CREATING A NEW CULTURE – FAITH
HEBREWS 11:1-12:1
“WHEN PEACE LIKE A RIVER, ATTENDETH MY WAY, WHEN SORROWS LIKE SEA BILLOWS ROLL;
WHATEVER MY LOT,
THOU HAST TAUGHT ME TO SAY,
IT IS WELL, IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.”
HORATIO SPAFFORD
THE BACK STORY, HEBREWS IS WRITTEN TO A YOUNG COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS GOING THROUGH TOUGH TIMES
HEBREWS 10:32-34, 35-39
FAITH IS A WHO WORD NOT A WHAT WORD…
HEBREWS 11:8-10
GEN.15:6, “ABRAM BELIEVED THE LORD, AND HE CREDITED IT TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
“BELIEVED” IN HEBREW MEANS AMEN AND IT IS A DECLARATION OF TRUST
ABRAHAM’S AMEN TO GOD IS NOT SIMPLY A FAITH
THAT GOD WAS ABLE TO GIVE HIM A CHILD: IT WAS TRUST IN GOD TO GIVE HIM A CHILD’
FAITH IS NOT JUST BELIEVING IN SOMETHING …
FAITH IS NOT JUST BELIEVING IN SOMETHING, FAITH IS A CONFIDENT ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THE LIVING GOD.
FAITH IS AN ACTIVITY RATHER THAN A POSSESSION …
FAITH IS NEVER STATIC
FAITH INVOLVES AN ELEMENT OF RISK …
THERE IS ALWAYS AN ELEMENT OF RISK WHEN YOU NARROW YOUR OPTIONS
FAITH IS NOT “NAME IT CLAIM IT” …
OUR TRUST IN GOD IS NOT THE STUFF GOD GIVES BUT IN GOD HIMSELF
FAITH INVOLVES ORDINARY PEOPLE, IN ORDINARY LIFE, TRUSTING GOD WITH THE OUTCOME
APPLICATION:
“GOD GIVE ME THE GRACE TO ACCEPT WITH SERENITY THE THINGS THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED,
COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS,
WHICH SHOULD BE CHANGE,
AND THE WISDOM TO DISTINGUISH
THE ONE FROM THE OTHER,
LIVING ONE DAY AT A TIME,
ENJOYING ONE MOMENT AT A TIME,
ACCEPTING HARDSHIP AS A PATHWAY TO PEACE,
TAKING, AS JESUS DID, THE SINFUL WORLD AS IT IS,
NOT JUST AS I WOULD HAVE IT,
TRUSTING THAT YOU WILL MAKE ALL THINGS RIGHT,
IF I SURRENDER TO YOUR WILL,
SO THAT I MAY BE REASONABLY HAPPY IN THIS LIFE AND
SUPREMELY HAPPY WITH YOU FOREVER IN THE NEXT,
AMEN.”
REINHOLD NIEBUHR
