Onward!
HEBREWS 11:1-6
A little old lady was given a
much desired mission assignment to the Apache Indians out west.
She packed her meager belongings and drove out in the desert to her post.
She was so excited, that she drove past the last gas station for a hundred miles,
without noticing that she needed fuel.
She ran out of gas about a mile down the road, and had to walk back
to the station.
The attendant came out of the office to see what he could do to help.
She explained her plight –
she’d run out of gas about a mile down the road and didn’t have anything to transport it back.
The
attendant was sympathetic and went around back to an old shed to see if he could
find anything in which she could carry the gasoline.
The only container he could find that would hold the gasoline was an old metal bedpan.
She told him that it would work just fine.
That should give her enough to get back to the station.
The attendant filled the bedpan as full as possible, and the lady carried it back down the road
being careful to avoid spilling any of the precious fuel.
When she got to her car, she carefully poured the contents of the bedpan into the tank.
A truck driver pulled alongside the car just as the lady was emptying the contents into her gas tank.
The trucker rolled down his window and shouted to her,
“Lady, I wish I had your faith!”
Habakkuk 2:4 “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright-- but the righteous will live by his faith--
Listen to
Hebrews 11:1 in the NLT –
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us
assurance about things we cannot see.
Faith is building your life on the fact, that God is in control,
and that God will fulfill His promises,
even when you don’t see those promises materializing.
Faith is asking the question, “What is
possible if God is involved?”
Mark 9:23 –
“...Everything
is possible for him who believes.”
Luke 1:37 – “For
nothing is impossible with God.”
Ephesians 3:20 – says that God
“is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or
imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”
As the church, we are called to “walk by faith and not by sight.” --so
says 2 Cor. 5:7
What can be accomplished by Union City Christian Church in Richmond, KY when we
walk by faith?
I want to talk this morning about what stepping out with a bold faith requires,
and then the results of stepping out with a bold faith.
In other words, now that we have our focus right, where do we go from here?
Now that we have learned to focus Upward, on our worship of God.
Now that we have learned to focus Inward, on our personal ministry in the church.
Now that we have learned to focus Outward, on our responsibility to share Christ with others.
Now we must put what we have learned into practice, and step out in faith.
Now our focus must be Onward!
I. Stepping out
with a bold faith requires embracing God’s vision.
Hockey great Wayne Gretzky was once asked why he was so successful on the ice.
His answer: “I skate to
where the puck is going to be.”
We need
people in our church that are always looking to the future.
One step ahead!
Skating to
where the church is going to be.
The problem with most congregations, is that there are too many people,
who spend their time mooning over the congregation’s past,
instead of envisioning it’s future.
Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) – “Where there is no vision, the people perish...”
That verse
is speaking specifically about prophetic vision.
--God is speaking, but no one is listening
We need vision-casters (people who are listening for God’s vision)
and people
who will follow that vision.
Without vision-casters, and people willing to follow the vision,
the church will stagnate and eventually die.
Jesus was a vision-caster.
--Listen to some of His visionary statements:
1. “Lift
up your eyes! The fields are white unto harvest.”
2. “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move this
mountain.”
3. “Go into all the world and make disciples.”
All big jobs dependent on following the vision.
You can experience one man’s vision in Florida.
Many years ago Walt Disney took a group of people out to a piece of land in Florida
that had no usefulness at all.
The land was marshy and muddy and there wasn’t anyone who believed
that it could be useful for the city of Orlando.
Until Walt Disney shared his vision of what we know today as Walt Disney World.
Before one shovel of land was ever turned, Walt walked through the acreage
and described in vivid detail, as if it was already before his eyes.
The various structures, themes, rides, and the excitement
that the park would bring.
While Walt Disney World was under construction, the visionary leader died
and therefore missed the grand opening of the greatest theme park in the world.
At the dedication of the park, someone said,
“Isn’t it too bad that Walt Disney didn’t live to see this?”
Mike Vance, creative director of Disney Studios, replied,
“He
did see it – that’s why it’s here.”
There’s a old Three Stooges routine.
Curly cries out, “I can’t see! I can’t see!”
Moe says with concern, “What’s the matter?”
And Curly says mischievously, “I got my eyes closed.”
Are we walking around with our eyes closed to
what God wants to accomplish through us?
Are we willing to open our eyes and do what He wants us to do?
Some practical things we can do to develop our vision:
1. We need to talk
with God.
There’s an old poem that says:
Thou art coming to a king!
Large petitions with thee bring,
For His strength and power are such
Thou canst never ask too much.
John. 14:13-14 – “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
2.
We need to listen to visionary people, excited people.
Instead of scoffing at what you think are crazy ideas, by the visionaries around you,
seek their
advice and listen wisely.
--God may just be trying to lead you.
Proverbs 20:18 –
“Make plans by seeking
advice...”
3. Visit churches where people walk by faith.
You might
just be impressed.
--God is blessing them for a reason.
It’s important to experience people who are excited,
about what
God is doing in their church and in their lives.
Just seeing the possibilities, is a big help in envisioning what God can do
through us.
4.
Go to conferences and meetings that lift your vision.
There is an
abundance of such conferences and meetings
Find out where they are and go there.
(FAITH REQUIRES VISION)
II. FAITH REQUIRES COURAGE
Just catching the vision is not enough
--We have to be courageous in implementing our faith.
Tom Peters and Robert Waterman,
In Search of Excellence, list the number one principle of
excellence, as being “a bias for
action.”
They contend, that for an organization to perform with excellence,
there
must be a preference for doing
something.
The Bible puts it this way in James 2:26 –
“As the body without the
spirit is dead, so faith without
deeds is dead.”
Let me assure of this fact:
Faith always involves a risk
Some people
want a guarantee of success, before they obey God.
They say, “Okay, God, once you guarantee it’s going to work, then I’ll do
it.”
God says, “That doesn’t require any faith.”
Next Slide:
Len Sweet points out that in the
country of Scotland, there is a phrase: “he has a brass neck.”
People with brass necks, are capable of sticking their necks into places,
where they
could get their heads chopped off.
Brass-necked people are risk takers.
(1). Union
City Christian Church needs be a congregation made up of people with brass
necks.
(2). We have to be risk takers, who are willing to stick our necks out, on the
line for God.
John Ortberg has a book entitled,
If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get out of the
Boat.
--Our faith is not biblical, authentic faith, until we’re ready and
willing to put it to the test.
Let me also make an observation:
You cannot have a courageous congregation without courageous leaders.
Leaders have to be thermostats and not thermometers.
--Thermostats set the temperature of the room.
Thermometers only reflect the temperature of
the room.
A four-year-old boy was trying to convince his mother to sleep with him one stormy night.
His mother told him, “No.”
The young fellow was upset and asked why she wouldn’t sleep with him.
She said, “Because you need to sleep by yourself and I need to
sleep with Daddy.”
The little boy said, “The big sissy!”
We don’t need sissies for leaders.
--We need leaders with courage.
Eddie Rickenbacker:
“Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage
unless you’re scared.”
FAITH REQUIRES VISION and FAITH REQUIRES COURAGE
III. FAITH
RESULTS IN FRUIT.
What happens when a church walks by faith?
Churches that walk by faith, experience four important benefits:
Benefit #1: Walking by faith generates enthusiasm! It’s living an Extreme Life!
Big goals
create excitement.
Our hearts beat faster.
We begin to
wonder aloud: “Can we do this?”
--Even more so, “Can God do this?”
We want to try something big – something huge and audacious –
so that we
can show the world that we serve a big God.
In reality, it’s our job to attempt something so big, that if God isn’t in it,
we’re going to fail!
--And
because of that…
Benefit #2: Walking by faith
stimulates prayer.
Matthew 17:20 – “...I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and t will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Next Slide:
If your
goal is to move a molehill, you don’t have much incentive to pray.
--You can do that quite easily with human effort.
But, if your goals are mountainous in size,
it will motivate you to get on your knees and seek an
outpouring of God’s grace.
Benefit #3: Walking by faith motivates sacrifice.
If you’re asking God to do something great,
you’re going to do your best to see that it comes to pass.
When you walk by faith, you will give what is necessary to meet the
goal.
4. Benefit #4: Walking by faith produces harmony.
Soldiers in the barracks will
bicker and fight with one another.
--But soldiers on the battlefield will stand united, because they need
each other.
One of the reasons Christians often bicker among themselves,
is that there is no challenging goal that binds them
together.
(1). A church that is arguing over tradition, and fighting over things that are not essential,
has
forgotten its vision.
(2). But a challenging purpose, can help people put differences aside,
and join forces for the advancement of Christ’s
kingdom.
Southeast Christian Church in
Louisville is a congregation that definitely models walking by faith.
Bob Russell tells about one of the tremendous events that took place,
when they
trusted God and walked by their faith in his book “When God Builds A Church.”
Listen to the story in Bob’s own words:
In 1983, a relocation committee reported that a twenty-acre tract of land
just down the street had
become available and that we could purchase it if we acted immediately. The
committee said, “in
order to purchase those twenty acres, we need $215,000.00 in two months.”
After
the board voted to purchase the land, we had to decide how to finance it. One of
our elders
said, “Let’s come to next month’s board meeting with a cash offering an pay for
it ourselves out of
this leadership body. Then we’ll use that offering as an incentive to encourage
the congregation to
give one million dollars in the fall toward the new building. That boils down to
thirty-five hundred
dollars per family next month. Are there any questions?” There were a few timid
questions. Then
we voted – and the idea passed! We walked out of the meeting saying to one
another, “What did
we just do?”
That
month we had to ask ourselves whether the church was first in our lives or [were
we] just
“playing church.” The chairman of the board got a few calls of concern. “I’m
just a schoolteacher
and don’t make that kind of money,” one would say. “I’m retired and living on a
fixed income,”
another would say. But then we began to hear reports of people canceling
vacations, selling second
cars, dipping into their savings accounts. At least three families borrowed ten
thousand dollars each
from the bank to contribute to the project.
When we
came to the meeting the next month, the tension was thick. No one really knew
what
the others had done – how much they had sacrificed. One elder, Jack Coffee, came
to the meeting
wearing dark sunglasses, carrying a tin cup, and walking with a cane! He wanted
people to know
he’d really sacrificed.
We
collected the offering, and the tally committee went off to count it. When they
returned with
the news, we hadn’t raised $215,000.00 – we’d raised $255,000.00! The room
exploded with joyous
celebration. Everyone exchanged high-fives and embraces. We knelt together and
thanked God for
his blessing.
When the “Amen” was said, someone said, “I’ll be outside polishing shoes.” Bob Carpenter asked, “What shoes? You obviously didn’t sacrifice enough if you still have shoes!”
CONCLUSION:
Dwight L. Moody: “The world is yet to see what God can do through a few people who are totally sold out to him.”
My prayer for Union City Christian Church is that we can be faith-walking people
who are totally sold out to what God can accomplish in our
midst.
Romans
14:23
“...everything that does not come from faith is sin.”
1 John 5:4
“....This is the
victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
Are we willing to place our complete trust in the God,
who loved us enough to send His Son,
so that we could see faithfulness in action,
and love beyond degree?
Soren Kierkegaard tells a great
story in a little piece entitled Duckland:
It was Sunday morning, and all the ducks dutifully came to church, waddling
through
the doors and down the aisle into their pews where they comfortably squatted.
When all
were well-settled, and the hymns were sung, the duck minister waddled to his
pulpit,
opened the Duck Bible and read: “Ducks! You have wings, and with wings you can
fly
like eagles. You can soar into the sky! Use your wings!” It was marvelous,
elevating
duck scripture, and thus all the ducks quacked their assent with a hearty
“Amen!” – and
then they plopped down from their pews and waddled home.
Is your faith a sham?
Do you profess to have faith in Jesus Christ,
and in the power of His Spirit,
but your life is like those waddling, quacking ducks,
whose Amen meant nothing
more, than that they were ready to go home?
Are you walking by faith, in obedience to the
One, who called you from death into life?
Galatians 2:20 –
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no
longer live, but Christ lives in
me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and
gave himself for me.”
Can you honestly claim that statement for you life?
This year we have worked on Refocusing our Faith:
Upward in Worship
Inward in Service
Outward in Evangelism
Now, it’s time to focus Onward in Faith!
To new heights and greater challenges for the Kingdom of God!