Broadway Christian Church ? Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship ? May 4, 2008

Seventh Sunday of Easter

Prayer of the Day

Lord Jesus Christ, in this hour of worship we humbly yet boldly pray that you will continue to teach us how to build our faith. Give us, we pray, such trust in your sure purpose that we grow in our ability to measure our lives, not so much by what we have done or failed to do, but by our faithfulness to you. In your name we pray. Amen.

Scripture

Matthew 9:29

“According to your faith, it will be done to you.”

Message

Live Expectantly

Rick Frost

Good Morning, everyone. It is good to have you with us today. If you’re a first- time visitor or have been away for a while, this is the Easter season here at Broadway. As you know Easter is not just a day or a season for us. It is a lifestyle. 

So, we are spending some time focusing on an Easter series, looking at what happens when the God of Easter creates, makes, and develops Easter people. We are checking out some of the key characteristics of genuine Easter people. 

Hopefully we’ve learned, over the last few weeks, that Easter people live, quite frankly, a different lifestyle than most. It comes with the territory. In fact, we believe it’s not only just a better lifestyle, or one of many acceptable lifestyles. We would submit that the Easter lifestyle is the ultimate lifestyle. Why? 

Because… “Christ has risen.” 

[Congregation:] “He has risen indeed!” 

“Christ has risen.” 

[Congregation:] “He has risen indeed!” 

“Christ has risen.” 

[Congregation:] “He has risen indeed!” 

You all are getting so much better. That is fantastic. Just that fact changes the way Easter people live. 

Several weeks ago we looked at what it means to Live Lovingly. Then we spent some time looking at how to Live Generously. Today I want us to look at what the Bible calls “faith.” I want us to take a look at what it means to Live Expectantly. 

In Mathew 9:29, Jesus says, “According to your faith, it will be done to you.” 

The key question today: What are you expecting? What are you expecting God to do in your life? More importantly, what are we expecting God to do in our life together here at Broadway?

There is a law the Creator established a long time ago. It’s commonly called the “Law of Expectation.” That law says basically this: we tend to get what we expect out of life. Not always, but we tend to do so. We tend to see things we expect to see. We tend to hear things we expect to hear. We tend to feel things we expect to feel. We tend to accomplish things we expect to accomplish. That’s the “Law of Expectation, the Law of Faith.” God says you get to choose, because according to your faith, it will be done to you. 

Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith, it’s impossible to please God.”

Isn’t that amazing? “Without faith, it’s impossible to please God.” 

How many here are parents? Good. How many of you are pleased when your children trust you? Yes.  Isn’t that wonderful?

Well, God is our heavenly parent. God is pleased, according to Scripture, when we trust – when we trust the Lord. “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” 

In Luke 17:5, the disciples are learning this and say to Jesus, “Lord, increase our faith.” 

A question today: How many of you would like to have more faith than you have right now? Any hands on that? I’m one of those persons. If that’s what pleases God, then that’s what I want. I want more faith.

The question becomes, then: How is faith built? How do we build faith? If faith is what makes life meaningful, rewarding, and fulfilling, how is it built? Can you take vitamins for it? Can you go to some kind of therapy? A seminar? Can you find a book, a guide, a CD? No. The Bible says faith is built by testing.

Folks, this is huge. I believe the reason it is huge is because this is some of the most misinterpreted, and therefore mistaught, and therefore misunderstood notions in all of Scripture. We are going to talk about that in just a minute.

Right now, I want you to see something. I want you to see that faith is like a muscle. Who has on a short-sleeve shirt or a short-sleeve blouse who wants to show us a muscle? Stand up, Rebecca. Show us your muscle, Rebecca. There you go. Very good. I didn’t ask her to do that ahead of time, either.

Faith is like a muscle. It only develops when it is used. You don’t develop faith sitting around on your blessed ass….   …assurance. Yes. Did I say that right? I think that is what it is. Sitting around on that is not going to get it done. Faith is like muscle.

I can go up to the ARC, and I’m not talking about the boat. I’m talking about the fitness center, and it’s not too far down the road. I can look at all the weights and all that first-class exercise machinery, and the wonderful track. I can sit down by the window and watch the folks swimming, and shooting hoops, and doing yoga, and doing Pilates. But this muscle is not going to grow. It’s not going to be strengthened. It’s not going to do anything but turn to flab if I don’t use it. That’s what the Bible means, I believe, when it talks about “testing your faith.”

James 1:3 says, “The testing of your faith develops perseverance…so that you may be mature and complete.”

As Guy Adams, co-chair of the Transition Team here at Broadway, said so well, “We here at Broadway are now a full year into our latest time of transition. This transition, like all transitions, is an opportunity which we can maximize or that we can squander.” That is really true.

So, our Prayer-Ministry Team as created yet another fabulous Forty-Day Prayer Guide for us. Pick one up on your way out if you don’t already have it. We are asking the whole congregation to spend 40 days and to use this as an opportunity, not to squander, but to maximize this wonderful time we have together. They are asking you not just to look at. They want you to use it. It’s about the Eight Keys to Discipleship – those eight exercises – you can do to actually build your faith as a disciple. They are not asking you to just learn about it. They are asking you to work it, to become part of it, to practice it. Unlock the keys to discipleship. They are humbly yet boldly imploring every single person connected with this community of faith to step up in terms of your time, your talent, and your financial resources, and become the Easter people God expects this community of faith to be. 

The fact is we’re in a test right now. It’s not just this church, by the way. Every moment of the day, your faith is being tested. Did you know that? All this week your faith will be tested. Every day you have faith-building opportunities. The problem is most of us don’t recognize those as faith-building opportunities. So they just sort of slide by. 

That is what I want to focus on this morning. I want to name for you four ways that faith grows. There are more, but I only want to name four today.  They are very common ways. They are ways that are going to come to every single person in this room. You can count on that. All of them can be opportunities to exercise, to develop, to grow your faith. So, let’s jump in.

Number One: Faith Grows Through Difficulties.

Difficulties, challenges, problems, crises, pressures, tough circumstances. Faith grows through difficulties. That’s a fact of life.

First Peter 1:6 says, “For a little while you have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”

Bad things happen, folks. We know that accidents do occur. Gene Laemmli was down at the Lake just this past week. He was in an automobile accident and had to be airlifted here. You never know. Life throws darts at all of us. Everybody gets struck by something, sometime. 

If you don’t hear anything else that is said this morning, I want you to hear this. Those darts are not God’s doing. You really need to hear that. This is not God testing your faith. This is not part of God’s plan for your life. This is not God seeing how much you can take. That is the most awful thing I have ever heard in my whole life, and it’s everywhere. You need to know this, however. Whatever it is that life does throw at you, you can count of the fact that God can use whatever that is to build your faith. Did you know that? That’s what I want you to hear.

What have you lost? What have you suffered? What’s caused you to grieve? What has your back up against the wall? Whatever it is, whenever it comes, God can use it to help build your faith.

Therefore, from that perspective, James 1:2-3 makes sense: “Consider it a pure joy, whenever you face trails [challenges, problems] of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”

How can my problems… How can my pain… How can the things that sadden… How can the things that cause me so much trouble possibly be a joy? Only one way; because through it all, the Creator of the universe is with you. That’s God’s promise. It’s been there from Genesis on. That’s God’s Covenant. You can bet the farm on it. You can take it to the bank. God is with you and will help you, if you seek that help, and will provide you what you need for new life. That is the promise of the New Testament.

OK. It’s test time. In order to live by faith, I must learn that God uses the difficulties of my life to build my faith. God doesn’t cause them.  God doesn’t send them, but uses the difficulties of my life to build my faith. Evaluate yourself. If you have never heard this before, give yourself a 1. If you have heard this, but sometimes you get it and sometimes you don’t, give yourself a 5. If you get it and understand it, and you believe it, give yourself a 10. Grade yourself.

Number Two: Faith Grows Through Demands.

Not only do we have expectations of God, but the Creator, the giver of life, has some very real expectations of us. There are 1,050 commands in the New Testament alone. Do you think the Lord has some expectations of us? You bet.

For many of us, not to mention the billions of folks out there that are not with us, at least not yet, for many of us these demands, these commands, these expectations of God sometimes seem unreasonable. They seem inconvenient. They seem even impossible. But every single one of them is there for your good, folks, for our good, and not just for our good, but for the good of the world. There are things like, “Don’t worry about anything.” Things like, “Love not just your neighbor, yourself, and God, but love your enemy.” Things like, “Forgive other people.” Things like, “Give; share with the poor.” Things like, “Confess your faults.” Things like, “Live every day in peace.” Those are not just good for you. They are good for the whole world. God uses those demands, those commands, and those expectations to grow our faith.

I tell people the hardest thing I ever did, as I look back, was to choose not to smash in the face of some bully. It was the hardest thing in the world to walk away. I walked away, because as a teenager, I heard a command not to do a thing like that. I didn’t know it at the time, but I look back, and obeying that command, as a teenage boy, built my faith in ways that I cannot begin to explain to you. Do you see what I’m saying? God builds our faith through commands.

In the story of God’s people coming out of slavery in Egypt, moving toward the Promised Land – the land of freedom and milk and honey – the Bible says that was a test. God said, “I’ll rain down manna, this mysterious substance that you can eat every day. You pick it up. You just pick up enough for the day. You don’t store it. You don’t save it. Just pick up enough for today.” (That sounds like me when my wife sends me to Gerbes. “Just enough for today.”) “Why not, Lord? Why not save? Why not store? Why not set aside?” Because, Exodus 16:4 says, “In that way, I will test their faith and see whether they will follow my instructions.”

What’s the lesson? In order to live by faith, I must learn to follow God’s instructions. Test time. Evaluate yourself. If you do what God instructs you to do when it’s convenient, give yourself a 1. If you struggle with what God clearly expects of you, and even in the midst of that struggle, you end up doing it, give yourself a 5. If God commands it, and you do it because God expects it, even though it seems impossible, you are going to do it anyway, give yourself a 10. Grade yourself.

Number Three: God Grows Faith Through Delays.

It is human nature. Isn’t it? We don’t like to wait. I personally hate to wait. That’s why I have some trouble with some restaurants here in town. I don’t like the fact that I’m sitting there, and they have the audacity to call their employees “the waiter.” I’m “the waiter.” I’m sitting there. I’m starving. My stomach is growling. I’m “the waiter.” They’re busy. I’m “the waiter.” OK? I hate to wait. Do you know what I’m talking about? Yea. You do.

How many like to stand in line? Nobody likes to stand in line. How many traffic jams do you like to be in? Have you flown lately? Nobody likes flight delays. Nobody likes going to a doctor’s office, or anybody else’s office, when you have an appointment scheduled, and it gets delayed. We hate to wait.

And yet, a significant percentage of our life is spent doing what? Waiting. The question today is, “What are you waiting for?” Are you waiting for Mr. Right, or Miss Right? Are you waiting for that promotion? Are you waiting to get well? Are you waiting for all the media coverage of the upcoming election to be over? Are you waiting for the United States government, our elected officials, to actually pass legislation that actually helps the American people? Are you waiting for our troops to come home? What are you waiting for?

In the Bible, the Israelites came out of Egypt. If you have been over there, you know you could actually leave Egypt at the border, and you could walk to the Promised Land, and it would take you about three weeks if you just go leisurely. How long did it take them? Forty years.

Deuteronomy 8:2 says, “God led you all the way in the desert these 40 years to test you in order to know what was in your heart.”

Forty years!

Isaiah 64:6 says, “God acts on behalf of those who wait for the Lord.”

It pays to be patient. The truth is while you are waiting, if you are waiting in faith, you need to know that God is working. You may not see it. You may not know it. It probably is behind the scenes. God acts on behalf of those who wait… for the Lord. You have to finish the sentence. There’s a difference. A lot of people are waiting. You must wait for the Lord.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Wait for the Lord and keep God’s ways. God will exalt you to inherit the land.”

Folks, God has been testing our church here at Broadway, I believe. I know it seems we are moving terribly slowly, but while you are waiting, what I want you to know is God is working. God is working behind the scenes. God is working in ways that you don’t see. God uses delays to grow our faith.

So, it’s test time. Evaluate again. When delays occur, are you a person who just sort of gives up, folds your tent, and takes off? Do you split? If you are that kind of person, give yourself a 1. But, when delays occur, do you find yourself grumbling, complaining, moaning, groaning, but you still hang in there? Give yourself a 5. If you are one of those persons who keeps on going when the delays occur, you step up, you go that extra mile, you live expectantly, give yourself a 10. Grade yourself.

Number Four: Faith Grows Through What I Do With What I Have.

Newsflash! You may not know it yet, so let me give you the scoop. God uses money to test and develop your faith. Did you know that? You thought it was because you earned it, or you sacrificed for it, or you saved it, or you managed it, or you have built wealth. No, no, no, no. Not according to Scripture.

According to Scripture, all that you are and all that you have is a gift. It’s a blessing that comes from God, even your ability to make money. Some people have a real gift for that. That gift, according to Scripture, is a blessing. It is a blessing that has been given as a test. The test is this: will you use your gift and be faithful and use your blessing to be a blessing to others? There is no other reason in all of Scripture for anyone to be blessed. OK?

So, I’ll bet you, folks.  There are a whole ton of people, even in this room right today, not to mention the dude who is out there on the street, who have absolutely no idea at all that God is testing our faith with what we, in fact, have.

Luke 16:11 says Jesus said, “If you have not been trustworthy in handling money [worldly wealth, whatever you have], how in the world is anybody going to trust you with things that are really truly rich – true riches?”

God uses dollars to grow your faith. Every time I sit down and I write a check for my pledge knowing full-well I could use that money for bills and all kinds of other things, is that a test of my faith? You bet your life it is. When I am willing to give to the Lord what the Lord expects, knowing that I could use that money for all kinds of other stuff, it is a test. It is an exercise. It stretches me. It stretches my faith. When I stretch, just like Rebecca, I get stronger.

Second Corinthians 8:7 says, “Excel in the grace of giving. I am not commanding you. [Ah, thank you, Lord. No command here.] I’m not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.”

God uses dollars to build your faith. OK. The final test today: evaluate yourself. In order to live by faith, I must learn to live generously. If you give when it is convenient for you, give yourself a 1. If you give when you are asked, when you are cultivated, when you are pressured, but you still give because you think it is needed, give yourself a 5. If you give because you live generously, it’s a lifestyle for you, it’s something you love to do, you just can’t give enough, give yourself a 10.

Do you have difficulties? Do you have challenges? Do you have problems? Do you have road blocks? Do you have delays? Do you have demands? Do you have blessings? Do you have good fortune? Do you have profit? Do you have bounty? Do you have those things in your life? Whatever it is, what I want you to hear today is that God can use it to build your faith. “According to your faith, it will be done to you.”

So, we Easter people live lovingly, live generously, and live expectantly.

And all the people say… “Amen.”

Benediction

God of Possibilities, Maker of Certainties, thank you for giving us faith to count on you. Build us up, stand us up, and move us up. We are your people, eager to rise to your expectations. Amen.