Unreasonable Faith Series

Living a No-Regrets Life Series

Unreasonable Faith

July 5, 2009 FBC, Chester Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker

Introduction

A Love our self pg. 34: “In fact, loving ourselves is a biblical command. Jesus Himself said this in identifying the greatest commandments: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39, TLB). Most of us understand we are to love God first and that we are to love our neighbor, but we miss the last part of the message: we are to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. Jesus indicates that before we can really love others and make a difference in their lives, we have to first love ourselves.”

1 We’ll cover others, struggles, legacy...but first we’ve got to have our heads screwed on straight.

a Not selfish!

B For some people, their favorite day of the week is “someday.”

1 Someday, I’ll...show my spouse I love them, spend time with my kids, live for God, get my life together.

a Someday when my schedule isn’t as busy, finances are more stable.

aa Someday, one day. When...if. Wake up guys-this is life.

bb Right here, right now...while you’re hearing this sermon.

cc Someday is right now.

b God has not created us to stand around & watch life pass us by.

aa He created us to take risks & conquer the giants that paralyze us with fear.

bb Some of you flinched when I said “take risks”, let me tell you why.

cc If you take a risk, you must reliquish/surrender control/let go & simply trust in God.

c Today, we’ll learn how to take risks with our faith & how we can conquer our biggest fears that stop us from living a no-regrets life.

2 Pray

I We’ve got to take risks!

A Have you noticed when someone knows their time is short, they are more inclined to live on the edge? (Skydiving, mountain climbing, white-water rafting, bungee jumping, ride across country on a bike, etc.)

1 I’ve noticed people nearing the end of their lives facing their fears & taking risks.

a They left the safety of their surroundings, stopped worrying about what people thought (or might say) about them.

b They didn’t think about failing or wasting time...regret far outweighed either of them.

2 They made the difficult calls to estranged relatives & friends; had conversations with their kids about what mattered most.

a Asked for forgiveness for the things they regret, or for the things they felt were undone.

b Acted like a billionaire who was down to his last $100.

B We’re to be like a teenage boy named David when he stepped forward in a death match with a giant named Goliath.

1 This 12-foot-tall loudmouth had been badmouthing his God & God’s people.

a There were thousands of Israelite soldiers, King Saul...but no one made a move to shut Goliath up.

aa Why? Playing it safe. Not taking any unnecessary risks.

bb (IL) Hard work never killed anybody...but I don’t want to take any risks.

b Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth." 1 Sam 17:33 (NASB)

"Don’t be ridiculous!" Saul replied. "How can a kid like you fight with a man like him? You are only a boy, and he has been in the army since he was a boy!" 1 Sam 17:33 (TLB)

aa “David, that dude is going to kill you dead, rip you limb from limb, he outweighs you by 350 lbs., killed more men than you’ve met-BE REALISTIC!”

bb Saul was right! He’s got a good handle on this.

cc The army of Israel & King Saul were operating from reason...David wasn’t (he was operating from faith).

c When you operate from reason, all you see is how big your giants are; when you operate by faith all you see is how small your giants are compared to God.

aa Saul was saying, “He’s so big he’ll destroy you!”; David was saying, “He’s so big I can’t miss!”

2 The one thing that separated David from everyone else was a ridiculous faith.

a Saul & his army saw everything from the ground level, & all they saw was a giant; David was looking at God-level & the giants became real small.

b As we begin to look at life from a God-level perspective, we discover that the unrealistic, unreasonable faith that everyone else finds ridiculous is really the only reasonable way to live.

aa If you want to be pinned down by this giant, have at it. I’m going to go get my sling, a rock, & my unreasonable faith & take him down.