Mothers Day 2022

Now, I have an interesting story with my own grandparents. I remember every time my grandpa use to come over he would always bring over a tub of ice cream. Me and brothers would always get so excited! It was like Christmas time for us!

Now my Grandma Edna, on the other hand, I remember for something else.

I remember her living at my aunt Lois and every time we would go over there for the holidays or just to visit, she would be in her rocking chair, reading her bible for hours on end.

That had an impact on me then and still does today.

I remember a long time after she passed away, I had a conversation with my mother after I switched from a baptist church to the Church of the Nazarene and was pursuing ordination.

When I told my mom I wanted to be a Nazarene pastor, her eyes got real big and her jaw dropped.

I was thinking to myself, “The Nazarenes aren’t that bad”.

My mom said “That is the same church that your Grandma Edna grew up in and made every single one of her children get up on Sunday morning to go to”

WE:

Now all of are Grandparents have made an impact in our lives. Whether it be good or bad they all have left a mark.

It could be teaching you how to sew

how to have good manners

living a simple life or living a life-long sermon right in front of you.

The greatest impact a grand-parent can have on us all is influencing us to live a Godly life by going to church every Sunday, praying without ceasing, and renewing our minds daily by reading God’s Holy and precious Word.

Are we being impacted by their faith in Christ or is it all just a waste?

God shares with us about a life of faith that wasn’t wasted by a grandparent, her name was Lois and she was impacted by her own mother Eunice!

GOD:

2 Timothy 1:5(NLT)

5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.

Hebrews 11:1–8 (NIrV)

1 Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we do not see. 2 That is what the people of long ago were praised for. 3 We have faith. So we understand that everything was made when God commanded it. That’s why we believe that what we see was not made out of what could be seen. 4 Abel had faith. So he offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. Because of his faith Abel was praised as a godly man. God said good things about his offerings. Because of his faith Abel still speaks. He speaks even though he is dead. 5 Enoch had faith. So he was taken from this life. He didn’t die. He just couldn’t be found. God had taken him away. Before God took him, Enoch was praised as one who pleased God. 6 Without faith it isn’t possible to please God. Those who come to God must believe that he exists. And they must believe that he rewards those who look to him. 7 Noah had faith. So he built an ark to save his family. He built it because of his great respect for God. God had warned him about things that could not yet be seen. Because of his faith he showed the world that it was guilty. Because of his faith he was considered right with God. 8 Abraham had faith. So he obeyed God. God called him to go to a place he would later receive as his own. So he went. He did it even though he didn’t know where he was going.

INTRODUCTION:

I have been thinking about faith this week and I started thinking about people, that I know that have faith. Such as the ones that I have sat with at the hospital. The ones that say, “I’m Ready!”

Then I think about when my son Ian who jumps down to me from a set of stairs sometimes yelling “catch me”.

When he jumps, ian is expressing faith in me that I will catch him because he trusts me.

Faith includes taking risks. Faith in God is something you can’t see but, it’s something you feel through the witness of the Holy Spirit.

Now we put our faith in a lot of things. Such as the pew your sitting in. The car seat that you sit in to get here and the bed that you sleep in.

As Christians we are to put our faith in God. To trust him no matter what.

An African antelope can jump to a height of over 10 feet high and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these animals can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall.

I think sometimes we can be like this. I think a lot of churches can be like this.

We don’t allow ourselves to go beyond our own four walls and we get stuck being in maintenance mode instead of being missionaly minded.

We need to trust God beyond the resources we have because if we don’t then how much faith in God do we really have? Not much...

Jesus was the ultimate vision caster. I want you to listen to some of the visionary statements made by Jesus.

“Lift up your eyes! The fields are white unto harvest.”

“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move this mountain.”

“Go into all the world and make disciples.”

Jesus described visions that were big and difficult and even impossible.

All big jobs and big visions require a faith that trust in God and enable the believer to move forward without knowing what the future holds.

The ability to see the path and to start the journey or task is an outward expression of our faith in God.

What Faith is

• Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible.

• Faith is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, and bear the intolerable

• The person who has great faith won’t say God can but will say God will.

Our text today gives a definition of faith which includes some characteristics of what faith in God looks like.

Its says that faith is ...

“Confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”

the word confidence accurately captures the nature of faith as confidence displays more of a certainty and requires some type of responsiveness to the grace that God offers us. This grace can be frustrated and ultimately lost if we dont continually act upon it. The book of James says “faith without works is dead”

The Nature of Faith

The Hebrew word translated faith in its simple form, means “to support, to sustain, or to uphold.” In the passive form, it means “to be firm, stable and faithful.”

The use of the word carries with it in almost every instance, the idea of reliance upon the Jehovah of the ancient covenant.

So we can see faith as what we place our trust in. It’s what is able to support, carry, and sustain us.

What ever we put our faith in also is firm and stable.

You see sometimes we think that we need to have it all figured out before we really trust God. But, what does He say? God says “We walk by faith, and not by sight”

It is in our trials and life difficulties where we learn to have strong faith!

Faith and Doubt

Doubt sees the obstacles. Faith sees the way!

Doubt sees the darkest night, Faith sees the day!

Doubt dreads to take a step. Faith soars on high!

Doubt questions, “Who believes?” Faith answers, “I!”

It says in our text that “This is what the ancients were commended for”. This is referring to the Saints and the risk taking faith that they displaying in their lives by constantly trusting in God. This is the type of faith that pleases God. This is why we see all these great stories of these heroes of the faith in scripture.

A faith that sacrifices: Abel(Genesis 4:1-16)

The first hero mentioned is someone who struggled with a sibling rivalry. If you have a brother or sister than I know you can relate.

You can hate them one minute and then love them the next. The siblings it mentions are the brothers of Cain and Abel.

Most of us have actually said that we want to kill our brother. Cain murdered his brother out of jealousy.

They were both to provide a sacrifice TO THEIR FATHER. Abel’s was accepted while Cains was rejected. Many believe it was because Abel’s sacrifice was done in faith while Cains wasn’t.

As a result of Abel’s faith he became the first martyr in the bible. I think today there might be some here who have also faced some type of resistance from our own own family because of our faith in God.

Let us not forget though what God says about Abel at the end. he says that “Abel still speaks, even though he is dead”.

Let me tell you, when we are dead and gone and will fight this good fight to the very end, then even though we are dead our life will still speak to our family in this generation and even in generations to come.

A faith that walks: Enoch(Genesis 5:21-24)

Enoch was a guy who was in a midst of a wicked and sinful world. Remember he lived in the era before the flood.

He had a family like many of us today and had responsibilities but, in the midst of all the chaos around him it is said that he “walked with God”.

To do that it must of required a risky faith. A faith that wouldn’t bow down to the pressures of culture around him but, a bowing down to the God who was in him.

One day God just took Enoch. Because he pleased him by his faith. A risk taking faith is one that is lived out daily as we walk side by side with our creator.

A faith that saves: Noah(Genesis 5:32-10:1)

Now we see Noah. He is the one that listened to God and was warned.

We all know him as the guy who built the Ark. He was a righteous man living in a sinful world.

Everyone though he was crazy for doing what God told him to do but, that’s what a risky faith does.

He had faith because he believed what God said was to be true. We need to be like Noah and obey God even if we are the only ones who do so.

A faith that trusts: Abraham (Genesis 12;13;15)

We all like to know “whats next” especially in our life and journey of faith but, sometimes God just wants us to trust and follow Him wherever he takes us.

Abraham is a great example of this. He was told by God to go to a place that God had prepared for him.

But God didn’t tell Abraham where it was or how long it would take to get there. God simply told Abraham to go and to have faith. Abraham did just that.

He trusted God and picked up his life and followed God.

Were called to be risk-takers. Playing it safe will get nothing done. You will not be remembered and Christ will not be glorified.

The main reason we don’t take risks is because we are afraid of the outcome but, fear is the opposite of faith and God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear but, one of power, love and a sound mind.

YOU:

Thinking of your own life, what kind of faith are you displaying? Do you have faith that sacrifices, a faith that walks, a faith that saves, and a faith that trusts?

Remember to say “Happy Mother’s Day”!