Endeavor 4: A Trusting Endeavor

Good morning! I’m Bill Connors, senior pastor here with Eastern Hills, and it’s so great to get to celebrate and worship together this morning, since we’re all so well rested from the extra hour of sleep. Thank you for being here for Family Worship, whether you’re in the room or online right now. We’re in the fourth week of our ENDEAVOR series and this phase of our discipleship and generosity campaign. If you’re visiting with the Eastern Hills family this morning, we’d love to know that you’re here whether you are in person or online. If you’re in the room, please grab the WELCOME card that should be in the back of the pew in front of you, and fill that out during the service. Then, you can drop it in the plates as you leave at the close of service, or you can bring it to me down front at the close of service, because I would really like to meet you and give you a gift to thank you for being here today. If you’re online, or you’d just rather communicate online, you can text the word WELCOME to 5053392004, and you’ll receive a text back that will contain a link to our digital communication card. If you’re here in the room and you choose that option, I’d still like to meet you and give you a gift at the close of service.

Announcements

Sweet Extra Hour of Prayer tonight at 5:30 in Miller Hall

Wednesday Prayer from 12-1 in Sanctuary

Please remember to exercise your right and privilege to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 8. If anybody in the church needs a ride to the polls, please go to the Ethics and Religious Liberty Committee table in the foyer after the service and that can be arranged with pleasure.

MNM Final total $13,956

Opening

We’ve been taking a journey through the life of Old Testament Joseph for the past three Sundays, looking at the endeavor that God had set him on to provide for the preservation and protection of His chosen people, Israel. We’ve considered the fact that the endeavors that God gives to His people are God-sized, things that only God could do, and that He prepares His people for those endeavors. Then we gave some thought to the generational fact of both Joseph’s endeavor and the endeavor that God has given to Eastern Hills: to reach this community in the northeast heights of Albuquerque with the hope of the Gospel. We right now are responsible for the work God has called us to, and to pass on a flourishing ministry to the next generation, who will stand on our shoulders. Last week’s theme was generosity: that Joseph was generous with his time, talent, and treasure for God’s purposes. Our participation in God’s endeavor for this church is going to demand our generosity in these areas as well.

This morning, we will open with a psalm of David, which would certainly be fitting in the mouth of Joseph as well. Let’s stand in honor of the Word of God as we read Psalm 62:5-12

Psalm 62:5–12 CSB

5 Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock. My refuge is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before him. God is our refuge. Selah 9 Common people are only a vapor; important people, an illusion. Together on a scale, they weigh less than a vapor. 10 Place no trust in oppression or false hope in robbery. If wealth increases, don’t set your heart on it. 11 God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: strength belongs to God, 12 and faithful love belongs to you, Lord. For you repay each according to his works.

PRAYER (FBC Vaughn, Pastor Roy Denton: pray for open eyes to the Gospel in Vaughn)

The title of this morning’s message is: A Trusting Endeavor. As I was preparing to preach this morning, I was reflecting and praying about the times in my life that God has really called me to put total and complete trust in Him while He did a God-sized thing in my life or through my life or the life of Eastern Hills. I could think of several, this campaign the most current among that list. I mean, if we all were to truly grab hold of what God is doing right now and planning to do in the future with Eastern Hills, and we were all to truly trust that He will continue to work that plan, I believe that this church body will be a lighthouse for the Gospel, used by God to impact this neighborhood and the neighborhoods where we are spread out throughout the Albuquerque area and the east mountains. But it’s going to take trust.

Trust is a hard thing sometimes. And I want to share with you an illustration from my own life about how God can move to deepen our trust in Him, even when our fears are nearly overwhelming.

The church called me to be student pastor in 2001, after I had served in a part-time capacity for about 20 months. While I served in that role, the church helped me to get my bachelor’s degree through Wayland Baptist University, and then my master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of you haven’t met my predecessor as pastor, Larry Miller, who faithfully served this church family for 23 years as senior pastor. Larry had a neurological condition that slowly took away the use of his legs over time, and so the church eventually had me take on many of the day-to-day administrative functions of the church as well. I had run an office before in the position I had when God called me into the ministry, so I had that skill set. I was also the default fill-in at the pulpit whenever Larry had to miss a Sunday.

In January of 2017, while I was in my final semester of my Master’s program, Larry was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma. He was a candidate for a particular type of genetic treatment for that particular cancer, but we weren’t really sure what that would look like as far as his energy levels and such. He asked me to start working on a sermon series, so that I would always be ready to preach should he be unable to do so on a Sunday. During this time, several people had suggested that maybe the church would call me to be the next pastor of the church. My standard response was to say that that was up to God. And I meant it. Mostly.

The honest reality was that while I truly wanted to do whatever God wanted me to do, I was also completely terrified at the prospect of being senior pastor of Eastern Hills following Larry Miller. Not because of Larry, but because of the weight of the position, especially when the previous pastor had served for over a third, nearly half, of the church’s existence. I was fine being the student pastor and doing the admin stuff. There was always someone to pass the buck up to, someone to make the decisions that I didn’t want to make. Student ministry was a lot safer, in a way. Leading 30 or 40 teens and a dozen or so volunteers seemed simple compared to leading a church of hundreds, including those teens and volunteers. Leading a whole church staff, the deacons, the Ministry Group Leaders? Vision-casting? All the “big-picture” admin stuff? Terrifying. I didn’t feel capable.

So I was heavily internally conflicted. In the first week of August that year, we attended the Ministers’ & Families Retreat that the BCNM holds every three years. After one of our meals at the retreat, I sat and chatted with a friend of mine. He asked me how I honestly felt about the prospect of being the next senior pastor of Eastern Hills. I gave my standard answer. He pushed and asked, “But how do you really feel about it?” And I told him that I was scared half to death at the prospect of being the senior pastor. That I was freaked out at the idea of following in Larry’s footsteps. That part of me would just rather keep doing student ministry, because I was certain that I’d mess everything up if I were to be called as the senior pastor. The bottom line: I didn’t think that I was capable. Sure, I could say that I believed that God could do anything through anyone He wanted to at any time, but the reality is that in that moment, I didn’t actually trust Him—I looked at what I thought I could do on my own, and I knew I couldn’t do it. This was not my most stellar moment of faith. But stick with me for a moment.

Sometimes God chooses to put us into situations so that we can face the things that keep us from going deeper with Him. The very next Saturday after the retreat, Larry had a heart attack. And as the senior associate pastor, it was my job to step into the role while Larry was recovering. The chips were down, and it was my task within my calling in God’s timing, so I didn’t have a choice but to move forward, trusting God during that time. I preached the next three Sundays. I made the decisions that had to be made. I led staff meetings, prayer meetings, evening services, and continued to lead all of the student ministry stuff that was going on. And during those three weeks, I learned something: that I was right—I wasn’t capable of pastoring this church. But God truly was capable of using me, in His way and by His power through His indwelling Spirit, to do so. But I had to trust HIM, not myself.

What I faced in my fear was what could be called a crisis of belief. A crisis of belief is when we are faced with the revelation of God’s direction and plan, confirmed through His Word and His work around us and in us, and we have to decide what we believe about Him: whether we can trust Him or not.

The word “trust” doesn’t appear in the story of Joseph. It’s never said. But the narrative of Joseph is absolutely dripping with Joseph’s trust in God. That’s why he’s such a great example for us to look at for our consideration of trust. In examining Joseph’s life, you could easily see how the words of the passage we read from Psalm 62 would fit his faith, even though it is a psalm of David. It’s all about trust.

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines “trust” as a noun as follows:

Trust: n. Confidence; a reliance or resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship or other sound principle of another person.

And when we trust someone (as a verb), we place this kind of confidence in them. Joseph trusted God throughout the pictures that we see in his life in the book of Genesis: he constantly showed his confidence in and his reliance in the character of God. But for Joseph, the phrase in this definition that really resonates for me is “resting of the mind on...” That just really seems to encapsulate the kind of trust that we see in Joseph.

I want to start our study by just looking through Joseph’s life for evidence of his trust in God—his “resting of the mind” on God’s character.

Joseph’s trust in God

Joseph’s life didn’t go the way that either he or his dad thought it was going to go. He had been given those dreams about his brothers bowing down to him, but then everything went south (well, southwest, actually). He ended up in Egypt as a slave. Last week, we looked at Joseph’s generosity throughout his time in Egypt: He was generous with his time, his talents, and his treasures.

If we read the entire Joseph narrative in one sitting, basically Genesis 37-50, we get this great picture of trust in God through a variety of places where we might be faced with a crisis of belief. And it is in those places that Joseph talks about God. We’re going to kind of do a fly-by of these places in Joseph’s life:

Joseph trusted God when he was tempted

Joseph was in the house of Potiphar for years. And as he grew, God blessed him and he was successful. The Bible also says that he was “well-built and handsome.” Unfortunately, Potiphar’s wife notices this as well, and she asks Joseph to commit adultery with her. This could cause a crisis of belief: Which was better: God or Potiphar’s wife?

His response reflects his trust in God:

Genesis 39:9 CSB

9 No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do this immense evil, and how could I sin against God?”

He said that he’s not going to sin against his master, and he’s not going to sin against God. He trusted that God would not want Him to give in to that temptation.

Joseph trusted God when he was troubled

Potiphar’s wife lies and Joseph ends up in prison, as we saw last week. But even there, his generosity continued. But that doesn’t mean that this wasn’t a place where he could have faced a crisis of belief. Was God really going to bring about the dreams that He had given Joseph? Then along came the chief cupbearer and chief baker, with their own dreams. And Joseph points to God as the interpreter of dreams:

Genesis 40:8 CSB

8 “We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

Joseph’s mind was still resting on God’s character, even when he faced the trouble of being wrongly imprisoned.

Joseph trusted God when he was disappointed

When Joseph told the chief cupbearer that he would be restored to his position with Pharaoh, he also made a special request, asking that the cupbearer remember him when when all went well for him. Look at what he said:

Genesis 40:14–15 CSB

14 But when all goes well for you, remember that I was with you. Please show kindness to me by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison. 15 For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should put me in the dungeon.”

Unfortunately, we see that while everything does go well for the cupbearer, he forgets about Joseph once he’s back at his post with Pharaoh. Joseph remains in prison for two years before the cupbearer remembers him. I wonder if this wasn’t his deepest crisis of faith. But still, when he is finally called up to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, we find that God was still the center of his thoughts:

Genesis 41:16 CSB

16 “I am not able to,” Joseph answered Pharaoh. “It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

Joseph trusted God when he was pressured

It’s no small thing that Joseph was asked to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. He had to be right, or he would be at best, thrown back in prison. At worst, he was a dead man. But he knew that God was at work, and that God would give the interpretation. But the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams was a high-pressure thing for another reason: it wasn’t a happy interpretation. But Joseph again trusted God for what to tell Pharaoh, and he confirms that the interpretation was a sure thing three times to Pharaoh:

Genesis 41:25 CSB

25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Genesis 41:28 CSB

28 “It is just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Genesis 41:32 CSB

32 Since the dream was given twice to Pharaoh, it means that the matter has been determined by God, and he will carry it out soon.

Not only this, but then Joseph is put in charge of all Egypt. He has to lead this nation based on this interpretation of these dreams. Again: we might face the crisis here—is this really the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams?

Joseph trusted God when he was blessed

This one seems like perhaps the biggest stretch for a crisis of belief. Do we really face a crisis of belief when things are going well? Certainly. In fact, sometimes it’s easier to take our eyes off of God and put them onto ourselves when we’re seeing blessing of some kind in our lives, as if we are the creators of that blessing, and not the Lord. Joseph was given a wife, and had two sons. When each of his sons were born, Joseph again focuses on what God had done for him:

Genesis 41:51–52 CSB

51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh and said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and my whole family.” 52 And the second son he named Ephraim and said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

Even though he’s successful and blessed, he still sees that Egypt is the “land of [his] affliction.” He still knows that he’s a slave. A slave with a lot of authority, but still a slave. But that doesn’t take his mind off of God.

Joseph trusted God when he could have done things his way

When Joseph’s brothers first came down to Egypt for food, Joseph started a test to see if they had changed in the previous 22 years (yes, 22… about 13 from his being sold into slavery to going to work for Pharaoh, and another nine for the seven years of plenty and the first two years of famine). And when the test was complete, he revealed himself to his changed brothers, giving God the glory for what He had done:

Genesis 45:5–8 CSB

5 And now don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Again, a crisis of belief: did God plan and orchestrate this for His purposes and glory, or should he hate his brothers and take revenge on them now that he has them in a vulnerable state?

And finally, Joseph trusted God when he looked toward the future

The last recorded thing that Joseph said in the Scriptures demonstrates his trust in what God was going to do in the future. He knew that God would deliver the Israelites from Egypt at some point, and when that happened, he wanted his bones to be taken up to the Promised Land with them.

Genesis 50:24–25 CSB

24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will certainly come to your aid and bring you up from this land to the land he swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 25 So Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath: “When God comes to your aid, you are to carry my bones up from here.”

Again, Joseph had to decide if what God had promised was trustworthy, and he decided that it was. He could die in peace, trusting that his bones would later be carried up from Egypt.

Transition to Application

We face all of these same situations in our own lives: temptation, trouble, pressure, blessing… and we face our own points of crisis of belief.

Last week, looked at generosity and its importance. Are we being generous with our time? Could God be calling me to a greater investment of my time in His Kingdom purposes? Are we being generous with our talents and gifts? Again, could God be calling us to get off of the bench and into the game somehow? Then as you prayed and worked through the giving exercise that we looked at last Sunday, maybe you came to a point of crisis: would God really call me to give like that?

The answer is yes. If God wants to do a God-sized work through His people here, so that we create a lasting legacy to pass on to those who are and will be standing on our shoulders, He’s going to call us to generosity for the good of His plan—generosity in all three aspects. And that generosity is going to require trust. But that trust must be in a Person: God Himself. We can’t trust in our pocketbooks, programs, personalities, or persuasiveness. We can only trust in the Person of God to do what must be done, and simply be available for what He wants us to do to join Him in this endeavor.

So we can ask ourselves three questions as we walk through our crisis of belief:

Question 1: “Does God really…?”

The beginning of trusting God is hearing from God. Joseph was sure that he had heard from God, but over and over again, he had to revisit the question of whether he trusted God.

As far as our campaign goes, I’ve shared with you that we’ve been following God through this for the last 2 1/2 years. We knew our building needed work then. We’ve met and prayed and listened and dreamed and studied the Scriptures. But if we haven’t heard from God as a church, then is God calling us to do something God-sized? So the first question that we need to ask ourselves about this is: “Does God really want to do Phase 1, and for us to join Him in it?”

Those who have been involved in the process believe that God has clearly led us to a direction of engaging our neighbors with neighboring moments, leading to the opportunity of sharing the hope of the Gospel so that God’s Kingdom would expand. Why? Because of what the theme verse of our campaign says:

1 Timothy 4:10 CSB

10 For this reason we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

We are on an endeavor to engage our community with the Gospel and to make sure our building will support the church in the future. It needs the roofing, mechanical, electrical, and lighting repairs and improvements to continue to be a place to meet, especially if we’re going to start using the building itself to engage the community through invitations to events.

In Jeremiah 17, the Lord through Jeremiah contrasts the person who trusts in mankind with the person who trusts in Him. Here is what He says about the latter:

Jeremiah 17:7–8 CSB

7 The person who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed. 8 He will be like a tree planted by water: it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit.

Does God really want Eastern Hills to flourish? We believe that He does. Does God really want Eastern Hills to bear fruit? We believe that He does. Are willing to trust Him with our time, talents, and treasure for this purpose?

There is certainly someone hearing this message who hasn’t ever trusted God with his or her life. This first question is for you as well. "Does God really exist? Does God really love me? Does God really want a relationship with me?” The answer to all of those questions is YES! God is real, and He really does love you. In fact, He proved that love for you by sending Jesus to die, taking the punishment that each of us deserves because of our sin… the ways that we rebel against God. Jesus took your place in death so that you could be in a relationship with God through faith. This is the beginning of trusting God.

Question 2: “Will God really…?”

The second question is not about what God wants to do, but about what God actually will do. Throughout Joseph’s life, he had to face this question as well. He had had the dreams. He knew what God had said would happen. But would God come through?

This is the next question that we have to ask as we prepare to enter into this endeavor together: “Will God really do this work through us, and will He provide what we need in order to do this work?”

God has all the resources necessary to do whatever He wants to do, so that’s not the issue. The issue is whether we will actually trust Him to provide what the church family needs AND what we ourselves need at the same time. Will we as a church step forward in faith, believing that God will do this God-sized thing through us?

Do we believe that God can do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to His power that works in us, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 3?

Ephesians 3:20–21 CSB

20 Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Do we believe that God will make our paths straight as we walk with and trust in Him, as Solomon wrote in Proverbs 3:

Proverbs 3:5–6 CSB

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.

Church family, we stand confident today that God can and will do an incredible work through this church as we join Him in His plans and purposes. He’s already started! We can trust that He is going to finish it!

Again, for someone who has never trusted in God for his or her salvation, you might be asking the question: “Will God really save me?” And the answer to that question is YES. If you trust in what Jesus has done to save you, not your own cleverness or morality or righteousness, surrendering in faith to Him as Savior and Lord, He will save you. No, you can never deserve it, so God gives it to us freely when we turn from our rebellion and turn to Him to save us.

Question 3: “Do I really…?”

The final question that we have to face as we consider a crisis of belief is really about what we believe about God. Joseph over and over again stated his trust in the character and working of God in his life. He was supremely confident in God’s hand in his life.

This third question is where the rubber meets the road. “Do I believe my answers to questions 1 and 2? Do I actually trust God?” A crisis of belief doesn’t just ask us what we think about the situation we face—it forces us to consider what we actually believe about God. Henry Blackaby and Claude King wrote this in Experiencing God:

“When God invites you to join Him in His work, He has a God-sized assignment for you. You will realize that you cannot do it on your own. If God doesn’t help you, you will fail. This is the crisis point where many decide not to follow what they sense God is leading them to do… The crisis of belief is a turning point where you must make a decision. You must decide what you believe about God.”

—Henry T. Blackaby & Claude V. King, Experiencing God

So we have to face the question of whether we actually trust God to do the thing we say that we believe He can do. This was the place in my own crisis of belief that I struggled because of my fear. But the Scriptures tell us of the confidence and peace that show up in the lives of those who trust in Him:

Psalm 28:7 CSB

7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart celebrates, and I give thanks to him with my song.

Isaiah 12:2 CSB

2 Indeed, God is my salvation; I will trust him and not be afraid, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation.”

Isaiah 26:3–4 CSB

3 You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, because in the Lord, the Lord himself, is an everlasting rock!

We can trust God to be all that He says He is. That He will do all He says that He will do. That He will provide. That He will move. That He will work. So we can step confidently into His purpose, trusting in Him to lead us where He wants us to go in the future. When we step out in faith and obedience, we don’t just experience God’s work. We experience walking with God Himself, and that strengthens us for the next God-sized task that He has in store for us. He’s always faithful, and we can always trust Him!

And if you’ve never trusted Christ, you might be thinking of your own question: “Do I believe and trust the Gospel?” Will, I pray that you do. Paul wrote about the simplicity of coming to faith in Christ in Romans:

Romans 10:9 CSB

9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Confession is to declare that Jesus is your Lord (not just to say the words, but to declare them as truth). Jesus died, yes, but He also rose from the dead, beating death in our place, so we could be saved. If we trust, surrendering to Jesus as Savior and Lord, we will be saved.

Closing

When I faced my crisis of belief about being called to the pastorate, it took God kind of baptizing me by fire to work through it. I had to surrender and trust His work and His power by His Spirit to experience His plans and His presence. Does God really want to move Eastern Hills into the future? Will God really provide for all we need to make that a reality? Yes, and yes! Do we really trust that He can and will do great things through Eastern Hills? If you trust the Lord, can you answer “yes” with me? All together now: “Yes!”

For those of you who’ve never surrendered, trusting in God to save you, forms of these questions apply to you. Does God really want to save you? Yes. Will God save you through the sacrifice of Christ? Yes. The last question is your response: Do you really trust in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for your eternal hope? I pray that you can answer Yes to that this morning. If you can, we’d love to know about it so we can celebrate with you. Come and let one of us know, or if you’re online, send me an email to bill@ehbc.org so we can help you as you start on this journey of trust in Christ. If you have questions about salvation, we’d love to help you find those answers as well.

Church membership

Prayer needs

Offering

PRAYER

Closing Remarks

Bible reading 1 Chronicles 3 today

Don’t forget the Sweet Extra Hour of Prayer tonight at 5:30.

Prayer Meeting

Endeavor giveaway: Stickers and brochures, prayer devos

Instructions for guests

Benediction

1 Timothy 4:10 CSB

10 For this reason we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

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