Don’t Forget About Faith
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Simple Faith
Simple Faith
Introduction:
Introduction:
Good morning everyone! I hope most of you are doing well this morning. I praise God that you are here in Church, and I thank God for allowing me to visit you all this morning. Thank you for receiving me!
For those of you who haven’t met me, my name is Nate Goad. My wife is also here with me. Her name is Ileana. She is sitting right over there. And Praise God, tomorrow He will have given us 6 months of marriage. Only half a year in, but I thank God for placing her so uniquely in my life!
Like I said, it is a privilege for me to be here this morning. And any time I get to share with others, it is my desire to speak about the things which God has recently been reminding and teaching me of.
With that being said, I want to discuss the subject of faith!
I think it is all too easy for us as God’s people to get really passionate about our salvation at the beginning, we are “on-fire” for God. We want to tell others about it and we want be active.
And if we are all honest, this bright burning flame will slowly die out. We get busy with work and things at home. We start getting focused on what others think about us and how we good we appear compared to others. And before you know it, we develop a sense of legalism…
We look down on others, and compare ourselves to them in an effort to feel good about ourselves. We lose a sense of what first brought us to the Lord… that is a life resembling faith.
You see, faith is much more than a one and done decision that a person can make. It is a commitment and a lifestyle.
A total change of who you are. The bible puts it this way:
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
This “new you” is one that is marked by faith in Christ!
Well, before I go any further, I think it is only fair to define what faith is.
Here is what the bible says:
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Here we see that faith is something that gives us complete confidence when there is no tangible evidence in front of us. We can be entirely sure of something when we cannot see it or touch it.
Likewise, faith is described in scripture as the means of our salvation. It is the gateway to eternal life. Faith in what though? That is the key part. Faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
So with these things in mind, I want to elaborate on multiple aspects of Faith with you for a bit today.
Let’s start with 3 examples of simple faith that gain the eyes and attention of Jesus in Luke 7-9
#1 - The Centurion -
1 When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.
2 And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die.
3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.
4 When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him;
5 for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.”
6 Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof;
7 for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
8 “For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
9 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”
10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
I think a few things stick out here:
Notice the attitude of those coming to tell Jesus about the centurion and the centurion’s message.
The people say: He is a good man, a friend of our country, and he is worthy for you to come and visit him.
The Centurion said: I am unworthy for you to step foot in my house, I am not even worthy to appear before you myself and thats why i sent a messenger to tell you.
Do you find yourself feeling like you deserve good things from God? Do you feel qualified or worthy to receive attention from others, or a position of leadership to be noticed?
This man as grand as he was recognized his place before Jesus…Unworthy.
In addition, let’s notice the content of his message to Jesus:
Just “say the word”, and I know your word of authority will mean the healing of my servant.
What was Jesus’ response? He marveled… Jesus hadn’t found a single person in all of Israel who displayed such “great faith” as Jesus would call it.
Might I ask you (and even myself), when was the last time that you displayed such great faith that you might leave your Savior marveling?
Thats a convicting question…
Let’s look at our second example:
36 Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.
37 And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume,
38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”
40 And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.”
41 “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
42 “When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.”
44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
45 “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.
46 “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.
47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
48 Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”
49 Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”
50 And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Again we see Jesus highlight the faith of a woman who was actually known by people as a “sinner”. Likely she may have been a prostitute.
This woman saw her need and went to the feet of Jesus. On the contrast, neither the Pharisee nor those reclining at the table with him saw how needy they like this woman were. They should have been at His feet also, but they did not see their need.
“Sometimes we equate giftedness and confidence with faith. We sometimes expect faith to come from strength. But truly great faith can only come from weakness since it is essentially a dependence on God, not a dependence on our abilities, logic, or perceptions.”
Are you acutely aware of your inability and therefore put your entire confidence in Christ?
For what do you need to abandon all hope in yourself and place your hope fully on the Lord?
An element of faith is recognizing how entirely weak we are on our own. To see our neediness. Only then can we turn to the Lord to exhibit true faith.
The third example I want us to see is: Luke 8:40-48
40 And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.
41 And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house;
42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.
43 And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone,
44 came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.
45 And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.”
46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.”
47 When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed.
48 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
“Once again we see that faith can only be exercised from a position of weakness that has been acknowledged and which prompts us to reach out to the Lord for help, not just because its the right thing to do but because its the only thing we can do! The application of these passages continues to be the same: surrender and reach out to the Lord in FAITH. Just like the woman in this story , he will not miss you in the crowd!”
So far we have seen a Roman Centurion (what would be seen as a foreigner), a “sinful woman”, and then a woman who has been sick for 12 years and likely would be unable to participate in any kind of social or spiritual activities due to her “uncleanliness” as seen by the law.
These are three unlikely candidates to be recorded in scripture and held by Christ in high esteem due to their faith.
But thats often the case isn’t it! Jesus is often found saving and helping the most unexpected. Perhaps a little like you and me.
Let’s compare this to another example: Luke 8:22-25
22 Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out.
23 But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger.
24 They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm.
25 And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”
Here his disciples are unfortunately rebuked by Christ because of their stunning lack of faith. They have witnessed countless miracles including some that we just read about. Yet they are quick to respond in fear and a lack of faith.
This is perhaps the most relatable scenario.
Saving Faith
Saving Faith
So we have looked at faith on display through simple and ordinary people.
We have learned that faith depends on us being emptied of ourselves and seeing a need for God. It does not require strength. In fact, humility and weakness are prerequisetes for genuine faith to be displayed.
Along with this we must understand that faith is the gateway to receiving Christ. Look at:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Salvation from sins and the gift of eternal life are achieved by the grace of God through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. And they are accessed by us through FAITH.
This was God’s design. Why? So that we have no reason to boast in ourselves as though we have earned it. It is a gift of God.
Another great passage I want to consider is Matthew 18:3
3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
I bring up this verse to remind you that the act of faith in calling upon God for Salvation is not as mysterious or difficult as people can make it sound. This isn’t something you need to wander through your life looking to discover the meaning of.
Jesus says that our faith should be simple and genuine. Like the attitude of a child. When Children are little and just beginning to understand the world, they are quick to believe what they are told. There is a lack of skepticism. They believe what their parents tell them.
Likewise, we should quickly and genuinely believe and obey our Father.
This faith is called Child-like. Not a child-ish faith. There is a difference. Not a foolishness based faith, but one that is trusting and believing.
Even a child could understand the gospel and be saved (they don’t have to have a full theology developed to see their weakness and understand their need for Christ to save them).
So we have seen:
Jesus encourages a faith for the simple and unlikely!
Jesus presents a faith that saves you from your sin!
Finally, I want to talk about a faith that pleases.
Pleasing Faith
Pleasing Faith
Hebrews 11:6 tell us:
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Scripture is clear that once we have called upon the Lord for salvation, we aren’t finished…
We are to live a life by faith.
In fact, it is impossible to do anything pleasing in God’s sight when there is not faith associated. We must have faith in His existence and in His promise to reward those who seek Him (and this rewarding is not always financial!)
This is perhaps where a lot of us are at right now.
Are we living our daily life based on faith?
What happens when you get that news from the doctor, when you lose a loved one, when you lose your job, when your heart is broken?
Will you walk by faith?
Or on the other side of things, what will you do when life is great? When you have all you need and most of what you want. Life is good!
Will you still walk by faith and value God above all your stuff and the blessings in your life? Will you remember him, and just as quickly drop to his feet in worship like the immoral woman we just read about?
Look at what Paul says in Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Paul lived the “Crucified Life” by identifying himself entirely in Christ. Jesus was his identity…his heartbeat.
He recognized that he was still walking with his temptations and limitations as a human, but the kind of life he lived was one by faith in Jesus Christ. His faith dominated the way he thought, the way he acted, the things he said, the work he labored tirelessly for.
If I was to guess, most of us are in this stage of life where we are called to “run the race”!
As is true of all Christians, we have seasons of up and down in our nearness to Christ. But what will allow us to do our best at running in this race?
The key is Faith! We must believe in God and His faithfulness to see us through. That all things will work together for our good and His glory. We must hold fast to this with all our heart.
With the amount of people in here today, I would likely assume that some of us…if we are honest… are in a “spiritual-slump”.
If you find yourself this way, then let’s go back to the basics. The ABC’s of the Christian Life!
Remember what we saw in Luke 7-9:
Jesus offers Faith to the simple and humble
Jesus offers a saving faith
Jesus wants us to live a “pleasing faith”
And how were the people in these chapters able to display a faith that left Jesus in Wonder?
They recognized their needs and inability. Then they came to Christ in search for help!
As I am about to wrap up my word of encouragement, I want to share a short story with you.
One to two times a year, I raise meat chickens. I have a value for clean meat and clean food. This is especially important for my health with the multiple conditions I already have. I also love to do this for my family so that they have good food too.
So I am willing to work harder and pay more. I buy all-organic chicken feed. I have to drive about an hour and some away to pick up over 1/2 ton of chicken feed. Then I raise the birds day by day. Cleaning up their wood chips while they are young. Consistently feeding them food and water.
Once they reach 3 weeks of age, they move out onto pasture. I put them in their new mobile homes called “chicken-tractors”. Perhaps this term is familiar with some of you. It is basically a mobile coop that allows me to move them onto fresh grass everyday. They then eat fresh grass and dig for bugs while being fed supplemental organic feed.
Last year, I built the chicken tractors from old barnwood materials. I wanted to save money and repurpose some wood. So I tore down a barn with the help of my dad, brother-in-laws and a good friend. It took us about a week to take apart the barn, but I finally had all the materials I needed.
You know what the problem with this was? Old barn wood is reallyyyyy heavy. They used actual 2x4s true to its measurement. And this hard wood is really heavy. So it was rather difficult for me to move them all summer long. Really difficult.
So this summer, I decided to completely tear them apart. I unscrewed everything… this in and of itself was so painful to do because of how much work I had put into everything.
But I recognized that if I was to improve upon last year. and be able to move the chickens with more ease, then the job needed to be done.
So over the course of about a month, I used my few days off of work to rebuild them all again. I cut the board down to a 1/4 of their original thickness and got rid of all unnecessary weight.
After a lot of sweat, much frustration and a nice farmer’s tan, I completed the new chicken tractors.
When this year’s batch of 115/120 chickens arrived, I was in much better shape to move them across pasture.
In fact, everything with the chickens was going really smoothly. There were very few chicks that died during the first few days (which is the common time to experience some losses). Along with that, the chickens were growing faster than normal, less aggressive at feeding time, and I was moving them across the field with much greater ease…
Then…we got to this past Thursday morning…
I got up early to feed the chickens before work. And as I ride up to them in the back field… I find one of the chicken tractors completely crushed. It had been torn and ripped apart by a bear. Almost all of the wooden boards were broken in half, the wire fencing torn off, and a line of dead chickens led me to the woods.
This was a rough morning!
I called my family and asked them to come up and help me round up the rest of the chickens that were hiding beneath the tarp and broken pieces that made up what was left of my new chicken tractor. We had to move the rest of them into a fenced-in area.
I needed to close down our store that day and stay home to try to re-build the tractor for a 3rd time now.
I called the VA Conservation Police to ask what I should do. Their best recommendation was to use electric fencing and quick, because bears are getting more aggressive at this time of year for food. They are preparing for hibernation and want to fill up their bellies before winter. Knowing that there wash fresh and organic chicken on the property, it was extremely likely that they would return.
And I’m legally unable to shoot the bear without a permit. So we applied for the permit that day, but didn’t hear back.
After working all day, the tractor was rebuilt using more barn materials cut to the proper thickness.
We finally were ready to put the chickens back into their tractor. When all of a sudden it begins to thunder, lightning, down pour with rain.
So here we are as a whole family, including my pregnant sister, carrying chicken after chicken back to their tractor.
We wait for the rain to die down and then begin setting up the electric fencing. We were told that the solar panel for the electric netting came fully charged….However as the sun sets and we are now standing out in the dark…the panel DID NOT come fully charged. When I touched the fence, it was like a small zap. Significantly less powerful than a shock collar for a dog. A small pulse that my finger could hardly feel… This probably wouldn’t keep out one of my nephews, much less a hungry bear.
So out of desperation, I would drive up into the field at night and honk my car horn in an attempt to scare away the bear.
I did this multiple times, all while carrying my shotgun with non-lethal rubber bullets.
Let me tell you something!!!!!
That night I was desperate and I was tossing and turning in bed. I basically spent the whole night in prayer for those little chickens.
I would just barely fall asleep only to dream of something happening again, and then I’d wake back up and resume my prayer where I drifted off earlier.
I mentally felt like I could not go through the process of having to fix the tractor again if something should happen… and we could not afford to keep losing chickens.
SO you better believe that I was PRAY…ING!!!
Thank the Lord, the next morning I got up and found the chickens unharmed.
The next night, I did the same thing by honking the horn before bed. More nightmares and more prayers followed again.
Once again the Lord protected them.
So why did I go through the work of just explaining in detail everything that happened with my chickens?
Because in reflection of what has happened this week. With only being 2 weeks away from processing these chickens and having raised my most successful batch yet… I was brought to sudden sense of desperation and weakness. In reviewing and finalizing my sermon I came to a humbling thought….When was the last time I realized such weakness in myself that I turned to God in complete desperation and faith? Having something out of my control and giving it all to God.
When was the last time that I confessed sin in such desperation because I know how much it grieves the Holy Spirit?
When was the last time I desired someone else’s salvation so much that I came to God in weakness and begged Him in faith to save that person?
When was the last time I called upon the Lord in humility to provide for the needs of my family and loved ones?
Yet when something like a few chickens are threatened, my whole world (and that of my family’s) came to a screeching STOP!!!!!
Why has something so temporal and earthly caused me to pray in desperation and in trust, but not that of the eternal?
Perhaps this sounds familiar for your own life?
I want to offer you one more word of encouragement from the book of Hebrews:
The author here spends nearly a whole chapter recounting the men and women of faith throughout the Old Testament and the way they chose to live by faith. Here he gets towards the end. I pick up in verse 37:
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Here is the word of encouragement:
If you do not know the Lord. If you have never called upon Him for salvation and forgiveness of sins, then I offer you good news today!
Faith is for the simple! and Jesus offers a faith that can Save your very soul! Will you look past yourself? Will you humble yourself and see your need for a Savior? If so, you can know a love and a forgiveness that you have never come close to experiencing before. The opportunity for real joy in life!
For those of you who know the Lord…
Don’t forget the simple, sincere, genuine and believing faith which first brought you to the feet of Jesus!
You are told that living the Christian life is like running a race… so run to WIN the prize, which is our upward calling in Christ Jesus. You don’t compete to come in second place…
So like the author of Hebrews says:
By faith, lay aside anything anything that hinders you from running well!
I think of those tractors I built last year. They were simply too heavy! If I wanted to succeed this year, I needed to completely strip them down and toss off any unnecessary weight.
In the same way, it doesn’t make sense to hold on to your past. To hold onto anger. To hold onto any sin.
I know it is frustrating and hard.but take my word and tear the extra weight off…anything that slows you down from living for Christ… Run well!
…………..
Stay encouraged! Why and how?
3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Jesus endured such terrible things so that you wouldn’t “run out of fuel”. So that you wouldn’t get so discouraged and throw in the towel.
DON’T FORGET WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE EVERY DAY BY FAITH!
The Christian who holds onto such a perspective and has a dependency on Christ, by acknowledging how weak they are…this is the one who has found how to live a life of real joy!
They are running the race!
LIVE BY FAITH!!!
Let’s pray!
