So far in this series

we have looked at faith, discovering that it should not be dependent on

circumstances, feelings or even the results (can you have faith in God if you

don't get what you want?). Faith is dependent on the object of our faith… God

Himself!

 

So this morning I am

going to show you just how unbelievably huge and powerful your God is..

 

Mankind thinks it is

pretty awesome, and I suppose in many ways we are. We've designed great things

like cars, TV, cell phones and the internet, we've travelled to the deepest depths

of the ocean and right around our incredible world. We've even travelled to the

moon and back, and sent probes into deepest space, learning, exploring and all

the time glorying in ourselves and what we can do.

 

Mankind is pretty

smart, pretty clever and ultimately that feeds into the fact that we fear each

other… what we say, what we do and threats we make towards one another.

 

And fear destroys

faith. We have been speaking about faith, and many of you leave here inspired

to be more and more faith filled, but then you encounter people, or you turn on

the TV and see so many things to fear in this world.

 

The Bible says

 

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in

love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.

The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

 

1 John 4:8

Whoever does not love

does not know God, because God is love.

 

 As I have repeatedly told you, true, Biblical

faith is not dependent on circumstances, or even results. Faith is dependent on

the object of our faith, and that's God.

 

So if we can focus on

the facts that God not only loves us, but is perfectly in control and

orchestrating everything for our growth, development and benefit, and if we can

begin to understand just how awesome He really is, then a tiny amount of faith

in an infinitely powerful God will move any mountain, and make us into

everything we could possibly become for Christ in our lives.

 

Hence this message... Rather

than talking directly about faith I want to focus on the object of our faith,

and how big, awesome and great He really is. If you believe God loves you as He

has promised, and that He wants the best for you, then in these next few

moments as I prove how big, amazing and awesome He is, you cannot help but have

faith in Him!

 

 

IT IS TIME TO LOOK

UP

 

Psalms 19:1

 

The heavens declare

the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the

work of his hands.

 

Like men throughout

the centuries, this morning I want you to look up, and I am hoping you will see

God’s creation in a new and fresh way. And as you marvel at the wonder, stop

and realise that this God loves you, is for you and

 

Romans 8:28

 

And we know that in

all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called

according to his

We've seen that

 

Hebrews 11:1

… faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

 

Trouble is that many of us find it hard to maintain a good level of faith, especially when we face difficult circumstances around us. Now we know that faith is dependent on the object of our faith, which is God Himself, not on circumstances, not on results and not on our desires.

 

But we live in the real world, with pain, heartache, disappointments, frustrations and sin, right? And the truth is, if you get enough of these smashing into your life for long enough, it will get you down and depressed.

 

IS IT WRONG TO BE DEPRESSED?

 

I have heard Christians claim that we are saved, therefore we should never be depressed. That's nice in theory, but these Christians are either living in a holy bubble or lying to themselves. We all face pressures, we all face things that can and will make us depressed from time to time, and some of us struggle deeply with depression.

 

Behind this “happy clappy” façade the Bible actually identifies with and speaks quite a bit about depression. Look at this Psalm...

 

Psalms 130:1-5

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

 

The picture here is of a drowning person who cannot touch the bottom and cannot swim to safety. They're weary, tired, discouraged and desperate… maybe that described you right now. It continues…

 

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

 

If it was wrong to be depressed, then half the heroes of the Bible are wrong, and some of the greatest and most creative people in history are wrong!

 

I would rather you admit to being down and depressed than paint on a happy face and play pretend every time you come to church. Let's get real, folks, and if you are struggling with life, for whatever reason, face the fact and be honest with God, with each other and most of all with yourself.

 

Fake it til you make it FAITH isn’t real faith at all!

 

FINDING FAITH IN THE VALLEY OF DEPRESSION

 

Depression kills off your faith. It is impossible to be full of faith when you are constantly down and depressed. It's hard to be faith filled in the valley of depression. If you are there now, don't beat yourself up because the Bible says, if you are struggling with depression, you are in good company!

 

At times, everybody feels sad, down, and blue. Solomon wrote of “a time to weep” and “a time to mourn” (Eccl. 3:4).

 

Clinical depression, however, is a deeper level of emotional turmoil and affects many people in many ways. According to research, nearly one person in five will experience significant and persistent levels of depression, and even more than

What a great morning we had at Coast Church with the YWAM Team from Toowoomba ministering for us.  Here's a great recording of Gunnar's message and Alex's song which encouraged our people heaps in their walk with God.

Enjoy!

Last week we started our series on faith discovering that, for many people, faith is flawed from the outset because they simply don't ask God for His will.  People decide what they want, pray for it, expect God to do as He's told, then get mad at Him if He doesn't perform to our expectations. He gets blamed if what we've prayed for doesn't come true, even if He never promised us that!

 

Clearly faith is more complex than convincing yourself that something will happen. All the faith in the world you can muster won't work if what you are believing for is wrong. And a tiny, sliver of faith in an omnipotent God according to His perfect will is a sure bet!

 

Last week we learned that true Biblical faith depends not on you, not on circumstances and not even on the outcome, whether it comes true or not, it depends on the object of our faith, God Himself.

 

Today we're going to assume that you are close to the Lord, and that what you are believing for is His will. Even if your will aligns with His, there are still potentially fatal flaws to your faith, that can tear your faith apart and destroy the blessing God has for you.

 

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

 

So what are the 4 fatal flaws to faith that can destroy your faith and rob you of the Lord’s blessing in your life?

 

1.     FRET NOT

 

Psalms 37:1-2

 Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not envious of wrongdoers!

For they will soon fade like the grass

and wither like the green herb.

 

MESSAGE

Psalms 37:1-2

Don't bother your head with braggarts

or wish you could succeed like the wicked.

In no time they'll shrivel like grass clippings

and wilt like cut flowers in the sun.

 

Psalms 37:7-8

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

 

Fretting is not faith, fretting, or worrying, is a faith killer!  Yet we all do it!

 

 

Worry is wasting today's time to clutter up tomorrow's opportunities with yesterday's troubles. A dense fog that covers a seven-city-block area one hundred feet deep is composed of less than one glass of water divided into sixty thousand million drops.

 

Fretting or worrying is like a rocking horse… it keeps your mind occupied, but you don't get anywhere! You know it well, I'm sure, you go round and round, you expend loads of energy, you can't concentrate, you can't sleep, you wake up all through the night, and you profit… absolutely nothing!

 

There are many things we can fret or worry about. We can worry about whether God will do what we are believing for. Most of us agree that God is able to do everything, but would He withhold something from us for no reason? Does He really want

Today I want to start a series on faith. There would be few more controversial topics in the Christian world than faith. I personally have been on this journey, and most of you will realise that faith is a journey we have to go on and learn about.

 

I am sure to offend some, and slay a few holy cows. But if you take offence, please hear me out because I am trying to discover what the Bible says about faith, not me, not Benny Hinn, not Donald Trump and not you!

 

While I will not claim to hold all the aces, I do want you to open your hearts and have a thorough, thoughtful and most importantly Biblical examination of faith.

 

I believe that many Christians have faith all wrong. We think that God’ s job is to make us happy, prosperous, healthy and content. It is not. His agenda is to develop character in you, not meet your list of demands, no matter how much faith you think you can muster.

 

Faith is not about bending God to your will, however just or noble you might think it is. Faith is about asking for God’s will, then living to bring His will about, no matter what the result. Biblical faith depends not on what faith we can muster but on the object of our faith!

 

And today I intend to show you that true Biblical faith depends not on your faith level or on the results, but faith solely depends on the One in whom you have faith!

 

Your faith, my faith, true faith, mountain moving, life changing, God honouring, earth shattering faith.

 

 

JOKE ABOUT THE MAN IN THE FLOOD… GOD SENT A CAR, A BOAT A HELICOPTER.

 

THE FAITH SPECTRUM

 

I have met committed Christians all over the world, and have encountered varies types of faith.

 

At one end of the spectrum is pseudo-faith, featuring pious and religious sounding words which drain true faith from believers in the name of religion. These people pray for something, but always caveat it with, “If it be your will, Lord.” They give God an out in case He doesn't come through for them.

 

At the other end is hyper-faith. These folks believe something so completely, despite facts, logic and sometimes even the Bible. If God does not perform as they have prayed, they get mad at Him and ultimately their faith suffers a devastating collapse.

 

Most of us, it is fair to say, are somewhere in the middle. We sense there is something wrong with both extremes. So what is faith, true faith, God faith, and how do we obtain it?

 

While faith is described and demonstrated throughout the Bible, any examination of faith is going to have to face Hebrews Chapter 11, so let's start there…

 

WHAT IS TRUE BIBLICAL FAITH?

 

Biblical faith is not so much defined as described… What is does and how it works.

 

True Bible faith is not blind optimism or a manufactured “Lord I hope-so” feeling. It is not  an intellectual assent to a certain doctrine. It is certainly not believing something in spite of evidence! That would be superstition, not faith. I'd call that fake faith!

 

True Bible faith is confident obedience to God’s Word in spite of circumstances and consequences. Let me repeat tha

Two men were called

on, in a large classroom, to recite the Twenty-third Psalm. One was a

professional actor,  trained in speech

technique and drama. He repeated the psalm in a powerful way.

 

Psalms 23

The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down

in green pastures.

He leads me beside

still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths

of righteousness

for his name's sake.

Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your

staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table

before me

in the presence of my

enemies;

you anoint my head

with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and

mercy shall follow me

all the days of my

life,

and I shall dwell in

the house of the Lord forever.

 

When he finished, the

audience cheered and even asked for an encore that they might hear his

wonderful voice again. "Then the other man, who was much older, repeated

the same words--'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want...' But when he

finished, no sound came from the large class. Instead, people sat silently in a

deep mood of devotion and prayer.

 

"Then the first

man, the orator, stood to his feet. He said. 'The difference between what you

have just heard from my old friend, and what you heard from me is this: I know

the Psalm, my friend knows the Shepherd.'"

 

You probably know the

Psalm… But do you really know the Shepherd?

 

This morning I want to

look at Jesus the Good Shepherd…

 

John 10:2-6

But he who enters by

the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep

hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he

has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for

they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from

him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus

used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

 

Throughout the Bible

leaders were frequently described as Shepherds. Kings, prophets and holy men

were considered shepherds. In Ezekiel 34, the Lord condemns selfish shepherds who

exploited the flock for their own ends, who abuse and mistreat them and who

scattered them leaving them open to attack. He says He will remove them, and

replace the, with Good shepherd, who will lead with integrity and honour,

caring for  the sheep, laying his life

down for them. David was the expression of this shepherd, pastors should also

be that type of shepherd, and of course, the ultimate expression is Jesus, the

Good Shepherd.

 

Ezekiel 34:31

You are my sheep, the

sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

 

WHY SHEEP, HE SAYS

Kairos Moments in a Chronos World?  

Do you know what I am talking about?

Let’s pretend that your banker phoned you late last Friday and said he had some very good news. He told you that an anonymous donor who loves you very much has decided to deposit 86,400 pennies into your account each morning, starting the following Monday morning. That’s $864 a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year.

He adds, “But there’s one stipulation; you must spend all that money that same day. No balance will be carried over to the next day.  Each evening the bank must cancel whatever sum you failed to use.”

With a big smile, you thank your banker and hang up. Over that weekend you have time to plan. You grab a pencil and start figuring; $864 times seven equals over $6,000 a week times fifty-two. That’s almost $315,000 a year that you have available to you if you’re diligent to spend it all each day. Remember, whatever you don’t spend is forfeited.

So much for “Let’s Pretend”.

Now let’s play “Let’s Get Serious.”  Every morning Someone who loves you very much deposits into your bank of time 86,400 seconds of time—which represent 1,440 minutes—which, of course, equal twenty-four hours each day.

Now you’ve got to remember the same stipulation applies, because God gives you this amount of time for you to use each day. Nothing is ever carried over on credit to the next day. There is no such thing as a twenty-six hour day (though some of us wish there were). From today’s dawn until tomorrow’s dawn, you have a precisely determined amount of time. As someone has put it, “Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you want to, but you can spend it only once.”

Time is something we feel we never have enough of, yet we give it away so easily. Someone once said, “Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.”

Time is a precious commodity… We all want more, and we all get the same amount. It's how we use it that really becomes the precious commodity, isn't it? It's what we achieve with it.

So what does the Bible say about time, and how can that impact our lives and cause us to use our time more effectively in our modern, it,e poor society?

THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING!

There are 3 Greek words for time and each holds a different meaning.

CHRONOS

CHRONOS time is what we mainly consider to be time… Hours, minutes, seconds. Hence we talk about a specific time or time frame, such as in

Acts 1:6-7

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.

God set this type of time up. It is governed by the rotation of the earth around the sun, and it's something we measure, and we keep to.

We live in a time based world. We live in a CHRONOS world. You have appointments, planes to catch, bills to pay, TV shows to watch, church to attend… And all of this is the time based CHRONOS.

AION

AION is used to refer to an age, a cycle or a season, a span of time, for example a man’s lifespan. It particularly has reference to eternity or forever…

Matthew 12:32

And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgive

 

This week we net

unconditional to buy the building we meet in. 

It has been a labour of love, but we are now in a position to move

ahead.

 

Question is, move

ahead to what?

 

I was doing the Bible

reading program this week, and was struck with the similarities between our

saga and that of Nehemiah.  So today I

want to talk about building for the future, and how we as a body of believers

can move into our God ordained destiny as a church, and as individuals.

 

THE STORY SO FAR

 

After years of the

nation of Israel and Judah rebelling against God, they went into exile, The

northern kingdom of Israel first in 722BC, and the southern kingdom of Judah in

587BC. The best people in the land were carted off to Babylon, which is where

we read of Daniel in the lion’s den and the 3 young men in the furnace.

 

Then Babylon is

defeated by Persia.

 

After 70 years we read

this in 2 Chronicles 36:23

 

“Thus says Cyrus king

of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the

earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in

Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with

him. Let him go up.’”

 

After 70 years of

exile, as prophesied earlier, a team was sent back to Jerusalem under Ezra the

priest. They decided to rebuild the temple, but the walls of the city lay in

ruins. There had been 2 attempts to rebuild, but things were not going well.

 

In ancient days, a

city without walls was a weak city, easy to invade, easy to exploit. It was

imperative that those walls be rebuilt, lest the city never reach its destiny

and greatness.

 

Nehemiah was not just

about building walls, he was about building the future of his people.

 

So we pick up the

story in Nehemiah chapter 1… Nehemiah was asking after the returning exiles,

while he was till in Babylon serving a Persian King Artaxerxes as cupbearer

(and taste tester, a very important and trusted position the court).

 

Let me try and put

this into modern terms…

 

Your dad, who lives in

another state, calls to tell you the factory that’s always served as the main

source of employment in your family’s hometown has been sold. The new owners

are closing down the plant and moving production overseas. Many family members

and friends will endure unemployment. Your hometown faces a severe economic

depression as other businesses inevitably shut down.

 

Coincidentally, you

work as a vice president in the same industry, and you know your company is

exploring options for expansion.

 

What would you do?

Where would you start? How can you be sure of what God wants you to do?

 

 

 

1.     IDENTIFY THE NEED

 

In the book of

Nehemiah, the first things he did was to identify exactly what the need was

Remember Darth Vader's famous words, "Luke, I am your father?"

Father’s Day for me is

an interesting mix of emotions. My girls always tell me how much they love me

and what I have meant in their lives, even though I feel hopelessly inadequate

as a dad. In addition, Father's Day also hurts because I  was very close to my dad. But he has been dead

for 18 months now, so for me it is a mixture of emotions.

 

Sometimes Father's Day

does that to you. Imagine what it would be like for Luke Skywalker…

 

This iconic quote from

the Star Wars series of movies is actually a misquote. The true quote actually

reads like this…

 

Darth Vader: Obi-Wan

never told you what happened to your father.

Luke Skywalker: He

told me enough! He told me you killed him!

Darth Vader: No. I am

your father

 

Imagine Father's Day

for Luke, when he discovers that the man he's been fighting against, the man

who stands for everything he hates, the man who has killed his friends and is

trying to kill him, is actually his father!

 

You don't choose your

father, good or bad, you just get him when he begets you.  You had no influence over what he did for a

living, how he treated people, the hang ups he had, the things he did to you,

the influences he tried to bring into your life.

 

Maybe your dad wasn't

ideal, maybe he abused you, disappointed you or never said kind words to you.

Perhaps the only fatherly advice he gave you was…

 

 “You cannot escape the dark side, Luke!”

 

Well I'm here to tell

you that is not true! You can escape the dark side, you can be set free of

anything your father did or didn't do, said or didn't say, wanted or didn't

want for you.

 

Today, Father's Day, I

am going to show you how to forgive and love your father, even if he is imperfect,

and how you can break the power of his words and influence over your life.

 

DADS- THE GOOD,THE

BAD AND THE UGLY

 

When it comes to

father's, there's a whole variety out there, good, bad and ugly.

 

I think I fall into

the latter bracket!

 

Now I don't know what

type of father you had, but mine was awesome. He was strong, dependable, kind,

loving and godly. He was an example and an inspiration, and when he died 18

months ago I felt like I had lost not only a father but a friend, and a mentor.

 

But not every person

is as blessed as I am. For many the word father conjures up horror, anger and

shame.

 

So whether you had, or

have a good father or a shocker, this message is for you…

 

Ephesians 6:2

“Honor your father and

mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),

 

And what was the

promise? From Exodus 20:12, that your days may be long in the land the Lord

your God is giving you.  A long and

prosperous life is the reward of honouring your parents.

Fiona is running anincredible seminar next Saturday that you do not want to miss. It started as trainingfor our care bears, but we wanted to open it up to everyone because theinformation about how to help another person going through hard times anddifficulties is valuable to all of us.

 

As preparation, I wantto look at how to be the best best friend…

 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Two are better thanone, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one willlift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has notanother to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how canone keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone,two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

 

James Taylor sang it,but we all need to believe it… There is nothing as good as having a friend. Welive in the age of social media, yet people have never been so lonely! You canhave 500 friends on Facebook, yet be the loneliest guy in the world.

 

So what is the bigdeal about friendship, why do we desire it so much and how can we be the bestfriend of somebody else?

 

WHAT REALLY MAKES USHAPPY?

 

 

A recent study by researchers looked the age-old mystery of what makes people happy,and their answer is not what might be expected. Consistently at the top of thecharts is not success, good looks, or money. Money doesn't buy happiness, it just means you can bemiserable in comfort!

 

The clear winner inevery culture is relationships- especially closerelationships.

 

What can be done to build goodrelationships? To be honest, the answer is “not much.” We cannot do a whole lotto cultivate healthy relationships. Techniques do not work.

 

Relationships are moreabout being than doing.

 

 

Real relationships evolve out of being acertain kind of person. We must focus on who we are in relationships ratherthan what we do. We need to target“being” the right person in order to foster the right relationships. So how canwe be the best person we can find for each other?

 

Proverbs 12:26

 

The righteous choosetheir friends carefully,

but the way of thewicked leads them astray.

 

Today I want to lookat what being a best friend truly is, how you can be the best of best friendsto those you love, and how to attract the very best friends around your life tohelp you become everything that God wants you to be.

 

Here’s some thingsthat you need to be to be the best of best friends…

 

 

1.     BE SOMEONE WHO LISTENS

 

At the heart of every good relationship isthe ability to listen and understand what another person is saying. Withoutaccurate listening, a good relationship can never be built.

 

Job’s so calledfriends lacked a little in this department. Job’s life was in tatters, so theycame and sat with him, and let him talk… Full marks for that so far… They lethim talk, but doesn't mean they listened, right?

 

Job 2:11

 

Now when Job's threefriends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from hisown place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.

 

But they didn't listen!

 

Job 13:4-6

As for you, youwhitewash with lies;

worthless physiciansare you all.

Oh that you would keepsilent,

and it would be yourwisdo