Sermon (07-Aug): "The Importance of a Now Faith"
Notes
Transcript
Scripture:
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
9 By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[a] considered him faithful who had made the promise.
12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Big Idea:
The objective of this message is to realize the life of a Christian—a believer and follower of Christ—requires a “now faith”
Introduction:
- I don’t know about you but sometimes when you turn around you can see people of every sort branching out and saying, “I’m just going out in faith!”
- But, what does that mean?
- And, in what are they having faith in?
- Someone who is not a Christian can say it…
- And we wonder exactly, in whom or in what are you basing your faith on? Is it a person…a thing?
- In other words, do you have faith for the sake of faith alone…
- Or, when the person is a Christian; you hope their faith is in the One and true Living God
- For me, I have learned that in my life that faith has to be integrated in every facet of my life—
- From the start of my day to the end of it—
- Faith in what Christ can accomplish through me is central even to the core of who I proclaim to be and who I show myself to be
- And, being completely honest, that’s what a believer’s life should consist of
- If we are hoping and wishing and praying but not relying and trusting in Christ,
- Then maybe we have the wrong belief system from the start and we need to reexamine Who and what we believe in
- It’s been said,
“Faith is not shelter against difficulties, but belief in the face of all contradictions.” - Paul Tournier, Christian Reader, Vol. 31
- That quote has never been truer than what we—believers and unbelievers—face today in our society and culture
Transition: Everything that we are facing and dealing with in our day and time requires faith on some level…
Sometimes unconscious; at other times conscious—intentional
- But both are considered a “Now Faith”
1 – “What is a Now Faith?” (v.1)
Definition: A Now Faith is confidence in what we hope for/assurance in what we do not see
- That's the definition but what does it actually mean…
- Keep in mind when we are talking about faith, it centers on hope in God and not mere confidence
- Confidence is one thing but foolish confidence is quite another
- Personally, I believe God continues to do miracles and work outside the normal
- But we find Him operating, most times, through things/people/systems already in place
2 – What Did a “ Now Faith” Look Like?
Explanation: You may ask yourself, “Why do you need an example of a now faith?”
-- God Shaped the Universe By It: God set the precedent
-- Abraham’s FAITH-fueled departure:
-- Sarah’s FAITH-fed pregnancy:
3 – What Should a “Now Faith” Look Like?
Explanation:
-- It should look forward (v.13-15)
13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14 Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back
-- It should include what's better (v.16)
16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland…
-- It should honor God (v.16)
16 …That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Closing:
“We can prove our faith by our commitment to it and in no other way. Any belief that does not command the one who holds it is not a real belief--it is only a pseudo-belief…
- A.W. Tozer in This World: Playground or Battlefield?Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no. 4