Diminished Growth

Luke 8:25
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Pastor Colin focuses on the fifth type of doubt, which cannot be solved through mere classroom learning and needs a different approach.

He emphasises the importance of recognising where our difficulties arise from and explores how doubt can grow from not using our faith practically. Using the story of Jesus calming the storm in Luke 8:25, Colin highlights Jesus’ probing question, “Where is your faith?”, as a call to apply our faith in real-life situations rather than leaving it on display without use.

Pastor Colin stresses that faith is like a muscle, needing regular exercise to grow. He notes that Christians often report growth in faith during crises, showing the necessity of actively applying faith, not just having it. He argues that not using faith can lead to diminished spiritual growth, making it hard to see faith’s relevance in life.

He advises that faith should factor in God’s ability, submit to God’s sovereignty, and actively trust in God’s goodness. Colin differentiates biblical faith from mere positive thinking by illustrating that true faith recognises God’s ultimate control and submits to His will.

The sermon concludes with a call to take faith out of the “display cabinet” and use it to face real-world challenges, suggesting that serving others is a key discipline to strengthen and grow one’s faith. Pastor Colin encourages believers to launch into deeper challenges, trusting that God will bring them through even the biggest storms.

1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:04,400 I’d be grateful if you’d turn in your Bibles to Luke’s gospel in chapter 8, as we continue 2 00:00:04,400 –> 00:00:10,020 our series Faith with Questions, dealing with the darkness of doubt. 3 00:00:10,020 –> 00:00:15,480 We’ve been discovering over these weeks that doubt grows for a variety of different reasons, 4 00:00:15,480 –> 00:00:21,100 and if we can identify the root cause of a particular doubt we will be in a position 5 00:00:21,100 –> 00:00:23,139 to discover the remedy. 6 00:00:23,139 –> 00:00:28,139 And we’ve seen, for example, that some doubts have their root in the mind, and therefore 7 00:00:28,219 –> 00:00:33,639 that they can only be addressed by a deeper investigation of the faith. 8 00:00:33,639 –> 00:00:39,020 Other doubts have their root in the fact that a person has never really made a clear, decisive 9 00:00:39,020 –> 00:00:44,240 commitment to Jesus Christ, that one thing one day, and another thing the next. 10 00:00:44,240 –> 00:00:51,080 Another variety of doubt we discovered arises from the distorted pictures of God. 11 00:00:51,080 –> 00:00:56,580 And today we’re going to look at the fifth variety of doubt, and let me promise you, 12 00:00:56,720 –> 00:00:59,680 this one cannot be addressed in the classroom. 13 00:00:59,680 –> 00:01:02,380 It’s very different. 14 00:01:02,380 –> 00:01:07,459 Very important for us to understand where our difficulties are arising from. 15 00:01:07,459 –> 00:01:14,459 For only when we understand their root are we going to be able to grasp the prescription. 16 00:01:14,459 –> 00:01:21,459 I want us to focus in this morning on a question that Jesus asked, and a question indeed that 17 00:01:22,480 –> 00:01:24,800 he asks of us today. 18 00:01:24,800 –> 00:01:29,300 Most of us have many questions that we would like to ask of God or of Christ if we had 19 00:01:29,300 –> 00:01:32,000 the opportunity to speak with him directly face-to-face. 20 00:01:32,000 –> 00:01:38,379 There are many questions that people ask Jesus that are recorded in the Gospels. 21 00:01:38,379 –> 00:01:44,500 But I want us to focus our attention on a question that he wants to ask you, and I want 22 00:01:44,500 –> 00:01:49,980 us to hear it as a question that Christ has for each of us personally today. 23 00:01:49,980 –> 00:01:54,220 You found it right in the middle of this well-known story that we’ve read, the story of the storm 24 00:01:54,320 –> 00:01:55,320 in the lake. 25 00:01:55,320 –> 00:01:56,360 They are out on the lake. 26 00:01:56,360 –> 00:01:57,339 The storm blows up. 27 00:01:57,339 –> 00:02:02,699 Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves and then he asks them this great question, which you 28 00:02:02,699 –> 00:02:05,839 will see there in Luke 8 verse 25. 29 00:02:05,839 –> 00:02:12,220 Where is your faith? 30 00:02:12,220 –> 00:02:19,100 Now you can be sure that when Jesus takes time to ask you a question that he is probing 31 00:02:19,100 –> 00:02:23,679 into something of very fundamental importance. 32 00:02:23,679 –> 00:02:25,399 Where is your faith? 33 00:02:25,399 –> 00:02:31,080 It must have been wonderful for the disciples to be able to talk directly with Jesus, to 34 00:02:31,080 –> 00:02:36,419 share a lunch, catch a smile, look into his eyes. 35 00:02:36,419 –> 00:02:41,240 But there must have been moments when the directness of their experience of Jesus must 36 00:02:41,240 –> 00:02:45,559 have been quite uncomfortable and I have no doubt that this was one of these occasions. 37 00:02:45,559 –> 00:02:52,520 I mean can you imagine having breakfast with Jesus? 38 00:02:52,520 –> 00:02:53,520 Think of it! 39 00:02:53,539 –> 00:02:56,520 It might have been quails or Panera bread or some other place where you like to have 40 00:02:56,520 –> 00:02:57,520 breakfast. 41 00:02:57,520 –> 00:03:03,919 Imagine yourself with me for a moment sitting in a booth that’s familiar to you and looking 42 00:03:03,919 –> 00:03:10,360 across the table at Jesus physically present with you as he was with the disciples and 43 00:03:10,360 –> 00:03:16,240 he’s eating his scrambled eggs and you begin to talk. 44 00:03:16,240 –> 00:03:19,960 You tell him about your worries about your children. 45 00:03:19,960 –> 00:03:21,320 You tell him about your work. 46 00:03:21,320 –> 00:03:27,179 You say Jesus, this place is so dark these people are so spiritually blind. 47 00:03:27,179 –> 00:03:31,580 I don’t know that any of them will ever believe in you. 48 00:03:31,580 –> 00:03:35,039 You talk about the declining standards in our country. 49 00:03:35,039 –> 00:03:40,960 How the tide of this culture pulls so strongly against an authentic Christian life. 50 00:03:40,960 –> 00:03:43,539 And you talk about your own fears for the future. 51 00:03:43,539 –> 00:03:48,220 You don’t know what it holds and you’re grateful for the opportunity to tell him your 52 00:03:48,240 –> 00:03:52,779 fears, and he listens. 53 00:03:52,779 –> 00:03:56,419 And then, slowly he puts down his fork. 54 00:03:56,419 –> 00:04:03,839 And he looks right across the table, deep into your eyes, and he says, where is your 55 00:04:03,839 –> 00:04:05,800 faith. 56 00:04:05,800 –> 00:04:14,720 Now, Jesus’ questions is a reminder to us that it is possible to have faith and not 57 00:04:14,720 –> 00:04:17,220 to use it. 58 00:04:17,220 –> 00:04:21,059 Remember that Jesus is asking this question of disciples. 59 00:04:21,059 –> 00:04:23,500 They have left everything to follow Him. 60 00:04:23,500 –> 00:04:26,260 Admittedly, they are still at the early stages of discipleship. 61 00:04:26,260 –> 00:04:32,339 They have still a lot to learn about Jesus, but they are His disciples. 62 00:04:32,339 –> 00:04:36,140 The problem is not that they are without faith. 63 00:04:36,140 –> 00:04:40,980 The problem is that they are not using the faith that they have been given. 64 00:04:40,980 –> 00:04:46,380 Now, I need just to comment briefly on this because some of you who know Mark’s gospel 65 00:04:46,380 –> 00:04:51,480 will remember that Mark records this story with Jesus asking the question, have you 66 00:04:51,480 –> 00:04:53,420 no faith? 67 00:04:53,420 –> 00:05:00,160 And that’s rather like the situation where we walk into a store, do that with my sons 68 00:05:00,160 –> 00:05:04,420 and they see a CD and they say, dad, will you buy this for me? 69 00:05:04,420 –> 00:05:10,760 I say to them, have you no money? 70 00:05:10,760 –> 00:05:14,359 And what I mean by that is not that they don’t have any money. 71 00:05:14,359 –> 00:05:18,399 I mean by that precisely that they do have money because I’ve already given it to them. 72 00:05:18,399 –> 00:05:23,440 They get a perfectly decent allowance, and I’m saying to them, this is the time for you 73 00:05:23,440 –> 00:05:26,959 to use what you’ve already been given. 74 00:05:26,959 –> 00:05:28,959 So the question is the same question. 75 00:05:28,959 –> 00:05:30,320 It’s not a different question. 76 00:05:30,320 –> 00:05:32,019 Have you, have you no faith? 77 00:05:32,019 –> 00:05:33,779 Where is your faith? 78 00:05:33,779 –> 00:05:37,040 It’s basically saying you have something here. 79 00:05:37,040 –> 00:05:42,160 Why in all the world, aren’t you using it? 80 00:05:42,820 –> 00:05:45,600 Faith is a gift from God. 81 00:05:45,799 –> 00:05:47,519 It is not of ourselves. 82 00:05:47,519 –> 00:05:52,679 Paul tells us clearly in Ephesians 2 in verse 8, we receive it from him. 83 00:05:52,679 –> 00:05:58,799 It is a special work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer by which he has opened 84 00:05:58,799 –> 00:06:04,679 your eyes to the unique glory of who Jesus Christ is, your need of him and he has created 85 00:06:04,679 –> 00:06:08,279 within you the capacity to trust him. 86 00:06:08,279 –> 00:06:09,660 He’s given you a new heart. 87 00:06:09,660 –> 00:06:11,799 He’s taken away the heart of stone. 88 00:06:11,920 –> 00:06:13,859 He has given you a heart of flesh. 89 00:06:13,859 –> 00:06:15,959 He has put his Spirit within you. 90 00:06:15,959 –> 00:06:17,700 He has made you a new creation. 91 00:06:17,700 –> 00:06:19,540 You are born again. 92 00:06:19,540 –> 00:06:20,820 You have the gift of faith. 93 00:06:20,820 –> 00:06:26,299 All this is true of you if you are a Christian believer. 94 00:06:26,299 –> 00:06:32,040 But Jesus’ question makes it abundantly clear that it is possible for all this to have happened 95 00:06:32,040 –> 00:06:38,380 in your life, for you to have faith, but not for you to use it. 96 00:06:39,380 –> 00:06:45,380 Now, when Karen and I were engaged, we were given a rather beautiful coffee set. 97 00:06:45,380 –> 00:06:50,399 In fact when we saw it we thought, my goodness, this is a very valuable gift. 98 00:06:50,399 –> 00:06:52,700 This is beautiful. 99 00:06:52,700 –> 00:07:00,579 And so we said, you know, we must use this just for special occasions. 100 00:07:00,600 –> 00:07:10,160 And so when we were married and we set up home we put it in a glass display cabinet. 101 00:07:10,160 –> 00:07:13,920 And it’s been there for 22 years. 102 00:07:13,920 –> 00:07:20,320 I mean, we have used it, but I have to tell you we’ve not used it often. 103 00:07:20,320 –> 00:07:27,079 It’s beautiful and it stays in the glass display cabinet. 104 00:07:27,320 –> 00:07:33,619 Now, it is very easy for your faith to become like that. 105 00:07:33,619 –> 00:07:35,420 It is the gift of God to you. 106 00:07:35,420 –> 00:07:39,559 You say, this gift of faith, this is something valuable, this is something priceless, this 107 00:07:39,559 –> 00:07:41,480 is something eternal. 108 00:07:41,480 –> 00:07:49,140 And so what we do is we put it on display in the glass cabinet of our hearts. 109 00:07:49,140 –> 00:07:55,660 But it is rarely brought out and it is rarely actually used, and that’s at the very heart 110 00:07:55,720 –> 00:08:02,559 of Jesus’ question, where is your faith? 111 00:08:02,559 –> 00:08:08,420 Have you ever noticed how often Christians will testify to the fact that when they hit 112 00:08:08,420 –> 00:08:15,420 a time of crisis, their faith just grew exponentially. 113 00:08:15,779 –> 00:08:20,239 And if you asked the question, why is that that we hear that time and time and time again, 114 00:08:20,399 –> 00:08:27,359 let me suggest to you that the reason is that faith gets taken out of the glass cabinet 115 00:08:27,359 –> 00:08:34,239 and we find ourselves actually trusting Christ in a real-life crisis and suddenly, faith 116 00:08:34,239 –> 00:08:38,059 is not put on display but instead put to work. 117 00:08:38,059 –> 00:08:41,020 Now that’s the point of Jesus’ question. 118 00:08:41,020 –> 00:08:42,539 Where is your faith? 119 00:08:42,539 –> 00:08:46,640 You know me, you believe in me, you know that I am with you. 120 00:08:46,640 –> 00:08:49,059 Now you find yourself in a storm. 121 00:08:49,059 –> 00:08:54,820 Why are you not applying your faith to the particular difficulties of this situation? 122 00:08:54,820 –> 00:09:00,580 And I am suggesting to you from the scriptures this morning that if you do not apply your 123 00:09:00,580 –> 00:09:07,380 faith to the immediate challenges of your life then you will suffer from diminished 124 00:09:07,380 –> 00:09:14,039 growth and that is actually the root of many people’s doubts. 125 00:09:14,039 –> 00:09:17,640 Let me try and describe what it looks like. 126 00:09:17,659 –> 00:09:19,979 You have this faith for which you’re grateful and it’s well-polished. 127 00:09:19,979 –> 00:09:24,539 In fact, you polish it every Sunday. 128 00:09:24,539 –> 00:09:31,760 But then for the other six days of the week, you live in what you call the real world. 129 00:09:31,760 –> 00:09:40,219 The real world is the world of contracts, lawsuits, stock markets, diapers. 130 00:09:40,219 –> 00:09:42,179 Little league. 131 00:09:42,179 –> 00:09:43,500 The problem with mother-in-law. 132 00:09:44,500 –> 00:09:51,000 Homework, athletics, and who’s going with who to homecoming. 133 00:09:51,000 –> 00:09:54,400 Longliness, confusion, fear. 134 00:09:54,400 –> 00:09:58,380 And we say that’s the real world. 135 00:09:58,380 –> 00:10:08,080 Now, if you don’t apply your faith in that world, it will not be long before you find 136 00:10:08,080 –> 00:10:12,119 it difficult to see the relevance of faith to life. 137 00:10:12,119 –> 00:10:16,640 The problem isn’t that you’ve lost your faith, the problem is that you are not using your 138 00:10:16,640 –> 00:10:22,940 faith and there is only one place to use it and that is in the real world. 139 00:10:22,940 –> 00:10:26,820 Faith is, to use another analogy rather, like a muscle. 140 00:10:26,820 –> 00:10:32,440 If you exercise that muscle, it will grow and it will gain strength, but if you do not 141 00:10:32,440 –> 00:10:39,900 use that muscle it will atrophy and it will lose its strength, and the only place that 142 00:10:39,900 –> 00:10:44,500 you can use the muscle of faith is in what we call the real world. 143 00:10:44,500 –> 00:10:50,599 Some of us spend time every day exercising certain muscles and we want them to develop. 144 00:10:50,599 –> 00:10:55,500 We say, I haven’t run for a week and I can feel the difference. 145 00:10:55,500 –> 00:11:03,080 We say that, but I personally don’t say that, it’s a lot longer than a week, but if a week 146 00:11:04,000 –> 00:11:09,080 without exercising faith, you will notice that difference. 147 00:11:09,080 –> 00:11:15,239 And the longer you go without exercising faith in any tangible, practical way, the greater 148 00:11:15,239 –> 00:11:21,679 the danger that rather like a muscle that atrophies, you will forget how to use it altogether. 149 00:11:21,679 –> 00:11:28,020 And anyone’s who had a broken arm, or a broken leg or some such difficulty, and you have 150 00:11:28,659 –> 00:11:33,320 an injury in plaster cast or whatever, and then you found that it has been severely weakened 151 00:11:33,320 –> 00:11:39,960 when the plaster is taken off, you know what it is to go into physiotherapy and you need 152 00:11:39,960 –> 00:11:46,960 to work hard to rebuild the muscle that has been weakened by prolonged inactivity. 153 00:11:48,599 –> 00:11:55,159 The physiotherapist works with you to rebuild what has been lost through the simple lack 154 00:11:55,219 –> 00:12:00,159 of use, and that’s what I want us to explore from the Scriptures this morning for us to 155 00:12:00,159 –> 00:12:06,320 learn how to rebuild the strength of faith that has been weakened and has been drained 156 00:12:06,320 –> 00:12:11,119 by the simple lack of use. Where is your faith? 157 00:12:11,119 –> 00:12:15,659 Right now, I want us to see three things that arise from the Scriptures this morning. The 158 00:12:15,659 –> 00:12:22,659 first is that faith factors in the ability of God. Faith factors in the ability of God. 159 00:12:25,159 –> 00:12:31,000 Now, if you will glance back in your Bibles for just a moment, a few pages, you will see 160 00:12:31,000 –> 00:12:36,580 if you look back to Luke in chapter 4, that the disciples had already seen incredible 161 00:12:36,580 –> 00:12:41,940 demonstrations of the power of Christ. Just flicking through very quickly, if you look 162 00:12:41,940 –> 00:12:47,299 at Luke’s gospel, chapter 4 and verse 31, you’ll see there, there’s a story about how 163 00:12:47,299 –> 00:12:57,440 Jesus drove out a demon. He has authority even over the powers of darkness themself. 164 00:12:57,440 –> 00:13:04,280 Chapter 4 and verse 40, we find Jesus healing people who have all kinds of sickness, and 165 00:13:04,280 –> 00:13:10,700 every person, not just some, but everyone who was brought to him at this time was healed. 166 00:13:10,700 –> 00:13:18,059 Chapter 5 and verse 12, Jesus heals a leper, extraordinarily complex disease. 167 00:13:18,059 –> 00:13:22,760 Chapter 5 and verse 17, the wonderful story of Jesus healing the paralytic, this was the 168 00:13:22,760 –> 00:13:27,099 man who was dropped in through the roof by his four friends. 169 00:13:27,099 –> 00:13:32,559 And then if you go on to chapter 7, at the beginning you’ll find Jesus healing a centurion 170 00:13:32,559 –> 00:13:37,140 servant, this was an amazing miracle because Jesus didn’t even go to the man’s house to 171 00:13:37,260 –> 00:13:42,979 heal him, he simply spoke and when Jesus just speaks there’s a healing that takes place 172 00:13:42,979 –> 00:13:44,500 several miles down the road. 173 00:13:44,500 –> 00:13:46,260 An extraordinary event. 174 00:13:46,260 –> 00:13:52,460 Then most of all, chapter 7 and verse 11, Jesus comes to a town called Nain and as he 175 00:13:52,460 –> 00:13:54,659 arrives he meets a funeral procession. 176 00:13:54,659 –> 00:13:56,619 Can you imagine this? 177 00:13:56,619 –> 00:14:01,320 It’s the funeral of the only son of a widow and Jesus filled with compassion, stops the 178 00:14:01,880 –> 00:14:07,739 touches the coffin and this man gets out of the coffin. 179 00:14:07,739 –> 00:14:08,739 Incredible. 180 00:14:08,739 –> 00:14:15,039 Extraordinary miracle, revealing one of three occasions in the Gospels where Jesus raised 181 00:14:15,039 –> 00:14:17,679 a person from the dead. 182 00:14:17,679 –> 00:14:20,359 Now the disciples had seen this. 183 00:14:20,359 –> 00:14:24,080 The disciples were there on each of these occasions. 184 00:14:24,080 –> 00:14:32,599 They had seen then that Jesus has power over demons, Jesus has power over disease, and 185 00:14:32,599 –> 00:14:37,320 Jesus has power even over death. 186 00:14:37,320 –> 00:14:43,919 They have seen a revelation of the unique glory of the Lord. 187 00:14:43,919 –> 00:14:47,760 They have seen the ability of God. 188 00:14:47,760 –> 00:14:52,679 Now in Chapter 8, the story we’ve come to today, they’re on a boat, they’re on a lake, 189 00:14:52,679 –> 00:14:59,679 they’re in a storm, and the problem is that although they have seen the ability of Jesus 190 00:14:59,679 –> 00:15:06,760 Christ, His power has been incredibly and repeatedly revealed to them. 191 00:15:06,760 –> 00:15:12,320 They are unable to make the connection between the power of Christ on the one hand and the 192 00:15:12,320 –> 00:15:16,479 situation they find themselves in on the other. 193 00:15:16,479 –> 00:15:18,900 They can’t bring the two together. 194 00:15:18,900 –> 00:15:24,020 So although they know about the power of Jesus Christ, they look at the situation of the 195 00:15:24,020 –> 00:15:28,320 storm and they evaluate it in purely secular terms. 196 00:15:28,320 –> 00:15:33,619 We’re in a storm, big storms, boats go down, we drown. 197 00:15:33,619 –> 00:15:35,299 That’s all they could see. 198 00:15:35,299 –> 00:15:37,299 And so they panic. 199 00:15:37,299 –> 00:15:44,440 And Jesus says, where is your faith? 200 00:15:44,440 –> 00:15:47,140 You’ve seen what I can do about demons. 201 00:15:47,559 –> 00:15:50,900 You’ve seen what I can do about disease. 202 00:15:50,900 –> 00:15:56,280 You’ve seen what I can do in the face of death. 203 00:15:56,280 –> 00:16:00,820 And now you’re in a crisis and you’re panicking. 204 00:16:00,820 –> 00:16:08,119 Why could you not factor into the crisis that you’re facing now, what you already know about 205 00:16:08,119 –> 00:16:10,059 what I can do. 206 00:16:10,059 –> 00:16:13,640 Where is your faith? 207 00:16:14,080 –> 00:16:19,260 Now here’s my very practical question for application this morning at this point, where 208 00:16:19,260 –> 00:16:21,940 do you need to exercise faith in God? 209 00:16:21,940 –> 00:16:27,260 Where do you need to factor in the ability of God? 210 00:16:27,260 –> 00:16:28,599 Is it loneliness? 211 00:16:28,599 –> 00:16:31,760 Is that the big storm for you? 212 00:16:31,760 –> 00:16:35,700 Is it the spiritual blindness of some members of your family? 213 00:16:35,700 –> 00:16:36,820 Is it a health issue? 214 00:16:36,820 –> 00:16:39,780 Is it to do with marriage? 215 00:16:39,780 –> 00:16:42,659 Is it the battle to live an authentic Christian life? 216 00:16:42,700 –> 00:16:46,380 Is it the fear of being different? 217 00:16:46,380 –> 00:16:52,820 What’s the big battle for you where you need to factor in what you know about the ability 218 00:16:52,820 –> 00:16:53,820 of God? 219 00:16:53,820 –> 00:16:58,380 Because the danger is that when we look at the crisis we’re facing in what we call the 220 00:16:58,380 –> 00:17:03,340 real world, we evaluate it in purely secular terms. 221 00:17:03,340 –> 00:17:07,599 We don’t connect what we know about Jesus to this situation. 222 00:17:08,040 –> 00:17:11,520 And that’s why we go around saying, you know, there’s no hope. 223 00:17:11,520 –> 00:17:14,280 It’s beyond what I can do. 224 00:17:14,280 –> 00:17:16,439 I can’t see any way out. 225 00:17:16,439 –> 00:17:19,280 I just don’t have the strength. 226 00:17:19,280 –> 00:17:24,500 Have you factored in the ability of God? 227 00:17:24,500 –> 00:17:33,479 For the living God is the God of the impossible situation. 228 00:17:33,479 –> 00:17:37,920 I enjoyed breakfast with my good friend Raju Abraham just on Friday of this week. 229 00:17:37,920 –> 00:17:43,140 I’ve known Raju for nearly 10 years and watched how God has used him to pull together a network 230 00:17:43,140 –> 00:17:48,260 of church planters in North India, one of the hardest areas for Christian work in all 231 00:17:48,260 –> 00:17:50,420 of the world. 232 00:17:50,420 –> 00:17:56,040 In the last year, more than — and this is incredible — more than 5,000 cell groups 233 00:17:56,040 –> 00:18:04,839 that are the basis of new churches have been planted, established, across that hardest 234 00:18:04,839 –> 00:18:06,319 area of North India. 235 00:18:06,319 –> 00:18:12,319 It is remarkable as anyone who knows the scene will agree. 236 00:18:12,319 –> 00:18:19,400 Raju has prayed for leaders and for resources for years and years. 237 00:18:19,400 –> 00:18:21,839 And God is answering in incredible ways. 238 00:18:21,839 –> 00:18:27,439 But he told me a wonderful story that I’ll repeat for you on just last Friday about a 239 00:18:27,439 –> 00:18:29,560 businessman in Hyderabad. 240 00:18:29,560 –> 00:18:37,280 A man who had lived an indulgent life, knew nothing of the Lord, pattern of excessive 241 00:18:37,280 –> 00:18:43,400 drinking and smoking so severe that it had led him to a heart attack. 242 00:18:43,400 –> 00:18:48,239 After his heart attack some Christian believers in Hyderabad who had come to know him began 243 00:18:48,239 –> 00:18:51,660 to minister to him and to pray for him. 244 00:18:51,699 –> 00:18:53,839 The man’s life never changed. 245 00:18:53,839 –> 00:18:59,319 Then, he had a second heart attack and doctors in Hyderabad determined that he needed open 246 00:18:59,319 –> 00:19:01,839 heart surgery. 247 00:19:01,839 –> 00:19:08,599 The day of the surgery, there was an unusual rainfall and all of the operating theatres 248 00:19:08,599 –> 00:19:12,040 were flooded, so the surgery had to be canceled. 249 00:19:12,040 –> 00:19:15,000 Believers came and prayed for him again. 250 00:19:15,000 –> 00:19:19,500 This man’s sister who lives in Boston flew him over to Boston for the surgery there. 251 00:19:19,719 –> 00:19:21,719 She said, no that’s it, I’m bringing you over here. 252 00:19:21,719 –> 00:19:22,719 Let’s get this done. 253 00:19:22,719 –> 00:19:26,680 And when the doctors checked the angiograph in Boston, there was no evidence whatever 254 00:19:26,680 –> 00:19:30,819 of the blockage that had been previously identified. 255 00:19:30,819 –> 00:19:35,079 This man has since committed his life to Christ. 256 00:19:35,079 –> 00:19:41,020 Sold his business, given the money in its entirety to the work of church planting in 257 00:19:41,020 –> 00:19:46,660 North India, and is now one of the leaders of the church planting network. 258 00:19:46,660 –> 00:19:56,020 And I listened to my good friend, who I trust, telling a story, and I cannot but smile. 259 00:19:56,020 –> 00:20:05,800 For who, in their wildest imagination, could conceive that God would supply leadership 260 00:20:05,800 –> 00:20:13,900 and funding for ministry in one of the hardest areas of the world, by intervening in the 261 00:20:14,079 –> 00:20:20,619 life of a drunk businessman 2000 miles away and giving him such an extraordinary life 262 00:20:20,619 –> 00:20:27,319 change that he was led into a whole new meaning and purpose? 263 00:20:27,319 –> 00:20:34,180 With God, all things are possible, and faith factors in the ability of God. 264 00:20:34,180 –> 00:20:40,420 And so, as I think about who God is, and I look into the scriptures of what God can do, 265 00:20:40,619 –> 00:20:47,619 I’m challenged with this question, Colin, where is your faith? 266 00:20:47,859 –> 00:20:53,260 For the danger is that I drift through life evaluating everything that I look at in purely 267 00:20:53,260 –> 00:20:56,020 secular terms. 268 00:20:56,020 –> 00:21:03,020 Second thing, faith not only factors in the ability of God, but faith submits to the sovereignty 269 00:21:03,719 –> 00:21:04,880 of God. 270 00:21:04,880 –> 00:21:07,579 This is very important. 271 00:21:07,579 –> 00:21:11,979 Because, you see, as soon as we talk about the ability of God we are faced with some 272 00:21:11,979 –> 00:21:15,579 serious questions that may already have occurred to you. 273 00:21:15,579 –> 00:21:20,060 We rejoice in stories of God’s miraculous intervention in people’s lives like the one 274 00:21:20,060 –> 00:21:25,060 that’s just been related, bringing salvation, deliverance, healing, and we know that God 275 00:21:25,060 –> 00:21:27,619 is able to do these things. 276 00:21:28,380 –> 00:21:29,780 these things. 277 00:21:29,780 –> 00:21:35,060 Our question, of course, is well, if he has this ability, why are there other situations 278 00:21:35,060 –> 00:21:37,300 in which he does not do them. 279 00:21:37,300 –> 00:21:43,780 Now, faith factors in the ability of God but it does more than that. 280 00:21:43,780 –> 00:21:49,020 It also submits to the sovereignty of God. 281 00:21:49,020 –> 00:21:54,780 And if you factor in the ability of God without submitting to the sovereignty of God, you 282 00:21:55,500 –> 00:21:57,579 yourselves in all kinds of confusion. 283 00:21:57,579 –> 00:22:01,500 That’s so important, I’m going to say it a second time. 284 00:22:01,500 –> 00:22:09,859 If you factor in the ability of God without also submitting to the sovereignty of God, 285 00:22:09,859 –> 00:22:12,640 you will soon find yourselves in all kinds of confusion. 286 00:22:12,640 –> 00:22:15,719 And that is where many Christian believers are. 287 00:22:15,719 –> 00:22:22,719 J. C. Ryle, the 19th century famous Bishop of Liverpool preached a very famous sermon 288 00:22:23,699 –> 00:22:27,640 on the storm on the lake, and I’m going to read a paragraph from it. 289 00:22:27,640 –> 00:22:32,839 He points out that Christ often leads his people into storms. 290 00:22:32,839 –> 00:22:38,459 If you are a believer, he says, you must reckon on having your share of sickness and pain 291 00:22:38,459 –> 00:22:43,079 and sorrow and tears, and losses and crosses, deaths and bereavements, and partings and 292 00:22:43,079 –> 00:22:46,959 separations, and vexations and disappointments so long as you are in the body. 293 00:22:46,959 –> 00:22:50,959 Has he given enough variations on that for you to get the point? 294 00:22:51,020 –> 00:22:56,780 Christ never undertakes that you shall get to heaven without these. 295 00:22:56,780 –> 00:23:01,280 How should we know who are true Christians if following Christ was the way to be free 296 00:23:01,280 –> 00:23:03,380 from all trouble? 297 00:23:03,380 –> 00:23:09,439 How should we know the wheat from the chaff if it were not through the winnowing of trial? 298 00:23:09,439 –> 00:23:13,859 How should we know if men served Christ for his own sake or merely for selfish motives 299 00:23:13,859 –> 00:23:18,939 if his service always brought health and wealth as a matter of course? 300 00:23:18,939 –> 00:23:26,060 The winds of winter soon show us which trees are evergreen and which are not. 301 00:23:26,060 –> 00:23:31,739 The harvest of the Lord’s field is seldom ripened by sunshine only. 302 00:23:31,739 –> 00:23:37,079 So if you desire to serve Christ and to be saved, I entreat you to take the Lord on his 303 00:23:37,079 –> 00:23:38,900 own terms. 304 00:23:38,900 –> 00:23:43,819 Make up your mind to meet with your share of crosses and sorrows, and then you will 305 00:23:43,819 –> 00:23:45,739 not be surprised. 306 00:23:45,739 –> 00:23:51,319 For want of understanding, thus many seem to run well for a season, and then turn back 307 00:23:51,319 –> 00:23:56,000 in disgust and are cast away. 308 00:23:56,000 –> 00:24:00,859 Now let it be very clear from the story this morning as well as from the history of Christian 309 00:24:00,859 –> 00:24:08,380 experience that God never promises a storm-free life. 310 00:24:08,380 –> 00:24:11,540 Whose idea was it that they go across the other side of the lake? 311 00:24:12,540 –> 00:24:18,219 One day, Jesus said to the disciples, let’s go over the other side. 312 00:24:18,219 –> 00:24:20,500 He got them into this. 313 00:24:20,500 –> 00:24:25,719 Following Jesus lead them right into a difficulty that they would not otherwise have experienced. 314 00:24:25,719 –> 00:24:31,300 They could have been having a barbecue on the beach if they weren’t following Him. 315 00:24:31,300 –> 00:24:32,699 And it will sometimes be like that. 316 00:24:32,699 –> 00:24:39,339 There will be situations in which your life would have been easier if it was not for Jesus. 317 00:24:39,339 –> 00:24:42,939 Christ never promised fair weather sailing. 318 00:24:42,939 –> 00:24:48,900 Only He has promised that we will arrive at the destination. 319 00:24:48,900 –> 00:24:52,599 And it’s very important for us to remember that God has a place for storms as well as 320 00:24:52,599 –> 00:24:54,880 for still waters. 321 00:24:54,880 –> 00:25:00,959 So while faith factors in the ability of God, and I desperately need to do that, I at the 322 00:25:00,959 –> 00:25:06,500 same time need to submit myself to the sovereignty of God. 323 00:25:06,560 –> 00:25:13,780 Biblical faith is never a matter of coming to God and saying it has to be this way. 324 00:25:13,780 –> 00:25:16,319 Faith submits to the sovereignty of God. 325 00:25:16,319 –> 00:25:21,939 It uses its freedom of ask of a God for whom all things are possible. 326 00:25:21,939 –> 00:25:28,020 But it always submits its requests to the sovereignty of God. 327 00:25:28,020 –> 00:25:31,140 Of course, the great model of this is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 328 00:25:31,140 –> 00:25:35,199 Remember the three characters in the story of Daniel, who were put in the fiery furnace, 329 00:25:35,479 –> 00:25:36,640 and they said to the king, 330 00:25:36,640 –> 00:25:42,900 our God is able to deliver us from these flames. 331 00:25:42,900 –> 00:25:46,199 You see, that’s factoring in the ability of God, isn’t it? 332 00:25:46,199 –> 00:25:54,099 But they said even if he does not, we will not bow down to your idol. 333 00:25:54,099 –> 00:25:58,939 That’s submitting to the sovereignty of God. 334 00:25:59,400 –> 00:26:03,859 And that by the way is the difference between biblical faith 335 00:26:03,859 –> 00:26:07,959 and the psychology of positive thinking, 336 00:26:07,959 –> 00:26:11,599 and it’s very important for us to understand the difference between the two. 337 00:26:11,599 –> 00:26:16,479 Some Christians have got these two things completely confused. 338 00:26:16,479 –> 00:26:21,040 Positive thinking is all about mind over matter, 339 00:26:21,040 –> 00:26:23,680 the power comes from inside me, 340 00:26:23,680 –> 00:26:25,439 I make the change. 341 00:26:26,160 –> 00:26:32,640 That’s what positive thinking, psychology of that school is all about. 342 00:26:32,640 –> 00:26:37,060 But biblical faith is the power of God over matter. 343 00:26:37,060 –> 00:26:39,819 The power comes from God. 344 00:26:39,819 –> 00:26:42,359 God makes the change. 345 00:26:42,359 –> 00:26:45,719 There’s all the difference in the world between these two things. 346 00:26:45,719 –> 00:26:49,819 That is why biblical faith must in its very nature submit to the sovereignty 347 00:26:49,819 –> 00:26:53,180 of God, because no power in the world 348 00:26:53,439 –> 00:26:57,839 can make God do what God does not want to do. 349 00:26:57,839 –> 00:27:01,479 So if you want to discern when you’re listening to teaching 350 00:27:01,479 –> 00:27:04,319 whether you’re hearing the power of positive thinking 351 00:27:04,319 –> 00:27:06,680 or whether you’re hearing biblical faith, 352 00:27:06,680 –> 00:27:11,439 and you will often need to discern between these two things these days, 353 00:27:11,439 –> 00:27:18,060 just ask the question, who is ultimately in control here? 354 00:27:18,060 –> 00:27:22,339 And if the answer to that question is, you are, 355 00:27:22,339 –> 00:27:27,400 then you’re listening to positive thinking, not biblical faith. 356 00:27:27,400 –> 00:27:29,099 That’s how you know the difference, 357 00:27:29,099 –> 00:27:33,280 be sure that you remember to apply the difference. 358 00:27:33,280 –> 00:27:34,880 That’s why it’s a great cruelty, you see, 359 00:27:34,880 –> 00:27:38,599 when someone says after, perhaps, there has been prayer for healing, 360 00:27:38,599 –> 00:27:43,479 oh, well, you know, it didn’t happen because you didn’t have enough faith. 361 00:27:43,479 –> 00:27:45,140 And you just didn’t know which world you’re in 362 00:27:45,140 –> 00:27:47,959 when you hear that kind of thing. 363 00:27:47,959 –> 00:27:51,400 Biblical faith factors in the ability of God 364 00:27:51,400 –> 00:27:53,099 for whom all things are possible, 365 00:27:53,099 –> 00:27:56,880 but at the same time, it submits to the sovereignty of God 366 00:27:56,880 –> 00:28:00,239 who does whatever he pleases. 367 00:28:00,239 –> 00:28:04,719 Remember that there is a place in his plan for storms, 368 00:28:04,719 –> 00:28:07,780 as well as for still waters. 369 00:28:09,060 –> 00:28:10,680 Faith factors in the ability of God. 370 00:28:10,680 –> 00:28:14,060 Faith submits to the sovereignty of God. 371 00:28:14,060 –> 00:28:16,339 Then, finally, this morning then, 372 00:28:16,400 –> 00:28:21,400 faith trusts intentionally in the goodness of God. 373 00:28:22,180 –> 00:28:25,540 Now I want to emphasize that word intentionally 374 00:28:25,540 –> 00:28:29,060 because faith is not something that works automatically. 375 00:28:29,060 –> 00:28:33,939 It does need to be brought out of the display cabinet. 376 00:28:34,900 –> 00:28:37,540 I’ve been greatly helped many times by an illustration 377 00:28:37,540 –> 00:28:40,219 used by Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. 378 00:28:41,060 –> 00:28:46,060 Most of us have at home, a heating and a cooling system 379 00:28:47,300 –> 00:28:49,500 that works on a thermostat. 380 00:28:50,459 –> 00:28:52,900 Now, a thermostat is a marvelous thing. 381 00:28:52,900 –> 00:28:56,939 You set it to click in at a certain point. 382 00:28:56,939 –> 00:28:58,579 In the summer when it gets hot, 383 00:28:58,579 –> 00:29:02,099 the thermostat clicks in and turns on the cooling. 384 00:29:02,979 –> 00:29:04,839 In the winter when things get too cold, 385 00:29:04,839 –> 00:29:09,839 the thermostat clicks in and starts the heating. 386 00:29:10,579 –> 00:29:13,739 And the marvelous thing is that once you’ve set it, 387 00:29:13,739 –> 00:29:16,119 it all happens automatically. 388 00:29:16,119 –> 00:29:18,819 You don’t even need to be in the house. 389 00:29:18,819 –> 00:29:22,540 Marvelous thing, an automatic thermostat. 390 00:29:23,739 –> 00:29:27,459 Now, a lot of people have fallen into the grave mistake 391 00:29:27,459 –> 00:29:32,459 of thinking that faith is like a thermostat. 392 00:29:32,459 –> 00:29:35,079 You’ve got the idea that it somehow should 393 00:29:35,079 –> 00:29:38,439 click in, if you have it, automatically. 394 00:29:38,439 –> 00:29:40,859 That when some great crisis comes, 395 00:29:40,859 –> 00:29:43,560 there should just be some way in which 396 00:29:43,560 –> 00:29:46,119 automatically, your faith buoys you up, 397 00:29:46,119 –> 00:29:48,619 rather like a kind of ring, holding you up 398 00:29:48,619 –> 00:29:49,760 if you were in water. 399 00:29:51,880 –> 00:29:53,839 Now you only need to look at this story 400 00:29:53,839 –> 00:29:55,800 and Jesus’ question to understand 401 00:29:55,800 –> 00:29:58,020 that that is obviously a complete fallacy. 402 00:29:59,119 –> 00:30:01,479 If faith worked on automatic, 403 00:30:01,479 –> 00:30:02,800 it obviously would have clicked in 404 00:30:02,800 –> 00:30:04,079 in the storm on the lake. 405 00:30:05,260 –> 00:30:08,000 And the disciples would have not been in any difficulty. 406 00:30:08,000 –> 00:30:09,819 But when Jesus says to them, 407 00:30:09,859 –> 00:30:12,859 Where is your faith? 408 00:30:12,859 –> 00:30:15,640 His question makes it very clear 409 00:30:15,640 –> 00:30:20,359 that faith works on manual not automatic. 410 00:30:21,900 –> 00:30:26,900 In other words, you have to put it into operation. 411 00:30:27,319 –> 00:30:30,660 And that’s what the disciples evidently failed to do. 412 00:30:30,660 –> 00:30:34,599 You have to take your faith out of the display cabinet 413 00:30:35,479 –> 00:30:38,800 and apply it to this particular situation 414 00:30:38,800 –> 00:30:41,439 that is weighing on your mind right now. 415 00:30:43,699 –> 00:30:46,979 There is an intentional activity here. 416 00:30:48,020 –> 00:30:50,979 You look straight in the face of the pressure 417 00:30:50,979 –> 00:30:53,180 and the situation that is facing you 418 00:30:53,180 –> 00:30:56,219 and you factor in the ability of God. 419 00:30:57,239 –> 00:30:58,939 You then knowing that this God 420 00:30:58,939 –> 00:31:03,160 can do exceeding abundant above all that you ask or think, 421 00:31:03,160 –> 00:31:05,800 you submit yourself to the sovereignty of God. 422 00:31:06,739 –> 00:31:11,439 And then you trust intentionally in the goodness of God, 423 00:31:11,439 –> 00:31:13,060 you refuse to panic. 424 00:31:13,979 –> 00:31:15,800 Because you know that whatever happens, 425 00:31:15,800 –> 00:31:18,199 your life and everything that concerns you 426 00:31:18,199 –> 00:31:21,000 is in the hand of this God who loves you 427 00:31:21,000 –> 00:31:23,780 and who plans for your ultimate good. 428 00:31:24,959 –> 00:31:27,060 And when you have worked that through, 429 00:31:28,060 –> 00:31:33,079 you will then be in a position to begin to think with faith. 430 00:31:33,979 –> 00:31:36,439 That’ll change your patterns of thought. 431 00:31:36,439 –> 00:31:41,439 To pray with faith, that’ll bring prayer alive for you now. 432 00:31:41,439 –> 00:31:44,219 To speak with faith, people will say my goodness, 433 00:31:44,219 –> 00:31:47,280 he’s entirely different in his attitude to this situation, 434 00:31:47,280 –> 00:31:49,359 and to act with faith. 435 00:31:51,579 –> 00:1:55,920 The world will begin to wonder what made the difference. 436 00:31:57,160 –> 00:31:59,359 And here’s the very last thing this morning. 437 00:32:00,280 –> 00:32:04,199 In this series, we’ve identified each week 438 00:32:04,199 –> 00:32:09,199 a spiritual discipline that will be like a prescription 439 00:32:10,099 –> 00:32:13,219 for each of the varieties of doubt. 440 00:32:14,739 –> 00:32:18,040 Now, what is the prescription for a person 441 00:32:18,040 –> 00:32:22,079 whose doubts arise from diminished growth? 442 00:32:23,680 –> 00:32:26,800 Whatever you do, don’t send that person to the classroom. 443 00:32:26,800 –> 00:32:29,199 That’s not gonna help them, is it? 444 00:32:29,420 –> 00:32:30,239 It really isn’t. 445 00:32:34,579 –> 00:32:38,640 If your faith has been sitting in the display cabinet 446 00:32:38,640 –> 00:32:42,020 instead of being used, there is only one answer 447 00:32:42,020 –> 00:32:43,839 to this condition, only one way in which 448 00:32:43,839 –> 00:32:45,199 you’re gonna move forward. 449 00:32:46,400 –> 00:32:47,599 Are you ready for it? 450 00:32:47,599 –> 00:32:52,439 It’s a spiritual discipline of service, of service. 451 00:32:54,959 –> 00:32:57,859 What I want to say as the last thing this morning 452 00:32:57,939 –> 00:32:58,739 is simply this. 453 00:33:00,339 –> 00:33:03,099 Some of us have been splashing around 454 00:33:03,099 –> 00:33:05,660 in the shallows of faith for too long. 455 00:33:08,180 –> 00:33:10,260 And what you need more than anything else 456 00:33:10,260 –> 00:33:13,060 is a man-or-woman-size challenge. 457 00:33:15,979 –> 00:33:20,979 You need to be stretched outside of your comfort zone 458 00:33:21,219 –> 00:33:24,900 to the point where you’re beginning to exercise 459 00:33:24,900 –> 00:33:27,619 the faith that God has given you 460 00:33:27,619 –> 00:33:30,900 in the accomplishment of what he has tasked you to do. 461 00:33:33,760 –> 00:33:36,739 And Christ asks, where is your faith? 462 00:33:38,579 –> 00:33:42,540 If the answer is, Lord, it’s on the display cabinet, 463 00:33:44,280 –> 00:33:46,939 then it is time to ask the question, 464 00:33:46,939 –> 00:33:50,599 well now, Lord, what is it that you want me to do? 465 00:33:52,099 –> 00:33:53,439 That really is the only way in which 466 00:33:53,439 –> 00:33:56,540 you’re going to move forward from where you are right now, 467 00:33:56,560 –> 00:33:59,160 if this is your condition in your Christian life. 468 00:34:02,140 –> 00:34:05,140 I have a letter at home that I will treasure all of my life. 469 00:34:06,060 –> 00:34:09,199 It was written to me by my college tutor, 470 00:34:09,199 –> 00:34:10,979 the one I was closest to, 471 00:34:10,979 –> 00:34:13,879 who was giving me counsel when, at the age of 22, 472 00:34:15,139 –> 00:34:17,219 I had been invited to become the pastor 473 00:34:17,219 –> 00:34:20,379 of the church in London that we then served for 16 years. 474 00:34:21,780 –> 00:34:25,219 I’d asked him for his advice, 475 00:34:25,659 –> 00:34:26,979 should I do this? 476 00:34:30,100 –> 00:34:31,399 And this is what he wrote, 477 00:34:33,800 –> 00:34:35,959 if you take on this task, 478 00:34:37,739 –> 00:34:40,199 you will find that you are out of your depth, 479 00:34:43,379 –> 00:34:45,419 and you will prove God in ways 480 00:34:45,419 –> 00:34:47,020 that you never thought possible. 481 00:34:50,500 –> 00:34:51,320 And I have to tell you honestly, 482 00:34:51,560 –> 00:34:54,600 and I feel still today that that is the story of my life. 483 00:34:58,479 –> 00:35:01,120 And I’m more deeply convinced than ever before 484 00:35:01,120 –> 00:35:05,679 that Jesus Christ calls us all out of our depth. 485 00:35:07,000 –> 00:35:11,000 He invites us to lounge out into the deep. 486 00:35:14,120 –> 00:35:15,860 For some of us, the reason 487 00:35:15,860 –> 00:35:18,959 that we’re really struggling right now 488 00:35:19,080 –> 00:35:22,719 is that we have remained in a sort of kindergarten of faith. 489 00:35:24,840 –> 00:35:28,120 We’ve never allowed Christ to really stretch us 490 00:35:28,120 –> 00:35:29,840 with something that will 491 00:35:31,719 –> 00:35:34,159 cause us to cast ourselves anew on Him. 492 00:35:38,800 –> 00:35:39,899 And He says to us, 493 00:35:42,320 –> 00:35:44,379 let’s go over the other side of the lake. 494 00:35:46,560 –> 00:35:47,600 Where is your faith? 495 00:35:49,899 –> 00:35:52,979 When Christ calls us to launch out into the deep, 496 00:35:52,979 –> 00:35:55,199 there are maybe some big storms. 497 00:35:56,760 –> 00:35:59,139 But if you are where Christ wants you to be, 498 00:35:59,139 –> 00:36:02,000 and you’re doing what He’s called you to do, 499 00:36:02,000 –> 00:36:06,360 He will bring you through. 500 00:36:06,360 –> 00:36:07,459 Let’s pray, together. 501 00:36:09,760 –> 00:36:12,199 Father, none of us want to be splashing around 502 00:36:12,199 –> 00:36:14,580 in the shallows all the days of our lives. 503 00:36:15,459 –> 00:36:21,260 There’s something compelling about your call, 504 00:36:21,260 –> 00:36:29,899 your invitation, that we want to follow. 505 00:36:29,899 –> 00:36:32,939 Some of us recognize that today really 506 00:36:32,939 –> 00:36:35,699 has identified our primary spiritual problem. 507 00:36:35,699 –> 00:36:36,780 It’s diminished growth. 508 00:36:39,300 –> 00:36:43,179 Never really faced up to a man-sized or woman-sized 509 00:36:44,179 –> 00:36:45,260 challenge. 510 00:36:45,260 –> 00:36:47,939 It’s going to stretch the gifts that you have given, 511 00:36:47,939 –> 00:36:54,320 the faith that you have given, in a whole new way. 512 00:36:54,320 –> 00:36:59,520 But we know that you’re speaking to us about that right now. 513 00:36:59,520 –> 00:37:01,540 All those of us have come here, and we 514 00:37:01,540 –> 00:37:02,739 know that we are stretched. 515 00:37:02,739 –> 00:37:05,179 And we are grateful that you speak to us at that point. 516 00:37:08,260 –> 00:37:10,840 We want to factor in your ability. 517 00:37:13,820 –> 00:37:17,459 We want to submit to your sovereignty. 518 00:37:21,479 –> 00:37:24,659 We want to be very intentional about taking faith off 519 00:37:24,659 –> 00:37:27,899 the display cabinet and applying it 520 00:37:27,899 –> 00:37:32,260 to that area in which we are being stretched and challenged 521 00:37:32,260 –> 00:37:32,919 right now. 522 00:37:36,139 –> 00:37:40,620 We thank you for your grace that enables us to do this. 523 00:37:40,620 –> 00:37:42,659 Thank you that you’ve given us the gift of faith. 524 00:37:42,659 –> 00:37:46,620 Lord, let us use it. 525 00:37:50,459 –> 00:37:54,580 And in using it, let that faith grow. 526 00:37:54,580 –> 00:37:56,419 And as it grows, let us be changed. 527 00:37:56,419 –> 00:37:58,580 And as we are changed, let us glorify you. 528 00:37:58,580 –> 00:38:01,300 And as we glorify you, let your purposes 529 00:38:01,300 –> 00:38:05,820 be advanced, and let it all be for your glory. 530 00:38:05,820 –> 00:38:11,659 For these things, we ask in Jesus’ name. 531 00:38:11,659 –> 00:38:12,620 Amen. 532 00:38:12,659 –> 00:38:14,219 Amen.

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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Discover how you can live with faith in a world of unanswered questions. Doubt grows for different reasons, and if we are to deal with it effectively, the first step will be to identify its root cause. This series will help you discover why you are doubting and offer a prescription in the form of

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