“I STILL BELIEVE”
Lighthouse Worship Center
Am, Feb. 15, 2009
INTRODUCTION:
I look around the world today, even in Beaumont, & I see people who are looking for something. Looking for something to make them happy, looking for something to make them feel wanted, looking for something to make them feel complete. It’s only human nature to do that!
That is the way that God made us! He didn’t make us to just exist & to just get by or just be! God made us for a PURPOSE! A PURPOSE will answer most if not all the questions people have. It answers the looking for something, something making them happy, something making them feel wanted, something making them feel complete. A PURPOSE will give you something to BELIEVE IN! Again, it is only human nature to do this.
With that stated & laid as a foundation of what I want to speak about this morning I want to say this. For the last month it seems as though I’ve been going to Funeral after Funeral. Two of them I’ve done myself, one I went to yesterday & one I’ll be going to tomorrow. Of the Funerals I’ve been a part of or have gone to, I’ve found something in common for all of them. They had a PURPOSE! They had the answers to the questions that everybody is most looking for! Oh, they might not have had all the answers in mind but they knew the most important answer in mind! WHOSE THEY WERE! WHO THEIR GOD WAS! & WHO WAS THEIR SAVIOR, LORD & MASTER!
Of all the people I see in the Golden Triangle, in the world, on television, newsprint, news & media everybody is looking & searching for something! Of the Funerals I mentioned they had found that SOMETHING everybody is looking for! They found SOMETHING to believe in! In the past election we were told about “Change you can BELIEVE IN!” People ran with that slogan & elected a New President. I can only hope it’s change we can believe in! I’m not going to stand up here this morning & voice my political viewpoints! That’s not what this is about! But it is about the search for SOMETHING you, or people can BELIEVE IN!
I went to a yesterday and while there listening God brought this to my mind about something to BELIEVE IN!
We want to see wonderful things in our happen in our church! We want to see Souls Saved, People Fill w/the Holy Spirit, Healing(s), Deliverance(s), Financial Miracles, Families Restored. I could go on. Suffice it to say it goes back to the First Church in Acts 2:40-47!
But before that happens there has to be some fundamentals about ourselves that have to be made clear to “our” hearts & minds & to the hearts & minds of those we reach out to. THEY HAVE TO KNOW THAT “YOU” BELIEVE IN SOMETHING! SOMETHING REAL! SOMETHING LIFE CHANGING! SOMETHING RADICAL! SOMETHING REALISTIC! SOMETHING BRIGHT & BRILLIANT! SOMETHING THAT DRAWS PEOPLE FROM OUT THERE, NOT JUST TO IN HERE BUT TO HIM! JESUS THE SON OF GOD!
I sat listening to a friend speak on behalf of his mother, at her funeral, & I began to think about things that make us “DIFFERENT”, things that make us “COMPELLING”, things that make us “SEPARATE” from the world, things that make us “UNIQUE” in a world gone haywire with sin!
I’m not making a political statement but the first time in History of the United States we’ve elected a man who OPENLY supports abortion. We live in a world where parents are killing their children more & more. We live in a world where free speech is only free if it aligns w/a radical political agenda! We live in a world where Child Pornography & Child Prostitution is prevalent & permitted in some of the largest cities in the world, where human sexual slavery & bondage is common place. We live in a world where it is increasingly becoming harder & harder to BELIEVE IN SOMETHING GOOD, WHOLESOME & CLEAN!
But there is SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN, SOMETHING worth believing in, SOMETHING that is greater & better than this world has to offer! SOMETHING that makes all the suffering this world gives worth going through! THAT SOMETHING IS THE “KING OF KINGS” & “THE LORD OF LORDS!” THAT SOMETHING FOR ME TELLS ME NO MATTER WHAT THIS WORLD MAY DO TO ME I’VE STILL GOT SOMETHING GREATER THAN THIS WORLD HAS TO OFFER!
“FOR GREATER IS HE WHO IS IN ME
THAN HE THAT IS IN THIS WORLD!”
I THINK ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE (insert names that might have meaning to you or church family __________________, _________________________, __________, SOME OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN THE “PILLARS” OF A DISTRICT I’VE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH FOR OVER 20 YEARS!
MEN LIKE ________________, _______________________, ___________________, __________________, I COULD GO ON, THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD & DO HAVE “SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN!” HOW ELSE IS IT THAT SOME OF THEM COULD FACE BATTLE AFTER BATTLE, TRIAL AFTER TRIAL, TRIBULATION AFTER TRIBULATION W/OUT SOMETHING UNIQUE, RADICAL, POWERFUL, & LIFE CHANGING TO BELIEVE IN!
IT “IS” WHAT THEY “BELIEVE” THAT HAS MADE THE DIFFERENCE IN THEIR LIVES & THE LIVES OF THOSE THEY’VE COME IN CONTACT WITH AND TOUCHED!
I listened to what was said yesterday & was moved to tears for what someone simple “BELIEVED” in that made her a hero of the FAITH SHE HAD IN JESUS!
Folk, is what you “BELIEVE” in this morning worth paying the price for, paying the cost for, standing in spite of the pain worth what you “BELIEVE” in!
I thought about what I “BELIEVE” in yesterday & I began to count what I “BELIEVE” in while sitting there! Here is what I “BELIEVE” in this morning!
In II Timothy 1:12 Paul speaks to the younger Timothy, saying...
“...nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have
believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that
which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.”
PAUL SPEAKS SOME IMMORTAL WORDS IN HIS WRITINGS BUT THESE ARE AMONG THE MOST IMMORTAL!
He says, “...I know whom I have believed and am persuaded ...” What Paul is saying here is the HE “BELIEVES” IN WHAT HE IS SAYING FOR HE “BELIEVES” IN WHAT HE HAS BEEN TOLD! & IT IS WORTH THE PRICE TO BE PAID IN THAT BELIEF!
Folk, most of you sitting here this morning have been told this Gospel for the most of your lives if not all your lives! If I were to ask you if you believe it most of you would be offended because you DO believe it! So I won’t ask you if you believe it, I know you do!
BUT I DO ASK THIS QUESTION! DO YOU “BELIEVE” IT ENOUGH TO LAY IT ALL ON THE LINE FOR THE “CAUSE OF CHRIST’ AS PAUL DID? PAUL WAS GIVING TIMOTHY REASON TO “BELIEVE” AS MUCH AS HE DID!
But for Argument’s Sake, & as a Reminder, ask yourselves this question this morning! “AGAIN, WHAT DO I BELIEVE IN?”
Here this morning is what I “BELIEVE” in! & know this! I had to ask myself the same question I just asked you to ask yourself this morning! “AGAIN, WHAT DO I BELIEVE IN?”
After, hearing about & remembering some of the Hero’s of the Faith that are local & one’s I know personally I had to ask myself that one more time. “AGAIN, WHAT DO I BELIEVE IN?” & IF “I STILL BELIEVE” THEN I OWE IT TO MY SAVIOR, MY GOD, MY FRIENDS, MY WIFE, MY BOYS, THE CHURCH I PASTOR TO SHOW “I STILL BELIEVE!”
I. I STILL BELIEVE IN HIS WORD!
David said in Psalm 119:11
“HIS WORD HAVE I HID IN MY HEART
THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST GOD!”
Hebrews 4:12 reads,
“For the Word of God is LIVING & POWERFUL, & SHARPER than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Folk, you will not live a successful Christian life without His Word in your life! Hearing His Word once or twice a week at Church is not enough! He never intended that be the totality of your Word Knowledge! YOU NEED TO DAILY FEAST ON HIS WORD LIKE YOU EAT YOUR MEALS! IF YOU BELIEVE IN HIS WORD THEN YOU WILL READ HIS WORD!
Luke 4:32 says
“They were astonished at His doctrine or
teaching for HIS WORDS were with POWER!”
I believe in the POWER of HIS WORD, SPOKEN or OTHERWISE! Folk, we need a boldness about us that “FEARS NOT” to SPEAK OUT THE POWERFUL WORD OF GOD! SPEAK TO THOSE THINGS THAT ARE NOT AS THOUGH THEY WERE & BELIEVE IN WHAT WE SPEAK & SPEAK IT WITH THE “AUTHORITY” THAT COMES WITH IT.
I BELIEVE IN HIS WORD!
II. I BELIEVE IN SALVATION!
John 3:17 says...
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Of all the things that Jesus did while on this world & since leaving this world in the manner nothing He did was & is as important as the impartation of “Salvation” unto mankind! The scripture I just read says that very thing this morning! “...THAT THE WORLD THROUGH HIM MIGHT BE SAVED!” Without “Salvation” nothing else matters!
I STILL BELIEVE in SALVATION! I STILL BELIEVE that if the UNSAVED will come through that door they will get SAVED! I STILL BELIEVE that if you will testify, speak to & about to the sinner that what they are looking for they’ll find it in “JESUS” through your TESTIMONY!
“SALVATION” THROUGH JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY THEY’LL EVER FIND WHAT THEY’RE TRULY LOOKING FOR!
I STILL BELIEVE IN SALVATION FOR A LOST & DYING WORLD!
III. I STILL BELIEVE IN HEALING!
Mark 3:15 Jesus appointed 12 disciples to teach them and be with Him to send them out to preach and to have...
“POWER TO HEAL SICKNESS...”
In Luke 5:17 we read...
“...and the POWER of the Lord was present to HEAL them.”
I BELIEVE IN HEALING! I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IN HEALING! I HAVE TO BELIEVE IN HEALING FOR THE WORD OF GOD TELLS ME SO!
I still believe that if the sick will come & by the “PRAYER OF FAITH” & believe that JESUS WILL HEAL THE SICK HERE IN THIS CHURCH! HE’S DONE IT HERE BEFORE, HE’LL DO IT AGAIN!
I heard stories yesterday of a child healed of deafness, he went to sleep deaf from birth & woke up hearing birds singing, of a elderly man eat up w/a crippling disease healed instantly, of a little girl w/cerebral palsy so bad she could barely walk get HEALED INSTANTANEOUSLY & START DANCING ACROSS A STAGE PRAISING GOD!
I BELIEVE IN HEALING this morning! How can I call myself a Child of God & not Believe in the Stripes on His back taken for MY HEALING & YOURS!
JAMES 5:14 TELLS US
“IS ANYONE AMONG YOU SICK? LET HIM CALL FOR THE ELDERS
OF THE CHURCH, AND LET THEM PRAY OVER HIM, ANOINTING
HIS WITH OIL IN THE NAME OF THE LORD AND THE PRAYER OF
FAITH WILL SAVE THE SICK AND THE LORD WILL RAISE HIM UP...”
This passage indicates we should “EXPECT/BELIEVE” expect when we pray! We should “EXPECT/BELIEVE” for “HEALING” without reservation. We don’t always see what we hope for but we should always “EXPECT/BELIEVE” His Word to ring true & “BELIEVE” what it says!
Malachi 4:2 says to us..
“But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness
shall arise with HEALING in His Wings; and you shall go
out and grow fat like stall fed calves.”
I STILL BELIEVE IN HEALING!
IV. I STILL BELIEVE IN DELIVERANCE!
Jesus said in Luke 4:18 that He had been sent to...
“...to preach DELIVERANCE to the captives...” I believe in a “DELIVERANCE” that the world cannot afford! I believe in a “DELIVERANCE” that will not nor cannot be cured by science or medicine. I BELIEVE IN A “DELIVERANCE” THAT COMES ONLY FROM THE SON OF GOD THE THRONE OF GOD HIMSELF! A “DELIVERANCE” THAT WILL AMAZE & SHOCK THE WORLD!
“DELIVERANCE” that will set the “CAPTIVE FREE” from SIN SICKNESS & DEMONIC POSSESSION! I believe that when Jesus said to the disciples in Mark 3:15 that they might have the
“...power to heal sickness and cast out demons...”
He was speaking to YOU & ME this morning! He was speaking to Lighthouse Worship Center! I believe...I STILL BELIEVE IN DELIVERANCE!
THE WORLD IS LOOKING & CRYING OUT FOR SOMETHING OR SOMEONE DO GIVE THEM THE “DELIVERANCE” THEY SO DESPERATELY NEED! I AM NOT THE “DELIVERER” BUT I KNOW WHO THE “DELIVERER” IS THIS MORNING & HE DWELLS WITHIN MY SPIRIT!
I STILL BELIEVE IN DELIVERANCE!
V. I STILL BELIEVE IN THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!
Acts 2:41 says,
“...they gladly received his word and were BAPTIZED...”
Acts 8:17 says,
“Then they laid hands on them and they received the HOLY SPIRIT.”
Acts 19:2 says,
“...when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Ghost came upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.”
V. I STILL BELIEVE IN A HILL CALLED CALVARY!
JOHN 3:16 SAYS...
“FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON THAT WHOSOEVER SHOULD BELIEVE IN HIM
SHOULD NOT PERISH BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.”
CONCLUSION:
Romans 8:38 says to us this morning....
“For I am PERSUADED, CONVINCED & BELIEVE that
neither death nor life, not angles nor principalities nor powers,
nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth,
nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus...”
“I STILL BELIEVE...”
