Riverside Community Church
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The news story seemed bizarre. Two Air Force F-15s jets were shadowing a Learjet heading steadily north across the heart of the United States. Flight controls had been unable to make contact with the plane. As the F-15s pulled up along side the Learjet they noticed that all the windows were frosted over. Six people were on board, 2 pilots, 3 workers and Payne Stewart, the reigning champion of the US Open golf tournament. 14 minutes after takeoff air traffic could not get a response from the jet which climbed to a height over 50,000’ where it levelled off and just flew in a NW direction. And then it happened. The fuel ran out.
The ghost flight was caused by a sudden loss of compression in the jet, the occupants became unconscious for lack of oxygen. The jet dropped like a stone and impacted the earth at a speed of 1000 kilometers per hour. All were lost.
The expensive jet had everything, the latest navigational tools, a state-of-the-art guidance system, advanced ground help from the flight controllers, it had everything there to reach its destination safely except 1 thing OXYGEN.
Without oxygen, everything else was rendered useless,
Without oxygen, everything else was rendered futile,
Without oxygen, everything else was rendered ineffective.
Hang unto that thought and listen to this verse; Hebrews 11:6 NIV
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Faith is the oxygen you have to have to make everything else work,
faith, real faith, authentic faith.
You’re on your life’s journey, a new ocean surrounds you, unchartered, unmapped and with perilous rocks and shoals. How do you sail your ship, steer your life, in an everchanging ocean? This is what we have been talking about these last 8 weeks; Discovering God’s way in a changing world.
Here’s a summary of what we we’ve said so far:
1) We a have a desperate need to find a way and God has a way
2) We need a true north star to guide us and it’s Jesus, every word and every action of Jesus can guide us
3) The Bible provides a great and necessary guidance tool
4) We need a conscience, we need to pray, to avoid coveting and to be generous; just like Jesus.
5) Last week it was the need to have Godly character (fruit of the Spirit) growing and flourishing in us.
Today, we need authentic faith to utilize these other navigational tools
Faith is our soul’s oxygen.
Hebrews 11:6 NIV
And without faith it is impossible to please God,
So the question always becomes personal when we talk about these things; do I have authentic faith, real faith or is a facade present, or perhaps a good reputation with people but not a relationship / a genuine authentic faith in God???
Perhaps we took 1 one you (pretend its Harry) and we asked everyone in the church about you, we built a report about you, what you did, how you served, your attitude, your love, kindness and fruit and then we presented this report to God. And then asked God, pretty good fellow this Harry eh! What do you think about this fellow, this “Christian”.
Would the reputation (people’s report) match up with the reality
(God’s report)
Would your reputation (people’s report) match up with your reality
(God’s report)
When you think of it it’s really silly to try to fake our Christianity
“You die and wake up in hell and think, well everybody on earth thinks I’m in heaven. That makes me feel better” LOL??
How do I know if I have authentic Christian faith?
1) Answer this: do you believe that Jesus died on the cross for you, in your place, that He rose again from the dead? Have you said sorry for your sin and asked Jesus to forgive you and come into your life and take control. Do you believe that? Yes or no.
Faith is a decision, a choice, it is not an emotion (I feel like faith)
For the people of faith here at Riverside we believe that God is God and will fulfill every promise He has made.
Martin Luther said, “To be without faith is like someone who has to cross the sea but is so frightened he does not trust the ship. And so, he stays where he is and is never saved because he will not get on board and cross over.”
You have to have faith and get on board and once on-board trust in a God who will bring you home.
Hebrews 11 (NIV)
11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Choose to believe, have faith in God, trust God the Son in His atoning, redeeming and saving death for you. Christians, have faith in God and all of His promises. Christians keep on having faith in God, be faithful
Christians never stop, never give up, never collapse in your faith of God because GOD EXISTS AND WILL REWARD YOUR FAITH.
March 1, 2020
