STUDY OUTLINE:
. SUM UP THE BIBLE IN ONE SENTENCE. THEN THE OT. THEN THE NT. (Extra credit THE LAW BOOKS; HISTORY (INCLUDE ACTS); POETRY; PROPHETS (INCLUDE REVELATION); GOSPELS; LETTERS. Hints: include words like___________...
. Name some life experiences that have caused your faith muscles to build.
. Name some of the biggest enemies to authentic faith.
. “Fear craves s________, s__________ & s______ answers. Faith craves and clings to the p_________ of God, followed by the p________ of God.”
. God is FAR more concerned with our c___________ than our c____________. See any “no parking” signs? In what shape/form have those signs come?
. Name some promises you are confident God has given you. List any partial fulfillments, even if small. Are you dwelling on what He hasn’t given vs. what He HAS? What happens when you do that?
. “I believe in the sun, even when it’s not shining. And I believe in love, even when I don’t feel it. I believe in God, even when he’s silent.” ~ Inscription on the wall in Nazi Germany. That’s faith. Has God been silent for a while? It is God’s silence that fuels fear. It is God’s presence that fires up faith.
I. Use resolutions and failure rates, keys to keeping them from Bright as intro. Use famous resolutions of Jonathan Edwards from ChristianHistory.net. TTB90 can be kept.
A. 75% quit on their resolutions after one week. Nearly half after six months. Here’s the deal: you can benefit a LOT from involvement in this emphasis, regardless of your level of participation (all in, hit or miss, not). But you know; the more you put in, the more you’ll get out. And what does your level of participation tell you about yourself. I just don’t want people hearing the message a lot of people hear the church sending as their only message: “You’re bad, a goof up. All you need to do is try harder.”
B. One of the biggest benefits to reading TTB90 is seeing the “big picture.” Too often when we read short portions, slowly, we can get details and very practical gems that God has for us. But we miss the huge themes of love and life that are the forest. We see the trees.
C. A great exercise to go w/ this series is summarize the Bible in one sentence. Tips: it will have these words: God, love, Jesus, man, sin.
D. Then do the same for the OT and NT. What words will be in those purpose statements? Words like Law, externals/rituals, fear. Whereas the NT summary will have words like grace and the heart.
II. One such big picture theme is the “fear vs. faith” tension we see through the section you’ve just finished. In fact we can see that through the entire Bible.
A. The featured actor on stage in this section is Abram. He’s called, just like you, to walk into unseen territory. But he, like us all, wants predictability, stability, & safety (Genesis 12:1-3). Faith vs. fear. There are many more dynamic tensions in the Bible (intimacy, but fear of closeness, (see pp 26-27, RH Barton)?
B. Our faith muscles are built not so much by forcing ourselves to overcome fear, forcing ourselves to obey, but by clinging to the evidence we have (Heb 11:1).
1. Sometimes the substance/evidence of things hoped for is simply the written promises of God in His Word. Sometimes the evidence we have is the internal testimony/voice of God’s Spirit reminding us we are His and we are loved (Rom 8:16 P ).
2. Then, as we meditate on these over and over, our hope turns into confidence. Confidence is also something solid to stand on because it’s in our God who is faithful. “Chesed” is a constant theme, when so much else is shifting sand.
C. So while we often think of faith like the little boy said: “believing is something you know ain’t so,” or something totally unseen, faith does have some fairly tangible elements that we can stand on: the Word (promises) of God and the confidence that comes after meditating on those. “You know in your knower” as one old preacher said with calm confidence as he faced death.
D. So every time we ponder the promises, then stand on the confident assurance that comes from that, we can them move out in faithful obedience. That makes our faith muscles grow. There is always an action element to faith. Note that here (Heb 11:1-11).
E. There’s always an unseen element to faith, i.e. won’t see some promises fulfilled (v 13). I struggle w/ that re: (Pr 22:6 P ).
1. But there IS substance we can hang onto; these are promises of GOD. Think of all the things you put your faith in that are not nearly as solid as our God i.e. the car companies are nearly as solid as God, though we once thought they were. Yet each time you get behind that wheel you’re confident the wheels aren’t going to fall off or it’s going to run off the road. We can do that on our own).
2. Meditate on the solid confidence we have because of God’s track record w/ us, our God who is faithful to keep His promises. How about that almost tangible testimony of the Holy Spirit living inside us assuring us they are true, God is true, He is for us and working for us and LOVES US SO MUCH?
F. Faith is always based on WHO God is, not who we are. Faith is all about Him, not about us, the amount (QUANTITY) of faith we have, how spiritual we are, how good we’ve been. It’s about God.
G. So many times in the next section you’ll read you’ll see another key biblical theme: it’s not about you; it’s about God: His goodness, greatness and love (Dt 7:6-9 P ).
H. Likely the biggest enemy to authentic faith is fear. Fear clings to safety & security; Faith is willing to launch out in obedience into the unseen. We can’t see the outcome. We do it because of the evidence I’ve already mentioned.
III. Enter Abram (Gen 12:1-3)
How many of us would be on board for this? For many of us this command would be gas on the fire of our fears:
. Walk away from my home you’ve worked so hard to build.
. Abandon your career that gives you identity, income, & esteem.
. Move away from your family and my support structures, i.e. leave your comfort zone.
Q: Does God always put a “no parking” in our comfort zones? Doesn’t He want us to be comfortable? I don’t think so. The opposite is not misery. What God does want is contentment. Comfort tends to make us forget God. Moving out of our comfort zones helps us be highly dependent--communicating & connected.
A. Start off on a cross-country trip with no map/GPS and no destination. Abram has seen the “no parking” sign. He’s moving out. He’s getting a faith lift” (Heb 11:8-11). What do you see?
1. Have you seen those face lifting exercises. You twist and screw up your face to tighten muscles and drive away wrinkles. [Demo. Make sure no one sees you unless you have certified sanity papers in your pocket. I prefer botox myself.]
2. You’d have to overcome a lot of fear in order to do faith-lifting exercises. But this is the path to obedience and growth. Just participating in this TTB90 is one such exercise.
3. If fear (of failure+) keeps you from obedience and growth, you need a faith lift.
B. When the writer to the Hebrews wanted to describe “faith,” he used Abraham as his prime example. He went through a whole list of Bible Greats in Hebrews chapter 11, but it was on Abraham that he spent the most time, drawing out examples from his life to demonstrate the essence of living by faith. He keeps looking forward and looking at the One who is faithful; HIS faithfulness, His goodness (v 11).
C. Timeless Principles:
1. Faith starts w/ God; not us.
2. God can direct a moving object. Movement/action in the right direction builds faith Heb 11:4-7).
3. There is a seen element to faith, but an unseen, unfulfilled one too. There are partial (down)payments. Don’t disdain those (vs 12-13). Ills. in Abram’s life (giving, then saving Isaac, etc). He could’ve focused only on what God HADN’T done yet, couldn’t see.
You too? Ills.?
4. Often the complete fulfillment will only come in Heaven (vs 10, 12-16). That’s hard to accept…by many (critics who don’t believe Heaven is real).
IV. One of the things rapid reading through the Bible will do is show you those themes that are repeated over & over, like (Joshua 1:9). The big antidote to fear is God’s presence, period. That’s why we need to focus on Him more than the blessings, fulfillments He’s promised, more than will power, more than anyone or anything…Him, who He is, His character, His love for us, that He is FOR us. When God asks you to obey, more than anything He gives you his presence. But w/ His presence comes power (Jn 15:4-5).
A. His presence is most important. Do you know His presence, that comes from connection, closeness? No better way that coming close in His Word (TTB90).
B. Do you know His promises are true, because He is true & faithful?
C. Do you get a confidence to act and move out of your comfort zone in scary obedience because He said “I will be with you,” and because you’ve seen partial fulfillments of His promises. Knowing you may never see complete fulfillments in this life. But will in Heaven?
D. Are you confident of Heaven? GOSPEL. CLOSING SONG.
BENEDICTION. “I believe in the sun, even when it’s not shining. And I believe in love, even when I don’t feel it. I believe in God, even when he’s silent.” ~ Inscription on the wall in Nazi Germany. That’s faith. Has God been silent for a while? It is God’s silence that fuels fear. It is God’s presence that fires up faith. |
