Building Belief

December 11, 2022 • Steve Hinton • Mark 9:20–24, John 20:27, 2 Corinthians 12:7–9

Mark 9:20-24 - So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”   John 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”   What if we asked Jesus to help us overcome unbelief?    A. Reasons for Unbelief.   Unanswered prayers   2 Cor 12:7-9 “Because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.   Unexplained Evil in the worldUnknown informationUnfocused on BeliefUnwillingness to Believe  Acts 14:2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.   Acts 19:9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.   Unappreciated View of God   B. Misunderstandings of Belief.                Maybe just need to . . .   Need to – Shut off your brainNeed to just intellectually have the answers  James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.   Need to have all the answersNeed to see a miracle  Luke 16:31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”   Need an Experience  C. Path to Building Belief.   1. Choose    John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”   2. Ask  3. Seek 4. Feed  5. Obey  6. Grace  7. Help 8. Look    John 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God   Examples for encouragement from those before us     Abraham – yet still stumbled.   Romans 4:3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”   Romans 4:17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.     Hudson Taylor – Stumbled.    “God is not looking for men of great faith, He is looking for common men to trust His great faithfulness.”

The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

December 4, 2022 • Eddie Bowman • Luke 9:21, Daniel 7:13–14, Matthew 26:59–66

Giving in a World of Take

November 27, 2022 • Steve Hinton • Acts 20:35

Acts 20:35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”   2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.   1. Generous Giving with our Treasure         Often think of this first.   1 Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.   2. Generous Giving with our Time        James 1:19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.   3. Generous Giving with our Talents                     1 Peter 4:10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. (NIV) 1 Corinthians 12:12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ   4. Generous Giving with our Testimony   1 Peter 3:15b “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (NIV)   Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”   The Why of this Call.   Obey Good Start   Like the Nature of God.   John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.   Like the action of Jesus.  Matthew 20:28 “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”   Frees us from the Bondage of Materialism.  Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.   Eternal Investment  Matthew 6:20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.   Help in the Mission of Expansion  Because of What He has done for you!  Titus 3:5-6 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.   1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.   Because ALL of us – Our Treasure, Time, Talent, and Testimony.   History of God’s people in Giving   The root of the Salvation Army and William Booth-   “To get a man soundly saved it is not enough to put on him a pair of new breeches, to give him regular work, or even to give him a university education. These things are all outside a man, and if the inside remains unchanged, you have wasted your labor. You must in some way or other graft upon the man’s nature a new nature, which has in it the element of the Divine.”   “Can we go too fast in saving souls? If anyone still wants a reply, let him ask the lost souls in Hell.”   We give because He first gave to us!