Camp Joy - Monday Night
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
This week we’re learning about how we can become “friends” with God and what God has done so that we can not just be friends, but become apart of His forever family.
Think about your best friend. What are some things that make someone a good friend?
Trustworthy
Nice
Enjoy being around them
Dependable
Similar interests
This week we’re going to see who God is. He is good, wise, holy, perfect, all-powerful, and dependable. This is good news! But there’s a problem.
Many people in our world don’t believe that we have a problem. Lots of people think that they are perfect just the way that they are. That they have no weaknesses or imperfections or flaws. What does the Bible tell us about ourselves? What is our greatest problem?
SIN!
Sin separates us from God
Many people in our world disagree with this. They think that they are good enough and don’t need God’s help. They have faith in themselves or something else. We all have faith in something. Whenever you got in the pavilion tonight, you sat down and when you did, you placed your faith in that chair and you believed that it was going to hold you up so that you wouldn’t fall down! We all place our faith in something! This week, we’re going to see the importance of placing our faith in God and how that is the only way to have our greatest problem of sin solved. Tonight and the next few nights, we’re going to be in Hebrews 11 which is often called the Hall of Faith, and we’re going to see 15 examples of what faith is and what faith does. As one pastor once shared, “It is not great faith, but true faith that saves.” This week, we want to make sure that we all have placed our faith in Jesus Christ. That we trust in Him. That we believe in what He did for us on the cross. That we live for Him.
Let’s read tonight from the first 7 verses of Hebrews
1 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.
2 For by this our ancestors were approved.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.
5 By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God.
6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
What makes these people great is not their works. In fact, these people aren’t that great. What is great is their God in Whom they have faith in and our God creates us for good works - so faith in God leads to works for God. As we prepare our hearts to study this text, ask yourself this question: What am I producing today?
Biblical Faith Makes a Difference (1-3)
Biblical Faith Makes a Difference (1-3)
We all have faith in something…
For us to understand what faith is, we have to understand the words that show up after it - reality and proof. Faith is more than fleeting feeling or positive outlook. Faith is not something found in looking to self, either. Biblical faith is a call to trust in something outside of yourself. We have certainty - not hope or chance or luck… certainty! When God makes a promise, we can be certain that it will come to pass. Have you ever had someone break a promise? Has that made it difficult to believe that person later on? Here’s some good news! God doesn’t break His promises. When the Bible says something, we can be sure that the Bible is right. Look at this promise in John 14:6
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
What is this promise? There is 1 way to God! How? Through Jesus Christ. That’s the only way. We can be certain and sure of this because Jesus said it! Some people don’t believe what Jesus says because they think that He is just like every other person who sometimes lets us down. They think that Jesus might not be right. But we read in the Bible that Jesus is fully-God and fully-man. Jesus can’t lie. Jesus doesn’t break His promises. Jesus always comes through! We can place our faith in Jesus knowing that He is right and never lets us down. In other words, we can have faith because the Bible doesn’t change. Jesus doesn’t change.
Hebrews 11:1 gives us a description of what faith does. It looks ahead and it looks behind. When we say that we have faith in God it doesn’t mean that we’re perfect or that we have it all figured out. It means that we have confidence in what God has done in the past and we believe in what God promises to do in the future. We trust in God and we obey God. Several years ago there was a pastor named Adrian Rogers who said this, “Faith is belief with legs on it - faith does something.” Let’s try this out - everyone stand up!
Do you believe that your chair will hold you up? Do you have faith? I don’t really know if you have faith until you actually put your faith into action and sit down in the chair! See, what you believe in, you live by.
What are some crazy examples of faith that you’ve heard of before?
Example of person saying that they have faith that they can fly and jumping off of a skyscraper. That’s foolish - not faithfulness
Biblical faith is confidence in the facts of God’s Word, even though we can’t always see those things with our own eyes. Were any of you alive whenever Jesus walked the earth? That was 2,000 years ago! Were we there whenever God made the earth? No way! But we believe those things by faith. We see evidence of those things in our world and as we look at God’s Word. This is why a Christian can trust in God in difficult situations in life because they have confidence in God’s Word. They believe that God has a plan for them. They believe that God has saved them and that, one day, they will be with Him forever. Just because you’re a Christian and have faith in God, it doesn’t mean that everything will go your way. But it does mean that you can trust in God’s way, even if you don’t get your way.
One of the best examples of faith is in Daniel 3 with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego as they were told they had to worship a gold statue, or be thrown into the fiery furnace
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question.
17 If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king.
18 But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”
This is faith. Telling others about God. Knowing God’s power. Having confidence in the Bible. And doing what is right, even if doing the right thing is costly. There are some things in life that are wrong, but lots of people say that they are actually right. There are some things that are right and lots of people say that those things are actually wrong. We can’t base right or wrong based on what the majority of people tell us. We have to go to the Bible first and let the Bible help us see what is right and what is wrong. For Daniel and his friends, they lived in a world where people believed in a whole lot of gods, they did things that weren’t what the Bible said to do - do you think that they were tempted to go with the flow and do those things too? Are you ever tempted to do something you know is wrong just because some other people around you at school are doing it? This happens to all of us! What is our hope in these tough times? God! In life, we don’t have to wait and see what is popular or what someone else says we should do - we can know what to do as we look at God’s Word and live out what the Bible says. We’re going to make mistakes. We won’t be perfect. But we have a perfect God. We have a faithful Savior. It is the object, not the strength, of our faith that saves us.
Faith makes a difference in the way that we think, talk, and act. It changes the way that we view this world and the way that we go through difficult times in life. We believe in what we can’t see, not because it’s random, but because we trust in our God and we obey His Word. As we have faith, we are filled with hope at all times.
Biblical Faith Must be Demonstrated (4-7)
Biblical Faith Must be Demonstrated (4-7)
Faith makes a difference… but this faith must be demonstrated. How do you know if someone is a Kansas City Chiefs fan or not?
They wear a jersey, have gone to a game, know about the team, something along those lines
How do you know if someone has faith in God or not?
Our faith in God leads to works for God.
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
We’re not saying that our works save us. But we are saying this, if we say that we have faith in God, we will live a different life. A life that trusts in God and His Word. A life where sometimes we don’t do what is popular or easy, but what is hard. It’s not enough to just know some Bible stories or to know what faith is… we must have faith and we must live for Christ. In Hebrews 11, we see lots of examples of people who do exactly this. They have faith in God and they live for God. Let’s look at our 3 examples tonight as they demonstrate their faith
Abel trusts in God
Enoch walks with God
Noah stands with God
Think back to the story of Abel and his brother Cain in the book of Genesis. We see that Cain and brought “some” of the produce from the land and Abel brought the firstborn of his livestock. Why was Abel’s sacrifice accepted by God? Because if was offered in faith. Abel gave to God his very best because he trusted in the Lord. He obeyed because he trusted. Let me ask you this, as you think about your life, would other people say that you trust in God based on how you obey God’s Word? This is what the Bible tells us to do in Romans 12:1-2
1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
Why would we come to camp and come to church and do things that sometimes aren’t easy to do? Sure, Camp Joy is an awesome week and we have lots of fun. But ultimately, we do these things because it’s a way to worship God. Look at Hebrews 11:4 - even though Abel is dead, his life still speaks through his faith. Your life shares a message with those around you. We read in the Bible that Abel was the first person ever to die, but his life still speaks thousands of years later because of his trust and faith in God. This defined his life and we remember him today because he had faith in God. What about you and me? If you had to pick one word to describe your life today, what would that word be? Lots of people in our world would love to use words like “rich”, “famous”, “popular”, “influencer”, or “trending” but the Bible tells us that our goal should be to hear one word “FAITHFUL” - when that is your goal, to trust in God and to be faithful to Him, other people will see that because you will stand out. One way we demonstrate our faith in God is by trusting in God and doing things His way, like Abel did.
Second, we see Enoch. Enoch doesn’t show up very much in the Bible, but we read in Genesis that he walked with God and that God took him from the earth. He lived a life that pleased God. That’s quite a statement, isn’t it? How can you and I please God?
By trusting in God and obeying His Word
Psalm 1 talks about this
1 How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!
2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.
Enoch submitted to God’s plan and walked with the Lord. How? Because of his faith. He wasn’t perfect, but He desired to please God.
6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
The only way to please God is to have faith in God! The faith that pleases God first believes that God exists and knows that God rewards those who seek Him.
Third, we see Noah. What is the big thing that Noah did? He built the Ark! Why did Noah build the Ark? Because God told him to do it and he had faith in God. He didn’t fully understand what was going to happen… but he had faith in God and he did what God said. In the midst of a world that was evil and disobeying God, Noah stood with God. The Bible says that he was a preacher of righteousness. He was telling people to repent from sin and to turn to God instead. He stood with God and this meant that he stood out from the other people around him. Understand this guys, whenever you become a friend of God, you also become an enemy of the world. Whenever you stand on God’s Word, you will stand out from a godless world. Are you prepared for that cost?
Faith will make you stand out. Biblical faith must be demonstrated - it’s not enough to say that we’re good and we believe in God… even the demons know about God. They believe in His existence. They acknowledge that He’s real and powerful. They even know Bible stories and Bible verses! But they aren’t saved. What, then, is saving faith? Here’s a working definition, “Biblical faith is confidence in the promises of God that leads ordinary people to action and results in various earthly outcomes but always results in the applause of our Father in heaven.” Get this, as you demonstrate your faith in God, you’re not promised that things will go your way - see this chapter as an example! But you are promised this if you live a life of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus will tell you “Well Done.” This means that we talk differently. We think differently. We act differently. And it’s all because of Jesus!
We live in a confusing and hopeless world that is struggling to find something worth putting our faith in. People let us down. Promises are broken. Your generation has been through so much change with COVID and everything else the last few years. In a world like this what we need is an anchor and a group of people to encourage us and support us in this fight. Hebrews tells us that Jesus is our anchor. He holds us fast. He seeks, saves, and satisfies. He brings us into His body with other believers and we encourage one another as we go throughout our life. See, the goal of Christianity isn’t to make you a better person. The goal of Christianity is for you and I to become new people and that is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ.
Maybe you are here at camp this year and you don’t have faith in God. Maybe you’ve come to camp before or church before and you’ve heard about God. You’ve heard about how God sent His Son, Jesus, to this world to live a perfect life and to take our sins so that we could be saved. You’ve heard this story, but possibly you haven’t responded to it. You don’t have faith in Jesus. You haven’t trusted in Him. Understand, we must have faith in God to become friends with God. We can’t just do a lot of good things and we can’t earn our own way… we have to acknowledge that we have sinned and fallen short and we must place our faith in Jesus and what He did for us. We must have faith in Jesus
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—
9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
If you are here this evening and you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and you’re living for Him today, my challenge for you is this: Can people see your faith in action? What evidence do people have to say that you are a Christian? Who do you know that does not have faith in God?
Tonight we’re going to spend a minute or two in prayer and I’m going to challenge you all to pray specifically for someone you know who doesn’t have faith in Jesus. Maybe that’s a parent or a sibling. Maybe that’s a friend. Maybe that person is you. We’re going to write that name down on a sticky note and place that on the cross, and this week as we study more about faith in God and how we can be apart of God’s family through Jesus Christ, we’re going to pray for these names on this cross.
Faith is found in Jesus - let’s pray to Him tonight and ask Him to save our friends, and change our hearts