Faith That Is Part Of Life

Faith That Is Part of Life

“ Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” 21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his[c] holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.” 2 Chronicles 20:20-21

Intro: I want to start out with something funny.

I heard about a police officer who was looking for a convicted criminal on the loose.

He showed some men the profile picture. "Have you seen this man?"

The first man said, "No, but I hope you catch this one eyed man."

"Sir, this is a profile picture, he has two eyes."

The second said, "I haven't seen him, but he should stand out with just half a nose."

Frustrated, the police officer said to a third man,

"I'm looking for a little help here,

I hope you are more helpful than your friends."

"Yes sir, and I can tell you that this criminal wears contact lenses!"

"Great, now you're helping me! How do you know?"

"Well, he couldn't wear glasses, he only has one ear!"

Today we are going to talk about “Faith That Is Part Of Life.”

A Lady once came into my office and said, she did not believe in religion or that church mattered.

She did not have faith.

She had never seen faith move a mountain.

She had never known faith that brought a beloved family member back to life.

She had never experienced faith that put money into her bank account when a bill was past due.

She did not believe. She did not have faith.

As she sat there my mind was racing for words to say

that would change her heart and offer her some hope.

What would you say to this lady?

We go to a doctor whose name we cannot pronounce,

who writes us a prescription we cannot read,

that we take to a pharmacist we do not know.

The pharmacist gives us a chemical compound we do not understand.

If that is not faith, I don’t know what it is.

That is an act of faith.

It is a different kind of faith than what we most often hear sermons preached about.

But it is a start.

It is a starting point of faith that is part of life none the less.

Everyone has faith in something.

Even a lack of faith is a kind of faith.

Some people have “little faith,” and we feel sorry for them.

Some folks have “a desperate faith,” and we pray for them.

Some people have a “different faith,” and we fear them.

Some people have “strong faith,” and we admire them.

Faith isn’t something we turn on and off, like a switch.

Faith is a lifestyle.

Faith is something we live by each day.

“Faith That Is Part of Life”

We live in a society full of doubters and skeptics and cynics.

They say, “I don’t believe it!"

They live in the negative experiences.

Unfortunately we’ve all had negative experiences.

Because we have all been disappointed so many times,

we are tempted to believe in nothing or no one.

When promised something we often respond by saying, "I’ll believe it when I see it!"

The problem is, even when we do see it we often don’t believe it.

When it comes to faith in God, sometimes we limp, sometimes we linger, and sometimes we just leap.

The back story to the scripture reading for this morning

Begins when people come to Jehoshaphat with an early warning that a vast army

is coming against them from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea.

They had already reached the oasis of near EnGedi.

Alarmed, that the enemy was so close Jehoshaphat by faith came to ask the LORD what to do.

and he also proclaimed a fast for all of Judah.

The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD;

indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.

Jehoshaphat what are we going to do?

The things I preach are not as epic as what happens to Jehoshaphat

The sermons I give you probably don’t remember

And want be talked about 2000 years from now.

But there is a level of trust that your pastor is going to lead you in the right direction.

Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD

and said: “Oh, LORD, the God of our ancestors, We have faith in your promises to watch over us.