Stepping Out in Faith

Remind everyone about Sunday nights. 6pm- Spiritual Formation and talking about maturing in our faith. We’ve been looking at the temptations that we are offered by this world and what tools God has given us to combat those temptations. Specifically tonight we are looking at the temptation of finding or value in what others think about us verses where God tells us our value comes from and how do we combat the lies of the enemy. What spiritual disciplines can we put into practice to help us defeat the people pleasing temptation of celebrity. So I hope to see you out here tonight at 6pm, we open with a few songs of worship and then we dive right into the scriptures.

Prayer

RECAP: Last week we started a Sermon Series called

THE GOOD WORK

Talking about how we are called to do good work. And the verse inspiration for this sermon series is

Ephesians 2:8–10 NIV

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We are created to do the good work that God has prepared for us! But we don’t do the good work in an effort to earn God’s favor or to earn our salvation…no that is a gift that was and is freely offered through faith in Christ alone, but once we are saved…there should be something within us that has changed and there will be a fruit of good work produced from us because we are now made right in God’s sight through Jesus.

In other words…we don’t have to the good work, we get to do the good work. It’s a get to not a have to...

And to illustrate this concept for us we are looking at the life of Nehemiah in the Old Testament. Nehemiah, the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes.

And to catch us up on where we are in history. 140 years before the events of Nehemiah,

MAP SLIDE

587 BC—Nebuchadnezzar/Babylonians attacked Jerusalem Destroyed city—Temple—Babylonians took Jewish people captive.

And 90 years before the events of Nehemiah, some of them were released under King Cyprus to go back and led by Zerrubabel they began to rebuild Jerusalem. But things were not going well.

There was no wall, there was no protection, there was no leadership. There was little hope, and as we talked about last week…God will often break our heart for the injustices that break his so that we can stand up and do something about it.

And that often begins with siting in the pain. Allowing ourselves to feel and that should push us to fast and pray about the situation.

Which catches us up to this week. With a message I’m calling Stepping out in Faith. When God’s Timing meets Man’s Courage

Nehemiah 2:1–8 “1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” 6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time. 7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.”

When, How and Why do we step out in faith? What is it that calls us to do something about the injustice that breaks our hearts?

And so we should start with the first question…It’s a question about timing, specifically God’s timing.

Nehemiah 2:1 NIV

1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before,

Timing- How do you know when the time is right to make a move?

Your hearts been broken. You’ve taken the time to fast and pray.

Remember Nehemiah had taken 4 months between the time he heard about the news until now when he is before the King, ready to ask for help.

Now there are some commentators who believe that this 4 month hiatus was because the King travelled for the winter and Nehemiah wasn’t with him during his journey or maybe Nehemiah just waited 4 months and kept what was going on inside his heart a secret until this time. But no matter the reason…the timing was already set in motion. This day was the day that God’s plan would begin.

Timing is tricky. And we as human beings can often use it as an excuse for inactivity. Well it just didn’t feel like the right time.

But if we are to believe that God has planted passion within our hearts to do the good work he has called us to then we must also believe that God’s timing is opportune.

God’s timing is always best.

God’s plans are worked out with the utmost precision.

All throughout the scriptures we see phrases like, In due time, the fullness of time, for such a time as this, in the appointed time, or Jesus saying, my time has not yet come. It is not for us to know the times or seasons the father has prepared…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.

God is not slow in fulfilling his promise as some might believe.

No God is a God who knows every intricate detail. And like a master craftsman, he is busy behind the scenes making sure that each loop of the chain is falling right into place.

God often shows up at the time of urgent need.

God generally shows up and intercedes at the precise moment of urgent need.

That is what happened here.

Nehemiah 2:2 NIV

2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid,

We don’t fully grasp how big of a deal this was. Nehemiah recounts…I was very much afraid.

Why? Well because the whole job of being the cupbearer was to take burdens off of the king, not to place more on him.

That and in the tradition of eastern kings, it was not cool, like loose your head not cool, to bring bad news to the King

And here Nehemiah is caught. He was saddened before the king and he had a choice to make.

He could lie…he could stuff the pain…he could fake being sick, or he could trust that this was the timing that God had ordained in his great wisdom for Nehemiah to ask what has been burdening him for the past 4 months.

Nehemiah 2:3 NIV

3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

And so Nehemiah decided to trust God and take a courageous step of faith.

God’s moving requires human co-operation.

Courage- Isn’t the absence of fear…it is the pressing through in the face of fear.

Nehemiah 2:4 NIV

4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven,

quick prayers help

But this is because the hard work of preparation and spending time with God had already been done.

I think one of the major problems with the church in america is we have way too many short prayers and not nearly enough fasting and praying for months before hand.

We throw up the prayers right before the test, though we didn’t take the time to invest before hand.

God help me pass.

God let me win.

God give her strength.

God be with Joe

There is nothing wrong with those prayers in and of themeselves. They can help us get the courage we need to stand our ground and to do the right thing, but if those are the only prayers we are offering and we haven’t sat at the feet of our heavenly father, do you think he will honor those prayers?

I do think in this situation with Nehemiah though, this is exactly what He needed to take a step of faith.

If we are going to do the good work that God is calling us to do, we need to be willing to take a step of faith. We need the courage to face the fear and respond in faith.

Over and over again, God encourages us in his word to take courage. Do not fear, Take heart, i have overcome. Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous. Stand your ground.

Faith isn’t the absence of fear. It is facing the fear and choosing to trust that God is with you, and that He will show up in your time of need.

I cannot think of a better example illustrating faith than a scene from Indiana Jones, the Last Crusade.

INDY CLIP

Nehemiah 2:5 NIV

5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

Illustration: My journey into pastoral ministry. Accident was my wake up call. God’s timing. The next right thing, the next step was to go to school.

Take a step of faith and start the process, whatever it is your being called to do.

Stepping Out to do something requires Clear Vision and Goals

know what you are going to ask for and don’t be afraid to ask for it.

Nehemiah 2:5–8 NIV

5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” 6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time. 7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.

Not everyone is called to be a leader, but everyone is called to take steps of faith.

It could be something big, starting a new ministry for veterans or prison guards, getting out of debt by 2025,

It could be something smaller, like getting your drivers license or applying for a new job.

Whatever God is calling you to do, the more specific you can drill down on what your asking God for and what you need the better.

And it is amazing to see how God shows up.

Craig Groscel- pastor of LifeChurch and leadership expert often says,

“For most people, it’s not a lack of caring that’s your problem, It’s a lack of clarity! If you can’t define it, you can’t do it.” - Craig Groschel

It could be a big thing that you have no idea where to start.

But if God has impressed on you something that you need to do for him and his kingdom, the first thing you have to do is have an idea of where you are going. He can take it from there and turn it into whatever he wants.

I had no idea 11 years ago that I would be serving God in one of his most beautiful areas in our state with some of the best people but that is where he has brought me and my family. All I knew is he was asking me to be faithful to take a step of faith.

Funny thing, about 6 months ago I had an impression that God was going to start using me to speaking at Game Dinners. It was one of those impressions that I see God can use me in that ministry but I felt it wasn’t my time to pursue it just yet. But to just sit back and wait for his timing.

Well, believe it or not, just 2 days ago I was invited to speak at my first game dinner, at the church of one of my old youth group students that he now serves as the lead pastor of.

Never in my wildest dreams when I first met that student 15 years ago did I think that God would take him on the journey that he has taken him and placed him in full time minstry serving the kingdom but he has. and now he is moving and setting things up in ways that is just uncanny. Some would say coincidental, but we know that there are no such things as coincidence in the Kingdom of Heaven. There is only God’s providence.

So how is God calling you to start the good work? Is he calling you to take a step of faith?

Into the Unknown.

A Journey…Into the Unknown (Faith)-

On of my girls favorite films is Frozen 2. It’s a disney movie about Elsa and Anna. And Elsa hears a voice calling her to take a journey. A journey into the unknown. Into the Unknown…

It’s a great story of faith. Going after something even though you are not sure what the outcome will be.

If we take a moment and think about the wise men who came to find the baby Jesus in Matthew 2:1–10, we will find a great example of stepping out into faith.

Imagine for a second asking these men before they left…

Where are you going exactly? We don’t know. How will you find them? Not sure about that either. How long will you be gone? Emm. That is yet to be determined. “Wow, for wise men you guys don’t know very much do you?”

The wise men didn’t have a lot of information in front of them. Though there was evidence in Scripture and the star itself, there was no 100% proof that they would find the King they were looking for. But they believed. We see evidence of this in their journey and also in verse 2 when they ask Herod “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Faith is taking a journey even though you are not sure what the outcome will be. It’s trusting that God is calling out to you.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.

And without faith it is impossible to please God.

Like the Wisemen, each of us must go on a journey of faith to discovering Jesus. We have to trust that God is calling out and we can answer him by placing our faith in Him.

And you can start that faith journey today.

Altar call