NJ - Pursue Faith

Good morning and welcome to Oasis Church, welcome to our online family, it is great to have you join with us today. If you are visiting with us, we welcome you.

As we continue with our theme Courageous Faith

I have titled my message: Pursue Faith.

LETS PRAY

In the Scriptures God gives us a definitive list of things that He wants us to pursue, things He wants us to go after. And it’s not because they’re outside of the scope of His will. They are within the scope of His will, but these are things that we need to chase after.

He wants us to experience them, He wants us to walk in them. We need to pursue them.

And a part of that list is found in 1 Timothy 6:11

1 Timothy 6:11 NKJV

11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.

Paul writes this to young Timothy. He says, “To pursue faith.”

According to Hebrews 12:2?

Hebrews 12:2 NKJV

2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus Christ is called the author and the finisher of our faith.

He is also the developer of our faith. Faith is not just about a principle that we work.

It’s about having faith in a Person.

It’s about having faith in our Creator.

It’s about having faith in Jesus Christ.

Now Jesus being the author, the developer, the finisher of our faith, we should study carefully, the things that He had to say about faith.

It’s an intriguing thing when we see in the Gospels that Jesus designated several different levels of faith or several different kinds of faith.

As we look at the story surrounding those, we can identify where we are in faith and then begin to pursue a greater faith.

POINT 1 NO FAITH

In Mark 4, Jesus talks about no faith—being at literally zero when it comes to faith.

Mark 4:35–40 NKJV

35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

He didn’t say, “Little faith.” He said, “How was it that you have no faith?” You see, the indication of having no faith, it comes from the person that says, “God doesn’t care.”

They said, “Lord, you don’t care that we’re going to die? You don’t care that we’re perishing?

The person that no faith says, “God has no interest and no concern. I’m in trouble, but God couldn’t care less.”

We do run into people like that from time to time. They are consumed by their troubles, hard ache and pain that they are in. (The storm that surrounds them, due to the waves that are crashing into their little boat),

We think that “God doesn’t care.”

You, maybe at this point in your life right now. You somehow assumed that, “Well, God doesn’t even care about me. I feel like I’m going down, and it’s of no concern to God whatsoever.”

This is zero faith. Now, the positive thing about this, is if we are willing to own it and say,

“Okay, this is where I’m at. I’ve been entertaining these thoughts that God doesn’t care.”

God does care for us,

but at least you can look up, and we can see where we need to go.

So, we go from no faith to little faith.

POINT 2 LITTLE FAITH

Jesus’ speaking, He said,

Matthew 6:25–34 NKJV

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

We see from this scripture that Jesus is showing how much God cares for us and that we do not need to worry.

The signs of little faith are,

“I’m worried about tomorrow.

I’m occupied with lack,” instead of being occupied with God.

“I’m worried.

I’m consumed.

Where is this going to come from?

Where’s that going to come from?”

The Food Hamper Story

Jesus said, “Look, your Father knows you have need of those things.” In fact, from these verses, we read:

In verse 25, Jesus said, “Do not worry.”

In verse 28, He asked the question, “Why do you worry?”

In verse 31, He said, “Do not worry.”

In verse 34, He said, “Do not worry.”

Now, if Jesus said something once, we should never ever forget it. If He says it twice, we need to write it down, put it on our refrigerator, put it on the bathroom mirror. If He says it three times, If He says it four times, WOW. Four times, “Don’t worry. Don’t worry. Don’t worry. Don’t worry.” Do you think He’s trying to get something across to us? He said, “Don’t worry about tomorrow.” You see, a little faith starts out well, but it’s usually strangled by the anxieties and the cares of life.

The cure,

We, need to become more occupied with thoughts of God and with His faithfulness, than we are with the circumstances around us.

We need to become occupied with how God meets creation’s needs.

Jesus said, “Look at the flowers. Solomon didn’t dress up like that. And God takes care of the lilies of the field.”

Go take a walk around the gardens. God cares for the flowers. He said, “Look at the birds. They don’t stress out. They don’t reap. They don’t sow. They don’t gather into barns, but your father takes care of them. How much more will He take care of you, O you of little faith?”

And I just want to tell you, whatever you’re going through right now, wherever you are,

God loves you. You may have gone through a tough time, and your world has been turned upside down.

Maybe you’ve been somehow made to feel worthless.

Listen, God sees you. He loves you. You may not know how you’re going to make ends meet, but He will take care of you. Put your trust in Him. God loves you. And Jesus said, “Don’t worry about tomorrow.” Don’t pull tomorrow’s clouds over today’s sunshine.

Certainly, we need to plan for tomorrow, but we don’t need to worry about tomorrow. God has things under control, and He’s just looking for us to put our trust in Him.

So, we went from no faith to little faith. Next, we’re going to be moving to great faith. So, Jesus talks about no faith. He talks about little faith. In fact, there’s another signs of a little faith.

It’s that people are occupied with their own needs, and they’re not looking at something bigger.

One of the ways that we move from little faith to a bigger faith is that we consider kingdom things,

That we get involved in helping other people, that we get involved with the work of the kingdom, and that we’re not just focused on our own lack or our own personal needs.

In this context where Jesus is sharing in Matthew 6, He said, verse 33,

Matthew 6:33 NKJV

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

In other words, be looking and investing in and seeking something bigger than just you. God knows about your needs. Pray about them and trust God for the answers.

We need to move from little faith to great faith.

POINT 3 GREAT FAITH

And Jesus comes on the scene again in Matthew 8. And in this story, He talks about great faith. In verse 5 of Matthew 8. It says,

Matthew 8:5–10 NKJV

5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” 7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

Jesus marveled at the centurion’s faith, out of all the people Jesus had been with, this man had the most faith (GREAT FAITH)

If Jesus is going to marvel at us, wouldn’t we want Him to marvel at our faith. Jesus called this great faith.

What was so great about it? Well, the centurion required no other evidence besides the word of Jesus. He said, “Lord, just speak a word, and my servant will be healed.”

Great faith believes that God is not only able, but that He’s willing. And great faith rests on the evidence of God’s word alone.

We talked about no faith. This is the person that says, “God, you don’t care. I’m going down, and it doesn’t concern You at all.”

Little faith is a person that starts out well, but they begin to worry and let anxieties drown them.

Great faith knows that God is able, knows that He’s willing and great faith rests on the evidence of God’s Word alone.

Seeing a man with leprosy get save and hearing the testomy of how he was healed.

Seeing a person get out of a wheelchair.

An atmosphere of faith.

Joy healed in the middle of worship.

We need to have faith in God, Jesus said in Mark 11:22-26

Mark 11:22–26 NKJV

22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. 25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

So, Jesus talks about these wonderful principles of faith. And again, it begins with have faith in God. It’s about faith in a person. It’s when you do what God said, you believe that God will do what God does.

But then Jesus goes on and he says, and when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive them so that your Father in heaven can forgive you.

CONCUSION

We can feed our faith on the Word of God. We can rest our faith on the evidence of God’s Word alone. We can be convinced that something from the Scriptures is God’s will, that He’s willing, and We know that He’s able, but if we have unforgiveness or bitterness in our hearts, if we refuse to forgive, it will stifle our faith. So, let’s forgive and not hold onto any bitterness but move from no faith to little faith, to great faith in Jesus’ name.

So rather than talking to God about how big our mountain is, we need to talk to our mountain about how big our God is. Jesus said, you speak to the mountain. That’s one of the ways that faith in God works.

I just want to encourage you. Forgiveness is so important. Also walking in love is such an important part of faith.

So depending on where you are at, you might feel like you are at a place of NO FAITH, or LITTLE FAITH or even GREAT FAITH let us continue on pursuing more faith in God.