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The Faith That Surprises Jesus

Series:  Faith That Gets God's Attention 9/25/11 Jesus had withdrawn to the region of Tyre and Sidon, but Mark 7:24-25 says that He could not keep his presence secret.  As soon as this woman heard that he was there, she seeks Him out, and pleads for her daughter.  The Scripture is sure to point out that she had three strikes against her, according to the Jewish thinking: she was a woman, a Gentile, and a Canaanite. Someone has said “The greatness of faith often can be measured by the obstacles it overcomes” and she had to overcome many. In this passage,  we find a stark contrast between the Jewish leaders who were rejecting Jesus had a Gentile woman who is seeking after Him.  Here is a dramatic difference between the unbelief of the Jews, and the faith of this woman.  She has such great faith that it surprises Jesus.  Interestingly, there are only two people in Scripture, that Jesus commended for having great faith, the centurion and this woman, and both were Gentiles.  But what was it that so surprised Jesus about this woman’s faith?  As we consider this story today, I want us to look at what it was about this woman’s faith that surprised Jesus, so that we too may have that kind of faith.

The Faith That Stopped Jesus

Series:  Faith That Gets God's Attention 9/18/11 Luke 9:51 tells us that Jesus had set his face toward Jerusalem.  He was resolute, determined, and focused. Yet, the cry of a poor blind beggar stops Jesus on his way.  By stopping Jesus said clearly “You matter to God.  You are important to Him.  He sees your affliction.  He hears your cry, and He has come to heal you.” We are going to look today at what it was about Bartimaeus’ faith that stopped Jesus, and caused Him to grant Bartimaeus’ healing, so that we can learn from him, that we too may have such faith

The Faith That Impresses Jesus

Series:  Faith That Gets God's Attention 9/11/11 Jesus marveled at the great faith of a Roman centurion whose background and circumstances ought to have made it difficult for him to have faith.  He was a man whose occupation prized force and self-reliance; a man whose background was paganism; and a man hated by the Jews because he was a Roman. Yet, despite all the circumstances that went against him, this man exhibited such great faith that it “wowed” Jesus. It caught Jesus attention.  It impressed Jesus.  It set this man apart from all of Israel. It was not the man’s achievements, position or title that impressed Jesus, but it was his faith.  This man’s story is forever recorded for us as an example of faith that impresses Jesus that we too might learn how to have the kind of faith that “wow’s Jesus” –the great faith that captures Jesus attention, and releases the miraculous into our situation.

Faith That Touches Jesus

Series:  Faith That Gets God's Attention 9/4/11 Here in the story of the woman with the issue of blood, in Mk 5:34, Jesus said “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”  Faith is the key that releases the power of God.  Many people crowded around Jesus that day, touching Him, rubbing against Him with the press of the crowd, but one woman’s touch released His healing power,  and He said “who touched me?” Today as we look at the story of  this woman who touched Jesus in faith and was immediately healed, it reveals to us several characteristics of the faith that touches Jesus.

Look Under the Hood

8/28/11 Mark 1:21-34 Experience is important but experience is not everything.  I had a friend who once owned a vehicle in which they absolutely loved. One day while driving the infamous CHECK ENGINE LIGHT lit up on the dash board, and my friend somehow came to the logical conclusion that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle, as engine lights being lit on dashboards are common.  With the miraculous gift of wisdom in which they possessed, they got a hold of some black electrical tape, covered the CHECK ENGINE LIGHT and continued on their merry way. A few months later the car died, reason of death: engine problems Like my friend who failed to acknowledge the Check Engine light on their car, many believers are failing to acknowledge the check engine light in the body of Christ is well lit.  Experience may tell us there is nothing wrong or “its just a season ,” however, as mentioned a moment ago experience is not everything.  The question we will as and answer today is can we satisfy it in our spirit that the church today looks like the church in the Bible?

Loving The Church in Practical Ways

Series:  Loving Jesus, Loving His Church 8/21/11 God commands us is to go to church (Heb. 10:23-25)—not as a perpetual visitor or spectator, but as a member sharing in its life, committed in relationship, considering one another, and stirring each other up to good works.  The various metaphors or images used for the church in the New Testament are, as we have seen: the family of God (household of faith), the body of Christ, the bride of Christ - they all imply relationship, and commitment to one another.  That is what we are going to talk about today, and I pray that Spirit would speak to each of our hearts and challenge us in our relationship and commitment to this local body of Christ.

Loving the Family of God

Series:  Loving Jesus, Loving His Church 8/14/11 Interestingly, “family” is one of the primary metaphors that God uses in speaking of His church.  We are repeatedly called “children of God” a term that refers to the fact that by virtue of our relationship with God the Father, we have become related to one another.  Another term that signifies a familial relationship is the “Household of God” or “Household of faith” which is used to describe the church on several occasions in the New Testament (Eph 2:19-22, 1 Tim. 3:14-15; 5:2, Heb 10:21, 1 Pet. 4:17).  Other terms such as “brotherhood” (1 Peter 2:17), brothers or sisters are used to describe the relationship of believers one with another. God wants His children to learn to get along with each other, to love each other. If you are a parent, you want your kids to get along with each other. God does, too. He wants it so much that He says that loving each other is tantamount, or equal in seriousness, to loving Him. It easy to say in an abstract sense “I love the church,” but when it gets down to a specific group of believers to whom we are relationally attached, and with whom we interact week in week out, known as the local church, it is more difficult, because love now has to be lived out in tangible, concrete ways even in the face of challenges and difficulty. .

Loving His Bride

Series:  Loving Jesus, Loving His Church 8/7/11 In Eph. 5:25-27, Paul is speaking about husbands loving their wives, but Paul uses the love that Jesus has for His church, as an example of the way that husbands ought to love their wife, if they are allowing the Spirit of God to have control over them.  The love that Christ has for the church is the standard against which a man's love for his wife is to be measured.  However, this message is not about marriage, it is about the church.  We are so used to reading through this passage focusing on the subject of marriage, that we can sometimes miss the other truths that are contained within these verses.  So today let’s focus on these verses from a different perspective, a more unfamiliar perspective.  Let’s concentrate instead on what it reveals to us of how Christ loves the church, and let us pray that not only will our minds be informed by the word, but that our hearts will be transformed by the word.

How to Have a Godly Marriage

Series:  Taking Christ Home 7/17/11 Genesis 2 reveals to us God’s original design for marriage.  Salvation is all about the restoration of God’s original intention for our lives and the world.  God created marriage, and intended for it to a blessing to both partners.  He intended for it to be the most fulfilling, and intimate of human relationships, and He provides for us here a pattern for how to realize His original intention in our marriages.

Marriage by Design

Series:  Taking Christ Home 7/24/11 God created marriage and He created men and women with unique differences. Ephesians 5:33 addresses those differences and teaches wives and husbands what is essential to have a happy, healthy, God-honoring marriage.