Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · September 28, 2008

Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost

Prayer of the Day

Lord, we come to worship. We realize you are always present. We know of your comfort, your power, and your guidance. Everything we do should be influenced by our faith in you. Today help us to open our minds, our hearts, and our souls to your Holy Word as we live the Christian life and serve our brothers and sisters around us. Amen.

Scripture

Hebrews 11:1-10

Now faith if being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Message

Are You Limiting God?

Dr. Larry E. Gallamore

How often have you thought, “I’d like to have more faith?”  That’s a typical reaction to life’s challenges.  When you get beyond your comfort zone, you are likely to pray, “Lord, increase my faith.”

As you heard the Scripture from Hebrews 11:1-10, the writer repeatedly emphasized by faith Abel offered a sacrifice.  By faith Enoch was taken up.  By faith Noah built the ark.  By faith Abraham obeyed God.  They didn’t make a move without faith, and neither should we.  Everything revolves around faith.  

You can’t get out of bed in the morning without faith.  You got up this morning and turned off the alarm clock.  You had faith that the alarm would wake you up.  You turned on the light switch believing that electricity would flow through.  Some of you said, “Thank God, it’s morning.  Others said, “Oh God, it’s morning.” The last time you made a deposit of money in your bank, you had faith your money would be safe.  The last time you were sick, you went to the doctor believing your doctor could help you get well.  By faith you tackle problems you’ve never encountered before believing you can solve them.

Faith is such a part of your everyday life.  In fact, you would not be human without it.  Faith makes life livable.  When you lose it, your whole life begins to fall apart.  Most of you know what I’m talking about.

Let me share a part of my life story with you.  A few years ago I woke up one morning and realized my faith was gone.  The cares, frustrations, and problems of life had taken over.  I thought, “This can’t be happening to me.  What am I going to say to people when I preach?  What will I tell those who come for counseling?”

Two or three days went by, and I did a good job of hiding my feelings.  I was in my study, and my wife, Jan, walked by who, by the way, happens to be a psychologist.  Jan said, “What’s wrong?”  I didn’t answer, and she asked, “Should I call 9-1-1?”  That got my attention.  I told her I had lost my faith.  She asked, “What do you tell others with whom you counsel in similar situations?”  I told her I tell them to act as if they still had faith and to keep trusting God.  In time their faith will return. I tell them God loves them.  Jan said, “That’s very good advice,” and then she said, “God loves you, I love you, your kids love you, and people love you.  Take your own advice.”

I took my advice and, in just a few days, I began to feel that beneficent power which is brought into action by trust however that trust is applied.  I realized that there is someone so great, so loving, so eager to help us that at the moment any man or woman opens the door of their heart in confidence, God rushes in not waiting for you to get your theology straight to sustain your life.

There are three things you need to remember about faith: (1) When you lose your faith, if you continue to trust God it will return stronger than ever.  (2) When you lose your faith, you are running on empty and you are not going to get very far.  (3) Keep trusting God.  As your faith returns, God will open the windows of heaven for you.

When you lose faith, trust God to take over your disillusioned soul.  You’ll be released from your worries and frustrations by a process that psychologists refer to as a transfer of your burdens from yourself to God.  It includes the binding together of the loose ends of your personality and results in your becoming whole.

Let’s examine this faith process.  How does faith develop?  Some of you were so fortunate.  You were taught faith as a child.  Kids know that God is God.  Kids don’t limit God in any way.  You tell a child God can do anything and they believe you.  They may ask questions out of their curiosity.  Questions are wonderful.  On an average, a small child will ask over 100 questions a day. Adults ask five or six.  We’ve lost our curiosity.

Some of you were so incredibly lucky as a child because you experienced faith in Sunday School through all those wonderful biblical stories.  You saw all the pictures: Joshua making the sun stand still, David defeating Goliath, Moses parting the Red Sea, and Daniel turning his back on the lions in the lions’ den. You developed a rock-solid foundation for your faith. Others of you were told these stories were just ancient stories, and you could decide whether or not to believe them when you become an adult.  Some of you once believed all these biblical stories, but life has been difficult and somewhere along the journey you turned away from God.  You know God is still there.  God hasn’t turned away from you.  However, you are thinking you should be able to handle anything, you are the measure of all but, on the contrary, you are not.  Some of the most knowledgeable people of all time have recognized this.

The late Dr. C.G. Jung, in his book Modern Man in Search of a Soul, wrote: “Among all my patients in the second half of life, that is to say over 35, there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life.  It is safe to say that everyone of them fell ill because he had lost that which the living religions of every age has given to its followers.”

In my opinion, Dr. Jung is confirming the need for faith in our everyday lives. When you lose faith you are running on empty.  You are not going to get very far.  You can’t live without faith.  

Now, let’s discuss what happens when you lose faith.  When you lose faith, you are trying to make it alone, and you can’t.  That’s a hard lesson to learn.

We lose faith because we can’t resist the temptation to try it alone.  We’re taught as a child to be independent.  Do you know why you loved Superman or Superwoman as a child?  Do you know why you put on that towel and ran through the house flying from room to room?  You remember the TV series.  Let me put you in touch with it – “Superman, strange visitor from another planet who came to earth with powers and abilities far beyond mortal men.  Superman who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel with his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.”

We thought Superman could do anything.  He could make it alone.  But you can’t.  I can’t.  The disciples of Jesus couldn’t.  I’ve never known anyone who could make it alone.  The critical moment comes in your life when you realize you can’t make it alone, and you ask yourself, “Where can I go but to the Lord?”  Who can you turn to but Jesus?  That’s when faith starts coming back.  That’s when you start singing.  That’s when you realize you are not alone.  That’s when your faith starts rushing back.  And that’s when the windows of heaven start to open and you begin to conquer your fears.

Do you remember the Old Testament story of Daniel in the Lions’ Den?  Do you know Daniel turned his back on those lions?  Picture that in your mind – Daniel turning his back on those hungry lions.  Do you know why he turned his back on them?  He knew if he stared at the lions they would get larger and larger.  They would grow as big as elephants.  Daniel looked up to God.  While everyone was focusing on how fearful the lions looked, Daniel was focusing on how awesome God looked.  God shut the lions’ mouths.

In the jungles of Africa there are tribes who believe, to this day, that a lion will not attack a person who is not afraid. The Bible tells of a time when the lion shall lie down with the lamb, a time when humankind has gotten all fear out of its heart, thereby changing the whole moral climate of the planet.

When we have faith in God everything goes better.  With Christ there is a feeling that things are going to work out.  The world feels different, looks different, and is experienced differently.  The writing of the Gospel of John was clear about this. Listen to what the gospel says in new words.

Once upon a time, not in a fairytale sense, but once upon God’s time, there was a man named Jesus.  Early in his life, those who knew him began to see him as more than just the son of Mary and Joseph.  There was something about him, his character, his words.  When people were around him, it seemed that the windows of heaven opened up, and they felt they were in the presence of God.  Jesus was different.  He didn’t shine in the night.  He didn’t dress in unusual clothing.  He didn’t have a strange look on his face; he didn’t go around saying a lot of religious things.  He was just who he was.  But I must tell you he related to people in a unique way.  In him, people saw God.  

I’m sure you’ve known a few people like Jesus, people, when you are in their presence, make you feel better, think better, and live better.  Now multiply that one thousand times and you have Jesus of Nazareth.  You need to experience this Jesus.  Allow him to come into your life.  He’s calling you just as he called his disciples.  He’s praying for you just as he prayed for his disciples (John 17). He wants you to know you are never alone.  He is always with you.

So be it. Amen.

Benediction

Awesome God, thank you for the witness we have in the lives of your faithful. Help us to not only stand in awe, but to be inspired to “A-ha!” Help us to envision and expect great things. Let us offer our hands, hope, and faith as we look to your sky as the limit. Amen.