Faith Changes You // Pastor Nick

I got a question to ask you.

I always have questions.

If somebody were to give you a good example of something,

what do they normally do?

Show you.

Show you something,

right? If I say,

give me an example of a good basketball player,

you would point to somebody else,

or if you thought you were good at basketball,

you'd show them,

right? Somebody give me a good example of whatever.

Fill in the blank,

right?

You normally show somebody or tell about somebody else,

right? So we've been in the book of Hebrews all year.

The object of our faith,

right? What is the object of our faith?

Jesus, right?

And in the Old Testament,

God displayed his faith,

mercy and grace through signs,

miracles, people that led up to the ultimate object of our faith,

right? In Hebrews,

chapter eleven,

which we've been in for a couple of weeks,

been talking about great examples of faith,

right? The hall of faith,

heroes of the faith we're going to pick up in verse 30.

And this is kind of part two of by faith,

right? Probably part three,

I think,

by now.

And it's been really cool to be reminded.

But a lot of times when somebody gives you an example,

if I give you all the reasons or examples why I smoking is bad for you.

I used to smoke,

by the way,

and people would tell me there's tar in it,

there's chemicals and damages your lungs.

I didn't stop,

though, did I?

A lot of times when people give you examples,

it's supposed to motivate you,

to stir you up,

to get you to change or to make a decision,

right?

But a lot of times you don't decide to change until what?

Until it's too late sometimes,

or until the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain to

change, right?

I got to hear that a couple of weeks ago.

And I was reminded,

you know,

a lot of times I didn't change until it got so bad that I didn't have any

other choice.

In this last part of Hebrews,

chapter eleven,

it's still talking about people by faith.

So I hope this morning that you are motivated,

that you are encouraged,

that you are reminded,

but in such a way that you decide to do something,

because faith requires action,

right? If I have,

you got faith right now in them red chairs,

right? You got faith that they'll hold you and support you.

Why?

Because you've sat in a chair before,

right? You've done it.

So you what Hebrews,

the very first verse of Hebrews,

it tells you what faith is.

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for.

Faith shows,

shows you something.

You have been proven that if you sit in a chair majority of time,

it holds you up.

Right. You have confidence in it because you've done it before.

Just want you to keep all them things in mind.

When I think about faith,

faith is trust is hope.

Confidence. Right.

What you put your weight into.

I'm reading out a new living translation.

Before I read.

Before we start,

I'd love to pray for you.

All right,

let's pray.

Lord, thank you just for an opportunity to spend time with you,

dear Lord,

I thank you for all these people that are gathered in this room or that

may watch or listen to this later.

Dear Lord,

I pray that wherever we're at,

that we would just be present with you,

that we would put aside anything,

dear Lord,

but just fixing our eyes and hearts and minds on you.

And that we would have faith that you would show up.

And that when you do,

we would step out in whatever way you ask us to.

And have that confidence,

dear Lord,

that you're going to be there because your word says over and over and

over again,

you'll never leave us,

you'll never forsake us.

You'll always be with us.

So in these great examples,

dear Lord,

help us to be stirred to do something.

In Jesus name.

Amen. All right,

I read out a new living translation just in case it's a little different

than yours.

You can follow along behind me if you don't have your bible or your phone

or whatever you use,

but pick him back up with.

It was by faith,

right? In verse 30,

it says,

it was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for

seven days and the walls came crashing down in that very first verse 30.

Anybody know that story?

Joshua? Walls of Jericho?

There are songs about it,

there's chants about it.

People have done that type of prayer.

It was by faith,

right? It wasn't somebody's military knowledge.

It wasn't a plan.

It wasn't something they were used to,

right? God asked them to walk around for seven days.

Can you imagine?

A lot of times God will ask you to do stuff that doesn't make any sense,

right? What is he reminding you of?

He's reminding you that it's him.

It's not us.

It's by faith,

through him.

It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for

seven days and the walls came crashing down.

Maybe you don't know a lot about the Bible.

Maybe you don't know these stories.

And if you don't,

I'm going to try to help you.

It was by faith that rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the

people in her city who refused to obey God,

for she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

Anybody ever heard that story?

A prostitute God used.

And it wasn't because of her position.

It wasn't because of what she did in the past.

It wasn't because of who she was or who she wasn't.

It wasn't because of her Sunday school attendance.

It wasn't because of her role at church.

It wasn't because she thought she was a good person.

It was because she decided when she got the opportunity to do something

that nobody else was willing to do,

it was by faith.

If you remember that story,

the spies.

Joshua sends the spies out,

just like,

kind of like the leader before him,

Moses did,

sends the spies into town because they've crossed Jordan river into the

promised land.

And what's God asked them to do?

To take on the biggest town in that region.

It wasn't like,

hey, I'm going to let you battle a smaller town,

build up your confidence and pride in yourself.

I want you to go to the biggest,

baddest one first.

And I don't want you to storm in there and fight and do all the things

you know how to do.

I want you to walk around.

But before that,

he sends spies.

And Jericho was a group of people that were not for God,

that were not God's people.

Get into town.

And what does Rahab say to him?

I heard about your God.

I heard about all the miraculous things he did.

I heard about how he is with you and how you conquered people because of

him.

And I want to know more about them.

Verse 32.

How much more do I need to say?

This whole chapter.

It was by faith.

It started at the very beginning.

It was by faith.

And he talks about Abraham and Cain and Abel and Sarah.

And he goes from beginning all the way up until,

how much more do I need to say?

How many more examples do I need to give you?

But what do we know?

People can tell you till they're blue in the face of all the great and

good things of God and all the amazing things he's done.

But if you haven't experienced it for yourself,

it's not the same,

is it?

How much more do I need to say?

It would take too long to recount the stories of faith of Gideon,

Barak, Samson,

Jephthah, David,

Samuel, and all the prophets.

By faith,

these people overthrew kingdoms,

ruled with justice,

received what God had promised them,

shut the mouths of lions,

quenched the flames of fire,

and escaped death by the edge of the sword.

Their weakness was turned into strength.

They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight.

How much more do I need to say?

It was by faith quenched flames of fire.

Who do you think about when it says that?

I think about three young boys who went into the fiery furnace and were

not consumed by the flames.

You have to remember,

these are just people,

just like me and you.

And do you ever feel like,

well, those people were different,

or they had some sort of special anointing or blessing that we don't have

today or that we couldn't do those things,

God couldn't use us in that way.

Anybody ever feel like that?

That was a different time.

That was a different.

The devil loves to deceive you,

distract you and tempt you.

And I think that's our biggest problem as Americans,

because we are so richly blessed and we are so spoiled that we are so

distracted that we categorize things and think that,

well, that was then,

and that was a different time.

And these are miracles.

And a lot of times we count miracles as a coincidence or as science or

advancements in technology or you ever seen God do something amazing?

And maybe you need to be reminded,

stirred up,

motivated to work toward that.

Their weakness was turned into strength.

Would anybody think that walking around a town for seven days would do

anything?

It is the evidence of things we cannot see.

It goes on to say women receive their loved ones back again from the

dead. But others were tortured,

refusing to turn from God in order to be set free.

They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.

Remember first and second verse?

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for.

They place their hope in something better,

even. Do you think the people that weren't a part of the walls of Jericho

coming down or weren't a part of the dividing of the Red Sea and walking

across dry ground,

or even walking across the river of Jordan?

That what if you're the person that don't,

that isn't a part of that,

and somebody tries to tell you that God isn't with that,

you're oppressed,

you're tortured.

What is our hope in?

What is your hope in the.

They refused to turn from God.

Even if they didn't have the same kind of example.

They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.

Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open with whips.

Others were chained in prisons.

Some died by stone,

and some were sawed in half.

Anybody know who that was?

I believe it was Isaiah.

It talks about Isaiah getting sawed in half,

that was his martyrdom.

Can you imagine?

We don't really face that in this country in that way.

Anybody ever come up to you and said,

hey, if you don't stop being a Christian,

I'm going to saw you in half.

I'm gonna beat you,

I'm gonna whip you,

I'm gonna torture you.

We don't really can't relate,

can you?

Some people went about wearing the skins of sheep and goats,

destitute and oppressed,

mistreated. Maybe you've been mistreated because you were a christian.

But if people know you're,

are you such a light,

such a representative of God that people can see the difference?

Maybe you've been mistreated a couple times.

Maybe somebody said something snarky to you or sarcastic.

We don't face this kind of thing here in America.

I don't think I haven't.

I'm being honest with you.

Ain't nobody ever told me they were going to kill me,

beat me or stoned me or torture me or saw me in half.

They were too good for this world,

wandering over deserts and mountains,

hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

Like I said,

maybe we don't experience these kind of things,

but something I do think everybody experiences is temptation,

right?

And I think that is your oppression.

And you don't realize a lot of times that maybe God blessed this country.

So much so,

to do what you're blessed to what,

be a blessing,

right?

They placed their hope in something.

They place their hope in God and a better life to come.

I think temptation is our greatest oppression,

right? We're tempted to look at ourselves.

We're tempted to be prideful to.

We live in this kind of self care culture now,

and I don't know where it came from,

and I don't really understand why,

like, self care is healthy.

I don't think it is.

The devil is a great deceiver.

He loves to subtly get you distracted from being reminded of what.

What are we here for?

What's your purpose in life?

Is your purpose to acquire a bunch of stuff and say,

I'm a pretty good person because I don't do x,

y or z?

Is it to have a career and have stuff and say,

well, I don't do whatever?

I don't.

Is it to compare?

Well, I'm better than this person,

at least.

I don't do drugs or I don't drink or I don't cuss or I come to church on

Sunday and we're deceived.

The great thing I'm reminded of in,

through this,

of course,

it was by faith,

right? Faith requires you to do something.

I personally think the Lord is waiting on us to do something,

partly because of this last part of the chapter.

You realize all these people were mentioned only because of faith.

All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith.

Yet none of them received all that God had promised.

What have we received that they were hoping for Jesus.

Right? So if Isaiah,

Moses, Joshua were standing up here right now,

what do you think they would be telling you?

You ever got around an old person?

And they said,

well, back in my day,

we did it this way,

and you got it so easy.

You should be thankful.

You should be grateful.

You should have gratitude that you don't have to go through these things

like we go through.

And we still believe.

We still hope.

And you got the promise of Jesus.

You got what we were waiting for this whole time.

And, yes,

God still blessed him.

God still granted him favor.

God still did what he said he was going to do.

But we got the promise.

For God had something better in mind for us,

which was Jesus,

so that they would not reach perfection without us.

What do you think that means?

Perfection is another way of saying,

if something is perfect,

it is whole,

it is complete.

And us as a community,

as a body of believers,

because that's what church is,

right? It's just a body of believers.

It's not a building.

It's not a place.

God has blessed us with this huge room to be able to gather and celebrate

and worship those people.

Moses, David,

Samson, Joshua,

Rahab. All these people mentioned in this chapter cannot be made complete

without.

What do we know?

What do we know?

Jesus is coming back,

right? He's sitting at the right hand of the father,

and he's coming back.

But what if God is waiting on you?

All those heroes of the faith are waiting on you to do what?

Step out in faith?

They're not waiting.

What are you waiting for?

They won't be made complete.

I don't think jesus will come back.

Until what?

Until all have heard.

And what is our job?

What did Jesus tell the disciples before he left?

Go and make disciples.

Go and make followers.

Go and tell people.

Show people.

When you show somebody something,

it gives them the confident assurance that they can believe and trust in

that thing.

So if only thing you're doing is do what I say,

not what I do,

how can we make complete?

How can we be made whole?

We went to camp a couple weeks ago,

and we celebrated,

had a big camp celebration service Wednesday,

and it was awesome.

I cried three times,

and I don't normally cry,

but I was just thinking about all the great examples of faith and people

stepping out in faith.

And because of that,

other people were encouraged to step out in faith.

And they made decisions to make Jesus their lord and to get baptized.

They made decisions.

They got up here and spoke.

A parent got up here and said when their kids got home,

Trudy tells them,

you know,

we've been partying for five days straight.

They're going to be tired,

they're going to want to sleep.

And I know you're going to want to ask them all the questions and what

they did and who they talked to and what they learned.

And you're probably just going to have to leave them alone for a little

while. And I know you're so excited to see him and have them back.

But this parent got up here and said when they got home,

they were just as excited they were.

They wanted to put on the worship music that was being played at camp.

And they were showing me,

they were singing,

they were dancing.

They inspired me to step out in faith.

That same parent also said,

when the great commission,

a younger girl got up here and recited all four verses of the great

commission just like that.

And I was impressed because I don't even know if I can do all four of

them. I can give you a summary,

but that is literally what we are here for,

is what she said.

That is literally our only purpose here in life.

And God gives you resources and tools like your job and your friends and

things to equip you to do that.

But that's really all we're here for.

And if we're not doing that,

we're deceived,

we're lost,

we're hindering people.

We're not going to be made complete and made whole,

and you're not going to be encouraged.

Right.

When I step out in faith,

it is better than anything I've ever done here in this world that the

world has tried to offer me.

Whether it's drugs,

whether it's alcohol,

whether it's entertainment,

whether it's movies,

whether it's whatever it is.

It can be golf,

it can be.

I don't.

Whatever you like.

But when you make that thing an idol and you make that thing of God and

you stop,

you take your eyes off of Jesus and you start thinking about yourself,

that is the temptation I'm talking about that deceives us as a nation and

the devil sitting back and probably smiling because we think,

because we came into it's an accomplishment,

because we came to church today.

We were doing a podcast Friday,

and I forget what Kyle said,

but in the book of acts,

there's 39 miracles.

Only three of them happen at church.

So, yeah,

church is great.

I love,

this is a celebration.

It's worship.

It's a time of healing,

preparation, learning,

training, all that.

But it's to equip you,

motivate you,

inspire you,

stir you up,

to go out there and do it right.

Y'all feel equipped to do that?

Encouraged, motivated,

inspired.

One John one nine says,

if we confess our sins to him,

he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all

wickedness.

A lot of times I have to start right there and get on it.

You cannot have freedom.

And when you're not free,

when you're bound,

when you feel bound up,

you feel hindered.

You're not as confident in who you are and who Christ says you are,

right? You're not as confident in your ability to tell somebody something.

A lot of times I don't engage with people or conversate with people

because I'm not confident in my ability either,

because I don't really care about that person.

I haven't spent enough time with God to be motivated and reminded and

remember who he is and who he says I am because of him.

And so,

a lot of times,

you cannot get free until you get honest.

And so when I get honest and I confess my sin,

and I say,

lord, I haven't done these things.

I don't have a heart for people.

I don't know how to do whatever it is.

When I confess that it says he is faithful,

what is faith?

Confident. Assurance that he's going to do what he says he's going to do.

But what does it require on your part?

Requires you to take a step right.

It requires you to put your whole weight into something,

just like sitting in that chair,

to put all of you into it.

And when we do that,

he will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all wickedness.

That verse that everybody loves to quote about with everything going on

in this country,

second chronicles 714,

he will heal our land.

But what does it say if they turn from their wickedness?

And what do you think?

You think that's for some political party or somebody running for office,

don't you?

You think if.

If they would just turn from their wicked ways.

He's talking about you.

He's talking about me.

It's not about somebody else.

Like I said in the beginning,

the examples are great.

Right. But a lot of times,

examples, they might.

You might be motivated,

you might be encouraged,

or you might be upset that I've told you that you need to confess that

you're wicked,

that you have wicked ways,

you have a sinful nature,

and you have to take that old self off and put that new self on every day.

But it's up to you.

With everything going on in this world,

I think God's just trying to get our attention.

I think God is just trying to stir you and motivate you.

It's time to take a stand for something.

It's time to make a change.

And that if and when you do that,

then I'll show up.

Maybe God's just trying to make the pain of not changing greater than the

pain of changing,

so that we'll do something.

What are you waiting for?

It was by faith that all the people did all these things.

God can do the same thing with you,

he can do the same thing with me,

but you have to turn to him.

You have to run to him and you have to jump.

You have to put your whole weight into it.

And until you're willing to do that,

you're not going to experience the miraculous,

amazing things of God.

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for.

It is the evidence of things we cannot see.

In these last couple minutes,

while I'm praying and while they come up here to sing this last song,

I dare you to ask God,

how do I need to take a step of faith?

Is there something hindering me from being able to see where I need to

take a step of faith?

And I promise you,

if you confess those things,

he is faithful.

Let's pray.

God, thank you.

I am.

Thank you for humbling me.

Thank you for having the mercy and grace,

dear Lord,

to not give me what I deserve.

Dear Lord,

I pray that each and every day that we would remember that it was by

faith that something happened in our lives.

It was by faith that we made a decision,

dear Lord,

to take a stand for you.

It was by faith that we decided to maybe even become a Christian.

It was by faith that we decided to follow you into baptism.

It was by faith that we decided to love on somebody or check on them.

It was by faith that we decided to stop doing things the way the world

tries to demand us to do.

We turn back to you,

dear Lord,

I pray that we,

as a body of believers,

would do that.

That we would motivate and encourage and remind each other,

dear Lord,

that it is by faith.

God, I pray that right now in these next few moments that we would just

do just that and know that you are faithful and just and that you come

through. I love you,

Jesus name,

amen.