Life of Faith: Part 6

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Life of Faith- Part 6

Pastor Rollan Fisher 

Focus: We will reap the rewards of faith when we seek God for our triumphs and look to Jesus to keep us through our pains to ultimate victory.   

• Welcoming Faith

• Triumphant Faith

• Keeping Faith

Hebrews 11:31-40 

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy— wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Welcoming Faith

The faith into which Jesus calls us is a transforming faith.  

• Faith welcomes Jesus during both good and challenging times to rule and to reign.

• Rahab the prostitute, who would eventually become part of the earthly lineage of Christ (Matthew 1), was a perfect picture of God’s plan of repentance and redemption through Jesus.

• By putting her faith in the God who had just delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt, she received the ability to rewrite her own story by the transforming power of Christ.

• How have you chosen to be identified with Christ so that he might transform your story for his glory?

Triumphant Faith

The faith into which Jesus calls us is a conquering faith.

• One way or another in this fallen world, you will face trials.

• Yet the people of faith came to understand that in God’s Kingdom, ultimately under Christ’s rule, is where they would find the blessing - even in the midst of trial.

How?

• Faith conquers…fears, insecurities, demonic intimidation and kingdoms because you tap into God’s ability and not your own.

• Faith enforces justice because God is faithful to uphold his righteous cause for and through his people.

• Faith obtains promises as it holds to and believes God’s word.

We must learn to STAND on that word.  

• Faith stops the mouths of lions - accusers, oppressors and those who would come after your life and reputation - because God's testimony always has the final say.

• Faith quenches the power of the fire because you know there is another with you enabling you to come through and to come out of that fire without the smell of smoke (Daniel 3).

• Faith turns weakness into strength because you finally have a healthy dependence on God’s ability to move mountains that stand in your way of fulfilling his Kingdom purposes.

This is no hype session. 

• Faith makes you mighty in war, beginning in the Spirit with prayer, that the unseen battle might be won and manifest itself in the natural (Ephesians 6).

• Faith finally has you take up the full armor of God by which you can OVERCOME the enemy's schemes.

It means that if you do not give up, you WIN in the end because of Christ’s victorious resurrection from the dead (II Corinthians 2:14). 

To walk with God, do his will and fulfill the Great Commission of Christ is a fight of faith.  

Yet…

• Faith enables us to put armies to flight by the hand of God as we worship.

• Faith allows us to receive back that which we thought was dead by the power of God as we pray.

All of these examples in Hebrews were men and women of old trusting God and allowing him to show up miraculously in their lives AS THEY SOUGHT HIM BY FAITH. 

*FAITH WAS NOT PASSIVE. 

*THEY SOUGHT GOD BECAUSE THEY HEARD HIS WORD, OF HIS VERY GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES, AND ACTUALLY HOPED FOR SOMETHING. 

Hebrews 11:1 

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

*THE PEOPLE OF FAITH WERE NOT SATISFIED TO TAKE JUST ANYTHING THAT THEY WERE HANDED.  

THEY SOUGHT GOD FOR HIS GOODNESS EXPRESSED IN MIRACULOUS EXPRESSIONS OF HIS LOVE IN THE CONTEXT OF HIS KINGDOM.  

THEY CAME TO UNDERSTAND THAT GOD’S BLESSING WAS FOUND IN HIS KINGDOM - IN HIS TOTAL RULE OVER EVERY ASPECT OF THEIR LIVES.  

So the question is:

For what Kingdom pursuit are you SEEKING God with proactive, tenacious hope?

• Faith leads us to the triumphs of God.

• Yet faith is also learning to endure with Christ when the road to what was promised is not as we prefer or expect.

• Faith allowed women to receive back their dead by resurrection, yet they still had to endure the pain of that death.

Hebrews 11:35b-38

Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two,  they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy— wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

It is never an all triumph and no suffering proposition. 

• Jesus leads us to great victories even as we endure the daily pain of the cross.

• And this is the resurrection life of Christ, that we learn to die with him that we might truly live!

• Long-suffering is a part of a Biblical faith that leads us to God’s eternal reward.

• By faith in Jesus and his atoning work for us on the cross for our sins, even in our shortcomings, there is always resurrection life on the other side of our pain.

• The world was not worthy of those who lived such a life locked into the faith of God’s redeeming, restorative plan for the earth through Christ.

• Yet God met them in their pain, continually reaffirming them of the hope of a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness where death will have lost its victory, sin its sting (Isaiah 66; I Corinthians 15:54-58).

• With what do you need to come to Jesus by faith, that he might comfort you in your pains?

Keeping Faith

The faith into which God calls us is a keeping faith as we wait for the fulfillment of the promises of God.   

• Faith is ultimately all about exalting Christ and his Kingdom as he brings about his redemptive plan for the world.

• Your personal story is simply a part of the larger narrative of how God meets, transforms, strengthens, comforts and ultimately glories his people as they follow him, doing his will by faith (Romans 8).

• Your story is never to be central in your mind or lived alone.

• When we become myopic, we deviate from the historic forward march of the people of the cross leading to ultimate victory in Jesus for those who live by faith.

• Only together with other believers is the goal of faith fully realized and the advance of the gospel fully accomplished.

Faith should lead you in godly ambition to that which can only be fully realized when Christ moves fully in his people throughout the generations.  

THIS MEANS THAT YOUR SERVING, YOUR PRAYING, YOUR GIVING AND YOUR GOING TO THE WORLD TODAY WITH THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS MATTERS!!

Hebrews 11:39,40

And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

• The gospel of Christ is the gospel of the Kingdom, not just your personal salvation.

• Stop thinking that your walk with God is a solo act.

• There are perfecting partnerships of faith that God uses to help keep you in Jesus as you press on to ultimate victory in Christ.

Who are those people for you? 

• These are the people who strengthen you in disillusionment, lift you during discouragements and remind you of the faith that you share as you build to the glory of God.

• The purposes of God in your life are realized through interdependent relationships through which a mutual, baton-passing faith impacts the present and the generations to come.

• God has always intended his people to be part of an ongoing story directed by the Holy Spirit focused on building an everlasting Kingdom with Christ as King.

The government will be on Christ’s shoulders and the increase of his government will know no end.  

Your walk of faith is an indispensable part of unfolding that story. 

Only together with those who’ve come before you, united with those who will come after you, will the purposes of God be made perfect.  

With whom are you linked to build God’s Kingdom through a unified, multi-generational faith?

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Life of Faith: Part 4

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Life of Faith - Part 4

Pastor Rollan Fisher

• Faith of the Parents

• Times of Reckoning

• Crossing the Sea

Faith of the Parents 

• Parenting is meant to be a walk of faith.

Hebrews 11:23-29

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.

Parents are called to have a life of faith in raising their children, pressing in to both understand and cultivate the call of God in their children’s lives.

Hebrews 11:23

“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.”

We should ask God for eyes to see that which Christ sees.

By faith, Moses’ parents were not afraid of the king’s threats and hid their child from influence of the king because they saw that he was to be no ordinary child (NIV).

Your responsibility as a parent is not to be a child’s personal chauffeur or Uber driver that they might participate in every activity under the sun. 

You are a limited resource - as your children age, the more important it will be to sow into their calling and not just their hobbies.

Nor are your children’s activities to be the way that you vicariously make up for all that you did not experience as a child.

This can create unwanted pressures and negative consequences - your children are not supposed to be you. 

Cultivate by faith who God has created them to be.  

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

This is a call for the children to be taught how to live by faith.  

Times of Reckoning

• Moses built on top of the faith of his parents.

Hebrews 11:24-28

“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.”

Though Moses had been raised in Pharaoh's court as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, a time of reckoning came where he had to decide by whom he would be identified. 

By faith, Moses chose to be identified with the people of God, though it cost him his position, affluence and comforts.  

The fleeting pleasures of sin will always be available and will be found on easier roads to travel.

The life of sin comes with less resistance and requires less in terms of our daily focus and efforts, but in the end costs more, including our lives.

There is a time in everyone’s development when they need to grow up and not depend on someone else’s faith for their relationship with God.

To leave a life of sin it takes faith - faith in God’s power to free you and faith that the God designed life is better.  

*Faith produces endurance, because your eyes are fixed on Christ who’s person and purposes never change. 

This allows you to stand, even in the midst of the midst of opposition, because you know the one who wins and rewards in the end. 

“By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.”

Because of this, by faith, you also keep the rhythms, gatherings and celebrations of God, to honor him and remind you of the centrality of his eternal purposes in your life.

This is why we do not forsake the gathering of the brethren in church.

Hebrews 10:25-24,25

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

In doing so, we perpetually recognize the importance of Christ’s broken body and spilled blood at the cross for the forgiveness of our sins as we continue to bear fruit in keeping with repentance from those same sins (Matthew 3:8-10).

Crossing the Sea

• Christ Jesus is the one who enables us to by faith enter into a new life.

Hebrews 11:29

“By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.”

You must live by faith to live in the promise of God to be freed from your old man of sin.

It is only through Jesus that we can walk in the freedom of new life in God.

It is the cleansing of God’s Word (John 15:3), the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb of God for us at the cross and the power of God’s Holy Spirit that enable us to participate in the righteousness of a Holy, perfect God.  

When the Egyptians tried to cross the Red Sea in their own strength and without right standing with God, they were drowned.  

Through the waters of baptism, by faith we leave the former slavery of our old life and enter into the freedom of new life by the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.  

Let us meet Jesus at the cross and encourage others to the waters of baptism that we might all walk in the freedom and purposes for God for our lives, all by faith!

Second City Church - Pastor Cole Rollan Fisher

Life of Faith: Part 3

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Life of Faith: Part 3

Pastor Rollan Fisher

1. A City Whose Architect is God

2. Family Faith for that City

3. Bones in that City

A City Whose Architect is God

Hebrews 11:8 - 16

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

*The more we mature in Christ, the more faith becomes less about preference and more about God’s eternal Kingdom purposes in our lives.

You want God to be the architect of your life and story.

For this to be the case, like Abraham, we must seek God for the place, the people and the purpose that he wants us to devote ourselves by faith to fulfill his Kingdom call.

Such a story ends in God’s heavenly city, the home of righteousness, where those who belong to Christ will dwell forever.

What are the place, the people and the purpose to which God has called you?

Family Faith for that City

Living by faith is one where your family learns to make sacrifices to the Lord

Hebrews 11:17 - 19

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

There are different measures of faith required for different seasons of life.

Have no doubt about it - the older you get the more the life of faith requires of you - the more consequential the decisions will be impacting more and more people.

Yet God expects you to press in more, not less, to receive his direction that you might live by faith and obediently fulfill his call.

Why the command to sacrifice Isaac?

As your family grows, so will the need for you to press into God to grow in faith in the decisions that you make for the family.

To ensure that you remain Christ and Kingdom focused, God will bring you to moments of decision, big and small, where you are called to put God first above everything - even what others would tell you is best for your family.

When God calls us to sacrifice anything, it is with our family’s best in mind - not that they would have all of the comforts and pleasures of this present age, but an enduring faith in Christ resultant in eternal rewards in the age to come.

Too often we sell our families short just trying to make them happy and comfortable.

We end up spoiling their character, blurring their focus and dulling their faith by giving them everything that the world offers.

Abraham was teaching Isaac a life-long lesson of faith when he chose to obey God.

Sacrifice and faith go hand in hand.

There was nothing more important than family and posterity in Abraham’s culture.

The very child that God promised Abraham is that which he demanded of him to ensure that nothing, no one and no plan of Abraham’s would begin to trump God’s importance and direction in Abraham’s life.

For God to fully apprehend and keep your heart, at different points in your walk with him, he will require you to sacrifice that which you thought was part of his promise to you.

The truth is that some of the things we finally relent to sacrifice were a promise from God, some were dreams of our own making.

I.e. - What God has started in you, he wants to complete in Christ.

It is a challenge over the years to keep your hands off of the reins - but we must do so by faith to complete the mission of God.

*It will always be a test once we’ve been walking with God for a period of time, and have received part of his promise, to begin to think that we can take it from here - that we now have a better idea of how the plan should be completed and the story should end.

That which you thought was yours by right and promise can be required in sacrifice if it becomes idolatrous in your life.

What God requires in sacrifice he is able to raise from the dead if it is truly of him.

Don’t deceive yourself into thinking you have a better plan.

All the sacrifices of God are a foreshadowing of the provision that we are to look to in Christ.

God requires nothing more of us than what he was willing in love to give with his one and only Son.

Jesus, the perfect promised child, was beloved of the Father but prepared from eternity past to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world.

God is calling his people to nothing less.

Sow your life into that which endures for eternity.

Give your family that which lasts.

The greatest gift that you can give your family is not all of the toys, comforts and opportunities that society tells us they need, but helping them discover how to by faith live a life of sacrifice like Christ that they might fulfill his Kingdom calling and enjoy his eternal reward.

Show them how to lay their time, talent and treasure on the altar of Christ, in obedience to his commands for his glory alone.

Therein they will find a joy that they will never lose, the heavenly rewards that can never be taken.

So the question is: What is God calling you to sacrifice for the sake of his Kingdom call?

Bones in that City

Your life of faith is not just for your benefit, but for all who will follow you to the cross and into Christ’s Kingdom.

Hebrews 11:20–22

20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

The result of our faith should be bones that provide structure and a testimony for the generations that follow.

Let’s repent of anything that we’ve exalted above the purposes of God in our lives and by faith meet him at the cross to begin a life of which he is the architect!

Second City Church - Pastor Cole Rollan Fisher

Life of Faith: Part 2 - The Faith of Peter

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Life of Faith Part 2: The Faith of Peter

Associate Pastor Cole Parleir

Focus: A life of faith in Jesus Christ is one that leaves everything, follows Jesus anywhere, and feeds others for the rest of their lives.

1. Faith That Leaves Everything

2. Faith That Goes Anywhere

3. Faith That Feeds God’s Word

Faith That Leaves Everything

Luke 5:1 - 11

1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

A living faith in Jesus Christ will cause us to leave everything.

• Peter’s brother, Andrew, was a disciple of John the Baptist who had told Andrew of Jesus being the Lamb of God. Andrew in turn told Simon Peter.

John 1:35 - 37

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

• God is always making himself known to humanity, preparing us to receive salvation when the Gospel is preached and Jesus calls us to follow him. Your part matters!

• Peter had to leave behind his weariness from the previous night’s work, his cynicism after a fruitless night, and his pride as a veteran fisherman to act in faith on Jesus’ Word.

• Jesus’ command to fish again led to Simon’s reward for letting Jesus use his boat: which consisted of business blessing, demonstration of the presence of God AND the first step of understanding who Jesus is as Lord of heaven and earth.

• True repentance occurs as we experience God’s holiness which in contrast uncovers our sinfulness. This led Peter to understand the just judgement and lawful rejection by God of him as a sinful man.

• Jesus came not to condemn the world, but to save it. So he commands Peter to not be afraid, but to follow him and catch others as he had been caught.

• A life of faith is one that is willing to leave everything and follow Jesus.

Faith That Goes Anywhere

Matthew 14:22–33

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

A life of faith in Jesus Christ will lead us into accomplishing the impossible and deepening our worship of him.

• Jesus had just spent the evening in prayer. He was about 3 miles from the boat…so his walk on water was much further than Peter’s! This was between 3am and 6am.

• The word ‘ghost’ may have meant the disciples thought an evil spirit was trying to deceive them.

• Here we see Jesus confirming and assuring them with the familiar “I am” statement of Yahweh’s voice at the burning bush.

• Peter was not content with just hearing Jesus’ voice so he asked Jesus to call him out on the water so he could also be with him.

• Peter is learning that with God, all things are possible, if it is God’s will. So he asked Jesus to call him if it was his will.

• Jesus walking on water in a storm, his “I am” response, his enabling of Peter to walk on water, and his saving of Peter drew the disciples to confess Jesus as the Son of God in worship.

Faith That Feeds God’s Word

John 21:15–19

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

A life of faith in Jesus produces an ever increasing sacrificial love for Jesus and that which Jesus loves.

• Satan had asked to sift Peter, but Jesus had prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail in the long run. In the short run, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times in a span of a few hours.

• Jesus’ prayers are always answered! We see Jesus willing to replay the very beginning of his relationship with Peter, essentially taking Peter back to the milk of the Word covering the foundations of relationship with him again.

• In the process of sanctification (maturity) in Christ we must grow in the teachings of righteousness and obedience. However, when we fail, Jesus will never leave us or forsake us if we abide in him.

• As we mature in faith we become more aware of our sin and failures as a result of being close to Christ. Be assured, Jesus knew the project you were when he called you and he still called you in love.

• Jesus called Peter and calls us to freely give the Word that we have freely received.

• To do so, we must carry the cross God assigns to us knowing he will give us grace to do so. It is the believer’s great joy to fellowship with Christ in this way.

Reflect and Discuss

1. Has the call from Jesus Christ compelled you to confess your sins, leave everything and follow Him?

2. If not, what is holding you back?

3. Has your faith matured to ask Jesus for the humanly impossible if he says it’s possible: salvation of others, miraculous healing (all forms), miraculous provision, etc?

4. Has your faith matured to love Jesus by feeding others His word?

Pray and Act

Lord, I want to be with you. Give me faith to leave anything holding me back, to ask for your will always and to feed others your eternal Word. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Peter’s faith in Christ gave him a new name, a new identity as Peter (rock)

Matthew 16:18

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Second City Church - Associate Pastor Cole Parleir

Life of Faith: Part 1

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Life of Faith: Part 1

Pastor Rollan Fisher

1. The Foundations

2. The Commendation of God

3. The Life of Faith

The Foundations

The foundations of the faith all establish proper belief in God and his saving work through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 5:11 - 6:3

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.

The milk of the word ushers us into the eternal life of God - all by faith in the sacrificial death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Like a calcium source for strong bones, the foundations are the milk of the word of God and are important for establishing Biblical structure in our lives.

These are the things that lead to the person and saving work of Jesus by establishing the importance of the cross of Christ.

You will live and not die when you repent of your sin and put your faith in the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ for you at the cross.

The milk of the word helps us live free from sin, aware of our forgiveness and justification in Christ.

It shows us how to turn from sin, put faith in God and order our days in obedience to the commands of God’s Word in light of the judgement to come.

The Commendation of God

A life that God commends is one that is obedient to his written word and his dynamic direction in our personal lives.

Hebrews 11:1–7

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Living a life of faith means walking with God and his people in such a way that brings his commendation.

The meat of the word brings us into more than just orthodox belief about God.

The meat of the word ushers us into dynamic interaction with God, where the Holy Spirit guides us into God’s Kingdom adventure for our lives as we follow his leadership, with his people, by faith.

• The meat of the word addressed not just what the people of God are to believe, but how they are to follow Christ based on his dynamic direction in their lives.

The life of faith is exemplified by God’s interaction with the patriarchs and matriarchs.

They give us examples of how to live a life of faith commended by God, one that pleases him and brings his eternal reward in Christ.

Maturing in Christ means we continue to develop our relationship with God to move from:

• Mere acceptance to commendation

• Simply belonging to friendship with Jesus

John 15:14–17

14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

God’s commendation involves the intersection of sanctification and consecration - being set apart for God’s pleasure and purposes.

Like a protein source, the meat of the word builds our faith muscle for movement with God.

The Life of Faith

When seen through the lens of Christ, the Old Testament examples of the patriarchs and matriarchs show us how to live lives of faith.

The meat of the word ushers us into the eternal purposes of God - all by faith.

The life of faith is one of consecration to the purposes of God - living as a disciple and making disciples of Christ.

1 Timothy 1:3–7 (NIV)

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

Let’s meet Jesus as the cross today and allow him to mature us to a place of walking with him by faith!

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher