Whether we question our doctor's competence or wonder about all the medicines we take, it is
important to have confidence in the person to whom we trust our health. There was an
interesting article in last Sunday's Chronicle. Shannon Brownlee wrote about how medical
companies sometimes create diseases in order to sell the drug they have developed. Her theory is
that we tend to spend too much time worrying about what diseases we might have and the many
medicines we feel we must take in order to try to prevent those diseases. She points out how the
pharmaceutical companies work hard to convince patients to go to the doctor for every ache and
pain and they work hard on the doctors to be ready to prescribe a pill or other medicine to cure or
prevent the problem.
I spoke two weeks ago about the Supremacy of Christ. Paul made the point in the second chapter of this letter, that all you needed was to make sure that Christ was supreme in your heart and in your life. He said you didn't need any special knowledge - just Christ as your Lord and Savior.
So, today, I am going back to the start of the letter where he kind of starts out naming what some commentators have called the "Marks of An Alive Church." In the course of the next seven messages, I want to look at each of those important marks and ask you the all important question: Do we at Gulf Prairie Presbyterian measure up in that category?
The first thing Paul mentions is faith. When you try to identify and define faith, it becomes a difficult thing to do. If I were to ask each of you for your definition, I would probably get as many different answers as there are people present today. Many people will simply say, "Faith is a personal thing and I don't want to talk about it."
In Hebrews, chapter 11, the Bible gives us a clear definition and then lists many of the Old Testament people who demonstrated great faith. That definition says, "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." (Hebrews 11:1 NLT) There are so many Old Testament saints listed following that verse who, in one way or another, showed great faith. One of my favorites is one of the first - Abraham.God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations. Yet at the age of ninety, he still had no children. Finally, at the age of 100, he became a father. Then God really tested his faith and told him to take his son, his only legitimate son, and offer him as a sacrifice to God. Now, don't you think Abraham would have had quite an argument with God? I know I sure would have questioned over and over the wisdom of that request. But Abraham had faith that God knew what He was doing. So he took his son and set out to sacrifice him to God. Of course, we know how the story ended, God intervened, and spared Isaac's life, and the rest, as they say, is history.
The important thing to learn from Abraham, as from all the men and women of faith across the ages, is that when God calls us to do something, even when it seems outrageous, we had better obey God. That's what faith is all about. That's what it means to "hope for what will actually happen." That's what gives us the "assurance about things we cannot see." So, the first question you must ask yourself is this; Do I have that kind of faith? Do I trust God so completely that if I clearly felt He was telling me to do something outrageous, I would do as He has told me?
Now, notice, I am not saying the instant you feel God is calling you to something special, you should just rush out and do it. We've seen too many of those situations where someone claims God told them to kill this person or kidnap that person. One function of the church is to confirm for a person that what they are feeling is truly the call of God.
When I first felt called to the ministry, I had to go through a lengthy process of talking with my pastor, then with the Session of our church. Then I had to talk with the Committee on Ministry of the Presbytery. They even sent me to a psychiatric exam to make sure I was suited for the ministry and that the call was genuine. That's one of the great things about the Presbyterian church.
So, you see, faith is much more than just chasing after rainbows or following your every whim. It is much more than telling God what you want, and waiting for Him to produce it for you. There needs to be a lot of prayer and confirmation that goes along with your sense of God's leading.
Then again, we sometimes face individual challenges of faith. Men like Abraham, Jacob, Noah, etc. each faced individual challenges. I'm sure they questioned God at times. I know I have questioned God about my physical problems over the last couple of years. This past couple of weeks has been especially challenging. My vision has not improved. My leg was in excruciating pain and turned out to be broken and my computer crashed. "What's going on, God?"
Through it all, I know God is with me. As I have faced the various challenges, He has made His presence known in various ways. In the face of the inept medical treatment (actually malpractice) by my family doctor, God reminded us of a relative who would know the right doctor to see. That doctor could analyze the need and recognized there was something going on beside just a pulled muscle. That led us back to the orthopedic doctor who took an X-ray and diagnosed the problem and fixed it the very next day.
I have been struggling with the computer crash and not having access to my files that I had prepared for writing this message. I virtually had to start over. (By the way, if any of you are wondering why my message from two week's ago has not been posted on our website, it's because of that computer crash.) But, as I have struggled with these things, God has shown me the way to go and slowly and patiently led me along that path. The Bible says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5 NLT)
A school teacher gave three of his best pupils a difficult problem. "You will find it very hard to solve," he said, "but there is a way." After repeated attempts, one of them gave up in despair. "There is no way!" he declared. The second pupil had not succeeded, yet he was smiling and unconcerned. "I know it can be explained, because I have seen it done."
The third worked on, long after the other two had given up. His head hurt and his brain was turning to mush. Yet, as he went over it again and again, he said without faltering, "I know there is a way, because the teacher has said it."
The first boy had no faith. The second had only intellectual faith, a faith that believes, to a point, but won't allow him to trust another. The third boy showed true faith - that confidence that relies, not on what it has seen, but upon the promises of the Master.
Whether we realize it or not, we live by faith every day. Christians, of course, would say "of course we do," to that statement. But all people live by faith every day. It is a daily necessity whether one is getting married, taking a job, struggling with an illness, overcoming a handicap, taking a test at school or driving in our car. And faith in God is the cornerstone of all other faiths. As one psychiatrist says, "When I learn a patient has no faith in God, I dismiss the case. There is nothing to build on."
Faith, however, is not just an individual thing. Faith is something the church as a whole must exercise, too. Paul, in our text today, was not writing to an individual but to the whole church at Colossae. He said, "We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus." That is something that every church should be noted for. People in their communities should be saying that about each and every church. Sadly, you rarely hear anyone speak of the faith exhibited by a church. Once in a while you may hear of a church in another state or country that has shown outstanding faith.
Last Fall, you may have read about Malibu Presbyterian Church. In the California wildfires that caused so much damage across the southern part of the state, the sanctuary of the Malibu Presbyterian Church burned to the ground. The day before they lost their sanctuary, they made a commitment to donate $500,000 to World Impact for the renovation of a teen center in urban Los Angeles. Three weeks ago, on Easter Sunday, despite the loss of its own facilities, Malibu Presbyterian Church made good on that commitment,.
You see, that is the witness to the whole world of the faith of that congregation that they have great faith that God will provide. Their faith is being heard about all across Los Angeles, across California, and certainly across the United States. Maybe even beyond. That is what Paul is talking about. A faith of the whole church, shown to the world, that they trust God to provide. Can you imagine what God could do with us if we were to exhibit that kind of faith? Let your imaginations run wild for a moment. Think about some things you would love to see this church do to show our faith to the world.
To start your thinking, let me share some of the ideas that run through my mind now and then. How about an after school program for at-risk kids. We could provide a safe place where those boys and girls could come and get help with homework, find a caring adult to relate to, and have a wholesome snack after school. We could even provide a computer lab for those kids who need to do online research, but have no computer at home and no one able or willing to take them to a library.
Another thought I've had is a reading mentoring program for adults. Not long ago, in the news there was a report about the literacy problem in the United States. Folks, there are a lot of people out there, many of them adults, who are unable to read even the most basic and simple documents. They can't get a job, because they can't read the application form.
We could offer parenting classes in the hope and expectation that they might help cut down on the child abuse problems we hear about. We could offer marriage enrichment classes to show people how to improve their marriages and how to communicate with one another in effective and non-violent ways. We could build from those we minister to, a team of people willing and able to go out into the communities and make basic home repairs for those who need, but cannot afford, them.
The list could go on, but you get the idea. And I know the immediate response: How can we afford to do any of those things? They would cost a lot of money! Friends, that's where faith comes in. As a church, our job is to minister to the need around us. God challenges us to show our faith. Sometimes, that means building a budget that seems out of reach, but coming together to say we need to do this and we will find the money to make it happen. I don't know the pastors at Malibu Presbyterian, but I would guess that there was a lot difficult struggling among those church leaders in the days and weeks following the loss of their sanctuary.
A couple of years ago, we almost lost our sanctuary when lightening struck the electric meter and burned up the wiring. Some of you may not know it, but a day or two later, John East came in and checked on the furnace and air conditioning systems up in the attic. He found a small fire burning at the propane line to the furnace. Thanks to his foresight and quick action to cut off the propane, we only had to deal with the loss of electricity for a few weeks. I have often wondered since then how we might have reacted as a congregation had this building burned?
Think about that for a moment. Would your reaction be: we must cut back severely on all other expenses so that we can afford to rebuild? Should we, for instance, divert all of our mission funds to rebuilding? Or would you have thought: God will provide, we need to do whatever we had planned to do and show the community that we trust God, that we have a real faith? Jeremiah wrote, "Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence." (Jeremiah 17:7 NLT)
The early church had little to work with, but they had a deep faith and they trusted God to provide for their needs as they cared for those around them who had even greater needs.
The Mission of the church is to accomplish what we believe God is asking us to do. We must not spend our time and energy bickering among ourselves about that which doesn't affect how we minister to others. We must not get caught up in the worries about not having done something before or not having done it a certain way before. First, we must pull together and work together to discern what God is calling us to do. Then, our next job is to figure out how to do it. If that means everyone giving five dollars a week more, to support that program or project, then let's all pitch in and do it. Let's show these communities around us what real faith in God looks like!
Prayer:__________________________
Sermon October 21, 2007
Sermon October 28, 2007
Sermon November 4, 2007
Sermon November 11, 2007
Sermon November 18, 2007
Sermon November 25, 2007
Sermon December 2, 2007
Sermon December 9, 2007
Sermon December 16, 2007
Sermon December 23, 2007
Sermon December 24, 2007
December 30, 2007 - Guest speaker, transcript not available
Sermon January 6, 2008
Sermon January 13, 2008
Sermon January 20, 2008
Sermon January 27, 2008
Sermon February 3, 2008
Sermon February 10, 2008
Sermon February 17, 2008
Sermon February 24, 2008
Sermon March 2, 2008
Sermon March 9, 2009
Sermon March 16, 2008
Sermon March 23, 2008
April 6, 2008 - Guest speaker, transcript not available
Sermon March 30, 2008
(Please note: At this point in time, we are only able to keep the last few weeks' messages available. As a result, links to
earlier sermons on previous sermon pages may not work.)
If you have questions about this message or wish to contact Dr. Kile for further information, feel free to e-mail him at pastor@gulf-prairie.org