Brave Faith [STAR]

Introduction

Talk about how good conference has been so far.

Honour the leaders and the pastors.

To finish off this conference: Stronger. God placed a Word on my heart about bravery.

Here’s the thing - we need more bravery. Because we’ve got schools to take! We’ve got families to redeem, we’ve got best friends to lead back to Christ, we’ve got a city that needs saving; the fact is that we NEED brave Christians.

The problem is that there’s a real lack in this department - society and culture has Christianity on the backfoot, we aren’t seeing brave Christians raised up in fact we’re seeing Christians hiding in public the very same faith that we’re shouting and singing about in church.

Do you know what the issue is though? I honestly think that we’ve got the very definition of being brave as a Christian wrong - I think that we’ve actually got the idea really messed up.

See when we think of a brave Christian many of us think of a person who will go up to anyone on the street and begin to evangelise, we think of people who are willing to prophesy, willing to go on missions, willing to preach to thousands - and while this is quite true; all acts of immense bravery -

But if that’s all we see bravery as - then we have missed the point. Because Christian bravery isn’t defined by an action, if that’s the case then it will be all show and no substance.

ILLUSTRATION:

I have a friend from another faith that I love talking to about Christianity. One day we were talking about our faiths and he made a comment that hit me. He said “You know I read in the news that another one of your celebrity pastors has fallen. You Christians are so brave to put on such a big show when you are actually rotting inside.” Man that comment hit me deep.

Bravery isn’t just about being willing to evangelise to anyone in the room, it isn’t about preaching to thousands, it isn’t even about telling all your friends that you’re a Christian, no I think that true bravery begins with your approach to God.

Let’s pray.

Not because we’re WORTHY, but because we’re WANTING

Luke 8:43–48 “43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people 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.””

This is a woman who has had a bleeding issue for 12 years, had spent every single dollar she had on getting it treated to no avail. In other words she’s caught in a hopeless situation.

But the part I want you to catch is what this tells us about bravery. Because no doubt - she was brave. How could a woman in such a hopeless situation still find the strength to be so brave?

Do you know that the woman’s issue of blood was condemned under levitical law? It made her ceremonially unclean. This means that ANYTHING THAT SHE TOUCHED immediately became unclean. She was barred from temple worship, she was to be socially isolated, she couldn’t get married because of it - in other words, this woman was an outcast. She was the lowest of the low - to be touched by her was a violation. And yet she reaches for the Saviour.

This is where Christian bravery STARTS - it’s a boldness to approach a Holy God not because we’re WORTHY - but because we’re WANTING

Bravery starts with knowing that we aren’t worthy to even stand in front of God. We have no right, we have no qualification to come before Him. But what we do have is a DESIRE. What we do have is a NEED. What we have is a WANT.

We’re WANTING to SEEK encounter, a WANTING to be changed as a result, a WANTING to be used for His purpose, a WANTING to pursue with abandon.

I believe that COURAGE begins when we crave more than just our COMFORT.

I believe that true bravery starts when you realise that God doesn’t just want you to come to church to play Christian, to sing some nice songs, hear a funny message and then go back to being EXACTLY who you were before you stepped into the house. No - I believe that BRAVERY begins when people come to church to seek a GENUINE encounter with a HOLY God, week after week after week - NO MATTER WHAT OR HOW MUCH SIN OR SHAME THEY MAY BE CARRYING. Because they know that JUST ONE genuine encounter with the living God leads to HEALING, to DELIVERANCE, to FREEDOM.

Can I tell you something - I don’t believe that God has any interest in building a church just for show. We want to build churches for the brave, places of genuine encounter, places where brave people can approach a very real God and have life changing encounters week after week.

Bravery isn’t about strength, it’s about purpose

See, unlike worldly bravery, this woman’s bravery didn’t start with strength, it started with desperation.

This lady became brave because her circumstances drove her to the point where she recognised that God was her ONLY option. Her ONLY option for healing, her ONLY option for restoration, her ONLY option for redemption.

ILLUSTRATION: Desperate Parent

I went to Singapore recently with my mentor and spiritual father, pastor Benny. I followed him as he did a leadership workshop for one of the companies over there. During this workshop something strange happened - we were talking about vulnerability when one of the executives of the company got up to share about how his kids had left church, and then he began to get emotional. And he told a story of DESPERATION. Man I know not many of us can relate to him here since we don’t have kids - but I’m telling you it was one of the most heartbreaking things i’ve ever seen. A dad - literally crying out for his son to return to the faith, begging God to bring his son home. He wept openly in front of the entire leadership team of this company. He told stories about how he went on his knees at the altar, and stayed at the altar until the ushers had to drag him out - he was just so desperate for God to move. And even when they tried to drag him out he would fight for just ONE MORE SECOND at the altar because he knew that if anyone could bring his son back - it was God. He said it was so embarrassing fighting an usher for one more second at the altar - it was so debasing weeping on his knees in front of the whole church. But you know what? In that moment he didn’t care. He would do ANYTHING if it would bring his son back. He was SO DESPERATE that it DROVE him to acts of bravery that he never knew he had in him.

As he told the story, he literally started weeping on his knees in front of us. As the other leaders prayed for him, my pastor came and sat next to me and said a line that stuck with me. He said, “Sometimes we only realise how much we need God, when God’s all we’ve got left.”

Listen to me family, just like that woman with the issue of blood, just like this man crying out for his son to return - Bravery begins, when your desperation for God overcomes your shame.

When you become so AWARE of the NEED for God in your life that you stop worrying about what the CROWD will think, about what people around you are saying, when you stop worrying about what the people around you are thinking - when all that matters is just having ONE encounter with God - because you just KNOW that He is the only one that can save, the only one that can heal, the only one that can redeem, the only one that can deliver.

That is when Bravery begins

Bravery doesn’t look like power, it looks like pursuit

Because time and time again - we make the mistake of thinking that bravery belongs to the strong, to the capable, to the powerful. But time and time again I’m reminded by stories like these that biblical Bravery doesn’t look like power - it looks like PURSUIT!

That in the bible, bravery is not attributed to powerful people - but to people who PURSUE God relentlessly.

When we think of the brave, maybe we think of the people who are serving actively, the people who have their life sorted out, the “perfect people”, the “strong” people.

But if you read your bible this simply isn’t the case. The more you read the more you’ll find that bravery is not rooted in human power but in the bold pursuit of God:

The woman with the issue of blood that we just read about who’s desperation drove her to touch the almighty

The child David who stood up against a giant because he was committed to defending the name of the Lord

Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego who were Iraelites in captivity, tied up and thrown into a furnace, but who kept declaring “even if God does not save us, we will not serve your Gods”

The sinful woman who embarrassed herself in front of the pharisees by pouring an expensive jar of perfume over Jesus’ feet and mopping it up with her hair

No, friends - biblical bravery is not rooted in human strength, it is found in weak individuals caught up in a BOLD pursuit of God.

Don’t be a part of the crowd

You know one thing I think we overlook when we read this passage? That SO many people were touching Jesus, and yet only one person received His power. Who was it? The one who realised she had a NEED that only Jesus could meet, it was the woman whos DESPERATION drove her to a mighty act of bravery.

You know what the difference is? INTENTION. The Crowd was letting Jesus pass - while this woman was moving TOWARD Him.

Hear me out here - Don’t be part of the crowd. Don’t just let Jesus pass you by. Catch this.

Don’t be another person who just has contact with Jesus week in and week out but doesn’t have their lives changed. Don’t be a part of the crowd who’s desire for personal comfort has overpowered their desperation for God.

Don’t be a part of the crowd that goes through all the religious motions without any genuine desperation for just one more touch, one more encounter with the Lord.

Man sometimes we wonder why the church has lost it’s power - lost its fire, and I think it’s because we’re building churches that are filled with the Crowd. Christians that come to church every week, expecting nothing more than just some nice songs, to tick a box, to fill a routine, to catch up with some friends.

We’ve lost our sense of DESPERATION, of HUNGER, of PURSUIT - we’ve lost our BRAVERY.

Don’t let Familiarity steal your Fire

Did you know that Jesus returned to his hometown and couldn’t do any miracles in Mark 6. What did he say? A prophet is not without honour except in his own town. You know why? Because they were FAMILIAR with Him - too familiar with Him to have faith. It even says in v6 Jesus was amazed at their LACK of faith.

Here’s a warning to all of us: You can become so FAMILIAR with your Faith that you stop being FAITH FILLED.

Don’t let FAMILIARITY steal your FIRE

In other words you can get so comfortable attending church that you begin to think that this is ALL there is. You can get so comfortable with your life that you think that this is ALL God wants for you. You can be so comfortable with God to the point that you think you’ve seen all His moves, you’ve seen all there is to see.

But I can tell you, friends, that in all my time watching God and Christians - it is never GOD who lacks in Bravery. It is never God that is lacking in FIRE. It is always people that aren’t ready to meet him there.

It’s never God who doesn’t want to save your family. It’s never God who doesn’t want to redeem your schools. It’s never God who doesn’t want to stir revival in your city. It’s never God who doesn’t want the miracles.

Come on - it’s time to get DESPERATE again - it’s time to get BOLD again. It’s time to approach God with BRAVERY again. It’s time to ask Him for our schools and universities, it’s time to ask Him to come for our families, it’s time to ask Him for that miracle, it’s time to ask Him for that healing - we serve a BRAVE God, it’s time for our faith to reflect that BRAVERY.

1 John 5:14 “14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”

We aren’t here to build the Churches filled with the CROWD, we’re here to build Churches filled with the BRAVE.

ILLUSTRATION: Taking for Granted

You know I’ve got a very beautiful wife. Like no seriously - look at me. And then look at her. Like HOW did that happen? She’s super smart, she’s a woman of God, she’s beautiful like she’s WAY out of my league. Like what was God thinking?

You know Ps Christie Blaikie - the ACC state president came to speak at our church a couple of months ago and met Sharon for the first time. You know what the first thing she said when she saw Sharon was? She was like “Oh WOW the LORD has been good to Jon.” I was like wow thanks Ps Christie.

And you know something? I knew that when we started dating. Like I’ve known for ages that I’m punching WAY above my weight here. Never been ashamed to admit it.

But you know what one of the BEST and WORST things about marriage is? Familiarity. Somewhere along the line you just kind of get used to the fact that you’re dating the most beautiful perfect person on the planet and you just…settle into routine. You get used to them, the things that make them special are still there, they just dim a little bit.

And anyone who’s married knows what I’m talking about - in fact anyone who’s DATING knows what I’m talking about. Look at Teina - what a gloriously handsome man; but if I asked him whether or not he was punching above his weight when he asked his wife out, I’m 100% sure he’ll tell you of course he was.

We do it with EVERYTHING - new car, new house, new girlfriend, new job, new video game - FAMILIARITY somehow breeds contentment, it breeds complacency. That’s just human nature!

But you know what? We do it with God too. We can become SO familiar with God, so USED to standing in the presence of the almighty that it just becomes another THING we do. It loses its spark - it’s not special anymore, He’s not life changing anymore, He’s not that powerful anymore. It’s almost like the supernatural becomes a little too natural.

My friends when you start to feel that in your faith, I’ll tell you to do what I would tell any married couple who’ve lost the spark to do. FIGHT IT. Don’t settle, NEVER settle! That’s how relationships DIE, that’s how faith DIES.

Return to the wonder, it’s time to approach God DIFFERENTLY, it’s time to fight for the FIRE back, it’s time to ABANDON yourself in worship, it’s time to surrender everything again, it’s time to RETURN to the miraculous, it’s time to EXPECT THE IMPOSSIBLE, it’s time to fall in love with the Word AGAIN.

Don’t let familiarity STEAL your fire.

God’s plan always has room for Bold Faith

I want to finish off by pointing this out - Did you notice that Jesus didn’t initiate the healing? Like with most of the other instances of healing Jesus initiates it, He begins the process of healing - it’s highly intentional. In this case he didn’t - in fact he didn’t even KNOW who touched Him.

You know what’s even crazier? He wasn’t even there to do that healing. He was literally on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter if you read the passage. Jesus was ACTUALLY just passing by with no intent to stop and heal anyone.

Look at what Jesus says in v45 “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.”

All Jesus knew is that power had left Him, didn’t know who, didn’t know why, just knew that an exchange had happened.

And you know why I love that? because it’s almost like this woman had so much faith that it seems like it INTERRUPTED Jesus’ plans.

And I get it - theologically that sounds a bit wrong because God sees and knows all. But I’m not trying to say that she MANIPULATED Jesus, or FORCED God’s hand.

What I AM saying is that God’s plan always has room for BOLD FAITH.

I’m saying that her faith was so DESPERATE, so BOLD, so BRAVE that it literally PULLED power from the Divine. I’m saying that this woman didn’t wait for Jesus to notice her, she reached out in faith and Heaven responded.

I want to be a part of a church that raises men and women of God just like this woman. Christians who are so BOLD, so DESPERATE, so BRAVE in their faith that it literally PULLS power down from heaven. I want to be a part of a church that’s so BRAVE that when we hear the word “impossible” we PRESS IN instead of backing down. I want to be a part of a church that’s BRAVE enough to worship like the walls of this city are about to fall down. I want to be a part of a church BRAVE enough to believe that revival doesn’t belong to the history books - it belongs to THIS generation. I want to be a part of a church so BRAVE that the miraculous becomes a part of the CULTURE here.

GlobalHeart - I believe this is the kind of church that God is wanting to build here. Do you?

ILLUSTRATION: Pastor Phil

In March this year - one of my spiritual fathers was diagnosed with stage 4 nose cancer. The prognosis wasn’t good. This man is one of the most influential figures in my life. Pastor Phil was actually one of the biggest, if not THE biggest reason that I ended up at Heart for the City. When faced with a difficult choice between two different churches - he told me that HFTC was the right choice for me. Even when I told them HFTC couldn’t pay me he still adamantly said - this is the one. I owe so much of this to his guidance in my life.

I was actually on a plane at the time I found out - I was messaging his daughter Sarah who broke the news to me. I actually was so upset by the news that I had to lock myself in the plane toilet and cry for a solid 10 minutes.

But you know what? Pastor Phil responded with the most bravery I’ve seen in ages. He insisted that nobody was allowed to mope around him, he said “Only bold prayers, only prayers of faith, no soft prayers.” He’d tell anyone off for praying a soft prayer. What a man of faith.

I messaged him last week to ask him how he was. You know what he told me? That after only 3 rounds of chemotherapy his PET scan was clear - which is just such an insanely good result, even the doctors were very surprised. You know it may not mean complete healing - not just yet, but man I believe it’s coming. No soft prayers allowed.

Brave faith. I wonder what miracles we’d see in this house if we filled it with men and women who had that kind of BRAVE faith?

Altar Call

Bravery begins when we approach God - not worthy, but wanting.

Just like this woman - that’s how God begins to work the miraculous in our lives. That’s how he turns us our trouble into our testimony.

Conference can just be “another” event for you - OR it can be a place where you had an encounter with God that changed your life. What’ll it be?