Journey With Jesus – Steps of Faith 10/07/07
Date: 10/07/07
Sermon Series: Journey with Jesus
Sermon Title: Steps of Faith
Text: Mark 9:23-24
“Then Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ Everything is possible to the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe! Help my unbelief.”” (Mark 9:23-24, HCSB)
Theme: Faith/Belief (same root word in Greek) is the ability to connect our heart to our head in regards to who Jesus is. In His kingdom teaching we learn that it is only by faith that we come into relationship with Him, that we receive healing and freedom from fear. Faith is our passport that allows us entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
Introduction: Show clip of: “It Is Well”
Transition: Give background of sermon series.
Then contextualize this passage.
- Coming down from Mt. of transfiguration
- The scribes were laying for Jesus and found in this poor boy the medium for their attack.
I. A Faith that’s Real
a. Genuine and Authentic – This narrative is one that has become more important to me the longer that I have had my faith.
i. The world likes to build up a caricature of the Christian faith and then pretend that is what real faith is like. – (Think about how Christians are usually portrayed on TV and movie.)
1. They see a faith that is about judging
a. We need a faith that is moral and discerning but not judicious.
2. They see a faith that does not hold up in the real world.
a. For the Christian our lives have to reflect the principles that our Lord calls us to.
b. Head and Heart
i. A genuine faith is one that involves both the head and the heart.
ii. Jesus in response to the scribes debating in the temple on the last week of His earthly ministry (Mark 12:29-30), told them that the primary commandment is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all your soul, all of your mind and all of your strength.
iii. Genuine faith is when you get to the place that the evidence that you see for the existence of the Lord only confirms what you already know about Him. He is real!
II. A Faith that’s Reliable
a. That holds up under the hard questions of life.
i. You know there are a couple of places where you rarely see atheists; people who do not believe in the existence of God. On the battlefield and in hospitals.
1. When we facer dire circumstances in our lives we generally look toward the inner knowledge that we are born with that doesn’t question the existence of God we only look for His help.
2. Do you remember after 9/11 the pseudo spiritual revival that took place around this country as people who were experiencing devastation and disorientation looked to God for those answers?
3. This father’s faith is the kind of faith that I see in hospitals as people grasp in desperation as they have run to the end of their own strength and finally call out for God.
ii. A reliable faith exists in the Christian who daily lifts up the hard questions of life and places them in the hand of the only who can really take care of them.
b. A Faith that lasts
i. The other aspect of this kind of faith is that it doesn’t crumble when the answer is no.
ii. As I have been studying through the Gospel of Mark this week I have been amazed again at the hundred of people whom Jesus encountered and healed from various diseases. There are a few places where the text tells us that all day long people who needed healing came up and were physically repaired by Jesus.
iii. You know what I bet I bet that one day every one of those people eventually died. One day the answer was no it is time or you to come home.
1. A daily, consistent faith that’s reliable is able to accept the answer because we understand that God sees a lot farther then we do, and we believe that He has our best interest at heart.
III. A Faith That’s Relational
a. Ultimately our faith has to be based on an encounter with Jesus
i. Why do you suppose that Jesus asked the question about how long this had been going on with the boy? He has already demonstrated His precognitive and omniscient abilities. – So that those around (scribes) could hear the exchange.
1. One of the things that I love about Jesus is that usually when He encounters people, He doesn’t just deal with the surface stuff he probes to the heart of the problem. He is never content with leaving the things that are hidden in a persons heart hidden He drags them out into the open.
a. When He encounters this father He confronts him about his lack of faith.
b. When Jesus healed the crippled, whose friends let down through the roof, (Mark 2:8) he addresses what the Pharisees and scribes are thinking but don’t say. – Why are you reasoning in your heart about whether or not I can forgive sins?
c. When He dealt with the woman at the well in John 4 he confronted her about her promiscuous lifestyle.
d. When He dealt with Nicodemus He focused on the need for him to have a total new model of spirituality.
b. The kind of faith that Jesus led people into is the kind of faith that comes because somewhere along the way we have an encounter with the risen Lord. We come face to face with His honesty and His holiness and we see ourselves as sinful people who are desperately in need of the healing that He offers.
i. This doesn’t come because we read about it somewhere or saw it on TV it comes because we have met the Lord, personally.
