Sunday, March 15th

This is Ben. And I'm sure if I'm more than just may have noticed kind of a crazy week. It's been all kinds of stuff that's going on and all kinds of things that have taken place that have have. Disrupted Our Lives the state's requirements that that you don't get in groups and you try to avoid meeting together in groups and these ideas or or all they're all good ideas. And Common Sense comes into play some place to where you know, somebody sick. You don't go hugging on him and kissing you do common sense things like washing your hands just things that we know we're supposed to do it. It's a reminder that we need to do these things. As I've been thinking this week. I've been thinking a lot about what our faith is like it is I'm used to going back and forth, but everybody is on this side. So I kind of feel drawn but as we as we think about all these different things

it all comes back down to one thing in the life of a Believer and that that one thing is our belief.

What do we believe in and a long time ago I learned there's a long time ago. I learned there's two different types of belief that we have and one of them is our our stated belief and another one is are functional belief and I brought the the the ladder of it the step ladder in here for a reason because the stated belief is that I believe that that ladder that little stool is going to hold up my weight. That's my stated belief. Now if I refuse to stand on it that's telling you that my functional belief is not the same. Did there two different things in we do that a lot of time with what we say? We believe about God. I know that God is going to take care of me. I know God is going to provide for all my needs according to his riches. I know he's going to do this. but then we act like he's not going to we we don't follow through with what we believe he's going to do. We we just kind of halfway talk about it. We don't get up and I don't have very good balance, but we don't get up on the stool and we don't take a stand on its reason I say that is way better than to this whole who's your one idea and concept of sharing our face and we say we believe in God but Faith requires action. Our faith is actually what we believe with feet on it. That's one of my favorite sayings is is that what it's about that faith is action and it's living out what we say, we believe now, I noticed that there's a different reference on the wall, then they then our scripture reading was that's because We need to understand it. There's more than one place in the Bible that talks about this belief and I've already covered this is what our stated believe it's what we say. We believe are functional believe is what we live what we believe now the way that that belief and how that all comes together is what's called and sociological circles that called a worldview on how we view the world and usually that's made up of what I call personally what I call three ologies and ology. It's it's not a made-up word believe it or not. I found it in the dictionary better Knology is simply the study of something. It's the study that forms what we actually believe and teach about something. It's the way that we actually

study to believe and study to know. I can't find it. What I brought the def definition of in here. What believe we believe is based on what we understand and it shows what are beliefs really are how we act shows what are beliefs really are one of those ologies is anthropology the study of man. What do we believe about man? How do we believe things about man or archaeology helps us to stay what we believe about man all these different things help us to believe. This is what we believe that mankind are theology is what we believe about God. It's what we've studied and we believe about him and then there is our epistemology, which is another $4 word. That means how you know what, you know, How how do you know what you know, where did you come to the conclusion of that? Jordan came to the conclusion with some of the things that he teaches? Through going to you went to Central. He went to Central Washington University. That was his source of source of authority. I went to Whitworth that was my source of Authority for my degree. I went to Southeastern Seminary which was my source of theology for the most part. And then it was I went to Golden Gate which is also my source of Theology and all of them use different books to point things out until one of the things you learn early on in school. Hopefully is that You listen to what the teacher says you listen to with her instructing you and then you look and you find out how that applies to you and you apply what's necessary and the stuff that you don't necessarily agree with you push off to the side you remember for the terms of testing and for things like that. It's just because the teacher wants you to burp backup exactly what he taught you but what he taught you is not always exactly right. So you take what he's taught you you tell him what this is the part that you you want to hear from me. So that's what I'm going to tell you. But then you take the rest of it and you what you do is you you begin to form a lens of how you see things.

Of how you see everything around you you begin to form that lends now biblical theology. Biblical worldview is places our main Authority as God and His word. We believe that the Bible is God's inspired special Revelation to mankind. There's two types of Revelation. Well, there's more than two. But there's this morning there's two types of Revelation. There's a general Revelation that you look outside and you look over the world around you and you see how God is evidence himself and how he's revealing himself to if that's your general Revelation. You're special Revelation which which is a Christian are biblical Authority comes from Special Revelation that's in the Bible. And we believe that that's true. Now how much we believe it's true is what's going to going to be our problem here because a lot of us don't believe the whole Bible is true. There are a lot of combinations that teach that the Bible is just a book of stories that it's a book of allegories and an idea is that are supposed to teach us about God they don't believe that is necessarily true. A Biblical worldview says I believe this is truth. I believe that Jesus is truth. Jesus didn't say I am a truth. He didn't say I am part of the truth. He said I am the truth. I am the way the truth and the life that everything comes through him and we need to understand that as we begin to look at what's going on and as we try to understand what's happening in our world today what's happening in our lives today what God wants us to do with our life. We need to recognize that all of this comes down and comes back to one key and that key is What We Believe What we believe and how we got there. I want to look at our story for just a moment and I want you to want to take you to Luke's account. Not Luke's account. We already heard Luke's account take it with Mark wrote and I'm going to go ahead and read this passage and then we'll move on cuz then when he returned a capernium after some days it was reported that he was at home.

I love technology. There were many were gathered together so that there was no more room not even at the door and he was preaching the word to them and they came bring to them a pair of parallel carried by four men and when they could not get near him because of the crowd they remove the roof above him and when they had made an opening they lay down let down the paralytic in which the bed on which the paralytic lay and when Jesus saw their faith. He said to the paralytic son your sins are forgiven know some of the scribes were sitting there questioning and their hearts. Why does this man speak like that? He's blasphemy who can forgive sins, but God alone and it immediately Jesus preceding and his spirit that they had just dust question with Annabelle said to them. Why do you question these things in your hearts, which is easier to say to the paralytic your sins are forgiven or to say rise take up your bed and walk. But that you may know that the son of man has Authority on Earth to forgive sins who said that a paralytic I say to you rise up pick up your bed and go home and immediately Heroes picked up his bed and went out before then them all so that they were all amazed and glorify God saying we have never seen anything like this father God. I don't want to ask you to guide me this morning. I get a little bit flustered sometimes and this is one of those mornings. I just pray that you'll give me wisdom you help me to say what you want me to say and just to be calm. In Jesus name amen.

Jesus had returned.

2 home he'd come back to where they started any return there because the Crowds Are gotten so big that he wasn't able to go out in public anymore because there were so many crimes that were there and there were too many people so he is this is all the chapter on the chapter one, but there was so many people and so many people that he couldn't get a loan until he went off to a place to be alone. And then he went home in the home that they went to most believe is the home of Simon Peter and Andrew that that's where they were at then they were gathered in the home, but there was so many people against steel that were coming that they were crowds in the yard. There were crowds blocking the door in the house was crowded. Now the thing with that is is not everybody in that crowd believe who Jesus was a lot of them were curious about who he was and we're just curious about who this guy was because he had been healing people and teaching the word of God and teaching about the kingdom of heaven, but mostly they were interested in that he was healing people he was healing them and they saw this what one of the things that I want you to understand this morning more than anything else that I like that I could say is that Jesus miracles were not he didn't do Miracles so that people would believe his miracles were done because people believed if you look at me look at the Book of John chapter 3 you're going to see

That when Nicodemus was asking Jesus. He said to him in chapter chapter 3 verse 15 and think it's 15 to see they're fourteen or fifteen. He says just as a serpent was lifted up in the wilderness so much the son of man be lifted up you go back and look at Exit us about when the serpent was lifted up. And what was happening is that people had been in there been any snakes that have come in or serpent said to come into the camp and they were biting people and people were dying and God told Moses make a serpent a bronze serpent. Stick it on a stick. Put it on a stick and put it in the middle of the camp. And anyone who looks at that serpent will be healed. It wasn't the serpent on a stick that healed them. It was faith in God that if they obeyed him and they did what he said, they would be healed the same happens with Jesus. We look at him and we look to him to be here not for what he's done not for where he's at but for who he is and the fact that he's got and it says that faith that heals us think about it for just a minute is as you even think about these things about the people that got killed with a woman that had the issue of blood she came up behind Jesus and she said it said in her mind and then in her heart if I just Touch the Hem of the Hem of His coat, I will be healed. If I just touch it and she touched it and she was healed why because she believed that if she touched the Hem of Jesus garment she would be healed. It was her faith that healed her in Jesus didn't heal her so she would believe because she already believed is why she touched him when you think about the Centurion?

And he's came to Jesus and he he said won't you come and heal my servant you noticed it's his servant that he's asking to be healed won't you come and heal my servant and then when Jesus got there, he said I don't need you to come in. All you need you to do is say the word and my servant will be healed in Jesus response was I have not seen this much faith in all of Israel because he was healed and now Here we are with the paralytic and it would well before we get there when he returned to his hometown and he went home. He was unable to perform any Miracles because of their unbelief. He wasn't able to do the ministry that he Jesus the man wanted to do because they didn't believe that God would do it many times. We Face things in our lives in James talks about in his ready. He says he's talking about wisdom. But it's the same principle. He says you don't have it because you don't ask for it. And you asked for it not believing. He says you can't have an any doubt. You have to believe believing entirely. I'm going to do what I said I'm going to do.

And we have to understand that we need to get to the point that. We really believe. Friday we went and watched the movie I still believe.

I didn't realize when I went to that movie that it was going to be which is kind of stupid because I knew what it was about. I know what I've gone through and I know where I've been but I didn't think about how it's going to impact me. I didn't think about how things in the story that they were telling. We're going to impact my world. I didn't think about that. But as you did you listen to the story about Jeremy Camp and how he fell in love with this woman named Melissa and Melissa had cancer and he knew she had cancer and he chose to marry her knowing that she was going to eventually die. He knew that yet. He continued to want to be with her when I showed told you the story of Rachel Barkey a few weeks ago Rachel Barky. Yes, she was married and she had two children, but her husband chose to stay with her and chose to support her and chose to be with her throughout the sickness. Both of them praying that God would heal their loved one. And both of them having their their face challenge to the very core of everything that they knew everything that they believe win. They died.

I have no doubt the Nail Bar Key. Was angry with God.

I have no doubt not just because of the movie that that Jeremy Camp was angry that this person that he had chosen to put his life around. Had died.

I have no doubt that Jeremy Camp and Melissa Camp believe that God had totally healed her and they could move on.

As I read the Diaries and the log the blogs the web web web diary there. It is of Rachel Barkey. I have no doubt. There was a point when her and Neil believed that she was healed. And then it was gone.

I have no doubt because I experienced that same thing. When the doctor tells you at 10 that morning actually 7 that morning that the cancer is gone and everything's okay. Everything's going to be fine.

Only to call you back at 5 that afternoon and tell you. oops We misread the tests. I have no doubt that those feelings happen and I have no doubt that they take place in that they're devastated and they challenged everything we believe.

But I also know that Paul writes that even when we are faithless he is faithful. Got his promise. I will never leave you and I will never forsake you Paul writes that. I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against or until that day. He writes and another passage that I am convinced that neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. He writes in 2nd Corinthians that we were tested beyond what we could bear but God is able and he saw us through it.

This paralytic man and his four friends as they came and there's at least five people that went to see Jesus believing that he was going to heal the paralytic man at least 5 because the Bible says they came and then it says a paralytic man and four people carrying his mat. The man was so bad that he couldn't even crawl himself to get to Jesus. He had to be carried and they they were so intentional intentional about what they wanted to happen and how they wanted Jesus to heal him that they climbed up on the roof turn off the tiles that were on a roof and bake clay tiles. It would have been up there and then they dug through the mud patching all the other parts to get down to be able to lower him down into the room.

There's that there's a significant things that happened here is one is it and it doesn't tell us who invited who or whose idea was to go but I think that it was personally I think it was a paralytic man's idea that if I go then Jesus will heal me and I need my friends to take me. I need my friends to come with me and take me to see him in. The reason that I say that is because Jesus didn't heal people because someone else believe he healed people because the person receiving the healing was the one that believed. Their faith was in him. It doesn't matter how how much Jamie believes that God going to do something in her life in my life. If I don't believe it if I don't accept it. Jesus didn't say to the paralytic strong off the mat and let make him get up. He said stand up. Pick up your mat and go home. Andaman obeyed

He brought his friends to meet Jesus.

His friends came with him to meet Jesus. They took that step outside of what they normally might have thought to go see Jesus. They'd heard about all the things. He has done all the things that he was doing. And they went to meet him.

One of the reasons that I went to go visit Dallas home at a concert. Long before I met my wife was his book. This is my story and in his book there was a point where his wife Linda had been diagnosed with it's a kind of a cancer. It's polyps or something in her stomach and her digestive system and Shoe, it wasn't going to be healed. She can have this surgery then might heal it or she could believe in God for the miracle that he was going to heal her.

But which one were they going to choose?

Dallas Holm remembers wrote wrote saying that God told him I will heal her you can have your miracle.

but if you do this surgery, I'm in a hill or two. And you're going to learn more. If you do this surgery.

Today she's cancer-free. Actually got to meet her in Spokane. me lady I respect for both of them, but they chose to listen to what God was saying and then they were intentional about it. Wasn't just Hoops happen to happen? Nobody came today. by accident with this virus going on with all the things are happening in our world. Nobody came today because it was sheer accident. Jordan didn't just get in his car and have all his stuff be in there and how I should go to church today. He planned to be here. He got up with the intention of being here. People are not going to hear the gospel because someday you just happened to be walking down the street and a guy steps in front of your car. And you decide. Hey, this is the time. I need to shut it off with him. We need to be intentional about what we're doing. We need to live out our faith day by day because faith is action what we believe shows up to people talk Peter writes that we always need to be ready to give a defense for our faith in case somebody asks us. They're not going to ask you if you're not doing anything unique. They're not going to ask you if you're not doing something James faith without works is dead and he has not saying that we have to go out and do a bunch of things. He's not saying that we have to follow the tradition of the Mormon Church follows where you have to go out and you have to go door-to-door and try to convince people to believe he's not saying that you need to go on a mission trip to try to make people believe what he's saying is you need to live out your faith. If God has really changed your life if he's really changed who you are and what he wants you to do in your world you need to act on it. You need to live so that people see the miracle of God and what he's done in your life. We need to see that. They need to see that. What is saying to us? What James is saying is that if you have a real relationship with Jesus Christ, it's going to show when when you met your spouse when when Gary met gay which they were married for 44 years this week. So we need to congratulate them on that, but when they met they made a commitment to one another. And Gary made a commitment to get I can say on Gary's part cuz I don't know how women think but he wanted her to know every day.

Did he loved her? because in our little Minds we start to get curious about things that she doesn't know. I love her she's going away. If she doesn't know what I feel then she's not going to stick around because I'm not going to stick around if she really loves our minds go through these little weird things. So we have to take action not just for us but for them and our faith is the same way if we don't feed our faith. It's not going to grow.

If we don't feed it, it's not going to grow my dog jumped on my lap there tonight and she started licking my face and I'm like, what's up with you dog? And she jumped down and ran over the door. I don't like it. A doggie door stupid go out the doggie door. She wasn't telling me she needed to go outside. She's telling me my food bowl is empty their fat boy eating dinner, and I'm not We have to be reminded that.

We need to feed our spirit as well. That's why we have prayer meetings. That's why we have the 30 day bible study that I gave you last week to do is we need to do those things.

Shadrach Meshach and Abednego, we're about to be thrown in the fire and nebakanezer ass sin. And I know I share this with you before. He made a statement to them. I pray that your God whom you believe is able to deliver you from this fire. And their response was he is but even if he doesn't we're going to serve him anyway. Jeremy Camp Neil Barkey and myself and others had to make that choice.

Even if you don't do what I want while I serve you anyway. In the movie Facing the Giants the wife.

Wanted a baby so bad. And every time she went she wasn't pregnant. And her husband asked her. He said God needs to know and you need to come to the conclusion. If you can't have a child. Are you going to love God anyway? One scene of the movie she comes out. She thought she was pregnant she comes out to the car. When she gets to the car and she cries out to God. I'm going to love you anyway.

Now the miracle was already there. The doctor made a mistake and they came out and told her. Yes. She was pregnant. But she made that commitment and she made that cry to God before she was told before she was you know, I believe that in our world right now. We are faced with a horrible crisis.

A lot of what's happening right now is fear and panic driven. Not scientific or helpful.

Realistically if you want to protect your family. It's not smart for you to go buy all the hand sanitizer on the planet because it's going to protect you because you just open yourself up to everybody else not being able to sanitize their hands to protect your family. So you have to think about things and you have to think about everything that's going on. We need to wash our hands. You don't need to wipe your nose all the time. Unless it itches like but you need to wash your hands you need to get away from your face you need to do these things. We needed to take Common Sense actual methods of protecting ourselves and protecting other people if we're sick. Don't go see people you noticed salon. And Sandy aren't here today. That's because they've chosen because they both have underlying medical issues to stay at home and not expose anybody else to there being sick or be exposed to somebody else being sick. So they're all camped. There just camped out in a little trailer their home. They're just camped out in their avoiding being around people lowest came this morning and said because of her agent and because of Eddie's age and because of the sickness is in their family. They don't want to become more at risk. That makes sense. Those are good reasons.

And I think we need to take some precautions and stuff. That's why we didn't touch each other today. It's no touchy.

But we need to remember that God is in control. He's Sovereign. He's still on the throne and he still with us.

And we need to realize that. We need to tell people about Jesus when we do our invitation in just a moment. We're going to do something a little bit different today.

we're going to