Sermon Tone Analysis

Northside Church

July 31, 2022

Chen family visit

Foundational faith #2

Good morning… My name is Jamey and I’m the lead pastor here at Northside.

It’s always great to be with you all…

I wanted to say thank you for all the feedback we received… and share with you the exciting news that Northside has an associate pastor…

We offered the full time job to Daniel this last week… and they accepted.

Daniel will start on Oct. 1.

Be praying for them… as they transition and as they welcome their baby boy into the world sometime in early Sept.

Last week we also started a new sermon series called…

“Foundational Faith” … (PIC)

The goal of this series is to help us step back and ask the question what role, if any, is faith playing in my life?

Last week we talked about how Hebrews 11 defines faith as…

The assurance of things hoped for…

It's not wishful thinking or even reckless optimism… but it's grounded in deep belief and trust that what God says… even if it’s yet to be realized… will come to be.

The Conviction of things we can’t see.

This life altering conviction that impacts the way we think and live our lives… it leads to action.

This deep trust that God will do what He says in a way that impacts the way we think and live…

We talked about how Jesus himself taught that building our lives on Him, His truth, and applying that truth to our lives is what it means to build our lives on the right… secure and strong foundation… that will withstand the storms that will come in life.

That sort of faith is the one foundational thing… that holds us… and that holds it all together is this rock solid, unwavering faith in Him.

Through the highs and lows… the thick and thin… the success and failures…

Heb 11 goes on to illustrate faith sharing these amazing examples of faith… some of which we are surprised to see on the list… they had real struggles… didn't always get it right, but here they are as examples of faith.

They were real people… with real struggles just like you and I… and one of the things that I think God is trying to teach us in all of that is… not only did their faith see them through…

It also changed the way they faced those things… which in turn… changed the way those things impacted their lives in the long run… they learned… and even dealt with the consequences differently because of their faith.

And so from now until Sept. we will be looking at different people that God used as examples of faith and today we’re talking about Moses…

Through a series of interesting miracles… Joseph ended up being second in command in all of Egypt and when one of the worst droughts in history hit, his brothers and father and their families ended up moving to Egypt too as honored guests of the king.

Exodus one goes on the say… they multiplied… a lot

And when a new king came to power, he knew nothing of Joseph or how God used him to save millions… out of fear… he said… we have to stop this or eventually they will over power us…

With one decree… israel went from honored guests… to severely oppressed and overworked slaves under the thumb of cruel slave drivers… but even then it says… they multiplied even more…

Soon after the order was given that all Hebrew baby boys were to thrown into the Nile river… and that is what Moses was born into…

I am going to read through Heb.

11: 23-29.

As I do, try to pay attention to how often we hear the words fear and faith.

(NLT)

23 It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born.

They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.

24 It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

25 He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.

26 He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.

27 It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger.

He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.

28 It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.

29 It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground.

But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.

There are five important things I think we can pull from this short passage about faith…

Faith helps us deal with fear.

Faith grounds us in who we really are

Faith reminds us of what really holds value.

Faith involves keeping our eyes on the right thing

Faith inspires faith in those we lead.

Faith helps us deal with fear.

There is a ton in scripture about Moses… but one of the things God wants us to see in Heb 11… is the role our faith plays in fear…

Fear is a God given thing… it’s normal and can play a healthy role in our life, but it also can be incredibly destructive.

It can weaken the immune system

Cause cardiovascular damage

Cause Gastrointestinal issues

Fear produces a physical, emotional, mental and psychological reaction within us…

That in turn produces that whole fight or flight mentality.

It releases dopamine and adrenaline… it actually can be addictive… I think that's why some people jump out of perfectly good airplanes.

Fear often produces what one study called a freezing effect… one author suggested for some it's just short of paralysis.

And its interesting… how fear can impact every other point out of this passage.

Fear can cause us to lose sight of or to deny who we really are.

To hide.

Fear can cause us to settle instead of investing in what matters.

Fear can take our eyes off of the right things and cause.

Attack or priorities.

Chase things that matter far less.

Fear can rob us of the influence we have in the lives of others.

And we could go on…

It was faith… that empowered Moses’ parents to put their lives on the line and defy a king.

It was through faith that Moses confronted the most powerful man in the world and his own grandfather

Fear is a real thing… I’ve struggled with it off and on in my life.

It didnt keep me from doing dumb stuff as a young man… but it robs me of a ton these days.

I would say that my #1 mistake as a father has been parenting in fear.

And into that I want to share something that has been helpful for me…

Wherever I feel myself sliding into this place of fear… I often try to think through this process…

He either created and is over it all or He isn't.

He either has a plan or He doesn’t.

He either healed the sick and raised the dead or He didn’t.

He either has me… right where He wants me or He doesn’t.

He will either see me through whatever comes of this… or He won’t.

He either is with me… or He isn’t.

So, Jamey… who are you going to be.

95% of the time when I can get myself into that line of thinking I choose faith.

Fear is normal, but God never intended it to be a paralyzing thing in our life.

(NLT)

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

There are a ton of passages that talk about not being afraid even of those who could take your life… but instead… fear the one who holds the power of eternity in the palm of His hand.

Faith grounds us in who we really are (vs24)

Acts 7 tells us that Moses was brought up in all the wisdom of the Egyptians… he was raised within a culture that was far from God… and yet… he never forgot where he came from.

He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter…

And that is far more important than we realize.

If I were to ask you who you are, what would you say?

What would you say the greatest truth about you is?

I don’t know that we think about this enough…

Not only are we formed by God… Not only were we created with a unique part of His very image in us, not only are we the target of His grace and called for his purpose…

One of the primary ways the Bible teaches about you as a believer is that you are a “Child of God”.

Think about that… Do you believe it?

Does it matter?

Faith… growing in the way that we see and relate and respond to God… gives us a growing and refining sense of our identity in Him.