I believe...... (Foundation of Faith)

Thanks Rob, morning, Church morning, everybody morning, bra. So who's

excited about the word this morning?

Good? And that's nothing to do with me. I don't

want I don't want any collaps or any applause. This

has nothing to do with me. This is to doue

with us. Are we excited about the word that we're

going to receive? Because if any bit of what I

share is from the throne room of heaven, then that's

what we need to be excited about. I've got a

bit of a confession to make. I just want to

say something to you. I don't know whether you'd be

on the same past. I've been a Christian a long

time now, a long long time. Do you know what?

It's very easy to follow trends and to follow social

media and to look for the next thing. You know?

This month, we're going to linger on the basics. We're

going to go back to basics, he might say, Dave,

we know the basics.

Do you know what when a trouble.

Comes, when stress comes, when pressure comes, we don't snap

for the latest saying in social media. We go back

to our basics. We go back to our roots, We

go back to what we know to be true. When

you get tested, it will be about what you know

to be true. When it all falls apart, when storms come,

when we're in a hospital waiting room, or when we're

struggling with kids sleeping, or we don't turn to the

latest hidden mystery. We turn to the basics. And so

I've titled what I want to share this morning, I believe,

but please don't make it as Dave believes like I

want to share it personally, but I want you to

decide what you believe, and we're just going to set

out some basics here. So I believe.

Number one, I believe in.

A God who is here, who is actually exists. I'm

not talking about an existential idea. I'm talking about a

God who's real and even not Christians, I want to

say for those who are listening online, maybe you don't

know no God.

Do you know what?

The more I know about science, the more I know

about creation, the more I want to point to an

intelligent designer. Whether you believe in a God or not,

there's got to be something greater behind the world that

we live in. If you want to believe in the

chance that we just happen to be some molecules that

happen to bundle together, that happened to be on a

planet that happened to be exactly the right distance from

a son. So we didn't get fried and we didn't

end up getting chilled. Okay, go that route. But you

know what, I think, I've got less statistics. I need

to believe in a God who created this universe, who

created you and me to have fellowship with us. So

everything starts with God is real. That's where I'm starting

a basic and that means he's real today. He's real

for you today, He's real for me today. Genesis one one,

first first verse of the Bible.

Anybody know what it says without.

Looking there, it's probably already behind me in in the beginning,

God created the heavens and the earth. God's are creative God.

And that's the foundation I want to lay in your hearts,

in your mind. So doesn't matter what trouble, what things

coming along, what thing you're wrestling with, God's are creative God.

I don't know of anything else, anyone else, any any

system that can create something out of nothing, something out

of nothing. Some people would want to say, Dave, who

created God? Okay, if you want to go there, who created.

But God is not within our own understanding. He's not

within our explainability. We run out of words when we

start talking to God so and talking about God and

so when I say, in beginning God, God created the

heavens and the earth. He's able to create what we need.

In Hebrews chapter eleven, verse six, it says he who

comes to God must believe that He exists, and he

rewards those who seek him.

Are we seeking? Okay?

So there is a God? Are we seeking him? I

don't just mean are we found him?

Okay? I've got a bad saying. I'm a Christian? Do

we seek him every day? Do we seek him every day?

Do we wake up in the morning saying, God, I'm here,

show me your face, show me your love. I don't

want to make any apology or debates about the things

that I want to share, because God, he's not a

distant force. He's not something that we think about. He's

a father who knows yours and my name. He knows

us before we know some things ourselves. And I feel

comfort in that. I feel strength in that that God

knows me better than I know myself. So why wouldn't

I go to the ultimate designer. Why wouldn't I press

into him? So firstly, a God who's real, who's there

for you and for me. Secondly, I believe the Bible

is the word of God. God gave us a book.

God gave us a book, and it's manifesting. Christ will

come to that in a moment. But it isn't just

a book that sits on a sh It isn't just

a book that you own. It isn't just a book

that's in your phone or your computer. It's a book

that's living and effective. I sometimes have the opportunity to

go into haven't been for a while, actually into our

local schools, and once in a while I was asked.

I had some children come up to me and say,

mister Food, is it a religious assembly today? And I

was thinking, well, okay, I'm a church leader. It's probably

got a bit of God in there. So how do

I answer this question? Because the reason that asking is

because the faith that they come from says they're not

allowed to sit under any other religious teacher's teaching. So

once in a while I just thought, okay, how can

I make this right so that I can speak to

them too? And once in a while I would say, no,

today is not a religious teaching. And what I would

do is I would talk about the Bible. I would

talk about the Bible and say, this is my reference book,

my guide book for life, my map for the journey.

And I would quote it, but I would call it.

I wouldn't call it the Bible. Maybe I was being

a bit naughty there. I don't know, but I believe

the Bible is the Word of God, and it's not

just a book that is historical. It's relevant for you

and for me. Two Timothy three point sixteen. All scripture, Notice,

all scripture is breathed out of God by profitable for teaching,

for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Anybody

being sharpened by the word. Anybody read it and go, oh,

that's a bit ouch today. Now, sometimes we need to

adjust what we say, what we do, how we live.

But all scripture is God breathed and it's lasting Isaiah

forty verse eight. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but

the word of our God will stand forever. We know

the story Jesus talks about the wise man building his

house upon the rock and the foolish man building his

house upon the sand. And you know, I'm a great

believer in firm foundations, which is I guess the theme

for this month is firm foundations. I had the privilege

of being on the beach just a couple of weeks

ago building a sand castle for Edison. And if you're

going to build a sand castle, you've got to have

a good foundation, otherwise it's all going to get knocked

down very quickly. So lots of patting, lots of jumping,

lots of hardening it down ready so that it lasted

when the sea came back in for quite a long time.

But do we build our life on sand or do

we build it on a rock? There is no middle ground.

I believe I'm a sinner in need of a savior,

and that just doesn't mean, oh I found a savior.

Everything's okay. I continue to find a savior every day.

Change from glory, change from glory into glory, till in

heaven we take our place. We are in a process

of being changed Romans three twenty three. For all have

sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It

doesn't say everybody except Dave. It doesn't say everybody except you.

It says all have sin fallen and Roman six twenty

three the wages of sin is death, but the free

gift of God is eternal life. In Christ, Jesus, I

or you are not a good person who just needs

improving and making a little better. We're a lost person

who needs saving. There is a difference. Some people say

I'm a good person, I'm going to go to heaven.

I say, do you know your savior? And they go,

why do I need a savior? What do I need

saving from? I said, do you do things that are upset?

You do things that trouble you? And they say yes.

I said, what do you do with those things? What

do you do with the consequences of hurting someone, of

saying something? Well, I apologize and say I'm sorry. I

said yes, but it still has leaves a scar, still

leaves a mark. What can you do with that? And

they say, I can't really do anything about that. Shakespeare

talked about that in a very famous play, We need

a savior. And I believe Jesus is who he says

he is, So what does he say? But he's at

the center of God's design. He's at the center of

God's purpose. Because not only is God a creator God.

He's also a redeeming God. He wins back that which

is lost. Take Christ out of the center of Christianity,

take Christ out of Christmas, and suddenly we've lost the

whole purpose. Christ is very much at the center. He

is the Way John fourteen, verse six. I am the Way,

the Truth, and the life. No one, not someone, No

one comes to the Father except through me. The gate

is Christ. He is the way. In one Timothy to

for there is one God and one mediator between God

and man. That is Christ, Jesus, fully, god fully man,

crucified for you and me. We're going to remember that

later today as we take communion together. Just a few

weeks ago we went through the whole Easter. Memories of

Easter have Him dying in the cross for you and

for me, paying the price, paying the price for you

and me, but rising again from the dead. It's not poetry.

This is history, this is reality, this is truth. One

Timothy two five, For there is what Oh, I've read

that one already. Sorry, I'm repeating myself there.

Now.

I also believe that the Cross changes everything. I don't

mean some things, I mean the Cross changes everything. There

was a survey done by New Frontiers International of their community,

and they've got a group of young people gen Z,

I guess they would be asked some questions and said,

what is it that we need to do more of

as a church. And these young adults said to their community,

I said, okay, please keep on preaching a gospel of love,

but keep on preaching the Cross. Keep on telling us

about the Cross, because it's all about the Cross. The

day we stop thinking about Calvary is the day we

start to curl up and do things differently. One Peter

two twenty four. He bore himself our sins in his

body on the tree that we might die to sin

and live to righteousness. By his wounds we have been healed.

God shows his love. God shows his love through sending

his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him

should not perish but have everlasting life.

Christ died for you and for me. I believe the.

Cross changes everything. He took what I deserved on the

cross so that I receive what I do not deserve,

his grace and his mercy. That's the gospel I believe.

In the resurrection, Christ rose again. He didn't stay dead,

he didn't just go to the cross and say, okay,

I'm going to stand in Day's place or your place

on my place, he said. In One Corinthians fifteen seventeen,

it says, if Christ had not been raised, your faith

is futile and you still have your sins. And we're

reminded of in this Easter story. And I love this phrase.

It's a good phrase to get running around in your head.

Matthew twenty eight.

Verse six. He is not here.

He has risen as he said he would. So this

wasn't just something that happened. It was planned. It was purposeful.

Jesus said he would return, and because he did rise,

he lives, and that means I can face tomorrow. Sometimes

we have to face death. Psalm twenty three talks about yea,

though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, no evil, not some evil,

no evil. And you know therefore, because he lives, the

grave isn't the end. Because he lives, I am not lost.

He goes ahead of me. Now you might say it's

a way okay. So there is a God and he

sent his son Jesus to die, and he paid the

price for you and for me. But he's gone back

to sit with the Father. Now, that's what scripture says.

So what about me? What now?

Well, I also believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe

in the Holy Spirit. I don't become a Christian by

fighting harder or fighting less or fighting I believe in

the Holy Spirit because He is a living God that

you will find inside you and me. So some basics

of what I believe. What do you believe? Let's just

pause for a moment. I'm just going to summarize them again.

I just want you just to if somebody ran in

the room right now and said, would all Christians please stand?

Maybe and I remember a story of a church in

East Germany, I believe it was at the time when

a soldier ran into the church and fired a machine

gun into the ceiling and said, okay, for all the

real Christians, please stay. But if you're just here for

fun or you just hear out of habit, please leave.

And a few people left. This is the story that

I heard.

I don't even though it to be true, so it

might just be just a good illustration for me today.

But he then shut the doors and they said, okay,

let's praise God. What do you believe. I believe in

a God who's here for you and me. I believe

the Bible is the Word of God. I believe I'm

a sinner who needs a savior. I believe Jesus is

who he says he is. I believe the Cross changes everything.

I believe in the resurrection, and I believe in the

Holy Spirit. Romans, chapter eight, verse sixteen says, the Spirit

bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

These are the foundational things, these are the basic things.

These are the things that we can put in place.

But let's just go and test them again for ourselves.

Because if we're going to build, if we're going to

declare things, if we're going to pray bold prayers, we

need to make sure our foundations are good and well.

Our basics of faith matter. They're not just theories. They're

how we live our life. And in one Currenthy in fifteen,

verse fifty eight, I'll close with this, Therefore, my beloved brothers,

be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,

knowing that the Lord in the Lord your labor, Your

labor is not in vain. You know, before I got

up to preach. This morning, I felt a very distinctive

pain in my body. I don't think, I don't think.

I don't think it was for me. I don't think

I've got a pain in my body because it's gone now.

But you know, I felt there was a real pressure.

And I think this is for one or two people,

maybe online, maybe in the room, A real pressure, a

real pressure on your back, A real pressure on your back.

And I don't think it's about a physical ailment. I

think it's just a sense of pressure and being weighed down.

And there's almost a constriction in your chest even as

you think about it, because you just feel way down

with your circumstances right now. And I wanted to lay

a good foundation before declaring this. But if that's you,

would you stand I'm I'm going to ask you.

To come to the front.

But if you're just weighed down by circumstances right now,

it would be easy for me to say this because

some students have got exams this week as an example.

Maybe they're not weighed down by that. But now, sometimes

we can be weighed down by one circumstance, one thing,

and it crushes us. We struggled. I even had a

sense of struggling to breathe. Sometimes this thing overwhelms you

so much you even have to catch your breath.

If that's you, would you stand, I'm.

Going to pray for us, for those who are online.

Okay, there's others that have come out the front.

So ministry team with some of the leaders, just come

and lay hands on these focus there's other people. Please

just stand where you are, that's fine, and didn't have

to come out of the front. If you don't want

to be on camera, that's that's really fine. Camera's focused

on me. But I had a real sense of such

a pressure, such a pressure you're going, I'm struggling to breathe.

And so Lord, we.

Pray right now, we pray right now. I speak liberty.

So further, I speak liberty to these bodies. I speak

liberty and freedom. Lord, would you lift off them the

weight of the burden?

Father?

Would you be the burden bearer? Would you be the

carrier of their situation?

Lord?

Would you be the carrier of their troubles and their worries?

Father?

I pray you'd even change change in just settings in

their lives. Lord, God, that what that which was weighing

them down?

Is gone.

In Jesus name, Father, I pray for a liberty of

your spirit at work in their lives. Father, give them

dancing feet and give them breakthrough. Father will release them

into the day's head. Father. I pray that, Lord God,

you would reconfigure budgets. Would you reconfigure budgets, Lord God Father,

would you would you change the prognosis that's coming this week,

Lord God, with the tests that have been done, that

are someone's really worried about whatever it is, Lord god Father,

I pray for a liberty and a freedom and a

confidence in you that whatever is named, whatever is called out,

what is able to be.

Dealt with by you.

There is nothing impossible to you.

Father. We pray for your liberty, your freedom in Jesus' name.

In Jesus' name, She She Coy and Church.

Let's not just be think this is the leader's thing.

If there's somebody standing near you, just reach out your

hands in their direction and pray for them