture and the notes to keep growing and learning. For those of you watching on-line, hit the button for notes and for CONNECTION CARD and stick with us. If you are watching/listening later, or IPODing; you can download the outline off of our website so you too can take notes.

2 2 Let s pray and then we will press on with where we are going today LET S PRAY (turn off marked lights during prayer)! We want to BELIEVE that there is ONE THING that will FIX EVERYTHING. Sadly, we often treat FAITH like a FIX ANYTHING PRODUCT. We think that if we just have ENOUGH FAITH that it will FIX ALL of our PROBLEMS. BUT, that s NOT what FAITH IS and it's not what faith was INTENDED for. What I want to do TODAY is to SHARE with you what FAITH REALLY IS let s start in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 is often called the CHAPTER of FAITH. We are going to use Hebrews 11 a lot today to FIND OUT what FAITH really IS and what it DOES. Let s start with a DEFINITION of FAITH Hebrews 11:1 = Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. 1 Would you UNDERLINE the words CONFIDENCE and ASSURANCE please? Because that s what FAITH IS it is a CONFIDENT ASSURANCE that what we HOPE FOR is going to HAPPEN that what you CAN NOT yet SEE will HAPPEN. Think about that FAITH is ultimately BELIEVING in SOMEONE you CAN T SEE JESUS and TRUSTING that he has YOUR BEST interest in mind. FAITH is NOT a PROMISE to FIX everything. Faith is NOT a GUARANTEE that everything's going to be ALL BETTER rather, it's a PROMISE that GOD can GUIDE you THROUGH EVERYTHING! So, as we get to our MYTH for TODAY MYTH: My Faith CAN FIX Anything. Please don t get me WRONG. FAITH is IMPORTANT! Faith is REQUIRED as FOLLOWERS of JESUS. What I m saying IS Faith is NOT something that is going to MAKE you HAPPY ALL of the time. If you believe that it IS There are DANGEROUS implications. If we BUY INTO this idea that FAITH can FIX ANYTHING, essentially, we are REDUCING GOD to a GENIE at our BECK and CALL just coming out to FIX ANY Situation you are in! The DANGERS of This Belief: Again, to reduce ALMIGHTY GOD to a GENIE at our SERVICE is DANGEROUS here s HOW IF I believe that MY FAITH can FIX Anything, then - I choose an IMPROPER OBJECT of faith. One of the DANGERS of believing that our FAITH can FIX ANYTHING, we start to have MORE FAITH in OUR FAITH than FAITH in OUR GOD! Did you catch that? I have FAITH, so everything should be GOOD! My PROBLEMS should GO AWAY because I HAVE FAITH! This means that we think that LIFE should be SMOOTH SAILING from HERE on OUT because of MY FAITH rather than having FAITH in GOD! Problem = Your faith is only as GOOD as the OBJECT you PLACE your Faith in. When you simply have FAITH in FAITH, you re setting yourself up for PROBLEMS! I d rather have a LITTLE FAITH in the RIGHT things than a LOT of FAITH in the WRONG thing #2 = - I m hesitant to TAKE ACTION. The danger here is that we start to get LAZY in our FAITH! We think that IF we HAVE FAITH; that means it s ALL on GOD to FIGURE it out. I have FAITH, so GOD is supposed to HANDLE the SITUATION. I have FAITH, so I m NOT supposed to DO anything and IF I DO something; that means I DON T HAVE FAITH. There are certain SITUATIONS where GOD actually wants YOU to DO something, BECAUSE it s in the PROCESS of WORKING through that situation WITH GOD that we actually GROW in our FAITH! Danger #3 to My Faith can Fix Anything = 1 Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Heb 11:1). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

3 - I JUDGE OTHERS for a lack of faith. Maybe you ve heard the expression, Well, you just HAVE to HAVE FAITH. Maybe you heard that from a parent or a grandparent or someone in your church. Maybe YOU actually SAID that to SOMEONE ELSE who was struggling Well, you just HAVE to HAVE FAITH! BUT, what happens when things go WRONG? What happens if they DON T get the JOB? What happens if the CANCER DOESN T go away? Then, we JUDGE THEM for NOT having ENOUGH FAITH. If they would have PRAYED harder or TRUSTED God more, THEN GOD would have ANSWERED their Prayers. Maybe we don t judge others maybe we JUDGE OURSELVES based on this belief. I must NOT have had ENOUGH FAITH in God that s WHY He didn t answer my prayers. We end up JUDGING ourselves or OTHERS for LACK of FAITH instead of GROWING in FAITH! Danger #4 to My Faith can Fix Anything = - I BLAME GOD when things go wrong. This is probably the MOST DANGEROUS of them all. When things FALL APART in our lives and we believe that FAITH can FIX ANYTHING, we end up BLAMING GOD! We say in our minds GOD, I had FAITH, so it s NOT a ME problem, it s a YOU problem! God, I had FAITH I held up MY END of the BARGAIN where were YOU?! This is YOUR FAULT that I m STILL Struggling or Suffering! I remember when my MOM found out she had CANCER Mother s Day I battled GOD through that SUMMER and I, with my WHOLE FAMILY, we PRAYED for Mom to get well. It DIDN T HAPPEN. I struggled, but I had to LEARN that FAITH does NOT FIX EVERYTHING I could have been BITTER toward GOD for a LOT LONGER. My Mom died at the beginning of August that year. Less than 3 months! She was TOO YOUNG! And it was NOT MY FAULT! I PRAYED and I had FAITH! GOD FAILED!! Well, Stan, that s NOT how FAITH WORKS Well, then HOW does FAITH WORK? What is FAITH SUPPOSED to DO?! Write this down for MYTH BUSTED : MYTH BUSTED: My Faith SUSTAINS ME through anything. Before I go any further I know that SOME of you HERE are tired of hearing about FAITH! Pastor Stan, you don t get it. I ve had FAITH in my situation and MY PROBLEMS STILL EXIST! I ve had FAITH and still don t have a JOB My RELATIONSHIP is STILL falling apart THAT person still hasn t COME to FAITH in GOD I m STILL ADDICTED my LOVED ONE did NOT GET WELL! So, maybe some of you are DONE with FAITH because it s NOT WORKING because things have NOT GONE the way YOU THINK they SHOULD GO! If that s YOU would you just HANG with me and HEAR me OUT NOT because of what Stan has to say, but because of WHAT GOD has to SAY? FAITH was NEVER INTENDED to FIX all of your PROBLEMS. FAITH was INTENDED to SUSTAIN US through ANYTHING that LIFE throws at us. LIFE keeps coming and there are times that I need to be CARRIED through the situations. Again, when you BELIEVE that FAITH can FIX ANYTHING, you are just setting yourself up for UNNECESSARY HEARTACHE, PAIN and DISAPPOINTMENT. Please DO NOT get CAUGHT having MORE FAITH in FAITH than in GOD! HOW TO HAVE FAITH WHEN MY FAITH DOESN T FIX EVERYTHING: For the rest of our time together let me talk about HOW to have FAITH even if it DOES NOT FIX EVERYTHING Hopefully, these are really PRACTICAL for US as we face different situations in our lives. AND, as we go through these, let s remember that FAITH is all about GOD NOT US! #1 = BELIEVE when I don t see it 3

4 4 I. BELIEVE WHEN I DON T SEE IT. Ever had a Job / Promotion that you wanted interview process going well think we have it Then you GET a Call = We re going to go in another direction. And we think God, I did my part I prayed I even READ my BIBLE that week of Interviews I just DON T SEE IT! Maybe you had a DREAM that you believe God put in your life BUT, FINANCES are drying up not many friends there God, I just don t see it! Why did You bring me HERE?! It s HARD to BELIEVE in something when we don t SEE it. The TRUTH is that EVERY DREAM that God gives us begins with FAITH. Whenever God SPEAKS into our lives and says, Hey, this is what I want to do in your life. This is how I want to work through you to impact the world It BEGINS with FAITH! Throughout the Bible, we see EXAMPLES of this. God gave NOAH a dream to build an ARK. Do you think NOAH could SEE IT building a big boat in the DESERT?!? God gave David the DREAM to build the TEMPLE he never got to, his SON had to do it! What about MOSES leading the people out of EGYPT and into the PROMISED LAND he only got to do the FIRST HALF of that. So, the question is, HOW do I KNOW if this DREAM I have is from GOD or it s just something I m THINKING up on my OWN? How can I tell the DIFFERENCE? Here s the SIMPLE answer a DREAM from GOD will always REQUIRE FAITH! It will be BEYOND YOUR CAPABILITIES! It will be BEYONG the RESOURCES you think you have! It will REQUIRE FAITH, because without faith, it s NOT a GOD THING! Look at Hebrews 11 again Hebrews 11:6 = 6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. 2 Wouldn t it be EASIER to BELIEVE that God EXISTS AFTER GOD REWARDS ME? No, GOD wants us to BELIEVE and have FAITH and COME to Him BEFORE. We are to BELIEVE that God REWARDS those who SEEK HIM BEFORE the REWARDS come. Otherwise, it s NOT FAITH! The world says, Seeing is Believing. God says, Believing is Seeing! After you BELIEVE you start to SEE! How can we HAVE FAITH? #2 = II. OBEY WHEN I DON T UNDERSTAND IT. Okay, so let me set this SCRIPTURE UP for you a bit we are in HEBREWS 11 which is a chapter that REMINDS us of PEOPLE of FAITH from the OLD TESTAMENT. One of those people was ABRAHAM. He s 75 years old-ish. He s lived in the same place all of his life family is there, he married his wife Sarai there, etc. It s really all he has known. Here is how the Hebrew Writer addresses it Hebrews 11:8 = 8 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 his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 3 Now, he s 75 years old. He s always lived where he s at and then GOD SAYS, Abraham, PACK UP! You are MOVING! Abe = Where to?!? God says, I ll let you KNOW when you GET THERE! WHAT?!? Yep! You pack up your family and your belongings and just HEAD OUT I ll give you DIRECTIONS as you GO! Talk about OBEYING when he DIDN T UNDERSTAND IT! What would YOU do in Abe s sandals? Would YOU have PACKED and LEFT? Would you have been OBEDIENT? 2 Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Heb 11:6). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. 3 Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Heb 11:8). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

5 5 This is especially hard for TYPE A people who have their next 15 years laid out! Yes, God, I guess I could do that, but it s really going to throw my calendar off! Then we play the game with God I can probably do it if I can understand it. So, God if you will give me the details tell me exactly what s going to happen and how everything will turn out and then I will have GREAT FAITH in YOU! Listen, FAITH is NOT a SKILL we master or a PROMISE that life is going to be SMOOTH. FAITH is GOD S MAP and we just FOLLOW IT at NIGHT when we can only see as far as our LOW BEAMS can SHOW US! Do we TRUST GOD?!? Because, God gets to BLESS US WHEN we are OBEDIENT without UNDERSTANDING! Remember it s called the Christian FAITH, NOT the Christians KNOWLEDGE! #3 = GIVE III. GIVE WHEN I DON T HAVE IT. Okay, so you were kind of with me when I said to BELIEVE when I can t SEE and OBEY when I don t UNDERSTAND BUT, GIVE?!? Give when I DON T HAVE IT? That does NOT make any SENSE! What does GIVING have to do with FAITH?!? Great question! It s because GIVING and FAITH ALWAYS to together. And, I m NOT talking about giving your TIME. I m talking about GIVING of the FINANCIAL RESOURCES God has blessed you with. The CORE of GIVING requires FAITH because you are letting go of SOMETHING you HOLD CLOSELY; ENTRUSTING it to Someone else! GIVING = FAITH! And, I get it. Some of you are in a PINCH right NOW. There s NO MARGIN. There s no room to give. You have nothing to give! BUT, FAITH is NOT MEASURED by HOW MUCH you give. FAITH IS MEASURED by your WILLINGNESS to GIVE even when you THINK you don t have it! Great story in LUKE 21 Jesus and His Disciples are at the TEMPLE in Jerusalem and they are standing NEAR the COLLECTION BOX and JESUS is PAYING ATTENTION. Well, that s INTERESTING, isn t it?! I wonder WHY Jesus would PAY ATTENTION to the GIVING at the TEMPLE? We ll come back to that Anyway, he is watching rich people drop in LARGE SUMS of money and then he sees ONE little OLD Lady drop in 2 SMALL COINS very LITTLE money. Here s what Jesus says about it Luke 21:3-4 = 3 I tell you the truth, Jesus said, this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. 4 For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has. 4 Do you GET IT?! Jesus was WATCHING the COLLECTION BOX because, from there, he could SEE PEOPLE S HEARTS! The rich were GIVING A LOT, but it was from a LARGE SURPLUS. This WIDOW gave EVERYTHING she had But, Pastor Stan, how can I give EVERYTHING when I have NOTHING? I get it. BUT, the POINT of the STORY is the Widow s WILLINGNESS to GIVE even with so little. For SOME of YOU, this is the CHALLENGE you are facing. It s going to require FAITH! Maybe it s GIVING for the 1 st TIME and that is a STEP of FAITH I m going to GIVE something, because GIVING and FAITH go HAND-IN-HAND. For some of you, you have been GIVING CONSISTENTLY, and NOW it s time to take a STEP of FAITH and tell God that you are going to MOVE to 10% the MINIMUM of the TITHE. What God says is HIS! And, we TELL GOD that we are going to HONOR GOD by TITHING off of our INCOME. It may NOT make SENSE FINANCIALLY it doesn t even FIT my BUDGET, but GOD, I m going to take this STEP of FAITH! Others of you are GIVING 10%. You are TITHING that MINIMUM required so that we aren t STEALING from GOD. And, you are COMFORTABLE doing that. Maybe God is 4 Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Lk 21:3 4). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

6 6 leading you to STEP UP and give GENEROUSLY BEYOND the TITHE! Tell God that you are going to take a STEP of FAITH and go ABOVE and BEYOND what has become COMFORTABLE for you Please understand that when we take these STEPS of FAITH, God HONORS that! Give when you don t have it When my FAITH does NOT FIX Everything #4 = IV. PERSIST WHEN I DON T FEEL LIKE IT. This one really goes AGAINST the GRAIN of our SOCIETY This is NOT a VALUE that is FOUND very often. The ATTITUDE is often If I FEEL like it, I might do it. If I DON T FEEL LIKE IT I m NOT doing it! If I m NOT FEELING IT it AIN T HAPPENING! And, PERSISTENCE It s becoming MORE RARE. BUT, think about this if you asked AARON RODGERS if he FELT like PRACTICING that SAME PASS AGAIN, he might SAY, NO, I DON T FEEL LIKE IT! BUT, he knows that if he is going to be EXCELLENT at what he does, he has to be PERSISTENT! It doesn t matter how he FEELS! And, some of you are WONDERING about this FAITH THING. You ve been PERSISTENT and you are wondering WHEN is something going to GIVE?! When is MY HEALTH going to get better? When am I going to get that GOOD JOB? When will my SPOUSE UNDERSTAND? When is my FRIEND or FAMILY MEMBER going to ATTEND WORSHIP with ME?!? DON T GIVE UP! Be PERSISTENT, because it s in those moments that GOD wants to STRENGTHEN YOU! God wants you to GROW in your FAITH and God will SUSTAIN YOU and LIFT you out of that situation. God KNOWS that your FAITH needs to GROW into a STRENGTH that will ANCHOR YOU when the STORMS of LIFE HIT! And, PERSISTENCE always leads to BREAKTHROUGH James 1:3-4 = 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. 5 When it comes to your FAITH, you always have a CHOICE. You can CHOOSE to GIVE UP or you can CHOOSE to PERSIST. Do you see why I say that this FAITH THING is NOT for the FAINT of HEART? We ve said that WHEN my FAITH does NOT FIX EVERYTHING, I need to BELIEVE when I don t SEE it, OBEY when I don t UNDERSTAND, GIVE when I don t HAVE it and PERSIST when I don t FEEL like it. Finally #5 = TRUST V. TRUST WHEN I DON T GET IT. I think we would ALL ADMIT that there are some things that just DON T MAKE SENSE to us. Why do GOOD people DIE young? Why do BAD THINGS happen to GOOD people? Why can t the PACKERS win the Super Bowl EVERY YEAR?! None of these things make sense! Honestly, there are some things in life that we will NEVER UNDERSTAND. God NEVER PROMISED that we would ALWAYS GET IT. BUT, GOD DID PROMISE that we would ALWAYS GET THROUGH IT! God s WORD promises that he can GUIDE us through EVERY SITUATION Sometimes we look at the HEROES from the BIBLE as listed in HEBREWS 11 (read it!) and we think that they ALL became QUEENS and KINGS and LEADERS and HEROES. Well, they ARE HEROES of the FAITH, but that does NOT MEAN that they ALL received what they should have Listen Hebrews 11:39-40 = 39 All these people earned a good reputation 5 Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Jas 1:3 4). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

7 7 because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40 For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us. 6 There are going to be TIMES in our LIVES when we DON T GET IT. When FAITH does NOT FIX EVERYTHING. And it might cause you to QUESTION GOD and tell GOD that this FAITH THING does NOT WORK! Listen, here s what I ve figured out: There are SOME THINGS that we are going to SHOW GREAT FAITH IN that will NOT turn out the way we think they SHOULD. BUT, that s OKAY BECAUSE this FAITH THING is really NOT about MY FAITH; IT S about GOD S FAITHFULNESS! That s our KEY IDEA for TODAY KEY IDEA: It s not about MY FAITH. It s all about GOD S FAITHFULNESS. Some of us have thought of our FAITH like a Swiss Army Knife or DUCT TAPE. We think that OUR FAITH can FIX ANYTHING. When as FOLLOWERS of JESUS we are to put our FAITH in the ONE who CAN DO ANYTHING! It s NOT about US or what we can ACHIEVE through OUR POWER. IT S about learning to RELY one GOD, GOD S WILL and GOD S POWER! Remember the GOD S greatest act of LOVE and FAITHFULNESS was to SEND His SON when we were STILL SINNERS when we DIDN T DESERVE IT! God offers us PURPOSE and MEANING in this life and ETERNITY because GOD LOVES US! The 1 st STEP of FAITH for US is to TRUST our lives into the hands of JESUS trust JESUS with our WHOLE LIVES as our LORD and SAVIOR. And, I know some of you are READY to QUIT on GOD. You have had enough of this FAITH STUFF It s NOT working! I m NOT GETTING what I THINK I SHOULD. And, you are DONE. Well, God is NOT DONE with YOU! God has NEVER and WILL NEVER GIVE UP on YOU! God is willing to KEEP WORKING with YOU in your life. God has PLANS for you to be BLESSED and to PROSPER, but we have to have FAITH that GOD CAN and WILL. That part of our last BIBLE VERSE for today Philippians 1:6 = 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. 7 God s NOT DONE with you BUT, God CAN T FINISH YOU if you GIVE UP on GOD! Next Steps: I will memorize Hebrews 11:1 Trust in God s faithfulness over my faith. I will make it a priority to attend the Myth Busted Series RSVP for Membership Class Believer s Baptism Truth without Grace is Fundamentalism (Brutality). Grace without Truth is Sentimentalism (Hypocrisy). Special thanks to Andy Stanley, Nelson Searcy, R.A. Pegram, Mike Slaughter and Perry Noble for outlines and ideas for this worship series. 6 Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Heb 11:39 40). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. 7 Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Php 1:5 6). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Sermon for April 3, 2016

Sermon for April 3, 2016 BMZ Church Series: Myth Busted Text: Romans 12:2; Proverbs 14:12, 7:2-3, 3:5-6; II Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 2:1; Psalm 19:7-8; James 1:22; Title: Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide