Get Lost: Faith Grows in the Journey
Notes
Transcript
Main Point: Faith in God will always bring you through.
Intro
Have you ever felt like you were wondering around lost in life?
Have you ever felt like you were wondering around lost in life?
J.R.R. Tolkien: wrote “Not all those who wander are lost.”
J.R.R. Tolkien: wrote “Not all those who wander are lost.”
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”
18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”
20 After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.
21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
1 Then the Lord said to Moses,
2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon.
3 Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’
4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!”
6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him.
Exodus 14:10–18 (NIV)
10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.
11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.
14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.
16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.
18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”
25 He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.
31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
2 Corinthians 5:6–7 (NIV)
7 For we live by faith, not by sight.
Mark 1:14–15 (NIV)
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.
15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
The Isralities believed after they had seen God do amazing things, but we are called to believe before seeing.
When we get lost in God we truly find ourselves. But before we can grow walking by faith we must live a life of repentance.
It is only through repenting or admitting and turning away from our sin and giving God true and complete Lordship of every area of our hearts can we begin to live in Faith.
Evidences of True Faith and Repentance
Evidences of True Faith and Repentance
a) Demonstrating the Fruit of the Spirit Is Evidence of Faith
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Do you see these in your life?
Are there areas in your life where these are not evident?
That may be a sign you need to release something to God (repent) and begin having faith in that area.
We must get Lost to ourselves so we can be found by God.
We must get Lost to ourselves so we can be found by God.
Repenting is about turning around. The Israelites were following the path they believed but they needed to turn around and get lost in God not their own understanding.
Call to action!
Repent today! Close your eyes ask the Holy Spirit to revel to you where you need to repent and turn around.
Maybe you have never asked Christ to be the Lord of your life and you need to repent fir the first time
Maybe you have gotten lost and find yourself not experiencing the fruits of the Spirit in an area of your life
Stand up
Sing
Forgiven, Freed, and Filled
When we repent God is faithful to forgive us, but we must continue to follow Him.
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
We are not here to create a group of people sitting feeling good, but disciples who are Forgiven (through repentance), Freed (through Jesus’ sacrifice “no condemnation), and Filled (with the Holy Spirit seeing the fruits and gifts at work in our lives)
We like Israel are forgiven when we repent. Jesus gives us freedom from sin and death when we give Him Lordship and full control of our lives, but we can choose to take up that sin and shame again.
The Israelites struggled when they saw the army coming at them, but Moses instructed them to be still and God would fight for them. Forgiveness is a powerful weapon. As disciples who have been forgiven we MUST FORGIVE OTHERS!
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.
47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”