Dynamic Faith Series

Dynamic Faith

Matt. 8:5-10

Intro-

What I believe that Jesus was trying to say to the Roman centurion, is you have dynamic faith. You have a faith that is captiviating, usable, powerful. The centurion had a faith that was remarkable in that those around could see it and know it.

People I believe that we live in time where we need dynamic faith. God’s people need to have the kind of faith that the world sees and takes notice of. It’s time for us to stop being wishy-washy, milk-toast, luke-warm, just getting by christians and start doing

amazing, spectacular, miracle working deeds for God.

I believe that God has already started to and will continue to use people and churches who are willing to put their own selfish desires aside and say God I going after you. It doesn’t matter the cost, it doesn’t matter what may happen, Lord I want to be used by you to touch this world.

For us to be used in this way we must have dynamic faith. This morning as I conclude my serires on faith I want us to look in the word at a prophet who showed us exactly what dynamci faith is all about.

1 Kings 18

Dynamic Faith will:

1. Bring Confidence

John McKay, of the NFL, tells a story of University of Alabama football coach Bear Bryant: "We were out shooting ducks, and finally, after about three hours, here comes one lonely duck. The Bear fires. And that duck is still flying today. But Bear watched the duck flap away, looked at me and said, ’John, you are

witnessing a genuine miracle. There flies a dead duck!’" Bear Bryant had confidence in his ability to shoot that duck.

Elijah showed confidence in the ability of his God.

Verse 18-19, 24

You see Elijah was beaming with confidence, for he knew as Paul stated in 2 Tim. “I know in whom I beleive and I know he is able.

Dynamic faith will bring a realization in our minds that there is nothing impossible for God to do.

When you are standing in a seemingly impossible situation, you know it doesn’t matter because God is on your side. As matter of fact Elijah becomes almost obnoxious with his confidence.

(read verse 27).

Sounds almost like the trash-talking that goes on in pro sports like football and basketball

God wants us to have confidence in his ability to change a situation. Not in what we can do but what he is able to do through us.

Frank Lloyd Wright is among the most innovative architects this county ever produced. But his fame wasn’t limited to the United States. About 70 years ago, Japan asked Wright to design a hotel for Tokyo that would be capable of surviving an earthquake.

When the architect visited Japan to see where the Imperial Hotel was to be built, he was appalled to find only about eight feet of earth on the site. Beneath that was 60 feet of soft mud that slipped

and shook like jelly. Every test hole he dug filled up immediately with water. A lesser man probably would have given up right there. But not Frank Lloyd Wright. Since the hotel was going to rest on fluid ground, Wright decided to build it like a ship. Instead

of trying to keep the structure from moving during a quake, he incorporated features that would allow the hotel to ride out the shock without damage. Supports were sunk into the soft mud, and sections of the foundation were cantilevered from the supports.

The rooms were built in sections like a train and hinged together. Water pipes and electric lines, usually the first to shear off in an earthquake, were hung in vertical shafts where they could sway

freely if necessary. Wright knew that the major cause of destruction after an earthquake was fire, because water lines are apt to be broken in the ground and there is no way to put the fire out. So he insisted on a large outdoor pool in the courtyard of his hotel, "just in case." On September 1, 1923, Tokyo had the greatest earthquake in its history. There were fires all over the city, and 140,000 people died. Back in the U.S., news reports were slow coming in. One

newspaper wanted to print the story that the Imperial Hotel had been destroyed, as rumor had it. But when a reporter called Frank Lloyd Wright, he said that they could print the story if they wished, but they would only have to retract it later. He knew the hotel would not collapse. Shortly afterward, Wright got a telegram from Japan. The Imperial Hotel was completely undamaged. Not only that -- it had provided a home for hundreds of people. And when fires that raged all around the hotel threatened to spread, bucket brigades