FAITH
PART 6 – Growing Faith
First Baptist Church of Tawas City Michigan
Rev. Bruce A. Shields – 11-27-2005
www.tawasbaptist.org
WELCOME
• Visitors (Visitor Cards & Prayer Request Cards in pews)
• The Teen Youth will be having a special offering at the end of the service today to help raise money for the Christmas Drive this year for single mothers.
• Also, the 4 ½ pound one of a kind chocolate snowman is downstairs, put your donations with your name into the can and whoever donates the most for the Teen Youth Group will receive the snowman.
• There IS a Teen Youth meeting after the service today.
• If someone feels lead to head up the 12 and under group please see me so we can get that started as well.
SCRIPTURE READING
Genesis 12:6-10
“6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring [a] I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.”
PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT
Last week we talked about the first step in receiving the type of faith the scriptures say can move mountains.
That first step being to trust that the word of God WILL do what God says it will do.
We talked about Noah trusting in God’s word and acting on it in faith.
Abram, the man God chose to begin the great nation of Israel, trusted in God’s word as well.
We, like Noah and Abram, are called by God.
And like Noah and Abram, God’s call on our life is not about us, God’s call requires us to make sacrifices, God’s call comes with promises, and it requires us to step out on blind faith, trusting only the word of God.
Let’s refresh ourselves on the biblical definition of faith:
Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
When Abram “went forth as the Lord had spoken to him…” he did so in faith.
He did not know where he was going, he went because God said so.
This began his journey with God. This began the process of Abram becoming a great man of God, known through the ages as a man of great faith. So how did this come to pass?
We all, like Abram, begin our walk with God by faith.
“By grace you have been saved through faith.”
What I want us to see, through the life of Abram, are the various stages of faith. We go through stages in our faith. Today we are going to examine a growing faith.
Having a growing faith means:
I. We Go Deeper.
A. Deeper in what?
B. Abram moved deeper into the land God wanted to show him. Deeper into what God had called him to.
1. Abram did not just go to the border, cross over it and say “I’ve made it.” Pour the slab, get the bricks, build the house, we are here.
No, he went deeper.
2. Vs. 6 “And Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh.”
C. I don’t believe we are meant to stay on the fringe of faith. I don’t think God desires us to stay on the outskirts of the abundant life. We need to be willing to go deeper into our walk with Christ. Deeper into where He has called us.
Hebrews 6:1
“Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity…”
2. Paul wrote in I Corinthians in 3:1-4
“1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?”
Paul had a problem with the behavior of the body of Christ in Corinth because they were more focused on the man giving the message than the message of Christ.
And they were stuck on their own salvation, unwilling to grow past knowing they were saved and educate themselves on the word of God, they did not understand that they don’t live by bread alone which only supplies your flesh, they needed spiritual bread. They needed the word of God so they could grow spiritually.
D. We don’t want to go deeper in our walk, deeper into the Word, because it is going to make us aware of how unpopular it can make us. Try it. You’ll see.
1. The more we know, the more we are accountable for.
2. The deeper we dig into God’s word, the more we see His desire for holiness, we must pursue holiness more.
3. The deeper we go in our relationship with the Lord, the more we realize we are surrounded by the devil’s attacks.
Remember our Spiritual Warfare Sermon Series?
Ephesians 6:12
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Therefore put on the whole armor of God.
We have people in the church walking around in swimming trunks trying to put out forest fires.
Unequipped for the job.
4. The deeper we get with Christ, the more waves we are likely to cause.
E. Abram went as far down into Canaan as Shechem. This was about ¾ of the way down.
F. What did he begin to realize? The Canaanites were still in the land. He was in the thick of them.
G. WE find comfort in the name of Shechem. It means shoulder.
H. There is an email floating around in cyberspace saying that the shoulder is the most important part of the body.
It is the shoulder where people lay their head when they need compassion.
It is the shoulder that is cried on when people are hurting.
When Rebekah gets hurt or is sad and I pick her up, she presses her face into my shoulder and holds my neck tightly and finds peace and security almost immediately.
It is in those times of frustration, anxiety, unpopularity, when we have gone deeper in our calling, deeper into the fullness of knowing Christ, that we come to the shoulder of God for encouragement and compassion.
It is when we come to the shoulder that we realize God’s presence.
II. Realize God’s Presence With Us. Vs. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram.
A. The fact that the Canaanite was in the land may be a problem for Abram. The comfort lies in the fact that God was also very present in Canaan.
B. Don’t forget for one minute that when God calls you somewhere, He is already there. He goes on before you preparing your way to arrive. He is walking with you along the way.
Remember our series on Psalm 23? The good shepherd has prepared a way for you, leading you in safety.
C. Jesus said in the great commission “…and make disciples of all nations…..and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
1. If we are going to make disciples, we have got to go deeper.
2. It means we have to be able to be surrounded by the things of this world, but not in fear of them.
3. When we go deeper and experience the things around us that make us uncomfortable, we can truly feel the presence of God with us.
D. When God is present with us, it is for a reason. He is doing a work around us. Even in the midst of wicked Canaanites, God was working, making promises to Abram.
1. “To your descendants I will give this land.”
2. How, Abram is not told how, but he has gone deeper into the calling of God, he is in the presence of God, so how is not important to Abram.
E. How is God going to bring the promises for your life to pass? I don’t know. You don’t either. We are not supposed to know all of the how’s with God. We are to continue growing in our faith, going deeper with God, realizing His presence in our life and then do what Abram did.
III. He Worshipped God
A. “So, he built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him.”
B. Part of growing in our faith means that we have genuine worship.
C. Abraham provides a good example of what worship is.
1. Praising God for who He is: God called Abram out of idolatry.
2. Praising God for what He has done: brought him safe so far, showing him the land He said He would, His faithfulness.
3. Praising God for what He is going to do: “to your descendants I will give this land.”
D. How many of us truly worship the Lord today?
E. Too many times we try and alter the worship, instead of just building altars and worshipping.
F. The altar is a memorial to God for His faithfulness. Your life should be the altar you build, a living memorial to God for His faithfulness.
1. Our attitudes
2. Our actions
3. Our songs
4. Our prayers
5. Our testimonies
6. Our meditation upon the Word of God
G. All of these should be reflective of God’s faithfulness, reflective of Who He is and what He has done and will do in our lives.
H. It is when we take time to worship God that we are able to continue to go deeper into His calling.
We’ve been in His presence, reassured He is fulfilling His promises to us, and reassured of His faithfulness to continue fulfilling those promise.
I. Abram does this: vs. 8-9. Moved on, worshipped, moved on.
J. When we are growing in our faith, we find ourselves going deeper with God. Following His lead into depths we used to only imagine.
Then we begin to realize how God’s presence is abiding with us, He reveals Himself to us in new and fresh ways, and as a result of all that, we begin to genuinely worship the Lord.
This should be a continuous cycle in the life of the believer who is growing in their faith.
K. Is this evident in our lives today? A growing faith?
CLOSING ALTER CALL
In James we are instructed to go forward to the Elders and ask for prayer.
If you want direction in your life, come forward.
If you want your faith to grow, come forward.
If you want more of the Lord in your life, come forward.
If you need healing or prayer, come forward.
If you want to join the church, become a member, or if you are interested in being baptized, come forward.
If you just want to be blessed by the Lord in your life, come forward. Worship God where you are at in your journey, then move forward so that your faith may grow.
