Sermon: Being Strong in Faith Never give up

Transcription

1 They are exhausted!!! For a short time they were celebrating But now they found themselves at a dead end. There seemed little hope It looked like all the promises of a new life were about to fade away Why did they listen to this man? This man who said he was sent from God He had lead them here. But how could he get it so wrong? They were that close to freedom But now it looked like instead of being free. they are close to being killed You can hear the murmuring around the crowd If there is a really a God this wouldn t be happening? Why did we listen to Moses. we would have been better staying in Egypt, serving the Egyptians?? It would have been better than listening to God!!! At least we had food and a roof over our head. What is God doing for us now? The rumbling of the chariots were getting closer. Then from amongst the crowd steps that man A shabby short looking fella He yells to crowd in his stuttering voice Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation that the Lord will provide for you today!! You will never see the Egyptians again. The Lord will fight for you, and you can be still!!! Are you kidding?? Someone murmurs Any fool could see that they were in trouble They were cornered The red sea on one side and the only way out was back from where they came but coming down that way were a lot of angry Egyptians in their chariots. No wonder people were asking. where is God now? What is God up to? How can we trust Moses now??? How can we trust God now??? a middle aged man points his finger towards Moses and yells. don t tell me to be still where is God when we need Him. why did we trust you why did we trust God??? Ever found yourself cornered? Ever found yourself in a situation questioning where is God? Why has God lead me this far then it is like He has deserted you? When life gets to this point.our faith in God can be challenged? and there is the temptation to give up on God!! Now giving up on God takes various forms The most extreme of these is. Rejecting God completely Believing that there is no God For many years Robert was a faithful worshipping Christian Life wasn t spectacular.but it was ok then out of the blue for no reason at all it happened. As Robert s son, Max, crossed the road A car came around the corner A sermon written by Pastor Richard Schwedes (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 and Exodus 14) 1 P a g e

2 The driver wasn t speeding The driver just didn t see Max Max was killed instantly Almost immediately Robert stopped his relationship with God For Robert what had happened to Max and to him was unfair He asked what many would ask, How could a loving God allow this to happen? Not only did he ask this question He refused to believe God could exist Not only had has life been rocked. but his faith in God had been completely shattered Robert was fortunate to have a good friend from church who stuck by him Who continued to be a friend to him, visit him regularly even though Robert had openly said he no longer believed in God. One day this friend gave him a simple little book If I were God, I d end all the Pain.by John Dickson Normally Robert would have rejected the book But the title caught his eye It was exactly how he felt. IF I WAS GOD, I D END ALL PAIN!!! So he cautiously opened the page What harm could reading this book do and anyway it wasn t too thick Almost immediately as he opened the pages he found himself drawn to wanting to read the next word, then the next line, then the next page He thought to himself what could I lose. by the time he had finished the book what he had lost was the wall he had created between him and God After many years of rejecting God because of his pain Robert was now back with God allowing God to help him, to love him, to heal him Not only had a friend never given up on him But God never gave up on him As Psalm 117 verse 2 says For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD. But for many people giving up on God is not about a complete rejection of God But it is about not trusting God fully and so giving up on God involves rejecting God s call of allowing your whole life to be a life of following the Great Commission of making disciples of all nations Frank has not always found life easy No matter how hard he tried unfortunately the attacks that came with being a Christian lead him to putting God at arms length His friends outside the church were scoffing about Christians Frank knew they didn t really understand what Christianity was about However with every scoff, whether they realised it or not, Frank felt attacked with every attack a little bit of doubt entered his life A sermon written by Pastor Richard Schwedes (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 and Exodus 14) 2 P a g e

3 But what was even more hurtful and damaging came from those he thought were his friends in the church People who were supposed to walk with him and be encouragers in the faith They seemed to be constantly attacking him because of his belief that God was important for everything in His life For Frank Romans 12 verses 1 and 2 were some of his favourite verses Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will. For Frank God was not just some insurance policy to get to heaven But God affected everything about your life However he was doubting this. For many years God had been the engine for his life Essential for him in everything But recently things had changed Life wasn t going that well Even though some good things were happening All Frank could see was negative No matter how much effort Frank was putting in from Frank s perspective nothing was happening Nothing was changing at church or in his personal life From Frank s perspective God was letting him down and because God was letting him down He began distrusting God he didn t stop believing that God existed but he stopped believing that God would deliver on His promises and as a result He stopped being actively part of the Body of Christ He simply saw God more as hood ornament than the engine for his life Something good to have there but making very little difference to his life As a result Frank s worship attendance was no longer regular or important to him Instead of weekly he came to church when he felt like it He only listened to those parts of the bible that gave him comfort and supported what he wanted to do and quickly discarded or ignored those parts that confronted him or encouraged him to live differently His heart turned from wanting to serve others so they may know God to serving others so he could get something from them or so he could feel good about himself If Frank s relationship with God was a marriage it would be like ships passing in the night it existed but it wasn t healthy No matter how much God was trying to love Frank Frank kept put pushing him away.kept God at a distance From Frank s perspective God s view point wasn t really relevant or important any more and especially wasn t relevant for what Frank wanted to do today Frank had given up on God A sermon written by Pastor Richard Schwedes (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 and Exodus 14) 3 P a g e

4 The reality was God was asking Frank to be part of a life time journey but Frank had now ditched God only part of the way into the journey, illogically hoping that it would be enough for him to get to heaven Fortunately though God has this remarkable way of being persistent of never giving up!! On one of those days when Frank was casually reading the bible he read 2 Peter 3:8-9 Dear friends, don t forget that for the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years is the same as one day. The Lord isn t slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost. Then just as God does Shortly afterwards, Bob from church called Frank and said a man was looking for him It turned out Frank and Bob had helped this man some years ago Even back then Frank had thought they had wasted their time with this man but it turned out that this man had not only appreciated their help but now he was back on his feet wanted to repay them with a meal and more importantly to tell them how their help had helped him know of a loving God It then hit Frank It wasn t God who had been unfaithful or not interested It was Frank!!! Frank had lost patience with God Frank wanted results and wanted them quickly or at least in a time frame that suit him and because they weren t happening Frank had thought God wasn t interested or doing something else So Frank stopped serving and trying to make disciples But God had not given up on Frank It was Frank who had given up on God And in our reading from 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse we are encouraged to stand firm When Paul wrote this to the Christians in Thessalonica their faith was under attack It was under attack by false teachers attempting to convince people differently about Jesus from how Paul and the apostles had been teaching them. This is also a challenge for us today We live in an era where we like innovation, new things And as people called to be actively involved in making disciples we are called to share the traditions of the church in relevant ways, which often means we need to be innovative. However unfortunately this desire for innovation can at times see us wanting to discard some of the orthodox and historical teachings of Jesus and the faith Teachings that are well found on scripture for new ways of looking at the faith, that are not consistent with the teachings that come from scripture. We do this to make Jesus more exciting, more palatable and more acceptable to people. We want to mould Jesus rather allow Jesus to mould us and others. This is also giving up on God. Trusting that who God is and what God is on about is not enough. A sermon written by Pastor Richard Schwedes (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 and Exodus 14) 4 P a g e

5 But remember the words from Proverbs 3:5 and 6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight Now fortunately Moses hadn t given up on God Just as the Egyptians came rumbling toward the Israelites Moses obeyed God Moses raised his staff. then something strange happened Something no one could predict happened The waters part an unexpected escape route appeared If it wasn t for the chariots getting closer there may have been more hesitation of walking between the walls of water However the crowd runs as fast it can Dads pick up their kids mums pulling their daughters along An old people who could barely hobble seemed to get a new lease on life then just as they reach the other side the path disappears the Egyptians and their horses are swallowed up by the waters. He is yelling see what happens when we trust God see what happens when we listen to God. The celebrations begin Around the camp that night the singing started I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father s God, and I will exalt him. (Exodus 15:1-2) God never gives up Never give up living for the God who never gives up Amen God has come through and that same middle aged man who was questioning why he and everyone was trusting God is now celebrating. He is dancing around A sermon written by Pastor Richard Schwedes (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 and Exodus 14) 5 P a g e