What Has God Promised Through Faith in Christ?

0 (2s): Thank you look forward to what you want to do in our hearts this morning. Would you give us ears to hear and eyes to see? We want to know you. We want to come close to you. We want to experience your power and your presence, your mercy and forgiveness this morning. Even as we celebrate at the Lord's table today, God, you just cleanse us from all the things that kind of get in the way of our relationship with you. G purify our hearts and draw us into yourself. So kind of be in our MIS as we sing the songs would you would have our praises. 0 (42s): We love you, Jesus. And your precious name. Amen. 0 (59s): break the chains that have hi, our living hope. 0 (18m 1s): Thank you. That's out of the grave. There is victory in Jesus name. Thank you for the victory. God, we just pray for continued communications to our hearts and souls and minds today. Lord God, that there's victory in Jesus, God, that we would hear it. We would believe the gospels for us, that we would internalize it, that we do live it. Lord, in Jesus name 1 (18m 37s): God, where, where we're struggling to believe that the gospel is for us. 0 (18m 41s): I pray God that you would remind us and affirm to us. Speak to us in your loving and gracious way. Lord, it's your kindness that calls people causes people to pretend some more God. So speak to us. Lord, we pray minister to us. We pray Lord in Jesus name Jesus. Amen. You may be seated. You may be seated. 1 (19m 11s): Good morning, everyone. How is everyone? You know, it's interesting as we were singing this last song, I was, I don't even know why I'm going to share this with you, but I'm going to, but I had this dream last night and I felt compelled to share it. I don't even know why, but maybe in the sharing, it'll kind of become clear, have this dream that I'm walking around without any pants on last night and DMI. I know I realize that, but I'm walking around and it's strange to me that I'm walking around this way, but it's not, doesn't seem to be strange to anyone else. 1 (19m 59s): And so I, at one point in the dream, I asked my son, I said, Curtis, can you get me a pair of shorts? And he said, dad, you've already got shorts on. I looked down and I had shorts on. I felt lost. Interesting. I wonder what, what that was all about. And another part of the dream, I had been loading up my truck with some stuff I'm just giving you bits and pieces of the dream 2 (20m 22s): Bits and pieces of the dream. 1 (20m 23s): I, I see this truck began to roll without anybody in the, in the driver's seat. And I thought it was my truck. So I started running after the truck. And then I realized as I'm running after the truck, it's not my truck. It's another truck. It's, it's a different truck. It's a bigger truck. And it's running out of control and it crashes into another truck. And I thought, well, that's weird. I thought that was my truck, but my truck was just fine full of all the junk that I needed to throw away, but there was all kinds, but the truck was fine. And, and so then I thought, well, what, what does this dream mean? What does, what does it mean anything? Or did I just eat a bad burrito or something? What we, we did have, we did have some takeout last night. So maybe that was the deal. 1 (21m 4s): It was the broccoli. There we go. And, but I was feeling heavy about the dream. And then as we're singing this song, like the burden just kind of lifted off of me. It was like, I realized that the gospel stuff that's us free in the, the world in all kinds of different ways, tries to weigh us down and wear us out. And so maybe through the dream, I was, you know, the enemy or whatever it was, was attempting to kind of wear me down and wear me out. But the reality is, is that 2 (21m 36s): That I had my shorts on 1 (21m 38s): And my truck was just fine. I think that maybe the truth that God wants to speak to us, we have this perception about ourselves or this idea that maybe somebody has put upon us to weigh us down and to wear us out. 2 (21m 54s): But as we look down, 1 (21m 56s): All is good. We've got our shorts on or truck's fine. So maybe, maybe you've been wrestling with something that's wearing you out and wearing you down. And it's lot from the enemy that God wants to lift off of you. And so I'm just going to pray for us that the Lord would lift that off of us. And so Lord, we pray for that Lord all over the campus. Whoever's listening Lord that you would lift the burdens in Jesus name. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So there's not meant be any burden of heaviness. There's the conviction of the holy spirit, but we're, we, we understand the difference. And so Lord, I pray that if there's something that we need to confess and repent of that we would do that. But then as we do that, as we sincerely confess and repent Lord that that burden would be lifted. 1 (22m 39s): And if there's something that's of the world, the flesh or the devil Lord, we pray that that would be lifted off of us as well, Lord. So we're going to be looking at some things today. God's promises to us through faith in Christ. And I pray that as we do that, we're just be a revelation of joy, a revelation of peace that we would renew our experience and the grace and mercy of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And that if there are those here today who have never experienced the grace and mercy of the Lord, Jesus Christ, that that would be experienced and new life would be given and salvation would be added and adoption would take place Lord. And that great things would what happened as that person moves forward. 1 (23m 22s): So Lord, I pray that you would eliminate anything of the world, the flesh of the devil that might try to hinder what you want to speak to us today, whether it be through false, accurate the, the, the enemy is the accuser of the, of the flash of the brethren. He's a, he's constantly accusing lying to us. His native tongue is that he just speaks lies constantly. So Lord pray that we wouldn't be believing lies and that we wouldn't be sucked into his accusations, Lord God. But that we would know that we have been adopted. If we are in Christ, we are in his family. Our sins are forgiven. His grace is sufficient. 1 (24m 3s): His mercy is plentiful. And our salvation is, is sure because Jesus is sure. So thank you, Lord, do what you need to do in each of us. Lord, we pray. We just want to be available. Speak to us. We ask Lord in Jesus name. Amen, amen. What do you call a man with no body and no nose? Nobody knows. Speaking of noses, you know, you're getting old. When the barber spends more time on your nose than on your head. If you don't own, I'm talking about, then you will know. 1 (24m 43s): Eventually you will know eventually, Hey, we're in second Timothy chapter one verses one through seven, and we're going to be jumping into second Timothy and answering the question. What has God promised through faith in Christ? What has God promised through faith in Christ? Do you believe that God has made some promises to us? For those of us, you are in Christ. He's made, he's made promises to us. And we're an unpack five of those promises today. And maybe there'll be a part two next week, but we're going to leak look at least five promises today. As we just kind of look at Paul's greeting to his, his son in the faith, Timothy, who was a young pastor, the church of emphasis, there's this greeting and it's, it's filled with connection. 2 (25m 34s): It's 1 (25m 34s): Not some, some just quick little greeting. That's lacking connection and love. And it's this greeting that's just filled with connection. It's some greeting cards 2 (25m 54s): Are 1 (25m 56s): General greeting cards. You know, the kind that you get for people who are distant from you, but you feel obligated to get a greeting card for, so you get them one that may be, it was just kind of general. But then there are those greeting cards that really speak to your hearts. My wife got me a father's day card last week. And man, it was just rich with encouragement and, and goodness. And so there's, there's a difference in the type of green. Paul is rich with love for Timothy. As he reaches out to him and writes this letter, what does God promise through faith in Christ? 1 (26m 37s): Let's find out verse one second. Timothy chapter one verse one says this letter is from Paul, chosen the will of God to be an apostle of Christ. Jesus. I have been sent out to tell others about the life here. It is the life he has promised through faith in Christ Jesus, the life he has promised. So Paul's telling others about the life that he has promised that God has promised through faith in Jesus Christ. He says, I'm writing to Timothy. My dear son. Number one in your notes, he's promised a new kind of spiritual family. Not exciting. Some of us are come from broken families and distant families, hard families. 1 (27m 20s): The truth of the matter is, is that God has given us in Christ, a new kind of spiritual family. Timothy is Paul's spiritual son. Paul is Timothy's spiritual father. So Paul probably didn't lead Timothy to the Lord. And we're we'll know that he probably got his faith from his mother and his grandmother, but there was a, there was a leadership that Paul had intimidate his life, where he probably discipled him where he trained him to be a leader in the church and taught him out of what it really meant to follow Jesus. So Timothy is Paul's spiritual son. 1 (28m 0s): Paul is Timothy's spiritual father. Each of us should have one of those by the way. Or we should all have a spiritual mother or father. We should all have someone who's speaking into our lives ministering to us downloading truth QS. We all need someone like that in our lives. And then we all need someone that we're pouring into as well. Someone that we're speaking into communicating truth to life and, and counsel to. And so this is kind of what is modeled here in this new kind of spiritual family. We've got this responsibility and this honor to connect one another. I, I met my pastor in Colorado at my stepmother's Moore Memorial service. 1 (28m 43s): And immediately there was a kinship, 2 (28m 46s): Right? Because immediately 1 (28m 48s): We know that we're both followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that we never met. Personally, we had talked on the phone a couple of times leading up to the service as soon as we see each other and MBB beyond that, as soon as we talked on the phone with, there was just this, this kinship, this connection because we're brothers in the Lord, meaning we are believers. We believe on the name on the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And we will spend eternity together with each other, with the Lord. And there's just this 2 (29m 16s): Connection 1 (29m 19s): That takes the relationship a deeper than just meeting someone that you aren't connected to in any other way. It's it takes your blood relatives, blood relationships, different and deeper as well. My natural daughters, I've got two daughters who are also my sisters 2 (29m 40s): In the Lord. 1 (29m 42s): And so we can relate as father daughter, but we can also relate as brothers and sisters in the Lord. There's this, there's the connection. I total stranger who believes in the Lord is my spiritual. Relative is your spiritual relative. And honestly, sometimes we feel closer to our spiritual family than we do to our natural family. We belong to each other. God has created something of a family connection in the body of Christ. We belong to each other, a spiritual family, and we belong to God who is our heavenly father. It's interesting that dynamic, that relationship, depending on your relationship with your earthly father, you connect to your spiritual father really well or not. 1 (30m 30s): So well, it just depends on how you connected with your earthly father. Romans eight, 14 through 16, says this for all, who are led by the spirit of God are children of God. 2 (30m 45s): So you've not received 1 (30m 46s): A spirit that makes you fearful slaves. So it's not a servant master relationship. Although we are bond servants of the Lord, Jesus Christ. We are choosing to serve him and give our lives to him. But Jesus calls us friends. The father calls us sons and daughters. You've not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves and said, you received God's spirit. When he adopted you as his, his own children. Now we call him Abba father, which just means daddy. 2 (31m 18s): So there's this intimate 1 (31m 19s): Connection that we can have that we're designed to have. I have with God, the father in this spiritual family that God has designed and has given to us. He is our Bubba father for his spirit, joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. We need to kind of that resonate with us a little bit. The reality that we are God's children. I was talking to a guy last week and he was talking about doing something that was questionable. And I said, well, I said, I, I would have I'm doing that. He said, well, I'm not worried about it. Cause when I get to heaven, God's got a lie. He's going to straighten me out on a lot of different things. 1 (32m 1s): It's like that perspective that says, as soon as I see God, he's going to give me a little spanking, right? He's going to give me a time out. He's going to discipline me for something because I know that I've messed up somewhere along the line, but I don't know about you, but when there's a healthy dynamic, elder relationship between kids and parents, kids, father, and child, that's not, you know, I'm not waiting to come down on my kids. I'm waiting to give him a hug. Right? I'm waiting to see them so I can, you know, they don't like a lot of kisses, but I like to kiss my kids, you know, and my grandkids and they're kinda like grandpa knock it off. But that's, I mean, the heart of a is to love on his kids and grandkids. 1 (32m 42s): And so sometimes our perspective is that boy, as soon as I get to heaven and God's going to kind of, you know, discipline me, he's going to come after me. Jesus took all of that. You took all of that on the cross. And so we belong to God because of what Jesus has made possible. And we belong to one another. Isn't that sweet. That's why church is so amazing. We come together and we can love on one another and pray for one another, laugh together. Just be together, give each other a hard time when necessary and just kind of beats together as a big family, we belong to God and we belong to one another. So maybe you're feeling like you're disconnected from your earthly family. 1 (33m 26s): You don't have to be disconnected from your spiritual family. Be a part of what's going on. That's why I'm so glad that we're all back in church. It's hard to connect through zoom or through FaceTime. It's hard to connect, right? There's there's a, there's something missing. There's something missing. We belong to God. We belong to one. Another. Number one, he has promised a new kind of spiritual family. Number two, he's promised grace mercy and peace. Let's unpack those a little bit. First two continues. May God, the father and Christ Jesus. Our Lord gave you grace, mercy and peace. This is Paul's greeting to Timothy. What a greeting. 1 (34m 7s): It's a reminder of the foundations of our faith, faith, grace, mercy, and peace. Grace is God's unmerited here that we hear it a lot, but we need to hear it again. Grace is God's unmerited, unmerited favor. It means we do not deserve it. If we deserve it, it wouldn't be grace, 2 (34m 29s): Right? We 1 (34m 31s): Go along. Sometimes we think, ah, we shift somewhere and we go from great. I used to work. We feel like if we don't do certain things, we're not, we're not in good standing with the Lord. But grace is given to us as God's unmerited favor, Ephesians two eight says, God saved you by his grace 2 (34m 52s): When you believed and you 1 (34m 55s): Can't take credit for it now, wherever you can't take credit for it, it is a gift from God. So we're saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. It's just an amazing theological truth that we need to constantly revisit. Maybe you've had a bad day and you need to revisit, is it the doctrine of grace And be refreshed in the truth of God's grace? That it's sufficient. If we confess our sins, he is faithful. And just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, his grace is sufficient. Then there's the mercy of God. 1 (35m 35s): Robert Robinson has had been saved out of a life of sin through George Whitfield's ministry in England. Shortly after that, at the age of 23, Robinson wrote the ham come thou fount of every blessing, streams of mercy, never ceasing sad. Lee Robinson wandered far from those streams and like the prodigal son journey journeyed into a life of carnality. And one day he was traveling by stagecoach and sitting beside a young woman and grossed in her book. She ran across a verse. She thought was beautiful and asked him what he thought of it. This is the quote prone to wander Lord. 1 (36m 18s): I feel it 2 (36m 20s): Prone to leave the God. I love 1 (36m 24s): Bursting into tears. Robinson said ma'am ma'am, I'm the poor unhappy man who wrote that him many years ago. And I would give a thousand worlds. If I could enjoy that feeling I had then although greatly surprised she reassured him that the streams of mercy mentioned in the, his songs still flowed. Mr. Robinson was deeply touched turning his wandering heart to the Lord. He was restored to full fellowship. Yeah. Anybody need a little mercy today. 1 (37m 6s): Streams of mercy still flow and they flow for you. They do. They flow for you. Streams of mercy flow for you. This God's good streams of mercy are available. 2 (37m 22s): Just 1 (37m 24s): Soak that up a little bit. Maybe you've had a rough season and you need to refresh yourself in that truth. Grace and mercy are abundant in God's kingdom and grace and mercy lead to the peace of God, grace and mercy and peace. Peace is what is experienced when we abide in Christ and he abides in us. There's peace that is experiencing Christ, but it requires that we abide in him that we, we make an intentional effort to abide in him. 2 (38m 2s): We're making 1 (38m 3s): Him our highest priority. Let's see, we're allowing him to be our highest priority. John 14, 27, Jesus said, peace. I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world, not as the world gives. Do I give to you? Let not your hearts be troubled. Neither let them be afraid. So the opposite of peace would be troubled 2 (38m 35s): And fear, feeling troubled and fearful. The Messiah's peace is based on his grace and his mercy. 1 (38m 47s): So let that grace and mercy leads you to the peace of God. Peace. I leave with you. My peace I 2 (38m 56s): Give to you, not 1 (38m 59s): As the word world gives the world gives it's. It's very conditional piece. If everything's going good, or as I expect, then I'm 2 (39m 9s): At peace. 1 (39m 11s): If I have what I think I need, then I have peace. If I have the relationships that I think I need, then I am at peace. It's very conditional. 2 (39m 20s): It's very conditional. 1 (39m 22s): The peace of God is based on his grace and mercy. And we experienced that as we abide in him, but we can drift from him, right? We drift maybe like the writer of this ham. We drift and maybe go a long time without experiencing his grace and mercy. And so there's no peace. Maybe you're even going to church and seemingly doing all of the right things, but you're lacking a peace in your life. Maybe there's a lack of abiding. There's plenty of doing, but there's a lack of abiding in him. Abiding just simply means, Lord, I'm going to wake up every day and just be with you, be in close proximity with you. So Lord, I want my life to just stay cozied right up to your life. 1 (40m 7s): And so that means I want to invite you into everything and, and Lord, I want your wisdom for, for my decisions. I want your guidance through your word and through your spirits. Peace. I leave with you. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, do I give to you, let not your hearts be troubled. How's your heart today. Are your hearts troubled? Afraid. I think that's what that dream was meant to do is meant to stir up fear in me, anxiety 2 (40m 34s): In me. But what happened 1 (40m 36s): Is, as soon as I got in the presence of the Lord, especially singing that final song, it's like peace was restored. Peace was restored. Let God do what he wants to do in your life. It'll you, you will be surprised at the peace that that comes to you. The Messiah's peace is based on his grace and mercy. Here's a solid definition of peace. It's the tranquil state, eight 2 (40m 59s): Of a soul assured 1 (41m 1s): Of its salvation through Christ. 2 (41m 5s): And so 1 (41m 5s): Fearing hear this. And so fearing nothing from God. Not that we don't have a healthy respect and fear and all of God, but fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly. Lot of whatsoever sword. That is that's 2 (41m 22s): The peace of God says that I'm okay, 1 (41m 27s): Good with God because of his grace and mercy. I'm in the family of God because of his grace and mercy. He's adopted me in my sins are forgiven because of his grace and mercy. I have a new life in Christ because of his grace and mercy. And because of all of that is true. I have peace, 2 (41m 45s): Peace in Jesus. 1 (41m 47s): He's promised us grace, mercy and peace. And number three, he's promised us to clear conscience. 2 (41m 52s): And then interesting. Paul talks about a clear conscience. I clear conscious. 1 (41m 59s): He said, Timothy, I think God for you for God that the God I serve Timothy. I thank God for you. The God I serve with a clear conscience just as my ancestors did night and day. I constantly excuse me. I didn't day. I constantly remember you in my prayers. I longed to see you again for, I remember your tears as we parted and I will be filled with joy when we are together. Again, that's that family relationship that we're talking about. But before that, we got to that. 2 (42m 31s): Paul talks about his clear conscience. 1 (42m 35s): I mean, outcome Paul have a clear conscience after all. I mean, before Christ, he was a persecutor of the church. He was going after believers in the way followers of the way he was going after Christians persecuting and killing Christians. I mean, how can a guy like that to have a clear conscience? 2 (42m 57s): I mean, 1 (42m 57s): Shouldn't, shouldn't he carry that burden all the days of his life. Shouldn't be, I mean, he was a horrible man and abusive man, a terrible person. You fought against Christ. So shouldn't you carry that burden all the days of his life and Christ of course not in Christ. Of course not in Christ. That's 2 (43m 22s): Never the expectation. Remember grace, mercy and peace. Remember 1 (43m 28s): Your before Christ days? I remember my BC days. What about after becoming a believer? Did Paul do everything perfectly? I mean, how can he have a clear conscience after all? Was he a perfect man again, 2 (43m 45s): Of course, knots. 1 (43m 47s): Did he ever make a mistake or commit a sin? Of course he did. Let's read about, Paul's struggle with sin in Romans seven 14 through 25. 2 (43m 58s): I'm always perplexed by this passage, by the way, 3 (44m 1s): Maybe you are as well, or maybe you've got a better handle on it than I do. That's very possible. 1 (44m 5s): Romans seven, 14 through 25 says, so the trouble is not with a law for it is spiritual and good. That trouble is with me for I'm all to humanist slave to sin. I don't really understand myself. I'm saying that in the text is saying that I don't really understand myself where I want to do what is right, but I don't do it instead. I do. I hate, but if I know that what I am doing is wrong, shows that I agree that the law is good. Good. 1 (44m 47s): I am not the one doing wrong. It's sin living in me that does it. I don't think Paul's not taking responsibility. Just saying there's there are, there's a war within a war within that causes me to do the things that I don't want to do. I want to do what's right. But I can't, 2 (45m 12s): I'm battling constant, certainly the corruption within 1 (45m 19s): The one doing wrong. It's it, doesn't it feel like a separate entity within you? Like when you're feeling tempted and you just, can't not sin, you just feel like there's something internally that's dragging you against your own will. 2 (45m 35s): There's that 1 (45m 36s): Spiritual battle within us, that Paul is describing here. 2 (45m 42s): It's sin 1 (45m 44s): Living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me that apart from the spirit of God, that is in my sinful nature, 2 (45m 53s): I want to do what is right. But I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't, 1 (46m 1s): I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. I'm really grateful for this taxed. It, it makes the gospel 2 (46m 18s): Attainable. Doesn't make it so out of reach because we, 1 (46m 26s): In a daily bat, we are in a daily battle against sin, the world, the flesh and the devils bombarding us. I want to do what is good, but I don't, I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if, if I do, I don't want to do, I'm not really the one doing it, doing wrong. It is sin living in me. Yeah, it does. It. We'll have to ask Paul to expand on this. Read, read a couple of commentaries that were not helpful. I don't know that anybody knows what to do with this text. 2 (47m 1s): Paul will explain it. When we get there. One day, I have discovered 1 (47m 5s): This principle of life that when I want to do what is right, 2 (47m 9s): I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my hearts. Most 1 (47m 14s): Of us would say the same thing. I love God. I love his law with all my heart. Somehow I keep doing the wrong thing, but there's another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that still within 2 (47m 30s): Me. Oh, what a miserable person I am, 1 (47m 37s): Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin. And thank God we haven't answers Christ. Jesus, thank God. The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is in my mind. I really want to obey God's law. But because of my sinful nature, I'm a slave to sin. Thank God for his grace 2 (47m 59s): And his mercy. 1 (48m 1s): It's through this grace and mercy that we can have peace and a clear conscience with God. 2 (48m 8s): We beat ourselves 1 (48m 9s): Up. And maybe to some point, we need to pay attention to what we're doing and not give ourselves permission to send, not using the grace of God as an excuse to sin. But at the same time, recognizing that we've got this battle within us and some days we're just gonna Dumble and allow the grace of God, the mercy of God to get. We were talking about this in our journey group. Friday morning at 6:00 AM were just talking about sin and temptation. And someone reminded me. I think it was Jim Pennington reminded me. He said, God knew all of that stuff was gonna happen before it happened, right? Because he's not he's outside of time. Right? So it's like he sees the parade of life from the beginning 2 (48m 53s): To the end. He sees everything that happens in between the lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the world. Meaning it was the plan because we would need it. 1 (49m 8s): God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ gave Pauly clear conscience and 2 (49m 13s): Peace. So if you're wrestling with condemnation, a muddled conscience, relax, repents, give it to Jesus and rest in that grace and mercy and experiences. Peace. You can have a clear 1 (49m 31s): Conscience. You can have a clear conscience. 2 (49m 35s): You be say, well, you 1 (49m 37s): Don't know what I've done. Paul called himself the chief of sinners because he had done some pretty gnarly 2 (49m 45s): Stuff. 1 (49m 47s): God's grace is sufficient. So just let it go. 2 (49m 50s): Let it go. Let it go. And 1 (49m 53s): When the enemy reminds you of it again, 2 (49m 56s): Let it go say it's under the grace and mercy of the Lord. Jesus Christ 1 (50m 4s): Take every thought captive until the obedience of Christ. So our thoughts are going to bombard us. Wow. What 2 (50m 10s): About that? Or you shouldn't have done that. I use it's all his stuff he's promised at clear conscience. 1 (50m 19s): And then he's verse number four. He's promised a life of faith. I remember your genuine faith. Paul writes verse five 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. So it appears that Paul is commending his salvation, that he acquired by faith, but also his life that he lives by faith is trusting in God. Paul is recognizing that Timothy saved by Grayson is or saved by faith in the finished work of Christ, but it was also living out a faith life. 1 (50m 59s): So again, as Christians, we're saved by grace through faith, and then we live out our lives by faith. That that is the only way that God has called us to live our lives. As followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ. We receive the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ. So it's the gateway into life with Christ, his faith in the finished work of Christ. That's the gateway. And then we don't just stop there and stop exercising. Our faith. It's actually introductory it's faith. One-on-one that gets us in by God's grace. And then we live our lives by faith 2 (51m 37s): For the rest of our lives, Hebrews 1 (51m 40s): 11 one. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. So faith is the substance. It's the raw material. It's the ingredients, right? That's what faith is. It's the raw material. The ingredients of things, hope for the evidence of things not seen. So were it wouldn't be faith. If we could see it, right? It wouldn't be faith. If we could see it, we can't actually see it. Oh God, we, we he's invisible. And so we have faith in him. Faith is the raw material. It's the evidence faith, because what is required to be follower of the Lord, Jesus Christ, Hebrews 11, six says, but without faith, it's impossible to please him. 1 (52m 25s): God, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, that he exists. And that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So we're saved as we put our faith in Christ and that saving faith begins a new life of faith in Jesus Christ. So what we're talking about is not just fire insurance. Like you get, you know, like life insurance, you pay for it, and then you, you have it. It's no, you it's a life that God is ushering us into where we're actually called to live differently as a result of our new faith life. And so with that, how has your life changed as a result of your faith experience in faith, walk with God, 2 (53m 8s): How has your life changed? 1 (53m 9s): Does that change? Does your faith change the way you think is it changed the way you live? Does it change the way you believe? Does it change the way you speak and think and all of those things, which change that? And I think it needs to be tangible. I think we need to be able to say this changed. I actually live my life differently in this arena because of my faith. If I heard a quote this week, bye, a guy that I'm surprised. And, and I even questioned whether it actually came from him, but mark, Walberg made this quote. He said, God never gives you a dream that matches your budget. 1 (53m 54s): He's not checking your bank account. He's checking your faith 2 (53m 59s): And then interesting. Okay. God 1 (54m 1s): Never gives you a dream. Whether he wrote it or not. 2 (54m 3s): It's true. Whether he said it or not, it's true. God 1 (54m 7s): Never gives us a dream that matches our budget. He's not checking your bank account. 2 (54m 12s): He's checking your faith. God 1 (54m 16s): Is always going to be calling us into a life of faith. He just always just the way he works. So he's going to be putting us into circumstances and situations where we are above our capacity, where the job required is required, requires more of us than we actually naturally have. He's going to put us in certain circumstances where we have to give in ways that we never thought imagined recently this week, somebody gave me a letter written by Rick or Rick Warren. I don't know what you think about Rick Warren, but doesn't matter. He, this is what, this is his story. Rick Warren, pastor Saddleback church, down in Southern California and years ago, years ago, when they were getting ready to build their new building, he was praying. 1 (55m 2s): He said, he's basically said what? I always say, praying, be obedient. Do what you Lord's asking you to do. So he prayed and he felt like the Lord was asking him to give a hundred thousand dollars over a three-year period. 2 (55m 17s): Well, it 1 (55m 17s): Was an impossible ask from the Lord. He didn't have that kind of money in that season of his life. But the Lord asked him to give a hundred thousand dollars over a three-year period. And he felt compelled to tell the church. He said, I don't know how, 2 (55m 35s): But 1 (55m 36s): This is what I'm going to commit to by faith. The very next week, he gets a call from, I think the publisher was Zondervan and they said, Hey, we'd like you to write the book, purpose driven life. And we're going to give you $150,000 advance to write the book. And so he came to church the following week and said, you remember what I said last week? I said, I don't have the money. I just got this book deal. And now I'm going to be able to do it. This is, this is how God operates. So he, he didn't have the resource before he committed to giving what the Lord had asked him to give. But he knew by faith that the Lord was asking him to give, where is it in your life that the Lord is asking you to do something that you don't have the resource for or the talent for, or ability for, or the time for what is God asking you to do that? 1 (56m 28s): You're saying no to, because in the natural, you don't see where the resources coming from. Time, talent, treasure. I don't have enough time to do that. Lord. I don't have enough wisdom to do that. Lord. I don't have the training to do that. The education to do that, Lord, what, how is this possible? But the Lord has planted a dream in your life. He's planted something within you that requires faith. And if you don't step into it, you'll never realize the fulfillment of that dream. The people of Israel coming out of Egypt, we've talked about these stories all the time, what they had to get Pharaoh in the chicken, his chariot and soldiers there, they're pursuing 2 (57m 15s): Israel. And they're up against the what? The red sea, right? And 1 (57m 20s): Said, God, what do we do? What did God say? He said, get moving. Right? You got to step into the red sea and see what I will do. But if you don't step into the red sea, you'll never see what I can do. So after they get through the red sea and they're in their wilderness, they're in there for 40 years because of their lack of faith, a whole generation had to die off. Now they got to go into the promised land and where do they have to cross there? Right? So what is happening in the Jordan? They need to pass through the Jordan to get to the promised land, but nothing would happen until they stepped into the Jordan. 1 (58m 3s): And then when the Jew, they stepped into it, the water began to back up and they pass through on dry ground again, 2 (58m 10s): Where what's 1 (58m 11s): Your red sea? What's your Jordan river? What do you need to step into? In order we experience the supernatural plan that God has for you. This is just the way this is the faith life. It's just, if you want to do anything for God, it's going to be done by faith. Faith requires commitment. Faith requires commitment before the miracle is do with that. What you will do with that, what you will back to Timothy. Second Timothy, one six. Do with that. What you will, is that really what I want 2 (58m 50s): To say there? Yeah, I'll leave it there 1 (58m 55s): Back to second Timothy, one six. This is why I remind you to fan into flames. The spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. So essentially saying the same thing. You've been received something by faith. Now, fan that into flames, fan it. And what does it, have you ever been camping? We've all been camping. Well, Moses has been camping, right? And your, your fire goes down and it's just a little of cold, just like a little bit of hot coals, right? What do you got to do to breathe that, breathe life back into that fire. You gotta get down there and breathe on it. 2 (59m 32s): Nicole's began to get red and there's some smoke that begins and then boom, a little flame pops up. 1 (59m 40s): And then what do you do after you fan that flame? Now you start feeding it, right? And then as soon you've got this big blazing fire, but the blazing fire is not going to last forever. You got to keep feeding it. And when it dies down and you gotta breathe into it, breathe life back into it. So Paul is telling Timothy to do it reminds you to fan into flames, your spiritual gift. God gave you. When I laid my hands on you forgot has not given us a spirit, fear and timidity, but of power love. And self-discipline number five. What has God promised? He has promised power over fear. 1 (1h 0m 22s): Timothy was, yeah. Obviously deer dealing with some kind of fear or else Paul wouldn't have written about fear 2 (1h 0m 29s): Forgot. It's not 1 (1h 0m 30s): Given us a spirit of fear and timidity, Timothy, but of power love. And self-discipline 2 (1h 0m 38s): Where do we get 1 (1h 0m 38s): The power to overcome fear? I mean, if this is promised to us, if God has promised power over fear, where do we get 2 (1h 0m 45s): It? Well, we get 1 (1h 0m 48s): This power over fear by believing in who we are in Christ. Paul saying fan into the flame, into flame, the spiritual gift. You have been gifted Timothy, but it's not going to just happen. You've gotta, you gotta fan it. You gotta, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta step into it. You gotta live it. 2 (1h 1m 11s): Believe who you 1 (1h 1m 12s): Are in Christ. You've been blessed with spiritual gifts to be used. Every believer in the scripture, it says, has been given a spiritual gift to be used for the building up of the body of Christ, the edification of the body of Christ. So what's your spiritual gift that you need to flame our fan into flames. Maybe it's hospitality, 2 (1h 1m 32s): Maybe it's generosity. Maybe it's teaching. Maybe it's shepherding you name it. There's a whole host of them. 1 (1h 1m 44s): This God wanting you to fan in to flames. You're you're fearful. Well, maybe about doing it. Well, we're all fearful about stepping into God's supernatural plans. 2 (1h 1m 54s): It's just natural to be fearful, but 1 (1h 1m 58s): Natural doesn't mean it's right to stop and never step into it. Then fear is natural fears. 2 (1h 2m 8s): Fear is just natural. It's it's, it's just, 1 (1h 2m 13s): You know, we get into this new building next door, we signed a five-year lease. 2 (1h 2m 18s): And then I, 1 (1h 2m 18s): The way I up the next day, I'm like, what do we just do? I know we're supposed to do that, but now what do we do? 2 (1h 2m 27s): You know, we plant a church and 1 (1h 2m 29s): Nobody shows up and what do we do? 2 (1h 2m 32s): Very few people show up. You know, we, we 1 (1h 2m 35s): Hire staff and the money's not there. Everything that God has asked us to do in the course of these 18 years, as a church plant has been a faith journey because we didn't have the people, money, resources, gift talent. I had never done it before. I never preached weekly on a Sunday morning. I, I just, I'd been an associate pastor. I've been at church chaplain jail chaplain. That was the extent of my, but God said, go plant the church. 2 (1h 3m 3s): I said, okay, we'll go plant a church. What, what 1 (1h 3m 7s): Are you doing? Planting a church. You have no idea how to plant a church. I don't know what I'm doing, but God told me to go plant a church. I still don't know what I'm doing, but we're still moving forward. I've been blessed with spiritual gifts to be used. If you don't use them, they will never develop and produce the kind of fruit God intended them to produce. Use fanning. The flames means don't let the fire go out. 2 (1h 3m 39s): Don't let your fire burn out. Believe 1 (1h 3m 42s): What God has done in you and go for it for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power love. And self-discipline. This is what I wrote. You will have power. You will have power over fear when you choose to believe God's plan and purpose and gifting for your life and walk in it. In spite of opposites, 2 (1h 4m 5s): Power over fear, power over fear. Believe, 1 (1h 4m 9s): Believe God's plan, purpose, and gifting in your life 2 (1h 4m 14s): And walk in it. In spite of opposition, there's always going to be opposition. There's always 1 (1h 4m 21s): Going to be opposition. People told me 2 (1h 4m 24s): When we planted the church, we don't need any more churches. Please don't plant another church. All right. 1 (1h 4m 33s): People told me you don't have the stamina. You will never make it as, as a pastor of a church. You just don't have it. So you it's not in you. All right. Opposition is natural because the enemy knows. He's got a pretty good sense about what God wants to 3 (1h 4m 56s): Do with us. And so he's going to do everything he can to throw away on that. 1 (1h 5m 0s): Where's he throwing water. And where are you letting him throw water on? You're on God's plan for your life. 2 (1h 5m 8s): If you're, we are 1 (1h 5m 10s): Full and timid about what God has called you to do, 2 (1h 5m 14s): Just stop and decide to move forward and watch what God will do. 1 (1h 5m 24s): What has God promised through faith in Christ? He's promised a new kind of spiritual family. So you're not in, you're not in it alone. You're in it together. We're all in this together. He's promised grace, mercy and 2 (1h 5m 35s): Peace. 1 (1h 5m 37s): He has promised a clear conscience life, a life of faith and tower over fear with that. We're going to take communion. I mean, by the worship team to come forward, hopefully you received your communion elements. If you did not raise your hand and we will get you communion elements. 2 (1h 5m 57s): And yeah, 1 (1h 6m 2s): Communion is just an opportunity to remember what Jesus has done for us. Extending grace and mercy and peace to us. And maybe today as you take communion, as we take communion, maybe today is the day where you say God I'm to, I'm not going to be fearful or timid any longer. I'm going to do what you've asked me to do by faith. And I'm going to conquer my fear with the power of God. Okay? Everybody knows how to open these things. Two layers of cellophane, the first layer on wraps, the, 3 (1h 6m 44s): The wafer we, we like to call it styrofoam. It's pretty accurate. But if you get, if you work up some saliva first, before you put it in, then 2 (1h 6m 56s): It'll help. It'll help. Just a little 1 (1h 7m 1s): Experience there for I pass on to you. What I received from the Lord himself on the night, when he was betrayed the Lord, Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it to then he broke it in pieces and said, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me. 3 (1h 7m 17s): Let's go ahead and take the wafer. Oh, we're so thankful, Lord. We're so thankful that you allowed your body to be crucified pierced on that cross for my sin Lord for our sin. We're so, so eternally grateful, so forever grateful. And so Lord, on this family, Sunday, as we do every family, Sunday, we stop Lord. And we say, thank you. We refresh our minds in the truth of what it costs for our salvation. 3 (1h 7m 60s): And we say with great gratitude, thank you so much. Jesus. Thank you so much, Jesus. 1 (1h 8m 8s): In the same way, he took the cup of wine. After supper saying this cup is the new covenant between God and his and agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me. As often as you drink it for every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes 3 (1h 8m 29s): Again. Let's take the Jews. Thank you, Lord. We, we, we announced your death. Lord. We announced your victory over sin and death. We announced the gospel that it is 1 (1h 8m 55s): True and rights and we believe it today. Like we've 3 (1h 8m 58s): Always believed at Lord and I pray that you would convince people of the gospel in Jesus name, God, that you would convince people of the truth of the gospel and that each of us would believe that the truth of the gospel is for us. The grace, mercy and peace is for us eternal life and salvation is for us. We thank you, Lord. That'd be glorified as we continue to worship in song. Thank you for this time. We love you Lord in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. 0 (1h 9m 30s): father. 0 (1h 13m 32s): We love you and praise you. We are your children. We are your Kindle. We thank you for the honor is that we get to be in your presence. When we get to worship you, we love you. Maybe go out with a stay with heads, held high and the smiles on our faces because you are so good in your most precious name. We pray. Amen.