The 4Fs - Faith (Hebrews 11)

This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd.

Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people

striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through

our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church

at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message.

Well, welcome 1st Sunday of the new year we're.

Calling it one more. Sunday, We are going to do these

just about every quarter. We want to make one more Sunday

an opportunity for you who are regularly a part of our church

community, to bring the one mores that you have in your

life, whether that's. Family, Friends, Neighbors Co.

Workers, whatever it may be, the one mores that need to know

Jesus, quite frankly, and I don't.

Want to put. Any of you in the room on the

spot who feel like, Yep, they dragged me?

Along I'm not super happy that I'm here and I maybe don't even

know why I'm here and now you're telling me I need.

What you're selling, Pastor Matt, seen this movie before.

It sounds like a pyramid scheme. It's not.

And it is at the same time the reason.

If you are someone's one more here today, that means the

person that you came with or the people that you came with have

encountered A meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ,

who is the greatest thing that any of us will ever encounter

and so much. So.

That they. Cared enough about you as well

to bring you along so that you would know.

This truth and hope of eternal life that they have also come to

know so on one more Sundays. We want to make.

Jesus abundantly clear. We do that we try to do that

every week, but on one more Sundays that the gospel the.

Freedom, the gift of. Jesus needs to be abundantly

clear. We want to push.

Away any preconceived notions. Of coming to church and feeling

judged you certainly shouldn't feel judged by people at church.

You should probably feel judged by God at church because we've

sinned. We've all sinned.

You sinned too. Again, telling you who you are

and and what you need and. You need a God who can.

Defeat sin. Who can forgive your sin?

You need a savior who can pay and has paid the penalty.

For your sin. So we don't want church to be a

place that you come. And feel judged.

By people, it's OK to feel judged by God.

But we also have to hear and feel the freedom of the gospel

that. Even in that judgment, he made a

way. It's Jesus Christ that we were

singing about. He made a way to pay the

penalty. For your sin, that those who

confess. Their sin and call on the name

of the. Lord Jesus would be saved.

So that's in a nutshell what we want One More Sunday to be an

opportunity for you to hear about Jesus for the first time.

Or even those of you who know him.

Maybe you can pick up some tools today, some apologetics, some

some really. Easy gospel Nuggets to bring to

those one. Mores in your life?

Even if they're not here with you today, there should be some

stuff from this message that is a compelling, easy 2 minute way

to infuse the gospel. Into your lives, into your

relationships, your conversations with these people.

Now this is all within kind of our, our, our vision, our, our

mission of knowing Jesus and making him known.

The next 4 weeks we're going to be, we're going to be in these,

these four FS that were kind of. Banding.

Around and and financial peace university and and the and the

finances that's at the very end that's week 4.

But we didn't want to wait till week 4 to to start financial

peace up. That can start right now.

The next four weeks on Sundays, we're going to be working

through the significance of faith, family, fitness, and

finances in our lives as we seek the Kingdom of God first.

We believe that as a body of believers, that is what we need

to prioritize. And our relationship with Jesus

needs to be the first box, even more so than any relationship

that you could have on earth. So that's why we're starting

with faith today. Guys in the back, would you, can

you switch the screen for me? That would be great.

We are eventually going to be in Hebrews 11 today.

There are Pew Bibles. Under well, I call them pews.

They're chairs. There are Bibles under the seats

in front of you. And I did not look up where

Hebrews 11 is on page 1710 Zero 7 if you want to get ready to be

there. But before we get there, I'm

going to set up a few things as to why we are prioritizing faith

in our knowing Jesus and making him known.

The first passage we take in knowing Jesus, why we need to

know Jesus, why we're called to do that, is Philippians 3 Paul.

Writes. Indeed, I count everything as

lost because of the. Surpassing worth of knowing

Jesus Christ 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. 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. There's a lot.

Of big words there, there's a. Lot of churchy words in there.

In essence. In a nutshell, what Paul is

saying in this passage he did not encounter.

Anything on earth? That came close to comparing

with the worth, the relationship, the value.

The joy that he. Found in Jesus Christ.

And that through faith in him. He's credited with righteousness

before God. He had a problem that he could

not solve. He had a.

Sin problem that same sin. Problem that we all.

Have that we cannot account for for ourselves.

He cast that aside. He understood that he needed to

set that aside and pursue Christ to gain Christ.

Through faith so that he could be credited with righteousness

before God. Then what do we do with that?

What if we have that? OK, great.

Just. Keep it to myself.

Hang right here, I'm good to go. Jesus taught his disciples,

those that followed him. You who are closest to me, you

who know me, go there for and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing name in the name of the Father and the Son of the

Holy. Spirit teaching them to observe.

All that I have commanded you and behold, I am with you always

to the end of the age. If you've been with us through

the past, through series, the past few sermon series, there's

a common thread that even when there's a directive, when

there's a mission, when there is.

Something for us to do for the sake of Christ.

We don't do it alone. He goes with us, he is

delegating, but he's helping alongside.

He's working in and through the people that know him that.

Have relationship with him. So faith.

Knowing Jesus, we face the thing we need to pursue making him

known. We're also charged to share

this. Faith with others that they

might also. Have faith to make disciples.

So that's what we're doing this week in Hebrews 11 now.

We're going to also talk about the distinction.

Between belief and faith because as we're going to read a little.

Later in James. They are different belief.

Typically refers to intellectual acceptance or conviction that

something is true, often based on evidence.

Logic or information. It can be passive.

And it can be. Changeable our our.

Beliefs can change. In what in what we think about

things our our our understanding can change, information can

change. There was once a large.

Portion of the population. And some.

Still. Do that that believed that the

earth was. Flat.

Well, someone sailed all the way around the world and eventually

flew all the way and figured out OK.

The thing just keeps going around.

It's a circle. It's our.

Beliefs change. The information that we knew

changed. We were able to observe other

celestial bodies and planets in the sun.

It's OK these these other things.

Are little spheres, little balls floating around in space so it

wouldn't make sense that ours is just this flat canvas and

everything else is this little spit like OK, yeah, we're we're

in a circle now We we get that we understand that our beliefs

about what that changed so. Those.

Those things are moldable. Faith involves deeper.

Trust. There's a relational aspect of

faith. Commitment, resilience,

sometimes action, often persisting beyond evidence or in

the face of uncertainty. There is an element.

Of doubt to faith. Not that, not that you must

doubt to have faith, but there's an aspect of things that we have

faith in that we can't fully understand or see or or or maybe

feel. It involves trust.

And there's some uncertainty. In having faith, in putting our

faith in something which is. Why we should not put our faith?

In things that can fail. Let's jump to Hebrews.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Chapter 11 and we're going to see how the Bible defines faith

Hebrews 11 verse one page 1007 and and the Bible's under the

seats. If you want to follow along,

grab your. Phones out follow.

Along on the screen, the other thing we're going to be

abundantly. Clear.

About animated church this. Bible.

Is the word of God. It's fully true.

It's complete and perfect. It's everything we know.

Need to know how to live this. Life on earth for the glory of

God we teach. From it.

We teach for it, for His glory. This isn't the school, the

Church of man up here. This is the Church of God.

I'm trying to do my best to teach and explain.

Through my experience. And, and in my knowledge that

I've gained doing this, trying to bring you along with me.

All right, this is God's word. This is ultimate truth.

Hebrews 11 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,

the conviction. Of things not scene I want.

To remind you this word, hope. In the Greek language, it is a

certainty. It's not a wishful.

Thinking, oh I hope luck happens and and and this.

Unfolds when you. Were hopeful for something, you

knew it was going to happen, it just wasn't here.

Yet you were sure of it. That it was going to happen.

It just wasn't. Here yet.

So that's an aspect. Of faith the.

Assurance of things hoped for, knowing that it's going to come.

The conviction of things not seen.

Now, some of those are easier to.

Understand for. For example, let's talk about

gravity. It's maybe an obvious one, but

we can't really see gravity, the force that is.

We can see its effects, right? I believe in gravity and I I

even have like actions to. Bring my.

Belief in gravity into faith. If I step off this stage, I have

full faith that my feet are going to hit the ground.

I'm not just going to walk on air, right?

My actions could follow that off if I jump, I'm going to come

back down. I have full faith.

I I can hope I know fully assured that if I jump, I'm

coming back down, right? It's belief in belief into faith

by actions, right. I know what's going to happen.

Think about it on a on a larger scale.

This is this is maybe a common analogy analogy you've heard of,

but skydiving. How many of you have ever been

skydiving or or veterans military down to jump couple.

OK, did your parachute work? OK, If it didn't, I was going to

let you come up here and we're going to have a different

sermon. That's going to be an amazing

faith story that we could hear today instead.

But OK, parachute worked. You believed that the mechanics,

the inner workings, the function of the parachute, it, it was

going to catch you, right? You believe that?

And like I, I could do that too. I could wear a parachute right

now and standing on the ground, I believe that it works.

Now put that into faith. Would it?

Would I be acting in faith if the parachute works if I jump

onto the ground from right here with the parachute on my back?

No, I feel pretty safe. Like I'm not worried about like

I'm going to die. Now go on a helicopter.

Go on an airplane with that parachute on your back.

How's your faith in that parachute?

Still feeling pretty good by jumping out of that.

Plane, you're putting all your faith in that.

Parachute right? Belief with action is faith.

Faith lived out includes taking action based on belief.

This is where the writer of Hebrews goes.

With this faith the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction

of things not seen for it is. By for.

By it, by faith. The people of old.

Received their commendation. He's talking about the Old

Testament. There's two halves to the Bible.

The Old Testament pre Jesus and the New Testament.

The ministry of Jesus and the early church that follows the

writer of Hebrews talking about the faith of Old in the Old

Testament By faith we understand that the universe was.

Created by the Word of God so that what is seen was not made

out of things. That are visible now genesis 1

one the first verse is in the Bible in the beginning God

created the heavens and the earth we're already at a point

of faith because there were no. Humans to record Watch.

See God create the heavens and the earth that came later, even

those that actually. Recorded it weren't.

Really the first humans that were there.

Inspired by God. Wrote the story down.

So it is by faith that we even believe in creation.

We can't see it. We can't prove it.

But we're here by. Faith by believing that God

created all things and that human.

Life if we act. In a way that.

Human life. Set apart, made in the image of

God, is greater than all of the things as God intended.

As God created by faith, we understand the universe was

created then the writer of. Hebrews goes into all these.

Examples. I'm not going.

To dive into each and everyone. Here this morning.

But the writer of Hebrews chronicles these.

Pillars, these foundations of. The faith by faith Abel, Cain

and Abel first two born to Adam and Eve.

Real quick, Cain murdered his brother Abel because God favored

Abel's offerings. What did Abel do?

Abel brought the first fruits of his harvest.

He gave God his first and. His best and that.

Pleased God. That's how our relationship with

God is supposed to be, because. Abel understood that everything

he had came from God was God's, was just.

He was just the. Caretaker.

For it so of. Course he gave.

Back to God out of what he had already blessed Abel with by

faith. Abel made this offering that

doesn't. That doesn't make any.

Sense right to. Give back to God what he's

already. Done.

It's an act of trust. It's an act.

That what he's already given you, he will continue to.

Bless you with so it was by. Faith in faith, Abel took this

action that what God already did, what he had already

repeatedly provided he would continue to do he.

Acted in faith. Skipping down by faith, Enoch

was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not

found because God had taken him. Without faith, it's impossible.

To please God. For whoever would draw near to

God must believe that He exists, and that He.

Rewards those who seek him seeking the Kingdom first

language there in Hebrews as well.

Then we get to Noah. This might be a little more

familiar by faith. Noah being warned by God

concerning events is yet unseen. Think about this.

We talked about Moses. We worked through Moses a little

while there's. There's a very climactic moment

with Moses. Right where God speaks to him

through a burning. Bush OK.

Very clear. This is the voice of God.

I am that I am. I am Yahweh.

Set my people free. Go rescue my people.

Moses went home that day and said, wife Zipporah, you're.

Never going to believe this. But the voice of God spoke to me

through a Bush and we got to go get these people out of Egypt.

Noah on the other hand, it's it's, it's a little different.

We don't know that there was this heavens opening moment.

And the voice of God booms down and says, Noah, 100 years from

now, there's going to be this flood.

So you better start building the boat.

Maybe maybe that's happened, but also Noah may have been so in

tune with God in his relationship with God that in

the day-to-day, in his prayers to God, in his listening, in his

conversation, Remember, faith is relationship.

It involves trust. Maybe that idea started as just.

An inkling. Maybe it was just a whisper, A

thought. In Noah's head, maybe it was an

audible voice. It it could have been, but I've

never heard the audible. Voice of God not saying he

can't. He can absolutely still.

Work in that way. But if I believe, if I have

faith that God still talks and leads and he's leading my

thoughts, my actions directing in my mind, he could have talked

to Noah in the same way for sure.

That's that's a lot different for Noah to come home and say

wife kind of had this can't shake this feeling.

I kind of had this thought today that.

It's going to rain soon. Not not like soon, but like a

long 100 years from now. But like I got this feeling that

we need to build this boat big enough to hold all the animals

on the. Face of the Earth.

So that we can. Keep them and preserve them and

And God told me to. Sounds a little less convincing

than the burning Bush, right? But by faith, because he was

attuned to God. And his relationship?

With him, Noah was utterly convinced of something he could

not. See by faith.

By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place.

That he was to. Receive as an inheritance.

He went out not knowing where he was going by faith.

He went to live in the land of the promise, as in a foreign

land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of him, with

the same promise. For he was looking forward to

the. City that had foundations who

designer and builder. Is God by faith Sarah herself

received? Power to conceive, even when she

was. Past the age since she had.

Considered him faithful who had promised.

We don't always give you homework at church.

Go back to Genesis. Read through these names, these

Saints, these foundations. And how they?

Acted in faith. Get the whole story.

These are just snippets of examples of living by faith.

That we find here. In Hebrews. 11 What the writer

of. Hebrews is saying.

By highlighting their examples, these forefathers, these people

that came beforehand. How they lived their lives.

In response. To who God is, who he said He

is, and what he had done, what he had blessed them with.

They lived their lives in faith. And God.

Credited that faith. To them as righteousness.

Each of these. Individuals, and I'm not, I

don't like to use the word characters because these were

people. The Bible is a book of history.

This happened each of these individuals.

Even before Jesus, all of them lived before.

Jesus came to earth, had a relationship a.

Knowledge and understanding of God, who He was, who he is, that

they sought his Kingdom first, their faith was the first thing

in their lives they woke up and their relationship with God was.

Priority #1 There's many of you in here who have, who have heard

that, understood that we, we. Fail at that.

That's not. It's not always something we

execute really well, but that's the greater.

Point of church. Not to come here and feel judged

by. People.

But to come here? And know there's people who are.

Striving for the same things that you are struggling along

the way, and together we can encourage each other in that.

To. Refix our eyes on Jesus to seek

first the Kingdom together, because James warns.

In chapter 2 this. Is where it comes back.

We can have a debate about belief in faith, but I But I

think there's a distinction. James 2.

Chapter 2, verse 17 So also faith by itself does not have

works. If it does not have works, it is

dead. Someone will say you have faith

and I have works. Show me your faith.

Apart from your works and I will show you my faith by my works.

I want to be really careful here.

James is not suggesting that there is anything we can.

Do to earn or keep? Our salvation, however.

As we started out entering into worship, our.

Worship and we. Do it in song.

Here we can do it in a variety. Of ways our worship.

Our life of worship is simply response to God and what He's

done. That's what James is.

Getting at here if. You believe these things about

God, that Jesus is who he says he is and did what he what the

Bible says he did. What does a life lived out in

faith look? Like in response to.

That belief because you believe James continues on in verse 19

you believe that God is 1 you do well even the demons believe

and. Shudder.

Even the demons acknowledge that God is the Creator.

The mighty God that Jesus came to earth, died, rose again from

the dead to cover the sins of many of all.

The demons believe that, but their response is 1 of

rejection. The response is not one of

faith. The response is 1 of rebellion.

Against the one true. God, that belief is.

Squashed by their works. It is not enhanced into faith by

how they are. Living their life in response to

that belief. So where are you at today?

Some of you I know are maybe hearing some of these things for

the first time. There's a lot you don't know.

Me. I'm up here telling you what to

do with your life. I hope it came out.

In love. In the same way that.

The person who brought you here, they're not.

They're not trying to scold you or judge you.

They just know. That Jesus.

Is the greatest thing that you'll ever experience.

They know that you need to know Him to experience the

righteousness of God, to have the hope of eternal life.

It might feel like the things that I'm saying of this is new

to you, or maybe even some of you.

It hasn't really just sunk in. You don't feel like you're

living a life of faith in response to God.

It might feel like you're jumping out of a plane with a

parachute on your back. You're not 100% sure that it's

going to go off. That's where that analogy breaks

down for me, because I think the most certain thing.

In that analogy of jumping out of a plane is that I'm going to

need that parachute, the thing that I have the most faith.

In in that scenario is that gravity is.

Pulling me down, That's going to happen.

Parachutes have failed. Gravity has never once failed to

pull someone out of a plane. That's the God that we have

faith in. He has never once failed.

So for some of you. Jumping into this life, it

might. Feel like you're jumping out of

a plane? It might feel like a really.

Big scary change. A really big great unknown.

And that's OK. For some of you it might be.

For some of you it might be a drastic redirection and course

change. For your life.

But it doesn't have to be an encounter with Jesus is what

I've already said the the the most amazing thing you will ever

experience. But it can also be very simple.

It doesn't. Have to be the.

Rush of skydiving. It can be the.

Simple daily act. Of taking a step.

Knowing that he's still the same, knowing that that pull,

the desire, that reaching out for you is still going to happen

each and every day. For most of us.

That's. Probably.

What a life. Of faith looks like that daily

small step. Band, would you?

Come back up, we're going to sing one more song.

What do we actually do? Following Jesus isn't just

coming up here and taking a step off the stage and letting

gravity catch you. In case that wasn't clear here

at Emmaus Rd. in this. Community of believers.

Those next steps, that daily step of obedience, of of action

in faith with Jesus, that starts with baptism.

We read it in one of those first verses.

Go make. Disciples baptizing and

teaching, if you haven't been baptized, we can do that here.

We can do that right now, this morning, come and see me after

we sing this song. We can do it up here.

It doesn't have to be a big spectacle.

It can be a big spectacle. But again, it can also be

simple. If you've been baptized, but

maybe it was a long time ago and you didn't experience it, I

would also love to talk to you about that because it's still

real and meaningful and powerful.

For your life after you've been. Baptized.

If you've been baptized, what What are the next?

Things you should be in this. Book every day, even if you

don't understand it. Even if you.

Don't get it? That's that's we're.

Learning and teaching going. Through it together here.

That's what life groups are, Yes, we get together and do

life. Together.

But we're going to talk about God's Word too.

We're going to encourage each other.

In this, what's something? That you do every day.

I think most of us probably eat. Every day we know what that

feeling of hunger is when we don't eat.

We're reminded of that somehow. We don't always feel that same

pain when. We don't go to this every day.

We do. We feel it.

We feel it in sin, we feel it in brokenness.

But it's not always. With that same urgency.

Of an earthly hunger, so get baptized.

Join a life. Group be in.

God's Word be in. Prayer, listen, talk to him.

And eventually you're going to feel the call to serve, to

participate in the body of Christ.

We have various ministries that are arranged here.

You might have other gifts that we haven't thought about or

considered or had before. We can impact God's people in a

variety of ways. We can impact people that don't

know Him in a variety of ways. But we do it in community,

together get. Baptized.

Join a life group. And serve.

Those are the next steps. Those are the little.

Steps. It can be that.

Simple, it doesn't need to feel like.

You're jumping out of a plane. As you consider these things,

whether it's for the first. Time or a recommitment, A

redirection, a reinvigoration. Of your faith.

Spend some time in reflection. As we sing this last song.

Come talk to me or Pastor Chris afterward.

Meet Kristen at the connection desk.

We believe that by. Seeking these things.

Faith, family, fitness and finances.

By prioritizing those things in God's design, that's how we.

Seek His Kingdom. That's how we make His Kingdom

on Earth. We each have a one more that

needs to know. Jesus, we're going to live a

life. In action, in faith to make him

known. But you stand and say.

Thanks for listening to ERC Sundays.

To support the work God is doing an Emmaus Rd. church, visit

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