Sermon Tone Analysis

The Tension of Faith

Introduction story

Pray.

Introduction story : Food allergies & interconnectedness (heartburn, arthritic knee, runny sinuses, seasonal allergies).

Moment brought to the end of myself- heartburn for 7 years.

Situation exposed what was going on in my stomach— allergies to gluten and dairy (whole adulthood poking fun at “gluten-free” etc).

At first I felt INCREDIBLE.

Waking up at 5am energized.

But quickly thereafter, the feeling subsided and seemed like it wasn’t working until I discovered MORE food allergies.

So life exposes the deficient faith is at the root of every ailment of the Christian life.

I’ve tried to compromise between foods I can’t eat that taste good and foods I can eat that taste… not so good- like having one food in delight and one foot in discipline.

I hate the fact that I’m not in control.

So I try to take back a little control by pressing against the boundaries and eating what harms me, but cheating even once has ramifications for days/weeks.

I wonder where you feel a loss of control in life right now? Socially: FOMO -> FOBO.

Vocationally: Maybe your boss has been a little tougher on you recently, leading you to question whether you’re on the chopping block.

PARENTS: Maybe your kids aren’t learning the lessons you’re trying to teach them so you raise your voice just a little bit louder.

RETIREMENT: Maybe your retirement account isn’t growing at the rate you need it to so you cut generosity to put more money away.

RELATIONSHIP: Maybe the person you’re dating or married to isn’t changing in the way you asked them to for the ten thousandth time so you withhold affection so they really get the point.

Faith is an admonition of desperation- a looking outside of ourselves.

Desperation draws us to realize how small we are and search for someone bigger than us to rescue us from our plight.

Transitions bw sections:

Our attempts at control reveal that we have a fundamental issue: The world is uncontrollable.

The world doesn’t play by the rules we so desire.

We busy ourselves trying to control our environments, thinking that somehow then we can rest.

But it eludes us.

Live disconnected from myself- outside of the proper limitations of my relationship to my body (death).

“Its more complicated than faith.”

nuance that seeks to grow beyond ‘naivete’.

Even for Christians, too much faith can seem irresponsible.

Propaganda song

2) Moments of doubt about foods rather than faith in what I can’t see— “I’ll be ok this one time....”

The Liturgists Podcast

TWO METHODS FOR DEALING WITH TENSION:

Explain it away.

Ignore it.

Tension of Life this Text addresses: We live with the longing for a faith that is solid, a faith that makes God real to us, and a faith that has the power to change our lives, but just not too much faith… going all in with faith in Jesus makes us feel like we’ll lose

3) Submission to my Dr. even when I can’t understand it or doubt that it will work.

Tension of Life this Text addresses: We live with the longing for a faith that is solid, a faith that makes God real to us, and a faith that has the power to change our lives, but just not too much faith...

Main Point of the Sermon: PUNCHY.

Faith is the only

Faith is absurd in the eyes of the world because it embraces relationship with God, sacrifices that which is seen in favor of that which is unseen, and chooses a life that hopeful in the midst of impossibilities.

Main Question: How can we cultivate a thriving faith while planted in a city whose very soil seems to be corrosive to any faith at all?

We need a resilient faith.

Faith, like an allergic immune system diet, is either pure and producing health or impure and producing compounding dysfunction.

Quite simply, a resilient faith is a faith that is growing rather than shrinking.

APPLICATION:

***Faith is the channel by which Christ’s perfect relationship to God is gifted to us and we are perfected in relationship to God, so center your life around faith/perseverance in Christ, the presence of God, and the power of the Spirit.

Transitions bw sections:

Transitions bw sections:

(“in the presence of the God… who gives life to the dead and calls/don’t exist.

”) Live disconnected from myself- outside of the proper limitations of my relationship to my body (death).

3) (Grew strong in his faith as He gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.)

Submission to my Dr. even when I can’t understand it or doubt that it will work.

Transition: IN THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM, WE’RE GOING TO SEE THAT THE LIFE WITH GOD BY FAITH HAS ALWAYS BEEN FILLED WITH TENSION, BUT THAT THERE IS A BETTER WAY TO RESOLVE THE TENSION THAN EXPLAIN IT AWAY OR IGNORE IT.

Faith brings tension

***A lot of big words and deep biblical history that we can’t cover, but I want us to focus on this guy Abraham and how and why scripture commends his faith.***

Observation: The Story of Abraham (3 weeks ago Eddie had a great summary)

ABRAHAM’s PROMISE THE FOUNDATION: “Promise”: “Father of many nations.”

The chief aim of God’s promise is to bless the world “in you shall all the nations be blessed.”

But the Chief means through which the promise is realized is through faith.

OTHER PROMISES THE MEANS: IF YOU ARE HERE AND A CHRISTIAN, YOU ARE BELIEVING FOR SOME PRETTY INCREDIBLE PROMISES.

I want us to just focus on this one verse here: “The promise did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.”

Law: If only they can be saved who seek to obey God’s rules, then God’s promise can’t work because it’s dependent on what people do, not what God says he has done.

So Paul says it’s not about keeping the rules to earn our way to heaven… it’s about faith.

So Paul says

Righteousness:

Faith:

WHAT IS FAITH?

Lots of ideas in culture.

Ever met someone who...

Ned Flanders: Looks past nuance, suffering, and doubt to live a kind of flat existence that always seems a little disconnected from reality?

Faith is not blind optimism!

Not belief in Jesus’ existence.

: “Demons believe, and shudder.”

Oprah: Not simply belief in Jesus’ existence, but not really interested in His teachings.

: “Demons believe, and shudder.”

Faith is not a spiritual choose your own adventure!

Panic-faith: Smash-glass-in-case-of-emergency prayers.

Best behavior around religious people.

Tons of guys get really spiritual in engagement phase...

Prideful Religious People: Religion as a weapon to beat others into submission and exalt self above humanity.

Least desirable people on the planet to be around.

Any famous athlete w/: Not the key to prosperity, a tool to be used to maximize lifestyle of pleasure or comfort.

WHAT FAITH IS: Trusting something outside of yourself.

Faith looks outside of ourselves for something or someone who can do what we cannot do for ourselves.

:

Tension of faith: Faith brings tension because we can’t see what we believe in.

(VOCATION: science & faith.

RELATIONSHIPS: pain & grace.)

Faith begins with an admonition of desperation- a looking outside of ourselves and for relationship with someone who can do what we cannot do for ourselves.

Desperation draws us to realize how small we are and search for someone bigger than us to rescue us from our plight.

Caveat-> *EVERYONE HAS FAITH

Important Note: Everyone in this room has faith in something or someone.

This necessity of faith is seen everywhere.

Control vs. Faith:

Faith in others: NYTimes on Instagramming on your honeymoon: “I had to prove to the world that I was having a great time,” she said.

And so half of her day was spent shooting, editing, or planning Instagram posts… For breakfast JP would be like, ‘O.K., we’re going to this place,’ and I’d look at the menu before, thinking, ‘What will look cute for Instagram?’

And I didn’t even really want to eat it!

Or he’d be like, ‘Let’s go to this beach,’ and I’d be like, ‘Eh, I don’t know,’ because I already looked at photos and thought it didn’t look pretty.”

[Don’t pretend like we all don’t use social media because some of our faith is in what others think!]

WHAT IT MEANS: When we look to the approval of others, we are implicitly embracing a faith that says “If other people approve of me or revere me, then I will be somebody, then I can be successful, then I can be secure, then I can be happy.”