Daring To Grow Series

DARING TO GROW

Back in 1855, Edward Kimball was an ordinary Christian who taught Sunday school in his church and made a living down at the shoe store. One day Edward determined that he was going to look for an opportunity to explain the gospel to a salesman named Dwight, who had just joined the staff. Edward was nervous. He hemmed and hawed and paced back and forth. Dwight was in the back room putting shoes away. Finally, Edward mustered up his courage and launched into the story of Jesus birth, death, and resurrection. That day Dwight gave his life to Christ.

Dwight is probably better known to you as D.L. Moody, who went on to become a great evangelist. The story doesn’t stop there. One day Moody was preaching, and a man named FB Meyer was listening. He was deeply stirred and went on to establish a nationwide preaching ministry. Later, while Meyer was preaching, a young man in the audience named Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ.

Chapman later felt the call to evangelism. As he was proclaiming the gospel in various places, he decided he needed some help. He knew a young former baseball player named Billy Sunday, who was looking for a job, and Chapman hired him. Under Chapman, Billy learned to preach and was given the opportunity to do so every now and then. Billy Sunday ultimately emerged as one of the greatest preachers of the early 1900’s.

One day Billy Sunday was preaching in Charlotte, North Carolina, where a great move of God was taking place. Many people believed. These new believers then invited a relatively unknown preacher, Mordecai Ham, to set up his tent in Charlotte and keep preaching. It was at this time that a tall, lanky farm boy walked down the aisle and gave his life to Jesus. His name was Billy Graham. And he has personally delivered the gospel message to more people that any other man in history.

But the story does not end there. In 1953 (almost a 100 years from Moody coming to faith) there was a 14 year old student who went to see Billy Graham preach in Madison Square Gardens in New York. That boys name was like George Verwer who would then go on to form Operation Mobilization, a mission organization with over 3000 missionaries from 150 countries around the world. It was because of his vision that there was a ship named Doulos that took Naomi and I to Kuwait. That decision led me to eventually become pastor of this church.

Today we are continuing in our series Daring Faith.

Matthew 22:35-38 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? 37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

God has shown his love for us, our job is to respond to that love. The Christian life is simply responding to God’s love by loving God in return. Spiritual growth is a process in which God and I each have a part. God has done his part; our job is to respond. When we respond to God, we grow in our relationship with Him. We grow in our faith.

1. God Invites – I Enter

Ephesians 1:3-8 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will -- 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Notice here what God has already done for us. Before the creation of the world, He chose us. He loved us. He wanted us. He created this world for us and then created us. He adopted us into His family. He has redeemed us and has forgiven us. Even though we ran from Him, we have received grace. This is what God has already done for us. So how should we respond? We respond by accepting it. God invites us. He knocks on the doors of our hearts but is our job to enter, to open the door for Him.

God has given us the choice. He created us with the ability to choose, because love always must be a choice. We have the choice to accept or reject God’s love.