By Faith...
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Introduction
Introduction
To begin this lesson I am going to need a volunteer
Ask: Do you trust me, do you have faith that I wouldn’t let you be harmed?
Have them stand in front of me, cross their arms over their chest, close their eyes, and fall backwards
This is called a trust fall.
Usually this game is played at camps or group events where a bunch of people are together who either don’t know each other at all, or they barely know each other.
The idea of it is that you pair two people together and have one of them face away from the other. They cross their arms, close their eyes, and you have them lean and fall backwards. The person behind them is supposed to catch them!
Well, do I have a story for you!
I was trying to do this with some kids at a Christian camp I was a counselor at. The kids had only been together for about an hour and they were awkwardly standing around.
My co-counselor and I decided to help them get to know one another. The quicker they do this the easier it is on us!
Well, I picked two kids who didn’t know each other. These two kids, who were just about the same height and weight, stood in front of each other and I asked one of them to catch.
Once we figured out who would be catching and who would be falling I had one of the kids turn around.
They crossed their arms, closed their eyes. You could tell they were pretty nervous.
The kid who was catching stood behind the other boy and said “do you trust me?” At this, the kid who was to fall said nervously, “I think so.”
I counted...
3…2…1…FALL
At this, the kid in the front fell....forward. THUD, he crashed to the forest floor. The kids were horrified, I laughed. The kid on the ground quickly stood up, dusted himself off and said, “WHY DIDN’T YOU CATCH ME!?”
I intervened and said “he would have caught you if you would have fallen backwards....where he was standing, waiting to catch you.”
The kid that fell to the ground pouted a bit, then got over what just happened.
“I don’t know
This trust fall did not go according to plan, at all, but at least the kid that fell had trust in the other boy, otherwise he wouldn’t have fallen at all!
What do we trust?
What do we trust?
How many things do we put our trust in?
I have to trust my seatbelt every time I drive
I have to trust the brakes in my car when I drive
I have to trust the smoke alarms in my home to let me know if there is a fire
I once had to make my own harness for repelling in the Army, I had to trust in not only my own skills but that the Drill Sergeants were teaching me how to do it correctly
I have to trust in the ability of pilots when I fly
I have to trust the doctors when they give me medicine
This list can go on for a very long time. There are so many things and people that I have to put my trust in. To some degree I have to rest assured that a piece of technology or another person is going to pull through and keep me safe.
Can you imagine trying to skydive if you didn’t trust your parachute? It wouldn’t happen, you wouldn’t do it!
Now, I’ve talked about some things I have trusted in, some people I have trusted.
What things/people do you trust, why?
In Christianity, do you think trust is synonymous with another word?
I would say that FAITH is synonymous with TRUST!
We read today in Hebrews that faith is:
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
When we enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, we begin to put faith in the promise of eternal life. We begin to put faith in the written words of God, the words and actions of others who call themselves “Christians,” and we begin to put our faith in more and more.
Paul follows his definition of faith with examples of ancestors and their faith. He writes about the faith of Abel, Enoch, and Noah. He says,
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.” 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.
Hebrews11.4-
Within this writing of faithful examples, Paul slips something in that may go unnoticed. In he says,
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Paul is telling us that in order to have a relationship with God, in order to please God, we must have faith. Again, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
Of all of the crucial things in our Christianity, faith is the most important. Paul tells us that without faith it is literally IMPOSSIBLE to please God.
Do you know why it’s important? Why is faith important? Well, tells us why.
Ephesians 2:
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 the result of works, so that no one may boast.
Faith is the only necessary aspect in our religion to be saved.
You can stand up in church and say all of the right words, put your hand on the Bible and promise to believe, put anything on Facebook you want…but unless you have faith
You can go to church every Sunday, say all of the right words, pray the right prayers, appear to be the purest of Christians…but if you don’t have faith in Jesus Christ, if you don’t have faith that He died to forgive you, if you don’t have faith…you have nothing. You have no salvation.
That is why faith is the most important thing.
Faith breaks you from the chains and bondage of sin.
Faith frees you to work for the Lord
Faith enables you to breath...
God promises to be faithful to those who are faithful to him.
Right now the men’s group is reading a book by Phil Robertson called “The Theft of America’s Soul.” There is a part in this book where Phil’s faith in God came with an answered request. Phil and his wife had purchased a plot of land to start their duck call business.
At some point it became apparent that they would not be able to pay for the loan on the land.
On the very day that the loan payment was due, Phil knew he had to go to the bank and try and plea with them. As he decided he needed to go down he remembered that God promised to be faithful to His children. So, Phil waited. He, on a whim, waited for the mail to come in.
Phil went out to the mailbox and checked. Inside was a letter from a company who wanted to buy a large order of his calls, in the letter was a check pre-paying for the calls. At this, Phil was able to make the payment and avoid losing the land.
As I read this example I felt overwhelmed with joy. Joy for a now millionaire to not have lost his business, because of his FAITH in God. He could have cursed God, cursed his wife, cursed his family, cursed himself…but instead he relied on God, and I find that amazing.
You see, God is standing behind us, waiting and ready to catch us. We can either trust that God will indeed catch us, or we can question, hmmm and haaaa, and never fall back. We can either have FAITH that God is there for us, or look at God and say, “I don’t think you would actually catch me.”
But, I want to remind you, God works through the faithful.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.” 13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:8-12
Hebrews 11:8-16
When we have faith in God, His Holy Spirit works wonders through us.
We are enabled to do great things for many people and share the Good News of Christ to all people!
We need to put all of our faith in God.
I listed earlier the things I put faith in…
Seatbelts
Brakes
Smoke alarms
I have to trust the smoke alarms in my home to let me know if there is a fire
Harnesses
Instuctions
Ability of pilots
Doctors
If we can put our faith, even our lives in the hands of these things and people, then why do we hesitate to put ALL OF our FAITH INTO GOD?!
We hesitate because of our pride. We think that we can do it all on our own, that we don’t need help. We hesitate because we have never shook the hand of God and said, “it’s nice to meet you.” We hesitate because we doubt, we are scarred, we are nervous, we are doubtful. We hesitate because sometimes it’s easier than saying “God’s got this...”
No matter the reason, no matter why we hesitate, we need to stop. We need to come back to our original faith in God. That faith that saved us and granted us entry into eternal glory. We need to come back to that faith in God and Jesus Christ that saved us from our slavery to sin and death!
You may see your life in a dark place right now. You may see your struggles. You may look at your struggles and say, “where is God in all of this...”
God is behind you, 100%, ready to catch you. He is ready to help you when you fall. He is there, right there with you through it all. You are not alone in your struggles and pain.
That faith in God is exactly what you need to make it through each and every day.
Remember, when things get rough, have faith! Faith saved you once before, why can’t it do it again?