Text: Luke 8:22-26
Title: Where is Your Faith?
Intro:
This question was asked by Jesus to His disciples….
Because of their horrifying deadly situation….
It was asked by Jesus to the believers….it was asked by Jesus to His followers
Where is your Faith?
Why Jesus asked where is your faith?
Because He has given us faith…
He did something for us to believe in Him…
He had shown us His power…
He had shown us His greatness…
He had shown us that He can do the impossible…
Mark 9:23
“‘If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes."
Luke 1:37
For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Think of impossible things….
Because impossible things will create doubts…
And doubts will erase Faith…
But Jesus said: NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD
Dead is impossible to live again but Jesus made Lazarus live again
Blindness is impossible to see again but Jesus made Bartimeus born blind man to see again
Lame is impossible to walk again but a man begging for money in the temple walked again
These are some of many miracles and wonders God made so that we will believe in Him…
Faith is not…God do something now and I will believe you….
Faith is…God I believe in you…..
Why Jesus Asked Where is your Faith…
Because Jesus saw His Disciples
Fear
Doubts
Hopelessness
Defeats
Negatives
Peaceless
Anxiety
Worry
Live in the edge
Where is Your Faith?
Luke 8
22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out.
23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A storm came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.
25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
Like of the disciples….they had experienced what we have experience today in our life…
Maybe we are not in the boat in the midst of storm..
But we are in the situation in the midst of storm….
We are in the Family na ang gulo
We are in the situation na ang pera ay tama lang o kinakapos pa
We are in the monthly situation na bayaran na naman…
Kakatakot kaya…
WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?
Because Faith in God will free you from that situation…
Where is your Faith?
I. Faith in the other Side of Life
22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out.
Jesus told His disciples lets go to the other side of the lake…
To the other side of life…
To the other situation of life..
We call that the reality of life…
When there is laughter…..the other side is crying
When there is happiness…there is loneliness
When there is joy….there is sadness
When there is love…there is hate
When there is success…there is failure
When there is fulfillment…there is disappointment
When someone is born…someone will die…
These are the other side of life…
Jesus said: Let us go to the other side…
Jesus brought His disciples the other side of life…
Jesus was with them to the other side of life…
Romans 8:37-39
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Psa 139:8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
Psa 139:9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
Psa 139:10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
Psa 139:11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
Psa 139:12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
God is here when you are hurting
God is here when you are crying
God is here when you are lonely
God is here when you are disappointed
God is here when things around you is in chaos
God is here when your family is broken
God is here when you are broken
Faith knows God is here..
Faith knows God is strong
Faith knows God can move the mountains
Faith knows God will make me victorious
Its ok to cry….But where is your Faith…
You cry then you stand…
You cry then you fight…
You cry then you continue…
Faith will make you strong in the other side of life…
Faith will make you strong in the worst side of life…
II. Faith in the Storm of Life
23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A storm came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
The disciples were in great danger…
The storm was shaking the boat…
Jesus was sleeping….
In their situation….
It seems that Jesus doesn’t care….
Have you been in the situation that is the storm of life…
It seems that Jesus doesn’t care…
It seems that Jesus doesn’t see…
It seems that Jesus doesn’t hear..
Remember Jesus was with them…
Jesus was with them in the storm…in the same boat…in the same situation…
Jesus cares….Jesus sees…Jesus hears…that’s why He was with them…
The truth was..
They only focus on the storm…
The disciples don’t see that Jesus was with them
The disciples don’t care that God was with them
The disciples don’t hear the power of God’s promises…
In the storm of life why you are afraid?
In the storm of Life…you don’t see that God is with you…
In the storm of life….you don’t care what God can do…
In the storm of life….you don’t hear the promises of God…
That’s why many people say: natutulog ang Diyos…
Kailan man di natutulog ang Diyos….
Kailan man naranasan ko sa buhay ko…di ako tinutulugan ng Diyos…
Gigisingin ka ng pananampalataya mo…
Story:
I served two years in the active U.S. Air Force and was released to continue my enlistment in the U.S. Air National Guard in the Houston, Texas area. I lived in Pasadena then, and didn't have a job to provide for my daily needs.
So I lacked $200 to be able to pay my rent on a studio apartment and more to feed myself. But I believed what the Bible says in Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path." One day, I prayed and asked God specifically to send me $200 and a job so I could pay my rent for the month and support myself, believing that the prayer of faith would move the hand of God as I was taught and as the Bible indicated.
I was a medical corpsman (medic) while on active duty, so I was partial to jobs involving medical service to the community I will serve. I went downtown to answer an ad and interview for a job as an ambulance driver and attendant.
I parked my car where I could find a parking space and walked to the office of an ambulance company downtown. Getting close to the building, I was standing at a 4-way traffic light waiting for it to change to green so I could safely cross the busy highway. A tall man with blonde hair and a fair complexion stood next to me while I waited for the light to change and continued to pray silently for the help I needed from God. I looked up to the man, smiled, and then went back to my introverted contemplation of a hopeful outcome.
All of a sudden the man asked, "Are you Joe Diaz?" I responded that I was him, but wondered how the man knew my name, and especially how he knew where to find me that afternoon. The man handed me an envelope and said, "The Lord sent me to give you this."
I opened the envelope, and to my surprise, it had two crisp $100 bills in it! To God be the glory! I then turned to find out how he knew how much I needed and to thank him for the much needed money only to find the man had disappeared as fast as he materialized.
I will take to my grave the knowledge that I met an angel that particular day in the summer of 1975! No one can tell me anything different. I crossed the street and was hired immediately when the interviewer found out that I had been a medical corpsman in the Air Force and was one also in the Air National Guard! I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene! Amen.
I truly believe that if we trust God in prayer and faith, He does come to our aid.
While serving as an assistant pastor of a church in Los Angeles, California,
I have preached that faith moves the hand of God.
Our problems are not so small that He cannot dispatch His angels to minster to us or bring aid in accordance to His will! Amen!
Where is your Faith?
III. Faith in the Downs of Life
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
There will come in a point in our life….
That problem pulls you down…
That problems knocks you down…
Most of the time falling down is a lot easier than going up…
Going up is very hard….
Like when you climb up into the mountain it’s very hard…but when you are in the top….its very beautiful…
You can see what beneath…
Going down is very easy but being in the bottom is not as beautiful as being on the top…
When your life is down…
Where is your faith?
Because Faith will make you go up…stand again…fight again…
The disciples were afraid because they were going to be drown…
Being down is not just having problem
Having sickness…
Having difficulties in life…
Being down is also having a desire but you cannot have it…
God answer prayer by YES, NO, Yes but wait, Yes and here is more…
What if we prayed hard and God answers no…
It will make you disappoint with God…
It will make you angry with God…
Lord I have served you…
Lord all of my time I spend praying…going to church…leading myself group…reading Bible…
Lord why?
When you are on that situation, you are disappointed in life…and you are disappointed with God…
Faith will make you still believe that God is up to something beautiful more than what you think…
Rom 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
This was written because all the disciples were persecuted in Rome…
Prisoned
Torched
Pinakain sa Lion
Binabalatan ng buhay
Tinatalian ang leeg
Pinuputulan ng ulo
Of course they were praying for protection and that God will save them in the midst of persecution…
But the answer of God was no..
They were disappointed in life and in God…
But Faith made them obedient to God even in face of death….
Tertullian says: Early church historian
But there weapon was Faith….
The Blood of the Martyr in the seed of Christianity
Because of their faith in God even in disappointment…had made Christianity spread all over the world…
The boat experienced of the disciples made their Faith strong…
They survived the pain…hurt…the persecution and even faced death…
Faith will erase your disappointment in God….and will create hope again…
Faith will make you survived when you are down in your life…
That’s why Jesus asked…WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?
Because in our downs in life
FAITH WILL MAKE YOU RISE AGAIN….
IV. Faith in the Author of Life
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.
25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
When all their strength was gone..
When their ability to save themselves was gone..
When all the plan and thinking was no help at all..
When the storm never stops and the boat is now sinking…
When they have no hope at all…
They remember Jesus was with them…
Wow….Parang tayo…
Naghanap ng Paraan wala pa rin…
Pumunta sa kapit bahay wala pa rin..
Nagsangla ng bahay, kotse at asawa…wala parin
Nagbenta ng laman loob…. wala pa rin…
Ginawa mo na lahat…napagod ka na…umiyak ka na isang lingo
At doon mo pa lang naalala…..Andyan pa la si Lord….
Noong naalala nila kasama pala nila si Lord…
Di ginising nila…
Lord malulunod na tayo..
Bakit kayo natatakot….kung malulunod kayo kasama din ako…haler
Where is your Faith?
Kung nanampalataya ka lang…di ka na sana napapagod…
Kung nanampalatay ka lang di ka n asana umiyak matagal
Kung nanampalataya ka lang di ka n asana aatakihin sa highblood…
Kung nanampalataya ka lang di ka na sana napapahiya..lapit ditto…lapit doon…iyak kay Mayor…hingkay gobernor…nagmamakaawa kay kagawad…
Then Jesus arose…command the wind and the sea to calm down…
The storm was gone…
Conclusion:
Text Illustration:
A small congregation in the foothills of the Great Smokies built a new sanctuary on a piece of land willed to them by a church member. Ten days before the new church was to open, the local building inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. Until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary. Unfortunately, the church with its undersized parking lot had used every inch of their land except for the mountain against which it had been built. In order to build more parking spaces, they would have to move the mountain out of the back yard. MOUNTAIN-MOVING FAITH
Undaunted, the pastor announced the next Sunday morning that he would meet that evening with all members who had "mountain moving faith." They would hold a prayer session asking God to remove the mountain from the back yard and to somehow provide enough money to have it paved and painted before the scheduled opening dedication service the following week.
At the appointed time, 24 of the congregation's 300 members assembled for prayer. They prayed for nearly three hours. At ten o'clock the pastor said the final "Amen." "We'll open next Sunday as scheduled," he assured everyone. "God has never let us down before, and I believe He will be faithful this time too."
The next morning, as he was working in his study, there came a loud knock at the pastor's door. When he called, "Come in," a rough looking construction foreman appeared, removing his hard hat as he entered.
"Excuse me, Reverend. I'm from Acme Construction Company over in the next county. We're building a huge new shopping mall over there and we need some fill dirt. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that mountain behind the church? We'll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave all the exposed area free of charge, if we can have it right away. We can't do anything else until we get the dirt in and allow it to settle properly."
The little church was dedicated the next Sunday as originally planned and there were far more members with "mountain moving faith" on opening Sunday than there had been the previous week!
Mark 11:23
"Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.
Do you want to experience…mountain of problems….doubts…worries…fears…discouragement…to taken from your life…
Faith in God is the answer…
For those who wants to have faith in God…
For those who wants to experience that mountain be gone in their life…come…
When you come bring that mountain and come by faith that God will take that away…
