Essentials of Our Faith - Hebrews 12:1-2

[00:00:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for listening to the Calvary Monterey Podcast.

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Please visit Calvary.com to learn more about our church.

[00:00:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And visit Nate Holdridge.com for additional Bible teaching

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_01]: from our lead pastor, Nate Holdridge.

[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Teaching today is our youth pastor, Joshua Shively.

[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Good morning everybody.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't know who I am, my name is Joshua Shively.

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I've been the youth pastor here at Calvary

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_00]: for just over six years and gotten to lead

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_00]: these amazing middle schoolers and high schoolers

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_00]: through some pretty crazy times over these last six years.

[00:00:39] [SPEAKER_00]: It's been a ride, it's been a ride.

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: But my wife and I and our two kids have just been so blessed

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_00]: to be here at Calvary and to serve in the way that God allowed us to

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00]: and how he opened that door.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, so we've been here for six years.

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And then I said, like I said, I've been the youth pastor

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_00]: but today is actually my last day.

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't know, my wife and I and our kids are stepping out

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: of full-time church ministry and moving into the mission field.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And so come the end of January next month,

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_00]: we are moving to Shangmai, Thailand to step into a mission field

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: with reaching the unreached of the Southeast Asia,

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Africa, China kind of area there.

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_00]: My wife and I will be running an internship for young adults

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and just doing what God has called us to do.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00]: It's really exciting.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And so today is my last day.

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_00]: They've paid me all they could pay me so I can say whatever I want.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: But I love Nate and I want Calvary Moderator to keep me

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_00]: in my supporting church.

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_00]: So, but yeah, it's just been an amazing time to serve here at Calvary.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, when my wife and I and our kids came here six years ago,

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_00]: we actually came as church planners under Jeff Buck to hopefully go

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: plant a church somewhere and it just so happened that they needed

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: a youth pastor.

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And at that point in our ministry life,

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd actually never been paid by a church.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't ever on staff or ordained.

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And so they were like, hey, let's let's give him a shot.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And and Nate and the pastors brought me on and it really has

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_00]: like it's been such a growing time and just such an amazing time

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: of serving Jesus and and getting to be a part of this body.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Just some really crazy times over these last couple of years.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And we're just so blessed for it.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: We really are.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And as we kind of wind down this season,

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_00]: we've been so blessed with the youth and all the goodbyes.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, I know when we came out with where God was calling us,

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: there was like the heartache, you know, whenever change happens,

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: it feels like loss.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And so there was the heartache of it.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_00]: But I think over the last five months,

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's been communicated and prayed over and every one of the youth

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_00]: have have captured the vision of someone being called to faith

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and being called to a deeper understanding and relationship and calling in Jesus.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And so I'm just so blessed.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: And my wife is our kids that that we get to live in this legacy of faith

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and be an example and that these youth, the ripple effect as they continue

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: to serve here at Calvary Monterey and the peninsula.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And they're just going to give the next guy a run for his money.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So it'll be good. It'll be good.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And you better, you better.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: So because you are not easy on me.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_00]: But I want to give you a little update.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to be in Hebrews chapter 12.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: So if you want to turn there, you can.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_00]: But kind of where we're at as a as a family stepping into the mission field.

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, we went to Thailand in July for 10 days.

[00:03:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And it was an amazing trip.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: The youth that went were impacted in huge ways

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and apparently impacted us because, you know, as my wife and I sat and talked

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and prayed and saw what God was doing in us

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and what God was doing in my daughter and my son.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: It was just evident that we were being called.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And so the last five months we've been in all of that

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_00]: learning what it means to step into the mission field through

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_00]: all the outreaching and talking to people and visas and fundraising.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And I just want to say, Calvin Monterey,

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_00]: thank you so much for being our ascending church.

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: We're we're so excited.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_00]: We actually hit the twenty thousand dollar moving

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_00]: like kind of goal that we're going for us.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_00]: We hit that.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And so praise the Lord, you know, it's awesome.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And you can clap. It's OK. It's all right.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. First service clapped first service clapped.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And they're like, they were way more asleep than you guys.

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: So we hit we hit our goal there.

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And so with that now visas are in process.

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: We have our plane tickets will be flying.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll be well, we'll be in San Francisco on January 28th,

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_00]: sending our dogs off and then eating our last in an outburger for two years

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and and then hopping on a plane to Shangmai at about 12 05

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: A.M. on the 29th.

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_00]: It's about a 16 hour flight to Taipei

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_00]: and then another four or five hours from Taipei to to Shangmai.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And and the Lord has been so faithful in all these ways.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: As we look at the projected year of finances,

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_00]: we're just about 100 percent with our monthly needs

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_00]: as we as we move into the next year, as long as everybody

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: that said they would put in on January 1st will will be good.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And because we're going, it's all there.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And and now we're just looking at some of the bigger things

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: that kind of come up that God is providing in amazing ways.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I just want to thank you, church, for being our sending church.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: You are one of two churches.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_00]: The other one is Calvary Chapel Force Hill,

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_00]: which is up in Northern California.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's actually the church that Eric and I

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_00]: started serving on when we were dating, when I think she was 19.

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I was 20, something around there.

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And the church has about a year old and the pastor came to me

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_00]: and was like, Hey, you're young and you love Jesus.

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_00]: You want to run a youth ministry?

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, sure.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And here we are.

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: So but no, we're just so blessed.

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And and the fact that this church

[00:05:39] [SPEAKER_00]: and there's many families in there that that church

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: have known me since I was a little guy.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And when I got saved at 13 and and they've just known my family.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's just an amazing thing.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And then many, many of you that know us

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_00]: or have been impacted by our ministry

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_00]: are just supporting us and through prayer and finances.

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And just so blessed by that.

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I just want to encourage you to stay connected with us.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to have we have a monthly newsletter

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_00]: that you can sign up for with the little cards

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: they got in the Welcome Center.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And we just we want to continue to stay so connected

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_00]: to Calvary Monterey and just let this be such an anchor for us

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: as we as we step into this this next season of our life.

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And it really has been an amazing,

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_00]: an amazing, amazing adventure watching God move.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: For me personally as a dad,

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_00]: getting to watch how God is moving in my kids through this.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: My daughter, she was actually probably

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: the first confirmation before Eric and I

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_00]: even talked about why like if Shang-Mai was it.

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And then my son, he's more of a processor.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And a couple of days ago I asked him,

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I said, how are you feeling about this?

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And he goes 60 40.

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's why he kind of, you know, he's very analytical.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I go, what do you mean?

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_00]: He goes 60% excited, 40% unknown.

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, why unknown?

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: He goes, dad, we were there for 10 days.

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_00]: We have no idea what we're doing.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, you're right, we don't, you know?

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I was low of his desire of like,

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm 60% excited, but there's just 40% of this

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: that I have no idea what we're doing.

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_00]: But to see in the faith growing my children,

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: my wife who I am the intro or the extrovert,

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I can make friends with a brick wall.

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_00]: She's more little more, you know,

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_00]: conserved and takes more time to process

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and watching God just encourage her and push her

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: has just been so amazing.

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And so as Nate gave me this opportunity

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: to teach the last Sunday of 2023,

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want it to be like a New Year's resolution

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: or like, you know, what's your plan for 2024

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: or all those things, but I wanted it to be

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_00]: what God has been teaching me,

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: but then also what I desire for the body of Christ,

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: what I desire for Calvary Monterey,

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: what I desire for every brother and sister

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_00]: that I come in contact with

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: that they would come to this place of a deeper faith

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: and not just a faith in Jesus

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_00]: and not just like a concept of faith,

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: but the essential of faith.

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: And so that's why I titled this message

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Essentials of Our Faith

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: because when something is essential to us,

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00]: we can't live without it.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like water or air, it's like food.

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_00]: It's an essential in who we are.

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_00]: We need it as human beings.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: God has created us to consume those things.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_00]: They are essential to us living and existing.

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And I wanted this message to be that,

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_00]: but not in a way of physical, but of faith,

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_00]: of the idea of what does it mean

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: not just to be a human being, but to be a Christian,

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_00]: to be a man or woman that seeks after Jesus

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00]: in a deeper way.

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And I believe the only way we can get to that,

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_00]: the only way we do get to that

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00]: is by faith being an essential part of our life.

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Being something that is so real and tangible to us

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_00]: that we have to step into it.

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_00]: We have to grow in it

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_00]: and not just the concept again of faith

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_00]: or something that we say

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_00]: because really Christianity,

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_00]: but literally something that is deep in who we are.

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And so let's get into the text this morning.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_00]: We're just gonna do verses one and two of Hebrews 12

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and then we'll see what God has for us.

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, you guys go with that?

[00:09:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, okay.

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_00]: So Hebrews chapter 12 verses one and two,

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_00]: the writer says,

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_00]: therefore, since we are surrounded

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_00]: by so great a cloud of witnesses,

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_00]: let us also lay aside every weight

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and sin which clings so closely

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_00]: and let us run with endurance the race

[00:09:17] [SPEAKER_00]: that is set before us.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Verse two, looking to Jesus,

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_00]: the founder and perfecter of our faith

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_00]: who for the joy that was set before him

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and toward the cross, despising the shame

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_00]: and is seated at the right hand,

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_00]: the throne of God.

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And so Father, we come before you with this word.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_00]: We come before you with your word

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and that's how powerful and real and true it is.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_00]: We pray that this morning

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_00]: it would be that double-edged sword

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_00]: that pierces into our hearts and minds

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_00]: and changes us, God.

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Don't ever let us leave a sermon

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_00]: or a time together like this unchanged.

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And so Father, we just thank you

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_00]: that we can apply your word,

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_00]: that it's so applicable to who we are

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_00]: and our desires for you.

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Spirit, I pray that you would do the working this morning.

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_00]: God, it wouldn't be my words or my performance

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_00]: but it would be your working in the hearts and minds

[00:10:07] [SPEAKER_00]: of my brothers and sisters here.

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for this time.

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_00]: We give this to you.

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_00]: We praise you alone in your name, amen.

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_00]: So whenever we look at a verse like this

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_00]: or personally whenever I read Hebrews 11

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_00]: or the first part of Hebrews 12

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_00]: even Hebrews one talking about faith

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_00]: or Hebrews 11, faith is hope and things unseen.

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_00]: For me it always comes down to this long distance walk.

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_00]: For me in my personal faith it's like

[00:10:34] [SPEAKER_00]: when I seek after Jesus

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_00]: when I think of my sanctification process

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and I think about pursuing after the Lord

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_00]: it always comes down to this long distance walk

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_00]: in the same direction.

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_00]: This long distance walk of trusting the Lord

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_00]: knowing that the goal is ultimately Jesus.

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_00]: It always is, always will be no matter if I find myself

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_00]: in the valley of the shadow of the death

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_00]: or I find myself at the top of the mountain

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_00]: the goal is always Jesus.

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's this long distance walk

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and my life is just this constant pursuit of Jesus.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_00]: It's this constant walking in who Jesus is.

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And really if we look at scripture

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_00]: walking as something that's actually biblical

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_00]: something that actually brings a real spiritual root

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_00]: to what it means to be a Christian.

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Very rare do you ever find in scripture

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_00]: of a man or woman of faith standing still

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_00]: unless they're just resting

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_00]: but even in their standing still

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_00]: they're laying prostrate before the Lord.

[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_00]: They're laying themselves and bowing before God

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_00]: even in those times

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_00]: but yet walking is something that's biblical.

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe some of you actually enjoy running.

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's okay.

[00:11:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Some of you are runners and me myself

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not too much of a runner honestly.

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm more of a jogger

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_00]: but the thing is like some of us run

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_00]: and some of us love that

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_00]: and we can get the speed

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and we get the miles and the steps in

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_00]: and then also some of us just like walking.

[00:11:51] [SPEAKER_00]: We like the slower pace.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_00]: We like to stop and smell the roses as it were.

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_00]: But see the thing is we as Christians

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_00]: we're always moving forward.

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_00]: We're always trusting God in this.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And like I said, this is a biblical concept

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_00]: in the Old Testament

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_00]: walking is actually referred to 266 times

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and the New Testament is referred to 93 times.

[00:12:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And through both of them

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_00]: it has these biblical references

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_00]: of kind of your behavior

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_00]: or your attitude towards walking

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_00]: even the direction of vanishing

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_00]: or walking into the wilderness

[00:12:20] [SPEAKER_00]: or to death even

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_00]: the idea that there's a goal always.

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_00]: In the New Testament it even means to go out

[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_00]: or to hold on to, to confirm or to follow.

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER_00]: See there's this biblical idea of moving forward

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_00]: of walking, of pursuing something, of having a goal.

[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And see the idea of this

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_00]: we take this conception of walking, of moving forward

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_00]: and then we apply it to our Christianity.

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_00]: But see I think before we step into that

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and of the faith of what it takes to be a Christian

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_00]: we need to remember what is this thing called Christianity?

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_00]: What does it really derive from?

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Why should we put faith into it?

[00:12:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Because we call ourselves Christians

[00:12:56] [SPEAKER_00]: but why do we do that?

[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And see this example of God creating

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and even Hebrews 11, the writer talks about this

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_00]: how we have faith that God created.

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean I don't know about any of you

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_00]: but were any of you there at the Big Bang?

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Or in God creating all things, right?

[00:13:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean that by God creating all things.

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Like you weren't there, I wasn't there.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about you

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_00]: but I had never seen the molecules

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_00]: and the things that hold me together, right?

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't wake up this morning

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and tell the synapses in my brain to start firing

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_00]: or my heart to start beating blood

[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_00]: or my lungs to start.

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Like I didn't do any of that

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_00]: but you know I have faith

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_00]: that these things are all working together.

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_00]: We have faith that God created these things, right?

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_00]: God created it perfect in the beginning

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and then man broke it, our disobedience,

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_00]: our free will, our sin nature

[00:13:41] [SPEAKER_00]: broke that perfect thing that God created

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_00]: but then God set the stage through the Old Testament

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_00]: and we see this through his use of men and women

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_00]: that are just as broken as you and I

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_00]: but yet used them to show his glory,

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_00]: his character ultimately with the Jewish people

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_00]: as light to the pagan world.

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_00]: All of it, all the Old Testament pointing to Jesus

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_00]: as the Messiah, Jesus comes on the scenes.

[00:14:04] [SPEAKER_00]: He does the work as the perfect spotless sacrifice,

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_00]: the Lamb of God.

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_00]: He does all that work.

[00:14:10] [SPEAKER_00]: He then dies on the cross

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_00]: being the perfect manifestation

[00:14:14] [SPEAKER_00]: of God's character in the flesh

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_00]: then conquering the consequence of sin which is death.

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus resurrects from the dead

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and then after doing all that work

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_00]: he looks to you and I,

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_00]: he offers us his righteousness,

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_00]: his forgiveness, his salvation

[00:14:30] [SPEAKER_00]: and we sit there and we accept it

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_00]: and we become the church

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_00]: and that's why we call ourselves Christians

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_00]: because Jesus did all that

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and showed us all those things

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_00]: and then we say we wanna be like you,

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_00]: we wanna be Christ-like

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and so we are Christians.

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Now as we look at this thing called Christianity

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_00]: as we walk down this road,

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_00]: this path, this long distance,

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_00]: this long obedience in the same direction

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_00]: as it were following after Jesus.

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_00]: What faith does is it brings a component to our walk

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_00]: that we absolutely need.

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of times we use the word faith

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_00]: or we have the concept of faith in our Christian walk

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_00]: but yet we don't apply it.

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of like just physically walking.

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_00]: You guys all walked in here.

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_00]: You walked in, you didn't even have to think about it.

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_00]: All the chairs are facing this way.

[00:15:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Our custom of church tells you,

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_00]: you come in, you sit, you listen.

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_00]: You didn't have to think much about this.

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you got coffee or you gave someone a hug

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_00]: or something like that but the idea you came in

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_00]: and you just walked

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_00]: but if we think about the concept of walking first off,

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_00]: it has to be intentional.

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_00]: If you walk without intention,

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_00]: usually you're gonna fall.

[00:15:33] [SPEAKER_00]: There's some stumbling right?

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And even when we don't think about it

[00:15:36] [SPEAKER_00]: we're still walking with intention.

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you're a heel-toe guy,

[00:15:39] [SPEAKER_00]: maybe you're just,

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_00]: the ball is your feet, I don't know.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I walk with a kind of a sway, they tell me, I don't know.

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So the...

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_00]: But there's an intentionality to it.

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Also our walk has to be purposeful.

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_00]: There has to be purpose in it.

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_00]: You are moving from point A to point B,

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_00]: you're climbing the stairs,

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_00]: you're going to greet somebody,

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_00]: you're going to grab something,

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_00]: you're going to the fridge, right?

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_00]: There's an intentionality,

[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_00]: there's a purpose to it.

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_00]: But ultimately the greatest thing

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_00]: that you need with walking are your feet.

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_00]: A foundation, you don't have feet,

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_00]: you're not gonna walk.

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Ultimately you think of like,

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_00]: what kind of shoes am I wearing today?

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a purpose and intentionality

[00:16:19] [SPEAKER_00]: to the shoes that you're wearing.

[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you're a barefoot person, that's okay.

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I had some youth kids over the years

[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_00]: that they literally were always barefoot.

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Except when we went to Santa Cruz,

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I would not let them walk in on Santa Cruz barefoot.

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_00]: But the idea is that we have purpose and intention,

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_00]: but then we have this faith, okay?

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And the same when we walk,

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_00]: we have to have intention, we have to have purpose

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_00]: and we have to have this faith

[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_00]: that our feet are gonna take us from point A to point B.

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_00]: They're gonna take us up that mountain,

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_00]: they're gonna take us through that valley,

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_00]: they're gonna move us forward.

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_00]: And see a lot of times as Christians,

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_00]: when we think of our walk with Jesus,

[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_00]: our long distance walk, this life,

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_00]: this sanctification process,

[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_00]: we stand a lot in the intention and the purpose.

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_00]: That's something tangible to us.

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_00]: That's something I have control over.

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I can choose a day when I want to be intentional

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_00]: and have purpose and the things that I do, right?

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_00]: The choices I make, right?

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I like to be in that place

[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_00]: because I have a sense of control on that.

[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_00]: But see, we tend to miss the faith aspect of it.

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_00]: We tend to bypass it, we talk about it,

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_00]: but yet if we're truly living in faith,

[00:17:26] [SPEAKER_00]: what we're doing is saying,

[00:17:27] [SPEAKER_00]: God, I have these things that you've put me

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_00]: into control of my purpose, my intention,

[00:17:32] [SPEAKER_00]: but yet ultimately the faith, the chaos,

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_00]: the lack of common sense at times.

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_00]: When God calls us to something that is beyond us,

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_00]: beyond our strength, beyond our intention,

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_00]: beyond our purpose, and see we have to have both feet.

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER_00]: We have to have both feet ready

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_00]: to walk in purpose and intention,

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_00]: but ultimately, and I would even argue,

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_00]: stronger into faith.

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_00]: See as human beings, it's a good balance to have

[00:18:00] [SPEAKER_00]: purpose and order and a little bit of chaos and disorder.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_00]: It's good to have a balance in that,

[00:18:06] [SPEAKER_00]: but yet as Christians, it's not just purpose and disorder

[00:18:08] [SPEAKER_00]: or chaos and order, but as Christians,

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_00]: it's faith and the unknown, the hope and things unseen,

[00:18:16] [SPEAKER_00]: the trust and invisible God,

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_00]: but yet it's so visible to the one that is looking.

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_00]: It's faith in Jesus Christ,

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER_00]: that the life that I choose to live for him

[00:18:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and as I bow down and as I worship him,

[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_00]: that I will die one day and I will stand before him

[00:18:29] [SPEAKER_00]: because of his righteousness and his salvation,

[00:18:32] [SPEAKER_00]: that faith needs to be something that is so tangible to us

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_00]: just as much as our purpose and our intentionality.

[00:18:38] [SPEAKER_00]: It has to be Christians.

[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And see my hope today is that we go through this sermon

[00:18:43] [SPEAKER_00]: is that you come to a place

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_00]: of seeing how essential faith is,

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_00]: that the intention and the purpose of your walk

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER_00]: is important, it is.

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Showing up today is just half the battle,

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I would agree with that.

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Just showing up to church, just being here,

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_00]: being a part of the body as awkward as Christians can be

[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_00]: and the church can be, you showed up this morning,

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_00]: but I want you to leave here with the concept

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and how essential faith is to your Christian walk.

[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Ultimately my hope today is that this sermon builds in you

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_00]: one, the desire for faith, the desire for faith,

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_00]: two, the necessity in your life for faith

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_00]: and three, the joy of faith,

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_00]: the absolute joy of living a life of faith for Jesus.

[00:19:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Eugene Peterson wrote a book called

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_00]: The Long Obedience in the Same Direction.

[00:19:32] [SPEAKER_00]: One of my yearly reads, if you've never read it,

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_00]: please read it, it's so encouraging,

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_00]: it's so just heart wrenching of how Jesus,

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_00]: what he's done for us and what he's calling us to,

[00:19:41] [SPEAKER_00]: but he said in the book,

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Long Obedience in the Same Direction,

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_00]: what seems most important are the private,

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_00]: independent acts of faith

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_00]: that become more necessary every day.

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER_00]: He summed up this whole walk, this whole life,

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_00]: this whole sanctification as we follow Jesus,

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_00]: as we daily pursue him in just daily independent acts of faith

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and just the necessity, the essentialness

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_00]: of the faith in our life.

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And so Christians I hope today that you would come

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_00]: to a place of desiring the necessity of it

[00:20:11] [SPEAKER_00]: and the joy of serving Jesus.

[00:20:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So we start out in verse one there,

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_00]: the first part of verse one, chapter 12,

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_00]: he says, therefore since we are surrounded

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_00]: by so great a cloud of witnesses.

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Now the writer of Hebrews is referring back to chapter 11,

[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_00]: the hall of faith.

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_00]: If you haven't spent much time studying chapter 11

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_00]: of Hebrews spend some time in it.

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_00]: See these men and women that the writer calls out of history,

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_00]: men and women that were just like you and I guys,

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_00]: they're broken, they're sinners,

[00:20:40] [SPEAKER_00]: they have isms and habits and problems,

[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_00]: they mess up all kinds of stuff,

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_00]: but see what sets them apart,

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_00]: why they were in the Old Testament in God's word

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_00]: and why they're set in Hebrews chapter 11

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_00]: and then here we are talking about them 2000 years later.

[00:20:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Why is because they said yes to God,

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_00]: they said yes to faith.

[00:20:58] [SPEAKER_00]: They didn't just hold onto the tangible

[00:20:59] [SPEAKER_00]: but they stepped into the realm of trusting God

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_00]: outside of their ability, men and women just like you and I

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_00]: that have a robust and strong and maturing faith.

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And we can look at them now,

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_00]: we can read them today,

[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_00]: read about them and be encouraged.

[00:21:15] [SPEAKER_00]: They're examples to you and I

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_00]: of what men and women can do when they say yes to God,

[00:21:20] [SPEAKER_00]: when they desire faith,

[00:21:23] [SPEAKER_00]: when the desire of working actual moving,

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER_00]: maturing solid faith in their life.

[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_00]: It's almost like if you go back to the beginning

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_00]: of your walk with Jesus, when you accepted the Lord,

[00:21:35] [SPEAKER_00]: more than likely someone brought you to church

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_00]: or someone led you in an idea or a concept

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_00]: or the beginning knowledge of what it meant

[00:21:43] [SPEAKER_00]: to be a Christian or what it means to believe in God.

[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it was your parents, your grandparents,

[00:21:48] [SPEAKER_00]: maybe it was a youth pastor or someone, a neighbor or a friend.

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_00]: For me, it was a group of friends

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_00]: that started going to a youth group

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_00]: and I started going with them

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_00]: even though their faith was shaky at best.

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And really what brought us to,

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_00]: what they that I call the day that I converted

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_00]: was an OC Supertones concert,

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_00]: ska, long live.

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, the idea is that someone led you,

[00:22:16] [SPEAKER_00]: someone with more faith than you had

[00:22:18] [SPEAKER_00]: led you to this place of concept

[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_00]: or understanding or salvation in Jesus.

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And that was in a sense,

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_00]: this cloud of witnesses around you.

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_00]: This was the mature, more mature Christian around you,

[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_00]: more mature faith around you saying, come to Jesus,

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_00]: come see what this is about.

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And see that, that is attractive

[00:22:37] [SPEAKER_00]: to someone that is desiring Jesus.

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Someone that is thinking about it.

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_00]: If someone has a faith that is actual,

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_00]: a faith that is real

[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_00]: and someone that is curious or open to it,

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_00]: there's an attraction to genuine faith.

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And this is what we are now called to

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_00]: as we are now the cloud of witnesses guys.

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER_00]: We are the church as we live our lives

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_00]: as we reach out to a community around us

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_00]: as you are in your sphere of influence

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_00]: at your job or at your school or at your sports team.

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_00]: You are now that cloud of witness

[00:23:07] [SPEAKER_00]: where your faith is now open for everyone around you to see.

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And there needs to be a desire in us

[00:23:14] [SPEAKER_00]: to grow in that faith.

[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Because at some point you had a desire for faith

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_00]: because those around you and now those around you

[00:23:22] [SPEAKER_00]: wanna see a faith in you

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_00]: that can grow in the desire in them.

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And see the beautiful thing about this faith

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_00]: when we read chapter 11,

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_00]: when we step into chapter 12

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_00]: is that it's God working in us.

[00:23:35] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not you and I.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Even if you read verses 39 and 40 of chapter 11,

[00:23:40] [SPEAKER_00]: it says,

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And all these though commended through their faith,

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_00]: right?

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_00]: All these men and women that are commended

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_00]: through trusting God and walking in faith

[00:23:47] [SPEAKER_00]: did not receive what was promised

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_00]: since God had provided something better for us

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_00]: that apart from us, they should not be made perfect.

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER_00]: So even these men and women that we read about

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_00]: or even some older man or woman in your life right now

[00:24:01] [SPEAKER_00]: that's discipling you,

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_00]: they're not gonna see perfection in this life.

[00:24:05] [SPEAKER_00]: They're gonna be broken.

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_00]: They're gonna have that root of sin.

[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Their whole life from womb to the tomb, man.

[00:24:10] [SPEAKER_00]: They will have that root of sin.

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_00]: You and I will too.

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_00]: But see we have this hope, this faith

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_00]: that one day we will reach perfection.

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_00]: One day we will stand before God in a perfected place.

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_00]: There is a promise, a promised land, a heaven

[00:24:24] [SPEAKER_00]: being with our heavenly Father

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_00]: that puts in us this desire for more faith now

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_00]: to trust this.

[00:24:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Also in verses one through three of chapter 11,

[00:24:34] [SPEAKER_00]: it says,

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_00]: See this as a desire for faith grows in you and I.

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_00]: As we step into this realm where it's not just the tangible,

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_00]: the things that we can control,

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_00]: but yet the things that God is calling us to

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_00]: and we desire this more and more,

[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_00]: the fact is that faith is the assurance

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_00]: of things hoped for.

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_00]: My hope is that as I end 2023,

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm more like Jesus than I was at the beginning of 2023.

[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_00]: My hope is that as I grow and mature as a Christian man,

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_00]: as I grow and mature as a father and a husband,

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_00]: that I keep pointing towards Jesus.

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_00]: The hope is that I'm more like Jesus tomorrow

[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_00]: than I am today.

[00:25:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And see this is the thing that I won't fully see

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_00]: or be completed in in this life.

[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_00]: You or I won't.

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_00]: But yet that doesn't stop us from desiring

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_00]: to be more like Jesus,

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_00]: desiring to love like him and live like him

[00:25:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and preach like him and share like him

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_00]: because ultimately he is the goal.

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_00]: He has to be.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_00]: What else in this life is put in that place?

[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_00]: If you lay out the phrase,

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_00]: better than,

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_00]: and Jesus is better than everything,

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_00]: what would be put in that place

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_00]: where Jesus is better than what?

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And so when we look to him,

[00:26:04] [SPEAKER_00]: when we look to what he's done and that cross

[00:26:06] [SPEAKER_00]: and the redemption that he has for us,

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_00]: you and I,

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_00]: what we lean into is this desire to walk in faith

[00:26:12] [SPEAKER_00]: to be more like him.

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_00]: It starts with desire.

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_00]: So when Erica and I started this journey 18 plus years ago,

[00:26:19] [SPEAKER_00]: it was messy.

[00:26:21] [SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't clean.

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_00]: We were young

[00:26:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and a lot of our ministry and our marriage

[00:26:26] [SPEAKER_00]: was marked with immaturity, childhood wounds

[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_00]: and a whole lot of us doing it on our own

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_00]: in all honesty.

[00:26:35] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a whole lot of Josh,

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_00]: a whole lot of me pushing through,

[00:26:38] [SPEAKER_00]: a whole lot of me just grinding through

[00:26:39] [SPEAKER_00]: but by God's grace,

[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_00]: there were men and women that God put in our path

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_00]: that spoke to us and poured into us

[00:26:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and loved us and convicted us and called us out

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_00]: and were men and women

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_00]: that built a foundation for our faith

[00:26:53] [SPEAKER_00]: that honestly we still stand on today.

[00:26:56] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of those men that I still call

[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and talk to today

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_00]: that and I lay myself before because I trust them

[00:27:01] [SPEAKER_00]: because they showed me what a more mature faith was.

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And even today,

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_00]: there's still 18 years ahead of me in their faith.

[00:27:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And so I can still call them.

[00:27:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And see if anything Christians,

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I wanna encourage you that

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_00]: you have a lot of you in this room,

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_00]: you're in a place where you,

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_00]: your desire for faith needs to be more robust

[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_00]: so that those around you

[00:27:21] [SPEAKER_00]: can desire the faith that you have,

[00:27:23] [SPEAKER_00]: can desire the walk that you're having.

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_00]: This is an ongoing thing.

[00:27:27] [SPEAKER_00]: This is part of that walk.

[00:27:29] [SPEAKER_00]: You're not standing still,

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_00]: you're moving forward in this.

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_00]: So we look at this great cloud of witness,

[00:27:34] [SPEAKER_00]: we see that it's us that's being called into that,

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_00]: that witness and that should desire,

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER_00]: put a desire in us for a deeper faith.

[00:27:42] [SPEAKER_00]: He then continues or the writer of Hebrews continues

[00:27:44] [SPEAKER_00]: by saying,

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_00]: let us also lay aside every weight and sin

[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_00]: which clings so closely

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_00]: and let us run with endurance

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_00]: the race that is set before us.

[00:27:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, as you read this verse,

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_00]: we see the desire, but that desire

[00:27:57] [SPEAKER_00]: then turns into the understanding

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_00]: of a necessity in our life.

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_00]: That faith becomes this necessity

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_00]: and who you and I are

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_00]: and our Christian walk,

[00:28:06] [SPEAKER_00]: what it means to be a Christian,

[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_00]: the necessity of faith,

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_00]: that it's no longer just a concept

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_00]: or this idea of being Christian-y,

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER_00]: but yet I live out faith.

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_00]: My life is something that bubbles over in faith.

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_00]: See without the substance of faith

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER_00]: in our daily Christian walk,

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_00]: we can become weighed down,

[00:28:25] [SPEAKER_00]: we can become immovable and ineffective.

[00:28:28] [SPEAKER_00]: We must see the purpose

[00:28:30] [SPEAKER_00]: and the necessity of faith

[00:28:31] [SPEAKER_00]: in our everyday Christian walk

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_00]: or else we become self-reliant humans

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_00]: who can have no effect

[00:28:36] [SPEAKER_00]: on building the kingdom of God.

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_00]: See just like the writer says here

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_00]: that also lay aside,

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER_00]: you see these other Christians,

[00:28:43] [SPEAKER_00]: they walk by faith,

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_00]: you're being called to walk by faith,

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_00]: to live in a place

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_00]: that God is calling you out

[00:28:48] [SPEAKER_00]: and calling you into a deeper relationship with him.

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Now find the necessity in your life.

[00:28:54] [SPEAKER_00]: When we know that something's a necessity

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_00]: or we make something a necessity in our life,

[00:28:58] [SPEAKER_00]: we move towards it.

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Whether it's something physical

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_00]: or mental or spiritual,

[00:29:03] [SPEAKER_00]: the fact is when it's a necessity,

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_00]: it's important to us.

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_00]: We make the time for it.

[00:29:07] [SPEAKER_00]: We put aside the hours

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_00]: or the devotion to it.

[00:29:11] [SPEAKER_00]: When something is a necessity,

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_00]: we make it important to our lives,

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_00]: to who we are.

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of us were even defined

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER_00]: by the necessities in our life

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and yet it's faith,

[00:29:20] [SPEAKER_00]: something so important to us

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_00]: that it defines who we are.

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_00]: So I really believe as the writer says here

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_00]: that if faith isn't a necessity to you,

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_00]: if it's something that you do not allow

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER_00]: to be a part of your Christian walk,

[00:29:32] [SPEAKER_00]: then you do become in this sense,

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_00]: as he says here, weighted down.

[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_00]: You become immovable.

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_00]: You even become in this place

[00:29:39] [SPEAKER_00]: where you cannot be used

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_00]: in the kingdom of God.

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_00]: See the fact is guys

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_00]: that when we stand in that place

[00:29:47] [SPEAKER_00]: of substance

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_00]: and we stand in this place

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_00]: of allowing the weight of the world

[00:29:52] [SPEAKER_00]: or the weight of sin to hold us back,

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_00]: we actually become bitter and angry

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and really just like harsh people.

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Because ultimately what we're saying is

[00:30:01] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm in control God.

[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't need faith in who I am.

[00:30:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't need the necessity of faith

[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_00]: to be a Christian

[00:30:07] [SPEAKER_00]: because I've got it covered.

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I can handle it.

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Look at my life.

[00:30:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Look at the business I have.

[00:30:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Look at my accounts.

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Look at the marriage I have.

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_00]: God, I've got it covered.

[00:30:15] [SPEAKER_00]: But ultimately we let ourselves down,

[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_00]: don't we?

[00:30:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about you,

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER_00]: but if I look in the mirror

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_00]: and I make myself my own God

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and I think you got it Josh.

[00:30:24] [SPEAKER_00]: The moment I let myself down,

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_00]: the moment I blow it,

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_00]: like who do I have to blame?

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Myself.

[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_00]: So it's this vicious cycle of like

[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm condemning myself

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_00]: because I'm letting myself down

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER_00]: but yet I keep making myself my own God

[00:30:35] [SPEAKER_00]: and it just doesn't work.

[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And yet the necessity of faith

[00:30:38] [SPEAKER_00]: what it does, it removes us.

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_00]: It removes those weights.

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_00]: It removes those sins.

[00:30:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And when it says is God,

[00:30:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I trust you to be Lord over my life.

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I trust you to lead me in a deeper way.

[00:30:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And when we do that,

[00:30:51] [SPEAKER_00]: we become lighter.

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_00]: We become effective.

[00:30:53] [SPEAKER_00]: We become pliable.

[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_00]: We become teachable.

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_00]: We become impactful in the kingdom of God.

[00:30:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Hebrews 11 6 actually says

[00:31:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and without faith

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_00]: it is impossible to please God.

[00:31:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I would even say Christians

[00:31:05] [SPEAKER_00]: that if there's not a necessity

[00:31:06] [SPEAKER_00]: of faith in your life

[00:31:07] [SPEAKER_00]: you are cutting yourself short

[00:31:09] [SPEAKER_00]: of what it means to be a Christian.

[00:31:11] [SPEAKER_00]: You are laying yourself bare

[00:31:14] [SPEAKER_00]: but in the wrong way

[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_00]: and the opposite way

[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_00]: than laying ourselves before the Lord

[00:31:18] [SPEAKER_00]: we're laying ourselves out

[00:31:20] [SPEAKER_00]: and yet just kind of cutting ourselves short

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER_00]: without the necessity of faith.

[00:31:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Here's a little contrast for you.

[00:31:26] [SPEAKER_00]: We've all heard the story

[00:31:27] [SPEAKER_00]: of the rich, young ruler

[00:31:28] [SPEAKER_00]: and Matthew and Mark and Luke.

[00:31:31] [SPEAKER_00]: You know this young man

[00:31:31] [SPEAKER_00]: he comes to Jesus

[00:31:33] [SPEAKER_00]: and you know he's known by the disciples.

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER_00]: He's known by the town.

[00:31:37] [SPEAKER_00]: He has money

[00:31:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and he has you know fame in a sense.

[00:31:41] [SPEAKER_00]: He's known within the people

[00:31:42] [SPEAKER_00]: he comes to Jesus

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_00]: and he says Lord.

[00:31:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus says hey

[00:31:45] [SPEAKER_00]: you got that right?

[00:31:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Like I'm not just some rabbi

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not just some prophet

[00:31:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I am Lord.

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm like the Christ.

[00:31:53] [SPEAKER_00]: He says God what must I do to be saved?

[00:31:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Lord what must I do to be saved?

[00:31:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus says to him well like

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_00]: do all these kind of Christian things.

[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Step into a realm where

[00:32:02] [SPEAKER_00]: you're doing a lot

[00:32:03] [SPEAKER_00]: where you're showing in a sense

[00:32:05] [SPEAKER_00]: like you can do these things.

[00:32:07] [SPEAKER_00]: All right go feed the poor.

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Go take care of the orphans.

[00:32:11] [SPEAKER_00]: You know go tithe.

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_00]: You know that kind of stuff

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and you know go to church every Sunday.

[00:32:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And the rich young ruler says

[00:32:16] [SPEAKER_00]: well I've done that since I was a kid.

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_00]: That's something that's a part of who I am.

[00:32:21] [SPEAKER_00]: But in Jesus then turns him

[00:32:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and says that's great.

[00:32:23] [SPEAKER_00]: But now sell everything you have.

[00:32:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Give it to the poor and come follow me.

[00:32:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And we all know the end of this story

[00:32:29] [SPEAKER_00]: which rich young ruler goes away sad

[00:32:32] [SPEAKER_00]: because ultimately he had this outward expression

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_00]: where he was living within the tangible

[00:32:36] [SPEAKER_00]: everything he could control.

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_00]: The wealth, the fame, the prosperity

[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_00]: what he could give to the poor, to the widows.

[00:32:43] [SPEAKER_00]: He was living in that realm.

[00:32:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And yet Jesus was calling him

[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_00]: to the realm of faith saying now

[00:32:48] [SPEAKER_00]: give all that away and trust me

[00:32:50] [SPEAKER_00]: that the kingdom that you're giving up here

[00:32:53] [SPEAKER_00]: you will receive in me.

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And the rich young ruler goes away sad

[00:32:57] [SPEAKER_00]: because he couldn't give it up.

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_00]: He couldn't let go.

[00:33:00] [SPEAKER_00]: He couldn't step into that realm of faith

[00:33:02] [SPEAKER_00]: and so ultimately that root of pride in him

[00:33:05] [SPEAKER_00]: the reputation, the power, the comfort, the security

[00:33:08] [SPEAKER_00]: it was something he just could not let go of.

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_00]: He couldn't trust God and ultimately what we see in him

[00:33:15] [SPEAKER_00]: is this self resilient man.

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER_00]: This man that said I can take care of it,

[00:33:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I've got it covered.

[00:33:20] [SPEAKER_00]: I can be Christian without faith in my life.

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And yet we look at then men and women

[00:33:27] [SPEAKER_00]: and I wanna pull one out of history for you CT Stud

[00:33:30] [SPEAKER_00]: who was a missionary in the late 1800s into the 1900s.

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_00]: If you've never read about CT Stud

[00:33:35] [SPEAKER_00]: take some time.

[00:33:36] [SPEAKER_00]: He's got a couple little books out there

[00:33:38] [SPEAKER_00]: but the man was just incredible.

[00:33:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Actually the exact opposite of the rich young ruler

[00:33:43] [SPEAKER_00]: he was raised and born into wealth and prosperity.

[00:33:48] [SPEAKER_00]: His father was an extremely influential

[00:33:51] [SPEAKER_00]: and wealthy man in England.

[00:33:54] [SPEAKER_00]: He grew up with never wanting or needing anything.

[00:33:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Went to a prestigious college

[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_00]: and then became actually a professional athlete.

[00:34:00] [SPEAKER_00]: He was a world class cricketer

[00:34:02] [SPEAKER_00]: for the British royal team.

[00:34:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Had everything a man could ever want

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and yet had this then had this radical conversion

[00:34:09] [SPEAKER_00]: with Jesus and gave it all up.

[00:34:12] [SPEAKER_00]: For sick, for sick his father for sick everything

[00:34:15] [SPEAKER_00]: that he had and moved to China to reach the unreached

[00:34:18] [SPEAKER_00]: to reach men and women

[00:34:19] [SPEAKER_00]: who had never heard about Jesus before.

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So at time in China they moved to India

[00:34:23] [SPEAKER_00]: while in India his father passed away

[00:34:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and he inherited like millions hundreds of millions

[00:34:29] [SPEAKER_00]: of dollars in today's wealth

[00:34:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and CT Stud decided to give it all back to missions.

[00:34:33] [SPEAKER_00]: He was married to a Scottish woman who was a missionary

[00:34:35] [SPEAKER_00]: also who was living in England at the time.

[00:34:37] [SPEAKER_00]: He gave her a bunch of money for her orphanages

[00:34:40] [SPEAKER_00]: and her widow ministries.

[00:34:42] [SPEAKER_00]: He gave it all away and then ultimately died

[00:34:44] [SPEAKER_00]: what we would say a poor man in Africa

[00:34:48] [SPEAKER_00]: in the Congo, the middle of the Congo.

[00:34:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And what we see in him is this resilience,

[00:34:52] [SPEAKER_00]: this necessity of faith in his life.

[00:34:54] [SPEAKER_00]: He had lived the wealthy life.

[00:34:55] [SPEAKER_00]: He had lived in this realm of having control

[00:34:58] [SPEAKER_00]: of having all the tangibility that he could ever want.

[00:35:01] [SPEAKER_00]: But yet when Jesus called him to faith

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_00]: what makes him a man that we could look to

[00:35:05] [SPEAKER_00]: as that cloud of witness is he said yes.

[00:35:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And he was truly willing to give it all away,

[00:35:09] [SPEAKER_00]: trusting God that even if that faith led him

[00:35:12] [SPEAKER_00]: to the deepest darkest parts of the Congo

[00:35:14] [SPEAKER_00]: he would still say but it was worth it

[00:35:17] [SPEAKER_00]: because I'm walking in faith trusting the God

[00:35:19] [SPEAKER_00]: who has done all things for me.

[00:35:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean this is what God is calling us to do.

[00:35:25] [SPEAKER_00]: CT Stud said only what's done for Christ will last.

[00:35:28] [SPEAKER_00]: If Jesus Christ be God and died for me

[00:35:31] [SPEAKER_00]: then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him.

[00:35:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Let us not glide through this world

[00:35:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and slip quietly into heaven without having blown the trumpet

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_00]: loud and long for our Redeemer Jesus Christ.

[00:35:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And that amen, yeah you can say that.

[00:35:49] [SPEAKER_00]: That lights a fire in me to step deeper

[00:35:53] [SPEAKER_00]: into this realm of faith to trust the Lord

[00:35:55] [SPEAKER_00]: to trust him no matter what comes in my life.

[00:35:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean we're all, if you call Jesus Lord and Savior

[00:36:02] [SPEAKER_00]: we're all gonna stand before him

[00:36:04] [SPEAKER_00]: and you will hear well done good and faithful servant.

[00:36:06] [SPEAKER_00]: You will and praise the Lord for that.

[00:36:09] [SPEAKER_00]: But brothers and sisters I want my faith to lead me

[00:36:12] [SPEAKER_00]: to when I get before Jesus my knuckles are bloodied

[00:36:14] [SPEAKER_00]: and there's bus loads of kids behind me who know Jesus

[00:36:18] [SPEAKER_00]: because of the faith that I lived.

[00:36:21] [SPEAKER_00]: To me that is worthy of everything

[00:36:23] [SPEAKER_00]: that would be sacrificed in this life.

[00:36:25] [SPEAKER_00]: To me that is necessity.

[00:36:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And brothers and sisters I would hope that as you step deeper

[00:36:30] [SPEAKER_00]: into this faith of following Jesus

[00:36:32] [SPEAKER_00]: it becomes such a necessity to you

[00:36:33] [SPEAKER_00]: that no matter what God calls you to do

[00:36:36] [SPEAKER_00]: you're willing to do it.

[00:36:38] [SPEAKER_00]: You're willing to step into that realm.

[00:36:40] [SPEAKER_00]: What is God calling you to do brothers and sisters?

[00:36:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it is sell everything

[00:36:44] [SPEAKER_00]: and move to Shanghai with the shy of ways.

[00:36:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it is.

[00:36:47] [SPEAKER_00]: But more than likely right now

[00:36:49] [SPEAKER_00]: it's that barista that made your coffee

[00:36:51] [SPEAKER_00]: or that bartender or that waiter.

[00:36:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Do they need to be invited to church?

[00:36:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Can you have the faith just to step into that

[00:36:59] [SPEAKER_00]: and say hey I go to this really awesome place

[00:37:01] [SPEAKER_00]: that we meet every Sunday.

[00:37:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Really cool people.

[00:37:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you wanna come check it out?

[00:37:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It'll change your life.

[00:37:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's being more involved at Calvary Monoray.

[00:37:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe God is calling you to step into faith,

[00:37:13] [SPEAKER_00]: step into a place where you can be of impact here.

[00:37:16] [SPEAKER_00]: There's the old adage 10% of the people

[00:37:18] [SPEAKER_00]: doing 90% of the work.

[00:37:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if that's true.

[00:37:20] [SPEAKER_00]: But there's work to be done.

[00:37:22] [SPEAKER_00]: The harvest is plentiful Christians.

[00:37:24] [SPEAKER_00]: There are people that have the concept

[00:37:27] [SPEAKER_00]: of a God of the universe

[00:37:28] [SPEAKER_00]: but yet have no real tangible faith or salvation in him.

[00:37:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And yet we're the church where maybe God is calling you

[00:37:35] [SPEAKER_00]: just to be more of an impact in your community

[00:37:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and the place that he has you in right here.

[00:37:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's trusting God or walking in faith

[00:37:43] [SPEAKER_00]: through a really difficult season.

[00:37:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I get it, life is tough.

[00:37:46] [SPEAKER_00]: We find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death.

[00:37:48] [SPEAKER_00]: We find ourselves in place of anxiety and fear and depression.

[00:37:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I get it, that's tough.

[00:37:55] [SPEAKER_00]: But is God asking you to have faith

[00:37:56] [SPEAKER_00]: to trust him through that?

[00:37:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe your faith even led you into that valley

[00:38:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and are you trusting God

[00:38:01] [SPEAKER_00]: when you don't feel the warmth of the sun

[00:38:03] [SPEAKER_00]: each and every day?

[00:38:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe God is asking you to trust him

[00:38:07] [SPEAKER_00]: with the habits or the isms of your life.

[00:38:09] [SPEAKER_00]: The things that we've held onto,

[00:38:10] [SPEAKER_00]: the idols or the gods that we think bring us comfort

[00:38:13] [SPEAKER_00]: or kind of protect us from the world

[00:38:16] [SPEAKER_00]: or protect our wounds.

[00:38:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe God is asking you to have faith

[00:38:19] [SPEAKER_00]: just to let those things go.

[00:38:21] [SPEAKER_00]: See, whatever it is, you need to know this Christians

[00:38:24] [SPEAKER_00]: that God is calling you as Jesus followers

[00:38:26] [SPEAKER_00]: closer to him and deeper into faith.

[00:38:29] [SPEAKER_00]: This is a fact.

[00:38:31] [SPEAKER_00]: The fact is that Christians are to live by faith.

[00:38:34] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a necessity just like air or water

[00:38:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and he's to be important to who we are.

[00:38:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Faith in the God of the Bible,

[00:38:41] [SPEAKER_00]: the God that created all things.

[00:38:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Faith in the fact that he holds you deeply

[00:38:45] [SPEAKER_00]: and dearly, he made you, he cherishes you

[00:38:48] [SPEAKER_00]: and he will never let you go.

[00:38:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Faith in the fact that he is sanctifying you day by day

[00:38:53] [SPEAKER_00]: even when you don't feel it.

[00:38:56] [SPEAKER_00]: He's calling you deeper.

[00:38:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Faith needs to be a necessity.

[00:39:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Needs to be a desire

[00:39:01] [SPEAKER_00]: and he's to be a necessity

[00:39:02] [SPEAKER_00]: and then ultimately in verse two

[00:39:04] [SPEAKER_00]: and he's to be a joy.

[00:39:06] [SPEAKER_00]: He says looking to Jesus,

[00:39:07] [SPEAKER_00]: the founder or I like the term pioneer

[00:39:10] [SPEAKER_00]: and perfecter of our faith

[00:39:12] [SPEAKER_00]: who for the joy that was set before him

[00:39:14] [SPEAKER_00]: endured the cross despising the shame

[00:39:16] [SPEAKER_00]: and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

[00:39:21] [SPEAKER_00]: See ultimately faith needs to have a joy about it.

[00:39:25] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a joy within faith

[00:39:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and following after Jesus.

[00:39:29] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a joy that comes when it becomes

[00:39:31] [SPEAKER_00]: when it's a desire, then a necessity

[00:39:33] [SPEAKER_00]: and then we find this joy

[00:39:34] [SPEAKER_00]: because ultimately Jesus showed us

[00:39:36] [SPEAKER_00]: the joy of walking by faith.

[00:39:39] [SPEAKER_00]: It says there that he was despite,

[00:39:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry, it says there that

[00:39:44] [SPEAKER_00]: for the joy that was set before him

[00:39:46] [SPEAKER_00]: he endured this cross.

[00:39:48] [SPEAKER_00]: And see the beautiful thing about faith in Jesus

[00:39:50] [SPEAKER_00]: is that when we finally let go of all that we are

[00:39:53] [SPEAKER_00]: when we finally abandon all the wasteful things

[00:39:56] [SPEAKER_00]: in our life, we truly walk by faith

[00:39:58] [SPEAKER_00]: and realize that it's always been Jesus

[00:40:01] [SPEAKER_00]: and it will always be Jesus.

[00:40:03] [SPEAKER_00]: See when we let go of ourselves

[00:40:04] [SPEAKER_00]: and we realize that we're not God

[00:40:06] [SPEAKER_00]: that ultimately I'm not in control

[00:40:08] [SPEAKER_00]: and I trust Jesus

[00:40:10] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm willing to lay myself out

[00:40:12] [SPEAKER_00]: and do whatever he's called me to do

[00:40:13] [SPEAKER_00]: then I realize he's always been there

[00:40:16] [SPEAKER_00]: and he's with me now and he will always be there.

[00:40:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Philippians verse chapter one verse six says

[00:40:21] [SPEAKER_00]: and I am sure of this

[00:40:22] [SPEAKER_00]: that he who began a good work in you

[00:40:25] [SPEAKER_00]: will bring it to completion

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_00]: in the day of Jesus Christ.

[00:40:28] [SPEAKER_00]: It's his ultimate faith in the hope

[00:40:30] [SPEAKER_00]: that Jesus is doing this work in us

[00:40:32] [SPEAKER_00]: but he started the work.

[00:40:34] [SPEAKER_00]: He's the pioneer, he's the founder of your faith.

[00:40:37] [SPEAKER_00]: He pulled you out of whatever state you were in

[00:40:40] [SPEAKER_00]: and he was willing to step into your life as a pioneer

[00:40:44] [SPEAKER_00]: no matter what mess you were in

[00:40:46] [SPEAKER_00]: to do the work, the loving patient

[00:40:48] [SPEAKER_00]: just this absolute like enduring work

[00:40:51] [SPEAKER_00]: of a farmer in your life

[00:40:52] [SPEAKER_00]: planning that seat of faith, cultivating that crop

[00:40:55] [SPEAKER_00]: and it's now still working in you

[00:40:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and ultimately has gone before you.

[00:41:00] [SPEAKER_00]: So no matter where you're at in this walk

[00:41:01] [SPEAKER_00]: you can trust that Jesus was there before

[00:41:03] [SPEAKER_00]: he's with you now as your advocate and your protector

[00:41:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and he's already before you

[00:41:09] [SPEAKER_00]: as you trust him in that faith walk

[00:41:11] [SPEAKER_00]: he's already before you, he's already there saying

[00:41:13] [SPEAKER_00]: he's saying trust me I'm already here

[00:41:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I already know what's gonna happen.

[00:41:18] [SPEAKER_00]: He's always been there to be with you

[00:41:20] [SPEAKER_00]: to help you through these things.

[00:41:21] [SPEAKER_00]: See we can find sweet joy in a life of faith

[00:41:23] [SPEAKER_00]: because ultimately Jesus found joy

[00:41:26] [SPEAKER_00]: in the work of the cross and resurrection.

[00:41:30] [SPEAKER_00]: See this is a hard concept for us to swallow

[00:41:32] [SPEAKER_00]: that Jesus found joy in the cross

[00:41:35] [SPEAKER_00]: and the act of crucifixion

[00:41:37] [SPEAKER_00]: not just the act of crucifixion

[00:41:39] [SPEAKER_00]: but see we take it a step deeper

[00:41:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and our faith tells us that he found joy

[00:41:43] [SPEAKER_00]: because he ultimately knew the end result of the cross

[00:41:46] [SPEAKER_00]: the end result of taking on yours and my sin

[00:41:49] [SPEAKER_00]: the end result of being separated from the father

[00:41:51] [SPEAKER_00]: for the first time in all history

[00:41:54] [SPEAKER_00]: all existence that he found joy in that

[00:41:58] [SPEAKER_00]: because he knew the relationship that we would have.

[00:42:01] [SPEAKER_00]: He knew the church that he was building

[00:42:03] [SPEAKER_00]: he knew you, he knew me

[00:42:04] [SPEAKER_00]: that we would follow after him

[00:42:06] [SPEAKER_00]: that we would desire to be more like him

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_00]: we would desire to be light and salt

[00:42:09] [SPEAKER_00]: and to impact the world for him.

[00:42:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And so Jesus found joy for that

[00:42:14] [SPEAKER_00]: he found joy because he was completing God's plan

[00:42:16] [SPEAKER_00]: and ultimately guys when we die one day

[00:42:19] [SPEAKER_00]: we get to see the completed work

[00:42:21] [SPEAKER_00]: that Jesus did in us

[00:42:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and the work that we got to impact in this world

[00:42:25] [SPEAKER_00]: we get to have that joy also

[00:42:27] [SPEAKER_00]: we can experience it now

[00:42:28] [SPEAKER_00]: but we see we have to choose to live within that.

[00:42:32] [SPEAKER_00]: We have to come to the realization

[00:42:34] [SPEAKER_00]: if it's a desire, a necessity and we find this joy

[00:42:38] [SPEAKER_00]: we have to come to the necessity

[00:42:40] [SPEAKER_00]: or the understanding that anything

[00:42:43] [SPEAKER_00]: if we put faith in anything other than Jesus

[00:42:44] [SPEAKER_00]: it's just gonna fall short.

[00:42:46] [SPEAKER_00]: It's just not gonna fulfill

[00:42:48] [SPEAKER_00]: it's not gonna be what

[00:42:52] [SPEAKER_00]: it's not gonna be what God is truly calling you to be

[00:42:55] [SPEAKER_00]: and as Christians if we're not finding joy

[00:42:58] [SPEAKER_00]: in faith in Jesus and trusting him

[00:43:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and following after him then

[00:43:02] [SPEAKER_00]: and ultimately what we're gonna do

[00:43:04] [SPEAKER_00]: is we're gonna try to find joy in other things.

[00:43:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And see Christians this is something that's dangerous

[00:43:09] [SPEAKER_00]: this is something that takes away our potency

[00:43:11] [SPEAKER_00]: it's something that takes away truly like

[00:43:13] [SPEAKER_00]: who we are as Jesus followers.

[00:43:17] [SPEAKER_00]: See one of the things that really confirmed in me

[00:43:19] [SPEAKER_00]: that Shang Mai was the call for our family

[00:43:22] [SPEAKER_00]: is we got back from the trip and we had like one day to rest

[00:43:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and I was coming to church that next Sunday

[00:43:28] [SPEAKER_00]: to kind of finish all our receipts

[00:43:30] [SPEAKER_00]: before we went on our family vacation

[00:43:32] [SPEAKER_00]: just to like disappear for two weeks

[00:43:34] [SPEAKER_00]: and I couldn't sleep and so I went out on the front porch

[00:43:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and it was about one in the morning

[00:43:39] [SPEAKER_00]: and I pulled out my laptop and all my papers

[00:43:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and I started like kind of doing the math

[00:43:43] [SPEAKER_00]: and being like type A planner Josh

[00:43:45] [SPEAKER_00]: and trying to put it all together

[00:43:47] [SPEAKER_00]: is it even practical?

[00:43:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Is it really gonna work?

[00:43:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Look at this economy.

[00:43:51] [SPEAKER_00]: How are we gonna raise this money?

[00:43:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Kind of reading blogs, that kind of stuff

[00:43:54] [SPEAKER_00]: and finally it was one of those moments in my life

[00:43:56] [SPEAKER_00]: that God was audible and he stopped me and he said Josh

[00:43:59] [SPEAKER_00]: you are not gonna bring your family to Shang Mai.

[00:44:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm bringing your family to Shang Mai

[00:44:04] [SPEAKER_00]: and it was just one of those moments where I had to let go

[00:44:06] [SPEAKER_00]: and just trust that the Lord was doing this

[00:44:09] [SPEAKER_00]: that choosing faith over Josh Shively

[00:44:12] [SPEAKER_00]: choosing faith over who I think I am

[00:44:15] [SPEAKER_00]: and all the things that I can plan and do

[00:44:18] [SPEAKER_00]: and here's the product of it.

[00:44:21] [SPEAKER_00]: God's moving a family of four

[00:44:23] [SPEAKER_00]: from the central coast of Monterey to Southeast Asia

[00:44:26] [SPEAKER_00]: to be impactful to people who have never heard

[00:44:28] [SPEAKER_00]: the name of Jesus Christ and it's not me.

[00:44:32] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not Erica Shively, it's not Eliana Shively

[00:44:34] [SPEAKER_00]: or Seth Shively, it's God working in us.

[00:44:36] [SPEAKER_00]: It's the faith of Jesus Christ.

[00:44:37] [SPEAKER_00]: It's him saying will you go

[00:44:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and that's saying yes

[00:44:39] [SPEAKER_00]: and trusting him through every one of those.

[00:44:42] [SPEAKER_00]: See there's such a joy in serving Jesus

[00:44:44] [SPEAKER_00]: because ultimately you guys

[00:44:45] [SPEAKER_00]: the adventure of serving Jesus it bubbles out

[00:44:49] [SPEAKER_00]: and it becomes part of who you are

[00:44:51] [SPEAKER_00]: in deep and intimate ways.

[00:44:53] [SPEAKER_00]: So as I finish up here

[00:44:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I just wanna give you a couple applications.

[00:44:57] [SPEAKER_00]: So again, desire.

[00:44:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Desire each day to know Jesus more.

[00:45:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Just in little ways.

[00:45:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Read the word, pray, spend time in community.

[00:45:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Just desire to know Jesus more each and every day.

[00:45:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Desire to be more involved

[00:45:11] [SPEAKER_00]: in the building of God's kingdom.

[00:45:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Desire to grow and mature

[00:45:14] [SPEAKER_00]: with the brothers and sisters around you.

[00:45:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Be about community.

[00:45:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Just desire the kingdom of God above your own.

[00:45:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Necessity, find the necessity

[00:45:23] [SPEAKER_00]: of living within God's kingdom

[00:45:24] [SPEAKER_00]: where the first will be last

[00:45:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and the last will be first.

[00:45:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus said these things.

[00:45:29] [SPEAKER_00]: He said whoever finds his life will lose it

[00:45:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

[00:45:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus said that I come to give life

[00:45:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and life abundantly.

[00:45:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Find the necessity of living within that kingdom.

[00:45:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Make it important in your life.

[00:45:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Put it above all other things.

[00:45:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Let Jesus be the king over your life.

[00:45:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And then joy.

[00:45:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Just daily look to Jesus and choose to live

[00:45:54] [SPEAKER_00]: within the joy of dying to self

[00:45:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and finding your life in him.

[00:45:58] [SPEAKER_00]: See Christians, if we don't let this be something

[00:46:01] [SPEAKER_00]: that's a part of our daily life,

[00:46:03] [SPEAKER_00]: the foundation of who we are,

[00:46:04] [SPEAKER_00]: then we're missing out on the key element

[00:46:07] [SPEAKER_00]: of what it means to be in God's kingdom.

[00:46:09] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not about you.

[00:46:11] [SPEAKER_00]: You are to die to yourself and it's about Jesus.

[00:46:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's where faith steps in and drives us.

[00:46:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Drives us deeper, drives us

[00:46:19] [SPEAKER_00]: for more intimate relationship with him each and every day.

[00:46:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Now I wanna read Hebrews 12 verses one through three again,

[00:46:25] [SPEAKER_00]: but I wanna read it from the message.

[00:46:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And so Bernard is gonna put it up there on screen.

[00:46:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I just think it's a great kind of period

[00:46:32] [SPEAKER_00]: or end point to this.

[00:46:33] [SPEAKER_00]: So Eugene Peterson says or kind of translates in this,

[00:46:36] [SPEAKER_00]: do you see what this means?

[00:46:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Talking about chapter 11 again.

[00:46:40] [SPEAKER_00]: All these pioneers who blaze the way,

[00:46:42] [SPEAKER_00]: all these veterans cheering us on,

[00:46:44] [SPEAKER_00]: it means we better get on with it.

[00:46:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Strip down, start running and never quit.

[00:46:49] [SPEAKER_00]: No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.

[00:46:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Keep your eyes on Jesus,

[00:46:54] [SPEAKER_00]: who both began and finished this race, were in.

[00:46:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Study how he did it

[00:46:58] [SPEAKER_00]: because he never lost sight of where he was headed.

[00:47:02] [SPEAKER_00]: That exhilarating finish in and with God,

[00:47:06] [SPEAKER_00]: he could put up with anything along the way,

[00:47:08] [SPEAKER_00]: cross, shame, whatever.

[00:47:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And now he's there

[00:47:11] [SPEAKER_00]: in a place of honor right alongside God.

[00:47:13] [SPEAKER_00]: When you find yourself lagging in your faith,

[00:47:16] [SPEAKER_00]: go over the story again,

[00:47:17] [SPEAKER_00]: item by item, that long iteny of hostility

[00:47:22] [SPEAKER_00]: he plowed through that will shoot adrenaline into your soul.

[00:47:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for listening.

[00:47:31] [SPEAKER_01]: If you would like more teachings

[00:47:32] [SPEAKER_01]: and information about Calvary Monterey,

[00:47:35] [SPEAKER_01]: please visit Calvary.com.

[00:47:37] [SPEAKER_01]: You can also find books,

[00:47:38] [SPEAKER_01]: teachings through the Bible

[00:47:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and articles from our lead pastor at NateHolderidge.com.

[00:47:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks again for tuning in.

[00:47:45] [SPEAKER_01]: See you next week.