Faith, Hope, and Luck part 5

Andy Stanley - Faith, Hope, Luck part 5

What does it look like to have incredible faith?

Jesus had a great faith
- didn’t use the faith as leverage to get God to do what he wanted or to make the world work as he wanted
- extraordinarily surrendered to God’s will
-- great faith IS great surrender
-- didn’t use faith for his benefit, but for the Father’s sake

our culture makes us suckers for trying to get things to work better, faster, longer for US
- jesus had extraordinary faith which means extraordinary surrender
- biblical faith is God is who he says he is and that he’ll do everything he promised
-- we can go to him with everything but sometimes he’ll say no
-- faith isn’t getting out of tough times, it’s surrendering to God’s will in the midst of tough times

theme: jesus was not here to do his own will but the will of the father
- the authenticity of faith is not manifested in things going your way, but in surrendering to God’s way

John 5:30
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
- Jesus isn’t here on a happiness quest
- Jesus saying his role is to understand what God wants done and to do that

john 12:49
“For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.”
- Jesus speaks God’s ideas, not his own

John 6:38
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
- came to do what God wants done, to say what God wants said, to bring about God’s will not his own
- why would he do this?
-- because Jesus has faith that the Father is who he says he is and that he’ll do everything he said he would do
-- the logical response to that God is faith, surrender to his will

John 6:39-40
“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
- God’s will is about other people
- Jesus has no life of his own (no will, thoughts, ideas, etc)
-- this is completely opposite of our thought patterns; how did this survive when it is so diametrically opposed to our thoughts patterns?
-- if we believe any part of what Jesus said or did, we must understand what jesus was here for
--- it was all done out of faith in God and surrender to God

John 14:10
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”
- Jesus is just a vessel for God’s will, work, words

*For the following verses, understand them in the context of what Jesus has just told us*

John 14:12
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
- as I surrender to the will of the Father, God will do even greater things through me
-- not going to be for my benefit but for the benefit of other people
-- not about getting God to do good stuff for me, but getting on my knees and asking God for what to do next

John 14:13
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
- when jesus talks about doing and receiving, it’s about doing and receiving the will of God
-- not about going my own place
-- I’m a vehicle, not the driver

1 John 5:14
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
- we’re to spend our lives figuring out what God wants done in my life
-- once I figure that out, I need to get in line
-- what an honor! For God to use me!
--- God can only use me if I am SURRENDERED!
--- He is god and I am not; faith in that means being surrendered to his will

Why don’t I do that?
- scary
- we would rather ask that God help us, not for us to go
-- makes us out of control

if we live like there is no God, why do we get upset when God doesn’t show up in the area we command him to?
- it’s insulting to the God of the universe; he isn’t an idol or a lucky charm; he doesn’t just do what we say
- then to take him and use just parts of his teaching to fit our own ideas
-- his words speak against our own ideas
- he never came to be just a small part of our lives
- he came to be everything in our lives

the greater my faith and confidence in God, then the greater my surrender
- Jesus had the greatest faith and he was completely surrendered; did nothing of his own will, just what God wanted done/said

brokenness produces surrender
- in our brokenness, we will be glad that God doesn’t fit in our own thoughts or backpack
- surrender is where there is purpose and peacefulness
- anything short of that is an insult
-- why doesn’t God just strike us all down for that? Because he is a God of infinite grace

brokenness and complete surrender means living life as if God is who he says he is
- “thy will be done on earth” (God’s will in my life)

what would it look like to live with faith in God, surrender to God?
- scary, but isn’t it more scary to be doing things on our own

we’re invited into a relationship with our heavenly father!
- that relationship is characterized by trust! And so we can surrender!

How do I start?
- praying for it and then seek it

Faith, Hope, and Luck part 4

Andy Stanley - Faith, Hope, Luck Part 4

At some point in our lives we ask for something from God
- what do you do when there’s no answer or you just hear silence?

Foundation of our faith is not an exp but Jesus
- we always try to figure out ways to get God on our side and do what we want
- the reason we continue to believe even when things suck is because of the person of Jesus

sometimes God will give us what we hope for, but he always gives us what he’s promised
- what happens when God doesn’t say yes to the things we hoped for

2 corinthians 12:7-8
“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.”
- paul was given something that made him unimpressive and hard to be around
-- a physical affliction that ensured he would always be dependent on God
- for this amazing man of faith, there was a time when God was completely silent
- this can be of comfort because there are times when we wonder if God even knows our name
-- it isn’t the absence of God
- Paul had perfect faith if anyone had perfect faith and god still didn’t give him a yes
-- our goodness/faith level doesn’t make god listen or do things for us

2 cor 12:9
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
- CHRIST’S GRACE not our own
- grace is power/ability/energy to endure
- Christ’s grace is sufficient to keep us going
- this same grace is available to us as well!
-- the power that kept paul going is the same power that is available to us
- paul says “how can I walk away? I know Christ is true and my faith is based on him”
-- therefore Paul leaned hard on Christ because there was no other option
- paul finally got to the place that this was what God had chosen for him
-- for god to display his power through his weakness
- for the world to look upon the dreadful state he was in and see that God was using such weakness; it could only be God
- people were saying “are you serious? This is what you’re using to spread Christianity?”
- God’s will is for us to live lives dependant on him
-- that was the purpose of this ailment
-- God filled the gap in Paul’s life with his power, not paul’s

2 Cor 12:10
“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
- for Christ’s sake he delights in all of that crap
-- because when he is weak and powerless, he is strong
--- why? Because it is then that he is most dependant
- Paul has recognized that it is far better to be dependant on God than look good to the world
- God wants us to be dependant on him rather than fine in the sight of the world
- MY GREATEST WEAKNESS IS GOD’S GREATEST OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW HIS POWER ONLY IF I DECIDE TO TRUST HIM
- if I choose to walk away from that, I walk away from his empowering grace that I so desperately need in the midst of something I cannot control or change!
-- I need the grace because I am out of control
- if I run from God I turn to other things that only break and pull me down
- the situation may not change, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t there
-- it may be God’s way of pulling us into dependence on him
-- without this affliction, I wouldn’t see my need for dependence
-- God’s grace is sufficient and available only if I come to him
- must go boldly and every time I go I will find grace and mercy in those moments of weakness even whenever God says no to my hopes
- it takes a lot more faith to endure a no than acquire a yes
-- when God says no, it is not a reflection of my faith
-- when god says no, I have an opportunity to be a reflection of his grace
- this is hard
-- Paul doesn’t want a God that allows his servants to suffer; neither do I

Here’s the kind of God I want: _________________________

- what does this paragraph say? Does it show I want to be God or God to be my butler?
-- is that really a god that I need? One that is a butler to everyone?
- I need a God who is bigger than me; a God who can empathize with me; and God who can pull me from the crap I experience; who can give me the strength to get through the crap I’m in
- that grace is available but I can’t get it till I lean hard on god
-- in that moment, it will be sufficient for you
- I can never make life the way I want it to be; god will never make life the way I want it to be
- what I can get is the grace and mercy to endure the way my life is

Campaigners 10/22/08

campaigners. 2008-10-22.

john 11 - lazarus
- jesus raised laz from the dead; how have i seen it?
- raising me from the dead
- but i dont always live like it
-- what grave clothes do i still have on?

rom8:28-39
what pulls me from christ?
- fear of god not being enough
- fear of talking about it
- being busy
- relying fully on christ
- doing something wrong

what does passage say about this?
- not actually seperated
- nothing can pull us from god bc god is for us

v37 more than conquerers

bring bibles/notebooks

Do You Love Me?

John 21:15-19

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

This passage has had a fairly profound effect on me during the past week or so. Three times, Jesus asked Peter if he loved him. Each time Peter responded with a yes. Each time, Jesus told Peter to tend to his sheep. Christ never asked if Peter loved the people around him. He never asked if Peter felt qualified in order to lead people. All he asked was if Peter loved him.

He did this because it is not our love for others or our inward qualifications that will sustain us and keep us striving when life gets tough and people are impossible to love. Instead, it is our love for Christ that will sustain us.

The other part that strikes me is simply the fact that when Christ asks Peter if he loves him and Peter affirms this, Christ doesn't say kneel before me. Christ tells him to care for those around him, Christ's flock. Our love for Christ is not something that stays just between Christ and me. Instead, it is something that goes beyond us and affects others. Our relationship with Christ, based in his grace and mercy and our love and gratitude, overflows so that others can experience, even if just in a small way, what we know with Christ.

So when I am tired, frustrated, and feel I cannot give anymore. I am right; but at the same time wrong. It is not my independence or strong will that will see me through to the end. It is Christ. So when I am weak, I must turn to Christ because he is the Savior of the world, not me.

The Surpassing Greatness of Knowing Christ

Sermon. Carlisle Evangelical Free Church. Shad Baker.

Philippians 3:7-11

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

1. From Profit to Loss
- Paul's resume (v4-6)
-- reason to be proud according to human standards
- v7
-- actually held him back; tried achieving salvation by his own means
-- where's my identity and is it valuable? or is it an anchor that keeps me from pursuing Christ?
---anchors are anything that I hope in besides Christ

2. Comparison - v8
- scale: knowing Christ vs everything else
- knowing Christ surpasses the worth of all else
- look at myself and what I hope in with the proper perspective
-- does it last? is it perfect, grace-filled, loving?
- "knowing" = relational term

3. Garbage to Gold - v8
- "rubbish" = vulgar word, not used anywhere else in Bible
-- dung, sewage, shit (his religious identity, money, friends, etc)
-- throws it all out in order to know Christ
-- knowing Christ is so significant and life changing that it isn't truly a sacrifice
--- sacrifice is giving up something valuable but when set next to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, it doesn't seem so valuable
-- means Christ isn't simply an accessory to our life, he is life
--- can't follow Christ and money/pleasure/etc at the same time
---all of life for Christ and we worship that because nothing else is worthy

4. How do I know I am living all of life for Christ?
- worship
-- basing the whole of my life on him
- willing to give up everything in order to keep Christ
-- we might be sad to lose it but not devastated

Solar Powered Christianity

Sermon. Carlisle Evangelical Free Church. Shad Baker.

1 John 3:11-20

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

- defining Love

I. Cain - what love is not
- killed his brother
- v15 anyone who hates his brother is a murderer
- sin wants me to quit
-- wants to destroy me

II. Christ - what love is
- we know love because Christ laid down his life for us
--not for his own sake
- for us?
-- yes. accomplishes the atonement ("the great exchange" 1 John 2:2)
--- God loved us while we were still sinners (no potential to be great)
-- gives us power/love of God (2 Timothy 1:7, Romans 5:5)

* - Cain did not love, so he killed; Christ loved, so he was killed
- example of love - will I lay down my life for others?
-- love isn't something that is seen in movies
-- to die for someone, I must love them and the must be important to me

III. Life application
- lay down my life everyday
- solar power
-- like a solar paneled light
---need to be in presence of Son/sun
---constant/repeated exposure
---always charged in Son/sun; can't be charged anywhere else
---can't be exposed to a little and run forever

2 things to do:
1. love with compassion and action (17-18)
2. die to my need to defend myself
- if someone insults me
-- accept it
-- response with kindness and love
- to refute claims is self-love because I am focused only on myself
- to do this, I need to be Solar powered all week
-- the love of Christ who already died for me
- God never intended for us to run without him
--that's the thought pattern of sin
TRUTH: WE NEED HIM

Our Bread Choices

Campaigner Lesson. 3/24/08.

Opening Questions:
Highs?
Lows?
What have you been learning from Scripture?

John 6:22-59

22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread [1] the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus [2] said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

What do you see? What stands out to you?

v25-26
- Jesus doesn't answer the question, he has more important matters to speak about
- People came looking for Jesus because they saw a physical need filled but Christ points out the fact that they completely missed the true purpose of the miracle. A miracle is a sign that points to God. This is choice that Christ sets up throughout the rest of the passage. What do we seek Christ for: to give us nice clothes, a good job, a great girlfriend, and an easy life or to fill our spiritual need and to quicken our soul?
v27
- labor for food that is eternal; means we seek after it and chase after it
- food is necessary for our physical existence, true, but Christ is the eternal bread that is necessary for our spiritual existence. Food fuels us and gives us energy. Christ gives us the ability to love and see the truth. What are we working for? Where do we spend most of our time: Spending time with God and serving him or are we doing things that satisfy our most carnal urges to serve and glorify ourselves?
v31-33
- Manna foreshadows Christ. The Israelites in the desert (read Exodus 16) received manna, or bread, from heaven. They were told only to gather what they needed for the day, trusting in God to give them more tomorrow. This was a sign of dependence on God. While in the desert, there is no food (certainly none for a whole nation) and without God's grace, they surely would have died. They were completely dependent on God for their life. Are we this dependent on God daily? Do we really see him as the source of our life? We can answer yes all we want, but do our lives reflect this?
- Also, Christ is beginning to attack what is keeping them from depending on God: their religion. Just as God attacked the greatest strengths of Egypt and its gods, Christ doesn't look for a backdoor, he attacks at what they rely on the most. The people he was speaking to relied on their own works to justify themselves. So throughout the rest of the passage, Christ is challenging the people to make a choice: are they going to rely on their own works (labor for bread that perishes) or fully on Christ (bread of life)? We have that same choice. Are we going to dedicate our lives to being cool, becoming rich, or the greatest in a particular sport or are we going to depend fully on Christ?
v48-51
- Christ is the bread of life. Where as physical food only postpones death, the bread of life gives true life. By depending on the bread of life, Christ, we have eternal life. By eating it we won't die. This continues the contrast that Christ set up earlier between the spiritual and the physical. Which is more important to you? What about to Christ? The physical clearly exists and is important--how else are we to serve in this life--but it means nothing without being spiritual alive. Without Christ, we are dead. By feeding on the bread of life, we will have TRUE life. If the true life is spiritual. Then the physical is lesser.
- Jews revered Moses. They thought the manna from heaven was incredible. Christ is telling them that he is greater than that miracle, which surely offended their ideals.
v53-58
- Communion/Eucharist incorporates a piece of bread of a cracker (representing Christ's body) and juice/wine (representing Christ's blood). When we take part in this privilege, we are affirming the fact that we are fully dependent on Christ, renouncing our own efforts to justify and glorify ourselves. This is a serious matter because we are literally eating the body and blood of Christ. This is not something to be taken lightly.
v59
- He said all these things in the synagogue, the very heart of the religious system the people relied on.

Christ asks us a question that demands a response. What are we depending on? Where is our identity? Are we fully depending on Christ or ourselves?