Faith

The Gospel in the Gospels  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  57:08
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Introduction

We are coming to the close of our summer series about the Gospel
The Gospel is good news!
In this series, we have looked at how Jesus presented the Gospel in his interactions with people and then through his stories.
In the last few weeks of this series, we are going to look at a few elements of the Gospel that are very important
Last week we looked at repentance.
Sin is something that needs to be dealt with, but God is not interested in having us buck up and fight our will and force ourselves into righteousness.
Rather, Jesus wants our hearts, and through relationship with Him, align our lives to Him.
Today, we will be in Matthew 14:22-34
Matthew 14:22–34 NIV
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret.
Pray
Main Topic
Today, we are talking about the topic of faith.
The world’s view of faith
Blind
Anti-logic/evidence
Sincerity
Blind
Faith is a hope. It is directed at your wish and hoping it comes true…although it may not
Anti-logic/evidence
“People of faith”- Over here you have science, history and logic.
But some of you choose to go over here and become “people of faith” It’s like we are the fairy tale people and as long as we aren’t hurting anyone, what’s good for you is good for you.
Sincerity
Even trying to align good in the world to manifest into your life.
If I believe hard enough then good things will come to me
Indiana Jones faith bridge video.
The church view of faith
Salvation Faith
Circumstantial Faith
Confusion Faith
Salvation faith
We know from the Scriptures that it is by grace we are saved through faith.
Faith is involved in salvation. This is true. But we often leave faith just hanging and say, “It means believe”
Then we present that person with a series of facts.
It leads to the impression that faith is about believing a version of history and you are saved.
Circumstances faith
A separate type of faith that we see in the church is when things get difficult (sickness, conflict, money problems, etc.)
We believe that somehow faith will remove those problems from our lives.
It is rooted in this thought, “If I have enough faith, and remove enough doubt, God will be pleased with me (or my sincerity) and he will solve my problem.”
So we go around seeing people in their problems, real problems, and throw faith out as a solution. And when it doesn’t seem to work, what do we say? “You just need to have faith.”
Confusion faith
This leads to the last type of church faith (that I can think of. There are probably more)
When we don’t understand something or something doesn’t align with our theology we simply say, “I don’t know, but I have faith”
I believe it hard enough to be true.
Will we understand everything? No. But oftentimes our theology is off base. It is directed in the wrong areas. We don’t want to learn what God is saying, we want to reinforce our views and we use faith as our excuse.
This is why I feel we need to take a serious look at this word and its usage. It is a critical word for our approach to God, our approval before God and walking forward in our lives.
Critical in understanding the Gospel
Last week, we looked at repentance. I don’t believe you can truly be repentant before God unless you have faith.
To understand this, we are going to look at this story with Peter.
Context to Story
Jesus had just finished one of the most incredible stories in the entire life of Jesus.
This was the feeding of the 5,000 people.
This mob of people had followed Jesus to the other side of the lake and they were hungry. Jesus took 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and multiplied it and fed the entire crowd.
This story was one of the few stories recorded in all four accounts of the life of Jesus.
Matthew 14:22–23 NIV
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,
Jesus dismissed the whole crowd and told them to go home.
He sent his disciples on a boat to go to the other side of the lake.
This bought Jesus a little bit of time to go up on the mountain to pray alone.
We don’t see much into this time with Jesus, but he was exhibiting a snapshot of something we need to keep in mind.
Jesus made it a regular habit to get away from everyone else and spend time with God.
This was not out of ritual or legalism.
This was out of relationship. He loved the Father. He knew the Father. He wanted his disciples to know the Father.
That was the purpose of his time on Earth was so they could have a way to know the Father.
Matthew 14:23–24 NIV
After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Think about this. The guys set out for the other side of the lake.
Now depending on what part of the lake they were on, the lake could be as wide as 8 miles across.
They set out and it should have been a pretty simple sail across the lake, but a storm kicked up and the wind was blowing in the opposite direction of their destination.
Many of these guys were fishermen, so they knew the ways of the water here. They were very skilled in their boats. Very likely, this boat was one of the guys’ personal boats.
This passage says there was a storm raging and they were getting hit by all of the waves and the wind was blowing against them.
But they were making progress. They were a considerable distance from the shore, but hanging on for dear life.
Matthew 14:25 NIV
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
Now we get to the part of the story where we start to understand faith.
Jesus sets out on the lake walking toward them on the water.
This was shortly before dawn, so the guys had likely been toiling away all night long.
Now, when I picture this story, I often think of the guys in the dark, wind and rain and they were soaked and being thrashed about by the waves.
Then when I picture Jesus, He is walking on nice smooth water with the sun shining and everything seems good.
No, this was not the case. Jesus was walking out on the lake as it was thrashing around with the wind blowing.
He was not only walking on the water, He was also walking through the storm.
If God had allowed a nice 6 foot circle of perfect weather for Jesus, one of the Gospels would have recorded this little tidbit.
But no one did.
Jesus was walking through the same storm they were walking through.
Matthew 14:26 NIV
When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
As the night turned into morning, the guys in the boat could start to better see the storm around them. They may have been able to see the shore a long way off.
But as they look back the direction they had come, they saw someone walking on the water.
They were terrified!
Tarasso- Terrified; to cause great distress; to stir up; to cause a riot
They thought they were looking at a ghost.
I don’t know why their minds went directly to a ghost, unless one of the disciples had been telling spooky ghost stories over the campfire the night before.
There was nothing in their minds that would be able to equate this reality. So they went to the, however unlikely conclusion, that this was a ghost.
A ghost was walking on the water toward them.
It was all they could do to keep the boat upright and held together. The last thing they needed was a ghost to contend with.
Exhaustion can cause fear
Matthew 14:27 NIV
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Jesus speaks to them through the storm and says, “Take courage, it’s me!. Don’t fear.”
The presence of Jesus in our storms should take our eyes off of our fear.
Matthew 14:28 NIV
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
I really don’t know what Peter was thinking at this point.
They think its a ghost and they are afraid. Then Peter says, “If it is really you, tell me to walk on the water too!”
Now what if this was a ghost with a sense of humor? He might have said, “Come” as well.
I would love to get a snapshot of why Peter said this. I’ll tell you why I believe he did.
There was a storm. This wasn’t just their storm. It was Jesus’ storm as well. Jesus was walking through the same storm.
Peter was exhausted. When we are exhausted from battling the storms, fear tends to be what settles in.
Peter recognized he was afraid.
It wasn’t that some ghost was saying “Don’t be afraid” A ghost wouldn’t speak to their situation like this.
Only Jesus would speak to their hearts in the middle of the storm.
And what Jesus said was way beyond someone trying to comfort their friends. Jesus said, “take courage”
Not “Calm down”.
Tharseo- Take courage, be over-bold, audacious, cheer up, to dare, to not move, to be deaf to threats, to have a heart of iron.
Jesus said, be deaf to the storm. Do not let fear be the decision maker in your life.
So Peter took courage. He asked Jesus the most audacious thing he could ask.
Let me walk on the water to you.
This is the most “tharseo” thing he could have said.
Matthew 14:29 NIV
“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
Now, Peter could have just asked and when Jesus said, “Come”, Peter would say, “Yeah right Jesus. I know you could sustain me. I’ve seen you raise the dead, heal the sick, give sight to the blind, cast out demons and make the lame walk.
But, Yeah right. Come on over Jesus, I’ll make a seat for you in the boat.
This is the part of faith that I want to talk about first
We talk so much about discipleship and relationship with one another and with Jesus.
We know that Jesus called His disciples by saying, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”
I think we sit here in our storms and say, “Whew, I’m glad Jesus is in the storm with me. This brings me so much comfort. I am even honored that He would call me.”
He knows me, He knows my name. This is really neat.
Yes it is, but faith is not sitting in the boat.
Peter could have believed all he wanted in the boat, but this is not faith. This is simply belief.
You see, in the Bible, there are two words that have no distinction between them, but yet, we create distinction.
These two words are “faith” and “faithfulness”.
If you have faith, you are faithful.
If you are not faithful, then there is no faith.
It is like saying, “I’m a runner”, but if you never run, can you really call yourself a runner? Of course not.
Peter could not claim to have faith and sit in the boat disobediently
All of this is going to come around to some very practical points in a minute.
So Peter got out of the boat and began walking on the water toward Jesus.
He was living out faith!
Matthew 14:30–31 NIV
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
You know how this story goes.
He saw the wind and was afraid. He began to sink and cried out for Jesus to rescue him.
Jesus reached out his hand and caught Peter.
Jesus says, “Peter, why is your faith so small? Why did you give in to doubt?”
It seems like a harsh criticism for Peter. I mean, he is the only one who got out of the boat.
But I would rather be criticized by Jesus for having a small amount of faith, than having no faith and having stayed in the boat.
Matthew 14:32–34 NIV
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret.
This is how the story ends.
The storm immediately stops
The disciples all are in awe and acknowledge that Jesus is God.
They completed the trip as planned.
Faith.
I want to talk about this topic of faith for a few minutes as we close.
We often go to Hebrews 11:1
Hebrews 11:1 NIV
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
As well as Hebrews 11:6
Hebrews 11:6 NIV
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
We know that without faith it is impossible to please God
God is pleased with our faith. That is good to know!
But faith being confident in our hope?
Assured of what we do not see?
Those things can point us to so many directions and it really doesn’t seem to put a practical sense to our definition.
So in order to create an understanding of faith, I want to walk through this boat story with you. This will require some acting, so I hope that is ok.
Faith alone does nothing. Faith must be placed in Jesus.
So often, we think in terms of, “I just gotta have faith!”
There is a song about that somewhere. I usually turn the radio station because it is an annoying song, but I’ve heard it before.
Somehow by believing hard enough, or praying hard enough, we will get the outcome we want.
Faith in history changes nothing
Faith in a wish changes nothing
Faith in a religion changes nothing
Faith in a desired outcome changes nothing
Faith in Jesus changes everything
I was talking to Donovan this week about this topic
How do we have faith?
At first, we don’t know Jesus. We have to trust what little we know and what we have seen and heard.
Jesus comes to us highly recommended.
In taking to Donovan, we were talking about a friend of mine possibly being able to do some work that Donovan needs done.
I’ve never seen my friend do the job Donovan needs done.
But I know my friend and it is right up his alley.
Also, I know my friend is of the highest character of anyone I have known.
Does Donovan know my friend? No.
But would Donovan be willing to call my friend? Yes, because of my recommendation.
This first point is really a pre-point to this story because Peter already knew Jesus.
But there is a lost and dying world out there that doesn’t know Jesus.
They will only know Jesus by your faithfulness. Your faith lived out.
Your life is the recommendation for Jesus that they have based their decision on.
Jesus uses His church to show His nature to this world.
That is why He says we are light in the dark.
When we know Jesus, we learn to trust Him.
Faith doesn’t mean that Jesus does what we want. Faith means that we do what Jesus wants.
You might think that Jesus is doing what Peter wants by inviting him out onto the water.
No, Jesus is asking Peter to obey. Not just obedience for the sake of the law. Rather relational obedience.
Do you remember last week as we talked about repentance.
That is the picture of setting our hearts on Jesus.
From that, we change the way we thing, then our actions follow suit.
Entrusting our hearts to Jesus is an easy thing to say.
But much like saying Jesus is Lord is an easy thing to say, the opposite is very hard.
Saying Jesus is Lord is also saying, that I am not. I am His servant. I am His doulos (slave).
My life, will, heart and actions will all be defined by Him, not by me.
If I am entrusting my life to Jesus, this takes a huge amount of trust in Him. This is faith.
You cannot have true repentance without faith.
As Peter was called out of the boat, I want to walk through faith/faithfulness with you.
In the boat, Peter was safe
In the boat, Peter was more comfortable than if he was not in the boat.
In the boat, Peter was in some level of control.
Jesus calls us to follow Him.
This is the call out of the boat
Away from our comfort
Away from our safety
Away from our control.
Whether you are unsaved in this room, He calls you out of your boat and asks you to have faith in Him
Not because you are afraid
Not because it is the rules to follow
Because you know Him and trust Him.
Or if you are a believer in this room. We still have the calling to follow Jesus.
This is not a one time situation to have faith. We are called to faithfulness
There may be a first moment of faithfulness, but we will be called out of the boat every day for the rest of our lives.
Will you obey? Will you trust Him?
How do you know Him?
Stepping out of the boat is scary.
I think we often believe the lie that we should never feel fear.
Somehow, by feeling fear we are lacking faith.
There is nothing wrong with the feeling of fear. It is a natural feeling given to us by God. It is good to have fear.
Fear means that our safety, comfort or control are in jeopardy.
If the door falls off of my car while I am driving down the road and there is nothing between my leg and 60 mph of concrete, should I feel that my safety has been compromised? Yes. Fear.
If I am driving down an icy road and my back wheels start passing my front wheels and I am out of control, should I feel fear? Absolutely, yes!
In this story, Jesus is pitting the loss of control, comfort and safety of the storm against himself.
Either the storm would win or Jesus would win. But in either case, Peter would not win.
His safety, comfort and control was given up the minute he let go of the boat and turned his back to it.
Fear is a natural response when Jesus calls us to obedience.
It is a natural response because our comfort, control and safety are being taken from us.
It isn’t so much that I give them up as much as I fear the world more than I trust Jesus.
Faith is knowing the fear, and choosing to trust Jesus as we let go of our comfort, control, and safety.
We will never be good at faith!
Step 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...
I don’t know how many steps he took, but that last step should have been his moment of greatest faith.
Jesus had sustained him for the entire walk. The last step should have been the easy one.
How far did he make it?
Matthew 14:30–31 NIV
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
He made it to an arms reach away from Jesus.
A step of faith is always a step of faith.
It will always push us further than we are comfortable going.
In fact, by nature, faith is giving up comfort, safety, and control.
We cannot be comfortable, safe, or in control when walking by faith.
Getting good at something means that we grow in these areas we are giving up.
Jesus is bigger than the storm
Jesus allowed the disciples to go through the storm
Jesus Himself endured the storm
Jesus didn’t calm the storm to help Peter
But when Jesus got into the boat, the storm stopped.
The storm is not bigger than Jesus.
Did Jesus cause the storm? No. It just happened.
He is bigger than the storm.
Faith + Repentance
side by side. It is not repentance unless there is faith, relationship, and obedience (faithfulness).
We went through all of the ways Christians see faith. Each of them certainly have their own validity. However, there is no difference between faith and faithfulness.
Faith is a reference of the person, knowing we can trust them.
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