Restoration Church Toowoomba Sermon Podcast

Shame drives people to implement many defense mechanisms in the hope that one of them will be able to effectively deal with it; yet none of them actually do. Jesus embraced all of the consequences of shame that we work so feverishly to avoid so that we would not need to cover our shame ... because he is the one who does.

Shame made it's first appearance in the garden of Eden after Adam and Eve first disobeyed God, and ever since then has been a common reality touching all of humanity. Adam and Eve's initial shame had to do with what God thought of them and what they thought of each other, but ever since leaving the garden, humanity lost sight of God-oriented shame and is stuck in the courtroom of other people's opinion - or in other words 'fear of man.' Unfortunately, it is here that our culture excels.

Shame plays a key role in shaping human behaviour, yet most of the time we don't notice it's effects because we find it difficult to identify. Peter helps us to identify shame and see the deep remedy to it that is offered to us by Jesus.

Discipline is a good thing, and, when administered by God, it is a great thing. It never seems pleasant at the time but always produces much good in our lives.

The author of Hebrews catalogues a long list of biblical heroes in Chapter 11, and with the exception of Rahab the prostitute, chooses not to mention any of their failings. He uses this as a springboard to encourage his readers to rid themselves of encumbrances and sin that will limit their endurance in the race of faith, and then encourages them to look to THE hero who has no dark side - Jesus.

Faith often malfunctions because we tend to place it in a particular outcome rather than in the person of Jesus. The heroes of the faith anticipated heaven as an ultimate outcome of their faith but in the short term actively trusted God and let him work out the rest.

We can often be guilty of separating concepts that the Bible never does. This is especially true when it comes to faith. Abraham's life teaches us that faith and obedience, faith and risk, and, homesickness and endurance are inseparable.