Living Faith

Here’s another great sermon I just had to listen to twice

http://www.gracepugetsound.com/sermons/Bayley8-17-08.mp3

This sermon was preached by Pastor Matt Bayley who is one of the pastors at our church, Grace Fellowship Puget Sound. It’s about faith. This is a concept I have been wrestling with this year. God has been showing me how much He wants me to grow in faith. Yes, I wholeheartedly believe in the great truths of the faith found in Scripture. Yet, God is revealing to me the many ways in which my faith is weak, and that weakness is often manifested in sin- in fear, despair, and taking matters into my own hands- when hardship and trial come. God is showing me how tremendously faithful He is to meet me in the middle of my sin, weakness, and impossible circumstances. God is strengthening my faith by revealing His character to me where the rubber hits the road in my life. My God IS my Redeemer and my Provider! He IS control and He IS loving, merciful, and kind. He IS my Sustainer when I have no strength. He IS more than enough. He IS worthy of my worship and it IS worth it to lose everything else to gain Him. NOTHING is impossible for Him!

Great highlights from Pastor Matt’s sermon:

1 Thessalonians 1:2-10- The church at Thessalonica was a “model” church. They were known for things like: their faith, their labor of love, their steadfastness of hope in Jesus, the gospel coming to them in word and power and the Holy Spirit with full conviction, becoming imitators of Jesus and leaders like Paul, receiving the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, being an example to other believers, having the word of the Lord sound forth from them in their region, having their faith in God go forth everywhere, turning from idols to serve the living God, & waiting for Jesus to deliver them.

1 Samuel 13 & 14- This is a great and crazy story about an impossible battle that Jonathan and his armor-bearer fight against all odds in total dependence on God, and God wins it for the Israelites.

Luke 5:17-26- This is about a paralytic man who was carried by his friends to Jesus and lowered through a roof to get to Jesus so that Jesus could heal him.

Luke 7:1-10- This is about a centurion who asks Jesus to just say the word so that his servant will be healed.

“God’s Word does not promise us success. He asks us to obey Him and the chips are going to fall where He wills them to fall.”

Quote from a book called “An Unstoppable Force” by Erwin McManus: “Many times what we want from God is not a mandate that requires our faith, but a guarantee that in reality our faith was never needed.”

Quote from a friend, “If you really want to make sure that you are experiencing God, study and know His Word.”

Quote from Steve McCracken: “God wants us to do the possible, so that by faith, He will do the impossible.”

Pastor Matt tells a wonderful story from his own life about God’s sovereignty and divine orchestration in the midst of obstacles in missions work.