Crazy Faith

ME

Cliff Jumping

When I was younger, my buddies Brad, Phil and I would go down to Percy Priest Lake just outside of Nashville. There was a cliff there with a 30 ft drop down to the water. When 3 teenage dudes full of testosterone see a challenge like this, they do stupid things.

So we would run as fast as we could and jump off the edge.

The way down seemed like an eternity. It was like 5 seconds.

And when you hit the water, it felt like a giant slapping your ENTIRE body at once.

Then we would go back to the top of the cliff, bodies still red from the last jump, and do it all over again.

Never thought twice about the danger because we were too busy seeking the thrill of the moment. There's few feelings like it.

Phil would make it even better from time to time by climbing 20 ft up a tree that was near the edge of the cliff, and then jumping from the STUPID TREE 50 ft down into the water.

Even I wasn't dumb enough to do that. (I know that's a surprise to some of you.)

Fast forward about 12 years.

I'm hanging out with Eliott, Matt and Sam from our church’s college ministry at Summersville Lake in WV.

We're having a great time kayaking and enjoying God's creation, when Sam has the bright idea that we should jump off this boulder that was 15 ft high into the water.

It sounded like fun, so we all climbed up the rock and got ready to jump.

Eliott, Matt and Sam all jumped within a few minutes.

THEN IT WAS MY TURN.

So i hurried up to the edge of the rock and.. FROZE.

I was in my thirties, and it had been a LONG time since my last cliff jump.

All I could think about were the ways I could hurt myself and/or die jumping in this stupid lake.

NOW REMEMBER: IT WAS ONLY A 15 FT JUMP!

But it might as well have been 1,000 ft to me...

I spent 30 minutes with my life flashing before my eyes before I finally decided to take the leap.

And... SPOILER ALERT... I didn't die... or get hurt (except for my pride.)

What happened from the time I was a teenager; full of courage and seeking fun; to 30 years old scared to death of a jump barely higher than you get on a trampoline?

I HAD TOO MUCH GOING ON IN MY OLD HEAD!

I had a wife and child at home that I was responsible to take care of.

I heard too many stories of people dying doing stupid stuff.

I almost died going white water rafting while my wife (then gf) was being chased by murder hornets on the Ocoee River.

I was A RESPONSIBLE ADULT.

And I was a big chicken.

I was old enough to know better--when back in the day I was too dumb too care.

And to be honest, some of the faith I had in my physical ability to make these jumps had gone away over the years...

WE

We’ve all been scared to do something because we don’t know what the outcome will be.

Like being nice to someone at school bc we’re scared they may not like us.

Or we’re scared to try out for the team or play bc we might not make it.

Or we’re almost scared to do anything bc we might get embarrassed by EVERYONE at school.

Stepping out into the unknown can be scary for all of us… but their are times when we must do it.

And when there is someone we can trust that is there to help us step out into the unknown, it’s a lot easier.

Unfortunately, in the world we live in it seems harder and harder to trust people.

Being cynical and pessimistic is easy to do in the reality that we’re in today.

Maybe you’ve felt like this sometimes:

*pessimistic tik tok video*

or like this:

*tinkerbell tik tok video*

or this

*Cynical tweet*

When we buy into this mentality, we become afraid to dream because our dreams might sound stupid to others.

And we make fun of others when they step out and dare to dream.

So we just stop trying to do great things.

Today we’re going to flip the script on what culture tells us.. and learn ways to dream again.

To have FAITH in a God who calls us to so much more than what we see.

We’re starting a brand new series called “A.K.A.: Name changes in the Bible”

These name changes show what it looks like when God calls people to exercise faith in him, and how He wants to use them to accomplish his greater purposes. We all come to Christ with baggage and sin. Jesus doesn’t just want to make our lives easier; he wants to transform us from our old self to a new creation.

GOD

So let’s check out the first people who had their name changed in the Bible: Abram & Sarai:

Genesis 17:1–10 ESV

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

Then God moves on to Sarai:

Genesis 17:15–21 ESV

And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

1-5: God told Abram to live a Holy life, so that a covenant could be made between them and Abraham could be blessed with more children than he could count. And God changes his name to Abraham.

To experience the full blessing of God on His life, Abraham had to live FULLY for God.

That’s what holiness is… being set apart for God alone.

And God was saying to Abram that everything he does and all that he is flows from this: God had full control of His life.

And then Abram… an old guy in his 90’s fell on his face before God.

Have you ever seen someone that old try to get up from the recliner? It’s all they can do to get up outta that chair!

But here we see this old dude Abram with his face to the ground… because he knows that this is the most important thing he’s ever going to hear in his life.

You see, he’s waited decades for this promised child. Him and his wife even tried to speed up the process by Sarai encouraging her husband to have a kid with her servant Hagar.

But that wasn’t God’s plan at all… and now God was revealing the real thing to Abram.

Then God changes Abram’s name.

One writer says that this name change turns Abram from “useless father” to Abraham “chosen father” (Ambrose)

Abram was wandering around without true purpose, wondering when God was going to fulfill his promise… but now God was making Abraham’s purpose clear.

And so with the name change comes a change in the whole direction in Abraham’s life. He went from being “useless” to “chosen.”

6-10: Abram to Abraham (Father of Nations)

The Kings of England, emperors of Ancient Rome, the Presidents of the United States, and the King of all Kings, Jesus- came from Abraham, the Father of Nations.

This dude was important!

So God was going to give Abraham a child in his old age and make him the Father of kings and leaders for centuries to come…

Now check out Abraham’s part in the covenant between him and God:

The symbol of the covenant was circumcision.

Weird flex but ok...

For most guys, this happens before they leave the hospital after they’re born.

So they don’t remember anything about it.

But Abraham was in his NINETIES!

He was so old it hurt for him to sneeze! It took him 30 minutes to get outta the recliner!

And now God’s asking him to do what?

Why would God ask that?

Check this out:

This sign had a special significance to Abraham that did not exist with anyone else in the Bible. During the thirteen years since Ishmael’s birth (Ishmael was the child he had with his wife’s mistress), Abraham had become unable to have kids. By this time, he knew there was no way he could have another child. If he had one by Sarai, it would have to be all God’s doing. So Abraham was directed to take part in this covenant in order to say, “God, where I failed in my human attempts at fulfilling Your will, You succeeded.”

Side note:

The process of bringing a new baby into life is the most creative physical act, given by God alone, and it brings us closest to His ability to create. And when the sexual act is cheapened by making it merely a joking matter or throwing it around like it’s loose change, the holy thing God intended it to be is lost.

15-21: Abraham thought God was joking about an elderly couple having a kid, but when God promises something, He don't play!

When Abraham hears he’s gonna have a kid at 99 years old, he thinks it’s hilarious.

Then he asks God to bless his son Ishmael instead.

Then God makes things even more clear for him:

“You’re going to have a son with your wife Sarah, and you’re going to name him Isaac.”

Now here’s the funny thing:

The name Isaac means “one who laughs.”

So God’s like “you wanna laugh at what I have to say? Every time you say your kid’s name you’re gonna remember that.”

Another weird flex God, but ok!

Obviously Abraham and Sarah were way too old to naturally have kids… but God supernaturally made it possible in order to display His power.

And that leads us to what you need so that you can apply this to your life:

God may call me to crazy things, but I can trust that He can do anything!

That trust requires faith in a God who can see far beyond what we can.

YOU

God created the heavens and the earth.. and YOU. He knows you better than you know yourself. He loves you more than you love you. So you can trust He is with you even when you’re waiting on Him to move for a long time. Even in the midst of terrible circumstances in your life.

If you’re a Christian, you need to listen for His calling on your life.

And that calling might sound absolutely nuts. It may take a while for that calling to be fulfilled in your life.

But you need to allow that call of God to be more important to you than anything else.

Everything you do needs to flow out of that calling. Trust God, honor Him with your life, and remember:

God may call me to crazy things, but I can trust that He can do anything!

A Blind Teenager Shows us What it Means to Live by Faith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai5MUeoAsv4

Hebrews 11:1 The Message

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.

This girl, who can’t see physically on this earth, knows that the first face she will she is the face of her Savior, Jesus.

I want you to know that you can place all your faith and trust and hope in this Jesus.

He will make something incredible of your life if you will let Him.

What is God’s calling on your life? (If you don’t know, you have leaders here who love you and want to help you find that calling)

Are you prepared to live like your faith in Jesus Christ is true?

WE

What if we all listened for and walked into the calling God has for our lives?

First, we would be a lot less miserable and bored with our lives, because we would be doing exactly what God created us to do.

Second, Others would see the passion and joy in our lives and want to know why...

Third…

He would do more through us than we can possibly imagine.

Ephesians 3:20 The Message

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

So may we all live out what God has created us to do...

Prayer