Building A Bridge of Faith
Where is your faith? It can be in someone else, something else or in you. We have placed our faith in things that have not disappointed, and things, which have. The Canadian pairs of David Pelletier and Jamie Sale had faith in the scoring of Olympic judges until what has become a scandal in the Winter games send them into second and a loss of faith by viewers around the world in the fairness of the judging system.
Investors had faith in Enron as they poured millions into the company investing life savings, pension funds and money market accounts but that faith came plummeting to the ground when the energy giant filed for bankruptcy.
And we hear stories of people who put their faith in ministers, politicians, business people, neighbors and friends who walk away from the experience jolted from the experience.
How do we build a bridge of faith? Who can we put our faith in and not have it turn sour?
I want to share a faith experience with you, one you can trust in, and one that will not leave you feeling empty but enriched. I want to show you why it is important not to put your faith in anything, but to put your faith in the One who can turn your sorrows into joys, and take you to greater heights in your life. Put your faith in Jesus Christ.
Mark 5:21-34 in the Message, After Jesus crossed by boat, a large crowd met him at the seaside. One of the meeting-place leaders named Jarius came. When he saw Jesus, he fell to his knees, beside himself as he begged, “My dear daughter is at death’s door. Come and lay hands on her so she will get well and live.” Jesus went with him, the whole crowd tagged along, pushing and jostling him.
A woman who had suffered a condition of hemorrhaging for twelve years—a long succession of physicians had treated her, and treated her badly, taking all her money and leaving her worse off than before—had heard about Jesus. She slipped in from behind and touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, “If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well.” The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change, and knew her plague was over and done with.
At that same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”
His disciples said, “What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you’re asking, “Who touched me?” Dozens have touched you!”
But he went on asking, looking around to see who had done it. The woman, knowing what had happened, knowing she was the one, stepped up in fear and trembling, knelt before him, and gave him the whole story.
Jesus said to her, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well. Live blessed! Be healed of your plague.”
Paul said in Hebrews 11:1 faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
How do you and I build a bridge of faith, which will not collapse, with the passing of time?
I. Identify your need.
There is no question of this woman’s need. For twelve years she had suffered under a medical condition, which had zapped her of all our resources. Financially she was at the end of her rope. Physically her body had taken a toll, and emotionally she was at wits end. Have you identified your need, not your wants and wishes, but you real need?
Here is a story of faith and need from a monastery in Europe which is perched high on a cliff several hundred feet in the air. The only way to reach the monastery was to be suspended in a basket, which was pulled to the top by several monks who pulled and tugged with all their strength. Obviously the ride up the steep cliff in that basket was terrifying.
One tourist got exceedingly nervous about halfway up as he noticed that the rope by which he was suspended was old and frayed. With trembling voice, he asked the monk who was riding with him in the basket how often they changed the rope. The monk thought for a moment and answered brusquely, "Whenever it breaks."
I think at this point in the ride, it was a need for prayer.
After you have identified your need, you need to…
II. Identify your Resources
The woman had a need and she immediately went about seeking a resolve. She went to the doctors for healing. I know there are people who think it is not exercising faith to seek a physician for help. Quite the opposite. It takes faith to go, for when a doctor sets up a medical business, they call it a practice. You exercise your faith by letting them practice on you.
Seriously, God has gifted doctors and they use their God given talents to provide you medical attention, which can benefit your life.
Obviously the first resource we have at our disposal is prayer. The medical field is finding the healing power of prayer vital in people’s recovery.
Building a Bridge of Faith requires us to be aware of the resources God has placed all around us to build that bridge from. Faith is not blind. It has a direction; it has a purpose if it is going to be a surviving faith. As Paul said, Faith is being sure of what we hope for, that which we don’t see. It is having a perspective of what we want, where we are going, what we are going to take hold of to carry us to that destination that waits.
Knowing your resources also requires knowing how to use them. Take this couple that bought a new car with the latest high-tech navigation system. They were cruising along the road when their on-board computer showed a bridge ahead. What the navigation system didn’t know was that the bridge was out. The couple, trusting technology over their own eyes, drove right off the road and into the river.
If you want to avoid a disaster in your walk of faith, then you need to…
III. Identify your source.
The women knew is she could just get through, what the doctors could not do, there was someone who could, His name is Jesus. There is no hole that is too deep that Jesus cannot reach down and pull you out from. You have no dilemma that Jesus cannot deliver you from. You have no condition that Jesus cannot carry you from. You have no despair that Jesus cannot repair. You just have to know your source, the object to which you place you faith, and the only one who has been faithful in all things is Jesus.
As the woman pressed passed the crowd, her source of healing in sight, she did not let people get in the way of her miracle. She did not listen to the voices of people who for twelve years said there was no hope. She did not bemoan the attempts of those twelve years that had drained her bank account and depleted her energy. She pressed on knowing there was hope for her. And because she did not give up, but pressed on, she was changed and heard the words of Jesus Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well. Live blessed! Be healed of your plague.
What are taking a risk for? Have you allowed a situation in your life to put you down? Build a bridge of faith to Jesus. He has the solution for you. Are you ready to hear the words live well, live blessed. Bring your need to him.
The worship team is coming, and as they do, I want to challenge you to lay a plank of faith in your bridge to tomorrow, today. In fact, I want to agree with you in prayer for that need.
The woman with the medical condition did not become passive, she was proactive. She reached out and was healed. I want you to be proactive this morning. Everyone saw the demonstration of her healing because she pushed past anonymity and we all know of the rest from our talk today.
I want you to push past and I want to agree with you in faith, for the miracle you need. If you don’t know the true source of faith, Jesus Christ, I would like to introduce you. The Bible teaches Jesus is the Son of God, who died for your sins, paid the penalty for all the wrong you have done or will ever do, and is ready to offer you a pardon from the death sentence you carry. The Bible says all have sinned, another word for doing wrong. It says the wages of our wrong doing is death, an eternal destination called hell. John 10:10 tells us Jesus came to bring us life, and life more abundant. Now, here is the hard part, we need to ask Jesus to forgive us from our wrong living, we call that repentance. And the Bible says He will forgive us if we are sincere in our heart. When we do this, and ask him to be the boss of our life, to live like He lived, then it opens the door for Him to move and work in a more powerful way in our lives. So if you have never made this commitment to Jesus, or have walked away and the Spirit of God has been speaking to you to make it right again, I want to pray for you before you leave.
I also want to pray for those who are ready to take a faith risk. To ask Jesus to help with the needs of your life, needs for employment, needs for finances, needs for health, needs for a better life.
As the worship team leads us in closing, if you are ready to risk it all for Jesus, to ask Him to be part of your life, or to impart in your life a faith miracle, then I want you to slip out of your seat and allow me to pray for you before we all leave.
