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If you'd open your Bible with me to the book of 1st Thessalonians, as I begin a series

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that will take us through the summer months entitled, The Church I Want to Join.

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I've not been church shopping too often in my life.

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I think it was probably in college the last time that I was church shopping.

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For some reason, when I go to pastor a church, they insist that I join there.

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And so I haven't done that too often in the last 30 plus years.

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And it may be that you're here today church shopping, but most of us at some point in

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our lives, whether we're young or old or right now, we have been looking for a church.

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And the question I'm asking myself is, what kind of a church do I want to join?

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How do you decide that anyway?

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Do you look at the preaching?

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Do you look at the music styles?

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You try to find a church where the kids find a place or where the facilities meet the eye?

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Is it where my friends go to church?

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Do I look for a church where the people reach out with a welcoming hand and make me feel

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important?

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Now, there's something to be said about all of these things that I've just mentioned,

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but there are some deeper matters that need to be weighed too in this matter of finding

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a church to join.

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In fact, some of the most important things about a church are well beyond the preaching

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and music styles and whether the facility is new or attractive.

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These things go much deeper than that.

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They go to the very heart of the church into, shall we say, its culture, into what the church

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really is.

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We find the kind of information that I'm talking about in the book of 1 Thessalonians and 2

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Thessalonians.

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Paul's letters to this church located in the city of Thessalonica may in fact have been

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his earliest writings that were inspired by the Holy Spirit as a revelation.

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By looking into these writings, I believe that we can chart what a church looks like

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that you and I would really want to join.

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This is an important question.

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It is not a matter of mere theory.

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It is a matter of real practical application to our lives because although most of us sitting

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here this morning are not looking to join a church, we ought to be looking to build

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a church.

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We've heard the statistic many times that 85% of American churches are either stagnant

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or declining.

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And let me say to you as your pastor who loves you, that includes us.

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Los Gatos Christian Church has been in decline since the mid-1980s.

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And right now in a Sunday morning service, typically we have 500 or fewer people.

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Now there are probably 1200 who say that they come and are a part of our church, and that

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would be true if you add up everybody who comes over maybe a year's period.

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And we have a number of people who come two times a month or once a month and they consider

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themselves to be active in our church.

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But when you average it all out, we have each Sunday about 500 people who come and who are

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here in this auditorium as part of our worship service.

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We are among the churches in America that are in decline that ought to concern you.

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It concerns me a great deal.

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It concerns the leaders of our church.

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And this summer in the series that I'm going to talk about, I want to talk about the kind

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of a church people want to join.

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Now there are lots of reasons why people leave churches.

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We have seen probably 60 families leave our church in the last now two and a half years

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because of the economy.

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We read in the paper yesterday that this is the worst economic situation the valley has

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been in in many decades.

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And it will probably take the rest of this decade before we're able to climb out of it.

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But the fact is in the midst of a lot of people leaving the valley, there are some churches

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that are growing.

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Why is that?

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Well, some of it is attributed to the fact that Christians have a tendency to go where

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something's happening.

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So really the church isn't growing from new converts, but it's growing because people

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are migrating to other places.

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Los Gatos Christian Church benefited, if you want to call it that, from this same phenomenon

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back in the 70s and early 80s, as this was the place to go.

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And lots of people who found problems in their churches left and came here, and that would

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include some of you sitting here this morning.

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And the reason there are some churches growing in our valley is because there are Christians

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migrating to them for one reason or another.

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But there aren't many churches that are growing because of new converts, and that's what church

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growth really is.

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It's when a church grows because people are coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

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There are not many churches in our valley, even some whose numbers are growing, who are

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adding because people are coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

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I want to talk about that this summer.

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I want to talk about becoming the kind of a place where people want to come, where they

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are attracted to come.

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I want to talk about being a place where you would want to join.

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The kind of church that I would want to join and the kind of church that you would want

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to join is the kind of church that I hope that we together desire to build at Los Gatos

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Christian Church.

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I want to read a text here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1.

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I'm going to begin in verse 2 rather than read the introduction.

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For Paul says, we always thank God for all of you mentioning you in our prayers.

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We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your work

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of faith.

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The kind of a church that I want to join is the kind of a church that has a faith that

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works.

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Or to say it another way, it's a place where authentic faith powerfully transforms lives

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and brings God's outcome.

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That's the kind of a church I want to join.

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Charles Spurgeon said more than a hundred years ago, brethren, be great believers.

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Be great believers.

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I like that.

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He went on to say, little faith will bring your souls to heaven, but great faith will

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bring heaven to your souls.

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What I want to be a part of is a church, a congregation, a assembly of God's people who

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are great believers.

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That was the case with the Thessalonians.

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They had a great faith because they had a powerful message.

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The message that they had received by faith was none other than the gospel that Paul had

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preached to them.

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In fact, Paul refers to it in the verses that follow here as our gospel.

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Verse four, we know, brothers, beloved by God, that he has chosen you because our gospel

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came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with

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deep conviction.

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Paul is here describing the ministry that he had in bringing the gospel to the city

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of Thessalonica.

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Now, if you go back to Acts chapter 17 and read about it, it reads a little differently

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than this.

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There it says that he went and he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jewish leaders and

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being thrown out of there, he went to Gentiles, he was greatly opposed.

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And yet, as Paul looks back upon that, he says, when we were there preaching the gospel

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to you, it was more than just words.

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The words were accompanied, he says, with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep

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conviction.

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They had believed a powerful message, the gospel of God.

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It was accompanied with some demonstration of God's power, whatever that was, were not

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made clear.

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But certainly, it was at least with a deep moving conviction in their hearts.

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And God used the proclamation of the gospel of Christ to woo these Jewish unbelievers

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and pagan unbelievers to place their faith in the person of Jesus.

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They heard that there was a Savior that came to the world, that it was God who had come

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in the flesh.

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Paul proclaimed to them his sinless life, his death for them on the cross, and his resurrection

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from the dead.

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And having heard that there was a God who loved them that much and who paid the price

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for their sins, and who wanted to come into their lives, they believed on him.

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And they believed with transforming results.

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Their faith was an authentic faith.

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The results are clear.

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Paul says in verse 9, you turned to God from idols.

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Do you understand the dynamic that is involved here?

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The sea change of thought and of tradition and pattern in their lives.

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Those who were pagans had worshiped idols all of their lives.

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They were brought up in that system of religion.

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But now, hearing the gospel of Christ, they believed.

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And the result of their belief was they turned from idols to serve God.

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They turned away from what they had been a part of in the past to begin a brand new relationship

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with this creator God who had loved them and given himself for them.

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This message not only resonated in their hearts, it resonated through them, throughout the

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city and throughout the region.

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It was like the roll of thunder the gospel was in the Thessalonian church.

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Paul says as much when he says in verse 8, the Lord's message rang out from you not only

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in Macedonia and Achaia, the areas nearby.

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He says your faith in God has become known everywhere.

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Something powerful was taking place among the people who believed in Thessalonica.

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Their authentic faith transformed them.

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And that transformation was so complete that it rolled like thunder.

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It echoed throughout the whole region so that many, many people heard that something was

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happening in the city of Thessalonica.

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When the persecution came, a third result of their genuine faith was this.

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They remained loyal to Christ.

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Paul speaks of that early in the epistle in verse 6.

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He says you became imitators of us and of the Lord.

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What do you mean Paul?

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He says in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by

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the Holy Spirit.

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Despite the fact that the powers of darkness struck back quickly against the new believers,

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their faith was so transforming and so authentic that despite the severe suffering they underwent,

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they persevered.

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They persisted and stuck with it.

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But not only that.

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Their authentic faith was reflected in another way entirely.

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In chapter 4 verses 9 and 10, Paul speaks of their life change, their lifestyle change.

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He says now about brotherly love, we do not need to write to you.

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For you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

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And in fact you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia.

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Yet we urge you brothers to do so more and more.

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The fourth demonstration of this transforming result of the gospel was in their lifestyle.

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Rather than being typically self-centered, selfish people, they began to care for others

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and to demonstrate that love and concern for others in very practical, tangible ways so

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that it could be called agape love, self-sacrificing love.

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And Paul says I don't even need to write to you about this.

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He said I'll tell you, do it more and more but you yourselves know how to do this already.

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Why?

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Because of their authentic faith.

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Because their faith was authentic.

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This powerful message brought transforming results to their lives.

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Now what is authentic faith?

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Paul seems to describe it in verse 13 of chapter 2.

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I want you to turn there and look at that.

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He says we also thank God continually because when you received the Word of God, which you

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heard from us, you accepted it not as the Word of men but as it actually is the Word

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of God which is at work in you who believe.

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There are three words in this verse that Paul seems to use interchangeably.

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He seems to be saying that to believe is to receive which is to embrace or to accept.

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They received or embraced the message.

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That is they reached out and they brought it to themselves.

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It wasn't a matter of mere intellectual understanding of what the gospel was.

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They reached out and they took it for themselves.

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It can also be described as a welcoming.

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To take hold of with the hand.

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This morning I had you greet people.

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What that means is that you welcomed them, you stuck out your hand, you took their hand

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in yours and you shook it.

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That was a way of welcoming them.

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And what Paul is saying is that you welcomed the gospel.

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You reached out with your hand and you took it.

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You see, authentic faith is more than merely hearing a message.

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It is acting upon it.

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Authentic faith is more than assenting to the truth of a message.

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It is actually reaching out and making it yours.

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I fear that there are many who think they are Christians who are not because they have

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something less than authentic faith.

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Even the devil has faith.

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James says the devil believes that there is a God.

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He has a faith.

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And I fear that there are many people who call themselves Christians who have a kind

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of faith in which they sort of go along with the message.

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They like the people that they go to church with.

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They feel comfortable there.

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They've got roots there.

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They think the message is a wonderful message.

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They like the things it does in other people's lives.

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But they themselves have never experienced the reality of the transforming gospel of

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Jesus Christ.

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Authentic faith is a faith that is reached out for, taken a hold of, and applied to one's

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life.

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Authentic faith, genuine faith.

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It reaches out for the gospel.

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It takes it by the hand, as it were, and it brings it to one's own heart.

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Have you ever done that?

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Have you experienced the transforming power of Jesus Christ?

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In the case of the Thessalonians, there was an authentic faith that powerfully transformed

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their lives, and it brought God's outcome in their church.

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Jesus had an awful lot to say about the importance of faith.

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There are certain principles that Jesus taught about faith.

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I want to mention two of them this morning.

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I want to talk about this because I believe that if we're going to be a church that is

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going to last beyond another generation.

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If we are a church that is going to be the kind of a church where people want to join,

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then we need to be a church where faith is dynamic.

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Where faith is more than something we talk about.

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Faith is something that changes our lives.

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It energizes who we are and what we do.

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The first principle I want to give you that Jesus taught about faith is this, that faith

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releases God's resources.

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I remind you of what Jesus said in Matthew 9 verses 27 to 30.

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Jesus was going on from the city of Jericho, and there were two blind men who were following

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him.

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They called out to him, Lord, son of David, have mercy upon us.

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And it says when he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him and he asked them, do

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you believe that I am able to do this?

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Yes, Lord, they replied.

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Then he touched their eyes and said, according to your faith, will it be done to you?

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And their sight was restored.

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There is a basic principle locked up in that statement.

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According to your faith, will it be done to you?

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I heard a story recently about a church in West Virginia which bought a few acres of

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ground.

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In fact, they didn't buy it.

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They inherited it from a man in the congregation who passed away.

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It was just large enough for them to build the kind of a church that they were eager

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to build.

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And so they went to work.

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They did that.

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They built the church.

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They put in the parking lot that they could fit onto that site.

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And just a week or so before they had the dedication of the new facility, they learned

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from the building inspector that they didn't have enough parking for the church.

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And therefore, they were not going to receive the occupancy permit to use it.

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Now they had a little bit of a problem because you see this church was built right at the

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foot of a mountain.

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So that the parking lot ended and the mountain went up like this.

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And so it wasn't as though they could go buy a few more acres and build more parking.

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And so the pastor called the church to pray.

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Out of the 300 people in the church, 24 came to the prayer meeting.

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And they prayed for three hours.

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And they claimed the promise of God and that the promise they claimed was that if you speak

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to this mountain and believe it will be moved, it will be moved.

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And so they prayed that God would move that mountain so that they would have room then

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to build a parking lot large enough for their church.

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Now how would you like to be in that prayer meeting and be asked to have that kind of

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faith?

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There are all kinds of reasons why Jesus didn't mean what He said, right?

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There are ways that we rationalize these things and we qualify these things so in the end

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whatever Jesus said is basically nullified.

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But not with this congregation.

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They said, we're going to believe God to move that mountain.

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At least 24 of them did.

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They entered the prayer meeting.

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The next morning the pastor was in a study.

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There was a knock at the door.

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And a man introduced himself.

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He was a burly man.

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He was dressed as a construction worker.

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And he said to the pastor, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I am from the Acme Construction Company.

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And down the road here a ways we're building a shopping center.

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We desperately need some fill dirt.

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Would you mind if we could buy some of that mountain behind your church?

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We would like to take down some of that mountain.

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And pastor, we know that it kind of leaves a mess.

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So I'll tell you what we'll do.

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We'll even smooth it out at the base and we'll put some asphalt down there for you so you

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can use that as a parking lot.

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The mountain was moved.

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You see, God has a way of answering prayer when we have authentic faith.

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When we really believe that God will answer.

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Jesus said, according to your faith will it be done to you?

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Sometimes when I'm praying I examine my heart and I say, do you really believe that God

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can do that?

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Do you ever struggle that way or am I the only one?

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I think we all do.

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And what we are learning here is that Jesus says, according to your faith your request

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will be granted.

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What are you believing God for?

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Spurgeon said, have great faith.

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We would hope to have great faith, but usually our great faith is more of a theory than a

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theory.

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Because our requests are so innocuous, are so small that if God answered it we couldn't

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really measure it.

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God wants us to have a great faith.

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God wants us to ask prayers that are God sized.

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That's the kind of a church I want to join.

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That's the kind of a church that I want us together to build.

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The kind of a church that is able to lay hold of the promises of God and to believe God

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for big things.

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Be willing to risk our own reputation, what people think of us and so forth, for the glory

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of God.

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There's another principle that Jesus gives.

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It is the principle found in Matthew chapter 13 verses 57 and 58.

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It's this principle, so it's the opposite of what I've said.

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It is that unbelief hinders God's results.

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It says in Matthew 13, Jesus said to them, only in his hometown and in his own house

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is a prophet without honor.

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He is talking about the city of Nazareth.

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And it goes on to say, and he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

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In Matthew chapter 17, the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked him a question.

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They had been trying to drive out a demon and they could not do it.

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And they said, Lord, why couldn't we drive it out?

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And he replied, because you have so little faith.

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Again, in Mark chapter 6, it says, he could not do any miracles there except lay his hands

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on a few sick people and heal them.

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And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

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When you read the gospels, you see Jesus doing miracles in many places, especially around

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the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Capernaum.

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You see it in the Decapolis.

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You see it in lots of the little villages as he would travel along.

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But in the city of Nazareth, where he was best known, where he grew up, where he spent

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most of his earthly life, it says he could not do many miracles there.

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And the reason was the lack of faith.

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Faith hinders the release of God's power.

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God's results cannot be realized where God's people do not believe him.

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Martin Luther said, God, our Father, has made all things depend on faith so that whoever

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has faith will have everything.

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And whoever does not have faith will have nothing.

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I want to be a part of a church that has authentic faith, that has the kind of faith that changes

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lives and accomplishes God's outcome.

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Now, what does authentic, transforming faith look like?

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Well, I think we could say on one hand, there would be excitement in a church like this.

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There would be energy in a church like this.

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There would be something in the air in a church like this.

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You would want to go there.

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You would want to invite others to go with you there because of the faith that is experienced

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when you attend.

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When I think of a church like this, I think of the Brooklyn Tabernacle where some of you

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have been.

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I have not been there.

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Someday I hope to visit.

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Now, why do I want to go?

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Because it is a church of incredible faith where people pray and believe God for big

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things.

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And God has a way of answering those kinds of prayers.

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I want to be in that kind of an atmosphere.

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I want to see it.

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I want to experience it.

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That's the kind of church I want to be a part of.

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And I believe it's the kind of church you want to be a part of.

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A church that has authentic, transforming faith also has a sense of expectation.

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When you go there, you have this sense that something is about to happen.

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When you listen to people talk, there is a positive talk.

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There is a way in which they express themselves, in which they are expecting God to do something.

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It's just not the ordinary kind of conversation.

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This transforming authentic faith is the kind that pushes the boundaries out of our comfort

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zones.

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We Christians and we as churches can get stale.

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We can get stuck in a rut and hamstrung by our own traditions.

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Wasn't that not at least in part what happened to Israel in Jesus' day?

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The leaders rejected Him because they were hamstrung by their own traditions, which they

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respected more than they respected the Word of God.

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The same thing can happen to us.

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Authentic faith is the kind of faith that pushes the boundaries of our comfort zones.

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I grew up in a church that was of a certain theological persuasion.

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I went to schools that had a certain theological persuasion.

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But I'm grateful for the doctrine that I learned growing up.

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I'm grateful for the foundation that I have for my belief system.

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But I will tell you this, the kind of system that I brought up in put God in a box.

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The theological grid that I grew up with was such that God could not do certain things

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because that was inconsistent with our theological grid.

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And I think that that is a grid that is very common in the evangelical church in America.

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Why is it that we hear stories of how God moves in powerful ways in Muslim countries,

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for example, as I heard this last week, or as I've heard stories about Ethiopia in the

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past, places where there is more of an openness to the supernatural and a working of the supernatural?

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Why is it that when Christians pray there, miracles happen that don't happen here?

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I think part of that is because we have this theological grid that says that God can't

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do this or can't do that because it's inconsistent with our theology.

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I think authentic faith pushes us beyond the grid.

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I think authentic faith pushes us beyond the comfort zones.

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I went to church a few months ago with a friend of mine.

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It was a church that's in a different theological camp than the one that I pastor and that I

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grew up in.

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And in the service, at a particular point, the pastor called for anybody who had a need

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to slip out of the pew where they were seated and stand in the aisle.

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And then people who had some oil went down the aisles and anointed them in the name of

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the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Now that was beyond my comfort zone.

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You say your comfort zone is way too narrow.

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That's what I'm telling you.

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When I experienced that at first, I thought, oh my goodness, what's going on here?

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I've never experienced anything like this before.

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And yet I saw God touch the lives of people.

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Now how God answered their prayers and met their needs, I cannot know.

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But I know that in that body, in Fridley, Minnesota, there are some people, there are

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scores of people in that church who believe that God answers prayer.

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And that was symbolized by their going down the aisles and touching the foreheads of people

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that they prayed for and anointing them in the name of Christ.

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Now there's nothing magic about the form, about the oil.

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The power, you see, is in the faith to believe that God is able to answer prayer.

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Faith releases God's power.

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Faith and our traditions hinder God doing what he wants to do.

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I believe that authentic transforming faith not only is the kind that pushes our boundaries

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out, it's the kind of faith that sees supernatural results.

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Isn't that reasonable that if we pray to a supernatural God, we ought to see supernatural

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things?

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And yet we in the Western culture see little evidence of this.

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I think part of that is because of our culture.

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We live in a culture that is rationalistic, materialistic, and we don't expect to see

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the supernatural because in the world view that dominates our culture, the supernatural

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doesn't exist.

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And we know on some level that it does exist, but for many of us it hasn't gotten down into

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our faith where we really believe that the supernatural can intervene in our situations

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00:35:56,080 --> 00:36:01,680
despite what our world view is.

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Authentic transforming faith is the kind that sees supernatural results.

436
00:36:07,020 --> 00:36:13,000
Authentic transforming faith is the kind that believes God is at work even when that work

437
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:16,060
is invisible.

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It perseveres because it is focused on the promises of God rather than on the circumstances

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00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:26,840
of the moment.

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It knows that God is at work even when we can't see God.

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Some people seem to think that God is only working when they can see Him working.

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00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:42,480
It's sort of like that blonde that we've all heard about who was asked to stick her head

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out the window of the car to see if the blinker was working.

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In doing that she said, yes, no, yes, no, yes, no.

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You see she thought the blinker only worked when she saw it on.

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We need to learn that we don't have to see God at work for Him in fact to be at work.

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He works in the invisible realm very often.

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Authentic transforming faith believes that God is at work even when He can't be seen.

449
00:37:19,720 --> 00:37:25,760
Authentic transforming faith allows God His mysteries.

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That is the mystery of when the miracle doesn't happen.

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Why?

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The mystery of when the answer to prayer suddenly disappears.

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Why?

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There are many mysteries in life.

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An authentic transforming faith believes God deeply, but it leaves the mysteries to God

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and says, God, I don't understand.

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This doesn't make sense to me, but I believe you.

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That's genuine faith.

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You see it gives God room for His mysteries.

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00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:28,480
One theologian said, the more we know of God, the more unreservedly we will trust Him.

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00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:29,980
Why?

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Because God is always faithful.

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Why would I look for a church with authentic faith?

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Well, I will tell you honestly that one reason for that is because I need that support.

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I need that stimulation of others who believe God for my own faith.

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And I want to be a part of a congregation with a big God, a people who believe that

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God is bigger than any circumstance.

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Jeremiah did.

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He said, Oh, sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power

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and outstretched arm.

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Nothing is too difficult or too hard for You.

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Nothing.

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00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:24,460
Jesus said to His disciples, I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter

474
00:39:24,460 --> 00:39:26,760
the kingdom of heaven.

475
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:30,480
I tell you it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich

476
00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:33,120
man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

477
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:40,000
This blew the minds of the disciples because their whole view was that if you were rich,

478
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:46,100
it meant that God had been pleased with you and had blessed you.

479
00:39:46,100 --> 00:39:51,980
And they heard this and they were astonished and asked, Well Lord, who can be saved then

480
00:39:51,980 --> 00:39:54,440
if not rich people?

481
00:39:54,440 --> 00:40:01,080
And Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things

482
00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:02,080
are what?

483
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:04,560
Are possible.

484
00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:12,120
I asked myself some heart-searching questions in light of the need for authentic faith.

485
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:18,220
What issues do I need to surrender to Jesus?

486
00:40:18,220 --> 00:40:23,020
What issues in my life do I need to surrender to Jesus?

487
00:40:23,020 --> 00:40:31,840
In light of this challenge about faith, what attitudes in me need to be changed?

488
00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:40,320
What actions show my faith to be authentic?

489
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:44,640
How should my faith grow?

490
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:49,760
These are questions that I need to deal with and you need to deal with.

491
00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:53,880
There's an old chorus, it's so old even I haven't sung it.

492
00:40:53,880 --> 00:41:03,040
But it said, Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees and looks to God alone, laughs at impossibilities

493
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:10,520
and cries, It shall be done.

494
00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:13,400
With man it is impossible.

495
00:41:13,400 --> 00:41:20,360
With God all things are possible.

496
00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:27,440
Kind of church that I want to join is the kind of a church that says amen to that.

497
00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:35,180
It says we may not have much, we may be against difficult circumstances, we may be under pressure,

498
00:41:35,180 --> 00:41:39,560
but with God all things are possible.

499
00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:43,160
It's the kind of a faith that has a positive outlook.

500
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:48,040
It's the kind of a faith that says it can be done.

501
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:52,280
It's the kind of a faith that says God will do it and if he doesn't I'm going to trust

502
00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:54,680
him anyway.

503
00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:58,800
That's authentic transforming faith.

504
00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:03,960
The kind of faith that Hudson Taylor had on many occasions, but on one occasion that I

505
00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:10,120
want to share with you in 1853 he was traveling on his first voyage to China.

506
00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:20,080
And he was of course on a ship that was empowered by the wind and they hit a calm near New Guinea.

507
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:26,520
And they noticed as they were in the water that there was a current that was strong,

508
00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:30,940
taking them in the direction of some reefs that would destroy the ship.

509
00:42:30,940 --> 00:42:36,800
The captain immediately ordered some sailors to get in a longboat and to attach a rope

510
00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:43,160
to the big ship and to try to row it out of that current, but they could not begin to

511
00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:45,800
make headway with it.

512
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:52,000
The captain finally said, we have done everything that we can do.

513
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:57,080
And Hudson Taylor said to him, no there is one thing we haven't done yet.

514
00:42:57,080 --> 00:43:00,400
We have not prayed.

515
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:04,200
There were some other believers who were on the ship with Taylor.

516
00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:09,200
They retired to a cabin and they began to pray.

517
00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:12,920
In fact they each went to their own cabins and began to pray.

518
00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:18,840
And after some time Hudson Taylor began to be convinced in his spirit that God was going

519
00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:24,200
to deliver them, that God was going to send a wind so they would not drift with the current

520
00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:26,320
into the rocks.

521
00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:27,720
So he went up onto the deck.

522
00:43:27,720 --> 00:43:31,160
Now it's one thing to believe that, right?

523
00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:35,760
But he went up on the deck and he said to the first officer who was not a Christian,

524
00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:40,480
let down the main sail because a breeze is on its way.

525
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:44,920
Now my friends, that's authentic faith.

526
00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:48,640
It's more than a private impression that God is going to do something.

527
00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:50,500
It is taking a public stand.

528
00:43:50,500 --> 00:43:53,880
He said put down the main sail, a breeze is on its way.

529
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:57,160
The man refused to do it.

530
00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:05,880
But just then, just then the corner of the sail began to stir just a little bit.

531
00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:10,860
And so they quickly let down the sail and it was only within a matter of minutes before

532
00:44:10,860 --> 00:44:16,120
there was a wind that had come that carried them out of that dangerous current and on

533
00:44:16,120 --> 00:44:20,500
their way.

534
00:44:20,500 --> 00:44:25,020
I wish I were a Hudson Taylor, don't you?

535
00:44:25,020 --> 00:44:27,400
We can be.

536
00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:31,080
Because you see the power was not in Hudson Taylor.

537
00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:34,880
The power was in the God that he believed.

538
00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:37,440
That's all.

539
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:55,080
He was an ordinary man.

540
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:56,600
The chorus is sung today.

541
00:44:56,600 --> 00:45:00,240
It says only believe.

542
00:45:00,240 --> 00:45:02,520
Only believe.

543
00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:05,240
All things are possible.

544
00:45:05,240 --> 00:45:06,240
Only believe.

545
00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:08,040
Have you ever heard that?

546
00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:09,040
You know it?

547
00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:11,200
Many of you do.

548
00:45:11,200 --> 00:45:19,160
Only believe all things are possible.

549
00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:22,880
Are we ready to believe?

550
00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:27,880
I believe you are.

551
00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:36,040
I want God to move in us in a way that will truly honor him by releasing his power in

552
00:45:36,040 --> 00:45:38,320
our midst.

553
00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:41,200
I'm willing to be stretched.

554
00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:45,400
I'm willing for my comfort zones to be pushed back.

555
00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:51,480
What I want to experience is Jesus.

556
00:45:51,480 --> 00:46:02,600
Jesus working in our midst because our hearts truly believe him.

557
00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:05,700
Let's bow together.

558
00:46:05,700 --> 00:46:08,520
If you know that chorus, sing it with me.

559
00:46:08,520 --> 00:46:11,520
Only believe.

560
00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:16,160
Only believe.

561
00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:20,360
Only believe.

562
00:46:20,360 --> 00:46:25,680
All things are possible.

563
00:46:25,680 --> 00:46:31,000
Only believe.

564
00:46:31,000 --> 00:46:35,640
Only believe.

565
00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:40,400
Only believe.

566
00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:46,160
All things are possible.

567
00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:53,160
Only believe.

568
00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:57,800
Would you stand together with me, please?

569
00:46:57,800 --> 00:47:10,120
Father God, our prayer today is that we might be men and women who activate authentic, transforming

570
00:47:10,120 --> 00:47:14,360
faith in our lives.

571
00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:20,880
We're not looking to join another church, but we are, Lord, seeking to build our church.

572
00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:26,000
And we want it to be built upon this kind of faith.

573
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:33,040
We want it to be built upon the kind of faith that sees you as a big God for whom nothing

574
00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:39,800
is impossible, in whom all things are possible.

575
00:47:39,800 --> 00:47:44,960
Lord, help us to believe this way.

576
00:47:44,960 --> 00:47:47,720
Teach us to believe this way.

577
00:47:47,720 --> 00:47:53,760
Change us to believe this way.

578
00:47:53,760 --> 00:47:56,880
I pray in Jesus' name, amen.